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Tag Archives: God

Seven Ways to Measure Transformation in Your Church

We measure our attendance and our giving in our churches. Sadly, we donā€™t measure peopleā€™s transformation in Christ. (This is much more difficult). Genuine transformation takes place when people: Intentionally develop their own relationship with Jesus and do not live off the spirituality of others. Seek to discern and follow Godā€™s will in all areas of life. Cultivate a deliberate rhythm and sustainable pace of life that enables them to be consistently attentive to Jesus. Grow in their ability to love well, evidenced by humility, vulnerability, approachability, and an increasing capacity to forgive. Live in community for the sake of their own formation and others. Bear witness to Jesus Christ in their workplaces and homes out of their own on-going transformation. Serve and give to others out of the overflow of their life in Christ. This is my short list. What other markers might you add?  

Patient Leadership

ā€œImpatience is, as it were, the original sin in the eyes of the Lord. Ā For, to put it in a nutshell, every sin is to be traced back to impatience. I find the origin of impatience in the Devil himself.ā€ Tertullian (160-220 AD) In a brilliant essay entitled ā€œOf Patience,ā€ Tertullian wrestles deeply with a theme we rarely talk about today – i.e. Godā€™s nature to be patient. I have been pondering this essay for the past few weeks, reflecting on the intersection of leadership and patience, especially in my own life. The following are a few challenging quotes from Tertullian’s exegesis of Scripture worthy of prayer and reflection for every one of us in leadership: God allows Himself to become incarnate: in His mother’s womb He awaits (the time of birth) and after His birth suffers Himself to grow into manhood, and, when an adult, shows no eagerness to become known, but bears. Read more.

Midday Prayer: The Gift of Pilgrimage

Silence, Stillness, and Centering before God (2 minutes) Scripture Reading ā€“ Psalm 84 1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her youngā€” a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca (i.e. trouble) they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. Devotional Both the king and his prophet certainly have. Read more.

Midday Prayer: The Gift of Pilgrimage

Silence, Stillness, and Centering before God (2 minutes) Scripture Reading – Psalm 84 1 How lovely is your dwelling place,Ā Ā  Ā O LORD Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her youngā€” a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca (i.e. trouble) they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. Devotional Both the king. Read more.

Midday Prayer: Forgiveness and Celebration

Silence, Stillness, and Centering before GodĀ (2 minutes) Scripture Reading ā€“ Luke 6:12-18 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostlesā€¦(Then) he went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was thereā€¦who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. Devotional After being in solitude all evening, Jesus chooses the Twelve and forms a community. Henri Nouwen notes that two disciplines make community possible: forgiveness and celebration. He writes: ā€œForgiveness is to allow the other person not to be God. Forgiveness says, ā€ I know you love me,. Read more.