Reflections on Christian Leadership

"God is a God of the present and reveals to those who are willing to listen carefully to the moment in which they live the steps they are to take toward the future. 'Do not worry about tomorrow,' Jesus says, 'tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ' (matthew 6:34)"

"I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. That is the way Jesus came to reveal God's love."

"Powerlessness and humility in the spiritual life do not refer to people who have no spine and who let everyone else make decisions for them. They refer to people who are so deeply in love with Jesus that they are ready to follow him wherever he guides them, always trusting that, with him, they will find life and find it abundantly."

-Henri J.M. Nouwen

In the Name of Jesus

Reflections on Christian Leadership

FCA Creed

I am a Christian first and last.
I am created in the likeness of
God Almighty to bring Him glory.
I am a member of Team Jesus Christ.
I wear the colors of the cross.

I am a Competitor now and forever.
I am made to strive, to strain,
to stretch and to succeed
in the arena of competition.
I am a Christian Competitor
and as such, I face my challenger
with the face of Christ.

I do not trust in myself.
I do not boast in my abilities
or believe in my own strength.
I rely solely on the power of God.
I compete for the pleasure of
my Heavenly Father, the honor of Christ
and the reputation of the Holy Spirit.

My attitude on and off
the field is above reproach -
my conduct beyond criticism.
Whether I am preparing,
practicing or playing;
I submit to God's authority
and those He has put over me.
I respect my coaches, officials,
teammates and competitors
out of respect for the Lord.

My body is the temple of Jesus Christ.
I protect it from within and without.
Nothing enters my body that
does not honor the Living God.
My sweat is an offering to my Master.
My soreness is a sacrifice to my Savior.

I give my all - all of the time.
I do not give up. I do not give in.
I do not give out. I am the Lord’s warrior -
a competitor by conviction
and a disciple of determination.
I am confident beyond reason
because my confidence lies in Christ.
The results of my efforts
must result in His glory.

LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN.
LET THE GLORY BE GOD'S.

A Wonder Just Short of Fear

"If our life is ever really as beautiful as a fairy-tale, we shall have to remember that all the beauty of a fairy-tale lies in this: that the prince has a wonder which just stops short of being fear. If he is afraid of the giant, there is an end of him; but also if he is not astonished at the giant, there is an end of the fairy-tale. The whole point depends upon his being at once humble enough to wonder, and haughty enough to defy. So our attitude to the giant of the world must not merely be increasing delicacy or increasing contempt: it must be one particular proportion of the two--which is exactly right. We must have in us enough reverence for all things outside us to make us tread fearfully on the grass. We must also have enough disdain for all thing outside us, to make us, on due occasion, spit at the stars. Yet these two things (if we are to be good or happy) must be combined, not in any combination, but in one particular combination. The perfect happiness of men on the earth (if it ever comes) will not be a flat and solid thing, like the satisfaction of animals. It will be an exact and perilous balance; like that of a desperate romance. Man must have just enough faith in himself to have adventures, and just enough doubt of himself to enjoy them."

Chesterton, G.K. Orthodoxy. Radford, VA: Wilder Publications, 2007. 75.

On Keeping a Notebook

"I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be whether we find them attractive company or not."

"we forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget."

Joan Didion

A Favorite

"A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, 'Do it again'; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore."

Chesterton, G.K. Orthodoxy. Radford, VA: Wilder Publications, 2007. 38.

Romans 8:31-39

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own son, but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else?

Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one- for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one- for Christ Jesus died for us, and was raised to life for us, and is seated in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity or are persecuted or hungry or destitute or in danger or threatened with death? (As the scriptures say, "for your sake we are being killed every day. we are being slaughtered like sheep.") No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours, through Christ, who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing will ever be able to separate us from God's love. Neither life nor death, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow- not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or on the earth below- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Freedom

Josh Garrels
"Freedom"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6csM0TLZIs

professional or beginner doesn't matter every sinner is a prisoner in a body that is subject to time
now my untwined mind tries to form a straight line-not like twisted scoliosis of the spinal cord construct
cross eyed carpenters are cutting crooked lines can't construct man made shrines when the winds and the water move the sands of time
many minds on the dead line yet live life like a live wire
i'm not tired of blood and fire, spirits movin higher than the green grass ever lifted me
spirits movin higher than anything else ever lifted you
we've got spirituality it's living in us like one in three
injustice is concerning me in the non-linear eternity
i'm speaking paradoxically but you can nod your head now when you understand me
this is for my free men who's backs won't bend in the lion's den now with their eyes on the ending

this is for my free women they fight with their love, the bearers of our children
free men who's backs won't bend in the lion's den now with their eyes on the ending
our free women who fight with their love, the bearers of our children
we shine like lights exposing what lies underneath decomposing our iron dull chains that are rusted- oh sweet Lord, is that what i trusted in? that sin? that time foolery? what it is is mental jewelry that i adorned myself with
the enemy's gifts, the man made mitts, the ignorant bliss of marijuana spliffs and alcoholic fits, i got so sick and tired of it.
delivered and redeemed, by Christ I mean
it's time to start living and get a reason for the rhyme
i don't want to be dead wrong on the dead line standing on the dark side and all out of time
like a blind band of mimes fantasize climb up his own ladder to the sunshine

nothing's mine that hasn't been given, no one's alive here that hasn't been risen
for 19 years i was trapped in a prison feeding my escape by means of derision
but every man made attempt just failed when trapped in a jail of my own guilt, shame, and iniquity
i was looking for freedom "how do i find freedom? oh, freedom from all of this"
He said "believe", he said "believe"
"who are you telling me to believe?"
he said, "i'm the Christ" oh, he said, "i'm the Christ" so i believed
freedom