We are currently searching for three senior leadership positions and inviting expressions of interest.

1. National Director, LeaderImpact Group. LeaderImpact Group is a national and international ministry that seeks to have a significant impact for Christ on marketplace leaders. You can find a full description of the opportunity at LIG Opportunity Profile.

2. National Director, Church Strategies. We are looking for an experienced leader to engage nation-wide with development of strategies through which Power to Change can support and encourage the local church in evangelistic outreach. The full description is at Church Strategies Opportunity Profile.

3. National Director, Athletes in Action. The name of Athletes in Action is well-known. We are looking for a skilled leader with a passion for the world of sports and ministry. See the full description at AIA Opportunity Profile.

Anyone interested in these roles can contact me directly at the email address in the blog’s title bar. Or call my office at 604-514-2000.

Around the world billions of people are trying to have conversations with God. Some want to talk to him about health or healing. For others its about “dates and mates.”  Wealth and fame are big topics. And on it goes through the endless lists of human concerns.

Billions of people all wanting to talk with God about something. Compared to this outpouring of needs, there is one conversation above all others that God wants to have with us. One central topic is on His mind, and that topic is “Life.”

Many People. One Conversation

The conversation that God wants to have with people who do not know yet is about how to find life. One day Jesus sat by a well and asked a woman drawing water for a drink and began a conversation about water. The water he had to give, Jesus said, was so rich in the essence of life that whoever drank of it would never never be thirsty again. So vital was this water that it would well up into eternal life itself. Some water!

On another occasion Jesus pointed out that people work daily for food that spoils, but in him they could find a bread that would never spoil. So rich was it that whoever ate of it wold never be hunger again. It was another conversation about life. “I am the bread of life,” he said. It was the kind of shocking claim that could be made only by one who was either a fraud, a lunatic, or someone who truly was who he claimed to be. Read More

Do you work in a “difficult place” for ministry? A place where the work is hard and progress slow?

Our pastor recently pointed out that when he travels for outreach events, he is often picked up at the airport by people who want to caution him. “This is a difficult place, Pastor. People do not respond easily.”  What follows is a list of things that make “this place” difficult, a “hard place” for the work of the gospel.

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.  “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”  (Matthew 11:20-21)

In the very place where he had done “most of his mighty works” he had been rejected. Definitely a difficult place.

And what about Damascus, where the Apostle Paul had to escape from the city in a basket lowered over the wall? Or how about Jerusalem where Herod had James put to death by the sword. One of the most remarkable things about Acts 12:2 is that nothing else is said about the execution of James. Along his brother John and Peter, he was one of the three most intimately connected to Jesus. Difficult place, Jerusalem, in those days.

Many of our Power To Change staff work on university campuses. University campuses are “difficult places” these days. The culture is pluralistic. Atheism is more militant and aggressive than every before. Religions are mixed. Claims to exclusive truth are viewed with scepticism or even hostility. The gospel is often not a welcome message. Would displays of mighty works help? Not necessarily. Jesus was rejected in the very places he did most of his mighty works. Yes, the campus environment is a difficult place today.

But . . . but . . . here is the critical question about places like this. What perspective should we use to define them in our mind and heart? To make this more personal, if you work in a difficult place, what perspective should you have toward it?

The truth is, every place is difficult. Some more than others, to be sure, but where are the “easy places?” The places where people are rushing toward salvation in such great volume that the workers there are overwhelmed. Occasionally we hear of such times and places of the Spirit’s working, but it is not most places and not most times. And why should we expect that it would be. It was not always so for Jesus. Why would we expect it would be different for us?

In fact, in every “difficult place” people are seeking. In every difficult place there are some who respond. What if “difficult place” is entirely the wrong perspective to have? What if it is entirely the opposite of how God would want us to think?

Is it possible that “difficult places” are actually place of opportunity? Places where the Spirit of God is at work in some hearts among the many? Places where God has “placed” us for His purposes?

What if, from the perspective of faith, we resolved that “difficult” is not the way we should define the ministry setting God has given us. Isn’t it possible that we should resolve not even to talk about “our place” of ministry in that way?

What if . . . just suppose . . . you made a choice in faith to consider your place of ministry a place of opportunity, a place where faith will draw response in proportion to God’s plan, a place where God has put you for the purpose of bringing glory to His name? Suppose your every thought were about the opportunity of God and the need to step forward in faith to grasp it?

So, is your place of ministry a “hard place?”  Or a place, time, and opportunity of God?

It is often said that if leaders want to see high achievement they must cast bold visions. It is less often pointed out that proclaiming a large vision creates a gap between the vision and the current reality that must be managed. Ron Heifetz, in his book Adaptive Leadership puts it this way.

“Adaptive challenges are gaps generated by bold aspirations amid challenging realities.”

“Wait a minute,” you say, “I was hoping that my leadership vision would help things move ahead. I wasn’t trying to create gaps!”

But that is precisely what true vision does. True vision calls us to venture into unknown territory, to take risks, to innovate — “to boldly go where no one has gone before.” Or, to put it in Heifetz’s terms, vision creates a gap between current realities and the preferred future. The bolder the vision and the more challenging the realities, the larger the gap. Good vision casting understands this. It’s goal is to “widen the gap” in a way that appeals to our desire for achievement and sense of adventure.

One of the most powerful ways to frame the gap between reality and vision is to understand it as a challenge that calls for adaptation and new learning. The way to bridge and adaptive gap is not to work harder. You’re probably already working as hard as you can. Instead, an adaptive challenge is a call to work smarter, replacing current strategies, tools, and methods with new ones that help you move faster and farther with the same effort.

Do any of you have examples of vision creating an adaptive challenge? A gap that calls for new learning? How are you meeting the challenge of bridging your adaptive gap?

We’ve once again simplified the faith adventure model. Here’s the latest!

A “faith adventure” involves three kinds of people doing three different things at the same time (or as part of the same process).”

The three kinds of people are:

1. People who are not Christians “Discovering” a new life through relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. Christians who are experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit as they learn to share their faith with people who need to discover Jesus.
3. Engaged Christians who become “heroes” by mobilizing others to learn to share their faith.

A faith adventure occurs when these three kinds of people are all involved in at the same time, or, we say, as part of the same process. It’s another way to talk about a spiritual multiplication cycle.

A friend asked an interesting question recently. He referenced Habakkuk 1.13. ” But you are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot stand to look on iniquity.” And then he asked this question, “If God cannot look on evil, how can he be present in a world where evil is everywhere and even in us since sin is still part of our life?”

After some thought it became clear to me that all evil is committed in God’s unencumbered sight (Ps 51.4). His ominpresence, as His other attributes, is immutable and without limitation at all times. There is nothing in His character or nature that prevents Him from having evil in His presence.  Even Satan Himself can stand in the presence of God (Job 1.6-7) and not be destroyed. Yes, he is present by God’s permission, but He is present nonetheless.

Habakkuk 1.13 is not a declarative sentence about the nature of God but rather a question that Habakkuk brings before the Lord as a complaint. It would be a mistake to convert Habakkuk’s complaining question into a specific teaching about what God can and cannot see. The question itself shows that Habakkuk knows very clearly that God sees evil. What is troubling him is why God appears to be doing nothing about it.  So he complains that God is not being just, and then he says, “I’ll climb up in my tower and see how the Lord will answer my complaint.” The Lord’s reply is not, “You don’t understand, Habakkuk, I don’t see these things” but rather “I see it all even more clearly than you do, and I assure you that a day of terrible judgment is coming.”  Read More

Our Power To Change Faith Adventure Model hasn’t changed in underlying principle, but we have a newer graphic form for it and a definition of a faith adventure. We are increasingly organizing all of our ministry activities around the concept of faith adventure. A related way of describing the same concept is the more traditional language used within our organization of “win, build, send.”

Faith Adventure Model
Click to Enlarge

A “faith adventure” involves three kinds of people doing three different things at the same time (or as part of the same process).”

The three kinds of people are:

1. People who are not Christians “Discovering” a new life through relationship with Jesus Christ.
   
2. Christians who are experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit  as they learn to share their faith with people who need to discover Jesus.
3. Engaged Christians who become “heroes” by mobilizing others to learn to share their faith.
   

A faith adventure occurs when these three kinds of people are all involved in at the same time, or, we say, as part of the same process. It’s another way to talk about a spiritual multiplication cycle.

Leadership models matter because they influence how we think, and how we think determines how we act. Are there distinctive principles that should mark we lead in God’s work? If so what are they?

To focus the question more, let’s ask, “What is that makes leadership in a Great Commission movement unique and different from leadership in other areas of activity?” The only way to answer this question is to dig into the same book that gives us the Great Commission: the Bible. What can the Scriptures teach us about what makes leadership in God’s work unique?

Rather than looking at specific texts, I’d like to “open the lens” and consider the grand sweep of the Bible’s “leadership story” across the whole span of our creation’s history. The diagram below attempts to capture the main principles.

The Bible’s Leadership Story
Click to Enlarge

Staring from the top we have:

(1) God’s decisions in eternity (right and left) followed by

(2) Creation (on the left) and the renewed creation in the New City (on the right);

(3) Our world’s collapse into sin (left) with final judgment of sin (left);

(4) The penalty for sin on the cross in humility but one day he will return in glory (right).

Our unique time (in the center marked by the red arrow) is an age during which God is calling people to join his new human community. Those of us who follow Christ are entrusted with this invitation and empowered by His gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to counsel and empower us for this task. Read More

He shared in their humanity so that he might free those
who were held in slavery by their fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15

“How does the resurrection of Jesus transform your understanding and practice of leadership?” If someone asked you this question could you answer it clearly? Think about it for a minute. If this most pivotal event at the core of our faith doesn’t have an impact on how we lead then surely something is wrong. Isn’t it?

Toxic Leaders and the Fear of Death

As I thought about this point, I recalled a fascinating analysis of toxic leadership provided by Jean Lipman-Blumen in her book on toxic leadership. As with other poisonous things, these leaders come in varying degrees of toxicity. Some are mildly poisonous — one might say “not altogether bad” and are found in small domains, offices, churches and ministries. They set unreasonable goals, promote excessive internal competiton, and create cultures of blame. Others rise to the senior ranks of great corporations and lead their companies into disaster. They violate the dignity and rights of others, bend or ignore ethical obligations, and divert resources to elevation of their own grandeur.The worst are among the monsters of history who names have become bywords for evil. Their legacy includes death, fear, and devastation. What all toxic leaders have in common is that they “leave their followers worse off then they found them.” Read More

“Never abandon yourselves to despair, for we are the
Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”

It can be interesting to think about what a religious historian one hundred years from now might write about our own time. What would the perspective of history say about the trends of today? What follows is a small attempt to capture a bit of that future history. It has not yet been written, but perhaps someday it could be. So use your imagination when you read what follows.

An excerpt from John Arthur Hargerston, History of the North American Church in the Early 21st Century (Nashville: Century 22 Publishing, 2134), s.v. “Easter People.”

The Easter People. “Easter People” has been used to describe one of three influential orientations common among evangelicals in the early 21st century. The other two are “Power People” and “Fortress People.”

Power People. The “Power People” movement developed among evangelicals who were determined to oppose erosion of what they believed was a cultural consensus from the 19^th century that incorporated Christian moral principles. Power People understood themselves as an embattled minority fighting to preserve decency, family values, and godly government. They worked to mobilize public outrage, lobby politicians, and pass new laws. Many took on roles as political activists and power brokers. The Power People movement ultimately failed as the surrounding culture counter-moblized, bringing to bear on the issues greater social leverage than the Christian minority could muster. A secondary factor in the movement’s failure was that growing numbers of evangelicals became disillusioned with political battles as a strategy for carrying out the mission of the church. Over time the Power People communities withered as members departed to merge either into the secular culture where power-oriented strategies were more accepted or into one of the other main evangelical movements of the time. Read More