Category: Leadership

Knowing The Culture Around Us

Published by Jeff Kennon on May 27, 2014

Do we know the culture around us? Do we know our neighborhood, it’s people, and their stories, values, and worldview?

Tim Chester believes we should be asking ourselves the kind of questions missionaries ask when they enter a new culture. In doing so, we are better able to understand those around us and thus meet their needs with the gospel.

Here are the questions he poses…

Where?

Where are the places and activities we can meet people?
Where do people experience community?
Are there existing social networks with which we engage, or do we need to find ways of creating community within a neighborhood?
Where should we be to have missional opportunities?

When?

What are the patterns and timescales of our neighborhood
When are the times we can connect with people?
How do people organize their time?
What cultural experiences and celebrations do people value? How might these be used as bridges to the gospel?
When should we be available to have missional opportunities?

What?

What are people’s fears, hopes, and hurts?
What gospel stories are told in the neighborhood? What gives people identity (creation)? How do they account for wrong in the world (fall)? What is their solution (redemption)? What are their hopes (consummation)?
What are the barrier beliefs or assumptions that cause people to dismiss the gospel?
What sins will the gospel first confront and heal?
In what ways are people self-righteous?
What is the good news for people in this neighborhood?
What will the church look like for people in this neighborhood?

(from Everyday Church by Tim Chester, 42-43)

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Did The Early Church Have A Plan To Grow?

Published by Jeff Kennon on May 19, 2014

Did the early church have a plan to grow? Since I have been writing some about the growth of early Christianity (you can find a summation of the articles here), I find it to be an important question.

As I began to think about it, I came across a post by Ray Ortland that grabbed my attention.

He writes…

I remember hearing Michael Green at the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in 1974. He asked us, Why don’t we see anywhere in the book of Acts a man-made strategic plan for evangelizing the world? His answer: They didn’t have one.

What then did they have? Two things, for starters: the fear of the Lord, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

In the fear of the Lord, they were teachable, they were humble, they were listening to the gospel, they were open and grateful and easily bendable. They did not have a spirit of self-assurance. They were eager to learn and grow and change in any way the Lord wanted them to.

In the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were gladdened, they felt forgiven, they were reconciled to God and reconciling with one another. They saw their sins and failures, but they also saw the far greater reality of Jesus crucified for them. To put it in a secular way, they couldn’t believe their luck.

Openness in a know-it-all world, comfort in an angry world – that ancient world simply could not resist these heaven-sent powers. So the church didn’t just grow, it multiplied.

Those early churches had no master plan for their future. But they were walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and it worked.

Church growth takes planning. Let’s do it. But church multiplication takes a miracle. Let’s be open to what only God can do.

When I look at church growth, I have come to the conclusion that there is only so much we can do. Consider what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. He writes:

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

According to Paul, it is only God that gives the growth. This does not mean that we do not have a part as we “water” and “plant,” but as bad as we want to, we can’t make it grow. Only God can!!

I’m not necessarily against church growth books or strategies (well, I am against a few of them), but we need to be careful not to forget to walk “in the fear of the Lord” and in the “comfort of the Holy Spirit.”

If I have learned anything from looking at the early church and their growth, I have learned that God had to have made it happen. True, God used his people, but as Paul writes, we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2 Corinthians 4:7).

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Stir It Up!

Published by Jeff Kennon on May 18, 2014

What are you going to do in church today?

The writer of Hebrews helps us to decide…

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Are you going to “stir up” someone to “love and good works?” Are you going to be a catalyst for someone to be “salt” and “light” this week?

It’s easy to go to church and forget about our role. You may not teach a Sunday School class or serve in any “official” capacity (whatever that means), but according to the writer of Hebrews, you have a part to play.

You are to be one who “stirs” things up!!! The phrase “to stir up” is actually a pretty harsh phrase. It has the idea of spurring a horse to get it to gallup. It has the connotation of “provoking” someone.

The writer of Hebrews wanted to make sure that those He was writing to remained in the faith and continued to bear fruit. Therefore, he urged them to “spur one another” to get things going.

This is not always a comfortable thing to do. And yet, sometimes people need to be “stirred up.” We occasionally need people to challenge us to think about what we are doing. There are times in our lives that we need to be kick-started.

So are you willing to “stir things up” today? Or it could be that you personally need to be “spurred on”?

Do remember that as you “spur one another on,” and as others “spur you on,” it is done for the purpose of producing “love and good deeds.” So stay humble today and be willing to “stir” and be “stirred.”

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Around The Web

Published by Jeff Kennon on April 3, 2014

How To Memorize Entire Books of The Bible – There’s no magic to memorizing long passages of Scripture. It takes hard work, but anyone can do it.

The Church Afraid of Leadership – We find leadership throughout the Scriptures. You can’t miss it.

8 Causes of Spiritual Depression – Most of us go through real times of spiritual melancholy in the Christian life. They can be brief or entire seasons in which, as Gisbertus Voeitus said, a person “fails to feel his or her heart’s delight in God and divine things.”

How Christians Are Responding to the Noah Movie – It’s a movie that’s made waves among evangelicals (pun intended), but let’s be honest: we’re not all in the same boat here. In fact, I struggle to remember any film that has drawn so much praise and criticism from churchgoing Christians.

7 Things a Good Dad Says – I have found myself thinking back to the many models of fatherhood I have seen and admired through the years. What made these fathers admirable? What set them apart? What was it that they said to their children? From these models I have drawn seven things a good father says.

Ways to Restore Zeal When Sharing Your Faith – Hundreds of Christians are martyred every day for their faith. Yet, today, most Christians in the western church will be silent, afraid, or unmoved by the lostness around them.

How Modern Evangelism Creates Consumers

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One Reason You Should Develop Leadership Skills

Published by Jeff Kennon on March 14, 2014

Have you ever thought about the relationship between you developing as a leader and it’s impact upon society?

Consider this: As you grow as a leader, it impacts you personally. This growth in your personal life then affects your work life. And as your work life is impacted and becomes more productive, then the organization you work in is influenced and becomes more effective. And finally, when your organization or business becomes more effective, then society is impacted.

Do you see the domino effect that can occur by developing good leadership skills?

Personal Skills

↓

Your work

↓

Your Organization

↓

Our Society

Matt Perman, in his new book What’s Best Next, writes about this relationship between our effectiveness as leaders and the impact it has on society. He writes that by us being more effective, we aren’t simply serving our bosses and coworkers better, as important as that is. We are serving our entire organizations and enabling them to become better as well, and thus serving everyone they influence (p. 304).

Leo Tolstoy wrote: Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. Could this be because we don’t see the relationship between our personal growth and its impact upon those around us?

What if you began to understand and implement the dynamics of servant leadership? How would becoming more aware of the needs of those around you, specifically those you work with, make an impact? Would it increase worker morale? What about your boss? Could your servant mentality have an impact upon him/her?

There might be some reading this who don’t consider themselves leaders. You might hold a job that doesn’t have an official leadership title. Or you are a stay-at-home parent or a retired member of a community. Regardless of where you are in life or what you do, developing as a leader is bigger than holding a title or position. Leadership is about influence.

You may not have a title at work, but your work, though you may think its insignificant, effects those around you. Your parenting has influence not only among your children but among other parents. If you are retired, there is an abundance of opportunity to make those around you better (My grandfather is a great example. Read about him).

Do you see why I think leadership development is important for everyone? As you grow, you impact those around you who in turn impact those around them and so on and so on.

Where do you start?

One place to start (or continue) your leadership development would be to do some reading. Below are a few books that I would recommend. Pick one and get to reading.

The Leadership Challenge: How To Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations by Kouzes and Posner. This book proposes that anyone can develop leadership skills. For more info about the book, read the review by Trevin Wax.

Leaders Who Last by Dave Kraft. He writes: As a leader, everything I am and everything I do needs to be anchored in my identity with Christ. Leadership begins and ends with a clear understanding of the gospel and being rooted in the grace of Jesus Christ as a free gift.

You Don’t Need To Have A Title To Be A Leader by Mark Sanborn. This is a fairly short book. I think the title says it all.

What’s Bext Next: How The Gospel Transforms The Way You Get Things Done by Matt Perman. This is a new book and is excellent in helping one to understand productivity. This book has been tremendously helpful for me. For more info, read my review of the book.

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Why March 11 Is An Important Day!

Published by Jeff Kennon on March 11, 2014

Why is March 11 an important date? It’s the day in 1917 that a man by the name of A.D. Wheat was born. Wheat was a high school teacher for almost 40 years (he taught Vocational Agriculture), a practical joker, a die-hard fightin’ Texas Aggie, a faithful husband, a dedicated dad, a proud grandfather and eventually, an even prouder great-grandfather.

To say that Mr. Wheat, as he was affectionately called, was a people person is an understatement. He loved being around others and became quite well known in the small town of Cleburne, Texas. But Mr. Wheat’s popularity was not due to his social connections however. What made Mr. Wheat’s name renown in Cleburne was the way he treated those around him. It did not matter to Mr. Wheat if you were the custodian of the local school or the president of the community bank. He treated everyone as royalty. And as a result, everyone wanted to be around him.

Though Mr. Wheat eventually retired from teaching high school, he never retired from being involved in the lives of people. It was during his retirement years that he established the “good deeds” club in which he personally involved over 20,000 members. What did one have to do to join? Just perform one good deed a day. Mr. Wheat believed that if more people were to do one good deed a day, the world would be a better place.

Mr. Wheat also established a personal ministry to the elderly in Cleburne. These were individuals who were either in nursing facilities or could not leave their home. What was this ministry he developed? Well, it was fairly simple. Week in and week out he would sit and listen and talk to these aging folk who really had no one outside of a few family to be their friends.

Mr. Wheat’s mantra was, “You just gotta love people!” Nowhere was this manifested more than in his unlikely friendship with a somewhat negative elderly gentleman. Some believed, especially the nursing staff in the facility in which he lodged, that he had never smiled. When Mr. Wheat first visited this gentleman, he wondered the same. “I’ve never seen a more bitter person,” he recalled.

Week after week however, Mr. Wheat kept dropping by this man’s room just to say “Good morning!” Most times, the visits and conversations were fairly short, as most one-sided conversations are. But one day, things changed. This gentleman who never smiled or said anything positive, began to open up and talk. And one day, he began to smile. Why? Because Mr. Wheat believed that “you just gotta love people.”

There is no way of knowing how many people Mr. Wheat influenced. At his funeral on September 26, 2005, there was not an empty seat. But no one was more affected by the life of Mr. Wheat than me. He took me fishing, camping, hunting, and made sure that I went to Aggie football games at least once a year. He taught me how to shake hands firmly and look people in the eye. He paid me a dollar a day for pulling weeds in his yard and never missed a single one of my basketball games. And I guess most importantly, he modeled some great theology for me by showing me that “you just gotta love people.”

As mentioned above, all of Cleburne called A.D. Wheat Mr. Wheat. Everyone, that is, except me. I called him Grandpa! Why God graced me with the privilege of having Mr. Wheat as my grandfather I don’t know. But I am grateful and hope that I pass on to those around me what was modeled to me: “You just gotta love people.”

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

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