A Great Self-Awareness Test

My friend Miriam showed me this video about how difficult it is to see something when you are not looking for it. This is exactly THE issue for all of us called to lead. Self-awareness and self-observation are key to being a healthy, character-driven leader. But our blind spots and our inability to reflect on our growth areas can be great hindrances.

Getting to Yes - With Abraham!

This is an incredible video about "getting to yes," using the story of Abraham as the prime example for creating peace. This video is longer - about 18 minutes - but well worth it. It's from the good folks at TED.

A National Hero Passes From Earth

Major Richard Winters of the 101st Airborne Division from World War II died on January 2, 2011. He was 92 years old.
       Winters is the leader of Easy Company in the mini-series "Band of Brothers." He led his men for more than 3 years through the most grueling situations imaginable in the theater of war.
       When someone of this stature and leadership passes from earth it is good to pause and be grateful for their lives, and what they contributed to so many people around them.
       Well done on this earth, Major Winters.

Ministry Economics #3: Lay Offs and Severance Pay

I have had the misfortune of having to shrink a church budget quickly and, consequently, lay off people. The numbers in this situation were staggering - a $1.6 million payroll needed to be reduced to less than $1 million in 6 weeks. Ugh.
       Churches and ministries over-extend themselves and then have to make cuts. In the recent economic downturn it has become even more pronounced.
       I have found that lay offs and severance pay are similar i the Christian world as they are in the "secular" world. And that saddens me.
* A pastor's position is cut by 50% and he decides to negotiate with the elders for a "buy out." He will resign if they will pay severance for 6 months.
* A pastor is removed by his denomination for theological error and is given many months severance pay. He moves down the road and starts a church within 2 months. If my math is correct, that pastor has TWO salaries for a bunch of months.
       Some years ago a former employee threatened to sue the church where I was serving. We all signed papers that we would not discuss the matter with anyone for a number of years. She received a settlement of several months pay.
       Another employee (a female) hired a lawyer to determine if she had been under-paid and if a case could be made for sexual discrimination. She HAD been under-paid, she had a case! (why would a church underpay someone due to their sexuality?) The church agreed to pay her several months salary and health benefits in exchange for her agreeing to never sue the church.
       Are we having fun yet? If you are still reading this post you may think that I am totally crazy or that Christian institutions are pretty messed up. Perhaps both is true.
       The people who I mentioned above all believe in Jesus, and the power of His Kingdom. Some are Reformed, other Pentecostal, some believe that in the end ALL are saved because Jesus said "I am making all things new."
       If in fact he is making all things new, then he has a lot of work to do with us bumbling Christian workers in how we treated one another in the midst of institution.

For You Dog Lovers ...

I love this sign - saw it in an airport on one of my trips recently. Minneapolis maybe?

A Travel "Comedy of Errors"

If you have had a bad day you might want to read this and maybe feel better. I am traveling from Denver to Baltimore today – maybe, kind of sorta. Here is my woeful tale:

       A snowstorm was heading to town yesterday so I decided to stay at a hotel near the Denver airport last night. Great idea, thanks to my awesome wife. We drove Carly out to the airport in the afternoon for her flight to California and Susy dropped me at the hotel. Problem was that I had forgotten my jacket at home (30+ minutes away) and it was snowing now. We drove home and I cancelled the hotel reservation, opting to just sleep at home and get up early in the morning and head to the airport then.

       This morning I woke at 5am and planned to take the public bus from Lakewood to the airport. The bus left at 6:07am. I arrived at 6:10am, missing that bus. I waited for the next bus, the 6:37am, which picked up 20 minutes late due to snow.

       The bus CRAWLED its way along into the center of Denver, ever so slowly. Suddenly I felt violently ill, as if I would puke and crap all over the place at once! I asked the bus driver to let me off at the Greyhound bus station and I would take the next bus. I rushed into the public bathroom, filled with homeless guys, and did my business. A homeless guy says to me as fluids are coming out of my body, "I know how you feel!" Classic!

       I called United Airlines and told them I would not make my 9am flight and they said it was no problem and there is a 10am flight. I changed my flight with no issue.

       Then I waited at Greyhound for the next bus. It was supposed to come in 30 minutes. Not quite! 75 minutes later it arrived, at 8:25am. I have a flight at 10:00am, normal travel time from Greyhound to the airport is 45 minutes. Still enough time.

       Until we drove on snowy Interstate 70 the 10 miles east of the city to get to the airport - at 10 miles per hour.

       I arrived at the airport at 9:45am for a 10:07am flight. My seat had been given away. I needed to get on the next flight.

       That is at 11:53am. But It’s sold out... and goes via Chicago. I'm on standby for that.

       There is a 4:20pm flight. But it’s sold out too.

       There is a 7:53pm flight that has seats! YEA! It arrives in Balitmore at 12:45am, like almost the middle of the night.

       Now I am waiting at Denver Airport to see if I get on the flight to Chicago ... sitting very close to the men’s room so that I can dart in there at a moment’s notice. There are no homeless people in this bathroom though.

       Sure wish I had remembered my jacket yesterday.

Off to York, PA Today

I am really looking forward to my trip to the East Coast beginning today. I am going to be with my good friend Brian Rice and folks at Leadership ConneXtions and Living World Community Church.
       It's always encouraging and challenging for me to be with these friends. They are lifelong learners, seeking how to follow Jesus more closely, how to do mission in ways that help people the most. Just great people - a lot of fun and laughs too!

Lead Stories on Al Jazeera TV

These were the top three lead stories on the English version of Al Jazeera TV today, in this exact order:
1. The shooting of 20 people by a deranged man in Arizona;
2. Plane crash in Iran kills at least 70 people;
3. First day of voting in Southern Sudan (on secession) goes smoothly.
       It's interesting to begin to grasp how people in other parts of the world perceive America, and why some are fearful.
       I realize that some of you reading this will disagree with me strongly, and might wonder why I am watching Al Jazeera TV (it comes on PBS at 5pm on Sundays here). So let's be gracious with each other even as we might disagree. I will try to do the same.

Am I a "Messianic Jew?"

I am starting a new project called The Isaac-Ishmael Initiative, as some of you know. The focus is on promoting shalom among Jews and Muslims. Simple, right?
       As soon as I began to dive into this volatile issue, questions came my way. Good questions, hard questions, though-provoking questions. Here's a major one:
       "You are a Jew. What kind of Jew are you?" This question is asked with the unspoken backdrop of, "Have you lost your mind? Are you nuts? A Jew wanting shalom with Muslims? What kind of Jew are you?"

       My answer is this: Yes, I am a Jew. I was born a Jew, I will die a Jew (as my father says often).
       I am a Jew who follows a Rabbi. His name is Jesus (Y'shua). I'm sold out to him, just as a student of a rabbi in the first century would be sold out to their rabbi.
       So am I a "Messianic Jew?" Technically, yes. But I have not associated very much with the messianic movement. And I doubt I will begin doing so. There are two issues that keep me at arm's length from Jewish people who believe Jesus is the Messiah. While we agree on that central fact, we often disagree on these two things:
       First, I don't have a dispensational theology. While I believe the Jews still have a vital place in God's redemptive story, I do not believe the Church and Israel are necessarily so distinct peoples of God. And I do not believe that the Church Age is some sort of parenthesis in history;
       Second, I am largely agnostic about today's nation of Israel and it's relationship to Israel of the Old Testament. Please hear me on this: I certainly believe that Israel has a right to exist, that there is a legitimate and important place for the modern Israeli state. However, I also believe the Palestinians have the same rights and that the global community of nations needs to be equally committed to the peace of Israel and Palestine. The Palestinians are God's people as much as the Israelis.
       Sometimes I feel like this initiative is simply CRAZY. But if the Kingdom of God is truly THE ultimate Kingdom, we can expect God to do "crazy" things. "With man it is impossible, with God all things are possible," Jesus said.

Egypt's Muslims as "human shields"

By definition "news" is almost always "bad news." It's not news unless there is tragedy, suffering, or pain.
In Egypt this week there was an exception to the rule - A story of Muslims offering to lay down their lives for Christians. Really? Yes, really. Check out the story.
Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as "human shields"

An Encouraging Skype Call

I had an amazing Skype call with my long-time friend Marcus in Geneva the other day. Susy and I have known Marcus and Wendy for some 25 years - we are kindred spirits in so many ways. There are few people in the world with whom I laugh harder than with Marcus and Wendy.
       Unfortunately we don't get to spend time with them too often. Oceans and countries separate us. But when we DO get to speak or be together it is like we have been together all the time! It is uncanny really.
       So Marcus and I are on this Skype call the other day for an hour. Mind you we have not spoken in many months. And we are talking about our futures, what God is stirring in us, questions we are each wrestling with. And Marcus says a few "prophetic" things and I am like, "SHUT UP!" Well not really. But it was like the voice of God speaking to me and Marcus doesn't have a clue how God is using him. Marcus is saying things which he would not otherwise know because we have not hung out together over the past years.
       The really fun part of this is that Susy and I will be in Geneva for a day in late January and we will get some time with Marcus and Wendy face-to-face. Quite the special treat for us really! Can't wait.

"Feeding the Pig"

I often puzzle over consumerism. The U.S. government says that two-thirds of the economy of this country is due to consumers spending money. When the economy is improving it is because people are spending like mad men!
       There is something fundamentally wrong with this picture.

So I figure if I cannot beat it I will join it! Yep, that's right. I am diving into consumerism head first, rolling up my sleeves to spend, spend, spend! Hmmmm, for some reason I am not feeling better about myself!
       Well here's an alternative. The good folks at FEEDING THE PIG are all about being realists that we ARE consumers, actually addicted to our consumer tendencies. So Feeding the Pig helps you be a FRUGAL consumer. They give tons of tips on breaking spending habits, free saving tips, and how to "feed" the piggy bank. SAVINGS is really their focus, but they address consumerism as a way to get to saving.
       SO here is to 2011 and "feeding the pig!"

Paul Newman's SERIOUS Philanthropy

Paul Newman's legacy on earth will be experienced for generations to come. Newman died in September 2008, but not before he established himself as one of the greatest philanthropists in history.

       When Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward launched the Newman's Own salad dressing line they committed to give ALL the profits away from the company - forever! According to Newman's Foundation they have given away more than $300 million to a wide variety of causes.
       We need so many more people and foundations like Newman's Own Foundation. We need people who are more serious about their philanthropy than they are about their business or personal stability.
       Paul Newman has been dead for more than 2 years. His company continues to bless hundreds of thousands of people every year.
       Here's Paul Newman in his own words:

• "Our work begins with the strong belief that giving back is the greatest opportunity and responsibility for making ours a better world."

• “I’d like to be remembered as a guy who tried — tried to be part of his times, tried to help people communicate with one another, tried to find some decency in his own life, tried to extend himself as a human being.”

• “We’re very effective recyclers; we take the money and give it back.”

Paul Newman Tribute Video from Frank M. Siringo on Vimeo.

Our Tendency to Pigeon-Hole

I grew up with the notion that all Arabs area Muslims and all Muslims are Arabs. And all of them are the arch enemies of my people - Jews that is. I don't remember being taught to put Arab Muslims on the top of the list of people to despise; I guess I learned it by osmosis.
       These days I am becoming more sensitized to the gross generalizations we make about people groups, how we pigeon-hole a culture or religion and paint them in very black and white terms. Here's a classic case-in-point from one of the protests in New York City a while ago over the Muslim Community Center being built at Ground Zero.

Upcoming Schedule

Lots of great things are happening in the next month or two. Check back on my blog to hear about some of the things I will be doing. Here's my schedule right now:

• 6-9 January: Attending Gay Christian Network conference in Denver (might raise a few questions I realize);
• 11-15 January: Visit with Brian Rice and Leadership ConneXtions in Pennsylvania;
• 15-16 and 22-23 January: Preaching at Lookout Mountain Church;
• 27 Jan - 4 Feb: Susy and I in Switzerland on ski week with 40+ Crossroads Amsterdam folks. Brian is leading Bible studies in evenings;
• 5-6 February: Attend Board of Directors meeting for SUNY Cortland's Alumni Association;
• 10-11 February: "The Holocaust and the Bible" conference at Denver Seminary;
• 13 February: Beginning five-week course I am teaching, "Isaac and Ishmael: Together and Apart" at Lookout Mountain Church;
• 14-18 February: In Los Angeles for Fuller Seminary course, "Witness in Muslim Contexts."