Barnabas File

During the Advent season, we are introduced to many interesting characters:    Mary, Joseph, Anna, Elizabeth and Zacharias, Anna and Simeon, John the Baptist.    Most of these are in Luke’s Gospel, but Matthew’s Gospel gives us a different perspective and some new characters.    Matthew 12:1-12 introduces several kings—some wise Gentile “kings” and one paranoid king. The individuals we call the “three kings” or Magi came from east of Palestine, probably Persia or Babylon (present day Iraq or Iran). We don’t really know how many there were; the number three comes from the three gifts they carried.  Although commonly placed at the stable and depicted in Nativity scenes, they came long after Jesus’ birth (probably two years later). These men (and they were most likely men although they did ask for directions) were part of a unique group.  They were astrologers, men of wisdom, and advisors to the king of Babylon. In those times, astronomy...

Community is at the center of what it means to be church.  A missional church that is engaged with its culture is constantly renegotiating exactly how community will be manifested but it will always be central.  In this second volume of the Missional Wisdom Library, Larry Duggins draws on Wesleyan theology to show how both prevenient grace (preparation for salvation) and sanctifying grace (growing in holiness) can be manifested in various types of community.  He writes, “As people of God, we cannot ‘save’ other people . . .  But we can work to bring people together in a way that makes it easier for them to encounter the grace of God in an environment that is encouraging, with people who can help interpret their experiences.” (pp. 80-81) Duggins points out that any community can be a place of grace and gives examples from churches, the workplace, around food (growing, cooking and consuming it), children’s activities and schools, and affinity groups....

My wife, our daughter, and I were returning from the memorial service for a friend in east Tennessee.    Stephanie, our daughter, was providing our music from Pandora on her iPhone.    A song came up that I had probably heard before, but the words suddenly got my attention.     “A Strange Way to Save the World”  is written from Joseph’s perspective and points out the incongruity of the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem.    Joseph voices his wonder at the strange way that God has chosen to work.    Imagine, God was placing the plan for the salvation of the world in the hands of a teenage girl and a village craftsman! The song reminds me that our God works in unusual and paradoxical ways more times than we imagine.  So many of us are obsessed with planning and control that we rarely leave time and space for God to intervene in our lives.  Is this because we do not really believe that God might break through the ordinar...

Sometimes we get so involved in our pursuits that we assume everyone understands what we are talking about.  As a leadership coach, I am often surprised when a person says, “Tell me about this coaching thing.  What’s it all about?” In Growing Agile Leaders , Bob Dale writes, “Coaching is a growth-oriented, strategic relationship.  Coaching links two peers, equals who are in distinct roles, to collaborate as thought partners and to find the way forward for the person being coached.”  I love Dale’s definition because it applies to a number of ways that coaching can be used in the church. First, practically every professional leader (including ministers) would benefit from working with a coach.  Unlike many conversations, the coaching conversation is all about the client.  The coach provides the framework and monitors the process, but the person being coached sets the agenda.  In this case, it really is “all about you” and the person you want...

Faith-based social entrepreneurship is gaining traction.  Visionary leaders, many of them young adults, are seeking to meet needs outside of ecclesiastical structures.  Their motivation for doing this might be addressed in another blog, but the trend is growing.  In a recent article published by the Association of Theological Schools, writer Linda Kay Klein identified the top five qualities of a successful faith-based entrepreneur. Purpose-driven.   Faith-based social entrepreneurs are driven by internal rather than external motivation.  Rather than seeking recognition, money, or freedom from guilt, these trailblazers have a clearly identified positive goal in mind. They see a need and want to meet it.  When they encounter barriers, they are driven to overcome these difficulties because they have a clear focus on what they want to accomplish. Resilient.   Successful social entrepreneurs have often overcome personal challenges in their pas...

Chaplain Pierce McIntyre offers helpful insights and prayers for dealing with every day life in his regular e-mails to friends and colleagues.  In an e-mail, he pointed out that there is an inherent contradiction in the term “holiday stress.”    A holiday is “a celebratory day, break, day of rest or vacation.”  Stress means “anxiety, impatience, and nervous tension.”  The two really don’t seem to go together, but we know that they exist in combination too often these days. We are now immersed in the “holiday season’ that is inaugurated with Thanksgiving, reaches its peak with Christmas, and then closes out with New Year’s Day.  This is a time of feasting, visiting, giving, reflection, and worship for most of us.  As McIntyre notes, however, it is often a time of stress as well. So how do we deal with the stress?  What are some things we can do to deal with the stress? First, we can set priorities.  What do we really val...

My Dad was a great story-teller. He had to go to work as a teen-ager to help support his family and finished high school GED, but he was an avid reader and knew the Bible better than many of us who have studied it all our lives.  He told stories about Bible characters that made them come alive. Stephen was that kind of story-teller.  When he was called upon to give a defense of his faith before the Assembly (Sanhedrin), he began with Abraham and told the story of the Hebrew people up to the time in which he lived.  The point of his story was not the one that his accusers were used to, however. The difference in his story and that of those who opposed him was that their story ended at a particular point with the Law and the Temple.  They considered the status quo as God’s ultimate expression.  Stephen shifted the paradigm and said, “The story doesn’t end there.  God is still working among God’s people.” In his story-telling, Stephen shifted the ...

In regard to Stephen, theologian N. T. Wright comments, “You never know, once you lay hands on people and pray for God to work through them, what new things they will get up to, or rather what new things God will do through them.” In Acts 6:8-15, the ministry of Stephen, a deacon (servant) in the church at Jerusalem, expands.  He moves from administering aid to the needy to healing and teaching.  As Wright notes, once the Spirit starts to work in a person’s life, you never know what will happen.  When Stephen saw need, he responded.  He saw the sick and, through the power of the Spirit, offered healing.  He saw spiritual ignorance and responded with teaching about the Messiah.  As he did so, he was raising the profile of the Way and the church as well as himself.  Throughout Christian history, there have been men and women like Stephen, who saw a need and responded.  They saw sickness and started hospitals.  Th...

Throughout the history of the church, men and women have stepped up to renew the church and stretch its ministry in new directions.   These are pathfinders, entrepreneurs, or pioneers who see new opportunities for Kingdom work and respond accordingly. Stephen, one of the first deacons in the church at Jerusalem, provides a good model of a true “thought leader,” one who moves things in a new direction. Although originally chosen as one “to wait on tables” or care for widows, Stephen had the ability and the opportunity to do much more than this simple task of service.  A servant leader in the best sense of the term, he was ready and willing to follow the leadership of the Spirit. In the descriptions of Stephen in the Book of Acts, a pattern is clear.  He was “ known to be full of the Spirit  and wisdom ” (6:3); “ a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (6:5); and “a man full of God’s grace and power” (6:8).  There was a spiritu...