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...