LEADING FROM THE TRENCHES: Fire Draws Fire

LEADING FROM THE TRENCHES: Fire Draws Fire
One of the tensions for leaders experiencing opposition, whether from competitors or colleagues, is to know when to react and when to hold back.

Outrageous Grace

As a Christian who has grown up in the church I have often sung about God's "Amazing Grace" through the words of the well known hymn written by former slave trader John Newton, and more recently through Chris Tomlin's revised version of this classic song.  Alongside the truth that God's grace is indeed amazing, is the less poetic and palatable truth that God's grace is also outrageous.  This idea was, in fact, also captured in a lesser known song written by Godfrey Birtill, titled "Outrageous Grace."

I was recently reminded just how outrageous God's grace is while reading Andy Stanley's book 'The Grace of God' when he suggested that "grace is inviting to the unrighteous and threatening to the self-righteous."  The self-righteous tend to approach grace as a right because of their own righteousness, usually expressed through faithful religious observance.  The unrighteous, however, don't expect grace as they feel unworthy due to their own sinfulness.  What makes grace so outrageous is that the exact opposite is true!  No amount of religious correctness can earn God's grace and no amount of human brokenness can escape God's grace.  Grace is counter-cultural to the values of this world - secular and religious - because it cannot be earned, nor is it deserved; it is not exclusive, but inclusive; it's not about fairness, but all about forgiveness; it has nothing to do with being good, but everything to do with the goodness of God.

It is because God's grace is so outrageous that we can sing about it being so amazing! 

Featured Blog - Corey Turner

The Oracle:  Calling vs Career!
http://theoracle.cc/2012/11/30/calling-vs-career/

LEADING FROM THE TRENCHES: Unity In Adversity

LEADING FROM THE TRENCHES: Unity In Adversity
Staying united during times of adversity reveals an unshakeable resilience that makes the impossible seem possible, empowering leaders to overcome their circumstances instead of being overwhelmed by them.

Doing Church Or Being The Church?

The community I live in recently presented the local churches with an interesting challenge when the city council changed the day of the community Christmas pageant from a Saturday morning to a Sunday morning.  This clash with traditional Sunday worship times was further complicated because, for the past 6 years, the combined churches were the organisers of an after-pageant BBQ immediately following this community event.

What was interpreted as an afront to the Church, provoked passionate discussion at our Minister's Fellowship meeting where we debated the council's motive and the churches response.  Does the church close ranks and protect our worship time, protest the decision, boycott the event, come to some sort of compromise or maintain our involvement?  What reaction is the council expecting?  What will best glorify God? 

As you can imagine there was an equal tension between wanting to make a clear statement about the value of Sunday worship by not compromising the priority of "doing church" and wanting to maintain an active witness by keeping Christ in a community Christmas event by "being the church".  Some viewed this as a threat to the church, while others viewed it as an opportunity for the church. Who is right, who is wrong?

After much discussion and prayer between the churches and within our respective congregations, the outcome was that three churches chose to see this as an opportunity and take "church" to the streets and continue to serve our community.  We believed that God was best glorified not by retreating but by reaching out.  We felt it was more important to bless our community than our congregations.  We wanted to defy the religious expectations of Christians by giving a relational testimony to Christ.

In the context of this event, I don't think that it is any cooincidence that I read the following statement by Andy Stanley about the church this week: "If the church is God's primary vehicle for dispensing the message of grace, then the local church is clearly not for church people.  It's for everybody."  This ethos of the church is further supported by Erwin McManus, as quoted by Craig Groeschel, “When have we forgotten that the church doesn’t exist for us? We are the church and we exist for the world.”

While I still hold Sunday worship as a high value, I am more concerned about being the church than doing church!

Top 5 Influential Books

I was recently asked what is my top 5 list of books that have had the most impact on my leadership and faith journey.  Wow, what a tough question to answer!  I read so many amazing authors on such a variety of subjects, to narrow it down to the five most influential is a tough call.  Nevertheless, here goes the impossible.  I will choose a book I've read during the past couple of years for each of the categories of my EphesiansFour12 blog +1 that captures my life theme:

1.  Passion for the LORD:  The Divine Mentor - Wayne Cordeiro

2.  Passion for the LOST:  Just Walk Across The Room - Bill Hybels

3.  Passion for LIFE:  Chasing Daylight - Erwin McManus

4.  Passion for LEADERSHIP:  The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni

5.  "Equipping the people of God for the work of the ministry":  The Equipping Church - Sue Mallory

This is a reluctant top 5 list, as there are so many other books that have had equal influence and impact in each category; then there are other subjects I'm passionate about that have also shaped my spiritual journey.  Maybe I will do a follow-up list identifying another top 5 books...in fact, it could be an annual top 5 list of books I've read that year - there's a thought!

LEADING FROM THE TRENCHES: Who Deserves The Credit?

LEADING FROM THE TRENCHES: Who Deserves The Credit?
By myself, I bring a limited set of skills and knowledge to my leadership roles, but together with a team there is a collaboration of shared wisdom that increases my leadership capacity.

LEADING FROM THE TRENCHES: Hopefulness

LEADING FROM THE TRENCHES: Hopefulness
A leaders hopefulness remains intact when their faith exceeds their circumstances.

Divine Moments

"When we choose to seize divine moments, we create an environment where others are unleashed to fulfill their God-given potential."  Erwin McManus, Chasing Daylight

Throughout my leadership journey I have been presented with numerous divine moments that have had the potential to have a profound impact on my own life and the lives of those I lead.  When I've embraced those moments that potential has translated into a life changing reality, however, when I have missed those moments, opportunities for growth are lost.

God has placed an unquenchable passion upon my heart to "equip the people of God for the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ."  Therefore, it stands to reason that God will unleash divine moments to enable me to embrace those opportunities to create an environment to fulfil this passion.

There is an extraordinary privilege that comes with leadership to help people realise their God-given potential through recognising and participating in their own divine moments.

Journey Of Faith

I am almost finished reading "Chasing Daylight" by Erwin McManus, which has been an inspiring read about seizing divine moments and living a passionate life pursuing God's will and purposes.  In his chapter on 'Uncertainty', McManus discusses the progression of faith in the context of miracles by making a comparison between Moses standing at the edge of the Red Sea and Joshua standing at the edge of the Jordan River.

"With Moses, God parted the waters, and then the people crossed over."

It is relatively easy to step out in faith when we see the miracle first.  God does something spectacular that demands our attention and gives us the confidence to embrace those divine moments.  When the waters are parted and we see the way through, standing on the edge of faith is exciting.

"With Joshua, the leaders were required to begin crossing first, and then the waters parted."

It is quite another story stepping out in faith before the miracle occurs.  God's promises go before divine moments giving us confidence that He 'can', however, that confidence requires us to trust that He 'will'.  When the waters block our path and we cannot see the way through, standing on the edge of faith is scary.

McManus captures this development of faith that comes through maturity in Christ brilliantly:

"What it means to live on the edge as your faith begins to develop is not the measure of faith when you walk in maturity.  You should expect and desire that God would move from parting the waters while you stand on the edge of the shore to calling you to step out into the waters and experience the miracle happening around you.  In the first, you watch the miracle.  But in the second, you become a part of it.  Both experiences were expressions of a journey of faith.  Both had amazing similarities, but what God required in the second exeeded what He required in the first." (McManus 2002, p. 89)

There is another dimension of faith living that takes us beyond the need for the certainty of miracles to act.  When our faith rises to a level of maturity that drives us to act amidst the uncertainty of life, but within the certainty of God's faithfulness, we create the context for miracles to happen!