Flacco, Kaepernick, and Kingdom Leadership.

by | Jan 28, 2013 | CHURCH, Church Planting

We’re just a few days away from Superbowl XLVII and I’ll probably watch the match even though neither my favorite team nor quarter back is in the game.  If nothing else, I’m sure there’ll be at least one good million dollar commercial in the mix.  But in thinking about these and other great teams, I’m reminded of another great leadership pointer we can learn from this spectacular sport.  The lesson being that it’s really not all about the quarterback.  Both Flacco and Kaepernick are great players, but the thing about them and other leaders on the gridiron is that the QB rarely makes the touchdown. Rather, they hand off or pass the ball to someone else.  It’s that person who takes the ball across the line and puts the points up on the board.  The truth about authentic Christianity and the true CHURCH is that we are all involved in a team effort.  In the CHURCH, leaders are not to “do the work of ministry” but to equip the Saints for “doing the work of ministry.”  The immediate context of Ephesians 4 refers to apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, but the principal is the same in every leadership situation.  So whatever your leadership responsibility is, make sure your hand offs and passes are right.  Get the ball into the hands of others so that the team can advance the ball.  Let them carry the ball across the line and put the points up. Let them celebrate the victories and simply be excited that they and the team won the day.

So, who are you pulling for in this game?  More importantly, who are you equipping in your life to carry the ball across the line?

Expanding the Love of Christ 40 Years Later.

by | Jan 22, 2013 | Kingdom Living, Social

On the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, I’m wondering where Norma McCorvey is today.  Who is Norma McCorvey?  Well I’m glad you asked.  Norma is the woman who took the legal pseudonym of Jane Roe in the landmark case which made abortion legal for any reason in the United States back in 1973.  I wonder where Norma is and what she is doing today because she is not the same woman that she was then. In fact, Norma holds a very different position today.  In 1995 the world changed for Norma when some simple Christ followers and a leader from Operation Rescue did something radical; they loved her.  It took some time, but eventually Norma fell under the weight of God’s love and surrendered her life to Christ and now experiences freedom and purpose.  While I don’t know exactly where Norma is today, I know what her agenda is.  Norma is given to spreading the truth about what a choice for abortion really means and the healing that can be found in Christ.  Check out the quick clip on Norma’s story below and then a few ways that we can expand the love of Christ in relation to this modern abortion challenge.  How will you bring “life” and love into your world today on this issue? (more…)