Perspective: Steering Through Chaos

At the end of this post, learn how you can win a free copy of "Steering through Chaos" just by posting on the blog and tweeting/Facebooking a link to it.

I have read a lot of books over the years, but few connect the reality of the stress and decision making processes of staff ministry. For the last seventeen years, I have been a part of a ministry staff. Some teams were creative and effective, others dysfunctional dictatorships. One constant in all situations was stress and the need for critical thinking and decision making. In some places I learned the value of submitting to authority, in others, the importance of thinking big and creating "wins" for other team members. I do not think that in any ministry situation, there has not been a life lesson I was able to take away.

In Scott Wilson's new book, "Steering through Chaos", he not only addresses the focus and discipline of the key leader, but also that of the rest of the team. Let's face it, the team works hands on with his/her own team regularly to instill the vision God has given the key leader. We, as team members/staff need to know that leadership understands "our chaos". Stress and dysfunction is just as rampant in those who have a calling to a specific group as in pastoral leadership. If the calling came from the same place (God), and carries the same goal (reaching the lost, equipping the believer) why would we expect less resistance and stress from our efforts.

Scott Wilson seems to have a firm grasp on the importance of decisive leadership and communication of vision. In most of the stops in ministry in my life, I could not convey the vision of the leader I was to serve. Ministries have operated in survival mode and fear of failure for far to long. We no longer dream big enough (which would be evidence of one way communication during prayer), risk enough, or challenge our people. Chaos will find you either way. Play it safe, you will just have a different set of problems...but they are still problems.

In my time in his book, Scott has given me perspective. It's not about the problems, but how I navigate them. These stories of navigation will be the leadership lessons we pass on to the next generation and will be the core of our mentoring process. (Scott has a great section on storytelling) This was made vividly clear to me in a recent ministry event, when a student re-told one of my stories. During a service one night, I told a story about my 6 year old son and his soft heart for a hurting family. I listened, as any proud mentor would, as she told the story that happened in my family. I must admit, I re-tell stories that hear from my ministry mentors! (there is also a great chapter on finding a life coach in Scott's book)

Having known some of Scott's staff, I know the quality and excellence that has been produced in that team. I hope that my team will be as creative, insightful, and dedicated as I grow in leading them. I certainly know, I must stretch myself to improve to support my pastor and the team that I serve. The effectiveness of our church and ministries depend on it.

I would encourage you to get a copy of Scott Wilson's new book if you are involved ministry. It will give you some great perspective on the chaos that is life in ministry. You can find it here!

Also, I will be selecting a post from the comments on this blog and twitter/facebook to win a free copy of Scott's book. Help promote Scott's new book and share the word about JamieVarnell.com and pjpro.org to win.  The winner will be selected March 27.

NOW

It has been too long since my last published post. I say published post because I did write some things that I just didn't publish. Chalk it up to therapy...

Anyway, since my last post, a lot has happened on our planet. We have seen major damage from Haiti and Chile, watched our own country battle in partisan politics, crowned an unlikely Superbowl champion, and I had a friend and mentor make a major move in ministry. All of those events are on different levels, and bring about different emotions. But to those who were directly involved in the "NOW" of those events, they were life changing. They didn't happen because of a focus on their "now", but rather a focus on their future. Let me explain.

When David's sheep serenade was interrupted by a call from home to come and meet the prophet, he had no idea the implications that his trotting down that dusty animal path would bring. He arrived home to a family that was in disappointment (face it, they all wanted to be king, and dad wanted a rockstar on the throne, not the shepherd) and probably a bit of denial. As Samuel anointed David as the next King, David didn't jump right into leadership. He still had time left in the field and in service in the castle. Years would pass, threats placed on his life, and he would live in exile before living in the Palace. If David had focused on his "now", he would have failed in obedience far before Bathsheba. Instead, he focused on God's goal for him, His prize, His future. He worked diligently in his "now" slaying the occasional lion, bear, or giant, all the time knowing his tomorrow had a different outlook because God had already laid it out.

You know there must have been days of insecurity and question. Wondering if his mentor had just missed it a bit, and overshot his potential. There must have been days when he questioned the dream of his heart, the dream placed their by his Heavenly Father and not understood by his earthly father. Alone times. Exile. Discouragement. This is where the dream, the promise either flops or flourishes. I think the difference is our focus. Are we focused on our now, or on our our promise. On our tomorrow!

John the Baptist had this experience as well. In Matthew 11, he asks a heart wrenching question:

1.When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

^{2 e}Now when John heard ^fin prison about the deeds of ^gthe Christ, he sent word by ^hhis disciples ³ and said to him, “Are you ⁱthe one who is to come, or shall we ^jlook for another?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ^{5 k}the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers¹ are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and ^lthe poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is the one who ^mis not offended by me.”

The man who jumped in Jesus presence...while still in the womb, was asking Jesus if "He was the One, or should we look for another?" This was family! The guy who saw the trinity reveal itself at the same time during his church service in the river. How did he get to that point?

John was in prison with death imminent. He was focussing on his "NOW" and Jesus refocuses him on the future. Jesus tells him about all the things that are happening that he cannot see because of his circumstances and emotion.

Where is your focus? Feel like you are just not where God promised? Quit focusing on your now, and grab hold of the vision and hope of tomorrow! God's already there.

The Imitation Snuggie

So how is that Snuggie you got for Christmas working out for you? After all the complaining and begging not to get one of those blankets with holes in them, I wound up with one. If you follow on Facebook, you no doubt saw me get thrown under the bus for complaining about it as well. I promised a post, so here you go:

The facts: Snuggies were not cool before they became "in vogue" and trendy. They were a cash grab idea that targets women and makes for horrid commercials. I mean, really, have you seen the commercials. These people look like they belong at a Star Trek convention. Now there are the spin off Snuggies like the slanket or the nice, though slightly toxic smelling Dollar General version I received. Some kid in an Asian sweatshop is cutting holes in giant pieces of felt for crazed Americans.

I have been criticized for being ungrateful and crude. Some of you need a little less fiber in your diet. Truth is, my grandmother brought it for a gift exchange game we played at a family gathering. Her gift to me and my family was a beautiful quilt that she hand made, along with two for my boys that were distinctly personalized. We all sleep with them every night.

Now for more about the Snuggie issue. Here is my beef. You know that nice, hand made quilt I received from my grandmother, well, the Snuggie is a cheap imitation that requires no effort to make and shows no creativity. Some guy who cant hold down a job and has bad personal hygiene finally gets coaxed out of his "invention laboratory" to take a shower, and in his stupor, puts his robe on backwards and patents the idea. (ok, so that was totally fictionalized, but kind of how I see it going down.) Now this Rick Moranis wanna be is raking in millions selling off his imitation quilt. Now we have the second generation of generic Snuggies. Am I the only one that thinks this is ridiculous. And what about those "one size fits all" claims. I am 6' 3" with a 52" chest. One size does not fit all.

So why the rant? The Snuggie is the poster-child for society. We are always looking for a way to make cheap imitations of the real thing. We see it in our choices for food, clothing, transportation, and dieting. No one wants to put out any more effort that what is necessary for survival. Unfortunately, it has infiltrated the church as well. Few want an authentic faith, but are satisfied to take a cheap imitation, seldom expending any efforts or requiring any time or creativity to their faith. We don't want to discuss issues of sin or exclusivity of the Christian faith because we might offend the complacent. As much as may align myself with emergent leaders, I have not lost the foundations of my faith. A faith that is not simply pacified by the offering plate or attendance card, but a faith that can't be contained and must be lived out and shared continually. I have told our church, who is now 100 years old and has seen some incredible times, "When you tell me what this church used to be, you are telling me what you used to be. If it is not great today, then the people changed." Why settle for Snuggie faith when you can have so much more.

Revelation 3:¹⁷ For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

Devotional....really?

The other day I tweeted about a revamped TV series from the 80's. It was a very cool modern adaptation of the old series with new themes like "sleeper cells" and "media manipulation". My tweet was stright-forward, that I liked it and the new "greatly contextualized" script. A good friend responded by asking if "contextualized" was even really a word. And of course...that got me thinking...

Wikipedia defines contextualization as: "Contextualization is used in the study of Bible translations in relation to their relevant cultural settings. Derived from the practice of hermeneutics, it sought to understand the use of words borrowed into the Hebrew Scriptures, and later their Greek and Latin translations." It goes on to explain that since the 1970's the word has been secularized and much more widely used. So here is my thought.

Have we over-contextualized the Faith in our efforts to have meaningful application? I'm not talking about relevance, but about true meaning. Go pick up just about any devotional book at your local retailer and you will find your daily inspiration summed up in one or two verses. Most often not even a full passage is listed, much less enough of the text to provide ample meaning. True hope is not found in looking for inspiration, but by searching for depth and understanding. We have truly become lazy Christians. We are content to find our understanding through our pastor's quips and quotes, and not connecting the scriptures ourselves. I often hear people speak of reading the passages cover to cover, which is a great practice, but few speak of finding the meaning the author intended for the text. Why were these words included? Who was he talking to?

I know that I say this at the risk of sounding like a professor or an over-achiever, but we are lazy. Schools in Jesus' day required a memorization of the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) by the age our children would be heading to middle school. Jesus didn't quote the scriptures because He was of a Divine nature, though He was. He quoted them because he learned them the way every other child who sat beside Him at school did. Think about it. Jesus quoted the Old Testament text with everyone He came into contact with. He was memorizing to berate people, but to show Himself as one who had a knowledge of God's plan.

I truly understand the need for some contextualization. Topical messages and illustration do help connect our disconnected society. However, I believe we can contextualize "in context" to God's word. Find the authority behind the words of God. It is far more than an inspirational text.

So remember this the next time you pick up your devotional. If you feel inspired by a verse out of context, imagine how empowering the Truth will be!

Go To Hell

Now that you think the preacher guy has gone all liberal on you, take a few minutes and read past the heading. My hope was that the title would just get you to read a little further down the page. Obviously it did.

Yesterday I was having a conversation via tex with a local friend in ministry. He was sharing some ideas about how to fix a few issues we had with an event here in town last week. Truth be known, he and I share a lot of the same frustrations. We both moved here from the outside, we are not native Malvernites. Our perspective is quite different and rubs many local "good ol boys" the wrong way...which I must honestly admit I like.

Last wednesday night we hosted what was quite possibly the largest inter-denominational/multiethnic ministry event in the history of our town. This place is divided...especially when it comes to church. I would dare say that the largest multiethnic congregation in town is our youth ministry. That is sad, considering that our denomination has its roots here, and there are several other large churches quite capable of being multiethnic, but simply refuse. It is like stepping back in time.

I have heard the stories. I have heard the excuses. I am just frustrated with the cowardice of the church not to step up and be the leader it was called to be. We are too afraid of losing a major contributor or offending part of the "family", so we sit idly by and let our neighbors of a different race go to hell. Essentially, that is what we are telling them..."go to hell." We have lost a sense of compassion and replaced it with comfort. Jesus was the master of multiethnic ministry. He was always reaching out to people not like Him, people who were not supposed to socialize with Galileans, much less a Rabbi.

I was excited to see the cross burning bigots down the road get a stiff prison sentence for their hate against a local interracial couple. I can't wait till this arrogant Justice of the Peace in Louisiana gets removed from office and has charges filed for refusing to marry a couple from different races. His excuse was that he wanted to protect the kids...kids they don't have yet. Truth be told, he was protecting the kids from more racist bigots like him. The scary thing is, ask the cross burning hate-mongers or the self-righteous Justice of the Peace and they will more than likely all claim to be...wait for it...christians. Think again.

I am proud of our students. They put aside their race, denomination, socio-economics, and even school mascots to gates under one banner, the banner of Christ. Last Wednesday, and estimated 300-400 students came through the gates at the football field in Malvern to worship together and bring their friends to Jesus. Sixty-seven students did just that, accepting Jesus and the Lord of their life, including one young lady here as an exchange student from Germany. She is coming out to our youth service Wednesday night.

There is hope for the future. The lines of discrimination and hate are slowly eroding in this generation. Join with us and continue to pray for our communities, states, and nation to truly be one under the banner of Christ.

Conflicting Thoughts on History

As a church, we just celebrated a milestone anniversary. Our church just turned 100 years old, which is older than our fellowship itself. I have always been a history buff, and have been a good student of the history of our fellowship for many years. Serving in the town and church of our first denominational leaders has been an interesting twist to the perspective I have on our history as a fellowship.

In general, our early church leaders suffer local persecution for their efforts to operate in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. They were perceived as deceptive and dangerous. Pentecostalism was widely rejected by those unwilling to experience for themselves, and thus the leadership of the movement was unjustly treated. There were those who picketed and published, berated and boycotted the movement in its early years. From that perspective, we do genuinely owe them a great debt. They refused to let their faith be influenced by their experiences and perpetuated the greatest missionary work our planet has seen.

My indifference happens because many in the leadership of the movement also established a divide that is still evident today. The racial divide in our fellowship has been both divisive and devastating. Early leaders did not treat minorities with respect or equality. This is well documented and not new information. In fact, just a few years ago, the former General Superintendent issued an apology to other ethnic organizations for our approach and treatment of combined fellowship. The truth is, the minority driven denominations in Pentecostalism were formed before we as the Assemblies of God were. WE SHOULD BE ONE.

In our small town, still today there is an undercurrent of distrust. No one really discusses it, but it is there. Minority churches and majority churches can share the same doctrine and build a block apart. We have missed some great opportunities to reach minority America by issues of our own creation.

I wonder what those early leaders would say if they could see my student ministry today. Our makeup is 70-80% minority! Our strength is those they would not accept. I believe our greatest contribution toward the next hundred years will be realized by how well we bridge the chasm created by the river of our own ignorance.

Just the Facts Please

I once had a pastor who told me he did not hire anyone that salted their food before tasting it. In my confusion, he went on to explain that he did not want to hire someone prone to making decisions without all the information. I doubt very seriously that my eating habits have little to do with my decision making processes, but I do see the point.

In our tech savvy age, people can open up a blog like this one and complain and twist stories and facts to rally people to their causes. It happens every day. I read one National Football League bloggers report on how he was not allowed to have a computer or phone on while in team facilities. My home state college team did not allow phone calls or texting during practices that were open to the public. People live in fear that facts will be skewed, information released that is private, or that an expose will be written that puts them in a negative light.

If there is ever a time for informed decision making, it is now. That is not to say that information will not be twisted. It will however allow for a clear conscience for the leader. I can know that regardless of the perception, I used the information at hand to make the proper decision. Sometimes the unpopular decision.