In His Grip

 

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision for a seminar title. Having seen it as a popular salutation in letters from friends, I thought it might perfectly fit the theme of the leadership seminar we were being asked to prepare for two different venues in Africa: In His Grip—Leadership Strength in an Insecure World.

It all began with a request by my friend, Austen Ukachi, Senior Pastor of He’s Alive Chapel in Lagos, Nigeria to return after seven years and conduct a second strategic planning review with his leadership team. He explained that the first review in 2016 had resulted in a new vision and mission along with inspiration that fueled planting daughter churches in Benin, Togo, Ukraine, England, Canada, and even Dallas, Texas, not to mention fifty other locations around Nigeria! But with COVID and other significant world trends, it was time to regroup and consider what the next seven years should bring. Knowing the executive consulting experience of my friend, Todd Ostlind, I asked if he might like to come along and help me out and was delighted when he accepted. Not wanting to waste a trip all the way to Africa, I also talked him into extending a second week so that we both could provide a leadership seminar for other Nigerian church leaders as well. That is how In His Grip was created.

The two of us took off from Spokane on August 30^th bound for United Airlines’ new non-stop flight from Washington DC direct to Lagos, Nigeria. We never made the connection! Severe thunderstorms along the way resulted in a two-day delay. So, our strategic planning retreat had to begin with an all-day Zoom meeting conducted from our hotel rooms in DC followed by two more days of live presence once our eventual overnight flight got us there in-person. Surprisingly, the interruption was minimal, and the team seemed thrilled with the final three-day results of strategic review, SWOT analysis, and new goal creation. I can’t wait to see what these energetic, mission-minded folks will produce now in the next seven years!

After a lively Sunday at He’s Alive Chapel’s main campus, where both Todd and I were pressed into preaching roles plus attending a colorful, hour-long graduation of 100 young people who had completed their six-month discipleship course, it was time for our first of two In His Grip seminars—one in Lagos and one in Abuja, an hour’s flight north.

The motivation for creating the new seminar came from a sense that so much has changed in the world during the past three years that many in leadership positions simply may not know how to adjust adequately to the new normal that now defines the world. As our promotional flyer stated: Moral Relativism, Gender Identity, Radical Political Movements, Technological Tsunami—how should leaders navigate this time of global culture transition? We organized the two-day seminar around several plenary presentations by Todd on global trends and me on missional trends interspersed with small group discussions on local impact and application. We wrapped it all up with “Six keys for standing firm as God’s leaders in today’s world.”

We didn’t really know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t the overwhelming affirmation received in both venues!

Averaging 125 participants each time, Todd and I were amazed at the passionate responses from young and old alike claiming they had been blown away both by the seminar content and our delivery style, which featured highly interactive PowerPoint presentations along with audience participation. “We normally go to seminars and simply listen to lectures,” several told us. “Having a chance to be so engaged in the subject matter is quite new for us. We truly have been challenged to consider how our leadership needs to change in order to remain relevant.”

Needless to say, we now have plenty of invitations for follow-up from this trip including continued consulting with Austen’s church, interaction with several church mission pastors, and dialogue with those who participated via WhatsApp social media. One thing is for sure, knowing how to respond with appropriate effort and wisdom is certainly going to require firmly remaining. . . In His Grip!

A Personal New Normal

 With the world becoming more and more a post-pandemic place, some surprising ministry opportunities have emerged for me. The bottom line is that the “semi” in semi-retired is becoming increasingly true! A short list of some really neat ministry involvements from the past few months should prove my point.

Last June, I returned to Africa for the first time in two years (the longest hiatus of international travel for me since 1982). After a great two-day planning retreat with the OC Africa team outside of Johannesburg, I flew on to Harare, Zimbabwe, where I had been invited to give a three-day seminar on steward leadership. Thanks to some great groundwork by Dr. Lovejoy Chabata, we had 62 participants who were all national-level church leaders, professors of theology, and presidents of theological institutions. The response was quite astounding. Many of the concepts I covered on becoming a faithful steward leader dovetailed with what these leaders call integral mission, a topic of keen interest for those wanting practical applications of African theology. This interest has now blossomed into more invitations for me to be involved with online training of teaching facilitators, followed by a possible second trip next year to participate in a national conference on the subject.

As some of you may remember, I spent much of the past two years putting my steward leader seminar into a downloadable form with both video lessons and printable workbooks.

Now, finally, I am starting to see the fruit of that labor. Last month, a young couple in Burkina Faso (who I have never met personally) got a hold of the course and decided to offer it to local pastors and leaders. Thirty-five participated, using the video series I had recorded in French. I jumped in only at the very end with a Zoom appearance to congratulate them on completing the course. Once again, I was quite amazed at their testimonies of personal impact. I understand one elderly lady was in tears as she explained how much the section on identity in Christ meant to her. Being single and therefore childless had brought her lifelong ridicule and condemnation from the African community that identifies successful womanhood only with being a wife and mother. Clearly, God was using the basic theology lessons of this course as important reminders to help many grow and mature in their understanding of God’s truth. Already the young couple there has been approached by seven other churches who want the course to be taught again.

On August 30, I am heading out on a second trip to Africa, this time to Nigeria and DR Congo. The first part of the trip will consist of three leadership events led in partnership with a good friend of mine, Todd Ostlind. We’ll be offering a strategic planning retreat for a large church denomination in Lagos followed by two-day seminars called In His Grip—Leadership Strength in an Insecure World in Lagos and Abuja. Then, I fly on alone to Kinshasa, DR Congo, where I will once again offer my steward leader seminar in an event hosted by Pastor Nubako Selenga of ReachAfrica. I look forward to being able to write another report on all that happens during these next busy weeks of travel.

I am definitely not interested in returning to the intense travel and teaching schedule I maintained for the past decade, but it certainly has been wonderful to be able to respond to these very rewarding opportunities for ministry. So, for now, I will accept that being semi-retired is the new normal for this current season of life!   

Lessons from an old Easter Hymn

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5  (NKJV)

As this Easter Day draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on this powerful verse. Certainly, it is the central theme of this Passion season—that as a result of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection, the price for mankind’s redemption from sin and death has been fully paid. However, it is the word “healed” that fascinates me. What exactly was Isaiah referring to? Was it the healing of our souls? Or perhaps the healing of our broken relationship with God Himself?

I believe I found some answers to this question in the lyrics of an old folk hymn. It was one we used two nights ago to open our Good Friday service. I actually had the privilege of participating in a small sixteen-voice ensemble that presented it as the opening number for our time of contemplation and reflection. O Dearest Lord, Thy Sacred Head, is a simple, but moving number arranged by David Johnson from a melody taken from the Supplement of Kentucky Harmony, a 19^th century collection of shape-note folk hymns. The lyrics were written by Father Andrew (also known as Ernest Hardy) in 1930. They are as follows:

O dearest Lord, thy sacred head

With thorns was pierced for me;

O pour thy blessing on my head

That I may think for thee.

 

O dearest Lord, thy sacred hands

With nails were pierced for me;

O shed thy blessing on my hands,

That they may work for thee.

 

O dearest Lord, thy sacred feet

With nails were pierced for me;

O pour thy blessing on my feet

That they may follow thee.

 

O dearest Lord, thy sacred heart

With spear was pierced for me;

O pour they Spirit in my heart

That I may live for thee.

 

What strikes me about these words is how they create a link between the wounds of Christ and specific healing I can experience. Far from being a broad, generalization, they help me understand how four fundamental aspects of my identity are forever transformed when I accept the gracious gift of Christ’s atonement.

 The first healing transformation is with my thinking. As Christ pours his blessing on my head, I find that my entire thought paradigm is changed. Instead of being trapped in self-defeating patterns of anxiety or unbalanced self-esteem (too high or too low), I am instead freed to think in new and noble ways as a steward of the Master of the Universe.

 The second healing transformation is focused on the work of my hands. Here, the change is not so much the activity my hands actually do (i.e. the particular type of career I’m in) but it is the reason for which that work is done that changes. The song says, “That they (my hands) may work for thee.” When I am conscious that what I am doing, mundane as it might be, is ultimately something that can bring glory to God, it changes everything.

 The third healing transformation is about my feet which symbolizes the trajectory of my life. Following the Master, wherever He may lead, can very often change the direction of my professional pursuits, as has happened multiple times during my own career. Those sorts of major shifts can be daunting and even debilitating, if done strictly within the context of our own perspective. But when I know the “bend in the road” has been prescribed by the One who told me to follow him, I need not be alarmed. I need simply trust and obey and look with anticipation what new thing He has in store around the corner.

 The final healing transformation is about my heart and the ultimate essence of my life-purpose. To “live for thee,” is to let my identity as a Christ-follower take precedence over all other demands and callings. I must never forget, as Steven Curtis Chapman’s song lyrics so aptly state, “God is God, and I am not.”  However, I am God’s child, His servant, and His steward and within these phenomenal relationships, I can find true and lasting life-purpose.

 One final image this song offers comes from the words pierced and poured. It is from Christ’s wounds experienced through piercing that blessing and transformational power is poured out on someone like me. It makes me think of the  anointing that took place in the Old Testament, such as this one recorded in 1 Samuel 16:13 - So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.

 That’s why I like the imagery of this historic hymn. It helps me envision Christ as God’s “horn” or vessel full of unquenchable resource that had to be pierced in order that the oil of blessing could be poured out on me—on my head, my hands, my feet, and my heart.

 May the hope of this blessing and potential renewal encourage you and me alike as we move ahead into the rest of this year remembering these lessons from an old Easter Hymn.