Barnabas File

As parents who have faced the task of putting together a toy on Christmas Eve can attest, “some assembly required” is an understatement.   The job usually takes much longer and produces more sweat and frustration that we expect.   My friend David Cates used this illustration in his sermon yesterday, challenging us to the task of “being builders.” David’s sermon and illustration got me to thinking about the fact that all of us have the opportunity to build something—a life, a family, a church.   Often we have the chance to do all three.   As we do so, we discover that there are both internal and external aspects to building. Internally, we have to do the hard work of clarifying our purpose in life—as a person, a family, or a church. This comes as a result of knowing our values, discovering our strengths, and then setting our course.   As we do the hard internal work, we achieve external results. At the same time, there are external concerns we must...

                In response to my recent blog post on the way forward for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a friend suggested that I was dealing with reorganization of the national entity.   Actually, I am suggesting not reorganization but reconceptualization.   Whenever a new leader comes on board, the first step usually taken is to reorganize.   Reorganization gives the impression that things are being changed and thus improved. Wrong!   Too often this is just rearranging the various parts without addressing basic values, strategies and systems.   The same thinking provides the same kind of results.   New thinking presents new results. If the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is not only to survive but prosper, it is time to go back to the drawing board and identify the values, strategies and systems that define a missional judicatory.   For the last two decades, CBF has attempted to gain credibility with ...

In a recent Harvard Business Review blog post , Ron Ashkenas asked the question, “Where have all the leaders gone?”   Admitting some nostalgia for the past, he nevertheless points out the low confidence ratings for the President, Congress, corporate leaders, and leaders in most segments of society.   He goes on to comment on the   large sums spent in recent decades on leadership development programs and wonders if we are getting our money’s worth.   Ashkenas suggests two possible reasons for the growing perception of leader ineffectiveness.   Both may have implications for church leaders as well.   First, he suggests that “the velocity and volume of issues that leaders are confronted with today has increased substantially.”   Leaders have always faced problems and change, but both seem to come more rapidly today with increased means of communication, short attention spans, a desire for “quick fixes,” and a growing consumer mentality even in ...

A friend recently shared with me these words from German theologian Helmut Thielicke:   “The gospel must be preached afresh and told in new ways to every generation, since every generation has its own unique questions.    The gospel must constantly be forwarded to a new address, because the recipient is repeatedly changing his place of residence.” Please note that Thielicke does not say that the gospel message itself needs to be changed, watered down, or made more palatable for a new generation.   He is saying that if we are to communicate the gospel effectively to people of a new time and culture, then we must be willing to answer the questions generated in that environment, use the images and metaphors that are understood by the people to whom we are speaking, and speak in such a way that we can be understood.   The core message is the same, but the way it is presented varies. This is one reason that those of us who are communicators of the gosp...

I was introduced to the phrase above when I was a campus minister and doing research on young adult values and expectations.   The idea has stayed with me and I have found it helpful in explaining what happens in a number of organizations when they “cast a new vision,” “organize to be more effective,” or make some other change that is more cosmetic than significant. In a recent blog, the Rev. Linda Grenz, publisher and CEO of LeaderResources , takes a look at the Episcopal Church and challenges congregations to ask questions that will lead to change that is more than cosmetic.   She points out,   “Organizational systems theory says that a system is designed to produce what it is producing. If you like what the system is producing but want to ‘improve it,’ tinkering with the system enables you to produce a better result . . . faster, better, cheaper. But if you don’t like what the system is producing, you have to change the system. ” Grenz goes on to pose ...

Are you familiar with TED talks ?   These are relatively brief presentations by thought leaders that stimulate, inspire, and encourage.   At the Annual Fall Gathering of the AlabamaCooperative Baptist Fellowship yesterday, one of the breakout sessions was titled “CBF Meet TED:   Inspiring Stories from and for Our Movement.”    Hosted by Chris Aho, the session featured three short presentations to stimulate, inspire, and encourage participants. All of the presentations were helpful, but the presentation by Jamie Mackey, minister to students at First Baptist Church, Huntsville,Alabama , particularly caught my attention.   Jamie identified the four ingredients of a healthy student ministry—relationships, Bible study, ministry, and fun—and explained their importance.   He made some application to other types of ministry as well—senior adults, campus ministry, etc. As I listened to Jamie’s presentation, I realized that these are the ingredient...

With the announced retirement not only of Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal but also long-time leader Terry Hamrick (who has at least three different titles on the website) and the upcoming report of the Hull Committee, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is entering a significant time of transition.   Plagued with financial shortfalls in the past year like so many judicatories, some hard decisions will have to be made about future mission, organization, and services. Although I no longer hold a leadership position within CBF life, I am a supporter and feel that I have a stake in the future of the organization.   As I think about the future of CBF, I suggest that we need to consider two major areas—competition and opportunities. Who are the competitors of CBF?   The “knee jerk” response would be the Southern Baptist Convention, but this is yesterday’s competitor.   Those related to the SBC have made their choice about the path they will follow and that pa...

I am a terrible salesperson.    When I believe in an organization, I readily participate in it and support it, share its value with others, and ask them to support it as well, but I am not naturally inclined to push people to buy or invest in something.    An entrepreneur must be able to do this—not only to envision and create but to market or “sell” as well.   As I have written in other blogs, I have a great respect for entrepreneurs and I believe that the future belongs to those organizations and individuals who can create and provide quality services and resources for the churches.   Those who provide such services and resources will (and to some extent already have) replace traditional denominational structures. Even so, I often find myself concerned about the commercialization of ministry.   When I walk through an exhibit hall at a religious gathering and hear comments like “But this is where our product is better” or “You don’t want to dea...

As people of faith, we are part of a story.   You may choose to begin that story with the Garden, but I usually start with the covenant that God established with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3:       “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you . . . and all peoples on earth   will be blessed through you.”   God was calling out a people who would do what God does—bless others.   The end of the story is found in Revelation 21:1-3:   “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’”   God’s people find themselves in perfect union with God at the end of the story. A lot happens to humankind and it relationship to God between Genesis and Revelation, but the theme continues—God is calling out a people who will be on the miss...

In a previous blog, I shared this quote from Harold Geneen:  “ Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned.”   Most of the time, l eadership is learned in the crucible of action.  When a person is thrust into the midst of a situation where he or she must act, the stage is set to learn about leadership.  Although effective leaders draw on their values, skills, and past experiences, they can use the challenges of their present assignments to hone their leadership abilities and grow as leaders.  There are several ways to do this.    First, an effective leader will make time for reflection.  Socrates said, “ The unexamined life is not worth living.”  As busy as he was, Jesus found time to retreat for prayer and meditation.  Each of us, whether leader or not, needs time to be alone to think, meditate, and/or pray.  As we do so, we hear another voice that gives insight and clarity to the difficult situations we ...

When I was in grade school, our school library had a series of books that told the stories of famous people—everyone from Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Edison and beyond.   Each provided information about the subjects’ formative years, their adult lives, and their impact on other people and society.   Although published in the 1950s, the series was not limited to white American men, but also featured women, Native Americans, and African-Americans.   For the most part these were morality tales that promised if you worked hard and helped others, you would be successful in life.   The perspective might have been rather narrow, but such reading did introduce me to the joy of learning about leaders through reading. Reading biography and autobiography provides significant insight about those who have gone before us--the famous, the infamous, and the obscure.   Such reading gives a ground-level perspective on great national and international movements and often he...

When I was in seminary, we were asked in one class to introduce ourselves and share our vocational goals.   I remember one student’s response:   “Well, I guess I want to be a denominational leader.”   His statement has always stayed with me not because of its audaciousness but its naiveté.      One does not become a leader by willing oneself to be one or even acquiring a position of authority.   The nature of leadership is such that one can be placed in a position of leadership but never really become a leader.   Many pastors, CEOs, and Presidents of the United States have learned this the hard way. What is a leader?   Peter Drucker once said that “a leader is a person with followers.”   In other words, you are a leader if people respond to your leadership.    Real leadership is often recognized only when it is effectively exercised.   People will tell you that they are not looking for a leader, but they respond whe...

The political races of 2012 are well underway with politicians and interest groups at every level jockeying for position.   As they dream their dreams of victory and hone their strategies, do they realize the disillusionment and anger at the grassroots level?   I am not talking about the members of the Tea Party, but the ordinary voters who are fed up with both the Congress and the President.   While people are struggling to pay their bills and keep their homes, our elected representatives in the state capitals and in Washington seem to be living on another planet. Please understand that I will vote for President Obama again.   His leadership has not been perfect, but he took office at one of the most difficult times in our history and the expectations of his supporters were unrealistic at best.   The challenges he inherited were overwhelming.   He has often spent too much time on analysis and appeasement, but his administration has made some wise de...

In January, I began reading the Sister Fidelma mysteries by Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis writing as Peter Tremayne.   Now 19 books and two collections later, I have read the complete series.   The most recent is entitled The Chalice of Blood .   Just to review, Fidelma is a dalaigh or advocate of the ancient law courts in seventh century Ireland.   She is also a member of a religious order and sister to the king of Muman, one of the five kingdoms of Ireland in that period. Although the background of the series is the growing conflict between the Roman and Celtic churches, over the course of the series there is also definite character development for Fidelma as she falls in love with the Saxon monk Eadulf (her partner in crime solving), marries him, has a child, wrestles with her true calling, and finally decides that she must choose the law over the religious life.   Along the way, she and Eadulf face and overcome charges of murder, she experie...

When times get tough, what is the source of your strength?   In this readable book , Mike Flynt suggests twelve strategies to identify and maximize sources of personal strength.   As a Christian, Flynt begins with one’s relationship to God, who God has created each of us to be, and the joy of building on those discoveries to create a life. He uses personal examples, biblical references, and stories about historical and sports figures to illustrate his strategies for operating out of one's "power base." There is little new in the book but what sets it apart is the author himself.   Expelled from college before he could compete as a football player in his senior year, Flynt went on to construct a meaningful life with a loving wife and family, success as a strength coach, and the founder of a company.   He always regretted his failure as a college athlete, however, and returned to Sul Ross State University, his alma mater, to compete in collegiate football at ...

Unless you have been on a mission trip to Mongolia or experiencing power failures from hurricanes, earthquakes, or tornadoes, you have heard that Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple due to health issues.   Many articles extol his virtues as a visionary and speculate on the future of one of the world’s richest companies with his leadership.   There will undoubtedly be a new round of books on “The Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs.” I am a late convert to the Apple faith.   I began to give in a bit when I purchased an iPod several years ago and enjoyed its flexibility and portability.   The iPad may have pushed me over the edge.   A generous donor recently provided the funds to purchase iPads for Central Seminary faculty, and I am afraid that I have become an enthusiast.   I would not be surprised if an iPhone is not in my immediate future and even an Apple computer somewhere down the road. But back to the wizard of Apple.   Steve Jobs is ...