more reflections

                 Continuing to work my way through Gordon McDonalds teaching on the resilient life. Today he is talking really about managing yourself in the present. He reflects on eight areas that require discipline . I find myself the hardest person to lead. I list them briefly;

 

1)       physical discipline; recognizing that the Christian life is a marathon and not a 100 m dash.

2)       Intellectual discipline; taking care of your mind, being a good thinker and reader.

3)       Emotional disciplines; handling emotions appropriately, controlling them.

4)       Relational discipline; being in healthy balanced relationships where you are giving and receiving.

5)       The discipline of the ego; not giving pride any room in your life.

6)       Disciplines of skill and competency, developing your gifts.

7)       The soul; how do you intentionally develop yourself spiritually?

8)       Convictability; can I be rebuked?

 

Gordon reflects on the possibility of a ninth discipline, that of finance.

 

I have felt these provide a very useful grid through which to filter my life at the current time.

 

Gordon  McDade

 

signs of shallowness

 

           From Gordon McDonalds teaching on the resilient life;  signs of shallowness.

 

                                 Words with no action.

 

                                 Busy-ness with no purpose.

 

                                 Calendars with no Sabbath.

 

                                 Relationships which lack mutual nourishment.

 

                                 Leadership that is unexamined.

 

                                 Natural giftedness without spiritual power.

 

                                 A theology that does not have a corresponding spirituality.

 

                                 Beliefs with no accompanying behaviours.

Gordon  McDade

 

resilience

               During this week at home I have been listening to some Cds by Gordon McDonald, kindly given to me by Yvonne, called “ a resilient life, “ and have found myself enormously impacted by his words and the example of his life.

 

    The questions he asks leaders to consider is this; what ideas and processes need to be found at the core of the life of a leaders life that enable him or her to display vitality, stability and competency? It’s about who you are, not programmes being run in church. How do you equip yourself for the long haul to finish well? How do you develop resilience? To avoid the danger of an empty soul even in the midst of ministry?  I have sensed that danger myself and have really felt God challenging me to take a fresh look at myself through these weeks to ensure that my soul is full and my spiritual resources in my relationship with him are sufficient to sustain me.

 

    It is possible to start well and fast in ministry depending on natural gifts but so easy to end up, especially in mid life, empty and disillusioned by the sheer impact of constant ministry. There is a time to stop doing the visible work and concentrate on the invisible part of you.

 

      He begins by encouraging the grasping of a big picture view of life. Conversion as a daily ongoing process as well as a definite one time commitment to Christ; character development through spiritual disciplines; calling being clear at every season of life; and contribution of a developed giftedness.

 

     He continues with the importance of settling the past, dealing with those events that have impacted and shaped us over the years. Every decade has its questions and issues to deal with. In my forties the issues are about influences that formed me, how far have I come and what have I achieved? Big stuff. For all of us. We need to deal with the past, through forgiveness, repentance, gratitude for all God has done and understanding the lessons of the events of life. An examined life.

 

     These issues alone have got me thinking. More to come over the next few days.

 

Gordon

 

Gordon  McDade

 

spiritual eyes

              Having a week or two at home now gives me an opportunity to reflect a little on some of the things I have seen and heard since going on sabbatical almost a month ago now. Time flies doesn’t it. God has been saying some significant things to me through that time. Thought I would reflect on some of these over next few days.

 

      The first thing I did upon leaving work was to fly straight to Manchester where I spent two days in a gathering of leaders under the banner of the Willow Creek Association in the UK. This was to promote the Global Leadership Summit which initially happens in Chicago in August but then is shown again on the big screen in various venues around the world in October, including this year in Bangor Elim. It looks like a significant event with this year speakers like Colin Powell and Jimmy Carter. I hope some of us will go in October.

 

     Yet in the midst of all the promotion for this event, I heard God say some things clearly to me in my leadership role and as a disciple of Jesus.

 

     The first thing, in fact he said it on more than one occasion to me, was the importance of seeing with spiritual eyes. Dave Loveless, pastor of Discovery Church in Orlando, spoke of the story of Elisha at Dothan in 2 Kings 6 where in the face of an overwhelming siege he saw the gathered invisible armies of the Lord gathered around the enemy. They could only be seen with the eyes of faith. The challenge was to ask God to let us see the way he sees, to confess our fixation on the visible and to ask God to help us to begin to imagine looking for solutions we cant see with human eyes. I found that enormously challenging. “ Sometimes you can really only see by closing your eyes”.

 

     Dave’s two points were, “ face the impossible but don’t focus on it”. And “ focus on the invisible so that you can do what seems inpossible”.

 

        I have been thinking about it ever since.

 

Gordon  McDade

 

 

the renewal of the church

              During a question and answer session with Rick Warren, he was talking about the stages of renewal in a growing church. I found this very helpful.

 

1)       Personal renewal; where it begins, in our hearts, as Jesus is Lord of our individual lives.

 

2)       Relational renewal; where we love and respect each other. Work at relationships in the body.

 

3)       Missional renewal; where we know and prioritise what we are about. Think this where the “B” s would fit in.

 

4)       Structural renewal;  this one seemed to connect to me most to me just now. You cannot lead a larger church in the way you would lead a smaller one. If a smaller church is a cat, a bigger church is not a big cat, it is rather a different animal entirely. I feel this aspect of reneal is facing us now.

 

5)       Cultural renewal;  where the culture both inside and outside the church is impacted by the life of the church community.

 

 

    Food for thought, eh? 

 

Gordon  McDade

 

fresh reflection

             Thoughts jotted in LA airport last Sun am.

 

         Its interesting to spend a morning sitting in Los Angeles International Airport. You literally see the world go by, “every nation, tribe and tongue” so to speak and in many ways that theme of “global  faith” has typified these ten days for me.

 

   Meeting Firouz and Carina with their children, Andrew and Crista Rose; his commitment to reaching Farsi speaking Iranian people is enormous, both locally and globally. To visit the studio in Anaheim, where he and his team make tv programmes and construct web sites that will reach millions of people was a privilege for me. Pray for this strategic ministry. I sense that this is the frontline of spiritual ministry and prone to attack.

 

   Staying with Pastor Neil and his wife (and ministry assistant!!) Nancy was an opportunity to get an insight into the Calvary Chapel denomination, founded by Chuck Smith in Costa Mesa, not too far away. There are many Calvary Chapels now. I was interested in the amount of authority given to the Pastor in theses churches in that not only is he the Pastor but also the Chairman of the Board. Good gig I reckon. Maybe not!  I hope to be able to stay in touch.

 

    One of the most fascinating insights from Rick Warren in Saddleback was this vision he has for a Global PEACE plan. I found this to be inspirational and worth further thought. The idea that local churches make up the most extensive network for spiritual and social change in the world. Rick told us he had just written an article for a special edition of Forbes Business Journal saying exactly that.  To say that your local church can have a local and a global impact is not at all far fetched in this day and age. It has caused me to reflect on the nature of our mission as a church.

 

      Here is Ricks thinking; he has identified the biggest problems in the world; 1) spiritual emptiness, 2) egocentric leadership, 3) extreme poverty, 4) pandemic diseases, 5) poor education/ illiteracy.  Then he encourages us to look at the ministry of Jesus and to do what he did in addressing these giants in our world. So the PEACE plan identifies what our priorities in ministry should be. P= plant and partner with churches to reach people.  E= equipping leaders. A= assisting the poor. C= caring for the sick. E= educating the next generation.

 

       The challenge is for the church to be on the frontline, both locally and internationally doing these things, primarily through teams and partnerships to see the global giants addressed. I am encouraged by what we already do in Ukraine and in our own community. I also recognize that there is still so much to do. I am very encouraged by the growing emphasis on the poor in the ministry of our fellowship.

 

      And the time at Fuller was also stimulating. Walt Wrights emphasis on the importance of character in those who lead. Eddie Gibbs gracious manner and encouragement  to lead a church differently at each stage of its growth. All very helpful.  The journey continues.

 

Gordon McDade

Fuller Seminary in Pasadena

Spent today at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena. This morning I had a meeting with Walter Wright who heads up the DePree leadership centre here at the seminary. This is a new centre at the seminary with the aim of encouraging leadership particularly in the business world though much of its work will also impact the church in the long run.

Walt is a humble and gracious man who welcomed me to his spacious office where we chatted through a number of leadership issues. Walt was President of Regent seminary in Vancouver where Eugene Peterson and Jim Packer teach ( something which he himself found overwhelmingly humbling) and has written a number of books which I have found very helpful, well worth a read. Relational Leadership, a great study of the pastoral epistles,; Don’t step on the rope, about teamwork drawing on a mountaineering theme; Mentoring, a very practical book on investing in the lives of others. Walt encouraged me in a number of ways. He stressed the importance on the issue of character in leadership, that the values that are important in any church or company are a reflection of the character of those who are in leadership. Therefore character transformation is a priority for anyone in leadership. Who you are is more important than what you do. This makes the devotional life of critical importance.

Walt and the work of the centre seeks to encourage those in the business world to see what they do as ministry, that whatever we do in our lives is ministry. We are all on mission all the time. The kingdom extends to every aspect of our lives, not least our work lives. Worth remembering.

The afternoon was spent with Professor Eddie Gibbs and the doctor of ministry students at Fuller. Eddie is 69 years old yet retains a passion and a zeal for the church, its mission and relevance in the world. He stresses the importance of still learning something no matter what stage you are at in life. Walt asked me a similar question, “what do you want to learn next?” worth considering for all of us. It was aprivilege to sit in on one of the doctor of ministry classes and to engage with the students.

In the midst of all of these travels, I find myself reflecting on my own life and ministry. At almost 44 I have a sort of half time feeling about where I am at. I see both my own life and the life of the church as being at critical stages with the importance of making wise choices being vital to the future of both. I will continue to reflect in this blog over the next few months.

Gordon.

sabbatical

It hardly feels like two weeks since I began this sabbatical time. It has been busy so far with a lot to think about already. This last week has been spent in California, especially in the southern part of the state, in Orange county. It has been great to meet up again with Firouz and Carina and their family, Andrew who is three and Crista Rose, who is just about a month old and beautiful. They have been her now for about five years and are connected to Calvary Chapel in Mission Viejo. Firouz pastors the Persian congregation there which attracts about twenty farsi speaking people on a Sunday morning. It was also great to visit the studio in Anaheim where Firouz and his team make programmes for television broadcast around the world and maintain a number of Christian websites which share the gospel with farsi speaking people in many other nations. I was blessed to see the commitment and passion with which this team approach their global ministry. Carina has her hands full raising the children and supporting Firouz in the work. Andrew will be starting pre school in September.

It was great to preach in calvary Chapel last Saturday and Sunday, three services in all. It reminded me so much of Ballynahinch in style. The Pastor, Neil Travisano, and his wife, Nancy, opened their home to me for five days and spoiled me totally, which was great. I hope I can stay in touch with this congregation and with Firouz and Carina, who have such a heart for the work of God amongst Iranian people.

Two days at Saddleback came next with pastor Rick Warren. This is a very impressive megachurch, with around twenty thousand members. They saw a thousand people trust Christ at easter this year and have baptized twenty thousand in the last ten years. It just boggles the mind. Yet Ricks humility and grace, his generosity to give away all his experience and wisdom, blessed me and all of us at the conference. The conference was about mobilizing the entire body of a church in mission to address both local and global needs. Every member a minister was the phrase, quite a challenge for us.


Couple of days at Fuller seminary now and home next week.

God is saying many things to me through these days, both personally and in terms of ministry. I will reflect on some of them through this blog in the weeks to come. Stay tuned.


Gordon.