So GLS 2009 then....

Well, once again it was all incredibly good. The standard was the same but there was a noticeable shift; there were no 'creative' elements.

Bill Hybels explained at the start of the Summit, that one of their responses to the current economic situation is that they have changed their meeting. Every element of the meeting is about getting ministry in to people. Then, they have changed their ministry times; blurring the start and finish time. One part of that is that they have a vocal team that will sing over people. They will sing for as long as it takes. They will sing until the last person leaves the auditorium.

That gives me a question....which I'll get to.

I have in my head lots of phrases and points that the various speakers have made, however the things I will remember are mostly visual.

It will be a long time before I forget about the rider, the elephant and the path, for example.

I have lot of books to read (!) and have already started....

It was a uniquely wonderful time spent hearing the GLS from a work POV and then processing it with non-OG people.

Of course the main part of the GLS is not the two days spent engaging with the speakers from the summit, but how you take what you hear back to your situation. That, of course takes time and deliberate action. Either that or you put the binder on the shelf and book up for next year....

For the time being though, my question is: Just how much am I, and those around me, prepared to do to see God's change?

(wherever that may be and whatever that may mean)

GLS 2009

I've been working really hard to keep my ears and eyes away from the Global Leadership Summit this year.

It's everywhere, like never before. Facebook and Twitter have been full of updates, the emails and free downloads, podcasts Q&A's are all there for the taking...but no.


I only have to wait one more day.


I'm praying that it will be another good year, especially as I'm going with work, not church.


God, you have some work to do and then, so will we!

Leadership Axioms

Last year at the Global Leadership Summit Bill Hybels spent some time talking about his book Axioms. Inspired by Colin Powell's 'Powell Principals' he wrote down the phrases that summed up his leadership wisdom.

I don't have quite as many as him, but I do have two that I think of regularly.

The first is - It can only go, horribly wrong.
Used as a response to new initiatives or the question 'What's the worst that can happen?', this axiom helps me to get a BIG picture perspective on things. Once you accept that the the worst outcome is that it can only go horribly wrong, then you face the fear. And that, is the crux of it. Hence the reason that the most common command in the bible is 'Do not fear', so don't.

The second is - Catch the Clash Curve.
Anytime someone comes in to your organisation, church or group they have to adjust to your culture. In fact you'll probably be encouraging and help them to learn the ropes. For the first few days/weeks or possibly months, they will clash and then, rise up on the curve of learning your ways; the longer they are involved the quicker they'll learn. It's exponential. There is, however, a one off, time limited, chance for you here. These same people are the most likely people you know to be able to see you and your team as they really are. They'll notice things, question things; things that clash with the culture they're from. Use this opportunity to learn about yourself and your team. Seek out conversations, formally or informally, to get this information and the mark out time to reflect on it, but be quick, the chance will be gone before you know it!

Willow Creak Global Leadership Summit 2008

Catching up a little with blogging, last weekend I was at the GLS in Norwich. 100,000 leaders, across the world watching great teaching (not all in Norwich though...)

My highlights include:

Bill Hybels - Talking about compressing our wisdom in to Axioms, and using them in leadership. One of his that I like is "Vision leaks". It does and we need to plan for that. I have one of my own that is about naming fear (and therefore reducing it's power) My axiom is "It can only go horribly wrong".

Gary Haugan - Who talked about leading in the real world; when it seems hopeless, scary or difficult. He reminded us that "If you want your leadership to matter, lead in the things that matter to God." He also reminded us that if God is passionate about getting something done, then HE is responsible for getting it done! (kinda takes the pressure off really.)

Wendy Kopp - We often look to the bible for stories of how God has worked in the past and draw lessons from them. Wendy Kopp is a modern day example of how God speaks and leads today. You can check out what she did to end up so reviled at teachforamerica.org. This is real social justice without the hyperbole that I've seen so often. The program seems genuine, well spoken but not boastful. Incidentally, I took no notes during this session as I was so interested in her passion about the injustice she saw. (So, you social justice/action lot, lose the arrogance and pass on the passion to the rest of the church...)

Craig Groeschel - The guy from lifechurch.tv He was mainly talking about IT, which he can't define but has ironically written a book on...I digress. Another encouraging example of a group of people who are determined to share the good news and prepared to take risks in order to do it. If you don't know anything about lifechurch.tv then you should check it out. The idea of mastering production and technology to work the sites as they do is beyond pretty much every church in the UK. There's a thought... Anyway, he said two things that really stuck with me "In order to reach people no one is reaching, you have to do things no-one is doing" and "Failure is not an option, it's a necessity. Failure allows us to see Jesus as He really is; full of Grace."

and finally...

John Burke - Led a session on Leading in New Cultural Realities. He talked about letting God work but working hard to create the right conditions for spiritual growth. This guy and the church he's leading really spoke to me. They have a few catch phrases (of course) but they're things like "Come as you are" and "No perfect people allowed". As John Ortberg said at his home church a few weeks ago, there's real power when people are accepted as they are by people who know what their problems and faults are."

I was so attracted to the ideas John was unpacking that I bought the book. I was a little surprised to start reading it to be greeted by phrases like the 'post-modern experiment' and 'post-modern','post-christian' and others, but it is interspersed with real life stories that show how the reality of today is formed by the reality of the past. I'll post more on this later.

My final thought, and one in John's book, is that his study is of America and therefore you have to draw principals from the book in order to apply it elsewhere. More on that later.

P.S. For the complacent, the U.S. is, according to John Burkes book, the third largest mission field in the world.

(Can you tell I'm a little belligerent at the moment?)

How to Start 2008

A new perception of Sin:

A wise friend of mine once said "there is no such thing as an acceptable level of sin"

I commented recently, when this same friend was speaking at Oak Grove, that he always stirs things up.

In human terms we have our 'moral scale' so certain actions are 'worse' than others. This scale is helpful for writing law, but is not really any use when thinking about God, Sin and Us.

In reality, we are either separated from God, or we are not. Any Sin can do this but God's Grace and Mercy can cover these sins. Jesus made that possible.

So what about those sins that you keep on doing? Even if you do confess them and want to give them up to God and accept His forgiveness?

John Ortberg - The Life You've Always Wanted

...sin is often the attempt to meet a legitimate need in an illegitimate way. If we don't address that need in appropriate ways, we will go right on sinning.

Back at the Willow Creek GLS, John Ortberg talked about 'Shadow Mission'. Put simply, say God has called you to serve homeless people or go to Ethiopia that would be your 'Mission'. Your 'Shadow Mission's purpose is to stop you working on/completing your 'Mission'. So instead of serving homeless people, you allow your time to be wasted watching TV or playing video games. I think that you can identify your 'Shadow Mission' by looking at those Sins that just won't go away. Your areas of easiest temptation perhaps. If you follow what John Ortberg is talking about in the above quote, then forgiveness is not necessarily the end of a Sin.

Addressing the root cause or need is the only way to avoid making the same mistakes again.

So, How to start 2008? Identify your Mission. Identify your Shadow Mission and deal with both of them.

I do wonder if most of us would have to identify our Shadow Mission and start to deal with it before God could release us in to our mission?

Before I get going on...

...the amazing teaching I have ben exposed to, I should point out that I am in a place of needing to renew or refine my vision.

I have completed a part of my 'mission' and feel that I need to define a bit more where I am going.

I am aware that I have changed in the last two years and that these changes, brought about by trusting God, give me new options to look at.

As Bill hybels would put it, I am "prepared to pay the price" of seeking God on all of this by focussing my time, prayer and bible reading time to learnig more of God.

I think I realised all of this whilst at the GLS. This time, I felt much less of a fraud being there. Last year I did think to myself 'Why am I here? What right do I have?'. Over the years, people have believed that I have some leadership potential and have invested in me. Over the years, I have learnt and listend and tried. This year I feel a change coming on.

I think it's time that I took responsility for developing my spiritual gifts and their impimentation, be it at home, church or work.
(something else that Bill Hybels hinted at.)