Greeting Daddy at the Door

Nothing is better than having three boys get excited when you come home and want you to hold/hug them.

I know there will come a day when it will not be 'cool' to greet daddy (or even call me that). But I hope that day doesn't come because of anything stupid I do. I hope that the thought of seeing daddy always brings a smile to their face and an excitement that is uncontainable.

Time with Reggie McNeil

I am up in Estes Park for a Global Leadership conference. It's actually like 4 conferences in one: Our regional local leaders (those who direct ministries on the field like St. Louis Metro team or New Mexico State); our senior staff (our field staff who have completed their intial training), a national leadership forum on Good News and Good Deeds, and then some of our Global Leaders.

Yesterday we all were together and heard from Reggie McNeil who works for the Southern Baptist and has authored several books. He spoke to us mainly from his book "Practicing Greatness" which is now one of the books I am reading. He also spoke a lot on stuff that is in his book "The Present Future". Our Global Leaders and those of us in WSN joined him for a lunch discussion too.

There is so much I got out of yesterday. Most is in his book I guess too. Here are some of the main thoughts I want to take away and noodle on...

* Greatness is in the kingdom is not bad because the path to greatness in the kingdom is humility and service.
* Choosing mediocrity is a sin.
* Leadership is personal not positional
*Self-awareness is a a discipline and path to understanding how God has made you for His glory.
* Being a life-long learner is a key to finihsing well.
* "Who will carry your casket?"
* Everyone goes through the wilderness. The difference is good leaders strategize how to get out and great leaders beg God for the lessons of the wilderness and see it as path to know and understand God.
* We can get on board with God's agenda and be a movement or follow our own and be an institution. God is going to move with or without us.

Leading in uncertainty - Ann

Ann Hrivnak (pictured on the far right with her team) is in London. She and the team she is leading are working at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) which is one of the top universities in the world. The potential to reach the world with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ through reaching students while they are at LSE is huge because more than half of the student body is from other countries.

Ann shared with me several materials that Agape UK has developed ('Connect' and 'Living Online') has really helped in their vision of seeing students grow in their faith and share it with others. If you want to check it out and see if it might be of use where you are you can find them on the Agape UK resource page.

About where she is Ann wrote, “I have seen God provide so abundantly and in such a clear way that I know that He desires for me to invest this coming year in the lives of staff and students in London. That does not mean, though, that it is without a lot of moments of uncertainty, confusion, and blurry vision. I spent the last 3 years working on the campus of New York University. I understood my role there and knew the city, my team, the campus, and the students well. In light of that, it has been hard to be in a place of newness and yet have a role of leadership within my team, where people are asking me what to do. Because of that, though, I have felt the desperation for the Lord's guidance and moment-by-moment leading that is continually true and yet often forgotten.”

Can you relate?

Someone else who maybe experienced some of this same uncertainty as he was thrust into a new leadership role was Joshua. Think about it for 40 years he knew his role in the nation of Israel. He was Moses’ Sherpa. Now Moses died and left him boss. He was in charge of leading this team (a big spanking team). This was a team that had a history of complaining too. He was being asked to lead them to this new location. I guess he had been there on a 40 day vision trip but that was 40 years prior. Throw in the added bonus that the land was occupied and the first place he leads them after crossing the Jordan is to the walled city of Jericho.

Believe it or not, from what I have read, you and I are closer in chronological time to Joshua than Joshua was to the day the walls first were built in Jericho. When Joshua and his marching band of trumpeters showed up Jericho had been a walled city for almost 5000 years. (One of my sources on dates is the chronology in this book I am currently reading. ) This is no neat little Sunday School story with a catchy tune but a leadership situation that probably brought some high levels of uncertainty in his own ability.

Four times in the first chapter, the command to Joshua was “be strong and courageous”. I don’t think it was some ‘suck it up, be a man and just lead’ though. There was a reason for Joshua to be strong and courageous. He was not alone. God was with Him wherever he went.

To you and I the promise is still the same. He is with us to the end. Be faithful, be full of faith, go for it, lead with courage. He is with you.

The other factor for Joshua to be strong and courageous was that the victory was promised. It was the promised land after all. We have a similar promise. I don’t know if this will be the year that the walls come tumbling down in London (or London bridge for that matter; though Ann is a fair lady.) I don’t know if the walls where you are will come tumbling down either --- but he can make them fall and maybe they will fall this year as His Spirit mightly moves.

We do know with assurance however that one day people from every tribe and tongue will stand before the throne. We do know that one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. And maybe this year He wants you to courageously lead desperately depending on Him knowing that He will guide you.

Prayer for Lauren

I thought I would pass on to you the prayer request I read on Lauren's blog. Lauren in Rome is heading back to the US for her mom's surgery to remove her cancer(Nov 6) . Lauren will be in US from Nov 3-11 and will also be speaking while she is home to seniors at Miami of Ohio about coming to Rome.

Jack and Drew and the snow

On Tuesday night it snowed here. Typical Colorado in that it took me a while to scrap my car in the morning and piled on the clothes. But my mid-morning the sun was out and it was almost all gone. I really didn't need a jacket by the afternoon.

Robin took a few pics of the twins playing in snow for the first time. I am sure they don't remember last winter. The first one is of Jack and was the only time she could get one of him because he was so busy. I uploaded more pics of Drew and posted them on McCullough pics if you want to see more.
















A picture I wish I had taken was driving to work. It was still cloudy where we live but the clouds had cleared over the mountains. I was facing the Flatirons as I drove down the hill. The sky over them was blue and they were white from the snow and pinkish reflecting the sunrise. It was incredible! What a Creator we have! They looked sort of like this link but it really doesn't do it justice.

Increasing Faith - Joe and Jessica

Joe (whose birthday is the 21st) and Jessica are leading a team of nine in Tokyo. Jessica writes, "I love what God's doing with our team!! We can see that He's totally working in each one of our team members and is revealing how great a God He truly is. We're each trusting Him with big things as individuals and as a team."

Sweet Jessica sent me a list of prayer requests of the big things that they are trusting God for. They have so many big things I will edit it here for space but I encourage you to read, print out and pray for the whole list found her October 17th blog post: Dreaming Big.

Going Wider.... 10 student leaders by the end of November at the main university they are on - Waseda; launching movements on three more universities in addition to Waseda; upcoming outreaches involving art, drama, parties and service projects. Going Deeper... Getting back with the students the summer project met especially the new believers; and developing deeper relationships with the Japanese students.

Keith Bubalo recently wrote all the WSN leaders about some reflections on increasing our faith like Joe and Jessica are modeling not just in big faith goals but helping their team see how great a God he truly is.

Here is what Keith wrote: "As I read again In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership by Henri Nouwen recently, God grabbed me to ask how much I am leaning on increasing my competence, rather than increasing my faith when I face personal or leadership issues. Now, I'm not saying I should be content with personal incompetence. But I'm sure I too often work on that as 'the solution' to whatever my struggle or issues might be, rather than ask myself what this might have to do with increasing my current trust quotient. Or as Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 6:25 after stopping the winds and the waves, 'Where is your faith?' Not, 'Why are you such poor sailors and meteorologists, to get in to such a situation and not be able to get yourself out? Wake up, stop being such pathetic fishermen!' "

"I also wonder how much we assume we'll stay focused on growing in faith. We have developed models to help us make decisions, plan ministries, send students, understand evangelism, figure out healthy emotional development, and they all have their place. And none of these are divorced by nature from a life of faith. But we have to also be strong to stay with a message about growing in trust in Jesus. I know it is 'easier' to have someone talk to me about thinking through my decisions better than to ask me something that in some way might imply that I just might not be experiencing a deep abiding trust in the character and sufficiency of Christ! Ouch. How judgmental of them to suggest that! That I might not be trusting God like He wants me to? How dare they imply I might need to grow in faith! Why, the nerve of those Pharisees! But I'm (usually) okay with 'coaching' to improve a competency. So, what is that all about?"

"So, the point for me is a personal one, not really an organizational one. Am I looking first and foremost to Jesus, the author and perfector of faith (not the perfector of my competencies)? I really want to. I just don't want the storms, winds, and waves that go with all of that 'perfecting'. I generally want to have a good quiet time and be full of faith that day. So, pray for me! And I'll exit with a quote from Henri's book:

'It is not enough for the priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well trained, eager to help their fellow humans, and able to respond creatively to the burning issues of their time. All of that is very valuable and important, but it is not the heart of Christian leadership. The central question is: Are leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God's presence, to listen to God's voice, to look at God's beauty, to touch God's incarnate Word, and to taste fully of God's infinite goodness?' "

My Sister Belinda

My eldest sister Belinda came to visit us over the weekend. It was fun to see her since she lives in San Diego now and I don't get to see her often. She had some executive meetings with her company in Denver follwed by a large conference at the Convention Center downtown with speakers like Colin Powell.

Belinda is not only a sister but a good friend. She is a sweet, godly woman. She is a smart businesswomen too as she is the VP of Strategic Planning for Newland Communities.

It took a while for Jack (hand on my knee) and Drew to warm up to her. She was sweet of course but they were really shy. I think they thought she might be a babysitter. But then again its been a while since we have used a babysitter. Maybe its just their age. They did warm up before she left on Sunday afternoon but I still had to pose with them.

Luke warmed up a lot though. He said before she came that he was going to stay upstairs while she was here. But he went with me to the airport to pick her up and went with me to take her to her hotel. He even let her give him a hug goodbye.

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Plays

This weekend I finished, "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology" by Eugene Peterson. Peterson also authored "The Message".

When I read the first chapter all I could say was 'wow'! I found myself saying these over and over again. I couldn't put it down. This is a theolgy book that reads like a novel - a good novel.

Peterson style of writing is captivating. He paints a masterpiece with his words. It's not a theology textbook that is just some academic knowledge of God - though Peterson teaches you a great deal about God often things insights you may have never known. It is not a book about 'do this and then this and everything will be okay'. This is a book about the life of Christ living in us in ten thousand places and our being tranformed to live the Christ life. It is about the Spirit bringing life to us and our experiencing the glory of God among the community of believers.

He breaks down his book into three main chapters: Christ plays in Creation; Christ plays in History; and Christ plays in Community. Each main chapter focuses on two main passages; one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament.

One thing that I have found myself mulling over and over again is peterson's insight into how that Wind, Breath, and Spirit are all the same word [pnuema] in both Aramaic that Jesus spoke and the Greek that the NT writers wrote in. Peterson asks us to imagine how our perceptions would change if we used 'wind' and 'breath' when we thought of the word 'spirituality' or the 'Holy Spirit'. For me it has caused me to think differently about the Spirit prevading my life, my family, our church, Boulder, places we send teams... the way the mighty rushing wind invading the upper room in Acts 2 or the way the breath of God invaded Adam and created life.

Aunts

Last Sunday (8th), Robin's sister, Susan, and brother-in-law, Tucker had a little boy. John Cyrus was born at 12:55 am and weighed in at 8 pounds 1 ounce and is 20 inches long. I think Cyrus is almost as big as his cousin Drew!!! I am going post all the pics Tucker sent on www.mcculloughpics.blogspot.com Though not a McCullough, Cyrus is family.

Robin became an aunt when she married me but now she is an aunt by birth.

And speaking of Aunts.... my sister Belinda is coming this weekend. She has an excutive meeting with her company in Denver next week so she is flying in early to see us. So the boys get to see their Aunt Belinda. Hopefully they will warm up to her in the short time they see her. I bet Jack will have no problem.

New Posts

I have a couple of new posts on other blogs...

On McCullough Pics, there are some new pics of the boys.

And on my Stint Leaders blog, I just posted my weekly devo: Unchained Melody.

Unchained Melody - J and K

J and K are leading a team in a major city by the sea in closed East Asia. Of course I can't say where it is or give their real names. Ironically I am only two degrees of separation from J and K as my wife Robin helped lead the first-ever project to their campus.

While J was with us in Fort Collins this past summer, K was back in Virginia with their little girl. Actually that week they celebrated their 2nd anniversary. My advice to J would be to make it up by taking K on a date donning some silk pajamas like most people in your city do and go to a nice restaurant with a karaoke bar and sing "Unchained Melody".

Speaking of unchained... I was reading over the weekend the end of the book of Acts. The last 6 ½ chapters are about Paul being arrested and waiting around for a trial. Paul is finally taken to Rome where he is under house arrest chained to a guard. "For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ." Talk about a house church movement! Paul was imprisoned in chains but his ministry was unchained.

It seems like an odd way to end the story of the Acts of the Apostles. It's almost like you expect there must be another book missing from Luke that makes up a trilogy. The circumstances that Paul was under seem rather bizarre too. I mean who would want to be on a two-year stint in Rome and never leave their flat to even visit an Italian cafe? If I was writing the story I might back up and have King Agrippa and his wife Bernice be fully persuaded and allowing the gospel to really be unhindered. But I am not writing this story - God is!

Paul was chained, his ministry was not. It was without hindrance despite his being confined for two whole years. It was not hindered by a crazy cast of authority dudes – neither by the Sanhedrin, Felix, Festus, King Agrippa nor Nero. Maybe it is not a bad way to end the story after all but a perfect transition into the rest of the story. Maybe this is how the message of the kingdom can go be unhindered as we write the next chapter of Acts. Maybe it’s a reminder to us when we think something is a hindrance to the gospel that in reality God is still calling the shots.

There are two aspects that stand out to me from this passage that realte the unchained ministry of the kingdom.

Paul's Bold Preaching and Teaching - Luke writes that he 'boldly preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.' Every time Paul has an opportunity to defend himself in these last few chapters, he takes it as if they invited him to preach a sermon. He probably preached for two years to those guarding him too. He does it boldly.

It is also what he preached. Luke begins his gospel with Gabriel saying to Mary that Jesus’ kingdom will never end. It is this kingdom message that Paul preached and of this King that he taught. We know from other passages that Paul's boldness was tied to an eternal perspective and the reality that we will stand before this King one day. Boldness trumps things that seem to be hindrances every time.

The Holy Spirit – While this passage at the close of Acts doesn’t mention the Holy Spirit directly, Luke does over and over again. Luke begins his first book writing about how the Holy Spirit will come upon Mary and the power of God will overshadow her bringing about the incarnate birth of this Forever King. He begins his 2nd book with the Holy Spirit coming upon this same Mary along with 120 or so others. The power of God overshadowed them in a miraculous way bringing about the birth of the church and the kingdom message to the world.

All throughout his gospel and especially in his sequel, Luke writes about circumstances that seemingly hinder the message when in fact the message of the kingdom is totally unhindered because the Spirit is in control. You can jail Peter, stone Stephen, behead James, leave Paul for dead in Lystra, cause a riot in Ephesus, crucify our Lord and leave Him in the grave for three day but the kingdom message is unchained.

So it doesn’t matter if you might be serving in a closed country like J and K – that government or any government is not in authority, He is. It doesn’t matter if it seems like cultural religion or post-modern indifference controls the thoughts of students you and your team interact with, He is building his kingdom and the gates of hell cannot hold it back. The ministry of the kingdom is an unchained melody. It is a melody of forgiveness that will be sung in every nation and in every tongue by some really righteous brothers... and sisters. It is a song of the King’s reign and of One who sets the captives free.

It is an unchained melody we can sing with boldness and under the mighty overshadowing on the Holy Spirit… to the sea, to the sea. And hell doesn't stand a ghost of a chance.

How Movements Spread

There is a good (and short) post on Steve Addison's World Changers called How Movements Spread. It is a real quick perusal of how Jesus 'turned individual ministry encounters into opportunities to impact whole social networks.' Could be a good springboard for a team discussion and implications of doing ministry like Jesus where you are.

A Nightmare

Servant Leadership - Sara and David

Sara and David are serving in Serbia. They were headed initially to Belgrade but got rerouted to another city - Novi Sad. Unlike what is was for Cat and Jordan, this was something they were praying for. Back at Copper, their team expressed they would prefer going to Novi Sad and prayed that something would happen. A few days later, my boss Ken received an email from the Serbian National Director who related that the Lord made it clear to him that the team should go to Novi Sad over Belgrade. (I like to think that perhaps the Lord made this clear while the team was praying in Copper.)

Novi Sad is a multicultural city of 1/2 million people and 30,000 students. There are about 26 different nationalities living in the city. Most students start class in a week. Sara has set up a 24-hour Prayer chain that you can join. (By the way this website is not only a cool way to pray for the team in Novi Sad but is one to get friends and supporters to pray for your campus too.)

I first got to know David in the summer of 2003 as we staffed the Myrtle Beach project together. I met Sara about 6 months later as she was chosen to be the Associate Project Director of the East Asia: Silk Road project as a student. When I think of both David and Sara I think of the 2nd WSN Characteristic of Servant Leadership. Not only do they exhibit servant-hearts but they exemplify our value of this qualification over even experience. We want to give young leaders a chance – whether a student like Sara was or a ‘professional’ staff like David.

Being a servant is the true mark of a leader as Jesus spoke in that familiar passage in Matthew 20. You know the story. James and John had enlisted their mommy to appeal to Jesus for the highest place in the kingdom. (If they are the Sons of Thunder, was her name Thunder or was that meaning of Zebedee?) This caused the other ten to be piqued. (As an aside, right before mommy’s appeal, Jesus spoke of his death. Every time the gospels record the disciples arguing over who was greater it happened right after Jesus mentioned He was going to die. Talk about missing the big picture!)

I can picture Jesus calling them to huddle-up. “Look guys, that’s the way the world acts. This is not the way of the kingdom. You wanna be great – be a servant. You wanna be first in line – be a slave. That’s what I have done. I came to serve, not to be served. I came to give my life away.”

Jesus came to serve. It’s easy for me to grasp Our Savior’s purpose as setting the captives free. Come on. We left all to preach this message around the globe. But He said He came to serve. His purpose for leaving the throne in heaven was not just to die but to serve. This is the way He lived and lead. This is the way we are to life and lead.

I have been trying to meditate lately on this. What would it look like if we looked at everyone around me (our team, our co-leader, lost students, the faceless crowds, et. al.) and asked, “What can I do to serve? Lord, how do you want me to serve You and Your people?” ?

There are a lot of passages I guess we could look at to describe servanthood. I tend to like Philippians 2 the best. It serves as a good check-list.

~ Do I in humility consider others better than myself? Or am I operating out of selfish-ambition or vain conceit?

~ Do I look out for others interests? Or am I looking out merely for my own interests?

~ Is my attitude characterized by Christ’s who emptied Himself to become a servant and the sacrifice for all? Or is my attitude one of pride and trying to hold to some high place and lofty I think I have earned?

Hopefully you score better than me.

Family Updates

On Saturday, Jack walked back and forth between Robin and myself. I think we would say after 3 days he is offically walking. Though most of the time it is only to one parent or another. but since he has walked to other locations and he is walking on his own more and more, we are counting it.

Last night as Jack was walking, Drew wanted in on the action. On Sunday he did too but it was crawling between parents or only walking with one of us holding a finger. But last night he took off and walked a number of times on his own back and forth. He walks more like an out-of-control drunk man but he is definately walking (at least from parent to another).

After the twins went to bed, Luke informed us he wanted a kitty. Knowing that it makes me sick (I am highly allergic), he siad that I could live at another house.

So I have three boys who all are walking now and one who wants me to move out so a kitty can move in.