Yesterday I attended SAGE, a web conference put on by Leadership Network. As the name implies, the conference intention was for those who have “been there” to share ministry leadership wisdom. I jotted down notes during the speaker’s presentations, and here are the points I found most beneficial:
1 – Hire based on chemistry and character rather than competence and credentials
2- Be both very spiritual and very strategic. They don’t cancel each other out.
3-Focus on the things that God has gifted you to do. What does your organization need from you the most?
4-Internalizing problems does not allow you to be fully present with others OR be focused to hear God’s direction. Solution: invite trusted people into your inner circle and externalize ministry frustrations
5-Set-up your ministry with an exit strategy in mind. Make it easy for your successor.
6-Serve God. Leave the size and scope of your ministry up to Him.
7- Don’t trade worshipping God for working for God.
8 – In the end, only one Person matters. Spend time with Christ, and accomplish more as a result.
9 – Do less. Focus on things that matter.
10 – Sin affects our relationship with God AND with others. Christ is the cure for both problems.
Ergun Caner is the current President of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. LBTS is a part of Liberty University, the world’s largest Christian university and my alma mater. Caner has recently been under attack (read the Washington Post story and the Christianity Today article) from bloggers and others who say that he has been lying about his Muslim background. As someone who has heard Caner speak in person, I can say that he does indeed indicate in his sermons that he had an extensive Muslim upbringing, being taught daily from the Quran in a madrasa in Istanbul.
Who is to say if Caner has been caught in a string of lies? A few bloggers? Please. The point is that at this moment, no one knows for sure. Liberty University has opened an official investigation. I recently met with a pastor who telephone Caner to offer him encouragement. Caner informed him that he was the first pastor to do so. How tragic.
Caner then explained how it would take him 2 hours to tell his Muslim background story from beginning to end. In a sermon, he gets to tell about 4 minutes of it (I would guess). So in pulling many different 4 minute tidbits from a 2 hour narrative on dozens of different occasions, isn’t there some chance that someone (a blogger) could get confused? That maybe, just maybe, someone could think they’ve caught someone in a lie, when in fact all they’ve done is miss the 4 minutes that should be inserted between the two they already have?
This pastor told me that Caner feels confident that he will be vindicated. And when you have men of God like Elmer Towns saying that “It’s not an ethical issue, it’s not a moral issue”, I would tend to agree.
The picture above is of me shaking Caner’s hand on Saturday as I received my diploma. But that’s not the point. I told him “I’m praying for you. Behind you all the way”. And I meant it.
Two thoughts in closing:
1) Is this not America? Innocent until proven guilty anyone?
In Deputation – Part 1 I discussed what deputation involves – who we are deputing for. Now, I’d like to get into the process of how it actually works. If you are confused by the process of deputation, you’re not alone. Many people we talk to don’t understand all the ins and outs. In fact, if we weren’t missionaries I doubt we’d understand it either.
A missionary, by simple definition, is someone who is sent to a geographical location other than his own to share the gospel. But sent by whom? The Bible says in Acts 13:4 that missionaries are sent by the Holy Spirit: So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia…
It is God who calls a person to the foreign mission field, not a church, denomination, or pastor. I wasn’t very good in 7th grade geography, and I doubt I could have picked the Philippines out on a map. I might have picked Japan by mistake. But now, I have a heart for the people there and to see them have their lives changed by Christ. How do you explain that? It’s simple: God has laid it on our hearts.
So you see, God through His Holy Spirit has directed us where to go.
Where has God asked you to go?What person, or group of people, has He laid on your heart?
I recently saw a news report about a new video that Lady Gaga is doing with Beyonce. I have not watched the video on Youtube, and I would suggest you don’t either. After reading the news article on it, the point is made.
Matt Drudge recently posted on his website this story about nude art figures that artist Antony Gormley is placing around Manhattan.
The argument is that these creations are art, and should be viewed and judged (or not judged) accordingly. I will concede that fact:
I do believe that these pieces qualify as art.
My definition of art: an item or experience created byhumans that engages the viewer, stirs imagination, or creates dialogue
These pieces – the video and the statue – are definitely art. My problem is that I don’t believe they are art that should be allowed to be displayed. “Wait a minute, Marc, what is this – Russia? Don’t you believe in free-speech?” I do. I believe that we are free to do what is right. And I believe that artwork of this nature does more damage to society than good. The beauty of America is that we, the people, decide what is permissible and what is not. Our freedoms of speech and art are not determined by a regime or dictator, but by ourselves.
We can vote for what we feel is permissible. So those of you that disagree with my assertion of this art can vote that way. And those of you that agree with me can vote that way. And whoever has the most votes, wins. So in one way, I’m glad that Lady Gaga is free to produce that video. I’m also glad that I have a vote to, in one way or another, decide that it can’t be played in public.
deputation (n): the act of appointing a person or body of people to represent or act on behalf of others
We are on deputation as missionaries. So who are we deputing for? Probably still the most famous deputy in America is Barney Fife, Andy Griffith’s one-bullet side kick. He represented Mayberry in all things criminal, as well as civil (think “citizens arrest, citizens arrest!” ) As missionaries, we are representing our ministry in several different ways. First and foremost, we are representing God, as He is the One who has laid our ministry on our hearts and continually opens doors for us. We also represent our church, Florence Baptist Temple, as we are out on the road visiting other churches. Interelated to the other two is the fact that we represent the people of Metro Manila. Over 18 million people, 50% of whom are under the age of 25, live in Manila. As a majority they do not know Christ and are confused by religion.
We represent people like our HDM Asia team member, Rodelle Macale. Here is his testimony:
“I am Rodelle Macale. I am 21 years old and like many young people now I am the product of a broken family. During my first year in high school I became involved in a gang. There I learned alot of bad things like saying many bad words to my teachers, fighting with many of my schoolmates, gang war, partying, marijuana, and immorality. Then one time one of my friends invited me to go to the Impact Camp, and he said it was for free. At the camp on May 29, 2007 I accepted Christ in my heart as my Lord and personal Savior and I decided to follow His will. At first it was really hard for me, but God is always there to help me change by process. I am now a member at Community Baptist Church Makati. I became involved first in the martial arts ministry of Toughguys International, and also Kids Jam, and drama ministry! Now God is still using me mightily in Honest Deceiver Ministries. This is a magic ministry, and I can do magic tricks with a card deck, illustrating the Word of God through this! I can win of minimum 50 souls for the Lord every month! I really love to share the Gospel every time I perform, and I always perform the magic for free! Because I received the gospel for free so I can share it also for free with amazement through card tricks! =) But I always give back all the glory to God! And now God is using me mightily in the church planting team for Community Baptist Church Mandaluyong.”
We are deputing so that we can see Jesus change other Filipino’s just like He changed Rodelle. So that is what deputation is about. That’s why we do this. In coming posts, we will talk about how the deputation process works…
In evangelical churches, we often talk about the challenges of witnessing and discussion turns to the best methods to bring someone to faith in Christ. But what if they came to us? That’s exactly what happened in Acts 5:12-16. The apostles were doing so many good things for people (physically, mind you) that they were coming to Christ in multitudes as a result.
Question: How can you help someone in need today that might show them (and their friends) the love of Christ?
There’s one thing that incites criticism faster than almost anything else: vision.
Vision, Andy Stanley says, is “a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.” A mental picture of something that does not yet exist, combined with the desire to make it a true reality inherently fosters uncertainty.
And uncertainty leads to criticism.
I have seen this in my own life from time to time. For example, starting a ministry based on the premise that sleight of hand is a powerful gospel tool is not the easiest thing for some people to buy into. Some of those people have questions. Vocal questions. Actually, more like strong recommendations. But I had (and have) that vision.
Questions: What vision do you have that people have questioned or criticized? How are you dealing with that?
90 degrees Farenheit. That was the temperature in our car this past week as we traveled through the Midwest fighting the onsalught of sleet and snow. The only way to fight the build up of ice on the windshield was to have the defrost on high (MAX and 90), or so I thought. More on that in a sec…
So as we are riding through this winter storm on our way to another church, I couldn’t help but notice that none of the other cars (all with Iowa and Nebraska license plates) seemed to be having much of a problem. Maybe it was the fact that I was sweating profusely, or the fact that my pregnant wife was fanning herself and using cold bottles of water as personal neck coolers, but eventually I said out loud “okay something is not right!” Jessica agreed and began searching Google using a missionary’s best friend (iPhone). And then we found it: de-icer windshield washer fluid.
Fact: they don’t sell -34F de-icing windshield washer fluid in South Carolina. I had never heard of it. They don’t sell it in the Philippines either, and Jessi had never heard of it. But you learn something new every day, and that day we learned that Family Dollar in Iowa sells it for $2.99 plus tax. And so, we were on our way. This time with a much more comfortable in-car temperature….
What exciting lessons will be learn next on deputation? Stay tuned….
I recently watched the movie The Soloist with Jamie Foxx about a musical genius who basically went crazy due to his life circumstances. He ended up homeless. It is based on a true story. As the story goes, someone saw what no one else did and helped him regain his platform. He could still play the cello like no one else could.
We were recently traveling in Kansas, and we were eating breakfast in McDonalds. There was a man sitting behind us who was obviously “crazy” by any definition. He was talking to himself, had a table full of ‘nick-nacks’ and kept getting up and down and looking in the trashcan. My heart went out to him. I thought, “Jesus could change his life”. I prayed that the tract I was about to hand him would make an impact, and then I walked it over to him.
He looked up to heaven as if asking God, “why is he talking to me?”. Then he looked at me. His eyes told me that no one had talked to him in a long time.
“Your favorite? Did you write it?” he asked.
“No I didn’t, but it’s a good one”, I said with a smile as I walked away.
And that was that. If he read it, Christ could heal him and change his life. I am confident of that.
Yesterday I attended SAGE, a web conference put on by Leadership Network. As the name implies, the conference intention was for those who have “been there” to share ministry leadership wisdom. I jotted down notes during the speaker’s presentations, and here are the points I found most beneficial:
