JR Woodward

  feet washing 
  Originally uploaded by ღMøûñ†àíñwømãñღ

Continuing on the series John Ortberg brings up four tensions that we need to wrestle through as servant leaders.  I will mention two of them in this post and two in the next post.

1. Decisive Submissiveness – Leaders must make decisions, they have difficult calls to make, when leaders abdicate making decisions it can be disaster. That is one side. The danger is dominating people and making self-serving decisions.  Jesus made decisions but was submissive to his parents and His father in heaven.  He exercised decisive submissiveness.  He was not wishy-washy, nor did he had a defiant willfulness, but he had a decisive submissiveness.  Questions for you:  What people do you submit to?  Are you submissive to scripture?  Are you submissive to the Spirit?

2. Tough-minded Accountability and Tender-hearted Compassion – Leaders must give to the people that they serve what one guy who writes about leadership calls the gift of accountability. There is an aspect of fallen human nature that unless I have people in my life who challenge me and stretch me beyond myself and say, “Here’s the covenant that you agreed to live up to and your not doing it,” I’m not going to grow the way I could.  That is one side. The danger is if I’m always in the position of judging and evaluating other people, there’s the danger that I can become so obsessed with accomplishing tasks that people become a means to an end.  There just tools. There needs to be tender-hearted compassion as well, loving those on our staff, in our community.  Questions for you:  Would the people in your sphere of influence – your work, your home, your area of ministry – would they say that you love them?  Not just that you value them because they’re able to perform, but that you love them?

You can make a guess of what the picture represents on the left.  In today's post I am sharing the five most popular posts this past month, in case you missed one of them.  Also, I have found that some of you who follow this blog enjoy learning about the other people who visit this site, so I try to give a monthly report of the top 50 cities that have visited this blog in the past month.  So here are the top five posts and top 50 cities.

TOP FIVE POSTS IN APRIL
Is Conversion a Four-Letter Word? Series
Finding Truth in a Sound Bite Society
Why We're Not Emergent By Two Guys Who Should Be Literary Review
Need Inspiration?
A Celtic Prayer

TOP 50 CITIES VISITING THIS BLOG IN APRIL
Richmond, VA
Los Angeles
Amsterdam
Herdon, VA
Vancouver, BC
New York
London
Atlanta
Dallas
Fayetteville, NC

Boston
Plano, TX
Chicago
Mt. Laurel, NJ
Ann Arbor, MI
San Francisco
Bronx, NY
Snohomish, WA
Irvine, CA
Grass Valley, CA

Blacksburg, VA
Bethpage, NY
Sydney, Australia
Tulsa, OK
Washington D.C.
Marysville, WA
Columbia, MO
Sanford, FL
San Jose, CA
Waterford, MI

Houston
Redmond, WA
Columbus, OH
Toronto, Canada
Austin
Portland
St. Louis
Seattle
West Palm Beach, FL
Phoenix

Roanoke, TX
Overland Park, KS
Media, PN
Minnipeg, Canada
Auckland, New Zealand
Singapore
Calgary, Canada
Bangkok, Thailand
Pasadena, CA
Miami, FL

  feet washing 
  Originally uploaded by ღMøûñ†àíñwømãñღ

When it comes to understaning Servant Leadership, we can learn a lot from the One to whom we are call to imitate and follow. Here are some more thoughts from John Orberg.

“From the beginning of eternity to creation to the outworking of redemption after the Fall to the end of eternity, the end of time as we know it, the Father, Son and Spirit pour themselves out in humble service of each other and creation and even fallen creatures like you and me.

All who watch are amazed and filled with awe and wonder and bow their knees. Jesus is the greatest servant that ever lived for it is the nature of God to serve -- that's who God is. Paul says people can't see that without being awed and broken by it -- that God is a servant.

At the same time, Jesus had the strongest character of anyone who ever lived. He was never intimidated. He defied those who held immense power without batting an eye. He threw full-grown men out of the temple area with a whip. He is a servant, but he had impact and led like no one else who ever walked the earth.

He calls us, calls his followers to be people of impact to leadership that is a form of servanthood, to what a guy named Rob Banks suggests what we might call "leading servanthood." We've heard about the idea of servant leaders. Really, servanthood is what will go on forever and ever. One form of servanthood is leading in the right way.”

In the next post in this series, we will look at some of the tension points when it comes to servant leadership.

  feet washing 
  Originally uploaded by ღMøûñ†àíñwømãñღ

There was a talk that John Ortberg gave on servant leadership that I thought was really helpful for those who serve in some leadership capacity.  So I thought I would pass on a few quotes and a summary this coming week.

It was Jesus who said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:42b-45 TNIV

“Jesus says, "Not so with you." Now, because power and leadership can be abused and can be dark in the hands of fallen people -- because Jesus has warnings about it -- some people get distrustful about any form of leadership or the exercise of power. They don't initiate, they don't challenge, they don't stretch those who are around them.

They hold back from leading when they ought to lead, and they hold others back from leading. That is not a good thing. Their families, their churches, their organizations suffer because part of human nature in this world, unless there is leadership and people being envisioned and challenged and stretched to grow, people will suffer.

To lead is a good thing. At the very beginning, the Bible says that God created human beings to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it and have dominion. Jesus doesn't reject leadership or even the use of power or greatness for that matter, but he redefines it, he redeems it.

As he says here, Jesus himself is the ultimate example of redeemed leadership. He says, "I didn't come to be served," which is generally the measure of leadership in our world. How many people are underneath me serving me?

He says, "I came to serve." That's what servants do. Here's a real key point. In Jesus, to lead is to serve. In Jesus, leadership is simply one form of servanthood. In God, to lead is to serve those he leads.” - John Ortberg

In the next post on this series, we will take a look at how Jesus served, since we are called to imitate him.

  The Boy at the Temple 
  Originally uploaded by Stuck in Customs

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."  Proverbs 17:22 NLT

So I was with a few new friends from India last night and one of the guys was just a fountain of humor.  I am going to have to email him for some of the different jokes he told me.  Here is one humorous story he mentioned, though I may not remember all the details exactly.

The story goes that when a boy gets to walking age or a bit older, the parents set three objects across the room.  A bottle of wine, some cash and a holy book.  The idea is this.  The boy is to walk over and pick up an item and that determines their future.

If the boy goes over and picks up a bottle of wine, that means that he will have a life of pleasure.  If he goes over and picks up the cash, then he will be a great business man.  If he picks up the holy book, then he will be a priest or holy man.

So this one boy walked across the room and he put a wine bottle under his left arm, the holy book under his right and carried the cash in his hands.  So I said, "What does that make him?"  He replied, "A politician."