More Llama!

Nothing like some good llama shots to fill the time. A youth group friend sent these in...

Summoned to Lead-Chapter 5

Well, Sweet has certainly learned the power of repitition. He goes over the idea of being humble and having confidence, of listening to others...he gives more sound facts...

But other than that, I think there were some quality points in this chapter.

1. Difference between skulls and ears. Skulls think they have it down. Ears are ready to grow and learn more.

2. We can complain about the past systems and their failures, or we can move on and adjust to current problems/issues. this is big for me, because it's easy for me to nit-pick and not try to improve the overall scenario.

3. "The Jesus School is not a school we graduate from quickly." There's always room for growth, always room for change and adjustments.

4. Tips for listening (finding direction?) better: My two favorite were detox and play. Important to have times to stop and sift through the sounds that have been banging into us. And it's important to have fun and ask stupid questions. I love stupid questions.

5. Three types of stories with a group. Tradition stories, vision stories and map stories. Tradition says where we've come from. Vision says where we're going. Map says how we'll get there. this is helpful for me in thinking of how I can convey the story of Jesus to the students and youth leaders.

So here are my questions to Len Sweet after this...
Can you be a learner and not really learn? Meaning, can you consume yourself with learning and then become consumed with learning and not living?

How do you determine what it is you need to learn? this may be a stupid question...

Thanksgiving!

Aubrey and I are heading down to VA to be with her family and my family. My sister and Nana are down there...

We're excited about the possibility of resting.

Also, it's my sister's birthday! Happy Birthday Susan!

It's always good to reconnect with family...this past weekend, we went to Allentown to be with my Uncle Jeff, Grandma Joan, Aunt Elain, Jonathan and Linda. I love being with them. Jonathan and Linda are brilliant kids who always beat me when we play chess. And they love to wrestle. They tell me that I am like a walking ferris wheel, b/c I spin them around so much...that's fun!

Summoned to Lead-Chapter 4

Following up on how to go about choosing people for our organizations/communities, Sweet takes the next chapter down a very appropriate passage: understanding our mission.

You can have the greatest people, but without direction, without a common mission, nothing comes of it. Yeah, maybe there are good feelings, but nothing substantial.

In the past, the mission of organizations was often “growth.” And Sweet suggests that mission isn’t about “growth” as we have come to understand it.

Growth used to be this ideal that was touted by leaders and CEO’s. (Believe it or not, it still is touted in the church.) But Sweet points out that “growth-oriented companies are now treated with more than a measure of suspicion; a growth obsession is now seen as a liability, not an asset” (104). Often the mission becomes more about getting bigger than actually providing the world with a better way of life.

Mission “has to be bigger than ourselves—certainly bigger than ‘growth’” (104).

This fits with a certain discomfort I have had with the “church-growth” movement…

Some of my favorite thoughts of Sweet’s on mission:

“We can’t control missions. Circumstances will change. Plans will fail. Instead of planning our missions, we must compose them without plans. We must schedule in the serendipity and improvisation.” (105)

“Mission needs to be related in narrative form. Narrative flair and rhetorical prowess go a long way in persuading people to join the mission.” (107)

Rob Bell had a sermon recently (part of his directions 2 series still available for download) where, for the first 20 minutes of his sermon, he told stories of people in their community reaching out to others. Rob did an excellent job of laying out the mission of their church through a narrative form.

“Great leaders also invite participation…None of us is as smart as all of us. The mission depends on everyone.” (107)

I'm not big on plans that say that there are people who are dispensable. The only people who are dispensable are the people who are against the mission, who somehow find ways to undermine the goodness of what is happening. But even then, our mission should include how to reincorporate those people when they want to return...

He points out that there has a been a false dichotomy between work and spirituality. Instead we should work at our jobs with a “mission”. Not totally sure how to work that one out.

He never points out what the mission is. He just says that we all have it. I like how he left it openended.

Sleepy Squirrels

So I was in bed the other day and Aubrey shouts from downstairs, "Josh, come down here quick! There's a sleeping squirrel."

Now, it's not everyday that you get to see a sleeping squirrel. So, I put on some clothes and rushed downstairs to look out my kitchen window. Right outside the window, in the nook of a tree, was a squirrel with it's tail over it's head and it's eyes closed. And sure enough, it was sleeping.

Anyway, I made some coffee and while I was making it, I saw his eyes open. So I watched a little more. I've never seen squirrel morning rituals, so I watched.

First he looked around.

Then he started washing his body by wetting his tail and then rubbing his tail on his body. But he did it really fast.

I envy the animals that only require spit to wash themselves. Such an easier existence.

Then he climbed up the tree a little and turned to face the ground. And as he was facing the ground, he extended his front paws in the air towards the ground in a stretch, and then balled the paws up like he was punching the air. Never seen that before.

Then he scratched himself profusely.

Then he licked himself...

And then he tried to copulate with a not so cooperative female squirrel.

It was at this point that I thought I should probably give him his privacy.

So I did. I pulled out my camera...no, I took a shower.

Anyway, that's the morning ritual of a squirrel. Much like his human counterparts, except for the saliva bath and licking ourselves and sleeping in a tree.

Summoned to Lead-Chapter 3

Well, I'll just say that I didn't really like the last chapter. I thought he had already said everything he was trying to say in that chapter. But thanks for keeping the "sound" analogy going.

Now, I thought chapter three blew the last chapter out of the water. Mainly I loved it because he was emphasizing how things sound better when there is more than one.

So there are like three things I will walk away with from this chapter (I chose three, because that's the perfect leadership number but I might actually have two or four).

1. The test of an organization is not the mission statement, but instead the spirit of the group. (78) Now, there might be a bunch of good people with great spirits doing the wrong things, though, so I think this has to be thought through. You don't want to put somebody in a place where they are doing something that they're not good at. But I like the idea of when searching for somebody to do something, you look at the heart before you look at the massive skills.

2. The best spirit is confidence and humility.

3. A team needs inspiration more than guidance (87). I think about this in light of my youth worker team. They don't need as much training as much as they need somebody to encourage them and give them hope for what they are doing. Remembering some of our youth staff meetings, some of the best ones were when we created space for me to tell them the possibilities and then to have them tell stories of victories that they've seen.

4. Difference is good. We don't want everybody on the same note. Difference produces harmony. So, on my youth worker team, I don't want a bunch of hyper 20 somethings, or a bunch of laid back parents.

5. Confidence in the leader is needed. not cockiness, but confidence that says, "I think we can do this, and I believe in the people who are doing this."

Shackleton's Story

1. He brought a banjo. he made sure there was a musician and that everybody could sing.
2. He took risks. He knew they couldn't stay where they were.

Second Weekend of November

What a good weekend this was.

1. Thursday Night with Richard. I have an across the street neighbor who moved here from Montana with his wife in hopes that she would recover from the cancer that wracked her body. But when they moved here she died. And now he's here by himself. He's a self-proclaimed hermit, actually making a sign above one of his doors that says "The Hermit".

He caught me coming into my house on Wednesday night. He wanted to talk...I think he just wanted to be with somebody. He showed me all of his amazing model airplanes and ships and trains. Somehow in our conversation, I found out that he hardly ever has anything good to eat, and I suggested that we eat together on Thursday night.

So I came over and we ate stuffed shells (aubrey made them...but was at class) and watched the first half of "The Greatest Story Ever Told". He got choked up several times during the movie and said that there are days when he can't stop crying when he thinks of how wonderful his wife, Mary, was. He said they were lovers till the end.

After the movie he played some big band music on his CD player and we talked about the war (WW 2) and his history. Then I went home. I like Richard. I wish he didn't have to live all by himself and never see his family.

2. Friday Night with Randy, Lorena and Brendan. Aubrey and I hung out with my good friend Randy and his family. We went to a viewing of Joann's father and then out to Red Lobster for supper. Aubrey and I were thankful we had two gift cards for the place, b/c it's stupid expensive there. But we had a great time talking with them. I mostly joked around with Brendan, Randy's son...he's a funny guy.

3. Saturday hike with Aubrey. Aubrey and I went to Pine Grove Furnace State Park. Geez, it's nice to get away and relax with the most beautiful woman in the world. She's a quality lady. A deep thinker and a compassionate heart. And the weather was beautiful. The hike culminated in a breathtaking view from the top of a cliff that jutted out above the treeline, giving us a perspective on the lake and valley below us.

4. Sunday lunch with Doris and friends. Doris, from church, invited us and other pastor's over to her house. Wow, she is a great cook. My favorite was the smoked pork and the corn pudding. I walked out of that house feeling like it was Thanksgiving or Christmas.

5. Sunday supper with friends, Amy and Jeremy. Aubrey new Amy from Messiah. They are a fun and deep couple. We laughed, we talked about what matter, we laughed some more, we enjoyed Aubrey's great cooking.

Darkness Tuesday

Well, Tuesday night was the firts night for pain at Elements. It was a special night, designed so that students would face their pain, name their pain and hopefully see God's hope in spite of the pain. I think it was a great time together.

We started off with the lights completely off and the chairs separated from each other.

In the dark we talked about the similarity between darkness and pain.

In the lament Psalm 88, the last verse says, "the darkness is my only friend". The last word in Hebrew is "darkness".

The Jewish conception of pain and darkness is that God is not absent during those times, but that he will do something with those times.

Gen. 1:1 says "darkness covered the deep". God created out of the darkness.

So God desires to create out of the darkness of our own lives.

Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, "You were once darkness, but now you are light..." So we have the choice to live in the darkness of our pain, or start moving toward the light.

As Christians we don't try to avoid the pain. We name the pain and find God beside us in it. And in that we choose whether or not we will be bitter or better (to borrow a Rob Bell phrase).

This isn't necessarily a fast process. It takes time.

As I spoke about the light, I lit candles for every aspect of light I could think of (comfort, joy, peace, understanding, lack of bitterness).

Then we played David Crowder's "Come Awake" as an invitation to examine our own pain.

After the song, they could use the candles under their chairs and come to the candles as a symbol of accepting light into their darkness.

Then they could write their own lament Psalms or talk with an adult.

It was a quality experience for many of our students and I'm glad I was able to be a part of it.

It is my prayer that our students will continue to wade through their pain and find God right there beside them in all of it.

Sweet: Chapter 2

Well, I am not finished with the chapter, but I will be soon. But I want to get out of the office, so I am going to finish my thoughts and put them on here on Monday (no internet at the house).

But I will have to say that I am kinda peeved so far with this chapter. He seems to be saying the same thing over and over and over and over. He keeps saying that leaders listen, that listening is the best thing, that there is noise everywhere, that leaders listen, that listening is the best thing, that there is noice everywhere. Come on, Sweet!

My favorite part was when he said that leaders need to listen to others more often. Yes!

If you read Bonhoeffer's (a revolutionary German pastor who was part of a group who tried to overthrow Hitler) "Life Together" you will find that listening is one of the best things you can do for your brother, because you are acting on behalf of God, the Great Listener.

Turtle X-ing

On my way to church yesterday I was in a long line of cars driving down Church Road. It runs by Cousler Park which has a creek and a pond. As the line of cars was driving past the park, the lead car swerved to the right, and then the following car did the same until I came to the same spot and I saw why they were swerving. Right next to the double yellow line was a huge snapping turtle trying to cross the road. It had it’s huge head sticking out looking around trying to figure out which way to go. Something in me urged me to stop and help it across the road. So, I quickly pulled off the road and ran back to the spot where the turtle was. Guess what! It was still there (yeah, it’s a turtle).

So when I was right beside it I pointed it out to the cars coming by so that they wouldn’t hit it. But there was one guy in a little Japanese car who was barreling down on it. His driver’s side tire was in line to run over it. Horror creeped over me as I realized that he was going to hit it. But at the last moment he swerved into the middle of the road so that the middle of the car went over the turtle. So, what did I hear? I heard a huge KAH-NICK! I was worried that it would be majorly hurt…but I couldn’t even see where the car nicked it. The turtle’s shell was so thick.

I had to do this fast, because there were a bunch of cars on the road going to different churches. So I dashed out there, grabbed it between it’s front legs and back legs. As I grabbed it, it’s head went into it’s shell (as far as it could go…which wasn’t very far), and it hissed. And he dug at my hands with his claws. He dug at me until I put him down on the other side of the road.

But he was safe.

I would take the clawing if it meant he would be safe.

It made me think of being with in community. Sometimes I get hurt when I am trying to help my friends. And they dig at me and dig at me the whole time I am helping them. It’s not until the end that they realize what was happening. And they might not even realize it then.

Summoned to Lead-Chapter 1

Well, let me warn you. This is long.

Chapter 1: The Power of Voice

“The church has it all wrong. It is trying to train leaders. Instead, it ought to train everyone to listen and to develop their own soundtrack. Only when you find your voice will you harness the God-given power to truly lead.” (35)

What I love about the idea that leadership is more about the ears than the eyes is that it takes time to listen. You have to stop to really do it. You have to turn down the CD player to listen to the birds. You have to turn off the heater to hear the creak in your stairs. Being who we are called to be takes time and is not sudden. You must stop to hear your soundtrack and then live in tune with that. What a mess life is when you are trying to live to another person’s beat.

Sweet suggests that in order to hear your own “soundtrack” you should be committed to four things.

The first is a commitment to truth. Truth about today, truth about what tomorrow can be. In naming the truth as it is and can be, we participate in making beauty out of ashes. This means being honest about ourselves. Sweet even says, “A good leader is different than a leader that looks good.” (36)

The second is a commitment to social justice and spiritual vibrancy. He goes on to say that leaders should be committed more to values which work themselves out through virtues than the shiftiness of self-interest. “What matters is not the products you make, but the virtues that make you.” (38) If it’s about results, then Hitler was great.

Being committed to values is probably a lot like being committed to truth. Values are truth statements. Virtues are truths lived out.

The third is a commitment to originality. I loved this section, because Sweet didn’t push for innovation, but for going back to the what has already been said. “True originality is homecoming.” (39) Again, it’s back to truth. Truth is the most original. Sweet points out that “the striking thing about Jesus is not his originality. It’s his derivativeness.” (41) It’s not about being new. It’s about being in tune with what God’s doing.

The fourth is a commitment to experiencing the breadth of what life offers. This allows a person to really find truth in all it’s various forms…

“I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing
Than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.”
e. e. cummings

It’s about teaching others how to sing, not how not to do something. It’s about positive motion, not negative reinforcement. We are showing other people that they have a voice. It sounds like a Barnabas thing if you ask me. It’s about coming beside people and hearing their voice and pulling it out.

So this looks like what? Paying attention to our friends. Commenting on the strengths we see in others. This takes way more commitment than I think we realize. Is anybody able to see the gifts of others? I find it’s easier to see the gifts that I have in other people. Or if I have a good friend who has a particular gift, I see that gift in others too.

The continued story of Ernest Shackleton is inspiring to say the least. It makes me want to get on a boat and push myself out to see with some friends just to get lost and experience life at sea. But then I think to myself…that’s stupid.

Anyway, Shackleton’s survival story makes Survivor look like a cruise. But what it took to get through the ordeal was optimism, integrity, idealism and endurance. We must take note that not one person died on his journey. Even though their boat wrecked and they floated aimlessly for hundreds of miles and were in the depths of freezing weather for months.

My complaint is this. If this is an anti-leadership book, why does sweet use the word leader so much?

Halloween Tricks

Well, this was the first halloween for Aubrey and I to be in our very own house. We were so excited that we went (when i saw we, I mean "me") and bought tons, I mean tons, of candy for the trick-or-treaters. I came home and put all the candy (like 10 different types) in a cauldron that we have. And it was almost overflowing. And then I waited for all the little kids to come in their costumes. And I waited. I waited. I waited.

No kids showed up. Probably one of the most disappointing nights of my entire life (okay, a slight exageration, but it was a downer). I sat in the living room with hopes that they would show up. I even went out onto the front porch and shouted to all who could hear me that we had plenty of candy left. I would have let any kid take as much as they wanted...

I think everybody went to the rich neighborhoods. And you know what!? As soon as the time limit went by, all the lights in my neighborhood came on. They had been waiting until the time was up to turn on their lights. Humbug neighbors.

So, if anybody wants to stop by and get some candy...

Make sure you're dressed up.