MissionShift - Part 1

I'm reviewing the first section of the book MissionShift: Global Mission Issues In The Third Millennium. Ed Stetzer tweeted several weeks ago that he would give a copy of the book to anyone who would agree to review the book and join an online conversation on his blog. Never one to pass up a free book, I jumped at the offer. 

I was intrigued by the topic of mission and missiology. The first thing I noticed is that the book is published by B&H Academic. This is an academic work. I probably wouldn't have picked this book up to read on my own. However, if you willing to wade through the sometimes lengthy and complex discourse, this is a very informative and useful book. It speaks directly to the issues facing the church today and can act as a framework to help us interact, adapt, confront and transform culture.

The book is designed around three essays and then a series of responses to each:

1. Mission Defined and Described by Charles Van Engen describes Mission in the Past
2. The Gospel in Human Contexts by Paul Hiebert describes Mission in the Present
3. The Future of Evangelicals in Mission by Ralph Winter describes Mission in the Future

My assignment this week is to respond and reflect on the first essay, including the responses by Keith Eitel, Enoch Wan, Darrell Guder, Andreas Kostenberger, Ed Stetzer and David Hesselgrave. Quite a task for guy who has never studied missiology! I will try to keep my comments concise and to the point.

As Proverbs 17:27-28 says: Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

Being a history major, I enjoyed Van Engen's comments about how mission has been defined differently over the years. He quotes Sidney Rooy: "If, like David Bosch, we define mission as missio Dei ["the mission of God"], we can say that this signifies the revelation of God as the One who love the world God has created, who is concerned for this world, and who has formed the church to be a subject called to participate in the historical project of establishing the kingdom of God....Truly, each generation must define mission anew."

I enjoyed the section on the Biblical meaning of the word mission. The word mission is rarely used in either the Old or New Testaments. "What is emphasized regularly is the concept of being sent, with an emphasis on the authority and purpose of the sender."

• The church is sent by her Lord.
• The covenant people of God are sent by God to the nations who are not yet part of the people of God.
• Jesus refers to Himself as the one who is sent: "I must proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43)
• The followers of Jesus are also sent to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God, to invite all peoples to become Jesus' disciples and responsible members of His church. (Matthew 28:18-20)
• We need to continually remember that sending is an integral part of mission. Jesus Christ is the Sender, "whose authority defines, circumscribes, limits, and propels Christian mission."

During the Constantinian era, the concept of Christian mission changed drastically.

• The Decree of Milan in 313 AD recognized Christianity as an officially permitted religion
• In 325 Christianity became the favored religion
• In 380 Christianity became the official religion
• By 392 Christianity became the only tolerated religion [in the Holy Roman Empire]
• "In a brief span of eighty years, Christianity went from being a persecuted religion to the persecuting religion." In addition to the church, the empire [nation-state] became an agent of mission represented by persons designated by the emperor.
• In this era the mission of the church was extended through conquest, forcible imposition of the faith, destroying pagan religions, and mass baptisms.
• In the Constantinian model of mission, there was confusion between the temporal and spiritual. The Emperor represented the "kingdom of God" which led to a confusion of church and state.

In the late 1700s William Carey suggested a different way of understanding mission. His approach was rooted in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 and assumed the following:

• Salvation was individualistic, primarily concerned with a spiritual and personal relationship with Jesus Christ
• The primary calling of the church's mission was geographic. Christians were called to go.
• New converts should be gathered into churches resembling the sending churches and missions
• New individual converts should be extracted from their non-Christian contexts, gathered into Christian mission stations, and taught culture and civilization of the missionaries.

 The World Council of Churces was founded in 1948 in response to the "disastrous consequences of the church's silence and irrelevance in the crisis of Western Europe during the 1930's and the early 1940's." The WCC wanted to find a more relevant missiology and crystallized around the phrase missio Dei, "the mission of God." The WCC became characterized by:

• Radical secularization of mission
• A deep pessimism about the church as a viable agent of God's mission
• An emphasis on God's mission oriented toward, and centered in, the kingdom of God and the world rather than the church
• The world set the agenda for the church

This radical secularization of mission and caused S Neill to say, "When everything is mission, nothing is mission."

Reacting against the redefinition of mission by the WCC, Evangelical leaders came together in two major mission conferences in 1966 and later in Lausanne in 1974, Pattaya

• Calling people to mission for" unreached people groups" in places where they saw no viable church present. This led to many missionaries being sent to the former Soviet-bloc countries.
• An emphasis on the "10-40 Window", the least-evangelized area of the world where the greatest number of poor live.
• Evangelicals struggling to bring together evangelism and social action

 Van Engen concludes by calling for missional churches who are contextual, intentional, proclaiming, reconciling, sanctifying, unifying, and transforming. Van Engen footnotes Scherer at this point:

"Mission happens wherever the church is; it is how the church exists. Mission is the church preaching Christ for the first time; it is the act of Christians struggling against injustice and oppression; it is the binding of wounds in reconciliation; it the church learning from other religious ways and being challenged by the world's cultures....Mission is the local church focusing not on its own, internal problems, but on other human beings, focusing elsewhere, in a world that calls and challenges it."

I like that! Mission happens wherever the church is; it is how the church exists! I want to be that kind of church! I want to pray, trust, and work to create that kind of community here in Cedar Rapids. I want to be the church on the move that lives out the gospel and extends it to all people.

Silent No More!

Today is Martin Luther King Day. Ed Stetzer has a great post titled Letters from a Birmingham Jail over at edstetzer.com. I am summarizing his post.

The Letter from Jail is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King, Jr. King wrote the letter from the city jail in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was confined after being arrested for his part in the Birmingham campaign. King's letter is a response to a statement made by eight white Alabama clergymen on April 12, 1963, titled "A Call For Unity". The clergymen agreed that social injustices existed but argued that the battle against racial segregation should be fought solely in the courts, not in the streets.

Here is an excerpt from the letter:

I received a letter this morning from a white brother in Texas which said, "All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but is it possible that you are in too great of a religious hurry? It has taken Christianity almost 2000 years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth." All that is said here grows out of a tragic misconception of time. It is the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time is neutral. It can be used either destructively or constructively. I am coming to feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation... 

As I was reading during my quiet time this morning in Matthew 12, here are some of my thoughts and reflections.

"Appalling silence." As a witness to the transforming power of the gospel, has the church of Jesus Christ lost our voice? As the people of God, do we speak for those who can't speak for themselves? Do we stand silently as we see injustice run rampant? Are we willing to stand with the gospel in the places where it critiques and confronts our culture?

Jesus was willing to confront his religious culture. Jesus was counter cultural. When confronted by the Pharisees about law-keeping and boundary-drawing, Jesus responded with this:

And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. Matthew 12:7


Jesus was criticized for doing good and for healing on the Sabbath. He so thoroughly confronted the Pharisees legalistic system of religion that they went off to plot how to kill him. And what was Jesus response? Luke 12:15 says he withdrew and many followed him, and he healed all their sick.

Matthew writes that Jesus compassion and mercy reflects the heart of God and was foretold in Isaiah 42:1-4:

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I take great delight. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations."  Matthew 12:18

If we are silent the rocks will cry out! What does it mean in our culture at this time of history to proclaim justice and practice mercy? What would it look like to be a follower of Jesus who speaks for those who have no voice? Let's be silent not more!

A Life Worth Living

On new years eve I like to use spend time reviewing the previous year. I found a list of questions that I really like to use. I modified the list and here is what I now use for my year-end review. Solitude and time alone with God press meaning into my busy life and help me live more intentionally.

Socrates has said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Psalm 90:12 says, "Teach us to consider our mortality, so we might live wisely." (NET) Wise living and a life worth living require regular review and time alone with God and His Word.

2009 was a very busy year with lots of changes. Several things that were hi-lights for me:

• I became a Lunch Buddy at Polk School and began meeting with DeShawn.
• We awarded the first Pagel Family Scholarship.
• Our first Family Vacation in Colorado with our adult kids and spouses! 
• Sharon and I had many important, honest conversations and our relationship is growing and thriving!

It's your turn now. Feel free to change the questions and make your own list!

1. If the last year were a movie of your life, what would the genre be?
2. What were the two or three major themes that kept recurring?
3. What did you accomplish this past year that you are the most proud of? These can be in any area of your life—spiritual, relational, vocational physical, etc. Be as specific as possible. 
4. What do you feel you should have been acknowledged for but weren’t?
5. What disappointments or regrets did you experience this past year? As leaders, we naturally have high expectations of ourselves and others. Where did you let yourself down? Where did you let others down?
6. What was missing from last year as you look back? Again, look at each major area of your life. Don’t focus now on having to do anything about it. For now, just list each item. Here is my list: 
7. What were the major life-lessons you learned this past year? Boil this down to a few short, pithy statements.
8. What issues or opportunities will you face this coming year? What do you want to trust God for?

Once I Was Afraid of Dying

Grab the tissues and watch the video. During the past 24 hours Coach John Wooden was been referred to as a leader of men, icon, someone who made you want to be a better person, humble, loyal, one of a kind, and loving husband.

You can read all about his life and achievement, and they are many. But the thing that is probably least understood about Coach Wooden was his steadfast devotion to his wife Nellie. Nellie was John's childhood sweetheart. They met when he was 14 and were married six years later. They celebrated 52 years together before Nellie passed away of cancer on March 21, 1985.

Since her death, John Wooden has written a love letter to his beloved wife on the 21st of every month, placed in an envelope and added it to a stack of similar letters on the pillow she slept on during their life together.

In 2003, UCLA dedicated the basketball court in Pauley Pavilion in honor of John and Nell Wooden. Named the "Nell and John Wooden Court," Wooden asked for the change from the original proposal of the "John and Nell Wooden Court," insisting that his wife's name should come first.

Former player, Swen Nater wrote the following poem titled Yonder for John Wooden after being inspired by John's life-long devotion to Nellie.

Once I was afraid of dying.
Terrified of ever-lying.
Petrified of leaving family, home and friends.
Thoughts of absence from my dear ones,
Drew a melancholy tear once.
And a lonely, dreadful fear of when life ends.
But those days are long behind me;
Fear of leaving does not bind me.
And departure does not host a single care.
Peace does comfort as I ponder,
A reunion in the Yonder,
With my dearest who is waiting for me there.

Kim Sent You

The day is off to a great start! We found a small bakery called the Estes Park Pie Company that makes cinnamon rolls. The shop opens at 8:30 AM and we arrived shortly after 9:00 to pick up our freshly baked treats.

However, much to our surprise, they only had two cinnamon rolls left! I explained to Vallerie how sad all of our kids would be if we went home empty handed! My sob story must have worked as Vallerie volunteered to bake up eight rolls for us if we were willing to wait.

No problemo! I asked Vallerie if there was an up-charge for hot cinnamon rolls and she assured me that the price would be the same. The recipe Vallerie uses is a family favorite, passed down from her grandmother. 50 minutes later and we were the proud owners of eight warm cinnamon rolls! It was all I could do to get them home without eating one!

They looked delicious, they were warm and they smelled incredible. The only thing left was to put Vallerie's cinnamon rolls to the Pagel "taste test!" And they didn't disappoint! Everyone agreed that they were as good as Sharon's, which is saying something! A glass of cold milk and the morning culinary treat was complete!

If you're ever in Estes Park, stop by the Estes Park Pie Company and check out their cinnamon rolls. I hear their pies and cakes aren't bad either. But stop in early or you may be disappointed.

Oh, and say "hello" to Vallerie for me. And tell her that Kim sent you!

Blind Ambition

You need to watch this video! John Bramblitt lost his sight but gained his vision. Check out John's website which features some of his newer art and style.

People like John Bramblitt remind us that our attitude and outlook limits us far more than our circumstances. That creativity is part of what it means to be made in the image of God.

What limitations have you accepted as "normal?" What boundaries and barriers is God asking you to move past? And when you feel all hope is lost and the quest is too hard, remember John Bramblitt.

A Blessing!

One of our sons moved out last week. He's on a six month missions trip with Send International to a country in eastern Europe. He will be assisting a missionary couple with the construction of a camp in the mountains that will be used as an outreach to Muslim families and children. Pretty neat stuff!

Which son, you ask? Preston Smith, our "adopted son"! Preston came to live with us the day before Thanksgiving 2008. He originally came to Cedar Rapids as a volunteer with Eight Days of Hope in the fall of 2008. Preston enjoyed his time in Cedar Rapids so much, he decided to move here to volunteer with flood relief. We offered Preston a place to stay and the rest is history!

Preston refers to us as his second family, and to Sharon as his Iowa Mom! He introduces himself to Josh and Jon's friends as their "other brother!"

Last fall we enjoyed hosting Steve and Linda, Preston's parents, in our home for a week. It was a great time getting to know them. They have raised an awesome son!

This past week, Steve and Linda returned again. This time they came to help Preston pack up his room, clear out the garage, return tools, and prepare to leave. We are excited for Preston and the new adventure that awaits him.

But we also experienced a sense of sadness that only a parent of adult children can understand. I'm convinced that letting go is the hardest work a parent ever has to do. Our home is now a little quieter. There's no one else at the dinner table in the evening. His room is empty. This past week we walked with Steve and Linda as they readied their son and his stuff for departure. I'm sure they had a long, lonely trip back to West Virginia.

In November 2008 Preston moved to Iowa, knowing almost no one. Eighteen months later he flew out of Cedar Rapids, leaving an adopted  "Iowa family" and his mark on our community.  Thank you Preston for the blessing you have been to us and our entire church family.

A Growing Family

We enjoyed a tour of our new site this morning after Leadership Community. A lot of progress has been made the last few months! You can go here to see a slide show of our tour.

The building is awesome, but it only facilitates ministry. What we're building is not a "church." Our people are the church. We are constructing a building that facilitates ministry.

So please help me out by not referring to our new building as a "church." It will be an awesome space that will help our church family worship Christ, connect to community and work together to further our cause. Together, we are becoming a family of growing disciples!

Are You Listening?

Last Sunday President Barack Obama gave a commencement speech at Hampton University and took a swipe at iPods, iPads and Play Stations. I applaud the president for taking on our entertainment-saturated culture.

However he didn't stop there. He also took on the 24/7 news cycle and social media.

"And meanwhile, you're coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank that high on the truth meter. And with iPods and iPads, and Xboxes and Play Stations -- none of which I know how to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation. So all of this is not only putting pressure on you; it's putting new pressure on our country and on our democracy."

I find it ironic that our president is complaining about the 24/7 media environment that exposes us to all kinds of content. And worse yet, our president says that information becomes a distraction and diversion rather than a tool of empowerment.

It appears that our president has changed his view of social media since being elected. Here are the facts according to the "truth meter."

Here is what Fast Company has to say about Barack Obama and his social media strategy during the campaign.

I'm obviously not the only one aware of Obama's comfort-level with technology: he had 3 million online donors during the election and 2 million people were passionate enough to create profiles on my.barackobama.com. Barack Obama gets the Internet and social media the way that Kennedy got TV. You've heard the story of how radio listeners thought Nixon won the debates but televsion viewers saw it the other way around? Kennedy was built for TV and Obama is built for the Internet age.

Here is what the New York Times has to say about how Obama tapped into the power of social networks.

In February 2007, a friend called Marc Andreessen, a founder of Netscape and a board member of Facebook, and asked if he wanted to meet with a man with an idea that sounded preposterous on its face.

Always game for something new, Mr. Andreessen headed to the San Francisco airport late one night to hear the guy out. He wondered if social networking, with its tremendous communication capabilities and aggressive database development, might help him beat the overwhelming odds facing him.

“It was like a guy in a garage who was thinking of taking on the biggest names in the business,” Mr. Andreessen recalled. “What he was doing shouldn’t have been possible, but we see a lot of that out here and then something clicks. He was clearly supersmart and very entrepreneurial, a person who saw the world and the status quo as malleable.”

And as it turned out, President-elect Barack Obama was right.

Like a lot of Web innovators, the Obama campaign did not invent anything completely new. Instead, by bolting together social networking applications under the banner of a movement, they created an unforeseen force to raise money, organize locally, fight smear campaigns and get out the vote that helped them topple the Clinton machine and then John McCain and the Republicans.

You can read this report called The Social Pulpit - Barack Obama's Social Media Toolkit.

And finally, you really need to read this article, How Chris Hughes Helped Launch Facebook and the Barack Obama Campaign. Chris Hughes was one of the co-founders of Facebook and he developed the MyBarackObama.com website that "allowed Obama supporters to create groups, plan events, raise funds, download tools, and connect with one another -- not unlike a more focused, activist Facebook. MyBO also let the campaign reach its most passionate supporters cheaply and effectively. By the time the campaign was over, volunteers had created more than 2 million profiles on the site, planned 200,000 offline events, formed 35,000 groups, posted 400,000 blogs, and raised $30 million on 70,000 personal fund-raising pages."

Here is what Chris Hughes did for Barack and his campaign.

He helped develop the most robust set of Web-based social-networking tools ever used in a political campaign, enabling energized citizens to turn themselves into activists, long before a single human field staffer arrived to show them how.

"Technology has always been used as a net to capture people in a campaign or cause, but not to organize," says Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. "Chris saw what was possible before anyone else." Hughes built something the candidate said he wanted but didn't yet know was possible: a virtual mechanism for scaling and supporting community action. Then that community turned around and elected his boss president. "I still can't quite wrap my mind around it," Hughes says.

Our president is learning that taking your message directly to the people works both ways. President Obama would like us to believe that information is a distraction and diversion, that content can confound and obscure the truth, and that media needs to be tuned out and turned off.

But I think what is really happening is that our president is learning that in this new age of social media, information flows two ways, that content can't be easily spun and that media is now 24/7.

And he's also learning that dialog requires a two-way conversation. The American people have learned that they have a voice. Mr. President, the people are speaking. You would do well to listen.

Drive

You gotta love this presentation by Daniel Pink. It's worth watching just for the animation. Daniel Pink wrote the book, A Whole New Mind, which I enjoyed. And I have purchase his next book titled Drive.

Research indicates that there are three factors that contribute to better performance and satisfaction:

1. Autonomy
2. Mastery
3. Purpose

So what do you think? Does autonomy, mastery and purpose in your work motivate you? What is most important to you?

The Great Adventure

Today is my birthday and wedding anniversary, all rolled up in one! Days like this invite me to ponder and reflect - reflect on the past, where I'm going, God's goodness and sovereign leading.

The movie Up best captures this season of life for Sharon and myself. We both love this movie! Up is a metaphor for how Sharon and I want to live the rest of our lives - shedding those things from our past that hold us back, enjoying each day as a gift from God, and pursuing the great adventure He has for us!

The pivotal moment in the movie for me is when Carl stomps into his house, the house that he has been dragging behind him in his pursuit of Paradise Falls. His is mad at Russell. He is tired from his long journey. He reaches his destination only to find that he is all alone. Alone with his stuff. The quest has left him empty, tired and alone.

Then Carl discovers Ellie's photo album. He thumbs through it and learns that Ellie lived her adventure. Ellie's life was full and satisfying. Ellie never reached Paradise Falls but she lived her dream.

And then Carl reads these words from Ellie that transforms his life. Thanks for the Adventure ~ now go have a new one!

Carl throws a piece of furniture out the door of his house in anger and disgust. And in the process, he realizes that his "stuff" is what's holding him back from pursuing his new adventure. He begins to shed the extra weight, pitching furniture, photos, and memories out the door. The stuff Carl pitches are treasures from his past, but they won't be needed on his new adventure. In fact, to insistently hang on to the past is to lug around extra weight that holds us back from reaching our new future.

Sharon and I are so thankful for our past. We're thankful for God's goodness to us. But as our children grow, leave home, get married and begin their own lives, it's important that Sharon and I continue to grow and move forward. As much as we love to reminisce about the past, the past is over and we no longer live there. The past is meant to fuel our future.

So today, I'm thankful for God's faithfulness. I'm thankful that 33 years ago Sharon said "yes!" I'm thankful for four incredible sons and two awesome daughters-in-law.

But I'm also thankful that God has a new adventure in store for Sharon and I together. That the best is yet to come. That our adventure isn't just a goal to achieve, but a daily way of life to fully enjoy in the present. As Russell says: "Sometimes it's the boring stuff I remember the most!"

Today, I'm thankful for Sharon and our great adventure!

During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me." Exodus 12:31-32

A Gentleman of the Game

Ernie Harwell,the 92 year old Hall of Fame Detroit Tigers baseball announcer, passed away on Tuesday, May 4 after a battle with cancer. Ernie was in a class all his own.

Harwell had a deep love for the game and faith in Jesus Christ. He trusted Christ in 1961 at a Billy Graham Crusade. "Whatever happens, I'm ready to face it," Harwell told The Associated Press on Sept. 4, 2009. "I have a great faith in God and Jesus."

Ernie Harwell kicked off each new baseball season with this quote from the Song of Solomon 2:11-12.
For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

Ernie Harwell belonged to another generation. A generation that valued honesty, integrity and character. In a culture that creates and worships pop celebrities, Harwell was a reminder of another way of life - simpler and kinder.

This past week, baseball lost an icon. A one-of-a-kind man who lived his passion. Baseball lost one of the true gentlemen of the game.

Office 2010: The Movie

I'm really enjoying Office 2010! Much faster. Improved user interface and menus.

Happy Sunday!

You gotta love this video! On Easter Sunday, April 4 of this year, over 1300 people from Faith Church from Budapest, Hungary danced in the city's Hero's Square. What a way to celebrate Easter!

Here is some of the backstory. What do ya thing? How about Cedar Rapids doing something like this? Sort of like flash mob meets Jesus! 

Verse 1
That day will be remembered as the greatest day in history
The fate of the world changed in one glorious moment
When Life triumphed on Resurrection Sunday 
The hope of a people searching for life
The day will be brighter
The message of freedom rings in the sky
Spreading the fire
The flag of a nation ready to fly
Taking them higher
The heart of a land that rises to fight
Full of desire
When nothing is as you want it to be
Look up to heaven
Freedom was paid for on Calvary
The chain is broken
Making a way right to destiny
Borders are open
And Jesus has granted the victory
That Sunday mornin

Bridge
Joy in this life time, utterly free
More than the world gives, beyond what you see
For nations its time to rise their hope is in Jesus Christ
If the giants come, just hold on, the advantage is now on your side
Jesus, will take the final fight

Verse 2 
A light dawned that Sunday Morning it broke through the boundaries of time
Hearts start shining, calling to all mankind
Lets celebrate eternal life 
When nothing is as you want it to be
Look up to heaven
Freedom was paid for on Calvary
The chain is broken
Making a way right to destiny
Borders are open
And Jesus has granted the victory
That Sunday mornin

One Down, 47 to Go

Yesterday I went over to Mercy Fitness Center and had my follow up Active Metabolic Training assessment. I had my first assessment on December 14 of last year. They analyze your VO2 max, aerobic base and anaerobic threshold along with other basic measurements.

Based on my fitness goals, they developed a 12 week workout plan customized to my needs. The workouts require you to wear a heart rate monitor and to workout in various heart rate zones. The goal is to achieve maximum results in less time utilizing the knowledge to your metabolism rate.

I was skeptical about Active Metabolic Training as I thought it was just for those interested in performance training. I didn't realize that it's also for those who want to work on basic fitness and weight management. I qualified on both of those accounts. With the help and encouragement of Dr. John Brownell, I took the plunge last December in my pursuit of better health.

I was late in getting my reassessment scheduled, so I was curious about how that would effect my results. From December 14 thru March 9, I had worked out four times a week. I use the word workout generously. My workouts involved walking on my treadmill for 35-40 minutes at various speeds and inclines to get my heart rate into the specified zones. Not really hard stuff. But it did take a level of discipline to get all the workouts in.

The period of time included Christmas and New Years breaks along with a 12 day vacation! I planned out my weeks and found a way to get all 48 workouts into my schedule.

And the results? I was fairly pleased. My Body Mass Index decreased by 10%! I lost 7 pounds and feel healthier. I have more energy and motivation. I know my results would have even been even better if I had been assessed in March.

I'm now motivated to tackle another 12 week exercise program. I started yesterday. One workout down, 47 to go!

Help Desk

As you know, I enjoy trying out new technology. I'm always looking for a new or better way of getting something done. I think I may have stumbled upon a new, cutting-edge device. I think it's destined to be a huge hit! Watch the video and let me know what you think!

You Made Me Want To Be A Better Person

leg·a·cy: something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past.

I've been thinking about legacy. In Mens Fraternity this past year we developed a list called, Before I Die I Want To. We listed things in six categories - be, do, have, help, enjoy, and leave.

So, what do I want to leave? How much time do I have to work with? Certainly it's not my stuff that my family will want. As a matter of fact, we're in a pitch mode right now. We are shedding things so that the stuff of life doesn't hinder us or get in the way of the new things God has for us.

I like what James Kouzes and Barry Posner have to say in their book, A Leader's Legacy.

"By asking ourselves how we want to be remembered, we plant the seeds for living our lives as if we matter."

"When we move on, people do not remember us for what we do for ourselves. They remember us for what we do for them. Exemplary leaders are interested more in others’ success than in their own. Their greatest achievements are the triumphs of those they serve."

"What if all leaders started each day asking themselves, “In every interaction today, considering all the people I interact with, what one thing can I do to make them better?’ When the time comes for them to speak of your legacy, is there anything better to be remembered for than “You made me want to be a better person”?

"Our challenge is to stay focused on the difference we want to make, why we think it’s essential to be moving in that direction, and on the people who will come after us to inherit what we leave. If we stay focused on the difference and the people, the legacy will take care of itself. When we choose to lead every day, we choose to serve. Leading is not about what we gain from others but about what others gain from us"

"Legacies aren’t the result of wishful thinking. They’re the result of determined doing. The legacy you leave is the life you lead. We lead our lives daily. We leave our legacy daily. The people you see, the decisions you make, the actions you take – they are what tell your story. It’s the sum of everything you do that matters, not one large bequest at the end of you tenure."

I like that. Legacies are the result of determined doing. If I stay focused on the difference and people, my legacy will take care of itself. So tomorrow I have the opportunity to do good, to serve others and to write another chapter in my legacy story. What will I write? And at the end of the day, will anyone say, "You made me want to be a better person?"

Rolling Out The Red Carpet

 This being Admin Professionals Day, we decided to roll out the red carpet for our New Covenant staff admins! Just after we convinced them that Tye couldn't get our mini-bus started and that we would have to resort to Plan B, a limo pulled up at the entrance to transport them in style! They got a tour of Cedar Rapids and ended at their Siamville lunch destination. Click here to see a slideshow.

A special "thank you" to Peggy Eichenberger, Brenda Gadd, Judy Greeb, Gina Green, Terri Hungerford, Gina Kaufman, Mary Nelson, Jen Olsen, Sharon Pagel, Kris Paulson, Donna Smejkal and Tanja Struve. Thank you for serving our church family, for helping make New Covenant an enjoyable place to work, and for going the extra mile! You are the best!

You're Familiar With His Work?

I'm waiting for our plumber to arrive and just read this great post by Kerry Patterson. Kerry is the author of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High and records a monthly podcast.

His material is great stuff. But I especially enjoyed what he had to say today. You can read the entire article here. Spoiler alert - grandparents are crazy people. Read this post at your own risk!

Here's a paragraph from his post. Enjoy!

"When it comes to my own happiness, I do know a couple of things. First, happiness is not a constant state that one hunts down, tackles to the ground, and possesses. You never achieve happiness; you just experience happy moments. Second, we often assume receiving recognition for our labors will bring happiness. Not to say that it doesn’t, but sometimes, it’s surprising what kind of recognition truly matters."

So, how about you? What do you want on your tombstone?

We Are Family

I'm reading Joseph Hellerman's book, When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus' Vision for Authentic Christian Community. I'm reading the book because of my interest in the use of the family metaphor. I was also interested because Christianity Today listed it among the five top books on community.

Here is the way Hellerman begins the book.

"Spiritual formation occurs primarily in the context of community. People who remain connected with their brothers and sisters in the local church almost invariably grow in self-understanding, and they mature in their ability to relate in healthy ways to God and to their fellow human beings. Long-term interpersonal relationships are the crucible of genuine progress in the Christian life. People who stay also grow. People who leave do not grow."

In an age of hyper-individualism, I find Hellerman's analysis refreshing. There's something to be said about making relationships work. And did I mention that relationships take work? Just like our family of birth, we're stuck with one another. We might as well figure out how to make this relational thing work. At New Covenant, we call it becoming a "family of growing disciples."

Contrast this with the vision George Barna has for the follower of Christ, as outlined in his book, Revolution.

"Now its virtually impossible to craft a "typical" spiritual pattern, especially among people under the age of 40. Growing numbers of young adults, teenagers, and even adolescents are piecing together spiritual elements they deem worthwhile, constituting millions of personalized "church" models."

"Ultimately, we expect to see believers choosing from a proliferation of options, weaving together a set of favored alternatives into a unique tapestry that constitutes the personal "church" of the individual"

Personal church of the individual? This is a oxymoron. Collectively, together, we are the body of Christ, His bride. Or to use another metaphor, we are family!

On a group - individual continuum, place me toward the group side. My highest aim in life is not the pursuit of my personal goals and ambitions. Rather, I look for ways to serve my family, church and community for the glory of God, and for the good of others.

The family teaches me that the good of the whole is a worthy ambition. That relationships require sacrifice and service. That the world doesn't revolve around me and my wishes. And that people, even good people, will sooner or later disappoint and frustrate me.

The family also teaches me that some of lifes greatest joys can only be experienced with others. That meaning and satisfaction are found in the context of relationship. That together we can do more than any of us could do apart. That disappointment and trouble were never meant to be carried alone. And about the power of grace extended and grace received.

Given the option to choose between the Lone Ranger and Father Knows Best, I'll take Father Knows Best every time. Given the choice between the "church of the individual" or the church as family, count me in the family column!

I like the way Tim Keller describes this new tribal community, called out by God to be His family.

"The context for a gospel-centered life is never merely individual. The gospel creates a new community, a unique community. One of the immediate changes that the gospel makes is grammatical: we instead of I; our instead of my; us instead of me. This kind of new community is not an optional thing, an "extra" for the Christian; instead it's part of the overall purpose of God's kingdom."

"A new community is both the end of the gospel and also the means of spreading the gospel. God's promise in salvation is to create his "holy nation", a people that dwell with him forever. I will be your God and you will be my people." (Lev. 26:12, Jer. 30:22). So Christians, who are eternally united to Christ, are therefore eternally united to one another."

So, where are you? Are you a radical revolutionary, seeking out a portfolio of spiritual experiences in your quest for the personalized church of the individual? Or are you community connector, pursuing and serving God in the context of relationships? How do you understand the New Testament scriptures on the nature of the church?

Me? You know by now what I think ... we are family!