...to everyday life

Book Review: Emerge - Equipping College Leaders to Continue a Life of Vision and Purpose

I've been waiting a while for this book to come out. My oldest son, Henry Michael, has been participating in a program at his church called Lead Team which is run by the book's author, Ken Jibben. It's a program aimed at mentoring college upperclassmen who have a leadership track record, to help them transition into life and church leadership after college. I've watched the impact it's had on my son and been impressed with the vision and structure of this ministry.

The book lays out the foundational vision and strategy for this kind of ministry that can be multiplied in other churches and, I believe, adapted to other situations beyond college students. At the core of Ken's approach are mentoring relationships and helping students seek emotional wellness. But I also saw how reading leadership books and the practical help my son got on budgeting and other topics had an impact on him. Students meet with their mentors every other week, participate in four overnight retreats during their year in training and read three books on leadership. Ken's list of things they don't try to do is very helpful (e.g., they don't do ministry together since these students are already leading in campus ministries or churches).

I'd like to see Ken start a blog or web site dedicated to spreading this vision and helping others who are trying to establish this kind of ministry in their churches. I came away wanting more practical direction on the content and approach to the mentoring and the retreats. A web presence would be a great way to share his experience along the way. 

The Importance of Campus Ministries (This is for anyone who has children of any age)

Many of you have heard me talk about this before, but I can't stress it enough. The key to a college student's spiritual walk in college is directly tied to their participation in a campus ministry like Campus Crusade, InterVarsity or Navigators or in a good church. In my experience with students, the campus ministry is the "gateway" to a good church in college.

If your kids are in college, do all you can to get them involved. I know, it may be impossible to force it at this point if they don't do it on their own, but it might be worth nagging about, calling a vibrant ministry on campus and asking them to target your child, offering financial incentives or disincentives to your child...whatever is not sin and will work for YOUR child is worth trying.

If your child was involved in our student ministries, chances are they will seek it out for themselves, but they may need a nudge. One of ours knew how important it was, heard Tim and his parents (us) talk about it all the time and fully intended to join, but school was busy and starting new things is intimidating, so he put it off. With some nudging and nagging and praying and a phone call to the campus ministry, he got involved and is a leader in that ministry today.

The other side of all this is that after you've done your part and exhausted your options, you do have to let it go and hand it over to God. Keep praying, but stressing out about it won't help anyone.

But in my experience, parents let go on this way too soon. Sadly, some let it go as early as junior high. If you required your kids to go to school and to work and to get good grades but did not very strongly urge or "require" that they go to church or student ministries of some kind, repent now. Yes, there are exceptions to this, that's why I make it a habit not to judge any persons situation (I'm not walking in their shoes), but chances are you're not one of those exceptions. Repent now before it's too late to make a difference. As long as they are your dependent, it's never too late to start "requiring" that they also cultivate this value that far surpasses good grades, a great career and a good work ethic in importance.

Church Library?

Thanks to all of you who gave me feedback on the idea of lending out the book The Hole in Our Gospel. (If you don't recall the post, link here.) Quite a few people emailed, commented or Facebooked me about some kind of church library. I have to be honest with you, though--I'm not a fan of church libraries for several reasons including that they take up a room but are rarely used and the books in them are usually second-rate or badly damaged. They seem to quickly fall into disrepair and obscurity after the initial flurry of use. Maybe some of you have had a different experience and could convince me otherwise, but that's my honest opinion.

That doesn't mean we can't have one, though. The world doesn't revolve around my preferences, as much as I wish it did sometimes. :-)

So..........We can have a church "library" if...

• someone "owns" it as a ministry (no staff will be involved except to okay the plans)
• people are okay with it dying if the person who owns it quits doing it and doesn't get a replacement (again, no staff will come in to "save the program")
• it doesn't take up a room (it can take up some of our storage space, but we simply don't have a room available, even if we wanted to give one up for that purpose)
• it's not an eye-sore when it is in service (it has to fit our ambiance)
• there's a system for ensuring the books are worth lending out
• no one asks for money from the church budget to get this going or keep it going. In other words, it will need to be creative and (please don't take this wrongly) it won't be modeled after the library at your grandmother's church. :-) 

I think it can be done, but it would take a leader (not just a book lover).

Most of what I listed can be applied to other ministry ideas you might have. I want to see more of our people take this kind of initiative and innovation in ministry. But we can't and should not fund every idea for a whole bunch of reasons. I like the way David Browning puts it in Deliberate Simplicity. Their church staff and budget focus on three things only: Worship, Small Groups and Outreach. But their members have started a variety of other ministries. Browning writes:

While there are a limited number of programs that a Deliberately Simple church may initiate, there are an unlimited number of ministries that individuals may initiate. While corporate programs are discouraged, individual ministries are encouraged.

So, I think it would be pretty cool if someone started something I don't think is worth starting and proved me wrong. That's not only cool, it's healthy.

Book Highlights: Focus

Focus: The Top Ten Things People Want and Need from You and Your Church is the third book based on REVEAL research. The gist of the book is to look at what people want from their church and what they actually need for spiritual growth and vitality. Then they do the same thing for what people want and need from their senior pastor. The idea is to help church ministries and pastors prioritize.

Top Highlights:

• Based on their research what people want most and need most match. People's top want is spiritual guidance and that's their top need. 
• Spiritual guidance = helps me develop a personal relationship with Christ; challenges me to grow and take next steps; provides a clear pathway that helps guide my spiritual growth; church leaders model and consistently reinforce how to grow spiritually; helps me understand the Bible in greater depth.
• Belonging (not meaning ownership but affiliation, like with a favorite sports team) is the second most powerful driver for satisfaction and needs to be prioritized by churches, even though it is not a spiritual growth driver, otherwise they won't stay around for spiritual guidance.
• Although "encourages me to take responsibility for my own spiritual growth" didn't factor for satisfaction, it is one of the most important needs and therefore needs to be creatively prioritized.
• People want preaching and vision casting from their senior pastor but most need spiritual challenge for growth. No match.
• The match comes when you look at what people want out of preaching/vision casting: Bible learning, modeling spiritual growth and challenge to grow and take next steps.
• One of the huge surprises: for senior pastors, the role of leading the church had four times the impact on satisfaction with the church's role in spiritual growth compared to the role of teaching/preaching. Even the best sermon doesn't have nearly the spiritual impact as do the day-to-day decisions a senior pastor makes about how to lead a church--specifically the decisions that deliver spiritual guidance through the church.
• We catalyze their spiritual growth by helping them understand the Bible in greater depth, by challenging them to apply Scriptures with specific next steps and by modeling how we are taking those steps ourselves.

Book Highlights: Deliberate Simplicity

I've been following Christ the King Community Church in Washington state for a few years now. Dave Browning, their pastor, has written his manifesto for how they do church in Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less. We've been following a similar philosophy of ministry ever since I came to Five Oaks (way before it was popular), but I learned a lot from Browning. Having generally followed this approach for years, I'm more aware than ever of some down sides that we're currently addressing. Browning doesn't cover the down sides, but he articulates simplicity as well as anybody. (For most of you reading this post, just read the "top highlights.")

Top Highlights:

• There is no growth without change, no change without loss, and no loss without pain. (12)
• …when you have something important to do, keep the process simple. The more complexity in the system, the more likely that implementation will fail. (27)
• …Meyer’s Law: It is a simple task to make things complex, but a complex task to make them simple. (32)
• New believers can learn enough in just a few days to keep them growing for the rest of their lives. If you are taught to read the Word, pray, be in community, and reach out to others, you have the basic equipment to make the journey. (42) 
• …the apostle Paul would go into a pagan community, preach Christ, then appoint elders from among the converts before moving on to a new community…evidently the basic information needed for leadership…could be conveyed in a short period of time.
  
• …discipleship was defined as a relationship, not a program…Once you get pointed in the right direction, time is on your side. (42)
• The greatest sin of the church today is not any sin of commission or sin of omission but the sin of no mission. (69)
• When I was a kid, the solution…to rectify the discrepancy between how we lived our life on Sunday at church and how we lived the rest of the week was to act just as strangely Monday through Saturday as we did on Sunday. The solution I’ve come to as an adult is just opposite: be the same person on Sunday that you are Monday through Saturday. It seems to be working out a lot better. (94)
• While there are a limited number of programs that a Deliberately Simple church may initiate, there are an unlimited number of ministries that individuals may initiate. While corporate programs are discouraged, individual ministries are encouraged. (136)
  

More Highlights:

• While I am committed to a different approach to ministry…different does not necessarily mean better (p. 11).
• What if this church were more like a movement than a ministry? (15) 
• Less is more, and more is better. (17) 
• …if you participate in a Deliberately Simple church, you will most likely meet in a rented auditorium, sit on a stackable, chair, sing along with projected lyrics and a rock band, and hear conversational teaching by a bivocational pastor in blue jeans witting on a stool. (18) 
• …a “boots on the ground” approach to the church’s mission. We believe that if we can get God’s people to simply love God and love people, the church cannot be stopped. (30) 
• Jim Collins: good to great companies made much use of ‘stop doing” lists.
• Worship is the way to stay centered. Small groups is the way to stay connected. Outreach is the way to stay concerned. (44)
• At Christ the King we advocate ten plus ten—ten minutes a day in prayer, and ten minutes a day in the Word. (54)
• …we think big but act small. We keep asking, “What is the simplest thing that could possibly work?” We try to have just enough to facilitate our mission. Just enough money. Just enough time. Just enough leaders. Just enough space. Just enough advertising. (62)
• Most of the worship centers at CTK have begun with an investment of less than five thousand dollars. (54)
• Henry Trumbull…once said, “Unless a man is ready to work for the salvation of others, it may be questioned whether or not he himself is saved.” (70)
• (J.I. Packer) “To seek pleasure, comfort, and happiness is to guarantee that you will miss them all. …become heart realities only as by-products that come from focusing on something else, something perceived as valuable, invigorating, and commanding. The seeds of happiness, it has been truly said, grow most strongly in the soil of service. (71)
• Throughout the years, we have found that two kinds of people fit especially well I a Deliberately Simple church: lost people with ruin and wreckage in their lives, and saved people who have a heart to reach out to lost people. (72)
• It’s time for us to quit standing at the barn doorway, inviting the crops to come in. (74)
• We include “those who are about to come” in our constituency instead of just those who are already here. (76)
• …we want our energy to go into experiencing and expressing the grace of God, not into impression management. (94)
• Bill Gore, founder of…Gore-Tex, is committed to multility [sic] for his workforce. He limits the size of his plants to not more than 150 employees (a size he feels is optimum for a sense of family). To insure this size, he limits the parking lot to 150 cars. He knows it’s time to build a new plant when employees start parking in the grass. (133)
• Our strategy is to multiply groups by multiplying leaders. We have come to the conclusion that we are not in the church growth business. We are not in the church planting business. We are not in the multisite business. We are in the leader deployment business. (192)
• Our process for multiplying leaders is IDTS: identify, deploy, train, support. Deploy first, then train. (192)
• The dream for CTK Community Church is to provide an opportunity for pastorpreneurial leaders to “plug and play.” That is, if you align with the mission, vision, values, beliefs, and priorities of CTK, then you can engage immediately with us in the work. It’s that simple.

 

 

The KIVA.org Story

I did not provide detailed notes on the first day of the Summit and was unfortunately distracted during the session with Jessica Jackley. I read through Dave Ferguson's summary and want to get it out there for everyone because of the nature of what she's doing and the potential for others to join in.

Jessica Jackley is co-founder of Kiva.org, the world's first peer-to-peer on-line micro-lending website. Kiva.org allows internet users to lend as little as $25 to entrepreneurs in the developing world, providing affordable capital to start or expand a small business. In just three years Kiva has helped raise over $84 million and connected thousands of people across 120 countries. A graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Jackley’s work has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the Today Show.

These are some of Jessica's comments at the 2009 Leadership Summit when she was interviewed by Jim Mellado:

• I grew up in a home where my mom and dad thought I could do anything and I was crazy enough to believe them.
• It was in Sunday school that I first heard that Jesus said, "...even as you have done unto the least of these you have done it unto me."  I was captivated by the idea that I could do something of ultimate significance.
• I started interviewing entrepreneurs who lived in East Africa that started their businesses on $100 and I was blown away by their success. i began to wonder how I could participate in their success.
• Since launching Kiva.org four years ago $84 million have been loaned to entrepreneurs in under-resourced places around the world; and that number will surpass $100 million in the next year.
• Mission of Kiva.org: Connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.
• It all started with seven entrepreneurs and $3000.00 in loans.
• Remarkably, 98.5% of lenders get a full repayment.
• At Kiva.org we believe that people want to do good.  We also believe that if we act in a way that expects you to be trustworthy it is likely you will respond in a trustworthy manner.
• "Great poets show, they don't tell."  Show people how they can give and what a difference it can make and don't tell them.   
• When you truly believe in the potential of people, the rest of the solution to any problem is just logistics.
• Two pieces of advice for young leaders: #1 Don't be afraid to start small.  The best way to create big change is to start small. #2 Just start.  Don't wait.  Take action.

Tony Blair: Leadership Summit 2009

• Says he's never felt a ton of self confidence but took risks to step out and lead when felt compelled to.
• How does he deal with criticism and being misunderstood? Counts his blessings. His wife: "What do you to complain about. You have the privilege to do your job."
• Determine your irreducible core, what you won't compromise on and are willing to walk away for.
• Compromise on tactics but keep the strategic objective.

Bono: Leadership Summit 2009

Bono interview interspersed with video profiles of some churches impacted by the Bono interview three years ago at the Summit (including Eagle Brook...way to to go Eagle Brook). Bono says the sleeping giant has awakened and surrpised him how fast it can run. Hybels challenged him very directly and with some humor to be more personally connected to the church. I hope this film becomes available. Great story of the "angel" with a copy of the NY Times in Central Park at a low point in his crusade. It's not for a child to die for lack of a 20 cent immunization.

Chip Heath and Dan Heath: Leadership Summit 2009

"Switch" - on change

• In time of change focus on what's working in the organization (ignore what's not working).
  Like solution focused brief therapy. Focus on bright spots. For example, in poor village, what children most healthy and what are those parents doing?
• Big problems require a series of small solutions It shrinks the change so not demoralized.
• When leading change prepare people to hit adversity. Reframe it: Valley of Insight.
• Failure is necessary.
• Personal problem or situational problem. Most times, if address the situation, that's the challenge, not changing the people.

Loved their first book and I think I'm going to love the second one as much.

The dip they talked about is what I experience every week in sermon prep!

David Gergen: Leadership Summit 2009

"Eyewitness to Power" - Interview with Hybels

• Can't teach someone to be a leader but you can expose them to principles and role models.
• Leadership is about creating a culture in an organization.
• Proudest moment not when students learn something but get out and do something.
• Reflective practitioners - leadership is learned in the arena doing and reading/reflection.
• Easy to confuse motion with progress.
• When Roosevelt needed to decide on whether to help Britain, went fishing for a week and came back with "lend/lease" idea.
• Understanding the past essential for moving forward in the future.
• Worked in four White Houses: Nixon the best strategic leader; Ford most decent (never had to have back to the wall with him); Clinton was most resilient; Reagan was the best leader in the White House since FDR (contagious optimism; gifted communicator; sense of humor..."sometimes the right hand doesn't know what the far right hand is doing")
• Weaknesses - Nixon had a deep dark side (Gergen's mentor said two sides in the White House, those that appeal to Nixon's dark side and those who appeal to the bright side); Ford was naive (as was Carter); Reagan was detached so didn't keep his hands on the wheel enough, so if good team he did well but weaker teams hurt him; Clinton paralleled Nixon in terms of cracks in his character (should have shot straight with American people and asked for forgiveness).
• Maturity is coming to grip with your flaws and dark side. Self-awareness. But also realistic to know you won't conquer all of them, so need "controls."
• Leadership doesn't have to be lonely. Days of Lone Ranger leader is over. Make goal to develop a team of leaders. Quotes someone who says, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others."
• Leadership is persuasion, so about trust and role modeling. But also about symbols (e.g., Gandhi's loin cloth, Reagan on a horse).
• Communication: Who the speaker is speaks as loudly as his words. If they don't know you, establish your "ethos" (who you are). Get to the rational, but must get to the emotional in the end to move to action. Best preachers bring emotional appeal that inspires.
• Personal habits of leaders matter a lot. Self-discipline habits, physical fitness is needed, building time to reflect and to be with people you cherish (adds years to life).
• When he walks into church wants to find inner peace by stepping back and seeing life's not about you but something larger, wants to learn something from the pastor or from the readings, wants the moral compass and anchor to life (hubris is a great failing) that faith brings.
• More than change the world, bring a log to the fire that we all are blessed by.

One of my favorite things over the years at the Summit are the interviews and this was one of the great ones.