Outside the Tomb

March 31, 2013 in Spiritual Transformation with 0 Comments

Post by Jerrell Jobe, Pastor at Palm valley Community Church

“Mary stood outside the tomb weeping.”

John 20:11

The disciples had left everything to follow Christ. Many had abandoned personal aspirations, hopes and dreams. They had placed all their trust in this Rabbi – Jesus.  They believed He was about to establish a new kingdom, but now He lies lifeless within the tomb. “What will we do now?” they wondered. “I suppose I can go back to work with my dad,” added another. Others sat despondently on the verge of depression, unable to sort out the events of the past seventy-two hours.

Have you ever wondered what they would have done had Jesus never risen from the dead? I imagine they would have somehow found their way back into the rhythms of life, as they had once known it. But who knows? After all, Peter had once said, “Where else can we go?” What if the tomb remained darkened with death?

Reflection: Take a few moments to reflect on these questions:

  •  What if Jesus had never risen from the dead?
  •  What would your life be like today, had Jesus never invaded and restored your soul?

This may, indeed, be a deep reflection, but do not be too quick to climb out of the grave. Allow yourself to feel the darkness of sin and death without a Savior in sight. Allow yourself to experience the ambiguity that these first disciples felt. Then, spend time rejoicing and thanking God for bringing light into your life.

Jerrell Jobe is a teaching pastor at Palm Valley Community Church in Mission, Texas. Jerrell is deeply grateful for the transformative power of the resurrection and contributes to a weekly Lent Guide for his congregation. You can follow him on Twitter @jerrelljobe

All The Days Before And After Easter

March 30, 2013 in Leadership, Spiritual Transformation with 0 Comments

Post by Laura Crosby, ministry leader at Christ Presbyterian Church

It’s Saturday of Holy Week.

Or maybe it’s Monday, because what ministry leaders have time to read a blog during Holy Week? (Unless they’re desperately looking for a last-minute illustration. Let’s be honest here.)

As I imagine you sitting in front of your computer or phone I see someone really tired. Maybe vaguely anxious about whether you’ve “done enough”, or been “good enough”. Maybe you’re just numb.

You’ve said a lot of words, read a lot of words, talked to and prayed with a lot of people. You’ve worked hard to preach a fresh, relevant, contextualized message of redemption.

Holy Week may be the most important week of the year for you. The Super Bowl and the State of the Union rolled into one. It’s the bad news of sin and death and the good news of resurrection and forgiveness and eternal life. It’s what you’re passionate about so you’ve poured yourself out.

For Jesus.

For the people in your congregations.

But here’s the thing…

I’m privileged to be a facilitator for the LIFT (Leadership Institute For Transformation) classes and you know the biggest “aha!” each semester? Participants realize they’ve cared deeply for the souls of others at the expense of their own soul health. They realize how seldom they choose the discipline, or even feel the permission to merely sit at the feet of Jesus and ask, “What do you have for me? Just me. Today.”

Like Elijah you may have seen God do amazing things through you this Holy week, but now you just feel exhausted and you need God to meet you with a snack and a nap and a gentle whisper.

Or, perhaps you’re like Mary in John 20, so wrapped up in processing both the hosanna’s and the horrors of Easter week that she doesn’t recognize Jesus.  And He’s right there! With her. But like her, you are stumbling along, tired and oblivious.

I imagine a gentle tone and understanding in His eyes as Jesus asks her “Why are you crying?”

What would He ask you?

What might you answer? ”I’m lonely. I’m afraid. I don’t know what to do next.”?

And then Jesus says her name. “Mary.” And I imagine it like a parent would softly say the name of a distraught toddler as they tried to soothe away their tears.

In that one word it seems Jesus is telling Mary, and us, so many things.

I’m here. And it will be ok because I’m here. I see you. I understand your loneliness, your exhaustion, your fears.

Sometimes I need to be reminded that Easter isn’t just about Easter. It’s about all those days before and after Easter when we feel exhausted or confused or alone and tired of caring for others and we need to be reminded that Jesus hasn’t left the building and He doesn’t just love us for what we can do for His sheep.

What if, right now, you were to kneel in silence with no other agenda than to bring yourself to Jesus? Your whole self – your weary, unsure, lonely, longing self – and let Him restore you and whisper HIS words of love and reassurance for you and you alone?

 

Laura Crosby has served as a ministry leader for more than two decades. She currently serves with her husband John at Christ Presbyterian Church near Minneapolis. Read her blog at http://awakemysoulblog.com and follow her on Twitter @lauracrosby_mn

God on a Cross

March 29, 2013 in Leadership, Spiritual Transformation with 0 Comments

Post by Jerrell Jobe, Pastor at Palm valley Community Church

 “Messiah, is He? King of Israel?
Then let Him climb down from that cross.
We’ll all become believers then!”
Even the men crucified alongside Him
joined in the mockery.”
Mark 15:32

 

In the book, The Cross of Christ, author John Stott writes this descriptive reality about the cross:

 I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the one Nietzsche ridiculed as “God on the Cross.” In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world.

But each time after awhile I have had to turn away. And in imagination, I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through his hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me!

He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross, which symbolizes divine suffering.

Reflection: Jesus suffered a brutal death. He was executed on a stake as a criminal. Many were they who came within spitting distance of this so-called Messiah. Somehow many of us have become numb to this scene. Perhaps, ever so slowly it has become buried under the rubble of pop culture and consumerist religion. Spend some time reflecting on these penetrating words by Alexander Whyte:

You will understand that spitting scene that night
when God lets you see your own heart.
(Alexander Whyte, The Best of Alexander Whyte, 76)

Prayer: Humbly ask God to reveal to you what your heart looks like without Christ. Allow this image to produce within you gratefulness today for what He’s done and how He’s begun to give you a new heart.

Jerrell Jobe is a teaching pastor at Palm Valley Community Church in Mission, Texas. Jerrell is deeply grateful for the transformative power of the resurrection and contributes to a weekly Lent Guide for his congregation. You can follow him on Twitter @jerrelljobe

Vision Casting To…Yourself

March 26, 2013 in Leadership with 0 Comments

By Jenni Catron, Executive Director of Cross Point Church in Nashville

If you’re a leader, you understand the importance of vision casting.  You frequently have to remind those you lead why they do what they do.  You remind them of how every task, no matter how seemingly insignificant, ties back to the vision of your church or organization.  It’s leadership 101.

You’ve likely worked hard to develop the skill of vision casting.  Great leaders are masters of this art.

But how good are you at vision casting to yourself?

I’ve been through numerous seasons in my time in ministry when I have forgotten the importance of remembering the vision myself.  I have taken for granted that I need to be reminded of the “why” behind the “whats” just as much as those I lead.

I haven’t exactly forgotten the vision.  If you asked me I would rattle it off by rote.  But while my head remembers, sometimes my heart forgets.  I can get busy doing the what of ministry and slowly find my heart disconnecting.

Have you ever been there?

As Bill Hybels has so wisely taught us, “vision leaks”… even for leaders.  As the leader, you’re less likely to have others who will consistently remind you of the why.  In fact, you’ll more commonly get pestered with questions rather than encouragement… unless you know where to look.

To keep your head and your heart connected to the vision, you have to create ways to cast the vision to yourself repeatedly.  Here are some ways that I have learned to do this:

1)    Prayer.  The demands on your leadership often make extended prayer time feel like a luxury you can’t afford.  This is the easiest way for our hearts to disconnect from the vision and purpose God has called us to.  Don’t neglect the amazing gift of spending time with God and hearing from Him.

2)    Stories.  Whether a quick testimony that was told to you on a Sunday morning or an email that someone penned to share their story of transformation, let each story be a reminder of the power of God’s vision in action.  I keep a file on my computer for emails and stories that I’ve received.  On the days where I’m struggling to find significance in my work, a quick read through a few of these stories reconnects me with the heart and the impact of the work we do.

3)    Mentors.  You need people you can go to on the dark days.  These might be other ministry leaders, co-workers or friends, but they need to be people who know how to re-inspire you with truth.  Beware: they’re likely to regurgitate your own words back to you, but that’s okay, it’s probably exactly what you need to hear.

The vision isn’t going to burn brightly every day.  Some days it will feel like a flicker, but acknowledge that and create ways to help you reignite it.  That’s what will set you apart as a leader!      

About Jenni Catron: Executive Director of Cross Point Church in Nashville. Founder of Cultivate Her. Loves great books, the perfect cup of tea, playing a game of tennis with her husband and hanging with her dog Mick.

Rethink Everything. Even Meatloaf.

March 21, 2013 in Leadership, Soul Care with 0 Comments

In an effort to teach my teenage son responsibility, and a handy skill for adult life, he’s taken over our kitchen… and thus our lives. Don’t get me wrong, as a working mom who is often on the road, his service has been invaluable.

This past week, on a whim, I invited two brand new co-workers to our home for dinner after a long day of back-to-back meetings. The house smelled amazing, as the promised “first-ever” meatloaf baked to perfection. When the timer buzzed just a few minutes later, I opened the oven to find something I’d never, ever, seen before: Meatloaf in a 13×9 glass baking dish (imagine brownies, but with catsup on top).

Like everything else he does, my creative son had unknowingly managed to push the frontiers of innovation once again… even with meatloaf! (tasted great, by the way).

As a leader, sometimes you just have to re-think everything. My team and I have been in just such a season of innovation since the beginning of 2013. Placing age-old spiritual nourishment into innovative containers; finding ways to help leaders “see” their work with a new lens, and bringing world-class leadership development right to leader’s desktops.

I’m reminding myself frequently to ask the following questions, in order to uncover what might hinder or help me during a time of innovation. Isaiah 43:18 – 19 reminds me… God is often doing a new thing. Take a minute now to read it, and consider a few reflection questions.

 ·      In what ways am I forcing new ideas into old paradigms?       

·      What new things are requiring me to think differently in my role?

·      In what ways do I sense God’s guidance as we dream new dreams?

·      What makes my soul feel tired, ready for God to do a new thing in me?

·      What helps me notice what God is doing around me?

When our work involves innovation in spiritual life, technology, and leadership…there’s never a lack of need for new ideas. I want to be as open to them, and leading others towards them, as much as possible.

In April, we’ll begin our next session of LIFT Online Courses. I hope you’ll join us, and begin re-thinking areas of your leadership that could use some fresh ideas.

Mindy is the Executive Director of Engage International and an Executive Team Member at Willow Creek Association.

 

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