musings on life and leadership by randy and joleen willis.

March is a big month for college basketball fans. Locally, the madness will include playing for a great cause. On Saturday (3/31), area youth in grades 6-12 will join together for an evening of sports activity in order to raise money for Nothing But Nets. The event will take place at the Juniata Valley High School gym (pending school board approval), 7:00-10:00 pm.

The United Methodist Church was invited to be one of five founding partners of the campaign, along with NBA Cares, Sports Illustrated, Mark J. Gordon Foundation, and United Nations Foundation.

We need nets! Not hoop nets, soccer nets or lacrosse nets. Not New Jersey Nets or dot-nets or clarinets. We need mosquito nets. Nearly 3,000 kids die each day in Africa from malaria. According to the World Health Organization, transmission of the disease would be reduced by 60% with the use of mosquito nets and prompt treatment for the infected. It costs $10 to ship and install an insecticide-coated net.

Area youth are raising funds for the 3/31 event, asking friends and family members to make a donation to help save lives!

It’s now "crunch time" as we near our first big deadline for our dissertation projects — Friday, 16 March 2007. T-minus 7 days!

We had hoped to be further along than we are but we think we’re still within range of meeting this deadline. 3/16 isn’t actually a hard and fast deadline; it’s more of a guideline. But we’re hoping to get pretty close. Most of our spare time, including our day off on Monday, will be devoted to this task. This first deadline is very important. Getting behind at this stage will force us to play catch up, so we want to stay on track as much as we can.

For this first deadline, we are to submit a rough draft of chapters 1-3 of our dissertation projects. We both have written rough drafts of chapter 1 and are working on chapter 2, which is a pretty intense review of literature related to our topics. The plan, at the moment, is to be pretty well done by Saturday (3/17), and to mail them out on Monday (3/19), after our home visit with the social worker from our adoption agency.

After we submit this first assignment, we’ll continue researching current literature. Over the next few months, we’ll work on polishing the first three chapters, in preparation of a "proposal hearing" later this summer.

One of our next big steps will involve putting together a Research Reflection Team, a group of 4-8 people from our local churches who will meet with us nine times during the rest of the year, to help us process our research and offer feedback along the way. We expect these groups to get started shortly after Easter.

Well, we’ll post our next dissertation progress report after we complete this first leg of the journey! We will try to say more about our specific topics in that report as well.

Each year, the Juniata Valley Ministerium conducts weekly Community Lenten services from Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday. Each week, we gather in a different church so that most pastors get to host one service and speak in one service (outside their own church).

Tonight, I spoke at the Water Street Evangelical Church. This year we developed a series focusing on several prominent Old Testament stories. I had the opportunity to talk about Abraham, specifically his call.

I had looked forward to this message for several weeks; it was a fun message to share!

When I start out on a journey, I like to know where I’m headed! Normally, I’ll go to mapquest.com, input my starting and ending points, click submit, and get detailed, turn-by-turn directions to where I’m going.

But I’m not sure what Joleen and I were thinking when we moved to
PA! We had been married for a year-and-a-half and had just finished
seminary when we loaded up a Ryder truck and headed for North East, PA.
We were going there to pastor a church, but we didn’t yet have a place
to live! It turned out okay but it was a scary few days. I can’t
imagine doing that again; the things you do when you’re young!

We like to know where we’re headed, don’t we? Whether it’s a road
trip or in life! But, in life anyway, we don’t always know!
Fortunately, we can learn a lot from people in the Bible because they
didn’t always know where the journey was taking them, either. One such
traveler was Abraham.

Read Genesis 12.1-9. God told Abraham to “Leave your native country, your
relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will
show you." And at 75 years old, here’s what Abraham did: he "departed
as the Lord had instructed."

God-followers are mobile followers!

Abraham, up in years, was mobile enough to follow God wherever he
led. Fast forward 24 years, Abraham is still waiting. In Genesis 17,
God renews his covenant with Abraham, who’s now 99 years old: “I am  ..
God Almighty. Serve me faithfully and live a
blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will
guarantee to give you countless descendants” (Genesis 17.1-2).

Abraham is still waiting, but he’s still mobile, he’s still
traveling! Fast forward another, I don’t know, 10-15 years. By this
time, Isaac has been born, and you’d think Abraham is ready to settle
down. But in Genesis 22, Abraham, 110-115 years old, and "God tested
Abraham’s faith." Hasn’t the guy been through enough already? Hasn’t
his faith been tested enough, hasn’t his character been developed
enough? Apparently not. God tests him once again.

Notice Abraham’s response, though. After God asks Abraham to
sacrifice his son, Isaac. The writer of Genesis reports, "The next
morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took
two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac."

What a great response. Abraham was mobile at 75; he’s still a mobile follower 35-40 years later!

How mobile are you?

Got your traveling bag packed? Here are several essentials I think I’d want to include:

• Bible – we need God’s Word
• Compass – Jesus is our true north!
• Hiking Boots – the terrain isn’t always easy
• Climbing Rope – God has a thing for mountains!
• Trail Mix and a water bottle – Jesus is the bread of life and the living water – God knows we’d need nourishment!
• Dramamine – Jesus liked to take his followers out on the open seas which weren’t always so accommodating!
• Mobile phone – appropriately named, to stay in contact with others!

What would it look like if we had faith like Abraham?

A writer in the New Testament writes, "It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home
and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He
went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the
land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a
foreigner, living in tents" (Hebrews 11.8-9a).

What would it look like if our homes, neighborhoods, workplaces,
schools, churches were filled with God-followers who were mobile
followers?

I want my legacy, our legacy, to be like Abraham’s legacy: "He was
fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises." (Romans
4.21)

O God, thank you for Abraham. He certainly wasn’t perfect; he did
a lot of dumb things along the trip. But he hung in there and endured
till the end. And through it all, he was mobile. Whenever you called
him to do something or to go somewhere, he packed his traveling bag and
went without delay! Help us to be mobile followers, too, God, so that
we will always go where you send us, whether it’s around the world or
across the room! May we go without delay! Amen.

Yesterday I received my copy of the March/April 2007 issue of Interpreter Magazine (a publication of the United Methodist Church) in the mail. The cover story caught my attention: "Changing Communities, Changing Churches."

There are some great stories about United Methodist churches that, faced with the challenge of changing communities, chose to make the changes that are necessary to be effective in ministry in the 21st century.

I love Bishop John R. Schol’s comments about "healthy disruption":

Church people tend to shy away from disruption.

"We want everybody in the church to be happy," a church member once
said to me. This is shocking, because Jesus was one of the most
disruptive people who ever lived. He turned the religious world upside
down. His disruption caused Him to wind up on a cross. We fail to make
the connection between healthy disruption and the life of Jesus.

Yes!
That reminds me of a message I shared last year on the difference
between peacekeepers and peacemakers. Peacekeepers want to make
everyone happy. But peacemakers, who know "healthy disruption" is
required, want to make everyone healthy!

A sobering statement from the feature article …

Some
congregations embrace change as an exciting challenge; others wish it
would just go away. Behind it all stands one big question: Will
churches reach out to new neighbors, or will they shrink and die?

"The potential exists for a large number of church closings in the
coming years," says the Rev. Sam Dixon, who leads the evangelization
and church growth staff of the General Board of Global Ministries.

This happens when an aging church is unable to replenish its rolls
with newcomers, perhaps out of fear of a changing neighborhood, and its
finances and hopes decline, Dixon says. In many instances, clergy
members of past generations were trained for pastoral care, focusing on
their flocks, rather than as outward-looking evangelists and community
organizers.

It’s our choice. We can view the need
for change as something to be avoided, or we can view it as an
opportunity and challenge to be excited about. Not only must churches
change the way they do church, pastors also must change the way they
lead. Pastors who minister primarily to members must learn to lead and
equip  their churches to do ministry in the world.

There are some great stories of United Methodist churches that chose
to change in this edition of Interpreter. I encourage you to check them
out. The reality is, we are never immune to the need for change. We
either change or we die!

The next big step in our adoption process is the home visit by a social worker from our adoption agency. We recently scheduled this visit for Monday, 19 March 2007!

This visit will cover many details about the rest of the process and will get us started on completing the ton of paperwork that is required as well as making sure we’re suitable parents, I suppose.

We also expect to settle on a country from which to adopt. We’re mostly settled now, but we’ll save that announcement for a little later, once we’re more certain.

Look for our next report after 3/19!

I have been waiting for a while to see the movie, Amazing Grace, which opened in theaters last Friday (2/23). We decided to watch it today on our day off. It was worth the wait!

The movie, which tells the story of William Wilberforce’s campaign to end slavery in England, was very well done. Wilberforce, a member of the House of Commons, was influenced by former slave trader, John Newton, who experienced a radical change of heart and went on to write one of the most important hymns in the Christian tradition, "Amazing Grace," from which the movie gets its name, of course.

Not only was the story well communicated, there was a strong faith
element, without being overdone or done poorly. It was also a very
inspiring movie. Wilberforce
was an example of someone who did the right thing even though it was
incredibly hard. He fought for something that very view people agreed
with and even fewer people were willing to stand up for. It wasn’t easy
for him to do so, but he persevered against all odds, and somehow, he
found the courage
to fight the battle against human trafficking. And the world is better
because of it!

Interestingly, I checked out the weekend’s box office numbers and "Amazing Grace" came in at #10 in its first weekend at the box office. That’s not so good UNTIL
you realize that the movie only opened in an unbelievably low 791
theaters! Even more interesting, the movie’s per-theater
ticket sales was right up there with the top two movies, but those
movies appeared in FIVE times as many theaters. Needless to say, I’m very surprised, and disappointed, that
"Amazing Grace" only opened in 791 theaters. It’s a movie that everyone needs to see!

Earlier tonight, Joleen and I attended the "How Great is Our God" tour concert at the Bryce Jordan Center on the Penn State campus in State College, PA. Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman (worship leaders) and guest speaker, Louie Giglio, offered an amazing 3-hour worship experience!

I enjoy Tomlin and Redman’s worship music, and Louie is a gifted communicator. There were several things that impacted me. Here are some of them …

Knowing the story behind Matt Redman’s song, “Heart of Worship” (as told by Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life), it was especially nice to experience the long live!

The first song to really capture my attention, though, was Redman’s song, “You Never Let Go.” The chorus says …

Oh no, you never let go, through the calm and through the storm, oh no, you never let go, in every high and every low, oh no, you never let go; Lord, you never let go of me.” Good stuff! (You can read the complete song lyrics here.)

One of my favorite segments was the singing of Tomlin’s new arrangement of “Amazing Grace” (following Louie’s message). The movie, “Amazing Grace,” which also opened in theaters tonight, includes Tomlin’s version of the great hymn. In fact, if it were not for the concert, we would have gone to see the movie tonight. But it was really awesome to experience this song on the opening night of the movie, too! I was especially moved by the words …

My chains are gone, I’ve been set free, my God my Savior has ransomed me, and like a flood his mercy reigns, unending love, amazing grace.

Tomlin’s song, “Indescribable,” is a great song about God. It’s full of powerful words and descriptors of God. The word that grabbed my heart tonight was the word “untamable.” God is untamable. We have a tendency to try to tame God, to shape God in our own image, to bring God down to our level. But God cannot be tamed! He is a big, awesome, and incredible God!

Louie Giglio’s message was amazing. As a preacher/communicator, I had been looking forward to Louie’s message as much as the music, and I was not disappointed! It’s hard to put into words, but Louie’s message, which expanded my view and awe of God, talked about four specific stars in the universe. Louie demonstrated in convincing ways that the earth is a speck in the universe, yet God cares about and is intimately acquainted with every one of us!

And believe it or not, I even thought about my dissertation during the concert. But I need some more time to chew on those things before writing about them, which I hope to do later.

Well, we had looked forward to this concert for a long time. It was definitely worth the wait!

The first leg of the journey completed! Last evening, we along with five other families, completed the four group sessions. They consisted of one all-day session and three evening sessions. Some of the topics we covered were the adoption process, positive adoption language, medical information, bonding and attachment, discipline, loss and grieving, and the search for racial identity. It was good to get to know other families who are entering this process.

The next step will be the home visit! It will be an all-day visit to our home by the social worker. We both completed a questionnaire and wrote an autobiography in preparation for this meeting. Our social worker will help us discover from what country we will adopt. And this will determine the paperwork trail that lies ahead. We will be contacted in a couple of weeks to schedule this meeting.

Recently, Rev. Dr. Tom Salsgiver, wrote an editorial for our conference publication called, "Keepers of the Aquarium or Fishers of People." The article got my leadership juices flowing and I started thinking specifically about pastoral leadership in a "fishers of people" context.

Both pieces were distributed as a bulletin insert a couple of weeks ago, but I thought I’d post my thoughts here, too. I hope this gives you a clearer sense of why both Joleen and I are committed to being transformational leaders in "fishers of people" contexts.

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Pastoral Leadership In a “Fishers of People” Context
By Randy Willis

Tom Salsgiver recently wrote an article challenging congregations to
evaluate themselves to determine whether they are “keepers of the
aquarium” or “fishers of people.”

Keepers of the aquarium “care more about their members than those
outside the church” while fishers of people understand that their
mission is “to bring in those who are unchurched.” There is a world of
difference between these two sets of values. “How you answer that
question,” Tom concludes, “will determine whether you live – or die” as
a congregation. I believe we must be a “fishers of people” community!

The article has caused me to reflect on what pastoral leadership
might look like in a “fishers of people” context. Tom notes that
expectation of pastoral leadership is very different in the two types
of congregations. In keepers of the aquarium settings, pastors are
expected to be “personal chaplains for their members,” taking care of
the members. In “fishers of people” settings, pastors are free to lead
the church to transform their communities for Christ.

How might a leader in a “fishers of people” context use his or her
time? I believe leaders must prioritize their time, giving primary
attention to the following areas …

• Cultivating one’s own spiritual growth and development. Leaders cannot be catalysts for spiritual transformation in others if they are not being spiritually transformed themselves!
• Developing one’s own leadership gifts. Leaders must be learners!
• Investing adequate time in sermon prep for sermons that are transformational, not just informational. Life change is a core value for transformational leaders!
• Growing a leadership culture in the local church. Transformational leaders don’t lead alone; they know it takes a crew to complete a mission!

These four areas should ideally comprise most of the pastor’s time.
Remaining time may be used for various ministry projects,
administrative tasks, meetings, emergency pastoral care (routine
visitation would take place as able with the majority of visitation
being handled by members), as well as involvement beyond the local
church (community, district, conference, etc.).

The Church is God’s means to bring God’s hope and transformation to
the world. In order for that to happen, leaders must lead their
congregations to be “fishers of people”!

Today, we concluded our series on “Navigating Life: Doing Life God’s Way!” We believe it was an important series; we certainly hope that it was helpful for the hrist followers in our congregations!

We don’t always collaborate on our sermon series, but this series grew out of a conversation we had while traveling to Tennessee on Christmas morning to visit my family. We think this series was important because we believe that we will either do life God’s way (intentionally) or we will simply drift through life. And there are few things more sad than someone who drifts through life, lost at sea!

Using sailing imagery, we began the series with “Setting the Course.” Asking “Where are you headed?” we looked at John 14.1-6.

Joleen said, “Let’s journey with Jesus,” and Randy focused on trust saying, “It takes trust to do life with God!” Randy challenged listeners to think about the areas of their lives where they need totrust God, and then to release those areas to God.

Our second message was a lot of fun. We talked about “GPS” and asked, “How will you get to where you’re going?” But instead of talking about a Global Positioning System, but God’s Positioning System. Taking our cue from Deuteronomy 6.4-9, Joleen said, “Let’s journey with Scripture, a prayerful approach wherethe Holy Spirit speaks through the Words.” She challenged listeners to consider places where they could put Scripture so that it would be afrequent reminder of God. Randy’s message was, “When we make God thecenter of our lives we are more equipped to do life God’s way!” Randy encouraged listeners to develop their own, unique navigational system incorporating the spiritual disciplines, particularly prayer and Scripture.We divided the next two messages in the series.

Joleen took “Expect Delays,” asking, “What will you do when you encounter obstacles?” Randy took “The Crew” which asked the question, “Who are you traveling with?”After preaching those messages in our respective congregations, we traded places and shared the same messages with each other’s congregations the following week.

Joleen, after reading Matthew 8.23-27 noted that, “Storms will come, but Jesus is in the boat, so you’llweather the storm with a little faith.” Randy’s message, coming from Romans 12.1-8, stated that, “It takes a crew to complete a mission!” Randy challenged listeners to begin asking God what their function in the church might be, and to also begin asking others who know them to help them discover their role and gifting in the church.

We wrapped up the series today with a message on “Course Corrections.” We looked at James 1.1-18 and asked, “What do you do when you get off course?” Joleen suggested that listeners “Admit, ask forgiveness, and adjustonce again to Jesus’ path.” She stated that up until we make a commitment, we should ask, “Is this God’s will?” but that once we makethe commitment, we should affirm, “This is God’s will! Life is a discernment process where we are always open to hear God’s voice.

In Randy’s final message, he said, “When you get off course, return!” The inherent meaning behind the word “repent” is “return.” We must return to God and to what God has called us to be. “Ask God to search your heart for areas where you have gone off course,” Randy challenged listeners, “and ask God for wisdom and help to get back oncourse.”We hope that, by God’s grace, you will be able to follow Jesus more effectively from now on as you seek to navigate life and do life God’sway!

Feel free to ask questions or post comments at the end of this post!