Over the last year or so, my blogs have focused a lot on what I call the 3-B Syndrome. (see my last entry to get a quick overview).

In many of my recent writings you will find how the Lord has been showing me how ugly this pursuit of the 3-B Syndrome can become. As I see it, I am a recovering 3-B pastor. I’m convinced, much like the alcoholic, that I will spend the remainder of my days in pastoral ministry, keeping the 3-B monster that dwells inside of me, at bay.

Over the last few years, through a series of life-events and ministry failures, my wife, Sandy, and I have now consciously decided to remove our lives from this ugly 3-B monster and begin allowing the Lord to re-build us, re-defining ‘success’ in pastoral ministry along the way. A lot of this re-defining by God has been accomplished by re-introducing us to the measurement tools for ministry success as found in the New Testament.

As we see it, Jesus teaches His followers a completely different set of standards when it comes to measuring ‘success’ in Kingdom ministry. Simply put, we believe the Lord is looking for these 3-S’s (not the 3-B’s) from His loyal servants:

1. SPIRITUALITY. Returning ourselves to our First Love, allowing Jesus to re-define who we are as pastoral shepherds. Jesus must be at the center of who we are and all we do for Him. As we take the much-needed time to ‘step out of the traffic’ (see Psalm 46:10) we can recover our core identity in Christ…beloved sons and daughters of our Servant King.

2. SERVICE. Jesus, the Servant, invites us to join Him, humbly and faithfully extending His extraordinary, life-giving message and ministry into ordinary, broken and direction-less lives. As wounded healers, we are called as pastoral shepherds to enter the harvest field, serving others out of the same agape love He bestows upon us.

3. SOULS. As shepherds of God’s people, we pray for, care for, and bless souls within our circle of influence, one person at a time. We are called, literally, to ‘love the hell’ out of the people around us, encouraging them to stop, look, and listen for God’s in-breaking presence in their lives.

If we, as pastoral shepherds, can become successful at this simplified, three-pronged, God-breathed job assignment, then our world just might have a chance to become a better place, God’s holy purposes served in our generation, and we pastoral shepherds of God can view our lives and ministries as ones lived well for His glory.

As the Holy Spirit has been working these simple truths into our lives, we believe the Lord is asking us (my wife, Sandy, and I) to serve you, the busy 3-B pastor as CONTEMPLATIVE COACHES.

Keep in mind that our role as coaches is not to lead or mentor you into becoming a successful pastor of a growing church. Nor will we coach you into expanding your ministry for the cause of Christ. As we see it, our job will be to encourage you, first and foremost, into your core identity as a precious son or daughter of God. We believe a key breakthrough will be found when you begin giving your full and undivided attention to Jesus’ Great Invitation to His friends found in Matthew’s gospel (Mt 11: 27-30 MsgB)

“The Father has given Me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I’m not keeping it to Myself; I’m ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen. Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Our sense is that there are many out there who will attempt to make you into a successful leader or direct your church into successful ministry, but few who will focus you explicitly on your own individual spirituality.

Author of The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning, states it this way:

“Leadership in the church is not entrusted to successful fund-raisers, brilliant biblical scholars, administrative geniuses, or spell-binding preachers (though these assets may be helpful), but to those who have been laid waste by a consuming passion for Christ – passionate men and women for whom privilege and power are trivial compared to knowing and loving Jesus.”

Contemplative writer, Henri Nouwen, elaborates:

“Christian leaders cannot simply be persons who have well-informed opinions about the burning issues of our time. Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the Incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance… Dealing with burning issues easily leads to divisiveness because, before we know it, our sense of self is caught up in our opinion about a given subject. But when we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the Source of Life, it will be possible to remain flexible but not relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle, and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.”

If you are convinced that there’s more to pastoral ministry than becoming a successful 3-B leader, building a bigger church or breaking through the next growth barrier, we suggest you contact us and allow us to begin asking you some deeper spiritual questions than “How big is your church?” or “How many people attend your Sunday morning service?”

We believe Jesus, the Master Rabbi, has much more to say to you than we do. And we’d love to assist you in opening up your eyes and ears so that you might stop, look, listen, and respond.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

As I see it, leadership, in its’ truest form, is not all that complicated.

A person becomes a leader when they lead others. And in order to be a leader, you will need to have at least one other person looking to you for leadership. Leadership, you see, is not a title. It’s not a position that you necessarily choose for yourself. It’s a natural thing that happens whenever a person puts their heart and mind toward something. Leadership is simply what happens when you and I pursue someone or something with passion, and then, in the midst of that pursuit, we look over our shoulder, and poof, there is someone there looking back at us!

Our blog study through the Gospel of John illustrates my point. At no point in the Jesus-story does the Great Rabbi turn to His good friends and commission them to be ‘leaders’. What does happen is this. Jesus invites everyday, common folk to join Him on a holy assignment from God. “Come, follow me,” Jesus says. And for those who respond, we find them walking with Jesus, listening to Him, watching Him heal, deliver and comfort people who are found in various stages of the human condition. In the meantime, the disciples watch Jesus challenge the religious status quo, turning over tables set up by the established traditions of the day. Whether it be the Roman government officials or the Temple Priests, no one is off-limits to the Great Rabbi’s challenging questions.

One of the primary challenges to the status quo is Jesus’ continual confrontation of the systems of leadership. At almost every turn, the Master is found pointing out the self-seeking, self-serving attitudes lurking behind a system of power where leaders are actually kings. And while it’s obvious to all that worldly systems of government run naturally by this ‘dog-eat-dog’, ‘winner-take-all’ attitude, it’s shocking to see that the religious system of Jesus’ day is no better. In truth, a system, which was built to honor God and value people, is doing just the opposite. So when Jesus arrives on the scene, He tears apart a system of ‘business-as usual’ and insists that any church, which will bear His Name, will run on a different set of tracks.

Over a three-year period of time, Jesus lays out the tracks for His Church. Tracks that are built on Kingdom principles, not worldly truths. One of the key Kingdom principles Jesus spells out so clearly is that ‘leaders’ will be ‘followers’ first and foremost. In the world we live in, for example, leaders must be dynamic vision casters. Movers and shakers. Charismatic men and women with drive and passion to stir the people they lead. But in Jesus’ eyes, a church ‘leader’ is a ‘faithful servant’. Someone who has been entrusted by God with a responsibility for loving and caring for others. A pastoral shepherd then, is a man or woman who takes on a holy call from God to love and lead the people of God that Jesus brings into his or her circle of influence.

Now, as I close, let me make this thing personal.

You, as a pastoral shepherd of God’s people, are one of the most important components in God’s Kingdom work here on planet earth. While only Jesus saves, it’s His faithful shepherds who tend His flock, overseeing the day-to-day life of the church and His people called by His Name. Commissioned by the Lord Himself (see Matthew 28-18-20), we pastoral shepherds play a vital role in Jesus’ worldwide plan to save and redeem beloved sons and daughters from a hurting world gone astray.

But something’s wrong in the American Church.

As I see it, pastoral shepherds have become distracted. Busy-ness, which eventually leads to weariness and burnout, has taken too many of us off course from the unique Kingdom call on our lives. C.S. Lewis, in his classic book, Screwtape Letters, warned us of such things when he penned his imaginary letters from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, a junior level tempter named Wormwood.

“There is only one thing we can do. We must redouble our efforts. We must do everything we can to make sure that these humans do not believe in Jesus. And if they do believe then make them lukewarm and too busy with other things to be of any use to Him.”

My own experience (30-plus years in pastoral ministry) has taught me that we pastors tend to define our success in ministry by utilizing what we’ve come to call the 3-B Syndrome. This ugly three-pronged standard for success in the Americanized church utilizes three key tools in measuring our effectiveness (or lack of) in our ministries.

The 3-B Syndrome works like this: In order for a pastor and a church to be ‘successful’, by Americanized standards, we must focus our ministries on the 3-B’s: BUILDINGS, BUCKS, and BUTTS.

If you and I can lead our churches to bigger and better numbers in each of these 3-B’s (bigger buildings, increased giving, and more people in the pews), we are a success. It all sounds great when these 3-B’s are on track. But unfortunately, for those of us who fail or falter in any (or all) of these three arenas of ministry, our net worth as a pastor, and our success as a church, begins to crumble.

In a concentrated effort to avoid failure in the 3-B’s, many of us in church leadership roles have become so busy tending to these three task-masters of success, we’ve lost our way, becoming discouraged and disheartened at our lack of ‘success’ as defined by the American church. Statistics show us that pastors, particularly, are highly susceptible to the fallout surrounding failure in the 3-B’s. One recent report in a nationally syndicated newspaper called pastors an ‘endangered species’.

The average stay of a pastor in an American church is less than three years. The pressure for ‘success’ is very high. Many of us feel so pressured to increase our numbers; we forsake our God-given call as shepherds of God’s people. Trying to become successful ranchers, business managers and CEO’s, we labor busily to develop ministries and programs that will feed the 3-B monster we’ve all created.

Despite the perceived success by a handful of ministries, most American churches are struggling to survive. Shrinking numbers in the 3-B categories leave most pastors questioning their call, growing weary in their well-doing, and becoming luke-warm in heart, mind and spirit. So many of us have so little spiritual life inside us, we wander around aimlessly looking for new ways to become ‘successful’ in ministry. Over time, we grow desperate for answers and are left to scavenge for ‘scraps’ that fall off the tables of those ‘successful’ pastors who have written ‘how-to’ books on growing the church. Sound familiar?

Let’s face it, friends. So many of us pastors are hoping to find that magic bullet which will finally make our churches ‘successful’, and in the process, we’ve abandoned our First Love of Jesus, leaving us to become burned-out evangelicals with little fire left in our bellies.

Next time, let me unfold for you, what I’m hearing from the Lord on how we can begin to address this problem.

Pastors & key leaders…plan now to join us for our first SMALL GROUP RETREAT for BUSY, 3-B PASTORS. August 17-18 in Cedar Rapids. Click here for more details.

John 21: 20-25 (MsgB)

Turning his head, Peter noticed the disciple Jesus loved following right behind. When Peter noticed him, he asked Jesus, “Master, what’s going to happen to him?” Jesus said, “If I want him to live until I come again, what’s that to you? You—follow me.” That is how the rumor got out among the brothers that this disciple wouldn’t die. But that is not what Jesus said. He simply said, “If I want him to live until I come again, what’s that to you?” This is the same disciple who was eyewitness to all these things and wrote them down. And we all know that his eyewitness account is reliable and accurate. There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can’t imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books.

Isn’t it sad how easily we human beings can become distracted?

Take Peter, the Rock, for example.

Here he is being reconciled, restored and re-commissioned by the Lord, Himself. Jesus has just done a masterful job (see yesterday’s blog) of taking one broken & discouraged man and bringing him full circle. A disheartened disciple, once described by the Lord as ‘a fisherman-turned-rock’, is on the verge of throwing in the towel. If we read John’s final chapter carefully, I believe we can surmise that Pete and the whole gang are ready to dump the unique call of God on their lives and simply go back to their day jobs of fishing, tax-collecting, etc. But here they all are, several days after the resurrection, sitting on the seashore with the Great Rabbi. Peter, the man who once bragged to others about his ability to stay strong when everyone else is weak, has been found out and now, the Master is forgiving and reconciling this broken man back into the fold.

What a powerful moment!

And just as Jesus is gazing into the eyes of this broken fisherman, re-inviting Pete to follow Him wherever He goes…

Whoops. Excuse me, Lord. Hold that thought. (Squirrel)

Peter turns his head. (see verse 20).

Over there, Pete. Look behind you. Never mind that the Lord of all Creation is looking you in your one good eye, speaking truth to you that you will need to call upon in days ahead.

Hey Pete. Over here.

Look, it’s John. You know. The one Jesus seems to like better than you.

And bam. With one slight suggestion from Peter’s mind (or did the thought actually originate from Satan?) Peter has been, once again, distracted from the primary message Jesus has for him. And suddenly, now, Peter (and his small, self-centered pea brain) is now consumed about what’s gonna happen to John. Talk about your sudden turn of events!

Oy Vey!

Isn’t it interesting how we disciples of Jesus can get so damn distracted? Maddening isn’t it?

As I see it, John, the Gospel writer, actually gets a bit distracted here himself. And rather than giving us a proper ending to a story which should focus exclusively on Jesus, John has to spend a couple of sentences here digging himself out of the hole Peter and his goofy distraction has seemed to cause!

Apparently, because of Pete’s distraction that pulls Jesus’ conversation away from what He was saying to Pete, the rumor has now started that John was never going to die! Unfortunately, because of that off-track idea, John has to take a few precious pen strokes in his gospel to discredit these ugly rumors that are making the rounds in the first-century church! Talk about your human distractions that take our attention off of Jesus! (Squirrel)

Sound familiar?

As we come to the close of this blog series on ‘leadership’ I’d like to suggest that we twenty-first century pastoral shepherds take one final lesson from John’s gospel.

LET’S STAY FOCUSED EXCLUSIVELY ON JESUS.

How about if you and I try to avoid old Pete’s mistake here of turning our heads when Jesus is speaking to us?

How about a new rule for church life in the 21^st century?

When Jesus is speaking, we don’t interrupt Him? How about when the Lord is focusing on one subject, we don’t interrupt Him and hop onto another?

Could be, if you and I could truly stay focused exclusively on the Master, Jesus just might be able to finish a sentence or two, enabling Him to accomplish a whole lot more than we could ever hope for or imagine on our own.

Shhh. I think I hear Jesus speaking right now.

Excuse me. Don’t take it personally, but I’m gonna try give Him my complete, undivided attention.

How about you?

My prayer: Lord, forgive me when my short attention span interrupts things that You are doing or saying. Forgive me, Father, when I choose to distract the flow of God’s Kingdom purposes by inserting my personal agendas and thoughts. I choose, Lord, to defer to You. For Your Name’s sake.

My questions to ponder: When was the last time I chose to defer to God, staying quiet rather than chattering right through a holy moment with Jesus? Am I aware that there are times (like in Peter’s story) when my questions or concerns just might pull Jesus off His agenda? What might it look like in my ministry circles to stay quiet more often than we talk? Might we actually ‘hear’ more from the Holy Spirit if we’d choose to stay still?

So what is God speaking to you today? Are you practicing the Kingdom presence of God?

 Pastors & key leaders…plan now to join us for our first SMALL GROUP RETREAT for BUSY, 3-B PASTORS. August 17-18 in Cedar Rapids. Click here for more details.

John 21: 15-19 (MsgB)

After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Master, You know I love You.” Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.” He then asked a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Master, You know I love You.” Jesus said, “Shepherd My sheep.” Then He said it a third time: “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was upset that He asked for the third time, “Do you love Me?” so he answered, “Master, You know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know that I love You.” Jesus said, “Feed My sheep. I’m telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you’ll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don’t want to go.” He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then He commanded, “Follow me.”

A three-fold questioning from Jesus,

+

A three-fold confession of Peter,

=

One reconciled & restored follower of Christ.

I’ve always been amazed at the great wisdom and compassion of Jesus, our Supreme Leader, as displayed here in this amazing encounter between Peter, the burned out leader, and our Lord. As I see it, this passage reveals Jesus as both a master psychologist/counselor and a compassionate pastoral shepherd at work.

So let’s unpack Jesus’ process of healing.

Step one: Take one very broken, humbled, and troubled leader (Peter), and get him comfortable in a warm, familiar environment (i.e. sitting by a campfire on the waters’ edge, munching on a breakfast of fish & biscuits).

Step two: Encourage this same man, who sees himself now as a complete failure (i.e. Peter flatly failed at the very core assignment he once prided himself in), to re-look at the wounds that are causing him so much pain. In Pete’s case, he had repeatedly denied his three-year relationship with Jesus. As we discussed in our last blog session, these three denials had caused Peter to re-think just about everything about himself and his call to ministry. A once proud leader, now sits broken on this sandy seashore, eating breakfast with the very one he had so openly betrayed.

Step three: Through a series of three very intimate, penetrating questions (‘Do you love me more than these?’ and two similar queries), Jesus opens Peter’s emotions up like a canned ham. With each question, Jesus digs at the betrayal wounds deep within Peter, drawing out both his anger at times, and his true feelings inside.

Step four: Finally, as the Lord ends His barrage of three probing questions (one question for each denial), Peter finally receives the re-instatement Jesus wants His friend to have. Jesus masterfully restores Peter as a pastoral shepherd with three powerful commissions to love and feed the Lord’s sheep. In the process, Jesus returns Peter back to the beginning they experienced together three years earlier. Now that the three denial wounds have been addressed and forgiven, a new beginning in ministry for Peter has just begun.

Step five: Jesus concludes this work of amazing healing by helping Peter recall the basic ministry instructions that Jesus first gave Peter. “Come, follow me”.

It’s these words of invitation from Jesus that we twenty-first century ‘leaders’ would do well to remember, both for those we ‘lead’ and for ourselves as well. As I see it, Jesus is never looking to recruit ‘leaders’ to ‘lead’ His sheep, but ‘followers’ who simply will serve the plans of God, feeding His sheep along the way. In truth, Peter got himself in deep dodo when he chose to ‘lead’ out of his own wisdom. The day Peter leaned on his own understanding is the day he promised things that he could never deliver. This proud leader, Peter, declared his prowess and strength, offering his friends a style of leadership which would never fail, even when it was attacked by Jesus’ enemies.

But when push came to shove, Peter’s leadership style crumbled to pieces, leaving not only Peter devastated, but opening the door for the other disciples to fail miserably as well.

When will we learn from Pete’s ‘leadership’ story that Jesus is not interested in recruiting self-reliant and self-supporting men and women to serve as ‘leaders’ for His Church. Instead, I see Jesus looking for humble servants who will be dedicated followers, faithfully obeying the specific directions the Lord gives, just as these first century followers learned to do?

The good news in our passage today is that Jesus is always willing to gently reconcile and restore broken and worn-out ‘leaders’ who come to understand their true limits. As I see it, Jesus is still welcoming back into the fold, those burned out, broken 3-B pastors who’ve finally found that all Jesus really expects of us in ‘leadership’ is to follow Him wherever He leads and faithfully feed His sheep along the way.

My prayer: Lord, Your commission here to the reconciled and restored Peter is quite simple: Love Jesus. Feed My sheep. If this two-pronged commission was concise enough for Peter and the first generation of church leaders, I have to believe that these words must be enough for me today. For Your Name’s sake.

My questions to ponder: Why has our generation of church leaders added so many more details to this simple Jesus-directed commission? How have I been guilty of adding more agendas to my pastoral assignment? What can I do to pare down my complicated job description for successful church leadership and come back to these two simple jobs that Jesus gives Peter? If these two commandments (Love Jesus & feed His sheep) were good enough for the first ‘rock’ of the early church, why are they not sufficient for me?

So what is God speaking to you today? Are you practicing the Kingdom presence of God?

Pastors & key leaders…plan now to join us for our first SMALL GROUP RETREAT for BUSY, 3-B PASTORS. August 17-18 in Cedar Rapids. Click here for more details.

John 21: 1-14 (MsgB)

After this, Jesus appeared again to the disciples, this time at the Tiberias Sea (the Sea of Galilee). This is how He did it: Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the brothers Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. Simon Peter announced, “I’m going fishing.” The rest of them replied, “We’re going with you.” They went out and got in the boat. They caught nothing that night. When the sun came up, Jesus was standing on the beach, but they didn’t recognize Him. Jesus spoke to them: “Good morning! Did you catch anything for breakfast?” They answered, “No.” He said, “Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens.” They did what He said. All of a sudden there were so many fish in it, they weren’t strong enough to pull it in. Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Master!” When Simon Peter realized that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea. The other disciples came in by boat for they weren’t far from land, a hundred yards or so, pulling along the net full of fish. When they got out of the boat, they saw a fire laid, with fish and bread cooking on it. Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught.” Simon Peter joined them and pulled the net to shore—153 big fish! And even with all those fish, the net didn’t rip. Jesus said, “Breakfast is ready.” Not one of the disciples dared ask, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Master. Jesus then took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus had shown Himself alive to the disciples since being raised from the dead.

This ‘let’s go fishing’ story in John 21 just may be one of my favorite Jesus stories from God’s Word.

I think the reason this story is so appealing to me is because of its’ simple, down-home nature. No wait. I’ll go even further than that. This story is a ‘coming-home-where-we-all-belong’ reconciliation story, like none I’ve ever seen. In many ways, it’s the prodigal son story Jesus told in Luke’s Gospel, being lived out here, first hand, by His own dear friends.

Think of it this way. What other religious figure in history is portrayed like Jesus is here?

Here we have God, the Father’s resurrected Son, the Christ/Messiah, standing in front of His hand-chosen leadership team. A team of men who are being handed the greatest commission ever given to man, and here Jesus is, casually sitting on the shore, cooking up for these guys, some fresh fish and bread for breakfast. No hype. No heavy-duty teachings. No commandments. No rules, regiments and regulations. No classroom approach. No textbooks or program guides.

Just a casual conversation with a few old friends over a cup of coffee, a bite of fish and a hunk of bread.

Yet, while this serene picture looks much like a Norman Rockwell print, I’m guessing that it’s this very setting that will truly stick in these ‘once-proud-leaders-turned-humble-pastoral shepherds’ minds the rest of their days.

Why?

As I see it, it’s because this unique encounter was Jesus’ custom-designed approach for re-instating a bunch of men who, quite honestly, were truly disillusioned and dis-heartened by all that occurred over the last week or so of their personal lives.

Take Peter, for example.

Only a few weeks back, there is Peter, the solid rock-like leader of the Jesus’ discipleship team, proudly proclaiming Jesus of Nazareth to be God’s Messiah. What a proud moment for Pete. Mr. Rock even adds that he alone will be found faithful to Jesus, even when all the rest of the others will desert Him. He is, from his perspective, willing to face death squarely in the face, for the cause of Christ.

Cue the applause sign.

Now, take that boisterous confession and fast-forward to an early Friday morning, Passover 33 AD, just outside the High Priest’s office in Jerusalem. Now we find a much different Peter. One that hides behind the bushes, denying this same Christ He once proudly proclaimed. Not once, not twice, but three times, Peter retreats from his proud proclamations, all before the rooster crows out the Friday morning sunrise.

If we read the Gospels carefully, all twelve of these once-proud men deny the Christ, retreating from their self-appointed assignments as leader. Men who at one time were found regularly arguing over the highest chair, are now scattering to the wind like lowly cockroaches. Think of it. Not one of them stands strong as their rabbi is taken from them, stripped naked, beaten to a pulp, and crucified on a cross.

And to make matters worse, even after some of the women in their group come to them with the report that the Great Rabbi has been resurrected from the grave, none of these brave ‘leaders’ can believe it. Instead, they decide to hunker down inside an upper room, fearing for their very lives.

No wonder we find Peter here, the group’s once-proud leader, dejected and humbled, ready to throw away all of those silly Jesus’ promises of the past. As I see it, Pete is ready to go back to the life he once knew. The only certain thing he knew he could do without screwing things up. Fishing.

But wouldn’t you know it.

Here’s Pete and his buddies, looking to forget the last three years of failure, hoping instead to get back into the one profession they knew they could trust. And just as Murphy’s Law would have it: the first night back at fishing and nothing! Nada. Not a fish in sight. Not even a tiny minnow. Gosh, guys, even our attempt at fishing fails! Oy Vey!

And it’s into this sad fishing scene, the Great Rabbi appears.

‘Catch anything?’ Jesus calls out, tongue in cheek.

Keep in mind that Jesus knows full well that these losers are out there in their fishing boats catching absolutely nothing!

“Try the other side of the boat,” Jesus yells.

And just like it happened three years earlier, as the disciples act on the Great Rabbi’s heaven-sent suggestion, bingo, it’s fish heaven!

Just then, the aroma of fresh-cooked fish and hot bread floats across the water, hitting the nostrils of these hungry fishermen like nothing else could!

“It’s the Master,” John cries out.

Pete takes the bait, and lunges into the water, getting to shore faster than anyone else. (Once a leader, always a leader, I guess!)

In one fell swoop; the Master now has the undivided attention of these twelve once-proud-but now-truly-humbled ‘leaders’ once again.

And now, let the holy reinstatement begin.

My prayer: Lord, this story of how You reinstate Your dear friends when they are on the verge of quitting, touches me deeply. I see how their journey from being a high-and-mighty leader to a re-instated loser is the journey You desire for all of us. I receive this same call to die to my personal ambitions of becoming a dynamic leader so that I might become Your re-instated follower. For Your name’s sake.

My questions to ponder: So where are you in the ‘leadership’ journey Jesus has for you? Are you still working diligently at being the dynamic, self-appointed leader who loves to argue with others over the highest position next to Jesus? Or have you moved on to the valley of disappointments and failures? The humbling stage where Jesus shows us how un-faithful and un-worthy we really are when the chips are down? Regardless of the place you find yourself today, be encouraged that once you and I run out of our own strength, Jesus is there on the shore, cooking up some fresh fish and bread. Inviting us to sit with Him and re-learn the fine art of followership. Can you smell the rich aroma?

So what is God speaking to you today? Are you practicing the Kingdom presence of God?

Pastors…plan now to join us for our first SMALL GROUP RETREAT for BUSY, 3-B PASTORS. August 17-18 in Cedar Rapids. Click here for more details.

John 20: 24-31 (MsgB)

But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.” But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in His hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in His side, I won’t believe it.” Eight days later, His disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then He focused His attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine My hands. Take your hand and stick it in My side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.” Thomas said, “My Master! My God!” Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.” Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way He personally revealed it.

So now, here we are eight days after Easter morning. Eight days into the ‘new beginning’ where Jesus, through the wisdom of God, is transferring His Kingdom ministry into the hands and hearts of about 120 followers.

Think of it.

Those same 120 followers are being led by twelve men the New Testament writers refer to as ‘apostles’. Messengers ‘sent out’ by God. Some of the other New Testament documents will eventually refer to these guys, and others like them, as ‘elders’ or ‘overseers’.

Before too many more days, more men and women will be appointed to these unique pastoral-shepherding roles, assigned to ‘feed the sheep’, leading those who call themselves ‘disciples’ of Jesus of Nazareth in a world gone astray.

In years to come, the name ‘Christian’ will be assigned to these folks who decide to follow Jesus and His ‘out-of-this-world’ teachings. In Antioch, a secular city far removed from the ancient holy city of Jerusalem, this name ‘Christian’ will begin to catch on. Here, a group of these followers of Christ are found gathering together in His Name. Quite honestly, we don’t know if the name ‘Christian’ was chosen by the people themselves. It’s very possible that those who hated these followers of Christ came up with this name, laughing as they said it. The word, ‘Christian’, you see, means ‘little Christ’.

Similar things have happened in church history. Those who followed the teachings of Christ as led by the pastoral-shepherd John Wesley were pegged by their critics as ‘Methodists’ because of the ‘methods’ they followed in their devotional lives. Other followers of Christ who were led by pastor George Fox suffered a similar plight when others began to poke fun at them, calling them ‘Quakers’ because of their amazing Holy-Spirit encounters with God.

So based on church history, I can just imagine the course jokes being spread across the Roman Empire as these bands of Christ-followers assembled together in living communities called churches. I’m sure it was easy to laugh at these common, un-educated folks who decided to give their lives fully to a message that proclaimed the death and resurrection of a carpenter from the sleepy town of Nazareth. Just imagine the folly. Calling this crucified common man from a dusty Jewish village, Messiah. Christ, (The Delivering King) if you are Greek.

And not only is it a joke to believe such nonsense, the rumor has it that these same idiots are saying that their mission in life is to now give a living testimony of this Christ to others, offering ‘salvation’ to sinners, forgiving sins, and granting peace to others, in the name and power of this Jewish carpenter-turned-rabbi from Nazareth!

Little Christ! Ha!

Disciples of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah. Bah-humbug!

Maybe this is why Jesus told Thomas to stick his hands into the scars on His body? Maybe this living proof given to a natural-born doubter will help him as he steps into his coming role as leader of others for the sake of Christ?

Who knows?

Apparently, for Thomas, the experience of touching the scarred hands and wounded side of Jesus was all he needed to cross from unbelief to belief.

But what about those poor suckers like us who will never have that amazing opportunity to touch the physical body of the resurrected Christ? What about us leaders of the Church in the 21^st century who are left without that living proof? Lord, don’t You care about us? Don’t You understand, Master, that we need a similar experience as Thomas in order to hold to our belief that You are who You say You are?

The Lord, unfortunately, withholds opinions on those questions and only says this:

“Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”

Thanks, Jesus. I appreciate that. But Lord, can You give me just a little bit more to hang my hat on?

Fortunately, John, the gospel writer, knew that Jesus’ answer here just might not seem sufficient for those of us trying to live as ‘little Christs’ in a generation so far removed from the physical manifestation of Jesus in bodily form. So John, one of those new pastoral-shepherds of the 1^st century, thankfully adds these words of comfort for those of us who will so desperately need it in years to come…  

Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way He personally revealed it.

Thanks, John. I truly needed that!

My prayer: Lord, while I’m disappointed that I’ll never have the unique opportunity that was afforded to Thomas, I do thank You for the amazing promise You give to those of us who are asked to believe while never seeing. Holy Spirit, thank You for Your in-breaking presence in our day and age. A holy, unshakable presence that gives us, in our generation, the day-to-day, living evidence of Christ’s claim as our Rescuing King. For Your name’s sake.

My questions to ponder: How can I take the historical records John and the other three Gospel writers have left for us and apply them in my life in such a way so that I might have “real and eternal life in the way Jesus personally revealed it”? Like Thomas, how does my battle with ‘believing without seeing’ get in the way of living that ‘real and eternal life’ Jesus speaks of?

So what is God speaking to you today? Are you practicing the Kingdom presence of God?

Pastors…plan now to join us for our first SMALL GROUP RETREAT for BUSY, 3-B PASTORS. August 17-18 in Cedar Rapids. Click here for more details.

John 20: 19-23 (MsgB)

Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then He showed them His hands and side. The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant. Jesus repeated His greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent Me, I send you.” Then He took a deep breath and breathed into them. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” He said. “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?”

If you’ve been reading this blog series from the beginning you know that we’re selecting passages from the Gospel of John that help clarify for us (i.e. twenty-first century followers of Christ) how Jesus of Nazareth and the first-century church defined ‘leadership’.

Here’s how I stated it back at the beginning of our blog sessions:

“My goal will not be to do a line-by-line devotional study of John’s Gospel, but to offer you a series of blogs commenting on various sections of John’s text where the focus, in my mind, is on the original disciples (future overseers of the church) as they interact with Jesus. As I see it, if we’re looking for ways to move away from the 21^st century corporate approach to church life in America, re-defining ‘successful Christian leadership’ in the process, the Gospels would be the best place to begin and end such a pursuit.”

So now, here we are 40 sessions later and coming to the end of John’s gospel.

Let’s re-set the scene. Jesus has just completed everything God, the Father, assigned Him to do. Over a three-year period, He has walked, talked, and lived out in front of His friends a life fully devoted to the cause of the Kingdom.

From the cross, Jesus proclaims it clearly, ‘It is finished!’ God’s majestic work of redemption has been accomplished. Done. Case closed. Yes, it took all of His blood, sweat and tears to complete this overwhelming task, but from Jesus’ perspective, the work of God in redeeming a lost and dying world from itself is now complete.

But therein lies the mystery.

If the work of God, through the obedience of Christ, in 33 AD is complete, why is there more to the story? If everything is finished, as Jesus proclaims, why do we have this additional 2,000-plus years tacked on as an addendum to God’s redemptive program?

Hmm?

As I see it, this was the question burning in the gut of Jesus’ disciples as He stood there in front of them on that eventful Sunday evening in some hidden-away upper room in Jerusalem.

Rather than gathering up those who loved Him dearly and sweeping them safely away into God’s presence, He basically says, “Peace be with You, my friends…and now it begins.”

And rather than a perfect ending to a perfect story, Jesus opens a puzzling new chapter in God’s Book of Life. An unexpected chapter. A shocker! A chapter that was not expected by anyone on earth or in heaven! Even the angels in the throne room of God are found speechless when God stands up at the climax of all time (the death & resurrection of His Christ) and says, “Now, the story begins!”

So rather than a nice neat package that sums all of the world up in one fell swoop, Jesus looks into the eyes of men and women who love Him passionately and says, “Now, my good friends, it’s your turn.”

Oy Vey!

What is God thinking here? Why take such a nice clean ending like this and mess it up by giving us a turn. Doesn’t Jesus know that His flaky, unpredictable friends will most likely screw this thing up rather than make it better? Doesn’t He realize that when holy things get placed into the hands of self-seeking, self-promoting men, the job will get all that much tougher?

Why risk it? Why does God allow this scandalous thing to occur?

Turning the Kingdom ministry of Jesus over to a dozen-plus guys who, quite honestly, don’t know their heads from the as….?

Excuse me there, I almost got a bit crass.

And what about this ‘authority to forgive sins or withhold forgiveness’ thing Jesus says in verse 23?

What in the world is Jesus thinking? Giving that kind of authority to this bunch of dunderheads is like giving the car keys of a NASCAR racer to a pack of little 5-year olds!

Yet, interestingly enough, I don’t sense any fear in Jesus at all, as John the Gospel writer, tells us the story. No hesitation. No wavering. No conditional ‘you better be careful, guys’.

Just a deep breath and a then a holy impartation that changes everything.

Too bad John only gives us one sentence here. In truth, what happens in this one little sentence changes the whole picture when it comes to the job Jesus gives us.

As I see it, without the breath of the Holy Spirit, you and I, as representatives of God’s Kingdom, commissioned by Jesus Himself, are a disaster waiting to happen. Chaos on wheels. Self-centeredness. Fleshly decisions. Human greed. Demonic influence. The whole nine yards.

But with the breath of the Holy Spirit, as we defer to His leadership, the whole thing works just as Jesus planned it. Men and women, called by God, to continue the Kingdom work Jesus began, humbly submitting themselves to the breath and life found only in the Spirit of God.

Now, it’s beginning to make sense. More on that next time.

My prayer: Lord, quite honestly, I’m shocked that You did what You did. Actually, Lord, I’m even a bit offended that You didn’t just go ahead and sum all things up in 33 AD. But yet, Lord, I realize as I say that, if You had wrapped it all up 2,000 years ago, I would never exist. My life would never be lived. So for that, Lord, I say thank You. Thank You that, in Your wisdom, You chose to make 33 AD a new beginning and not an end. For Your name’s sake.

My questions to ponder: So what are the theological consequences from this surprise God throws out in 33 AD. If Jesus says, ‘It is finished’, yet in truth, world history continues on for several more millennium, what’s that mean for us living in the first part of the twenty-first century? If we are commissioned by Jesus to ‘go as the Father sent Me’, what will that look like for me in my life?

So what is God speaking to you today? Are you practicing the Kingdom presence of God?

Pastors…plan now to join us for our first SMALL GROUP RETREAT for BUSY, 3-B PASTORS. August 17-18 in Cedar Rapids. Click here for more details.

John 19: 28-30 (MsgB)

Jesus, seeing that everything had been completed so that the Scripture record might also be complete, then said, “I’m thirsty.” A jug of sour wine was standing by. Someone put a sponge soaked with the wine on a javelin and lifted it to His mouth. After He took the wine, Jesus said, “It’s done…complete.” Bowing His head, He offered up His spirit.

If you’ve been following along with this blog series on leadership, you’ll note that I just skipped a good portion of chapters 18 and 19 of John’s Gospel. Now before you jump to conclusions, let me give you the method to my madness.

Our original goal with this blog series was to scour through John’s Gospel looking for clues on how Jesus viewed the themes of leadership. Thus far, I hope that you will agree, we’ve been blessed to find an abundance of Christ-centered wisdom we can readily apply to our lives and ministries here in the 21^st century.

But, as I see it, chapters 18 & 19 of John’s Gospel are not about us, but are exclusively about Jesus and His passion. Words written to draw us into the God-Man Jesus, who dies so that we all might have life. Nothing John writes in these two chapters is really about us, nor should it be. It’s all about Jesus. Now and forever more.

Yet before we move quickly on to John’s closing chapters (20 and 21), allow me, my dear reader, the liberty to linger here just a moment on verses 28-30 of chapter 19. I like to call this moment John describes here as ‘the center of all time’.

Let me explain.

As I see it, this exact moment when Jesus states, “It’s done…complete,” the entirety of God’s creation has now reached the unique center. The end of all things, yet the beginning of all life. When Jesus bows His head in death, we’ve now reached the very moment God the Father had been planning for from the very beginning of time. And while Satan is dancing a victory dance in the pits of hell, believing he has beaten the Almighty’s Son, God is in heaven, applauding His Son’s amazing obedience. Obedience that will rock the demonic powers of death and darkness to their very core. Obedience which shifts the seats of power on planet earth forever.

In this split second of time, what we earth-bound creatures will come to define as Friday afternoon of Passover, 33 AD, all heaven and earth comes to a screeching stop. A world that was rapidly spinning toward the abyss has now been rescued from certain disaster. At approximately 3 PM on that afternoon, you see, the entire universe we call home experiences a blow so severe, it actually rivals the fiery moment described in Genesis when God spoke the words, “Let there be light!” In this brief moment of time, Jesus has now completed the entirety of God’s master plan of redemption. A plan for restoring the entirety of His creation, ripping it back from the hands of fleshly dominions and demonic powers, and placing it all under the power and authority of His Son.

Now, that changes everything. A game-changer, as our generation would say.

And because of this one moment, everything in our world is now different. And for those of us who are called by His Name to serve as pastors and shepherds, we’ve now reached the center of our universe. Everything you and I do for God, the work of ministry that expands the ‘good news’ message and ministry of Christ to a lost and despairing world, is now under the dominion and power of Jesus alone.

Let’s be clear here. When Jesus says, “It is finished,” He means it.

There will be no new work done through our human hands that will add to what Jesus has done here. No additional ministry, outreach, or church planting will accomplish anything more in this human realm. Nothing we do for Christ, or in His Name, will equal or come close to the work Jesus completes on this Friday afternoon in 33 AD.

We would be wise, as leaders of His church, to never forget the ultimate power of this amazing moment of time.

It’s the center of time. The core of all we do. The power source for anything and everything done in His Name.

Because He dies, we now can live. Because He has completed His ministry, we now can go and do those things He asks us to do. Only because of His completed work, does our work have any meaning or purpose at all.

Amen and Amen.

My prayer: Lord, I’m speechless when I reflect on the power of this one unique moment in time. I bow my head in reverence, laying down my crowns of achievement, humbling myself in the shadow of Your wings. You alone are the One that changes everything. It’s Your act of complete obedience on the Cross that allows me to live and minister in Your Name. Thank You, Lord. For Your name’s sake.

My questions to ponder: Have I done anything in the name of ministry that detracts or de-values the awesomeness of this one moment in time when Jesus states, “It is finished”? How can I elevate this moment in my life and the lives of those I minister with? What will help all of us focus more clearly on this unique moment, knowing it’s this slice of time that changes everything, now and forevermore?

Pastors…plan now to join us for our first SMALL GROUP RETREAT for BUSY, 3-B PASTORS. August 17-18 in Cedar Rapids. Click here for more details.

John 17: 20-23 (MsgB)

“I’m praying not only for them but also for those who will believe in Me, because of them and their witness about Me. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind— Just as you, Father, are in Me and I in You, so they might be one heart and mind with Us. Then the world might believe that You, in fact, sent Me. The same glory You gave Me, I gave them, so they’ll be as unified and together as We are— I in them and You in Me. Then they’ll be mature in this oneness, and give the godless world evidence that You’ve sent Me and loved them in the same way You’ve loved Me.”

John 17 might just be the most unique chapter of the entire New Testament.

Here we find the Great Rabbi, the Master Teacher, the One and Only Son of God, God’s Messiah, the Incarnate God praying a personal prayer to His Father.

The Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Door of the Sheep, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection, the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the True Vine is speaking intimately with His Abba Father.

Not teaching us how to pray. Not modeling a new way for us to talk to God. Not pointing out a new truth. Not instructing His disciples on some new insight from heaven.

Here, Jesus is just talking to His Dad, pouring out His heart as He comes to the end of His three-year ministry here on earth.

We won’t take the time here in this blog series to unpack all twenty-six verses of John 17. Maybe that’s for another blog series on another day. But we do sense the great need to bring verses 20-23 to our attention.

Why?

Because these four unique verses from John’s Gospel contain Jesus’ personalized prayers for you and me. Crafted for men and women who, from Jesus’ perspective, will live in some future time, some far-away place, some distant nation, so far removed from the original story that they will be tempted to live out their Christianity in ways so removed from the original recipe that the world just might miss the original intent of what Jesus was all about.

Scary, isn’t it.

You and I live two thousand years after the original Jesus story lived itself out on planet earth. Here we are, two millennia later, attempting to keep the faith alive by our own strength and wisdom. We pull out our theological books and our doctrinal statements; combine them with our business books and church growth material and wonder why the Christian faith seems so lackluster in our generation.

Could it be that we are missing the content of what Jesus prayed for? Could it be that we are dotting I’s and crossing T’s when it comes to correct doctrine but failing to live lives that are filled with the mature oneness Jesus refers to here in His prayer to Abba?

Hmm.

I wonder what might happen if we Christians dropped a lot of our big agendas for saving the world with our human-conceived ministries and simply began loving one another in the mature oneness Jesus is asking for when He’s talking so passionately about us to His Father?

Mature oneness.

In a world where we Christians leave churches at the drop of a hat; post ugly words about other brothers and sisters in Christ on Facebook; and publish websites that defame other ministries that are different from our own; a little mature oneness sure sounds refreshing right now. Don’t you think?

My prayer: Lord, forgive me when I live a Christian life that strays outside the boundaries of Your passionate prayers for me. As I see it, You’re looking for me to live in mature oneness with You and with my brothers and sisters in Christ. If I read Your prayer carefully, apparently as I do just that, the world around us will look at our lives of peace and oneness and discover true evidence that You are who You say You are. Holy Spirit, I choose today to submit to Jesus’ prayers for me today. For Your name’s sake.

My questions to ponder: Could it be that the world is having such a hard time believing in the claims of Christ because they see such immature division amongst the people of the church? If mature oneness is the core of Jesus’ prayer for me, what practical steps do I need to take to be an answer (rather than a curse) to His prayer?

So what is God speaking to you today? Are you practicing the Kingdom presence of God?

Pastors…plan now to join us for our first SMALL GROUP RETREAT for BUSY, 3-B PASTORS. August 17-18 in Cedar Rapids. Click here for more details.