I loved being on another man's team. When I came to faith back in the 70's, I was on Carl's elders team as a college student. Then when we planted back in 1983, I joined Dudley's transl-local team for around 20 years. Even when we moved to America 16 years ago, I valued the opportunity to wear both hands - leading and following. It was always so helpful because I both led a team as well as was on another man's team. This kept my feet on the ground, as I was constantly being reminded of the "agony and ecstasy" of collaborating on a vision that I hadn't initiated.
One of my favorite quotes in this regard comes from Colin Powell when he was leader of the American Armed Forces. When he gathered all these top generals together he would remind them with words to this effect: "When we gather to discuss and debate this matter, you are obligated to express your opinion and give your perspective. You owe that to the team. When we reach a decision, you are obligated to own it as if it were yours."
Being a good wingman, demands your honesty and integrity. The moment a team can no longer express their opinion freely and easily, it has lost it true trinitarian model. It is in fact dying and will ultimately fragment. It may take a few years, but it will implode. The very nature of true team in includes:
1. Every team player is valuable for their value as people, with their integrity, faithfulness and gifting;
2. Every player is valued for their eyes, lenses on each conversation. Their voice in dialogue is essential to the health and maturity of the team. Silence or worse a sense of being patronized is a sure sense that the team is losing her way, and surrendering to the dominant voice of a single leader. That then leads to a form of dictatorship even if it a is a pleasant or benevolent one;
3. Every player is drawn out to be engage in the conversation - it is not dominated by the alpha personalities in the group. That will always lead to imbalance and bias. A true wingman is valued by the leader, when they know that their perspective is essential and necessary. They are to honor this value by doing their homework, research and coming into the discussion, ready, studied and prayed up.
4. Every player leaves the room with the decision reached after prayer-filled discussion, owning it as if it was theirs. There is a conviction that we will all carry when the decision is made by "It seemed good to us and the Holy Spirit". It is so important that the private conversation never drifts towards "... well I never really agreed but..." This does so much damage and opens the door for the enemy to divide the team. Ownership is imperative to being a string and steadfast wingman.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
How to be a good wingman I
Over all these years of empowering and releasing church planters, there is one thing that I do hear with some frequency - "if I had known what I know now, I would have been a much better team player..."
I would like to have some fun, with a touch of honesty and a splash of reflection, and share some of the ways in which we can all be better wingmen in this journey of leadership.
The more I study the Trinity, the more collaborative my leadership approach becomes. Of course there is captaincy in any leadership arrangement... It is is the trinity. It is in the home. It is in the church. But there is far too much alpha male thinking in lead pastor models in the modern church. We act as if that is the biggest piece of ecclesiology evidenced in the scriptures. Unfortunately, it is not even in the text - but that is for another conversation.
How do you choose whose team you you will play on?
Simple peep over his shoulder - what do you see?
1. With a new leader, you would not have had time to see him as a seasoned campaigner. Therefore, you can look and see what he was like as a wingman. Did he love, serve, care, sacrifice or was he self preoccupied, promotion driven, only fussed by how he would benefit by the moment [what is in it for me? Danger, danger, danger]
2. If married, how does he treat his wife, publicly and privately? How he treats her is how he will actually and ultimately treat the bride.
3. How does he speak of those who were once his leaders? Is there honor, respect and appreciation? Where there has been human weakness, is it treated with love but honesty in a redemptive way?
4. How has he handled others? Does he treat his team with authentic collaboration and partnership or are they there to fulfill his vision [where on earth is that in the text?] Are their giftings recognized, given air time, applauded or silenced and forgotten? Are staff joked about behind their backs and patronized? Danger, danger, danger. How do they handle staff no longer with them? Are they forgotten, spoke of poorly, disrespected?
These and others are certainly reasons to avoid these kind of leaders. If they have done it to others, they will just as easily do it to you.
More to come....
I would like to have some fun, with a touch of honesty and a splash of reflection, and share some of the ways in which we can all be better wingmen in this journey of leadership.
The more I study the Trinity, the more collaborative my leadership approach becomes. Of course there is captaincy in any leadership arrangement... It is is the trinity. It is in the home. It is in the church. But there is far too much alpha male thinking in lead pastor models in the modern church. We act as if that is the biggest piece of ecclesiology evidenced in the scriptures. Unfortunately, it is not even in the text - but that is for another conversation.
How do you choose whose team you you will play on?
Simple peep over his shoulder - what do you see?
1. With a new leader, you would not have had time to see him as a seasoned campaigner. Therefore, you can look and see what he was like as a wingman. Did he love, serve, care, sacrifice or was he self preoccupied, promotion driven, only fussed by how he would benefit by the moment [what is in it for me? Danger, danger, danger]
2. If married, how does he treat his wife, publicly and privately? How he treats her is how he will actually and ultimately treat the bride.
3. How does he speak of those who were once his leaders? Is there honor, respect and appreciation? Where there has been human weakness, is it treated with love but honesty in a redemptive way?
4. How has he handled others? Does he treat his team with authentic collaboration and partnership or are they there to fulfill his vision [where on earth is that in the text?] Are their giftings recognized, given air time, applauded or silenced and forgotten? Are staff joked about behind their backs and patronized? Danger, danger, danger. How do they handle staff no longer with them? Are they forgotten, spoke of poorly, disrespected?
These and others are certainly reasons to avoid these kind of leaders. If they have done it to others, they will just as easily do it to you.
More to come....
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Tyler and Houston
We arrived in Houston this afternoon. It was a remarkable few days with Dave, Lea and the community in Tyler Texas. It is such a privilege to work with these churches - one at a time, personal, intimate and intentional.
Apostolic ministry is in part about being a father - what do father's do?
For one, fathers are life givers. Through love they they give others life, rich authentic and substantial.
They also empower others to live without them. They raise up their kids to leave home not create eternal dependency. I love working with these churches, helping them find their story, empowering them to that end. Then one day they may leave home - as happened with Jesus on that farewell moment.
This weekend we are here with another remarkable community with Brian and Rachel, and One Life here in Houston. In both of these plants we have been involved since the initial possibility talks. These folks have poured themselves out to establish themselves in new cities - parachuting into new cities to bring an expression of kingdom advancing, gospel preaching to their respective communities.
It is such an honor to partner with these churches
Apostolic ministry is in part about being a father - what do father's do?
For one, fathers are life givers. Through love they they give others life, rich authentic and substantial.
They also empower others to live without them. They raise up their kids to leave home not create eternal dependency. I love working with these churches, helping them find their story, empowering them to that end. Then one day they may leave home - as happened with Jesus on that farewell moment.
This weekend we are here with another remarkable community with Brian and Rachel, and One Life here in Houston. In both of these plants we have been involved since the initial possibility talks. These folks have poured themselves out to establish themselves in new cities - parachuting into new cities to bring an expression of kingdom advancing, gospel preaching to their respective communities.
It is such an honor to partner with these churches
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
A Living Legacy
Delighted my new ebook entitled "A Living Legacy" has been published by Exponential...http://www.exponential.org/
Todd Wilson asked me to write this book. When we were together in Miami a while back, he listened to our story and was intrigued by the raw radical nature of discipleship with the view to church planting.
As with all of us, we have enjoyed our journey, but never felt like it was particularly amazing or that different. M and I have simply loved journeying with mates, believing that we could change the world through church planting.
Thanks to Dudley Daniel, this audacious notion was seeded in our hearts, changed the way we did life, giving us a pretty wild ride.
Enjoy the book as much as I had fun and tender moments, thinking of the dear friends and their remarkable acts of obedience.
Todd Wilson asked me to write this book. When we were together in Miami a while back, he listened to our story and was intrigued by the raw radical nature of discipleship with the view to church planting.
As with all of us, we have enjoyed our journey, but never felt like it was particularly amazing or that different. M and I have simply loved journeying with mates, believing that we could change the world through church planting.
Thanks to Dudley Daniel, this audacious notion was seeded in our hearts, changed the way we did life, giving us a pretty wild ride.
Enjoy the book as much as I had fun and tender moments, thinking of the dear friends and their remarkable acts of obedience.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Genesis Collective - 5 Yardsticks.
In Steve Addison's book entitled: "Movements that change the World", Addison argues that there are certain ingredients that are seen in every movement that has had local or global impact.
He writes: "In general, movements are informal groupings of people and organizations pursuing a common cause. They are people with an agenda for change. Movements don't have members but they do had participants...
"Movements are characterized by discontent, vision and action. Discontent unfreezes people from their commitment to the way things are. Movements emerge when people feel something needs to change. If the vacuum created by discontent is filled with vision of a different future and action to bring change, then a movement is born. Movements change people and changed people change the world...
"The renewal and expansion of the church, the breakthroughs always occur on the fringe of ecclesiastical power - never at the center. In every generation, in some obscure place, God is beginning something new. That is where we need to be."
Addison says that all movements have these characteristics in common:
1. White hot Faith;
2. Commitment to a Cause;
3. Contagious Relationships;
4. Rapid Mobilization;
5. Adaptive Methods.
He quotes Victor Hugo:
"There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world and that is an idea whose time has come."
Applying this to genesis collective,
1. White hot faith - we are simply passionate about being a gospel-centered Trinitarian crew. The gospel burns in our soul - not just in salvation, but in ongoing transformation and kingdom advancement;
2. Committed to a cause - we desire to see cities, counties and countries touched by this great gospel by planting effective, healthy, growing, multiplying, New Testament churches, partnering with God and his supernatural power as he continues project planet earth;
3. Contagious relationships - we love doing life with mates! In the humility of our humanity, we carry out vulnerability with honesty, removing any notion of being professionals and maximizing the idea that we need each other going forward;
4. Rapid mobilization - we are committed to the theology of multiplication. Seeing churches as seedbeds of leaders with a passion to multiply out, we are continuously on mission whether it be in the shadowlands of our city or the uncertain culture of foreign nations;
5. Adaptive methods - outside of the key, clear biblical 'must-do's', we give much room for each church to explore and discover their own adventure. There is certainly not one model, pattern or way of doing things. Culture and context must be factored in to ensure that this gospel is global in impact without losing the biblical essence.
He writes: "In general, movements are informal groupings of people and organizations pursuing a common cause. They are people with an agenda for change. Movements don't have members but they do had participants...
"Movements are characterized by discontent, vision and action. Discontent unfreezes people from their commitment to the way things are. Movements emerge when people feel something needs to change. If the vacuum created by discontent is filled with vision of a different future and action to bring change, then a movement is born. Movements change people and changed people change the world...
"The renewal and expansion of the church, the breakthroughs always occur on the fringe of ecclesiastical power - never at the center. In every generation, in some obscure place, God is beginning something new. That is where we need to be."
Addison says that all movements have these characteristics in common:
1. White hot Faith;
2. Commitment to a Cause;
3. Contagious Relationships;
4. Rapid Mobilization;
5. Adaptive Methods.
He quotes Victor Hugo:
"There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world and that is an idea whose time has come."
Applying this to genesis collective,
1. White hot faith - we are simply passionate about being a gospel-centered Trinitarian crew. The gospel burns in our soul - not just in salvation, but in ongoing transformation and kingdom advancement;
2. Committed to a cause - we desire to see cities, counties and countries touched by this great gospel by planting effective, healthy, growing, multiplying, New Testament churches, partnering with God and his supernatural power as he continues project planet earth;
3. Contagious relationships - we love doing life with mates! In the humility of our humanity, we carry out vulnerability with honesty, removing any notion of being professionals and maximizing the idea that we need each other going forward;
4. Rapid mobilization - we are committed to the theology of multiplication. Seeing churches as seedbeds of leaders with a passion to multiply out, we are continuously on mission whether it be in the shadowlands of our city or the uncertain culture of foreign nations;
5. Adaptive methods - outside of the key, clear biblical 'must-do's', we give much room for each church to explore and discover their own adventure. There is certainly not one model, pattern or way of doing things. Culture and context must be factored in to ensure that this gospel is global in impact without losing the biblical essence.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Genesis Collective - name
There is always a chasm between what is biblically accurate and what is culturally understandable. So seeking to be biblically accurate can at times, alienate us from cultural impact. Similarly, seeking to be culturally connected as the highest value, can equally alienate us from remaining true to the text.
When we stepped from the NCMI team, we gave ourselves time to:
1. Applaud and re-own the NCMI best practices. This has been very easy, especially thinking back on the earliest years, pre-NCMI when we actually learnt the most from Dudley. They were certainly remarkable years, with some weighty life changing lessons learnt and values defined - those days were very organic, fun, uncertain, adventurous.
2. The next thing we did was to put all our desires and convictions back on the table and revisit them through the lenses of scripture. There are times that we all have to admit that we are deeply influenced by our prejudices, biases, traditions and history. That was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be.
3. Third step was to be very honest about who Meryl, I and our friends are, what we can do, cannot do, strengths and weaknesses. I suppose we were rather amazed at the vulnerability you experience when you step out from the role you have played, are known by - 27 years of leading 2 churches on 2 continents, as well as 25 years of being a key player in the unfolding of a church planting movement. Step from these 2 roles and one has to face the reality of who you are as opposed to the traction that you carry by being in a very defined leadership space.
4. As these matters became clear, we were then stuck in the biblical / cultural dilemma. When we studied the New Testament and became more than ever committed to reflecting that, we realized there was no cultural framing for that understanding. People asked me: "So are you a missionary?" or "Is this the Chris and Meryl ministry?"or "Are you a guest speaker in these churches?" or "Are you a mentor, a coach or consultant?". It was then that I realized that we needed to give verbal empowerment to those who desired to understand what we do. Hence the name...
genesis collective
genesis - I love going back to the very beginning whenever I set out on a new study. In a perfect world, what do the first 3 chapters of Genesis teach us? It was here that the call to Adam empowered me to see that God's created order was defined by - "increase, multiply, fill the earth..." Gen 1:28 This is the fundamental framework that should fashion the way we do life, so too our marriages, families and churches. This is the very essence of being apostolic.
collective - The ascended Christ left his ministry on the earth, not just with the priesthood of all believers [and that is wonderful] but also, through his fivefold gifting as seen most beautifully in Ephesians 4. The forgotten gifts that history keeps trying to write out of the church's story, remains one of the major keys for these, the last of the last days. The apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher are still gifts to the church, not to dominate or dictate but be servants to empower each church in their unique story.
So, we are a group of mates who desire to see the nations discipled by planting New Testament churches, each on their own journey by serving them through the E4 gifts that Jesus has given for their adventure. We love being a grassroots church planting movement that works with new plants laying strong foundations, secondly revitalizing and recalibrating churches that have grown stagnant, and thirdly helping large churches become movements through church planting, multi-siting / planting campuses as well as leadership development.
That is what the name stands for...
When we stepped from the NCMI team, we gave ourselves time to:
1. Applaud and re-own the NCMI best practices. This has been very easy, especially thinking back on the earliest years, pre-NCMI when we actually learnt the most from Dudley. They were certainly remarkable years, with some weighty life changing lessons learnt and values defined - those days were very organic, fun, uncertain, adventurous.
2. The next thing we did was to put all our desires and convictions back on the table and revisit them through the lenses of scripture. There are times that we all have to admit that we are deeply influenced by our prejudices, biases, traditions and history. That was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be.
3. Third step was to be very honest about who Meryl, I and our friends are, what we can do, cannot do, strengths and weaknesses. I suppose we were rather amazed at the vulnerability you experience when you step out from the role you have played, are known by - 27 years of leading 2 churches on 2 continents, as well as 25 years of being a key player in the unfolding of a church planting movement. Step from these 2 roles and one has to face the reality of who you are as opposed to the traction that you carry by being in a very defined leadership space.
4. As these matters became clear, we were then stuck in the biblical / cultural dilemma. When we studied the New Testament and became more than ever committed to reflecting that, we realized there was no cultural framing for that understanding. People asked me: "So are you a missionary?" or "Is this the Chris and Meryl ministry?"or "Are you a guest speaker in these churches?" or "Are you a mentor, a coach or consultant?". It was then that I realized that we needed to give verbal empowerment to those who desired to understand what we do. Hence the name...
genesis collective
genesis - I love going back to the very beginning whenever I set out on a new study. In a perfect world, what do the first 3 chapters of Genesis teach us? It was here that the call to Adam empowered me to see that God's created order was defined by - "increase, multiply, fill the earth..." Gen 1:28 This is the fundamental framework that should fashion the way we do life, so too our marriages, families and churches. This is the very essence of being apostolic.
collective - The ascended Christ left his ministry on the earth, not just with the priesthood of all believers [and that is wonderful] but also, through his fivefold gifting as seen most beautifully in Ephesians 4. The forgotten gifts that history keeps trying to write out of the church's story, remains one of the major keys for these, the last of the last days. The apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher are still gifts to the church, not to dominate or dictate but be servants to empower each church in their unique story.
So, we are a group of mates who desire to see the nations discipled by planting New Testament churches, each on their own journey by serving them through the E4 gifts that Jesus has given for their adventure. We love being a grassroots church planting movement that works with new plants laying strong foundations, secondly revitalizing and recalibrating churches that have grown stagnant, and thirdly helping large churches become movements through church planting, multi-siting / planting campuses as well as leadership development.
That is what the name stands for...
Friday, November 23, 2012
Genesis Collective - the faith foundations
Wow what a year!
It has been an amazing year for M and I.
We took this year as a pilot year, to see how God unfolds the biblical apostolicity that would define our future - it has been an adventure. The danger in times of entrepreneurial uncertainty, is to repeat the past. Whether successful or a failure, it is what we know, so we do it over and over again.
Our past has been extraordinary. The numbers look like this
We came to faith - 35 yrs ago,
Married 32 yrs ago,
Pastoral ministry for 30 yrs,
Served in 2 international church planting movements,
Led 2 churches for a combined 27yrs,
On 2 continents,
Have 3 biological children, - [now 4]
And 4 grandchildren,
Helped plant many churches,
In many countries.
Yep - an amazing adventure. However, we still have another good 20 years in the saddle.
In many ways the next 20 years are the most intriguing. They are certainly unchartered, but unlike 20 years ago, we now know just enough to be dangerous. 20 years ago, we knew that we were ignorant - and I guess ignorance was bliss. Now after all these years of study, leadership, pioneering, brotherhood, we can begin to believe our own press. There is just enough for us to be impressed with the story, thereby relying more and more on repetition rather than on the destructive nature of faith.
Why 'destructive'? Faith always has to undo us first - our knowledge, our experience, our wisdom, our ways, our thoughts, our efforts. Then, in the midst of this seemingly calamitous undoing, is the first stages of the discovery of the new. It is scary, painful, vulnerable, but empowers us to divine dependence.
The world we live in is simply not the world we set out in during the "Invis" Jesus People days of the 70's, nor the same as the pre-NCMI days of the early to mid 80's. These are such different days to the 'heady and intoxicating days" of the 90's. So much is changing. So much has evolved and transformed. So must we.
Over the next while I am going to walk you through the Genesis Collective unfolding story. It has been amazing watching God put the journey together.
It has been an amazing year for M and I.
We took this year as a pilot year, to see how God unfolds the biblical apostolicity that would define our future - it has been an adventure. The danger in times of entrepreneurial uncertainty, is to repeat the past. Whether successful or a failure, it is what we know, so we do it over and over again.
Our past has been extraordinary. The numbers look like this
We came to faith - 35 yrs ago,
Married 32 yrs ago,
Pastoral ministry for 30 yrs,
Served in 2 international church planting movements,
Led 2 churches for a combined 27yrs,
On 2 continents,
Have 3 biological children, - [now 4]
And 4 grandchildren,
Helped plant many churches,
In many countries.
Yep - an amazing adventure. However, we still have another good 20 years in the saddle.
In many ways the next 20 years are the most intriguing. They are certainly unchartered, but unlike 20 years ago, we now know just enough to be dangerous. 20 years ago, we knew that we were ignorant - and I guess ignorance was bliss. Now after all these years of study, leadership, pioneering, brotherhood, we can begin to believe our own press. There is just enough for us to be impressed with the story, thereby relying more and more on repetition rather than on the destructive nature of faith.
Why 'destructive'? Faith always has to undo us first - our knowledge, our experience, our wisdom, our ways, our thoughts, our efforts. Then, in the midst of this seemingly calamitous undoing, is the first stages of the discovery of the new. It is scary, painful, vulnerable, but empowers us to divine dependence.
The world we live in is simply not the world we set out in during the "Invis" Jesus People days of the 70's, nor the same as the pre-NCMI days of the early to mid 80's. These are such different days to the 'heady and intoxicating days" of the 90's. So much is changing. So much has evolved and transformed. So must we.
Over the next while I am going to walk you through the Genesis Collective unfolding story. It has been amazing watching God put the journey together.
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