What is Leadership?

I have had a great week, and it's only Wednesday! On Monday I finished launching eleven summer interns into ten-week ministry projects that are located from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and then coached a team leader in the Midwest who is guiding a ten-member national team doing social media and all forms of digital communication. On Tuesday I met for several hours with a married couple who are co-pastoring a 108 year-old church in Los Angeles that they just moved to... The church started as historically Anglo, and now has three different services meeting on campus every Sunday: one in Spanish, one in English and one in both Cantonese and Mandarin! Today I met with a woman who is mentoring youth pastors all over the Los Angeles area, and then met on Skype with two pastors in Seattle area.

The ages of these people range from 20 to 45, but they all have one thing in common: they are leaders. I love identifying, raising up, training and walking alongside such leaders. Not only does it bless me to hear about their ministries and challenges; it also keeps me sharp in my own learning and growth.

Despite years of experience, I know I still have much to learn. So I am a sponge for all manner of books, articles, seminars and wise mentors. But last night I was reminded that Jesus is still my best teacher. In our home group we spent some time reading through Luke 9:1-17, where Jesus sends out the disciples to start learning how to minister. As it says in the opening lines, he "gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal." Sheesh -- no big deal, right?

After reading this passage on our own and sharing our impressions in our study, one person pointed out something I had failed to notice, that really blew my mind... she noted how the disciples are described in the whole section:

• Vs. 1: "Then Jesus called the twelve together..."
• Vs. 10: "On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done."
• Vs. 12: "The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him..."
• Vs. 14: "And he said to his disciples..."

It is important to read through the passage yourself to see what happens, but in a nutshell: the twelve are sent out to extend the ministry of Jesus by casting out demons, healing diseases and proclaiming the kingdom of God; the apostles come back with glowing reports of what happened; the twelve are tired after a long day and want the crowds of thousands to be sent away; and the disciples are schooled in what it means to truly care for people.

It would be fun to really dig in and do some extended word study on each term. I do know that the "apostles" are the "sent ones," and the "disciples" are "learners" or "pupils." In our group we enjoyed seeing the arc of the disciples' leadership development in a very short span of time -- they went from being empowered and sent out to being humbled and needing to learn... again and again and again.

I'm here to report that, through repeated trial and error, I have discovered that this cycle will never end! As we grow in faith we are empowered and sent out, but we will stumble and trip as we go. The question is not if, but when. 

Surround yourself with people who want to be apostles and disciples. Learn from them, learn with them. And study the life of Jesus together for the best training possible. 

(For further study and learning, I have also grown from the pursuit of spiritual disciplines. Here is a set of articles on the twelve classic spiritual disciplines that I wrote last year...)

Give Us This Day

In the last four years I have been reflecting on the story of manna in scripture. If you're not that familiar with it, it is in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 16. The Israelites have fled Pharaoh's oppression and enslavement, and are being led by Moses through the wilderness.

Though they have every reason to believe in God's care for them at this point (having seen miracle upon miracle through the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, described in the preceding chapters of Exodus), the Israelites do what all of us do when things don't go the way we want or expect: they complain. They are hot and hungry, and it feels like they are in a desperate situation.

In spite of their lack of faith, and their whining, God provides for them. He gives them meat to eat, and "a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground," that "was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey." The Israelites called it manna, which according to a couple of Bible encyclopedias I looked at, derived from the words "What is it?" (man hu) They could boil or bake it, but they would only receive enough for each day. If they tried to hoard it, it would rot.

Right around this time in 2009, I was in transition. I had moved out of one position I had had for about fifteen years. Unfortunately, this decision was made right before the economy completed tanked, and job hunting was not a walk in the park. This is what I wrote then in this blog:

I am waiting upon God's timing and provision for work these days. It is a daily discipline, and more and more I am seeing how little patience and faith I truly have. I am used to having a plan and making things happen. But for now, I have a clear sense that that is exactly what I am not supposed to be doing.

Instead I am growing, very slowly, in learning how to pray about things daily, with open hands. And this week, I discovered another way to cultivate reliance on God.

Food. That's right. Through food.

To save money, I started relying more on the stockpile of food in my pantry, which was more than adequate, but which wasn't always filled with what I wanted to eat on any given day. I also started to eat seasonally. This is how I described it a couple of years later:

I love, love, LOVE red bell peppers and could eat them every day. And in 2011, I can eat them every day, thanks to hot houses in South America and semi-truck trailers hauling food all over tarnation. But I choose to eat red bell peppers when they are in season where I live. By eating seasonally I am reminded to enjoy God's provision in God's timing. Sometimes he gives us things to enjoy, and sometimes he asks us to wait. And it is often in the waiting, and anticipation, that I learn how to deeply enjoy the things he gives me.

Sure, eating seasonally in May is FUN... tomatoes are coming out, farmer's markets are filled with peppers and zucchini and loads of luscious fruit. Yessss! But in January, when there is not much good fruit to be had and the dominant vegetables are turnips, celery, kale and kohlrabi, it's much more challenging. I want to jump ship, cruise through the frozen food section and eat what I want. 

But if I can hold to it, through prayer and self-discipline, what I discover, ever so slowly, is that if I follow the principle of manna and learn how to eat what God provides rather than what I want, a foundation develops in my soul that then is able to receive the other things that God provides... circumstances, relationships, disappointments, changes, you name it. In other words, God used the experience of manna to teach the Israelites to rely on him for every thing, every day. This fosters faith and dependence and intimacy with God.

So these past four years I have been trying to learn from the Israelites in Exodus 16. Rather than complain about anything that is not to my exact liking, what if I seek to gather only as much as I need each day, rest on the Sabbath and "draw near to the Lord" (vs. 9)?

But on vacation recently, I discovered some new things about manna. I was reading through the Gospel of John and came upon the feeding of the 5,000 (verses 1-14). I was just about to skim over it because yeah, how many times have I read this story? Then I remembered I was on vacation, and decided I wasn't in a hurry.

Immediately after the feeding, Jesus withdrew from the crowds to be by himself. Then he walks on water to rejoin the disciples. All in all, a rather exciting day, right?

But look what happens next:

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” 

Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 

So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 

If I really want to keep learning about manna and reliance on God's provision... oh my. For the first time, I realized that the feeding of the 5,000 was (in part) an object lesson for the disciples, to connect the miracle of manna, something that had been memorialized for centuries by Israel, with Jesus. Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 was a foreshadowing of the remarkable sacrifice of Jesus on the cross; similarly, the provision of manna in the desert, which sustains and nourishes Israel for forty years, was a foreshadowing of how Jesus himself meets our most basic needs... IF we rely on him each day. In other words, while the stuff of life meets our physical needs, it is only Jesus who meets our deeper and more significant needs -- emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, eternally.

As I grow in relying on him day by day, may I not stop at simply enjoying the blessing of a full stomach; may that satisfaction be the reminder that only he, the giver of all good things, is ultimately satisfying. It is Jesus himself for whom we hunger and thirst, and every thing else is a mere substitute.

Bombings and Hospitality

Like some of you I am sure, I was glued to radio and TV on Friday as the drama unfolded in Boston. (Part of me hates to admit that because I think the media did a lot of sloppy reporting, but the drama itself was admittedly pretty gripping.)

The timing of this entire incident in light of the debates on Capitol Hill on gun control and immigration seems the stuff of an action-packed thriller. Sadly, it's all too real.


The next day, I was doing some final reading as I get ready to wrap up this semester's APU Seminary course (being taken to get some extra grad units in case I decide to go for another degree down the road).

The class is called "People of God," and is all about Torah (first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures) and how it tells the story of the formation of the People of God, Israel. It's been amazing to realize, even though I took a similar class years ago, to learn this time much more about the emphasis throughout Torah on the stranger. Another translation of this word could be "resident alien" -- someone from a different racial, ethnic, and linguistic group often forced to emigrate to another country.

Over and over, Yhwh emphasizes how Israel is to welcome the stranger, since they were once strangers themselves, both in Egypt and in their wilderness wanderings. In fact, I'm having to do an entire paper on Deut 10:10-22, where many qualities of God are listed as reasons to worship him as the one true God. In response, Israel is only called to be like God in one way:

"You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (vs. 19)

In one of the textbooks for class, the author concludes with an examination of Torah as it works out in the New Testament. She looked at Romans 12:13, which says, "Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers."

The Greek word for "hospitality" used here is philoxenia, which contains within it the words for "love" (philia) and "stranger" (xenos). This is the only time that Paul uses this word, and it is rare elsewhere in the New Testament. "Hospitality" is a rather pale word for what underlies the notion of a demand to provide for the outside guest, the "stranger," a demand that was both cultural and religious. 

Later, the author also references Galatians 5 and the whole notion of true freedom, letting go of religious burdens that are no longer applicable (many of which are commanded in the Torah). As you may know already, the letter to the Galatians was needed because they were falling under the influence of false teachers and thinking they needed to follow Jewish food and circumcision laws to be followers of Christ. Paul says this in response,

For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (vv 13-14)

As news and political debates continue to unfold and all the sides continue their rants, I pray we would keep God's "single commandment" in mind. As followers of Christ, we are citizens of heaven (see Philippians 3:20) -- thus we are "resident aliens" too. Despite whatever risks may be possible, I'm praying about how to keep loving my neighbor, and welcoming the stranger, since I'm no different from them.

"One Grain More" (aka Gluten Free Should Not Be Trendy)

Eating gluten free is getting a bad rap these days, in my opinion. Earlier this month a story came out in the media that 30% of adults are trying to eat gluten free. I mean, really? The articles quote some "expert" who says that "This is the health issue of the day." Ah, only in America, folks, with our first-world problems.

Now, when someone invites me over for dinner and asks if I have any "issues," or I'm on a consulting project and am asked what we should order in, it's hard not to feel ridiculous when I say I'm gluten-free. I secretly wish I could wear some little badge that makes the disclaimer that I'm not trying to be paleo or Atkins or whatever... (For a post from 2009 giving some of my reasons for eating gluten free, go here.)

But I will not play the martyr. I need to laugh at it along with everyone else. Enjoy this very funny video mocking the gluten free trend, titled "One Grain More."

I would not be gluten free if it did not make me feel a lot better, because it's not convenient or fun, especially when I travel. However, I have learned to work with it, and am now sort of enjoying the adventure of it. Now, when I'm heading out of town I google to find out where I can eat gluten free. Here are my top four so far:

Veggie Grill, which has several locations in the west (of course), serves some really good vegetarian and GF options. I went to one in Seattle during a recent work project, had some mac and cheese made with quinoa pasta that was terrific.

Risotteria in NYC. Probably my favorite so far. They serve you GF breadsticks when you sit down, and those are things you realize how much you miss when you finally get to have them! I let myself eat whatever sounded good: beer, sandwich, salad, dessert... because all of it was gluten free. It's my happy place these days when I am daydreaming...

Flappy Jacks in Glendora, CA. I am down in Azusa at least twice a month, and whenever I have to spend the night, I brave the crowds and go here. They have a huge gluten free menu filled with all the things you have hung your head over as a gluten free eater and just accepted you cannot have: waffles, french toast, pancakes that actually taste like pancakes...

Sensitive Sweets, Fountain Valley, CA. I just stumbled onto this place during a vacation in Laguna Beach. I had a chocolate fudge cupcake that was practically a religious experience (yes, go ahead and picture me with fudge frosting circling my mouth...). I bought a GF cake mix that was used for my birthday a few months later and it was perfection.

Those are just a few of the highlights. While I'm at it, I have to vent about my #1 pet peeve as one who has to eat gluten free: nearly every church I visit for training, speaking, consulting, etc., build their community meals around what I call the Big Three: pasta, pizza or sandwiches! I know, I know, it's because these items tend to be cheaper. But I end up scrounging around for iceberg lettuce and gloppy Italian dressing in the church kitchen refrigerator, and try to smile... Fortunately, whenever I visit Latino churches, I do just fine as I stuff my face with chicken, beans, salsa, corn tortillas...

Parting advice you didn't ask for: If you are considering going gluten free, I strongly suggest you do so only if you are having genuine medical issues, as I did. My acid reflux went away and the rumbling down below has abated, thankfully. Despite all the press about it as "the health issue of the day," I actually gained weight during the first two years I followed a GF diet, and finally got it all under control this year, losing twenty pounds as I understood more about metabolism, whole grains, etc.

Furthermore, it's not something you sort of do, like "I try to avoid it when I can..." because once I gave it up, I found that I actually became more sensitized to gluten if I fudged or accidentally ate it. (Other GF'ers have confirmed this too). You're either all in or all out. Otherwise, you do not gain the benefits that you think might be there.

There are a lot of GF products out there now, but be wise... I learned the hard way that you only want to eat whole grain. A lot of GF products use white rice flour, tapioca flour, etc, and that is high on the glycemic index (which sounds like I know what I'm talking about, but I don't... do your homework.)

All for now... go ahead and make fun of gluten free trendiness. I'm right with you.

Impossible

I find myself noticing that truth comes to me in bits and pieces. It usually starts with a tantalizing thought that leads unexpectedly to another, then another. If I'm attentive, I can follow these thoughts, one to another, until I'm on a trail to something.

I don't think I've arrived at the destination that these various things point to, but I am intrigued.

It started with some reading earlier in the week, when I came to Luke 1 in my One-Year Bible. Admittedly, I had that brief surge of "been there, done that" wash over me as I started a gospel I have read and taught out of many times before. I fought the temptation to skip over it, pretty confident that something would speak out.

I did not have to wait long:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 

But she was much perplexed (um, YEAH) by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 

Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”  The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. (verses 26-380

I prayed for open eyes and ears as I read. And soon that statement, "For nothing will be impossible with God," stirred in me.

I thought to myself, "Do I believe that? I mean, really believe that?" Because if I did, I would pray bolder prayers. And I would never give up. That's what faith is. It means that I believe, and I am confident that God is who He says he is.

No, it doesn't mean I have to scrunch up my face and somehow prayer harder. But it does mean, like the persistent widow in Luke 18, that I keep showing up, and keep asking.

So I assembled a list of "impossibles." I don't feel the need to share most of them. But suffice it to say they point to the future, to forgiveness, to revolution big and small. And I have committed to praying about them every day. For healing in a friend's life, who just received a devastating diagnosis. For housing for two friends I have met in the last year who live on the street. For love to break through in some hearts....

As I said at the start, these truths come in bits and pieces. I pray for one, then two, then three days about the Impossibles. Then I heard last night as I studied for my class, a stunning reminder. We are working through the Torah, and are currently in the Book of Exodus. In chapter 32, there is a fascinating section, after God hears of the insane decision of Aaron and the Israelites to fashion an idol in the shape of a golden calf for worship right at the time when Moses is received the Ten Commandments. God is furious at their utter foolishness in praying to other gods. Moses speaks up on their behalf:

Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”  And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people. (verses 12-14)

There is not room here to go into the Hebrew and explain what this passage means. But certainly, we have imposed the English meaning of "change your mind" and tried to make it to fit into our little theological boxes, thinking we can constrain and quantify God to fit our favorite posture. But God will not be boxed!

I have enjoyed this round of reading Exodus, seeing an intimacy between Moses and God that is beautiful, and in many ways (I believe) archetypal of what we can have with God as we now have His Spirit in us. What I take from this is that if you find yourself in disaster, you can pray to God and ask him to have mercy or even remind him of his promises.  Some want to say that prayer is only for our benefit, to help shape us to conform more to God's unbending plans. Sure, that is part of the process. But I also know God to be a God of relationship and dialogue and mercy and love. The Bible is one unending story of God's pursuit of his people, repeatedly chasing us down and calling us to Himself, the Author and Sustainer of life.

Does that mean that I think God is my personal cosmic vending machine? Absolutely not. But do I know him to be one who wants to hear from me, placing every one of my hopes and fears and prayers into his hands, every moment and every day? Absolutely.


Today I came across a question that carried me further into these truths that have been eeking themselves out in front of me. I receive a daily reading from the Christian Quotation of the Day. (Have no fear, these are definitely worth subscribing to. They are not corny, Precious Moments, power-of-positive-thinking crap... they are historic, profound words from all sorts of writers, leaders, and saints.) 

Today contained this question. Let it bother you.

Do I exhibit the unexplainable in my life?

Like Mary, I am trying to have my reply be, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” May we live lives of faith in the impossible.

Galatians 3:28

I am in a good mood after enjoying a fantastic evening... I drove down today to Azusa because I happened upon the good news in my Twitter feed last night that Rachel Held Evans was speaking here at Foothill Community Church on behalf of Azusa Pacific University. Not only am I a fan of Foothill Church (a faithful Free Methodist congregation), but I am a HUGE fan of Rachel Held Evans!! (I also have to be in Pasadena all day tomorrow, so I decided to break up the drive. Nice.)

My groupie-status began while reading her latest book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood. It accomplishes what I could only hope to accomplish if I ever write a book: it is equal parts hilarious, engaging, authentic and spiritually moving. You know a book is good when it makes you laugh out loud while you're reading it! It also made me cry a time or two, but not because it was cheesy or manipulative. In fact, I just downloaded the first chapter for free... either go to her blog and download your own, or take it off of my public dropbox folder. Yes, I'm a fan.

There were so many highlights to her message, and when it goes online I'll try to remember to post a link and reminder here. But perhaps one of my favorite parts of the evening was that I brought a former youth group student with me who is male (and yes, the majority of the room was female), who really enjoyed the evening. And we both agreed afterward that what is so nice about our history is that it never came up once in all the years of jr high and high school youth group that I was female. I just was. (And still am, let's be honest! I'm just not serving at that particular church any longer.)

I praise God that some thirty years later I am still at this ministry thing. I will not deny that there have been many bumps along the way, and I still encounter some now and again. But glory hallelujah, I have had some great opportunities to serve and lead in ministry, as a woman.

The first verse that made me know this was possible was the one I noted in this post's title:

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

I thank God for Rachel's message that is going out all over the country and online. I pray for her to persevere, and I pray for the many men and women who hear from her. May we be a hospitable place to gifted people. May the church not be a place of judgment and discouragement. Lord, may we all be FREE in you, to serve the way you created us to.

Tagine (Huh??)

I started this blog about four years ago, and had all the great aspirations one has (if they are willing to admit it) about doing so: writing insightful posts that generate loads of comments, building readership, creating buzz. I really can't believe I thought any of that could happen.

However, I am really grateful for those who check in now and then and read my meanderings, but it certainly hasn't generated anything other than an occasional comment... and here's the funny part: I write about youth ministry, theology, social commentary, spiritual disciplines, and once in awhile an update on what I'm doing professionally. Yet hands down, I get the most comments (and traffic) by far about my recipes!

In fact, lately my "readership" has really jumped, but only because a few months ago someone "pinned" one of my recipes on her Pinterest page, and that has gone viral (at least by my limited standards). Hilarious.

That being said, here is my latest recipe. I made it last night and practically ate the bowl, it was so good. I got it from a fantastic cookbook called Simply in Season. I have mentioned here before that I try to eat seasonally, but even though this recipe is titled "Autumn Tagine," I had all the components sitting in my crisper from local produce. One caveat however: I opted to use butternut squash instead of sweet potato, because that's what I had. Perfecto.

AUTUMN TAGINE
Tagine (tah-ZHEEN) is a Moroccan stew named after the traditional heavy clay pot in which it is cooked. This colorful vegetarian version made one tester’s 11-year-old exclaim, "We should have this every night!" Adjust the amount of crushed hot chilies to suit your family’s tastes. Serves 6-8.

2 cups / 500 ml onion (diced) - OK, another substitution = I used leeks

In large soup pot sauté in 1-2 tablespoons oil until soft, 4-5 minutes.

6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon ginger root (peeled and minced)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon pepper
1/4-1 teaspoon crushed hot chilies (optional)

Add and stir for 1 minute.

3 cups / 750 ml sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into 1-inch / 2.5-cm cubes) - like I said, I substituted with butternut squash
2 cups / 500 ml cooked chickpeas
11/2 cups / 350 ml vegetable broth
Add and bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes.
1/2 medium head cauliflower (cut into 1-inch / 2.5-cm florets)
2 cups / 500 ml peas

Stir in cauliflower, cover, and simmer until vegetables are nearly tender, about 12 minutes. Add peas, cover, and simmer until hot, 2 minutes. Serve over steamed couscous or rice, garnished with chopped fresh cilantro (optional). I also find that Tagine is Tasty when Topped with some Toasted nuts. I should make a T-shirt that says that!  :)