Hope  

As I began this blog my intention was to be “scholarly” in that I wanted to help you work though the theology of leadership.  Particularly Christian leadership in a contemporary and secularized culture and what that might look like in a Salvation Army context -- a topic that I believe we need to get right if we are to be effective in advancing the mission and enlarging the Kingdom. 

That will probably remain within the background but personal circumstances have caused me to view the material I have been reading through a more personal and intimate lens.  My sister has just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer that will require her to undergo aggressive treatment.  Having a sense of the battle and the ramifications that face her in the coming days has placed a filter over my reading and study.  It is this filter that leads me more to Tozer’s book and 1 Peter.  (O, Lord, you know what my need will be for tomorrow even as I live in today’s moment!!)

One of my favorite quotes by Tozer: “Whatever comes into your heart and mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.”  I remember that the first time I read this it stopped my mind short.  When my mind turns to God, what is the first thing that comes to mind?  I confess that I was ashamed of my thoughts.  You see, I discovered that the first things that came to mind were my needs, my wants, my, my, my.... Not that anything I thought was a bad thing, but my perspective was skewed.  

My struggle with this came while we were in a difficult appointment. It was one in which my motives, my officership and my actions as a mother were constantly questioned and ridiculed.  So, naturally, I was constantly “crying” to God for relief.  It was all about me not about concern for the spiritual state of individuals who could behave in such hurtful and destructive ways.

God in his tender mercy--while soothing my pain--taught me to not only work through that pain but, while doing so, practice the art of Christian love -- Christian love that wants and works for the best good of others no matter what they do or think about you in return. No easy task at times but as Annie Johnson Flint discovered:

      He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,              

      He sendeth more strength as our labors increase,

      To multiplied trials he multiplies peace.

      When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

      When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,

      When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

      Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

      His love has no limits, his grace has no measure,

      His power no boundary known unto men;

      For our of his infinite riches in Jesus

      He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

A verse of scripture that God gave to me while attending SFOT:  

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

1 Peter 5:10

In that appointment (and many since) I have had to come back to this promise.  No matter my circumstance, God will bring me through ... and not only that, make me stronger -- both personally and spiritually.

Let me finish this post with Tozer’s words.

“God is personally concerned about you.  God is not too high or lofty to remember that His children are in the land where illness is prevalent.  Where accidents happen every day.  Where there are loss of jobs and financial worries.  Where people are betrayed by their closest loved ones.  Where there is separation, as for instance, when the boy who has been close to us for so many years, shakes our hand with a grin that is not quite real and walks down the sidewalk and waves at the corner on his way to report to the military service.  Separations come, some never to return to us again.  God knows it and says, ‘Now, I know that’s the kind of world you live in, but I have laid hold on you forever, and I know every detail of your trouble and all your problems, and I’ll anticipate every act of the enemy and every act of every enemy I will anticipate.  I will go before you.’” (Tozer, Living as a Christian, pp. 206-207) 

---Thank you all for your prayers on my sister Judy’s behalf.  I cannot tell you how much those prayers mean to me--as well as your words of encouragement.

Be blessed this week.

On A Mission

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:18-20

I always find it fascinating how God prepares us for calling and ministry.  I have shared with you that I have felt led to establish this blog as away of communicating with you, studying with you, encouraging you, and challenging you.  Before I began this pursuit, I began a 100 day Bible reading plan that began in Matthew (I am on day 18).  Anyway, what I am reading there, the books I have chosen for study, and my devotional preacher   (when my eye problems began I listened to rather than read my devotions and I still do to a great extent) all sort of converged into a plan of presentation.  

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As an aside, the amazing thing about all of this is how all the books and podcasts that I just happened to pick up or be attracted to have interrelated to speak to my own concerns about how our Officers can do mission in today’s culture and chaotic climate of political correctness and post modernity with little in the financial coffers. All of this has been the burden with which I am struggling.  My challenge is the question of how to contemporize leadership in such a way that we can effectively engage our culture in mission.

I am so grateful that God does not allow us to carry a burden without giving us needed resources.  Hence, my reading and listening choices.  (Special thanks to Stan Key and Jay McAlister who are both great preachers)

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As I was saying....

You will notice that the title for this week is ‘on a mission.’ I start here because as Salvationists we consider ourselves to be God’s soldiers.  As soldiers we have been given a mission, indeed a final order, from our Commander, Jesus Christ. In essence, we are soldiers ‘on the ground’ seeking to accomplish the orders that we have been given: “go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” (New Living Translation)

So here we are, God’s soldiers--on the ground--ready to obey orders.  Actually, we are God’s Officers called to lead our soldiers to victory.  

Where to begin. Before we can lead we must be sure that we are prepared.  When soldiers are given orders for a particular mission, they prepare themselves, mentally and physically. As God’s soldiers we can do no less. We must be sure that we are spiritually fit for leadership as well as for the battle.  That preparation is what I hope becomes the focus of this blog.

A major problem that has infected us is well stated by Robert Webber: “The consumer model [influence within and on the church] has especially affected worship, which is the true measure of the church.  Jesus has become a product to sell,and worship is the primary channel for sales...there are a good number of people who never get past the window dressing of worship entertainment, where they continually feed on pabulum rather than the meat of God’s Word.  The substance of worship--remembering God’s saving deeds in the past, culminating in Jesus Christ, and anticipating the overthrow of all evil at Christ’s coming--has been lost.”   

(Who Gets to Narrate the World?-- pp.17-18).

Is Webber right? Has our mission has become compromised?  As leaders (officers) it is our task to lead our people through this land mined area and not allow the enemy to continually distract us from our mission...distractions that cause us to settle for the good in life and miss the best:  abundant life.

Question:  Have we gone so far to accommodate culture that we lack the spiritual discipline to be God’s effective soldier on the ground?

When Jesus calls us to do his work, we are subject to his will as well as his methods. When he sent out the disciples they were not left free to choose their own methods or adopt their own conception of their task.  Their work and ours is to be Christ-work, and therefore absolutely dependent on the will of Jesus.  “Happy are they whose duty is fixed by such a precept, and who are therefore free from the tyranny of their own ideas and calculations”  (Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship).  As officers, the choice of field for our work is no more ours than it was the Disciples’; so our labors do not depend on our own impulses and preferences, but rather on Christ’s command.  Does this not help to make clear that it is not our work that we are doing but rather Christ’s?

The disciples found it hard, at first, to understand the limitations of their commission and it was not until after the resurrection that the Apostles finally went out into the world....Their obedience to the will of Christ became a means of grace for gentiles. “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:7-8)

Strive, when you are called of God,

When he draws you by his grace,

Strive to cast away the load

That would hinder in the race.

Fight, though it may cost your life;

Storm the kingdom, but prevail:

Let not Satan’s fiercest strife

Make you, warrior, faint or quail.

Are you faithful? Wake and watch.

Love with all your heart Christ’s ways;

Seek not worldly ease to snatch,

Look not for reward or praise.

Soldiers of the cross, be strong!

Watch and war through fear or pain,

Daily conquering sin and wrong,

Till our King o’er earth will reign.

SA Songbook 

Johann Joseph Winckler (1670-1722)

trs Catherine Winkworth (1827-78)

Final Thought

“To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us.”    Bonhoeffer

In the book, The Critical Journey, the authors write: "The spiritual journey is deceptively simple and at the same time highly complex." This dichotomy of the Christian life can cause feelings of frustration and confusion as one attempts to give attention to spiritual formation and discipleship. Often the result is a life lived less abundantly than God intended.

With this in mind and with the added responsibilities of my new appointment, I feel God leading me to develop a way of communicating, sharing, and studying life in the Spirit...particularly through the lens of officership.  I confess that I was missing the classroom and was looking for a course of study to take when I felt that God was leading me in this direction.  What I need is the discipline of study that keeps the mind keen, the soul refreshed, and the heart open.

I am asking you to join me in the journey. Please know that I do not consider myself a "learned scholar" who has all the answers.  I simply want to be a vehicle for the Spirit to help us in this business of spiritual formation and discipleship.

We have all heard the sentiment expressed that we cannot lead our people to a higher level than the one we are on.  My hope is that as we deepen our own roots that the people we serve will reap a harvest of benefits.

This blog is a work in progress and I solicit your help and suggestions in its development. My intention is to make a weekly posting which allows time for study and research.

So to begin, I share with you my current reading list and invite you to join me.  My inital study will be based on the following:

--Who Gets to Narrate the World?: Contending for the Christian Story in an Age of Rivals  by Robert Weber

--Big Questions, Worthy Dreams: Mentoring Emerging Adults in Their Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Faith by Sharon Daloz Parks

--Living as a Christian by A.W. Tozer

My testimony as penned by Henry Allen:

With stains of sin upon me, 
And burdened by my guilt,        
I dared not hope that for my soul     
The Savior's blood was spilt;         
But I opened up my Bible
Where I rejoiced to see     
That whosoever will may come,      
And that means me. 

 

I do solicit your feedback. We gain so much as we listen, discuss, and challenge each other. As is often said, "iron sharpens iron." Lets do this!