A Kiss Blown

My 18-year-old makes her way through airport security, waves, blows a kiss and then heads for her gate.  How does one begin to process this?  It’s a milestone, a rite of passage… it’s happened to millions of parents and children but never to us.  Soccer games, birthday parties, choir concerts, church camps, vacations… all reduced to a wave and a kiss blown…

He who binds to himself a joy

Does the winged life destroy;

But he who kisses the joy as it flies

Lives in eternity's sun rise.

Eternity, William Blake

Footprints vs Monuments

Nice review of a good book I just read, Chasing Francis.  (All because of a recommendation from my  friend, Mark Cork.)  At any rate, the review contained a Faulkner quote that I've never read before... powerful...

"A monument only says at least I got this far while a footprint says this is where I was when I moved again." 

Continental Divides in Life

The Continental Divide is where the enormous blue sky collides into ambitious white-capped peaks high in the Rocky Mountains.  The view up above Estes Park, CO where my family visits often is as intimidating as it is inspiring.  It is, of course, the literal watershed structure of our continent and the Western Hemisphere.  There is a line all the way from Alaska down through the Andes of South America where a large drop of water could simultaneously land on either side of the Divide.  But eventually gravity, wind and weather will cause the water drop to go down toward either the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean.

And there are great watershed lines in our lives as well.  Sometimes they are big enough that we find ourselves straddling divides, looking down one and then the other for a few years.  Crossing one of these watershed features is never easy.  The oxygen is thin: the incline is steep and rocky.  Meanwhile, the expanse constantly hovers over us making us feel small and weak.  But eventually a sharp intake of clarity and an expansive view compel us to choose a destination.

Does this all sound overly dramatic?  Probably.  It’s no less true!  The Foster family is getting ready to make a crossing.  After a few years of walking along the divide we have chosen to head back East to Kansas City to plant a new church.  It’s been a crazy, great, dangerous, un-smooth ride in AZ.  We have loved our 16 years in the valley of the Sun.  I mean that.  We have experienced many things… two new churches where literally hundreds of people committed their lives to following Jesus and where we met hundreds of others, many of which we call close friends.  It’s the place where we’ve watched our kids grow, go to school, play ball, go on vacations and make spectacular memories.  It’s also been the place where we’ve walked through deaths, fires, disease, job-loss… both personally and with many others.  It has shaped us and marked us.  I celebrate all of it.  So, as we take the last few steps over the divide and first few heading east I simply want to say thank you to everyone we’ve had the opportunity to hike alongside of on this trail. 

Beyond that the metaphor begins to break down.  Unlike the water heading to the Atlantic that will never have opportunity to connect with waters heading toward the Pacific, we (you and us) can re-connect… and we hope we do!  Through prayers, the internet and the open invite you have to physically visit us in KC we want and actually need to stay in touch with you.  It's not like we're done with one trail and now we're moving on to a completely different trail.  It doesn’t work that way.  East or West, North or South... it’s all one big hike! And we’re all in it together.  So, please continue to pray, check back on the blog, vimeo, twitter and of course, as soon as details about the new church become clearer we’ll share them with you.  Blessings on you and may you have courage to cross your divide! 

Romans 8:23-28(The Message) - All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Being Alone - Being in Community

"Whoever cannot be alone should beware of community. Such people will only do harm to themselves and to the community. Alone you stood before God when God called you. Alone you had to obey God's voice. Alone you had to take up your cross, struggle, and pray and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot avoid yourself, for it is precisely God who has singled you out. If you do not want to be alone, you are rejecting Christ's call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called...

But the reverse is also true. Whoever cannot stand being in community should beware of being alone. You are called into the community of faith; the call was not meant for you alone. You carry your cross, you struggle, and you pray in the community of faith, the community of those who are called. You are not alone even when you die, and on the day of judgment you will be only one member of the great community of faith of Jesus Christ...

Whoever cannot be alone should beware of community. Whoever cannot stand being in community should beware of being alone." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Short 4th

With my kids (and nephew) in San Diego on the 4th.  Ha.  Great night.  The best 15 seconds of fireworks I've ever witnessed!  It was amazing.  However, I think they were supposed to go longer.  We made memories.  Sometimes life doesn't go as planned...

Helpful Reading in 2012

Top 5 most helpful books for me in 2012 (so far)...

5. Under the Unpredictable Plant 
"The storm either exposes the futility of our work (as in Jonah) or confirms it (as in Paul).  In either case, the storm forces the awareness that God constitutes our work, and it disabused us of any suggestion that in our work we can avoid or manipulate God."

4.Kings Cross
"When you forgive it's agony.  Why?  Instead of making the other person suffer, you're absorbing the cost yourself.  You aren't trying to get your reputation back by tearing their reputation down.  You are forgiving them and it is costing you.  That's what forgiveness is.  True forgiveness always entails suffering."

3.Unthinkable
No quote, just the observation as I was reading this book that some people survive disasters because they've been through disasters before... they've become "disaster experts".  I've been through a few things... I'm currently going through some things... I'm a disaster expert.  I'll get out OK.

2.Start with Why 

"People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it"

1. Bible
2Corinthians 2:14 - "But thanks be to God who always leads in triumphal procession..."

Spiritual Discipline Thought

Discipline is not the same as punishment.  This begins to explain why I become discouraged about pursuing spiritual disciplines* in my life… I look at it as punishment.  The young lover doesn’t stop looking at other women because his fiancé has told him to do so (although she has the right to ask him to do so!) He stops looking at other women because it frees up his mind and heart.  He can now give all of of his mind and heart to his fiancé.  God has not redeemed us in order for us to be shackled to disciplines.  Rather we pursue disciplines in order for us to experience more freely the great relationship we now have with the Father.

Training is not the same as trying.  Trying puts the emphasis on me.  I cannot try to be a better follower of God.  When my son works with his QB coach he’s not trying to become a better QB, per se.  He’s training his mind, his muscle memory and his body to do certain things that during the course of a game will allow a QB mentality and ethic to flow naturally out of him.  When I’m in training with God, I’m not trying to become a better Christian.  I’m training my mind, my heart, my life so that in the “moment” of decision or crisis or importance the Spirit of God has freedom to well up inside, like a river, and flow out.  John 7:38

*While almost anything can qualify, historically the following spiritual disciplines are the most often talked about… fasting, quietness, solitude, submission, confession, service, meditation, simplicity, study, giving, journaling and small groups

Where Are You Operating From?

The Problem with Religion: Positional Authority

 

The Strategical Parent

It's Father's Day, 2012. I'm spending the day with my wife and three children in Sedona, AZ. It's a beautiful place... both the geographical and relational place.  It's difficult to put in words how much I love these kids. Love, of course, is a multi-faceted word (see 1Corinthians 13). It's not just something we feel. It's also a strategy. My dual love-strategy for parenting....

1-I'd do anything for you. 2-I won't do everything for you.

How to Find God

I read this morning about Paul's conversion experience.  I'm interested in how Eugene Peterson paraphrases Paul's observation of the event.  He said, his entrance wasn't anything like he had planned. Acts 22:11 - And so we entered Damascus, but nothing like the entrance I had planned—I was blind as a bat and my companions had to lead me in by the hand.  For those reading who are searching for truth, for answers for the real God let me offer some insight that parallels what one of the most important men in the history of the world experienced... 


when you find God it won't be on your terms.  


A great deal of our problem is that we want to control how this all looks, feels, smells, sounds like.  The reality is God will allow life to reduce you to to nothing before you can see He's everything.  A problem with religion is that it can easily be misused, causing us to think, "if I just change a few things and clean a few areas up then I'll probably find God." Some people spend their whole lives cleaning up, like I'm doing this morning in my family room after my boy's slumber party, thinking that if one more blanket gets folded then God will have room to move in.  Kierkegaard said, "God creates everything out of nothing - and everything that God will use he first reduces to nothing."  Sooner or later, like Paul, you'll be helpless, blind as a bat.  That's when you'll see. 
 

Leaders and Managers

Listening to the Freakonomics podcast, The Power of the President, recently led me to think that more of us need to be aware of the different nuances of leadership.  I really enjoy listening to the Freakonomics guys but I'm not sure they ever got going in the right direction on this one.

I say this respectfully but, getting yourself elected president doesn't mean you are a leader.  You may be.  Or you may just be popular, charismatic, a good salesperson, an opportunist, a strong manager, a good fundraiser, etc, etc...  None of those things are bad, necessarily, but they can cloud vision when it comes to focusing sights on what a leader is.  I realize many people have attempted to define leadership.  Some definitions are short and specific and some of them are... not short and specific!  This is borrowed, modified, adapted from a hundred different authors but I have a three-part, simple definition of a leader... a leader is someone who influences and organizes people toward intended change.  First part, influence.  Second part, organize.  Third part, intended change.

Interestingly, many presidents are unable to influence and organize toward change simply because change is not desired!  When change isn't desired you don't need a leader, you actually need a manager.  This isn't right or wrong.  It's reality.  Managers are better at taking what they have and making it work smoother, better, cleaner, and more efficiently.  But if change is needed a manger isn't your best bet.  At that point you need a leader.  If someone entered into the presidency at a time when the nation was doing relatively well or when the perception was that the status quo was fine then change wasn't needed.  If change wasn't needed then we didn't have real opportunity to determine whether or not that particular president was a good leader.

If this is true of presidents, it's true of CEO's, pastors, generals, principals, coaches and other organizational heads as well.  If you're on a board or a search committee... if you're running a campaign... if you hold influence over who might get promoted, elected or hired to run something you're involved with take a moment and reflect on your organization.  Do you need change?  Or do you need to continue as you are but do it more efficiently?  The answer to those questions could lead you down a manager path or a leader path.  I would've loved the Freakonomics guys to discuss this because the truth is some presidents have been leaders and some have been managers.  Then again, it's highly possible that some have been neither!

Changes in Leadership

Finally... Fine Print that is Actually Good for You

Some of God's Terms and Conditions

Participation: Voluntary (Luke 15:11-32)

Transaction: What constitutes a qualifying transaction is determined by the sole discretion of God.  (1Samuel 2:6-9)

Rewards: Rewards are considered earned when they are posted to the redemption system. (Romans 2:7)

Redemption System: Christ and His Sacrifice IS the Redemption System. (1Corinthians 1:30)

Promise to Pay: You cannot repay God.  (Isaiah 64:6).  However you are FREE to serve in love. (Galatians 5:13)

Changing Terms: There are none.  God is always faithful.  (1Thessalonians 5:24)

Balance Transfers: You may transfer all other, previous balances to this card.  (Ephesians 1:7)

Compounding Interest: Zero (Isaiah 43:25)

Limits: There are no limits to God’s grace. (Philippians 4:19)

How to Use this Card: Whenever you want. (Romans 10:13)

Special Promotions: From time to time unique promotions may be extended to you. These may include, but are not limited to peace, love, joy, hope, faith, patience, confidence, power, self-discipline, gentleness and goodness.  (Galatians 5:22, 2Timothy 1:7)

Closing your Account: Why would you do that?  Where would you go!? (John 6:68)

This was a lot of fun to put together.  I created it during a recent series called, "Free to Serve".  If you're interested, you can find the video here.   If you're not interested then do not go to that link.  

Impact

Jesus loved everyone, fed the 5,000, sent the 70, trained 12 and mentored 3.
Seems like he was pretty intentional.  What about me?

Reality

©2012 jfoster

No Safety from the Storm

Genesis 15:1 – God told Abram, "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."  


This is the first time God refers to himself as a shield.*  Let's pause for a moment... God said, "I am your shield."  I find this interesting... if God is speaking to you, audibly, why would you be worried about needing a shield?  If God is speaking to you, audibly, why would you be worried about needing anything?   Good grief, God's talking to you!  Why did God have to say to Abram, "don’t fear I am your shield?" 

I'm guessing there's something in that sentence uttered to Abram that should give us a clue about God's expectations.  A shield isn’t for running away from battles.   Apparently God is going to allow us to go into battles.  If not He would’ve said, "Fear not, I am your Nike’s.  You will run swiftly away from all things negative or troublesome."  Curious.  God says, “Don’t fear, I am your shield.”   Specifically “shield”.  A shield serves a purpose.  It protects someone in danger.  When God moves in your life you will move into battles, trouble, calamity, challenges, experiences, mountains, valleys, and difficult times.  It’s not a shield to go away from danger but into danger. 


There is no safety from the storm.  There is only safety in the storm.

*Sometimes commentators of Scripture will talk about the law of the first occurrence or mention.  This refers to the first time a word or phrase is used in the Bible.  It's helpful to pay attention to the first mention because it's being mentioned in such a way as to highlight the essence of the word or phrase throughout the rest of Scripture.  The dialogue between God and Abram in Genesis 15 contains several 'first occurence' phrases.  

Looking for Trust

In the book, Strengths Based Leadership, the Gallop organization boiled down thousands of responses regarding what people desire from the most influential leaders in their lives.  At the top of the list they found followers looking for leaders they respected because of their integrity.  In a word, this translated into trust.

So how does a leader build trust?  There are numerous ways but nothing strikes me as being more important than singularly following after Jesus.  In fact, the book of Matthew tells us that if the first and strongest thing we do is follow after Him then everything else will be taken care.  Of course, a great deal of people within Christianity don't singularly follow after God. Many people are trying to serve multiple things with equal fervency. God and money… God and power… position and God… position and relationships… on and on…  The eventual outcome is duplicitous living. Duplicity is speaking or acting in different ways to different people concerning the same matter.  It's an actual external behavior.  It can be measured and observed.  But, of course, it always starts on the inside. Effective leadership is not sustainable when the trajectory of the heart is incongruous with the way a leader lives.  This is dangerous territory.  There are numerous examples of this happening all around us...

• A Mid-Eastern government leader makes an official statement to the U.N. about the way his country is pursuing peace.  In spite of the fact they are currently at war.
• Instead of using things and loving people a pastor uses people and loves things.
• A parent expects a child to do what they say rather than what they do.

Simply put, when a leader doesn't do what she says she's going to do integrity crumbles, respect is lost and trust is impossible... seriously, forget about it.  The first task of a Christian leader is to actually seek God with severe intentionality.  If that happens trust can grow anywhere... which is what followers are looking for!

A Different Way of Doing Things

©2012 jfoster

Read Lately

Last couple of months I've read...

Church Unique
I've read a lot of church vision/strategy/leadership books... I don't think I've marked up any of them more than Church Unique.  As the name implies, the purpose of the book is to impress upon church leaders everywhere that every church is unique.  The mega-churches of the day are great places... I have many friends and acquaintances serving in them... I'm thankful for them... but I've watched many pastors/leaders over the years try to replicate what goes on in the mega-church only to be frustrated.  I believe the principal reason for frustration lies with the idea that we fail to realize that every church is a one-of-a-kind place.  It takes hard work to discover the one-of-a-kind reason that a church exists.  Replication offers an easier path.

Unbroken - A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Loved this book.  It was a both great story and history lesson.  I had forgotten how brutal the Japanese were to their POW's during WWII.  The redemption twist at the end of the book really surprised me.  I highly recommend it.

Counterfeit Gods, King's Cross, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfullness 
I've been on a Timothy Keller kick lately.  Although his style or charisma is not as flashy as other contemporary pastor/authors, I find him incredibly insightful.

Missional Renaissance, Changing the Score Card for the Church
(Yes, another book title with the word, "missional" in it!)  I always enjoy Reggie McNeal.  In my opinion the book itself is not ground-breaking... the same kinds of things have been said for a few years now... however, it's important to be aware of.  Furthermore, there are two things specifically that I love about the book... The practical examples that are given and the sub-title.  The simple phrase, "changing the scorecard" is something I can get my mind wrapped around.  It's another way of saying, what get's rewarded is what gets done.  With regard to church leadership and growth, it's time for local churches and denominations to make a decision on what should be rewarded... on what the scorecard should look like.  When we do that we can change the score!

Expensive Grace

The grace of God is free.  But it will cost you something.

What is it costing (i.e. compelling you to... do, sacrifice, think about, die out to, give up, go out of the way for, wait on, be humble about, pray for, give money to, give your life to, etc...) you today?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined the phrase, cheap grace.  He says, "Cheap grace is justification of the sin but not of the sinner."  He continues with the inevitable, chilling outcome of this kind of thinking,  "Because grace alone does everything, everything can stay in it's old ways... our action is in vain."

Faith alone saves us.  But our actions give evidence as to what (or whom) our faith is in!

Grace is opposed to earning but not opposed to effort.  Dallas Willard