Barnabas File

I just completed reading Failure is Not an Option by Gene Kranz, flight director for many of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions. A friend had also read it recently. He commented, “If current workplace regulations had been in effect in the 60s, we would never have made it to the moon!” Whether he was serious or kidding, his comment reminds me how dangerous space flight has been and still is. Kranz points out that many of the missions succeeded only due to hard work, perseverance, God’s grace, and pure luck. The early members of the NASA team were brought up short by the death of three astronauts-–Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee—during a static test on a launch pad on January 27, 1967. It was a tragic event but not the last one that would take the lives of American (and Russian) astronauts. In his book, Kranz notes that Grissom recognized the danger in his work. One of the original Mercury astronauts, he almost drowned when his capsule took on water before he could ...

Gene Kranz was a pioneer in the manned space program and was involved with NASA for over three decades. In his book, Failure is Not an Option , Kranz recounts an insider’s view of manned space flight from Mercury to Gemini to Apollo. As a flight director, he often provided stability and a cool head in the midst of crisis. Kranz describes a macho, patriotic, and dedicated environment that stayed the course during a period when there was great tumult in American society—the Vietnam War, assassination of leaders, the struggle for civil rights, protest, and political infamy. Although Kranz certainly considers himself a tough guy, he was and is a very religious man who was deeply touched by the reading from Genesis 1 during the Apollo 8 mission as well as the death of colleagues. I read this book primarily as a case study in leadership and found plenty of insights there. Kranz writes, “With only the tools of leadership, trust, and teamwork, we contained the risks and made the conquest of sp...

The discussion about the future of denominations continues unabated. A series of videos and articles offered by Leadership Education at Duke Divinity provides some fresh insights for the discussion. In one video , Wesley Granberg-Michaelson , general secretary of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), states that the question is “not whether congregations will be linked, but how.” He believers that most congregations continue to see the need for connections that reflect that we are each part of the larger body of Christ. In the same series, author, activist and former pastor Brian McLaren tries to offer some positive comments about denominations, but he observes, “I ended up becoming a church planter of a church that was nondenominational. I would have been happy to join a denomination, if a denomination would have brought me more benefits than it brought me liabilities.” Ouch! McLaren offers a list of “what denominations do well” that merits consideration. I would like to offer a bri...

My dirty word for the day is “accountability.” It is one of those words that make us uncomfortable. I think we all try to avoid being accountable to someone else we can. I love the freedom of retirement, but I still find that I am—and must be—accountable to others. I thought about this Sunday when I preached about the rich young ruler. The key verse in this story is this: Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Mark 10:21, NIV) The real challenge is not giving up riches, but following Jesus. If this man did that he would have to become accountable to someone else. He would have to answer to Jesus and allow Jesus to set his priorities. If he had been willing to accept this challenge, he would have gained much more (as Jesus goes on to explain) but he chose not to do so. Although society makes us accountable in many ways, for the ...

Today we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and those who stood with him in the Civil Rights Movement. In light of this observance and the election of President Obama, many are discussing whether we have become a “post-racial” society in America. The answer is, of course, “No” and “Yes.” No, race is still important in America. If we do not take race seriously, we cannot understand who were are and how we interact with each other. In one recent seminary class I quickly discovered that all of us were Baptists, but that an African American church operates very differently from the predominantly Euro-American congregation of which I am a member. One reason is that the African-American church has played a unique role in our society, providing empowerment, direction, and leadership that African-Americans could not find elsewhere. Race should not be ignored. Racial pride grew out of marginalization. When a race is subjugated, the members of that race make choices: they can g...

“What’s the church going to look like 50 years from now?” The question came from a seminary student during a conference call in which I participated this week. This is an understandable query from a person in his twenties who is about to enter what he hopes will be a lifetime vocation of ministry. Of course, I couldn’t give him an answer. We can make some educated guesses, but only God knows what lies ahead. I suggested to the student that if his desires to have a relevant ministry for the next five decades, he should learn how to read the culture. I am reminded of the men of Issachar mentioned in 1 Chronicles 12:31 “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” Knowing your context can not only help you to survive in ministry but to prosper. Why should we be concerned about the culture? I suggest several reasons. First, if we expect our message to be heard, we need to speak the language. I don’t expect English to pass out of fashion in the next 50 years (although learning ...

One of my favorite sayings is, “It is better to have tried something and failed than to have tried nothing and succeeded.” This philosophy is reflected in a section of Dave Ellis’s book Human Being entitled “Appreciate Mistakes.” Ellis’ approach is that mistakes are fertile ground for growth if we take the time to get over guilt, shame, and blaming and are willing to learn from them. Since I have participated in some colossal blunders in my time (and dragged others with me), I am grateful for his perspective. I don’t know Ellis’ religious bent, but I find the idea rooted in my understanding of God and God’s dealings with us. There are some empowering concepts that can come from mistakes. First, we can learn new behaviors. It is easy to rely on old habits but doing so only replicates the same mistake. New behaviors help us to do things differently the next time and, perhaps, come out with a more productive outcome. Second, we can set more realistic goals. Sometimes we bite off too muc...

“Don’t put all of your eggs into one basket.” That old adage sums up the philosophy of Tom Ehrich, writer and consultant who pens the daily online devotional On a Journey . In a webinar today, Ehrich encouraged participants to think in terms of a “multichannel” church, one that ministers in more than one venue and does not confine itself to a Sunday morning presence in the lives of congregants. Every church provides ministry on-site, primarily through Sunday morning worship and Bible study. Many churches are doing more off-site ministry ranging from home Bible studies and community ministries to satellite campuses. A third option that is only rarely practiced is personal exploration, an individualized delivery system that may well take advantage of online resources. Two significant questions were asked during the webinar. One was, “What percent of your church’s resources are used for the Sunday morning services?” Most participants responded fifty to 75 percent. The other question was, ...

In a review* in the current issue of Christian Century , Anthony Robinson discusses the application of missional church theology to denominational structures. As Robinson reminds us, it is not the church that has a mission but God who has a mission of which the church is a part. In applying this concept to judicatories, Robinson writes, “Because missional church theology consistently emphasizes the missio Dei —God’s mission, in which the church participates—this venture might be summarized as an attempt to rearrange denominational life so that God is at the center.” This is a significant insight. Denominations consciously or unconsciously choose their focus. In my denominational experience as a Baptist in the south, we usually talked about the church being at the center of our work. This was, of course, the ideal, but the emphasis on the church reminded us of local church autonomy (although we often wanted churches to fall in line with the latest program that was handed down from deno...

When I paid our check after a meal at Cracker Barrel over the weekend, the cashier who helped me was a young man with the title “Manager in Transition” stitched on his apron. This caught my attention and I engaged him in conversation about what he was transitioning into or out of. The phrase reminded me that all of us are in transition whether we recognize it or not! Nothing in life is static. We may resist change, but things are always changing around us. We usually become conscious of transitions at certain points in life—beginning and ending of school years or academic programs, changing of jobs, marriage or divorce, birth of children, death of family members or friends, or joining a new church. With the changing of calendars, most of us are probably thinking about transitions of one type or another right now. Transitions are not good or bad; they are a reality. With transitions come new opportunities. New doors are opened and new perspectives become available. As a leadership coach...

The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (3:1) The ending of one year and the beginning of the next is only the turn of the page on a calendar (or the discarding of an old calendar for a new one), but it is a time when we contemplate what has been and what is to come. Some seem to feel that some years are better overall than others. I think that each year has its blessings and struggles. I have also come to appreciate that each year will have its share of celebration and pain. Celebration of new life, new accomplishments, and good times. Pain of loss, struggle, and indecision. Celebration and pain are inexorably connected. This past year we rejoiced over the birth of a grandson, but we struggled with his mother’s health concerns resulting from that pregnancy. We enjoyed friends, but we went to the funerals of ones who will be missed. We accepted new challenges but met some closed doors along the way. The one ...