Face of Betrayal – A Review

Lis Wiehl's first attempt at fiction scores big with "Face of Betrayal" which is part 'Charlie's Angels' and part public service announcement woven together into a dramatic murder mystery storyline. Using three women (whose friendships with each other are somewhat complicated) to solve a complex mystery, Wiehl keeps you guessing throughout the story. The senator? The homeless man? The childhood friend? Wiehl refreshingly selected Portland, OR as the location for her political murder mystery. Anyone familiar with Portland will recognize the locations and neighborhoods depicted in this great NW city. Perhaps there will be a whole series created based on these characters and on Portland. I read it on my Kindle2 with my wife reading it over my shoulder and then recommended it to a flight attendant! If you like John Grisham, Vince Flynn, or Margaret Truman you will enjoy Lis Wiehl's contribution to the murder-mystery genre.

The Hole In Our Gospel

The Hole In Our Gospel, (2009, Thomas Nelson) is a compelling call to Christ-followers to see the gospel as more than a just theological reality that paves the way for believers to be reconciled to God, but as a very real presence in our lives that calls us to respond to the needs of some of the most vulnerable around the globe. Stearns writes, "More and more, our view of the gospel has been narrowed to a simple transaction, marked by checking a box on a bingo card at some prayer breakfast, registering a decision for Christ, or coming forward during an altar call. It was about saving as many people from hell as possible – for the next life. It minimized any concern for those same people in this life." (p. 17). He sets forth the purpose for his book on p. 20: "Those words from the Lord's Prayer 'Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven' were and are a clarion call to Jesus' followers not just to proclaim the good news but to be the good news, here and now (Matt. 6.10). This gospel – the whole gospel – means much more than the personal salvation of individuals. It means a social revolution."

Stearns uses his own story to effectively challenge us and convince us of our own privilege and responsibility with the whole Gospel. In reference to Matt 25.40, Stearns states, "We learn that Christ's criterion for determining the authenticity of someone's profession to follow Him is whether or not he or she tangibly cared for those in need. And now we are told that when we do care for them, we are actually caring for Christ Himself – His identity merged with the least and the last. There is no "whole gospel' without compassion and justice shown to the poor. It's that simple." (p. 60).

Before I read The Hole in Our Gospel I shared my copy with Rev. Russell Baustian, a retired pastor who lives in Florida (and is my father-in-law). When I asked him what he thought of Stearn's book he replied, "I hated it! It's the worst book I've ever read! I've never been so convicted!" Within a few days this pastor of modest means had sent a check for a water filtration system being installed by Campus Crusade for a people he would never meet.

You might be tempted to think that this is just another call for the Christ-followers to give their money to relief organizations like World Vision. If that's what you think, you're mistaken. Stearn's challenges the church and those who follow Jesus to go beyond their support of social and economic causes, to do more than simply adding a few dollars to the offering plate, or even go on another missions trip. He challenges us to make a seismic shift in the way we think about our money, our possessions, and our priorities. "If we're in God's game, we need to put the American dream to death, because God's game is a different game altogether." (P. 209)

The Hole In Our Gospel is not an easy book to read but it is a book that should be read by all who seek to follow Jesus fully.

Ghost Twitterers

I sit on the board for Converge Worldwide (BGC). In the past month I have participated in a church planters assessment team, a board meeting, final interviews for five potential missionary candidates, and attended the ground-breaking for the new Converge/Vision 360 ministry training center in Orlando. In each of those situations I have had some exciting conversations with men and women who are following Jesus with abandon and who want to join with what God is already doing in our world through his people. These are exciting days!

Since I do not hold a leadership position on this board I have an opportunity to develop even more 'second chair' leadership skills. For example, I have noticed a reduction in communication between the board's leadership and board members the past six months. I first raised the matter with a friend who is part of the executive committee of the board hoping to catch up on what has been going on during a significant period of historic transition. To my surprise he knew nothing more than I did. So next I emailed one of our key leaders and followed up with him in person. I suggested a number of communication vehicles to address the perceived lack of communication. There can be passive communication through our website - even through a password-protected page for board members if there are sensitive items not ready for public consumption. More active pieces might include a periodic email (what organization doesn't have an e-newsletter these days?), a leadership blog, or even a Facebook page.

I lobbied pretty hard for Facebook and Twitter accounts for the president and other key leaders. Most of the next-generation leaders in our movement live on Facebook and Twitter. I already follow several of them and appreciate the training and mentoring I am receiving. The ability for these next-generation leaders to hear from the current leaders of our movement through FB & Twitter would begin to connect them more fully to the mission God has given us.

As a second chair leader you might find that an effective form of communicaiton between your key leader and those in your organization is through FB and Twitter. You may also find that your key leader is not inclined to agree and very likely would not use these social networking tools to their best advantage. That's where we come in. As second chair leaders we can become 'ghost twitterers' for our key leaders maintaining their status and friends/followers lists for them. It's not that difficult since we have lots of first-hand communication with them already that we could adapt for FB & Twitter.

Communication vehicles are changing rapidly. While we still have some people in our churches who do not own cell phones or have email accounts, we have others who communicate solely through their Blackberry or i phones. The challenge for us as second chair leaders is to is to find - and USE - all of the communication vehicles available to us to enhance the effectiveness of our key leader and the Gospel which we serve.

A Good Question

My second chair role is a little different than most. My title is: Associate Pastor of Ministry Development. My charge is to "make all ministries better!" The great thing about my position is that it is very broad and undefined. The bad thing about my position is that it is very broad and undefined! Techinally, I am not responsible for any specific area of ministry but am to work as a coach or consultant with several different ministry team leaders helping them to improve their ministry effectiveness. The challenge comes in helping to shape these ministries while not actually being in charge of any of them. How do I (and my boss) evaluate my effectiveness? Am I to identify areas that could be improved? Present models for more effective ministries? Persuade leaders to embrace these models? Or is it enough just to try? I mean, we are a volunteer organization. What if the the head usher believes his team is doing well and doesn't need to change? Or the small group leaders just say "no" to the Activate model we are shifting toward (see the April 6 post)?

My sr. pastor and I had an interesting conversation the other day. Along with my duties I lead a small group, teach a class on Sundays, and lead a men's small group during the week. My sr. asked me if those activities (specifically the men's group) were the "best use of my time?" It was a good question. I like teaching and as a pastor I should be teaching - shouldn't I? Does leading these classes/groups maximize my ability to fulfill my charge? Here's the dilema: Can I be an effective second chair leader without a "public" ministry? Every other staff member has a group of people they lead and stand before at least weekly - especially on Sunday mornings. Why should I be any different? Is it enough for me to coach our greeter/ushers/welcome desk people for our three services making sure that everyone is equipped and prepared to care for visitors and guests, that our space is expanded between services, and that the offerings are securely placed in the safe?

At my ordination years ago I used Ephesians 4.12 as my charge for ministry: "...to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ." My second chair role is ideal for fulfilling this charge to equip others for minstry. So part of the answer to my sr.'s question is to detemine whether or not those specific groups that I lead are actually "equipping" others to do the ministry of the church. If they are studies unto themselves, probably not. If they are specifially designed to train and equip then there is a greater likelihood that they would contribute to my specific calling.

I appreciate that my sr. is watching out for me. He's trying to protect me from falling into a trap of busynesss that may not produce the spiritual results that the church and I desire to see. I would appreciate your input as I take time to evaluate my ministry activities -not to determine their value, but to determine if they are allowing for maximum impact for the ministries of the church.

The Second Chair

I enjoy sitting in the second chair! It allows me to use my gifts and skills to help my organization (a church) fulfill it's mission in our community. In my unique role I am charged with helping all of our ministries to be more effective so that means that I perform a variety of tasks with a lot of different groups and individuals with the goal that my involvement will be a positive experience. Mostly it is, but sometimes its not. That should come as no surprise since most of what I do is to tweak, nudge, change - even eliminate - various ministries and programs.

I like to read and so staying current in these varied areas allows me to read pretty broadly. I've been reading some church management and structure stuff (Simple Church, Purpose Driven Church, Activate, Fusion, Becoming a Healthy Church, etc.) and quite a bit of spiritual formation stuff (Sacred Marriage, God Is The Gospel, Authentic Faith, Beautiful Fight, Don't Waste Your Life). I've been doing some thinking on how to synchronize these varied subjects in our ministries but I'm not yet ready to draw any profound conclusions. My current read on my Kindle2 is Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal. It is my sense that once I finish that my thinking may become clearer. The challenge in the second chair will be the ability to introduce this change to those who make the final decisions.

Over the past several months I have been working to introduce a new approach to small groups as outlined in Nelson Searcy's book Activate. After nearly six months of presentation, discussion, sharing of resources, etc. I have now been given the green light to implement the model this Fall. It has been a longer process that I imagined but not really very difficult. The difficulty will come over the next several months as we move from design to implentation! But I appreciate the opportunity to read and conduct the research for these changes. I'm grateful that the leadership here values my involvement in that research, too.

As one who has made a career of sitting in the second chair I know well the challenges and limits of leading from this position. It's often much more about relationship than position. Building that level of trust and influence takes time. The more I can demonstrate that I am fully supportive of the leadership and the team with which I serve, the more likely it is that I will be invited to implement change and lead from the second chair.