• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

Running “into”

Posted on April 30, 2024 by wtdavid

I recently read this short meditation in a study of Proverbs by Tim & Kathy Keller.

It was based on the verses from Proverbs 18:10-11: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. A rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination.”

Here is what the Kellers wrote: “But the wise person runs into the name of the Lord. In the Bible, God’s name is a way of speaking of his nature and attributes. To run into God’s name is to deliberately rehearse and tell yourself who he is. Jesus asked his fearful disciples in the storm, “Where is your faith?” He chastised them for failing to remember all that they had seen him do (Luke 8:25). If you panic, you are failing to remember (to “run into”) his power, his wisdom, his love for you. Self-control in any situation is the critical ability to both recognize and choose the important thing over the urgent thing. To honor, trust in, and please God is always the most important thing.  What are you facing right now that is difficult? What attribute of God might you be forgetting – and might help greatly if you remembered it?”

So, what are you facing right now that is difficult?  And what attribute of God might you be forgetting – and might help greatly if you remembered it?

Filed under: Attributes of God, Character, Grace | 2 Comments »

Raw authenticity

Posted on November 15, 2022 by wtdavid

Two stories or events came to mind when I think about raw authenticity.  What I mean by raw authenticity is simply the clear, honest, and straightforward expression of one’s character or that of a group.

The first story.  Talking with a friend recently, I noticed that the organization he worked for had processed 35+ new workers during the pandemic. “How were you able to bring in so many new people in the midst of one of the most difficult times?” I asked.  His answer was enlightening. He told me that they had no idea as to why they drew in so many new workers.  They hired a consultant to help them figure out “what they were doing right”. 

Basically, the consultant said that the organization my friend worked for had not varied from their guiding principles over many years.  In other words, their strategy may have changed, but who they were and how they lived together as an organization had not altered. 

The second story or event.  I once worked for the administrator of a long-term health care facility.  He often ‘preached’ about the value and dignity we were to give or show to the residents of this facility.  They were our focus. We were there to serve them.  The way he personally demonstrated his commitment to this guiding principle was that his office door was directly accessible from the main hallway of the facility.  No need to go through someone else to get to his office.  And that door was almost always open.  Any resident could simply walk right in if they wanted to talk to the director of the facility.

In both cases, what was said to drive their relationships, drove their relationships.  And people were drawn to that authenticity of life and openness.  Yes, there was an organizational culture and work strategy that people adhered to and believed in. But what seems to keep them or have kept them onboard was the outworking of the principles to which they held.

We talk a lot about the Gospel as the driving guiding principle of our mission (see the WT Ministry Framework). Perhaps we need to reclaim that principle as the driving force behind our actions and the way in which we work and will work together.  And we would do well to look for daily expressions of that Gospel expressing itself in love, in and through our lives (Galatians 5:6).

What that might look like is fodder for ongoing discussions … and certainly a next blog post.

Filed under: Authenticity, Character, Gospel, WT Ministry Framework | Leave a comment »

Ask who?

Posted on March 30, 2017 by wtdavid

I’m continuing to work my way through the book: Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well.  I fell upon the following quote this morning:

“The other surprisingly valuable players in the feedback game are the people you find most difficult … When we are under stress or in conflict we lose skills we normally have, impact others in ways we don’t see, are at a loss for positive strategies.  We need honest mirrors in these moments, and often that role is played best by those with whom we have the hardest time.   If that overseas client thinks you’re an idiot, then there’s something going on that you’re not “getting,” and without her help, you’re not going to get it.  It may be a cultural difference that you need to understand if you’re going to be effective in her market.  It may be that your tone and word choice are upsetting her in ways you don’t realize. That’s worth figuring out. And you’ll need her help to do it.  Want to fast-track your growth?  Go directly to the people you have the feedback questionshardest time with. Ask them what you’re doing that’s exacerbating the situation. They will surely tell you.”

My very first thought was, “Ask who?  You’re kidding, right?”

However, there is some nugget of truth in what these authors wrote.  That nugget might just be that there are insights that can be gained by expanding one’s feedback circle.

Most of us go to people who we know are ‘for us’ and we expect that their feedback will primarily be positive and encouraging.  In fact, the truth being said, our closest friends oftentimes hesitate to share honest feedback because they know what our reaction will be or they just don’t want to risk damaging the friendship.  I don’t mean to say that we won’t get good feedback from those closest to us.  However, we need more feedback from a larger circle in order to be able to grow further in our character and competency.

So, what would it look like to expand your feedback circle?  What’s a practical step you (and I) can take in the coming weeks?

Filed under: Character, Competency, Feedback, Listening | 1 Comment »

Easy to say, hard to do

Posted on September 22, 2015 by wtdavid

The central and core value of World Team is the Gospel. When asked to talk about the Gospel, the words come pretty easily. However, allowing the impact of those words to go to the very depths of our souls is hard work. It’s easy to say what we mean by the Gospel. It’s hard to live out the truth of the Gospel each day.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in talking about the Lord’s Table wrote this: “It speaks to us of the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand … It confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great, desperate sinner; now come, as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you. He wants you as you are; He does not want anything from you, a sacrifice, a work; He wants you alone. “My son, give me thine heart” (Prov 23:26). God has come to you to save the sinner. Be glad!”easy hard

That quote hit hard. It’s easy for me to see others as sinners; as ‘great, desperate sinners’. It’s a lot harder to view myself that way. However, when I minimize the pollution of sin in my life, I also minimize the work of Christ on my behalf. Christ died for my sins because I had no ability to pay down my spiritual debt, nor any way to restore the honour of God that had been irreparably damaged by my actions.

When I recognize more and more, the great, desperate sinner that I am, the sweeter the message of the Gospel becomes to me.

However, I need others in that battle; to help me remember who I am and what Christ now says about me.

One writer put it this way: “We desperately need to surround ourselves with brothers and sisters in Christ who are truly honest about their sin … they can remind us of the gospel time and time again. These are people who won’t be surprised by your sin when you confess it. They will say, “Of course you sinned … come with me to the throne of grace to celebrate the love of your Saviour and to find help in your time of need.”

Do you have friends like that?

Filed under: Character, Core Values, Gospel | 2 Comments »

A bunch of saints

Posted on May 23, 2014 by wtdavid

‘Saint’ is an interesting word.  We often throw it around in conversation to describe those who rise above the crowd; who have a stellar life and character.  “They’re a real saint,” we might say.saints

Sitting in a meeting with leaders from WT Cameroon, Dan led us through a short study of 1 Peter 1:1-2.  He put the emphasis on how we as believers, how we as ‘saints’, are described in this short opening section.  One of the very first descriptors we settled on was: chosen ones; those who had been set apart by God.  In other words, ‘saints’ are those in whose hearts God has first worked, not because of any strength of merit they may bring to the table, but wholly because of His love and grace.

‘Saints’ are those who are in process; those who are learning to grow in grace and be sanctified by grace.  They are not perfect by any means, but their hearts have been changed by grace “so that they might obey Jesus Christ.”

Jessie (WT Irian Jaya/Papua alum) went to her homecoming with Jesus earlier this month.  Jessie was a ‘saint’.  She seemed to always be quick to share her ongoing needs for greater growth in Jesus, but her heart had been transformed by Christ and it led her to life of service to her Lord and others.  She was one who was still in process, she was a ‘saint’ because she knew, above all, that she had been first claimed by Christ.

May we stake our claim on the One who bought us back, so that our lives as ‘saints’ would be a natural outworking of that truth taking root deeply in our  hearts.

 

Filed under: Character, Gospel | Leave a comment »

The Peace-Joy Connection

Posted on December 20, 2012 by wtdavid

Many of us often dissociate elements of the Christian life and journey to the point where we compartmentalize the work of God’s Spirit in our lives.  For example, there’s the ‘peace’ box in our lives wanting to experience God’s piece.  We might do a word study on the idea of ‘peace’ and draw a number of helpful conclusions.  Then there’s the ‘joy’ box.  This is different from the ‘peace’ box and we’ll probably look at different biblical texts than those we looked at for ‘peace’.Kelly---Joy-and-Peace-762524

Now there is nothing wrong with this approach.  It just limits us from a more comprehensive understanding of what God is doing in our lives.  I was sharing a teaching on Isaiah 9:1-6 recently when I began to see this larger perspective. I was focused primarily on the notion of Jesus as our “Prince of Peace”; bringing that calm assurance of His sovereign care and work in the midst of struggles and difficulties.  What I discovered though as I looked at these verses was that in the larger sphere of life, peace gives rise to joy.  It has to; there is an interconnectedness we just cannot ignore.

God sought to re-establish peace with us. The Son came into our world to break the power of sin; so that ‘the people living in darkness would see a great light.’  Such a truth causes joy to spill out of our hearts as we consider at this time of the year, God’s incredible effort to bring peace, to reconcile people to Himself.

However, what if we applied this notion to discipleship?

I asked myself the question: If such key elements of our Christian experience are interconnected in this way, what impact should this have on how I disciple others?   One outcome would be the need to be more ‘connected’ in my discipleship of others; showing them how the elements of the Christian life influence one another, rather than treating them as individual ‘topics’.  Another outcome would be that discipleship is best carried out in community.  I cannot see all the interconnectedness that is there.  I need others to help me and to help others to see those other facets and push me to grow more in my love and awe at this relationship that God has entered me into with Him.

Discipleship implies connection: connecting with others to help them connect with God.  It is also helping another see the connectedness of the Christian experience as well as grasping that reality for myself.

 

Filed under: Character, Discipleship | 2 Comments »

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