The Art of Questioning

From Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis...

"...A question by its very nature acknowledges that the person asking the question does not have all of the answers.  And because the person does not have all of the answers, they are looking outside of themselves for answers.  

Questions bring freedom.  Freedom that I don't have to be God and I don't have to pretend that I have it all figured out.  I can let God be God.  

In the book of Genesis, God tells Abraham what He is going to do with Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham fires back, "Will not the Ruler of the earth do right?"

Abraham thinks that God is in the wrong and the proposed action is not in line with who God is, and Abraham questions Him about it.  Actually, they get into a sort of bargaining discussion in which Abraham doesn't let up.  He keeps questioning God.  And God not only doesn't get angry, but He seems to engage Abraham all the more.  

Maybe that is who God is looking for - people who don't just sit there and mindlessly accept whatever comes their way...

Central to the Christian experience is the art of questioning God.  Not belligerent, arrogant questions that have no respect for our maker, but naked, honest, vulnerable, raw questions, arising out of the awe that comes from engaging the living God...

The great Abraham Joshua Heschel once said, "I did not ask for success, I asked for wonder."  

Learning from Leaders

Some members of our team were talking yesterday about the privilege we have in regularly spending time with a leader of the calibre of Steve Penny.  In comparison, a number of people on staff at Hillsong Church have never had a one-on-one conversation with Brian Houston!

However, more important than simply having time with great leaders is learning to effectively use the time with them that you are given.  In his book The 360 Degree Leader, John Maxwell shares seven things you can do to maximize your time with someone you wish to learn from.

1. Invest ten minutes in preparation for every minute you spend with them

2. Don’t make them think for you

- don't expect them to solve your problems

- always present possible solutions for any problems posed

3. Bring something to the table

- take something that you think they will find enjoy, e.g. a gift, a book, a box of chocolates!

- have an attitude to enrich them, instead of expecting them to simply enrich you

- the people you learn from should be strengthened by your visit

4. When asked to speak, don’t wing it

- do your homework and know your stuff

- some people talk because they have to say something, others talk because they have something to say

5. Learn to speak the language of your leader

6. Get to the bottom line

- if they given you an assignment they don’t want to hear the details of how you completed it, they want to know the results

- cut to the chase and clearly communicate the facts

7. Give a return on your leaders investment     

For instance:

"Here’s what you said last time we met"

"Here’s what I learnt from you"

"Here’s what I did with what I learnt from you"

"Did I do it right?"

"So can I now ask you more questions?"

- If you can remind someone of advice they gave you 12 months ago, it speaks greatly of the value which you place upon their advice and their time.

I'm big - comparatively

From the Daily Mail:

"At just 2ft 9in, Indian muscleman Aditya 'Romeo' Dev is the world's smallest bodybuilder.

Pint-sized Romeo is well-known in his hometown of Phagwara, India - for his ability to lift 1.5kg dumbbells - despite his overall 9kg body weight.

Every day, crowds flock to the local gym to the see the mini-muscleman in training."

For the full article (and more pictures!) click here.

On Prayer

Ask any Christian if they believe that prayer is powerful and the answer will be an enthusiastic 'yes!'  Ask the same person how their prayer life is going and the answer is not always so enthusiastic.

Here are five things that may hinder us from an effective prayer life.

1. Disbelief

Hebrews 11:6 says '...he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.'  Therefore there are three beliefs that are foundational for our prayer lives: 

A.   God is Approachable - '...he who comes to God'

- why would I pray to a God who I don't believe I am able to access?

B.  God is God - '...must believe that He is'

- why would I pray to a God who does not have the power to answer my prayer?

C. God is Good - '...He is a rewarder...'

- why would I pray to a God who I believe wants to harm me?

2. Disengagement

Just as a motionless car requires no fuel and a retired soldier requires no weapon, so too a faithless Christian requires no prayer.  When I am not taking steps of faith in response to the call of God on my life I have no need to pray.  Faith fuels prayer.  

3. Disappointment 

Disappointment has been defined as 'Dissatisfaction that arises when hopes are not realized'  If I believe that my TV is not working, I become dissatisfied with it and discard it.  So too, when a person believes that their prayers are not working, they become dissatisfied and discard it from their life.  In such times we can forget that 'no' or 'not yet' are reasonable answers at God's disposal.  

4. Distraction

Have you noticed that whenever you come to pray, suddenly a thousand things come to mind that vie for your attention?  Considering that 'traction' is what propels me forward, if I was the devil I would be eager to 'dis' your traction and keep your prayer life stagnant.  

That's why Jesus taught us to pray in our room with the door shut (Matt 6:6), stilling ourselves from the racket of life.  On this thought Charles Spurgeon writes, “Quietude, which some men cannot abide because it reveals their inward poverty, is as a palace of cedar to the wise, for along its hallowed courts the King in his beauty deigns to walk”

5. Disqualification

I'm convinced that guilt is the greatest reason why people do not approach God.  However Hebrews 4:16 encourages us to come boldly to the throne of grace!  When I view God as a 'guilt giver' I will run from Him.  When I view God as a 'grace giver' I will run to Him.  

Charles Finney writes, "Persons never need hesitate, because of their past sins, to approach God with the fullest confidence. If they now repent, and are conscious of fully and honestly returning to God with all their heart, they have no reason to fear being repulsed from the footstool of mercy."

On Action

"Things may come to those who wait, but only what’s left behind by those that hustle."
- Abraham Lincoln

On the Holy Spirit

2 Corinthians 1:22 states that God has 'given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.' 

I like what Rev. David Thomas writes in commentary of this verse: "He who has the Christly life within has already Paradise in germ."

Four Rules of Preaching

I'm looking forward to i61 Conference in January 09, the youth conference hosted by Empire Youth of Kings.  The keynote speaker for the conference has just been confirmed - Kevin Caldwell, Youth Pastor at The Potters House in Dallas with Bishop TD Jakes. 

About two years ago I heard Chris Hill share TD Jakes' four rules of preaching - here's an excerpt...

1. Study Yourself Full

> Know absolutely everything you can about the text you’re speaking on

- when was this text written

  - why was it written

  - who wrote it

  - who was it written to

> Look at the text from the perspective of every person and object.  For example: If preaching on Job, don’t just be Job, be his wife, be his friends, be the boil!

> When approaching a text, don’t speak from what you’ve heard others say about that text.

> Know the text so well that you can live it

2 Timothy 2:15

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

> It only takes one person to stand up and ask a question at the end of your sermon; if you don’t know the answer your credibility is gone. 

> Study one hour for every five minutes you plan to speak

  - i.e. 30 minute sermon, 6 hours study text

2. Think Yourself Clear

> Once you have gathered your information/revelation of the text, you must think your way through it logically

> Points are the skeleton of your sermon upon which you layer the muscle (revelation)

> A sermon with no points is pointless; a sermon with too many points is a porcupine and nobody can handle it

> It’s often difficult to communicate with your mouth what you hear in your heart, therefore say your sermon out loud before you come to preach it

 

3. Pray Yourself Hot

> Prayer burns you hot with passion

> Prayer gets the sermon from your head to your heart

> Prayer gives you a burden for the people

> If I’m not red hot about it before I speak, I have not prayed enough

> Pray for one hour for every five minutes you plan to speak

 

4. Let Yourself Go 

> We have a generation that is looking for people to keep it real.  One of the characteristics of a postmodern generation is that they want things real.  

> "Preacher, don’t cover up, smile, and pretend that your life is perfect.  If you’re perfect, I don’t want to listen to you because my life is not perfect and I cannot relate to you." 

> Any speaker you enjoy shows you that they are a real person

> Only when you’re transparent will the light of Jesus shine through you.

> Preaching is the process of unzipping yourself and letting people see your guts.  Let people see your raw emotions, let them see that you have highs and lows.

> When you get up to speak, let everything that’s burning inside of you come out and don’t worry about how you look or what people are thinking.

> When you have diligently studied your text, given your sermon structure, and prayed yourself hot, only then can you let yourself go

Homiletics with Hitler

In the realm of public speaking, few people in modern history could persuasively capture an audience like Adolf Hitler.

On Hitler's oratory skills, Geoffrey Blainey writes:

"His disciplined appearance, his black hair brushed flat across the forehead, and his homely conversation at private occasions seemed to mark him as a restrained individual - until he mounted a public platform and shouted into the microphone.  Whereupon the lamb became the tiger.  He could speak with fervour for an hour, even two hours, not a note in front of him.  He spoke with such energy that sweat poured from him.  The sweat he replaced with mineral water, pure German water, sometimes consumed at the rate of more than a dozen small bottles during one speech.

Guided by a voice coach he improved his gestures and his oratory, adding a rasping eloquence to a natural frenzy.  On the platform he displayed magnetism as well as blind rage.  He fired up his audiences, and in turn their alternations of reverent silence and enthusiastic applause inspired him.  It was as if the mood of a pop concert - a phenomenon not yet known - was taking over the once dignified theatre of German political life." 

Excerpt from "A Short History of the 20th Century" by Geoffrey Blainey.

Valentine's Note

For all romantics - J. John writes an interesting short history behind the Valentine's love note...

Valentine, the priest who Valentine’s Day is named after, was martyred for the godly institution of marriage.

 

The emperor of Rome, Claudius, passed a law banning marriages.  His reason was simple:  men would not volunteer to join his Roman army with wives and fiancées to leave behind.  Valentine knew that God instituted the family and His will included marriages.  So, he kept on performing marriage ceremonies - but in secret.  He would whisper the words of the ceremony, while listening for soldiers on the steps outside.

 

One night, he did hear footsteps.  The couple he was marrying escaped, but he was caught.  He was thrown into prison and sentenced to death. 

 

Valentine remained cheerful while he was in prison and many people came to the prison to visit him.  He even continued to perform marriage ceremonies while he was in prison!  The jailer’s daughter would often visit Valentine in his cell and they sat and talked for hours.  She believed he did the right thing ignoring the Emperor and performing marriage ceremonies. 

 

On the day Valentine was to die he left this girl a note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty.  He signed it, “Love from your Valentine”.  That note, written on the day Valentine died –  February 14th, 269 AD – started the custom of exchanging love notes on St Valentine’s Day.

As compelling as the story is, a number of men in our office insist that Valentines Day is a pagan ritual.  Therefore as good Christian husbands they are determined that this Valentines Day, their wives will be shielded from such ungodly practices. 

She Said Yes

I nervously strung together some sentences, concluding with a question.  

Sarah Louise Brooke said 'yes'.  

We're getting married on Saturday April 26th! 

Tag

I have been thrust into a game of 'blog tag' courtesy of James Mac.  

The rules of the blog tag are this: 1. Pick up the nearest book; 2. Turn to page 123; 3. Post the 6th, 7th & 8th sentences on your blog.

Now I must admit I have just put down 'Destined to Reign' by Joseph Prince, but after turning to page 123 and checking sentences 6,7&8 I have decided to pick a different book.  The three sentences were six words, seven words and eight words in length respectively (which in itself is a cool coincidence!), but that's far too small - I feel ripped off!

In its place the excerpt comes from another book I'm currently reading, 'Spiritual Leadership' by J. Oswald Sanders:

The bracing lesson is that God delights to shut people up to Himself and then, in response to their trust, display his power and grace in doing the impossible.  

In the evangelization of inland China, Hudson Taylor often found himself face to face with such situations.  As a result of his experience he used to say that there were three phases in most great tasks undertaken for God - impossible, difficult, DONE.  

Although I've fulfilled my obligations with this tag, let it be made very clear that I did not create a blog to participate in frivolous cyber games, as they're a waste of time.

Have to go...Meeting someone on 2nd Life. 

Rewarding Work

To me, working in Christian ministry and particularly in a leadership training environment is a huge privilege.  This quote by Daniel Webster expresses why:

If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon mortal minds and instill into them principles, we are engraving that upon tablets which no time will efface, but will brighten and brighten to eternity.