Barnabas File

Colin Powell is a hero of mine for many reasons. He rose to the rank of four-star general in the United States Army.     He was the first African-American to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as Secretary of State.   To the best of my knowledge, he was the first ROTC-commissioned officer to become chair of the Joint Chiefs.   Powell has served his country as a diplomat under three U. S. Presidents.   He is a Republican who refuses to be partisan.   And, most of all, he doesn’t take himself too seriously. One of Powell’s greatest talents, however, is his skill as a story teller.  Colin told the story of his rise from the streets of the South Bronx to halls of power around the world in A Soldier’s Story (2001) and My American Journey (2003). Others have written about his diplomatic work and his leadership philosophy.  In It Worked for Me , Powell shares his own approach to leadership, personal responsibility, relationships,...

How does ritual function as individual and communal practices of care?   This was one of the questions addressed by Dr. Nichole Phillips during a continuing education workshop sponsored by the Pastoral Counseling Centers of Tennessee.   Dr. Phillips explained how rituals (including but not limited to worship practices) can reaffirm meaning, bond community, deal with ambivalence and emotional conflicts, and establish a sense of order.   Those practices that are most meaningful to us in communities of faith can be very important to pastoral care as well. As we discussed this idea, I reflected on my experiences during Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s annual General Assemblies.  The recent meeting in Forth Worth was like those of previous years but even more so than usual.  Planners seemed to have intentionally built in additional time for us to practice some of those rituals.  There are rituals that take place during plenary sessions—voting on the budge...

In his book What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful , Marshall Goldsmith points out that certain skills may enable a person to reach a specific level of responsibility, but those same skills will not necessarily carry that person to the next level of leadership; in fact, those skills may get in the way.   This came to mind as I reflected recently on the situation that many pastors find themselves in. Some senior pastors are in “over their heads.”   A certain skill set has carried them to places of senior leadership, but they often find themselves stymied as they attempt to lead at that level of responsibility. Most pastors in Baptist life start in smaller congregations and move to larger ones.  As they move from church to church, the number of parishioners increases, the staff becomes more numerous, the facilities become larger, and the budget grows.  The minister who was called to increasingly larger churches...

“Welcome to the Family” was an appropriate phrase to describe the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly that drew 1,625 Fellowship Baptists   to Fort Worth, Texas, last week.  There was no controversy, little anxiety, and a lot of family-type fellowship. The two landmark events were the retirement of Daniel Vestal, who has served as executive coordinator of CBF for 15 years, and the adoption of the recommendations of the 2012 Task Force.  Together these communicate a time of transition in Cooperative Baptist life but there seemed little concern or fear about the future.  Certainly, there may be some anxiety among Fellowship staff members during this time of change, but the average Fellowship Baptist is not overly concerned but rather seems expectant and excited about the future of the Fellowship. During the closing session, Vestal was characterized in a letter from Richard Hamm of Christian Churches Together as the person who led Cooperative Ba...

“Bein’ a cat herder is probably the toughest thing I have ever done,” says a grizzled cat herder in the EDS commercial shown during the 2009 Super Bowl.  The humorous commercial depicts the challenge of herding “10,000 short hairs” to market.  Attempting to get independent creatures such as cats to follow any kind of direction is not easy and comes with some scratches. When I see this commercial, I am reminded how challenging it is to work with Baptists.  We are congregational in polity and individualistic in practice.  As a result, those who would attempt to lead either a church or a “denomination-like” organization find themselves “herding cats.”  As Baptists, we are defensive not only about our congregational autonomy but our individual freedom as well.  We have taken the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer in one primary direction:  “It’s just you and me, God.”  If we think about the doctrine as the priesthood of ALL believers, ...

You may have heard about the mosque being built by the Muslim community in my hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  After county officials approved the building and issued a permit, concerned local citizens brought suit to block construction.  Charges by the opponents ranged from notification errors on the part of the county planners to fear that the mosque would be a place to train terrorists and promote the adoption of Sharia law.  While construction continued, the case dragged on with the judge finally ruling that Islam was indeed a religion with all the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and that the R utherford County Regional Planning Commission had erred in the way they handled the case. The response of the commission is that the judge is calling upon them to discriminate on the basis of religion.  They will appeal his decision. Meanwhile, the building of the mosque continues with the goals of completion and occupancy by the beginning of Ramadan. ...

When Alien came to the screen in 1979, moviegoers were confronted with the anti- Star Wars .  The mood was dark, the spaceship Nostromo was an unappealing wreck of a workhorse, the shocks were sudden and messy, and the crew was expendable.  Ridley Scott not only launched a franchise of creepy films but he also put his stamp on science fiction cinema.  As with Blade Runner, h is vision was unique and disturbing. In Prometheus , Scott returns to the word of Alien but at an earlier time, one closer to our own.  The film is beautifully done with remarkable sets, special effects, and cinematography.  The actors are capable but one never really engages with them, certainly not like viewers did with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in Alien.   There are many similarities between Alien and Prometheus —a mysterious planet, an android with questionable motives, an evil corporation, a heroine who endures more pain than anyone should have to bear, working class cre...

I spent several days last week in Shawnee, Kansas, teaching a course for Doctor of Ministry students at Central BaptistTheological Seminary .  They were very responsive, and we engaged in some good discussion around the content.  All of these women and men are ministry practitioners who are daily involved in leading congregations or missional ministries.  I was not surprised but a bit pleased when they pushed back with questions like, “How can we apply this in our ministry setting?”  They found the content of the course interesting, but they also wondered about how this would play “back home.” I certainly can sympathize with the question.  Every organization we lead must change in order to be vital and relevant but there is a natural reluctance to “being changed.”  Because our churches and ministries are composed of living beings, they are already changing every day!  Everyone with whom we work is growing older and facing new life challenges dai...

A person must have an outsized ego to approach the author of biographies of Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin to write his biography.  Steve Jobs seems to have had no problem asking Walter Isaacson to undertake that assignment.  Once you read Isaacson’s Steve Jobs , you realize that the founder of Apple thought he had earned the right to be in the company of such great thinkers/innovators. Although Jobs cooperated with the author, he sought no control over the biography and did not ask to read it before it was published.  His whole life was about being in control, but he encouraged all those interviewed by Isaacson to be completely candid and pull no punches—and they did just that!  The result is a comprehensive and frank account of the life of the late wunderkind. Jobs was a genius.  He was also cruel, rude, obsessive, and controlling.  He hurt many people both personally and professionally.  In the pursuit of a goal, he let no one stand ...