We followers of Jesus find our spiritual center in reflecting on these themes and allowing them to renew peace and tranquility in the middle of the storms of our lives. If we allow the Spirit to speak into our heart we will renew hope for the coming days. Our God is a promise keeper! He is also willing to take the humble place, not exempting himself from the realities of life itself. Surely he understands who I am, where I am, and what can become my best future. And He journeys with me!

Fired up by the blessings of Advent we boldly face the opportunities of the New Year. Renewed hopes, dreams and yes, resolutions to live more in tune with our Savior in the new year. We resolve to adjust schedules, re-align priorities with our core values and to give more attention to holistic health. Care of the body, soul and spirit in the New Year are mapped out with precision and great enthusiasm. Next year is going to be different–we assure ourselves! Another planned reformation of self is underway….

Then sometime after January 1 . . . life happens. The January visa card statement arrives with the record of our over-spending in December. The unexpected car repair is required during the winter’s first serious snow fall. We catch a cold and it hangs on endlessly. Someone close to us, undergoing their own stress, uses us for their verbal punching bag. We find ourselves sucked right back into the habits, behaviors, and thought patterns that we vowed to leave behind in the old year.

Once again we are confronted with disappointments and struggles and seemingly insurmountable obstacles to our aspirations. Are we doomed to repeating the cycle of Advent hope followed by New Year disillusionment?

We should not feel all alone in this struggle. Paul said this, “I have the desire to do what is good but I can’t carry it out. What I do is not the good I want to do, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep doing! . . .In my inner being I delight In God’s law but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin. . .who will rescue me from this body of death?”(Romans 7.18,19,22-24) He answers his own question with a powerful exclamation–“Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

I read these words and I say to myself, Mick here is your path for 2009. A little less dependence on self and your ability to self-reform. . .and a profoundly more careful commitment to the power of Jesus’ life in you. . . that is Advent’s blessing spilling over into the new year.

Open my ears to those I would prefer not to hear,

Open my life to those I would prefer not to know,

Open my heart to those I would prefer not to love,

And so open my eyes to see where I exclude You.

Iona Community Prayer

There is a significant price to pay for leaders called to serve as change agents. In fact, one of the responses to this observation was that unless you are personally convinced that this is part of God’s call on your life and ministry, DON’T DO IT! The painful criticism you are likely to incur in the process is likely to be intense. I have heard testimony upon testimony of pastors and congregational leaders who have sought to catalyze a mission focused reformation in their church. Some lost their position of leadership. Others endured venomous attacks in the process, but did survive. Why is this, the case?

For most people, any significant change is hard. It will require a period of transition to the new behavior and all along the way to the new, there will be temptations to give up the effort. We are all creatures of habit and life rhythm. The ruts in our personal roads are well worn, regardless of age or gender. We observe that paradigms that were once successful and the traditions that support them become sacred in many faith groups. “This has worked for us in the past and this is our way” becomes the mantra of the opposition to change. The end result is that most established congregations are extremely resistant to significant change.
Add into the equation, “herd mentality” that characterizes many congregants who have gradually attenuated to less than vital congregational life. What we have described is almost the perfect environment for resistance to change and offense at those who dare to lead change. It is fairly predictable that when folks are being prodded to change their behavior they are likely to react and the reaction will be targeted at the one prodding(agitator) The vague anxiety that accompanies challenges to our paradigms and traditions further increases the “personal nature” of the responses.

The leader is targeted for resistance rather than the change itself. In fact the leader can become the focus of the conversation instead of the “change” suggested. This resistance may erupt into anger, impugning of character, and wild and unsupportable accusations of departure from orthodoxy or the faith group’s polity. Unfortunately, threats and attempts at coercion are soon close behind. Those who resist the change may even organize and mount a coordinated counter- effort to resist the change. I have seen this pattern enough over my nearly three decades of ministry to predict that the leader who dares to be a missional change agent will be sorely tested. Courage, tenacity and resilience will be required to see the transition through.
The class discussion was animated and sobering as we worked through this reality. Our conclusion was that throughout the history of the church, God has asked leaders to risk being His change agents in their generation. Congregations, like individual Christians, are “prone to wander-Lord I feel it” as the hymn writer has aptly stated. Periodically, the Spirit raises up men and women to lead their faith community back to the purpose and mission of God that gave it birth. In each case, courage is a key requirement for faithful service.

(Courageously) Still on Mission-
Mick

Brief quotes from Professor Randy Pausch “The Last Lecture”

“Yet discernment does not take place in a vacuum, nor by accident. Spiritual community is the context for discernment, so the first move in cultivating a culture of discernment is to establish the leadership group as a community for discernment.

“This means our life together is grounded in prayer and intentional spiritual practices, such as reading and reflecting on Scripture, silence, listening, worship and intercession, self-examination and confession.”

From “Your most important leadership role: discerning and obeying God’s voice. Together.”
-by Ruth Haley Barton, Leadership Journal, Summer 2008. Visit: www.leadershipjournal.net

He has a B.S. in Biblical Studies and Organizational Leadership from Philadelphia Biblical University, and is currently a candidate for a M.A. in Organization Development from PBU.

Randall resides in Souderton, Pa with his wife Barb, and daughter Cara. They are members at Grace Bible Church in Souderton Pa.

Catalyst 4 Missional Leadership is a ministry of Biblical Seminary in Hatfield. As such, the Biblical Board of Trustees hold fiduciary oversight over the ministry Center. C4ML Board of Reference members, each a committed person of faith, share the passion of the Center for helping local congregations pursue missional faithfulness and fruitfulness. They assist the director in developing the funding base for the ministry and advise the director in matters of business plan and developmental strategies.

“He took the time to be kind to others when he didn’t need to and did lots of good things for people that no one knew about.” –Tribute to Journalist Tony Snow after his demise to cancer

This past week marked the passing of journalist Tony Snow. Snow had served as President Bush’s press secretary for a time after a distinguished career as a journalist in print, radio and television. It was interesting to me to listen to people across the range of political viewpoints offer him tribute. It didn’t sound like the perfunctory things often said when someone of note passes. Rather, the comments came across as genuine, heartfelt and often stated while wiping away tears, by-products of grief over a personal loss. To the rhetorical left and to the right- testimonies abound of the impact of Tony Snow’s life and contribution to his world.

I heard the above statement made of Snow while driving in to my office today and it occurred to me that what was said of Snow is a characteristic of truly missional leaders. They are not defined by the public execution of their professional craft, but by the quality of their expressions of kindness toward others, often done privately and sometimes even anonymously. Such leaders understand that adding value to the lives of others is a characteristic of the follower of Christ.

According to the The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, benevolence means: an inclination to perform kind, charitable acts, motivated by generosity. It is possible for a leader to become so consumed with big picture issues for the organization, that cultivation of value inspired personal habits and practices become secondary or are neglected completely. Busyness at leadership can divert energy and time commitment to the private practice of charity. In the context of congregation, some believers think they have discharged their responsibility to charitable living by their contribution to the offering plate as it passes by. While these tithes and offering no doubt provide resources for the congregation’s leadership to minister to the whole, they are surely not a substitute for individual daily habits of benevolence.

Missional leaders understand that the task is not just to oversee a smooth running organization that does ministry but also to reinforce the right values in the culture of the organization. By practicing generosity and kindness in mundane routines of life, the leader is reflecting the ethic of Jesus and showing those with whom he leads what is truly important. The platform is established which will allow for the congregation to naturally and spontaneously multiply acts of kindness and generosity with shared resources in the local community and beyond.

It is a well worn saying that “you reproduce what you are!” If so, the habitual practice of benevolence in one’s personal life should lead to the creation of communities of Christ that demonstrate this powerful mark of the Kingdom. What could happen in a community of Christ as its members began to practice daily benevolence? What might be the impact on a congregation’s context as its members individually sought out specific local social needs to fill among the poor, the hungry, the overlooked, the wounded and scared among them? How might a benevolent God be better understood by resident agnostics when God’s people individually and corporately practice daily benevolence? Some good questions for missional leaders to ponder? Better yet, some questions to answer through real life testing!