Finished...Courageous Leadership

Yes, this books been out for what amounts to, in our age, 22,000 years (six, but who's counting?) - but I finally finished it. And, whatever you want to say about Bill Hybels or Willow Creek, this book was good. What was particularly good was a section toward the end when he talks about people encountering God in different ways. At Liberty, I'm in the middle of putting together a team that will discern an Adult Discipleship plan - and in a meeting yesterday, one person said something that completely resonated with Bill Hybels in the book. When asked, "What characteristics would we want to see in mature disciples?" or something like that, he responded with "I can't speak to how other people encounter God, I can only speak to how I have encountered God." Absolutely!

Leadership is about discerning the gifts people bring to the table and helping them to be utilized to their fullest. That was a gift, and my hope is that we use it, along with what Hybels wrote, to make sure we don't box people into some form of Discipleship conceived of in a room of 6 people. Encouraging people to be disciples of Christ in many ways, to follow as they're being lead, is my deep desire...

Done a little painting

It's taken awhile, but finally, Aidan's blue-on-blue striped room is finished. I'm pretty excited to get it done and while it's not exactly a "professional" job, it looks pretty darn good. Now all we need to do is get Brennan's big boy bed (a bunk bed that should arrive soon) so we can move the crib & baby furniture into Aidan's nursery and out of Brennan's room. At least this time around we seem to be more ready for our son's arrival...

Faithfulness

Why is faithfulness so hard? I got wind of the fact that the "fidelity & chastity" requirement has been recommended to be removed from the PC(USA) Book of Order, you can read about it here. Now, the way I understand it, is that the committee that overseas this area at the General Assembly, has reviewed an overture, heard from people for and against, voted on it, and then passes it to the floor of the GA, where everyone in attendance votes. If it passes there, it will, once again, go out to each and every Presbytery in the denomination to vote on it. Whatever the majority of presbyteries decide, that will be the final outcome. So, it's far from being a finished deal.

That aside, my question remains - why is faithfulness, or better yet, why is DETERMINING faithfulness so hard? Each side of this argument believes they are being faithful to God. On one hand you have those who believe that Scripture is clear in the requirement for the ordaining of elders and deacons (and ministers of Word and Sacrament - although technically, we made that office up...) to remain faithful in the covenant of marriage between 1 man and 1 woman, or chaste outside of marriage. They believe that holding to these standards is being faithful to God in how God has called us to live. On the other hand, others believe that God is moving in a new direction, that the Holy Spirit is calling for a greater inclusion - to include those that cannot conform (or will not, that debate is separate) to these standards - mainly because of their sexual orientation. They believe that they are being faithful to God's call here & now and not being bound by outdated interpretations of Scripture which conform to the letter of the law and not the spirit of a loving God.

Personally, it breaks my heart, no matter what side this ends up on. I can't bring myself to be on either "side". My heart breaks for those who have been marginalized for their sexual orientation - but it's a tough road to hoe around Scripture which is fairly explicit. I also wonder if there is not some other way? Sexuality is such a tough subject and the church has done poorly in addressing it for 2000 years. But when it comes down to it, I just wish we could determine what faithfulness in this area really is. Because it's killing the church, and I'm pretty certain that God's not excited about that...

Re-Engagement

Jeff used a great word in a comment to my last post that sums up what I've discovered in the last couple days - reengage. For me, it's not as much about the denomination, but about my own learning and development. I find it quite easy to be about the business of what needs to get done at a given time. I also find it pretty easy to be about things that are coming down the pike - dreaming up the next big thing. But, as Bill Hybels puts it in his book Courageous Leadership, "Self Leadership" is something I really need to continue to work at. Therefore, I'm re-engaging some of the books I've been slowly slogging through. Hopefully, before Aidan is born, I can punch out a few of these books I've been "reading" for the past 6 months or more - and get to the growing stack of Amazon purchases on my bookshelf...

My Denomination...

I'm not entirely sure where the PC(USA) is going, but with another General Assembly happening out in San Jose, CA, I'm expecting we'll see something come out of it. I was glad to hear that Bruce Reyes-Chow was nominated Moderator, mainly because it shows a desire to go young & new. Bruce is a big blogger and seems genuinely concerned about the church and the denomination, focusing on where we're going in the future, not simply the past. Anyway, I'm curious to see what comes of things, and there have been some great posts recently from those on the inside and others that are worth checking out. So, if you're part of things or just curious, give a look and see what's going on:

Adam Walker Cleaveland is Blogging at the GA
Neale Locke is keeping close tabs
and Rhett Smith has a great post about the PC(USA), the GA and technology

Tell me if this ship is gonna sink or swim...

Peace MAKING

I've always found the term to be a little bit, how shall we say, oximoronic? How do you make peace? If you make peace by force, are you not engaging in an act of violence? And therefore, by very nature, not making peace? I was reminded of my own personal questions on this when we recently did a devotion for staff from Matthew 12:15-21. The exact part is Matthew's quotation of Isaiah, one of the suffering servant songs, when he claims this servant will proclaim justice to the nations. And I thought - just proclaim justice? What does that even look like? He's not enacting justice, just proclaiming it. He's not making justice, just saying it. And then the question remains, does the act of saying or proclaiming justice, does that do something in and of itself? Is the mere proclamation efficacious? That would certainly fit in nicely with John's reference to Jesus as the Word. It also is an amazing reminder of the effectiveness of gentleness...

Where did that COME from?

Two hilarious comments from Brennan recently:

1) I'm about to go to the Bathroom in the morning, Brennan is in our room and says "No, Daddy, you don't go in the toilet!" Of course, I reply that I do. And he says, "No, Daddy, you go on the carpet!" Bridgette & I busted a gut! No idea where that came from, seriously...

2) I'm driving home with Brennan and he says "Slow down Daddy!" I let him know I wasn't really traveling fast. To which he replies "Are you going SUPER fast?" Ha! Maybe he knows me better than I realized...