Barnabas File

About twenty years ago, I was working for a state denominational organization.     A friend had recently joined another person in a business to offer video teleconferencing.     What a great idea!     This would cut down on travel and allow us to gather people from all over the state for planning meetings. The two of them came to our office to show off their product. In fact, they came twice.     It was a major disappointment!     Connection was erratic, the picture froze, and the sound was inaudible.    Despite their best efforts, the device was not ready for prime time.   On a recent day, I spent six hours on the Zoom teleconference platform (this doesn’t happen every day, fortunately).  I did individual planning with colleagues in North Carolina, Kansas, and South Carolina.  I coached a pastor in Kentucky.  I was part of a webinar that included fifty people from several states.  I...

Lead Now! is based on the leadership development model created by John Parker Stewart and Daniel J. Stewart and is an updated and expanded version of the first edition published in 2012.  It is basically a guide to lead someone through the Lead Now! process and not something that one would read and work through on their own. The book is built around the four segments of the model—Create Purpose, Deliver Excellence, Develop Self and Others, and Lead Change. The model identifies 21 Leadership Dimensions within the quadrants and a number of competencies that a person might acquire to become an effective leader. The approach to coaching in this book seems to lean more toward the performance coaching approach (teach—observe—correct—try again) than the personal development coaching model that I practice. Although every comprehensive, the book is best seen as a resource for implementing the Lead Now! program rather than a standalone read.    Disclosure of Material Connectio...

In the Missional Imagination course I teach for Central Seminary, we acknowledge that the Church has adopted different paradigms over the last two thousand years to carry out the mission of God in ways that are both effective and culturally appropriate.    Here is a quick summary:   The apocalyptic paradigm of primitive Christianity—We expect Jesus to come back at any moment, so how many people can we share the Gospel with before His return? The Hellenistic paradigm of the patristic period—Jesus has not returned, so how do we impact our culture? The medieval Roman Catholic paradigm—How can the church provide stability to society? The Protestant (Reformation) paradigm—Is there a different way to do church?  (Although providing a new understanding of Scripture, this just resulted in moving people around into new religious groups and often focused on providing credibility for the ruling elite). The modern Enlightenment paradigm—How can we use what we are learning a...