Viewing the Bible Through the Eyes Of a Leader

One of the blogs that I read is written by Tony Morgan. Tony is a pastor and author. I first met Tony through his book Simply Strategic Stuff. Here are some thoughts from Tony's blog on leadership and the Bible. Good stuff...

"I'm in the process of going back through the Bible viewing it through the eyes of a leader. Here are my thoughts from the first seven chapters of Matthew:

-Leaders make mistakes. God can redeem leaders. (1:6)
-It's all about obedience. Joseph "did what the angel of the Lord had commanded Him. When was the last time you heard from God and did what he told you to do? (1:24)
-I may have positional power, but God is always more powerful. (3:11)
-The way I live my life is dictated by the amount of time I spend in the Word of God. It is my sustenance. (4:4)
-Time is running out. I need to embrace the urgency. (4:17)
-Part of my responsibility is to look for the ministry potential in others. (4:19-20)
-My leadership should produce peace. (5:9)
-My actions will speak louder than my words. (5:16)
-God doesn't like it when there's division and anger between leaders. (5:22)
-I need to follow through with my commitments. (5:37)
-People will persecute me. I need to pray for them. That's difficult for me. (5:44)
-God wants me to be me. He wants us to be real--not fake. (6:5)
-There are some actions people don't see, but God still does. (6:18)
-What I do with my money will impact my heart. Interesting that God didn't say it the other way around. Makes me think disciplines with time and money impact the condition of my heart. (6:21)
-As a leader, I need to prefer for tomorrow, but I shouldn't worry about tomorrow. (6:34)
-If I'm a good leader, my ministry will bear good fruit. The measure of my success is not the input but the outcome. (7:17)
-The win isn't for people to hear the message--the win is life application. (7:24)"

Your Ear Gets Cut Off and Your Life Is Saved

One of the most interesting stories surrounding the events of Holy Week is the account of the High Priest's servant. Unfortunately the Biblical narrative is very brief, but I began to think about the implications of what happened. Malchus, the High Priest's servant, was probably the equivalent of a modern day executive assistant. The High Priest sent him with the group to arrest Jesus. In fact, he may have been the leader of the group. The High Priest couldn't go because it wouldn't have politically expedient, and he was going to be one of main prosecutors. When the group arrives to make the arrest, one of Jesus' disciples pulls out a sword and off comes Malchus' ear. Can you imagine the pain, and the screaming that took place. Undoubtedly, many other swords came out and it could have gotten ugly right away. Jesus steps up, takes the severed ear and puts it back in place. I wish there would have been a way to capture the astonishment on Malchus' face. I'm sure in Christ's complete and perfect way of doing things, there was not a scar, line or any other evidence that the ear had ever been anything less than perfect. I don't think Jesus cleaned him up. All the blood was still there, and perhaps dirt and leaves and other debris from rolling around on the ground in pain.

Can you imagine the encounter when Malchus went back to report to the High Priest. The HP probably didn't even ask about the arrest at first, he would have wanted to know how Malchus had gotten so dirty, and bloody. Can you imagine the servant trying to explain that his ear had been cut off, and yet when the High Priest explored his ear and scalp, he could see that nothing was wrong with the ear.

I can't help but think that throughout the afternoon, as Jesus hung on the cross, from a distance away Malchus observed all that went on. Every few minutes his hand would slip up to his ear, a finger would run around the spot where it had been severed, and Malchus' heart hurt a little more. Along with the centurion, he may have whispered the words, "truly, He was the son of God." I think Malchus lost an ear (not really) and gained his life...

Life At the Foot Of the Cross

Life has a way of creeping up on you, bringing surprises that you never expected. For pastors, special times in the life of church are busy. Easter is one of those times of the year when you want to make sure that everything you do produces the opportunity for people to encounter Christ as we remember His sacrifice for us on the cross and celebrate His resurrection. Many times the busyness gets in the way of our personal opportunties to experience our own encounter with Jesus. This year is no exception...it's busy. Two days ago, our oldest son called from Springfield, MO to tell us that his basement was totally flooded. After we hung up, the "dad" in me wanted to drop everything and go down to help. Yesterday, after talking a couple of times, he told me that his insurance policy didn't cover the kind of flooding that had occured. Now I was really torn. After several calls, trying to dispense fatherly advice, a lot of 1 and 2 sentence prayers for help and wisdom, it looks like things are going to be okay. There is a lot of work ahead, but it appears that there may be many helpers as well.

Today is the day before Good Friday, and I'm trying to find the time to be quiet and experience an encounter with Christ in this most wonderful season of the church. Once again I'm reminded how vunerable we are, how helpless, and totally dependent on God. This week we've had rehearsals, planning sessions, technical preparation and a host of other details. Then, there is the normal part of helping to run a church and nuture a church family. Add to that being a frustrated dad trying to figure out how to help my kids 215 miles away in the biggest crisis of their young lives. The best thing I can do, right now, for everyone's sake, particularly mine, is to rest at the foot of the cross. I need to thank God that I don't have to do it all, or be all. I just need to recognize what Christ has done for me, and to accept His sacrifice, once again, for my sin and separation from Him. There will be plenty of work ahead...but it will all get done, in His time, because of my time at the foot of the cross.

Abraham LIncoln and reading

I am an avid reader. I was 14 years old before we had a television in our home. My parents encouraged us to read and provided books on many subjects. We had hundreds of volumes to choose from. As an adult, I have continued to read a lot of books, on many subjects. Since Kathy, my wife, is also an avid reader, our collection of books is quite large. While one of my regrets as an adult is that I was unable to continue graduate education, books and reading have provided a wonderful source of knowledge, inspiration and enlarging my imagination. I am currently reading a book about Abraham Lincoln titled Team of Rivals by Pulitzer Prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin. The team of rivals is his presidential cabinet. Lincoln chose 3 men for his cabinet who were his rivals for the Republican nomination for president. The other 3 were former Democrats who were political rivals. One story about his early life really impressed me. He did not have access to many books. Reading was his primary source of education so he had to read books where ever he could find them. On this occasion he borrowed Parson Weem's Life of George Washington. He read it at night in the loft where he slept by candlelight. One night after he had put the book between the rafters of the loft, a severe rainstorm soaked the book, soiling the pages and warping the cover. He went to the home of the owner and volunteered to work to pay for the cost of replacing the book. The owner calculated the cost and had Lincoln work for 2 full days pulling corn. Lincoln thought this was quite unfair and excessive, but he did the work anyway. We live in a good age, sip a latte at Barnes and Noble while you look through thousands of books, pay with a coupon and a debit card...

Some other books I have read in 2008 are Never Call Retreat by Newt Gingrich and William Forstche, the third historical novel in a triology about the Civil War, Stone Cold by David Baldacci, The Appeal, John Grisham's new novel and Simply Strategic Stuff: Help for Leaders Drowning in the Details of Running a Church by Tim Stevens and Tony Morgan, a book with many reference topics for my work at our church. I like to read the Bible through every year and this year I am reading a new version titled The Daily Message by Eugene Peterson, the writer of the Message version of the Bible. Reading is a wonderful way to relax, and learn.

Mexico's Mother Teresa (part 2)

I looked at some pictures today from another team member that was on our recent Mexico Mission. Mark Mulberry, from Wisconsin, took a lot of pictures at the orphanage we visited. He took this one.

We had worked all morning at the job site and in the afternoon we took all of our teenagers to visit the orphanage while a group of men set roof beams and began sheeting the roof. Since this is potentially dangerous work, particularly if it is windy, we felt like our teenagers would be safer away from the job site. This picture was taken during the time that I spent talking with Sister Josephina, the director of the orphanage. Because I was the only spanish speaking person there that day, I had her all to myself. Read my first post to find out some of the things we talked about. Later, after reflecting on our conversation, it amazed me how much she has accomplished without all of the "things" that we think we need for ministry. She doesn't have an office, computer, high speed internet connection, PDA, latest cell phone, or anything else. As we toured the facilities just after arriving there, she did point out a room that she said would make a great office. I passed that request on to several people that could help make it come to pass. As we were leaving, a funny thing happened. In this picture you can see my rosy cheeks and sunburned arms. A boy of about 6 or 7 saw the bandana around my neck and asked me in spanish if he could have it. Some of our team had given their bandanas away and were tying them on the children's heads. He wanted the same thing. I took it off and carefully tied it on his head. He looked up at me and asked, "are you Santa Claus?". Rosy cheeks, white beard, old man compared to him... I wish I had more to give. We'll work on it. Even a lot of small gifts and useful items would go a long way to blessing these children and their "mother Teresa". I had one other "life changing event" many years ago in Mexico, at an orphanage in Ensenada. This may have been my second Mexico epiphany.

A 2 Week Miracle (Part B)

The picture from the last post shows the building in Juarez, Mexico after a small crew had worked on it for one day. This picture shows the building 5 days later towards the end of the day. All of the block walls are up and most of the roof system is in place. Later in this day, half of the roof insulation and metal was put on and the roof was finished on Friday morning. Quite a miracle!

On Thursday morning I went with one of the welders to purchase more of the steel beams for the roof. My expertise is in knowing Spanish, not in building skills. After we made the purchase of 24 very heavy 20' beams, we strapped them to the top of a van with a rack on it. We didn't realize that one of the beams was standing on end, rather than flat, and it prevented the strap from fully securing the beams. We set out on a busy (3 lanes each way) street, back to the building site. At the first stop light my partner noticed the beams on his side of van started sliding forward, he yelled "we better stop" and by the time I tried to stop slowly, it was like a slow motion replay, all of the beams slid off the roof rack and landed in front of the van. So here we are in the middle lane of this very busy street. Buses and cars are whizzing by on both sides and we have no idea what to do. Fortunately, a Mexican man (duh, we're in Mexico) came out of his business, climbed on top of the van and helped us slide the beams back on the rack. We were able to stop traffic and back into a parking lot and re-secure our load. It wasn't too funny then, now we can laugh about it. I think we really experienced God's protection, and help. And the miracle continued...

A 2 Week Miracle

Last week I was part of a 2 week miracle. Each year our church builds a complete building for a church in Mexico. This year we built a 50' by 100' block building with a metal roof. In week one we started with a flat, cement slab, built 12' block side walls, peaked front and back walls, added an interior office and 2 bathrooms. We also poured several walkways, graded some of the property, added 200 amp electrical service and upgraded the plumbing. The 2nd week crew finished all the interior electrical work, put in sinks and toilets, put in windows and doors and painted a lot of the metal and block surfaces. They also finished the platform area of the sanctuary that the 1st week crew started. By the end of the 2nd week, the congregation of Iglesia Paz Nueva, (Church of New Peace) will be meeting in their new sanctuary. I asked the pastor how long it would have taken them to fund and build a building like this. Pastor Armando said "40 years", in other words, never. Over and over again he said, "it's a miracle." It is so much fun to be part of a miracle! In my next post I'll show you the nearly completed building and share a couple of funny stories...on the way to the miracle.

Mexico's Mother Teresa

I met Mexico's Mother Teresa last week. Her name is Sister Josephina. The term "sister" demonstrates Christian respect. She is the director of an orphanage in Juarez, Mexico. She currently has 103 children that range in age from 8 months to older teens.

As I sat with her last Thursday, (Feb. 21), and listened to her talk in Spanish, I felt like I was in the presence of a saint. She told me about children and events from the 19 years that she has directed the orphanage. As she spoke, humbly and without boasting, I kept thinking that angels would reveal themselves at any moment or least bright light would begin to shine around her. Her entire life, 24/7, is consumed by raising these children. While she has both volunteer and paid staff, she is the "mama". She was affectionately called "Mama Josephina" by the children during the time we were there. Life in Mexico is much more difficult than it is in St. Louis. Donors in that country are not as wealthy nor as generous as they are in the U.S. She must pray in and trust God for everything they need to exist. Her positive outlook and vision casting didn't reflect her meager surroundings, only the great things that God was going to help her accomplish.

I was disappointed when it was time to go, there was so much more I wanted to ask her. It isn't very often that I get to spend time with a saint...

(we have some great pictures of many of the children, and I would love for you to see them, but we need to protect their privacy)