patience

The Necessity of Adaptability

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Our world is constantly changing around us, from unpredictable weather systems to the reactions of people to one’s own emotions responding to our circumstances. A simple drive to the grocery store shows how we adapt constantly. We change lanes to avoid someone turning at a light, slow for slow-moving traffic in front of us, and end up taking a different route than planned because construction is blocking our preferred street. As leaders, we need to adapt to our circumstances all the time.

Assessment Skills

To adapt effectively, we need to recognize when a situation requires change. Adapting begins with recognizing that the current situation is not right or best. We need to learn to evaluate and assess so we recognize when a problem shows up.

In Exodus 18, Jethro comes to visit his son-in-law, Moses. He observes Moses meeting with the people to solve disputes and act as a judge.

Problem Solving

Once we recognize there is a problem, we need to clarify the problem and some possible solutions.

Jethro recognizes that this situation is wearing Moses out. He suggests a solution: Equip other godly men to serve as judges. Don’t carry it all yourself and expand your leadership.

Listening

When trying to solve a problem, too many leaders try to do it all themselves. Even when others try to suggest possible solutions, they often are ignored because the leader didn’t think of it himself. Adaptability invites the input of others and listening to their advice. Moses knew that the people needed someone to bring their disputes to. He was doing his job. But when he listened to the good advice of his father-in-law, he recognized there was another way to do things.

Exodus 18:24 says, “Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.” When Moses considered Jethro’s advice, he quickly saw its value and implemented it.

Teamwork

As you try to solve a problem, consider who may help you with the solution.

Moses listened to the advice he was given and handed off the work to a number of other leaders. Not only did it make his life a little easier, it also spread the load to others and gave others an opportunity to step up and lead with him.

Bravery

Adaptable leaders are brave enough to risk a new way of doing things as they look for a possible solution. It may be that the first attempt, or a few, aren’t the right ones, but adaptable leaders try enough options to find the right solution.

Ask God to help you be an adaptable leader who recognizes problems quickly and can discern solutions effectively.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

The Benefits of a Charismatic Confident Leader

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A charismatic, confident, skilled leader can be a great asset to a church. In the last post, we talked about the dangers of a confident and charismatic leader who doesn’t know how to equip and lead others. This post points out how a charismatic leader can be a great help.

A highly skilled, charismatic leader attracts people.

The truth is, a charismatic leader will naturally attract more followers than someone who is skilled and competent but quiet. People can see the charismatic leader and get caught up in the enthusiasm and passion this type of leader brings. That means recruiting volunteers and team members may be easier than for other leaders.

A highly skilled leader with a charismatic personality can use that to make inroads into new places.

A leader like this can often gain access to new places because of their confident, exciting nature. They are not afraid to make new friends or to reach out to potential partners, and when they do, they often bring so much excitement and passion that others are quick to want to work with this leader.

A highly skilled and confident leader can instill confidence in his followers and organization.

When the average volunteer in a church sees this type of person in action, they may become more confident in themselves and may be willing to try new things or use skills they are just learning because they can see how this leader does it. If he allows people to get close to him, he can lead by example, and his excitement and enthusiasm will rub off on others.

A highly skilled leader who learns how to equip others can multiply his efforts.

Unfortunately, often a charismatic leader, no matter how skilled, tends to leave others behind. Rather than equipping others, he attempts to do it all himself. After all, “if you want it done right, do it yourself”, or even “even if you want it done quickly, do it yourself”. What happens is that others around him, even if they are watching him, are not taught how to do what the leader does. Yet if the leader chooses to, he can equip others in the skills he is so proficient at, so that he doesn’t have to do it all himself and finds others who begin to learn and improve in the skills he is sharing with them.

A highly skilled leader who trains others can set a course that benefits the organization or church even when he is gone.

One of the dangers I have noticed with highly skilled, charismatic leaders is that when they leave the organization, everything falls apart because they did it all themselves. Everything fell on them. But the same leader can leave an equipped army of volunteers and other leaders if they are willing to slow down and deliberately train others to do what needs doing. If you are a charismatic and highly skilled leader, recognize that God gave you those gifts, not just to do the work of the church, but to help others become trained and equipped to do the work of the church. Use your personality and abilities to leave an ongoing legacy when you are gone.

Charismatic, confident, highly skilled leaders can make a great difference in the church if they will deliberately equip and train others to lead and volunteer alongside them.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Look to the Bread of Life to Satisfy Your Hunger

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Every leader longs for others to recognize the value they bring to an organization or a task and to be appreciated for their contributions. A leader brings value because of their training and the skills they have developed. A leader brings their experience and creativity to solve problems and develop effective plans for the future. A Christian leader brings a heart that is sensitive to God’s leading and works out of the spiritual gifts God has blessed them with.

Leaders want to do a good job, so they generally put in many hours of work, often more than what they are compensated for. They are too invested in the project to stop until success is in sight. Some struggle to find a balance between their work and the rest of their lives.

Source: Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock

Everyone, leaders included, has a tendency to see themselves as their job or their position. I am a pastor. I am a music director. I am a plumber. I am a teacher. I am a designer. It is common for us to find our identity in what we do or the role we fill. Our hunger for significance and purpose in life can easily cause us to be swallowed up by our role.

But what happens if our role no longer fulfills us, or we aren’t recognized for our contributions, or the job doesn’t end up being as fulfilling as we had hoped?

In John 6 we have the story of Jesus feeding 5000 men (possibly up to 20,000 with women and children included) with one boy’s lunch. It is a miraculous expansion of one lunch that fed thousands. There were even enough leftovers for each disciple to pick up a basket full. The next day the crowd comes to Jesus looking for more miracles.

Jesus uses the illustration of the multiplying of bread to introduce himself as the bread of life. He tells the crowd around him that he can give them bread to eat so they will never be hungry again. Jesus is not talking about physical bread but saying that their hunger inside will never be fully satisfied with any food or experience or pursuit of fulfillment apart from belief in Him.

Jesus talks about how the Father draws people to himself, how the Spirit gives life, and that by believing in him, in Jesus, people can find true fulfillment.

Leaders need to recognize that their fulfillment cannot be found in their work. Yes, enjoy your work, do it well, and celebrate how your leadership is contributing to the success of your organization or church, but recognize that your fulfillment in life must come from a close friendship with Jesus and dependence on Him for joy in life.

Remember that the people you lead may turn on you. Circumstances may impact your leadership in ways that are beyond your control. Projects that you planned and love may fail. If you find your fulfillment in your work, you are setting yourself up for personal failure, but if you find your fulfillment in Jesus and a relationship with him, you will never be let down.

Look to the bread of life for true satisfaction and to fill the hunger inside for peace and joy in life. Then lead out of that heart that is at peace with God, and as a result, at peace with your leadership, whether it succeeds or fails.

Look to Jesus for fulfillment in life and lead out of the peace of knowing you are right with him.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Joining God at Work

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We look for answers to big questions our whole life. Even when we are young adults start asking us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As we come to the end of high school, we are faced with “what’s next?” Do we go off to college or university, or get a job, or start an apprenticeship? It’s not long before we need to decide if we want to marry and who.

One of the big questions of life for Christians is “What does God want me to do?”

An answer is found in John 5. Jesus healed a man, on a Sabbath, who had been sick for thirty-eight years. This gets him in trouble with the Jewish leaders, who accuse him of breaking Sabbath rules. Jesus replies by saying he is only doing what the Father is showing him to do.

John 5: 19 and 20 says: “So Jesus explained, ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing.” In John 5: 30 he continues, “I can do nothing on my own.”

If Jesus, the Son of God, only did what the Father does or shows him to do, and if he couldn’t do anything by himself, then who are we to think we can do our own thing? If we are followers of Jesus, then we should be doing the same things as Jesus, including getting our directions from the Father.

“What does God want me to do?”

This question, if we follow Jesus’ example, can by answered by watching where God is at work and joining Him in what He is doing.

In the story, Jesus healed a sick man, and it sounds like only one sick man among a crowd of sick people. Why? Is it possible that he could see that God was at work in this one person? Was there something about this man that convinced Jesus he was receptive to God’s healing if only given the opportunity? Somehow, Jesus knew that this man was part of what God wanted done there on that day.

If we want to follow the example of Jesus, we need to learn how to be attentive to what God is doing and what He is asking of us. This begins with prayer. It’s interesting to notice how often Jesus spent time alone in prayer with the Father. We need to pray. And we need to invite the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see what God is doing.

Jesus told us in John 14 that he was going to send us the Holy Spirit “who will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14: 26). We have the privilege of the Holy Spirit in us to guide us, to teach us, and to help us see where God is already working.

We need to ask for eyes to see receptive hearts and open doors of opportunity. We need to invite God to speak to us, and to help us hear his voice so we can respond in obedience.

Jesus assumes the Father will show him what to do. We need to join with Jesus in that same assumption and watch and listen with attentive eyes and ears so we can respond with willing hands and feet.

God does have a plan for this world, and He invites us as believers to join him in His work. If Jesus can do nothing on his own, we surely can’t either.

May you hear and see God at work and know how to follow Him obediently.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Wait Patiently for God to Break Through

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This morning, I was sitting in my big chair reading when I glanced to my left, taking in the snow-covered yard and the drab-looking trees on my lawn. Everything had that winter grey look, when something caught my eye. Off in the distance, I noticed two large spruce trees. They, too, were covered in snow like the trees in my yard, but they were emitting a warm orange glow. The sun was coming up! And it was already shining over my house and lighting up trees in the distance.

Maybe your life feels a little grey right now. Pastors, church leaders, maybe your ministry feels a little drab right now. You have made it through the highs of Christmas, both with the church and with your family, and now you are experiencing the post-Christmas letdown. Or maybe it’s even more than that. You have been feeling a little discouraged or disappointed for a while. You don’t see the excitement you have at other times. It seems as if God is not working like you wish he was.

It’s time to lift your eyes to the distance. Maybe you need to look around, behind you, beside you, and out to the horizon. God is breaking through. God is at work, though not always in the same powerful way in every situation. If it’s not right in front of you or in your immediate experience, look up and look out. Where is God working? According to Jesus, God is always at work. Maybe He is working in a ministry you haven’t been paying attention to. Is it possible you have been too busy to see where He is already breaking through?

A little later, as I glanced up again, I noticed that the trees in my yard were now also beginning to reflect that early morning orange glow of the rising sun as it was climbing up over my house. It’s hard to wait on God and to wait for Him to work in our ministries, but sometimes we need to persevere in our waiting for Him to come with His power in His time. Sometimes we need to wait on Him just a little longer until we see His glow reflected in the ministries that feel a little drab right now.

If God is seemingly not working in your ministries right now or stirring your church members’ hearts like you wish, continue to wait. As you wait, look out and around to see if God is working somewhere else and you need to join Him there. As you wait, wait on the Lord. Continue to trust Him, continue to talk with Him, and wait.

Psalm 27:14 encourages us: “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” The psalmist asks God for help but declares he will confidently wait on God. Just as we know the sun always rises and will break into the day every morning, we can live with the confidence that our God will always break through for us as we patiently wait for Him.

Wait patiently for God to break through and make His presence and power real and noticeable.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Blog Train Yourself to Be Godly #10: Working for Jesus

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*Training yourself to be godly may include viewing your work as working for Jesus.

Who are you working for?

When asked this question, you might think of the name of your boss or the company you work for. Some of you might think, “Well, I work for my family, it doesn’t matter who signs my paycheque or who gives me orders for the day, it’s all so I can provide for my family.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Here are a few ideas on how to give glory to God in our work.

1.         Work as if Jesus were your boss!

Colossians 3:23 tells us: “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” Work willingly, work hard, as if you are serving the Lord. Do your work as if you are working for Jesus.

This verse is in the context of Paul writing to slaves, encouraging them to please their masters all the time, even when they are not being watched. Paul expects that slaves, Christian slaves, should be great workers for their human masters, as if they are serving Jesus! If they are to do so, how much more should we who choose to work where we do!!

I wonder if our work ethic would change if Jesus were our boss?

2.         Work as a witness to Jesus

If the people you work with or serve know that you call yourself a Christian, but you are a terrible employee, what would make them interested in being a Christian?

In Titus 2: 9-10, Paul again addresses slaves when he writes: “Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”

One might think a slave might have a good excuse not to work hard, or to find any way they could take advantage of their master, since they are being taken advantage of by them, but Paul encourages them to do their best so they might make the “teaching about God our Saviour attractive.” He expects that how they work will reflect well on God or not.

In his book, “The Practice of the Presence of God”, Brother Lawrence writes about how one can practice God’s presence no matter the task. His job was a thankless job of cleaning pots and pans, but he is well known for his consistent and joyful devotion to Jesus in the middle of his daily, menial work.

Practice God’s presence at work by talking with Jesus as you go about your day, Remember that he is a constant companion.

3.         Don’t let work take the place of Jesus – Or don’t make work your idol!

Some people are consumed with their work. They work all the time. They can’t stop. They don’t take time for their family, or to enjoy life, or to enjoy time with God. Their whole identity is wrapped up in their job – their position or their status or their power that comes with their job. Simply put… for some, work becomes their idol.

Do you know what God did after six days of the work of creating? He rested! Genesis 2: 2-3 tells us: “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.”

God ceased from all his work.

There must be a time for us to stop. There must be a time to say, “Enough”.

One way of preventing work from becoming an idol is to take a day off. Take a day to rest, take a day to stop, take a day to focus on the One you Worship. Refocus yourself at least once a week on the one you are truly serving, and on the one you should find your identity in, not in your work. God commanded the Israelites to remember the Sabbath every week.

The Discipline of Sabbath is not just about rest, but an opportunity to refocus regularly on God as the one we worship! It is a constant reminder that we live for God, not for our work. We are to find our identity in Him, not in our work.

View your work as working for Jesus, to honour him, and to use it as a witness to Him.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Train Yourself to Be Godly #4: The Spiritual Practice of Prayer

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*Training yourself to be godly will include intentional prayer.

It is easy to worry. We all face things that are out of our control, whether it’s the state of the world that we see in the news or the health conditions of loved ones. We don’t have to look far to realize that we do not control most things in life. This may cause us to worry, but scripture suggests an alternative.

Look at the words of Philippians 4:6-7,

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

We are encouraged not to worry or be anxious about anything. Anything seems to, well, include everything. There is nothing worth worrying about. It won’t help us anyway, even if we do.

Instead, we are to pray and pray about everything. We should have nothing to worry about and everything to pray about. Everything. That means that everything we can think of or imagine can be prayed about. We should pray for those suffering with cancer and for persecuted Christians, and for our work situation or relationships, and even a parking spot or finding the right Birthday present for our spouse.

The verse continues, “tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

God wants us to communicate our need to him. He wants us to ask for help. And he wants us to thank him for what he has done for us. This helps explain what praying for everything means as prayer includes both asking for help and thanking God for all the help he has already given. That covers everything, doesn’t it?

The verse goes on to explain the peace we can have as we bring everything to God. His peace can become a guard for our hearts and minds so that we continue to experience his worry-free peace. This peace comes from “living in Christ Jesus.” We need to continue to remain connected to Jesus if we want to have peace.

As a child, I enjoyed flying a kite, watching it get smaller and smaller as I let out the string. One day, the string came off my spool. I no longer had control of the kite. What happens to a kite that is not anchored to the person flying it? The wind may blow it for a while, but it will eventually drop to the ground. The kite is only flying free in the wind when it is anchored to its master. We are only able to fly free in the winds of life if we remain anchored to our Master, and that anchoring, that string that ties us to him is our prayer.

We need a consistent and intentional prayer life, a plan for how we will pray, if we are to train ourselves to be godly or remain connected to the God we serve. If we want to train ourselves to become more like God, we must engage in the spiritual practice of prayer. This means that I will be intentional, not just to pray for meals or to say a prayer before I go to sleep, but to pray intentionally and about specific things and even in specific ways.

I would suggest you make a prayer plan. When will you pray? What will you pray about? And then ask God to speak as you pray.

As you regularly talk with God, he will help you become more like Him.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Spiritual Training Series #1: Train Yourself to be Godly

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Imagine you just received a baby picture from friends who just had a baby. What if they sent you a picture every year? What if you are like me and don’t clean your fridge very often? As you put up the picture from year five, you notice the picture from the first announcement. And then you realize there has been very little change. The baby is still hardly any bigger and doesn’t seem to have developed much. Unfortunately, there are some children who do not mature the way we expect, who never crawl or walk or communicate. This makes us sad because a baby needs to grow.

As followers of Jesus, we need to grow, too.

1 Timothy 4:7 says “train yourself to be godly”.

Philippians 2:12 says “work out your salvation”.

We are to become more “godly” or Christ-like. We are to continue to grow and develop spiritually to become a better expression of the image of God as we were created to be, according to Genesis 1:27.

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he crated them.

Genesis 1:27

This is not just about our own hard work though. In Colossians 1:29, the Apostle Paul writes: “I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.” Yes we are to train ourselves and work out our salvation and struggle. We have a part to play in our spiritual development, but this is never something we do no our own. Like Paul we can depend on “Christ’s mighty power that works within me”.

We can and should do our part. It may be that we choose to practice some of the Spiritual Disciplines that Christians have practiced throughout history. This includes prayer, scripture reading, fasting, sabbath, generosity, and so on. As we practice these disciplines, we make an effort to do our part as we invite the Holy Spirit to do His work in us to make us a little more like Jesus.

Whatever training we want to instill in our lives, we do need to train ourselves to become godly. For this to be a priority in our lives, we need to intentionally prepare a training schedule or plan. When will you read the Bible, and what will you read? When will you pray, and what will you include in your prayer time? When will you choose to fast, and what kind of fast? How will you practice generosity, and so on?

Think back to the time when you first became a believer in Jesus. We could say you were a baby Christian. What would that picture have looked like if your heavenly Father had taken a picture and hung it on his fridge in heaven? What would a picture he took this year look like? As I look back 51 years, to the time He could have taken my “spiritual baby” picture,  I trust that my picture – the me that God sees – would give evidence of much spiritual growth and maturity. Maybe the picture would not just include me, but other people around me who have come to know Jesus or been impacted for Jesus by me.

I pray that you are intentionally pursuing Jesus and looking for ways to grow toward every fuller spiritual maturity.

Keep on looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Persistent Prayer

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Believers have the wonderful privilege of talking to their God. We can pray and expect that God hears us. We can pray and expect that God will speak to us as we listen. What a privilege!

Many believers pray. May churches have prayer meetings and prayer in their services. But how long do we pray? Do we pray once and then go on with life? Or do we continue in prayer until we hear from God?

One day, Jesus told a story:

“There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” – Luke 18: 1-8

Jesus uses this story to show the value of persistence in prayer. A persistent  resulted in the intervention of a judge who “neither feared God nor cared about people”. The judge finally gave in and helped the woman because of her persistence.

Jesus applies this story to the Christian life: “So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?” (Luke 18:8)

Jesus wants us to understand the value of persistence in prayer – not to have a reluctant judge or a reluctant God respond – but because we have a God who is much better than a reluctant judge. God loves us more than that reluctant judge. He wants to help his people; he honours those who persist in prayer.

Jesus continues in verse 9, “I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly!”

Jesus wants his disciples to recognize God’s willingness to answer prayer and encourages them to keep on praying and not to give up. As followers of Christ today, we can similarly apply this message in our lives and persist in prayer.

Unless you have a clear answer from God, continue praying. The Apostle Paul wrote about a problem he had that he wanted God to clear up. He describes how he persisted in prayer three times and then stopped. “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12: 8-9) Paul didn’t stop praying until he heard God’s answer.

Keep praying until you get an answer from God. Persist in prayer.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Preaching to a Summer Crowd

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Preaching to a summer crowd can be a different experience from preaching throughout the rest of the year. Often, the attendance is lower. Sometimes family, friends, and unexpected guests visit. Many regular attendees may be away camping or on vacation on several Sundays so that the crowd may vary each week.

Preaching is not just a monologue. Speakers tend to feed off the crowd, at least to some extent. If you notice one or two people dozing in the audience, your energy can drop; whereas if you see a few people smiling and nodding or fully engaged in what you are saying, your energy can increase. Preachers are also affected by the size of their audience; it’s just a fact. It’s not so much about how big the crowd is but how big it is in comparison to what you expect or what you are used to. If you are used to speaking to a congregation of 200 people, there is a natural let-down when you see there are only ninety people in the audience. If you are used to eighty people and there are only forty some on a given Sunday, you notice.

How can you preach with the same passion and joy throughout the summer?

Remember, God has a message for those present, no matter how many there are.

Pastor, you have prepared your sermon all week. You have been praying and listening to God as you have done your studying and writing. When you arrive on Sunday, you have the message ready that those in attendance need to hear. Yes, it would be nice if all the members of the church were present and heard this sermon you worked so hard on, but trust that the people who are to hear this message you prepared for this Sunday will be present.

Plan stand-alone sermons.

Many pastors like to preach a series from the Psalms during the summer because each Psalm is a separate unit and does not build on previous information the same way many of the other books of the Bible do. Summer may be a time to preach more topically. Choose some topics that speak to concerns in the church or the culture. Announce them ahead of time so that those who want to hear a certain sermon can plan their vacations and camping trips so that they can be present.

Experiment with something new in your preaching.

Summer may be the time for you to try something different. Things already feel different because many people are gone and the numbers are down, so people may be open to something different in the sermon as well. If you have never used an object lesson as part of your sermon, the summer may be the time to try it. A few weeks ago, I preached a sermon on Psalm 150 about how we are to praise God and to do it loudly. I handed out a variety of cheap noisemakers at the end of the sermon, inviting the congregation to use them as we would practice some loud praise. I invited them to shout out the names of God, so we could praise God for who He is. And then as I read the list of names, everyone made their loud noise. Pastor, maybe it’s time to bring out the kazoos.

Invite a member to share a testimony as part of the sermon.

Sometimes, when you are preparing a sermon, you will think of someone in the church who has a great story to tell that would reinforce the point you are making. Prepare the one sharing their story so they keep it to the point and share the part of their story that fits with the sermon you are preaching. Include a member or two in your sermon.

Remember that everyone who comes to church on that Sunday deserves the best you can offer as a preacher. Do not focus on who is absent, but determine to give your best for the ones who are present. Don’t be afraid to change things up a bit and experiment. And find joy in your preaching to the summer crowd.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe