Regular – Page 26

Matrix of Brokenness

January 6, 2010 by The RevNo Comments

As I said yesterday I am going to work through and begin to try and identify the weaknesses that I have. Before doing that though I need to show you the matrix that Allender developed in for the challenges that leaders face and their potential responses. It’s helpful and it’s a bit of a diagnostic tool. It also provides a good grid for framing the discussion.There are five leadership challenges with which every leader comes face to face. I have re-created the grids that Allender developed on pages 8 and 9 of Leading With Limp. The challenges are obvious. I don’t think that anyone would doubt them. If you do doubt them then, I would have to assume that you have never led for any length of time. Now consider these five ineffective responses. Which of them do you most struggle with? I want to pick and choose. Yet, as I honestly evaluate my own leadership I think that I have...

You’re in the Battle of Your Life

January 6, 2010 by The RevNo Comments

Dan Allender says, “So here’s the hard truth: if you’re a leader, you’re in the battle of your life.” Welcome to a challenging text called Leading With a Limp. This is a book that was given to me by a man who mentored me for six years, on the day of my ordination he mailed it to me. I finally got around to reading it this Advent season and what I read has brought me to a place where I need to re-evaluate how I have been leading. I have not been leading with a limp.The assumption of Allender’s book is this, “To the degree you face and name and deal with your failures as a leader, to that same extent you will create an environment conducive to growing and retaining productive committed colleagues (2)”. He goes on to say, “To the degree you attempt to hide or dissemble your weaknesses, the more you will need to control those you...

Religion is Good at Guilt

January 4, 2010 by The RevNo Comments

On January 1 Charlie Rose had a montage of his best interviews. Well, we usually put Charlie on in the background and fall asleep to him. I suppose it’s gentle North Carolina accent or the intonation of his voice but he knocks us out pretty quickly. In one particular clip he was interviewing Frank McCourt, the author of Angela’s Ashes and ’Tis. McCourt said, “Religion is good at guilt.” For some reason that idea stuck in my head and I have been thinking about it ever since. Is religion good at guilt? I suppose so. Religion is a man made attempt at controlling other people and at the same time seeking to make people feel better about themselves. But, if you are going to control other people then you can’t possibly clear their shame ridden consciences with something like grace. No, you must make them work for it. They must work hard for it and they must comprehend that whenever they...

Stop the Snark

January 2, 2010 by The RevNo Comments

I have recently noticed that people who are supposed to be academics, people who are supposed to be representing an intellectual position, are becoming increasingly snarky towards those who disagree with them. I am especially noticing this in the intelligent design/evolution debate that seems to be gearing up again. It’s interesting to me that many on both sides of the debate start, continue, and end with name calling. They refer to one another in demeaning tones. I see this happening in the political debate too. Where ever an issue has two sides with strong feelings it seems that emotion takes precedence over reasoned intellect.I think the reason for this is found in a comment by Wendell Berry in his essay, “A Few Words in Favor of Edward Abbey”. He is discussing Abbey’s tendency to tip sacred cows. Berry’s says, “Any human product or activity that humans defend as a category becomes, by the very fact, a sacred cow — in need, by...

Review: Equipped for Adventure

December 11, 2009 by The RevNo Comments

Equipped for Adventure: A Practical Guide to Short-Term Mission Trips by Scott Kirby was published in 2006 by New Hope Publishers. It is a handbook for making short-term mission trips happen. This is a holistic treatment of the process of making short-term missions a centerpiece of your church’s ministry. Kirby casts vision, answers criticisms, and then proceeds step by step through the process of planning, organizing, actuating, and following up a mission trip.I found this to be a helpful text. Kirby provides the busy minister or volunteer with a guide to make missions a reality in any context. I thought one of the most enlightening conversations in the book was in reference to partnerships. The discussion helps to provide a matrix for understanding when and with whom a partnership ought to be formed.I also found the Appendices to helpful. These provide the resources to carry out the ideas and concepts taught in the book. This is key. So many other...

Review: Spiritual Leadership in the Global City

December 10, 2009 by The RevNo Comments

Spiritual Leadership in the Global City was written by Mac Pier and published in 2008 by New Hope Publishers. This is a book of stories and mission combined to get your mind and heart thinking about what it means to reach a city. Pier’s text looks at twenty different churches and Christian organizations in New York City. He walks you through their development and growth. Each church and organization provides you with a key spiritual leadership insight. It has a unique, engaging, and accessible format.Quite honestly this is one of the most encouraging reads I have encountered in a long time. I am pastoring in Metro Detroit which by all accounts is a city on the verge of failure. From what I understand this is similar (on a much smaller scale) to what New York was going through in the 70s and 80s. Upon finishing this book I was encouraged that there is hope for our city and surrounding region....

Review: Eyes Wide Open

December 10, 2009 by The RevNo Comments

Eyes Wide Open by William D. Romanowski Brazos Press, 2001. Group Discussion Questions Eyes Wide Open was written by William D. Romanowski the Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences at Calvin College. It was initially published in 2001 and was revised and expanded in 2007. As a Christ-follower seeking to engage culture and to make culture I have found that this little book is remarkably helpful. Romanowski’s style is engaging and accessible. He is writing from the Reformed perspective and is seeking to see Christians engage the world around them in such a way as to transform culture. The book opens with a solid discussion of the state of Christian engagement within the culture. The first eye opening discussion is on the apparent double talk by the Christian world regarding popular culture. Out of one side of our mouths we decry the debasement of the culture around us and yet we consume pop culture as quickly as anyone else. Why is this? It’s because...

Review: Compelled By Love

September 23, 2009 by The RevNo Comments

Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living was written by Ed Stetzer and Phillip Nation and published by New Hope Publishers. Stetzer is the director of LifeWay Christian Resources and Nation is a church planting missionary in north Metro Atlanta.Compelled is broken up into three parts. The first, “Death by Love: God and Mission” looks at how the three persons of the Trinity love and how their love applies to our relationships and ministry. The second part, “Identifying Love: The Church in the World” looks at how we are shaped by love. This section really highlights the way that love works itself out in the context of the Christian community. I would say that this is the central argument of the text. The third part, “Formed by Love: Believers and the World” looks at how the church is to interact with the non-Christian world within which it finds itself. This section I think is the most important...

Review: Trolls and Truth

September 23, 2009 by The RevNo Comments

So, I have this awesome opportunity to read and review books from New Hope Publishers. It’s a great way to score some free books and have some accountability to read! Anyway, here is review number one (review number two will come today or tomorrow). Trolls and Truth: 14 Realities About Today’s Church That We Don’t Want to See is written by Jimmy Dorrell. He is the lead pastor of Church Under the Bridge and also the Executive Director of Mission Waco in Waco, TX. This is a little book and quick read. It hits on 14 key issues that Dorrell has found to be truths that the first world American church needs to hear. He argues that most of the American church ignores the poor and broken in their communities. He is writing from his own experiences as a pastor to those very people. He tells the stories of 14 different people. Those stories each function as a parable for a...

Discipleship…who knew.

August 24, 2009 by The RevNo Comments

So it turns that some of the greatest thinkers in the Christian world are coming to the conclusion that the church has missed something. It has missed “discipleship”. We are not training, building, developing, and sending mature believers into the world. It seems to me that this is the “cost” of the great “evangelical” movement that has developed over the last fifty-five years. Prior to the fifties the church trained people well. There was a commitment to “catechism”. There was an emphasis on education. However, there was a cost. The cost was that of evangelism. We were not inviting people into the community of faith. So, were we really training people well? Probably not. But, now we get the message out and get people saved but we are not building and sending. We need now not a pendulum swing but a re-centering on the life and ministry of Jesus. I think that this is a good article and points us back...