quotes

                Been doing some half way processing these last few days and going back over notes from conversations, talks and books. Just wanted to share some of the quotes I have come across which have impacted me most.

 

     “ Focus on the invisible so that you can do what seems impossible. Sometimes you can only really see by closing your eyes.”  Dave Loveless, pastor, Discovery Church, Orlando, talking about the importance of spiritual eyes.

 

   “ The best leaders make fantastic followers.”  Bill Hybels.

 

    “ I am far from convinced that the life of our churches is shaped for mission.” Jonathan Edwards, General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

 

   “ If a church of 200 members is a cat, a church of 500 members is not a bigger cat. It is a totally different animal.”  Rick Warren.

 

    “ What do you want to learn next?” Walt Wright, Director of Max dePree Leadership Institute, Fuller Seminary, California.

 

   “ Be converted and always converting.” Puritan, Thomas Shepherd.

 

    “ Their passion for changing the world derived from a conviction that they could not change themselves.”  Gordon McDonald, quoting Scott Turrow.

 

    “ Most Christian leadership is excercised by people who do not know what it is to have healthy intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead. They are unable to give and receive love.”   Henri Nouwen.

 

   “ I see now that the loneliness of God is his strength. What would he be if he listened to all your jealous little councils? Well, my loneliness shall be my strength too; it is better to be alone with God. His friendship will not fail me, nor his counsel, nor his love. In his strength I will dare and dare and dare until I die.”

         George Bernard Shaw writing the words of Joan of Ark when confronted by the Archbishop of Rheims and the French court.

 

 

  “The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort.”  John Ortberg.

 

  “ A life unquestioned is not one you should envy.” Bono.

 

Gordon  McDade

 

confessions of a pastor

              Every now and then you read a book which so challenges your heart that it causes you to reflect deeply on who you are and what you are about. Such a book is “Confessions of a Pastor”  subtitled “Adventures in dropping the pose and getting real with God” written by Craig Groeschel. He is the pastor of Lifechurch.tv in Oklahoma.

 

         Craig’s honesty is breathtaking as one Sunday morning he stands before his congregation and admitted to them that he was a spiritual impostor. How, over a lifetime, a well intentioned follower of Jesus had built an impressive exterior but failed miserably at being the real thing, a disciple of Christ. His ministry had become a lie. A total pretence. A professional Christian.  I have been so challenged by that, a challenge that needs to be faced by anyone who claims to follow Jesus. What does it mean to be the real thing?

 

    Over ten chapters then this pastor confesses some of the things on his and on the hearts of many a pastor, this one included at times. The titles include;

 I cant stand a lot of Christians!  Most of the time I feel incredibly lonely.  I worry almost all the time. Sometimes I doubt God. I feel completely inadequate.  I stink at handling criticism. I am afraid of failure.

 

    Let me tell you, being really honest, I have felt all of those and probably more in my time. Maybe the call to drop the pose and get real with God finds a resonance with you too.

 

Gordon  McDade

 

sabbatical reading

               Just thought I would put in a few lines about some of the stuff I have been reading over these weeks of sabbatical, just in case you are looking for something for some reading material over the holidays. All pretty spiritual I’m afraid, in case your into P D James or Maeve Binchy ( not that there is anything wrong with either as a good read!!).

 

        Here we go;  A Passionate Life and a companion volume The Passionate Church, both by Mike Breen and Walt Kallestad.  Published by NexGen through Kingsway in the UK in 2005.

          These unpack the Lifeshapes teaching I have been referring to and explains how to implement them in a church. Great for personal discipleship too.

 

 Break out churches by Thom Rainer, ( Zondervan, 2005 ). Fascinating if you are interested in the vital characteristics of growing churches and the kind of leadership they need.

 

Waking the Dead, John Eldredge, ( Nelson, 2003 ).  The glory of a heart fully alive. Very readable and targetted particularly at men. What does it mean to live life to the full in Christ. Check out the Ransomed Heart ministries web site too.

 

 

Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster, Hodder and Stoughton, 1980.  A classic, read it please.

 

Called to be God’s leader, Henry and Richard Blackaby, ( Nelson, 2004 ).  I have been thinking a lot about Joshua as a Biblical hero of mine. This is an inspiring character study.

 

 Bono on Bono, Conversations with Michka Assayas. ( Hodder, 2005 ) I loved this because it is a series of conversations with the man himself. He has a lot to say about his heart and work for the poor.

 

 This has been a great time for reading and thinking for me, both in terms of my own walk with God and in terms of leading the church. Been scribbling all the way with all sorts of quotes and stories. Have seen myself reflected in so many of these pages.

 

   Quote I am most thinking about right now would be Bono who said, “A life unquestioned is not one you should envy.”   If there is one thing this time has taught me it is to live life with a sense if intention and purpose.

 

Gordon  McDade

 

more personal

               Doesn’t time fly when you are enjoying yourself?  Hard to believe I am six weeks in to the sabbatical now. Seems to have gone quickly. Yet I feel like I have done a lot, four trips in all, lots of conversations, lots to think about.  Away from all that, or perhaps in the light of all of that, where am I at in myself?

 

      Suppose I have a real half time feeling about me at the minute. This is my 22^nd year in ministry and I am 44 this year!!  If all goes well I might have another twenty years in me church ministry wise. A few things going through my head.

 

      Want to go deeper in my relationship with God. Really believe ministry is about so much more than natural or spiritual giftedness. Want to live this stuff out.

 

      Don’t want to be lonely in the journey. Am learning the value of community. Everybody needs somebody.

 

      Don’t want to end up bitter in spirit or disappointed in myself or in the calling I have faithfully sought to follow.

 

      Feel the desire to live a more balanced life. Really want to be a better husband and a better dad. I have an amazing wife and great kids. Want to lead them too faithfully before God, before I lead the church actually.My church leadership of the fellowship must flow out of our home life and walk with God.

 

     Friends are really important and I have some great ones.

 

      So I am taking along hard look at me and reckon there are a few personal areas of change I would like to address as I get back into work in the autumn. BBC is a great church with amazing people. All sorts of things  excite me about moving forward in to the next chapter and I must admit I worry bout a few things too. Maybe they just all go with the job. But I really believe God is in this and we can trust him, actually I can trust him.

 

   Thanks for the thoughts and the prayers. Miss the congregation a lot.

 

G

 

Gordon  McDade

 

new thoughts

                   Still here in Sheffield at the conference run by St Thomas church. Continuing today in the Lifeshapes series and thinking about the importance of the balance between work and rest. We began in John 15 and the idea of abiding in Christ and bearing fruit often through pruning which is constant in our Christian walk, especially when the fruit is ripe and apparent in us.

 

       The key word is fruitful which in turn takes us back to our very origin as those made in the image of God. Gen 1;26 reminds us that we are made to be fruitful not just in producing children but also in producing the fruit of righteousness. We are also made to work as part of Gods blessing to us as human beings. And to work in the context of a life lived in the balance of rest and work which God created us to enjoy. Adam and Eve were created on day six and the next day, their first, was a day off, a rest day. So we are to work from rest, not to rest from work. We are to plan our rest first and then to plan our work.

 

      And in the resting there is an abiding in Christ which enables us to know intimacy with him. And in the work we will produce fruit of even better quality. So the semi circle is created by a swinging pendulum, swinging between abiding and resting on one side and working and being fruitful on the other.

 

Quite a challenge.

 

Gordon  McDade

 

Lifeshapes

 

            I find this Lifeshapes teaching stinulating and challenging. The concept was developed by Mike Breen, who was the team leader at St Thomas Crookes until 2004 when he moved to the US to minister. He still teaches at this visitors week each year.

 

     Lifeshapes consists of using a series of shapes to teach profound spiritual truths. At one level it strikes you as simple yet at another there is much to unpack and think through.

 

      For instance, the shape we were taught about today was the triangle, a three sided shape. The truth drawn from it is that our lives as Christians consist of three connected relationships. At the top of the triangle is the UP relationship with God.  At one side is the IN relationship, with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And the third is the OUT relationship, with those not yet followers of Christ.

 

    These three relationships are seen so clearly seen in the life of Christ himself, who early in the morning spent time alone with his father; who spent time with the twelve and with the three in close communion; yet had time for the crowds and those in need. His was a life in perfect balance. Do we model or even aspire to model something similar? Are there practical steps we can take to ensure each relationship will develop?

 

    There are seven or eight shapes in all and I still have a long way to go in grasping them all. But I am excited by the potential of this teaching.

Gordon  McDade

 

here we go again

               Am spending this week in Sheffield at a most interesting church. The church is called St Thomas’ and is really two congregations on two separate campuses in the city here. One is called St Thomas Crookes and the other St Thomas Philadelphia. What makes it more interesting is that these are joint Anglican/ Baptist churches and have staff from both streams in both churches.

 

     Each year these churches have what they call a visitors week where they welcome guests from all over the world to see their ministry up close. I was encouraged to come by Eddie Gibbs, Professor of Church Growth at Fuller Seminary in LA after having had a conversation with him about some of the issues I am thinking about to do with Ballynahinch. Today is the end of day one so these are some early reflections. There are about 120 delegates her from Uk, USA, Norway and Australia, from all sorts of churches and denominations. The interaction with other leaders is stimulating in itself.

 

     One of the features of each day is time given over to prayer. The staff at St Thoms meet to pray every weekday morning and then at twelve and at three each day. The foundation of prayer is clear and its benefits obvious. This is the largest church in the north of England with 2000 connected to it, 80% under forty. Amazing!!  The theme of every Monday morning is thanksgiving and we shared this morning what we are thankful for and prayed for a spirit of thankfulness to be released in each other. At the prayer time this afternoon there was prayer for healing and two people were healed. It was a remarkable move of God. The churches here have been experiencing a healing work of God in recent weeks. There is a tremendous sense of expectancy in this place. I find it building my faith.creating in me a new expectation.

 

       The sessions today were many and varied. We began with Mike Breen, the former pastor of the church here but now living and working in Arizona and teaching at Fuller.  His opening session was entitled Covenant and Kingdom. The whole of Gods word, he shared, can be summed up in those two themes. God is a God of covenant who created us and redeems us to be his covenant people. The Bible is full of covenants. And the kingdom theme runs with it, the reign and rule of God and the establishment of that rule in his world. So for us, its about being and doing, who we are by means of covenant and our commission to be involved in the work of his kingdom. Being and doing. And the challenge for us is to be and to make disciples first and foremost who are then equipped to be about kingdom business.

 

      This session led in into another called Lifeshapes, a creative approach to discipleship teaching truth through shapes. Today was the circle and we will look at a different one each day. I will journal as I go, to keep you up to date.  

 

 

      I have a sense this is a significant week for me and for the church. Through the week we are to look at prophecy, healing and prayer, they also place a huge emphasis on smaller groups, particularly middle sized missional communities they call clusters, the real engines behind the astonishing growth of these churches in recent years. More to come as I wrestle with it over the week. Would really value your prayers.

 

 

Gordon

 

     

 

  

 

Gordon  McDade

 

remembering Pastor Lutton

              Feel like I have lost a friend, a pastor and one of my greatest encouragers these last few days. Everybody needs someone who believes in them and Charlie Lutton believed in me. The last time I saw him, a few days before he died, he held my head, kissed me and said how much he felt I was the right man for BBC at this time.

      To be able to preach at his funeral service was such a privilege. I felt that Acts 20; 17 to 21 was the right passage, Pauls farewell to the Ephesian elders. Just felt the passage summed up Charlie accurately, both the man and his message. His character had a humility about it as he served the Lord among us. He knew tears and trials yet showed courage and perseverance. He had such a love for the church, we would not be where we are were it not for him and his pioneering ministry.

      And his message to all who would listen was to turn to God in repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Many there came to know Christ through Charlie. We thank God for his life and ministry and commit him lovingly to God.

          We stand on the shoulders of giants.

 

Gordon  McDade