Skip to main content

I am still relevant, BUT GOD......



I am still relevant, BUT GOD......

It has been 15 years since I left my homeland behind because of the fiddling and ranting and raving of a despot and dictator. I became part of a Diaspora who's heart and blood still longs for the sights and sounds and smells of Africa.

BUT GOD, has had other plans and on my sojourn- first in New Zealand and now in the United Kingdom I have learnt many new things. It has been 15 years of teaching, lecturing and preaching about leadership and  Christian leadership development, values and principles. In that time I have had the great privilege to meet many great men and women of God, people who have spoken into my life and given me great insights. It has also been a time where I have seen brilliant church leadership and very poor church leadership. It has been a time where I have seen human failings and weaknesses in all manner of church leaders both successful and those who are not so successful.

At times during the last 15 years I have wanted to give up on everything, my work, my family, my friends, God and my faith, in fact I came to a point where I just wanted to curl up into a hole in the ground and let the black cloud of depression engulf me. BUT GOD, who promised to never leave me or forsake me has always been there for me. He has never disowned me nor given up on me. So I have never disowned him or given up on him.

In the last 15 years the plans I have made have not always worked or come to fruition BUT GOD's, plan has always been in the forefront of my mind, even though at times I cannot see it.

2014 for me has been both a rewarding year and a year of frustration where I have questioned the relevance of what I am saying and as to whether anyone is listening. I believe that 2015 will be a year of change but I still believe that the vision that God has given me (I am feeling a bit like Caleb at this point), it's mission and plan the values and beliefs are still the same, they are relevant: The church needs to focus on its mission to tell their world that Jesus is Lord and that he died and shed his blood for them. And the church needs great leadership to see the mission accomplished. BUT GOD, is still in control.

Enjoy your New Year celebration because 2015 will be busy there is a land to conquer a message to spread and change to embrace.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The myth of Ministry Leadership.

The myth that all leaders are leaders. Not everyone who leads in church is a leader. I think it is wrong, for Church leaders to believe that those they train up to take various ministry leadership positions, are in fact leaders in their own right. They are not. At best I would categorise these people- that many churches call 'ministry leaders' as ministry managers.                 "At one level there is nothing wrong with title inflation; it is a cheap way of recognising people who work hard and make serious contributions" Jo Owen. I am of the opinion that this title inflation undervalues both the leader and the ' ministry manager' and can often bring about confusion and mismatched expectations. Many churches have ministry training evenings for their volunteers. Many use the reason for this training is "to make a person a better leader," when in fact the only thing actually happening is that th...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 1970's Christian Coffee Shop

I remember as a new Christian being invited into a Christian Coffee shop in the town where I grew up. It was clean and tidy, the table tops were all brightly painted in different colours,  but mainly yellow and scattered on top were a random selection of Christian tracts. Fish symbols and Christian posters proclaiming that there was but 'One Way' to heaven were everywhere. The music playing out of the stereo was The Bill Gather Trio or Dolly Parton singing Gospel. The crockery, was a mixed assortment of coffee mugs, donated by keen supporters of this outreach to the unsaved sinners and ungodly people living in the city. The coffee was a local brand heavily mixed with chicory. In all the years the Coffee Shop operated, I never saw a non-Christian go in and I never heard of a person coming to faith through having coffee there. I never really understood its purpose. Fast forward to today, when I was asked recently, to advise on helping a local community church open a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Playing well with others.

Today's rambling. Looking over some of my old school reports the other day and was amused at how some of the comments, that teachers made about me have shaped my life and in many respects made me who I am today. One teacher wrote that I didn’t play well with others, I was 5 at the time maybe I had an excuse. Another teacher in my high school years, the wood working teacher or wood shop teacher for my American friends wrote; “If you value your life you will keep him away from power tools and other dangerous equipment. I can’t remember why he wrote this, obviously I did something that made him fear for his life. Today as an adult I have to say that I don’t do well in committees, for most of my life I have been self- employed. I have steadfastly stayed away from power tools and other wood working equipment, basically anything that can cut something off and is a danger to life and limb. Over the last 10 years I have been looking at and teaching about Emotional Intelligence ...
Post a Comment
Read more