Review by Doug Balzer
In Miraculous Movement author Jerry Trousdale tells of the move of God developing in the Muslim world. Tens of thousands of churches are being established and hundreds of thousands of people are turning from Islam to Christ. For the first time in many generations the advance of the Gospel is being seen not as ‘white man’s religion’ but that of its given context.
Yesterday the great Canadian statesman and former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed passed away. The accolades are flooding in including the reminder that he had been voted as the best premier in the past 40 years by Policy Options magazine. Hospitals and parks are named after this guy. His recent political commentary still made national headlines. Many things made Lougheed a great leader. Here are three things we as church leaders could learn from his leadership. Continue reading
I hear a lot about “calling” in the circles where I run. I’m called to be a pastor, a church planter, a youth pastor, a teacher, a businessperson, a wife, a husband, a person on mission in my neighbourhood, etc.. This is all fine and good I suppose but ultimately, to whom am I called? And who does the calling? Continue reading
So at a recent conference I heard a very compelling communicator give a passionate talk that was all about Jesus. That is precisely the problem: the talk seemed to be more about the idea of Je
sus than the person of Jesus. He spoke as if Jesus was a simply a great historical figure whose teachings ought to influence the shape and mission of the Church. He spoke lots about mission, about incarnation, about cultural engagement. I am not so sure he even attempted to lead us to the person and not just the idea of Jesus. At one level that might be fine and good…and I don’t mean to cast judgment on another based simply on my perception… but should not our teaching, preaching, service and leadership be more about a person than the idea of a person?
I am strangely drawn to the following prayer these days…perhaps you will be too.
Wesley Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put met to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by you or laid aside by you, enabled for you or brought low by you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
you are mine, and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
Travelling at 73 miles per hour on my motorcycle neither my son nor I had any warning of the deer sprinting across the Montana highway directly in front of us. We were facing a head-on collision with potentially catastrophic consequences. A lot can happen in a half second and even more thoughts can run through one’s head. I braked as hard and as safely as I could Continue reading
We used to be missional without using the word. Our doctrine was thin and our engagement with society was wide. Now we have become Creedal – defining ourselves by what we say we believe over how we actually participate in the Mission of God.
We used to shape culture. We used to be known as the people who best served the poor and acted as agents of justice and compassion in society for the sake of the Gospel. Now society shapes us – as we are too often distracted with what we think society wants us to be, rather than offering what the poor and destitute need and the simple proclamation of the Gospel. Continue reading
A few months ago a friend showed me a copy of the earliest documents that formed what has now become known as the Christian and Missionary Alliance. I believe the convictions of our forefathers expressed in this document provides a wake-up-call to us all today in the CMA in terms of our mission, theology, gender issues and form. Continue reading
As I interact with leaders (especially younger) I hear a desire to be mentored; desires to have others build into their lives. I resonate with this and see it as genuine motivation, on the part of these leaders, to get better, to become wiser, and to possess healthy perspectives on a variety of issues in life. I also sense a certain level of frustration in their experience in not finding others to provide this needed role in their life.
I was recently inspired by an emerging leader ~ husband and wife ~ in our tribe as we sipped coffee together. They are sensing a kind of stirring in their hearts wondering if the Lord is awakening a call to serve in a different context and a different city. They were wrestling through the myriad of dynamics that such a move would produce; loss of close family proximity, new network of friends, unknown schools for children, unfamiliar city and so on and so on. Continue reading
