Alan Fadling's Blog, page 66

Coronavirus: Processing Your Thoughts and Feelings

We know that you all have been inundated with information about COVID-19 this past week. Our intention in this brief podcast is to come alongside you as you process what is occurring in the world around you, in your community, your home, and especially within yourself.

We care about your mental, emotional and soul well-being and that’s where we will focus today. We hope that what we share can be added to what you are already learning and doing, and that our words will encourage you to relax inside, even in the midst of the unfolding of uncertain circumstances.

The Grace to Abide

In our work, we interact with a lot of weary leaders. They began in the work of God with great passion and enthusiasm, but sometimes the work has begun to feel burdensome and even overwhelming. How does this happen? 

There are a few classic authors I return to often. One is Andrew Murray, who was a late 19th and early 20th century South African pastor and author. This passage from Abide in Christ speaks powerfully to my tired friends: 

“The idea they have of grace is this--that their conversion and pardon are God's work, but that now, in gratitude to God, it is their work to live as Christians, and follow Jesus. There is always the thought of a work that has to be done, and even though they pray for help, still the work is theirs. They fail continually, and become hopeless; and the despondency only increases the helplessness. 

“No, wandering one; as it was Jesus who drew you when He [said] ‘Come,’ so it is Jesus who keeps you when He says ‘Abide.’ The grace to come and the grace to abide are alike from Him alone. That word Come, heard, meditated on, accepted, was the cord of love that drew you [near]; that word Abide is even so the band with which He holds you fast and binds you to Himself.” (Murray, Andrew. Abide in Christ. Fort Washington: Christian Literature Crusade, 1968, p. 23.)

One of the messages I was given many years ago came from one of my mentors, Wayne Anderson. He often said that “Just as surely as we are saved by grace, we live by grace, lead by grace, and serve by grace.” Grace is not just the starting line. It is the entire race. Grace is not just the entry way. It is the whole pathway. 

Jesus invitation to “Come to me” is a gracious gift to be received, embraced and allowed to be very fruitful. His invitation to “Abide in me” is just as gracious a gift to be equally welcomed. The vine is drawing the branch to abide. Our Father, who is the gardener, is tending our lives well. 

For Reflection

What is it looking like these days to stay connected with Christ like a branch draws life from the vine? 
What is helping you? 
What is getting in the way?

Photo by Zack Smith on Unsplash

Podcast 117: Managing Leadership Anxiety (Steve Cuss)

Over the years, one of my great challenges as a leader has been the dynamic of anxiety: my own and the anxiety of those I serve. Too often in the past, anxiety has been an engine that drove my leadership activity.

So I’m glad to be able to share a recent conversation I had with Steve Cuss about his important book, Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs.

Reading from the back cover of Managing Leadership Anxiety, Steve Cuss asks a simple question: “Does anxiety get in the way of your ability to be an effective leader? Is your inability to notice when you and those around you are anxious keeping you “stuck” in chronic unhealthy patterns?” These are the question Steve seeks to answer as he writes.

Just a Pile of Rocks

The image below may look like just a pile of rocks to you. But, to me, it represents a bowlful of treasured memories created with my dad.

Hiking in the woods, fishing in the river, a vacation spot…these were all places where we would pick up a rock or two and add it to our collection. We’d then make a plan, purchase the materials and load up our rock polisher to turn these stones into shiny jewels.

So special was this pile of rocks to me that I would invite visitors to our home to go through the rocks with me. My elementary-school-aged little hand would pull them out one by one, rehashing where I was when I found it…And if you notice right here…doesn’t that spot look like a stag’s head?..This looks like a rock, but it is actually petrified wood…cool, huh?!

With an attentive face and lots of wows and mmmhhhmms, they would enter into the fascination with me. But I can only imagine what everyone was actually thinking, “Why am I looking through, and trying to be excited about, a pile of rocks?”

To me they were fond memories and great discoveries. To others, they were just a pile of rocks.

In Genesis 12, God called Abram and told him, “Go from your country….I will make you into a great nation…” When Abram arrived at Shechem, he built an altar to the Lord. Just a pile of rocks to some, but for Abram, it was an expression of praise to and remembrance of the Lord Who had appeared to him.

Abram then made his way to between Bethel and Ai, and, again, he built an altar and called upon God. A pile of rocks? Oh, so much more.

In Genesis 13, Abram had just given Lot his choice of land. Then Abram heard from God again, ““Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.” Abram’s response? Another pile of rocks made into an altar so he could worship God.

In Genesis 22 we find the most disturbing of altars. Abram, now Abraham, has been instructed to sacrifice his own son, Isaac. This pile of rocks would hold wood and, evidently, his son. As we know, this is a story of Abraham’s heart and of God’s provision. But certainly, at the time, Abraham’s faith was tested to the core.

Each of these altars, these piles of rocks, were symbols of Abraham’s worship of God along his journey.

In your own life, what memories and conversations with God are you collecting? How are you rehearsing your life stories, keeping them fresh? How are you pausing to give thanks and to worship?

To some, these memories may seem like just a “pile of rocks.” But these moments with God were real and meaningful. And you get to treasure them forever.

So, just like my dad and I, I encourage you to keep collecting your rocks (your with God stories). Polish them up, keep them nearby and share them with others.

 

Podcast 116: The New Has Come (Inhaling Grace Audiobook, Part 19)

Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, we are sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode. We pray these might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen.

The Priority of Relationships in Ministry Leadership

I’m always grateful when a reader of one of my books reaches out with a comment or question. Over the weekend, one reader sent this question: 

“On page 107 of An Unhurried Life, you mention the verse Col 4:7-11. I believe that you are saying that we should live as brothers in Christ first, then we live as workers and ministers. I can’t quite see how you are pulling this from this verse. I really would like to hear more of your thoughts on this passage.” 

On that page, what I said was, “Are we living, as Paul implied, first and foremost as brothers [and sisters] in Christ and then fellow workers and fellow ministers (Col 4:7-11)? Does the way we spend our time together reflect these biblical priorities?” 

I can see now that a core belief I’ve come to, thanks in no small part to the gift of some wise mentors in my life, is that when it comes to leadership, relationship-focus precedes work-focus. Listen to some of the phrases in that Colossians 4 passage that I believe support what I was trying to communicate in these lines of the book: 

Tychicus…is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant. 
Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. 
Mark, the cousin of Barnabas…

What I see in this passage is that Paul places a priority of friendship language over fellow-worker language. Tychicus is first a dear brother, then a faithful minister and fellow servant. In other location. Onesimus is only described in terms of friendship. Mark is in family relationship with Barnabas. In our own leadership teams, do we have this much relationship language in the way we talk about or to one another? 

Elsewhere, Paul describes Epaphroditus as “my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger (Phil 2:25).” I don’t think the order of these phrases is accidental. In other words, when it comes to the ministry leadership teams in which we work (or even lead), we are first family who happen to work together. We are not first workers who happen to be family. 

I take from this that a healthy ministry leadership community will learn to ask brother/sister questions first, then ministry/leadership questions. 

If we meet first at the level of ministry and leadership, and assume or presume the reality of our first being brothers and sisters in Christ, I think we are getting the dynamics of God’s kingdom backwards and upside-down. We are turning our secondary identity as fellow-workers with God and one another into a primary one, and we are forgetting that our primary identity is being beloved sons and daughters of God in relationship with one another. 

I wrote about this because it happens more often than it should, and it does harm to the lasting fruitfulness of the work of God among us. In the kingdom, we meet first at the level of the people of God, and from that place of mutual love and encouragement, we serve together in the work to which our heavenly Father has called us. 

For Reflection

Are you part of a ministry team, paid or volunteer? What are the first topics of conversation among you when you meet? 
Have you learned Paul’s priority of relationship first? In what tangible ways do you see this value being played out among you? 
What next step could you take to move even further in this holy, healthy direction? 

Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash

Podcast 115: Becoming an Ordinary Mystic (Albert Haase)

You are in for a real treat today. We could not have enjoyed our conversation with Father Albert Haase more that we did. He is a truly engaging presence and you will not want to miss what he says about living in the present moment, how the beatitudes can re-wire our ego obsessions, and what it looks like to pray from the heart.

A little more about Father Albert – He is a preacher, teacher, and spiritual director. A former missionary to mainland China for over eleven years, he is the award-winning author of ten books on popular spirituality and the presenter on five bestselling DVDs. He holds a PhD in historical theology from Fordham University and an MDiv from Catholic Theological Union. He is currently serving as chaplain at Cedarbrake Retreat Center near Austin, Texas.

IVP recently released Father Albert's book "Becoming an Ordinary Mystic: Spirituality for the Rest of Us". Interested and want to learn more, read an excerpt from the book.

Do It Again!

In my childhood, during the summertime, friends and family members would spend their vacations with us at our country home in rural Washington. In addition to some great catching-up time, we would include visits to a standard set of local sites: Multnomah Falls, Beacon Rock, the fish hatchery, The Bridge of the Gods, and Dugan Falls.

 

As we made our way along, we would always take our friends to eat at a restaurant called “The Char Burger.” At the time, I thought it was magical because you could go through a line and choose your toppings. I realize now it was simply a glorified Fuddruckers. But through the lens of childhood, those kinds of things were still delightful.

 

I have so many great memories of visiting all of that natural and man-made beauty. And it never grew old, even though I had been to each location many times. It always felt like a celebration, and even like something new, because our visitors had never seen them before. And I was sharing in the newness with them.

 

Fast forwarding a few years to when I was a young mom, one of my favorite things was seeing the world through my three sons’ eyes. Just like enjoying the local sites with visitors, I experienced again the dynamic of everything being new from my boys’ perspective. 

 

For them there was a refreshed energy about taking in the world. Kids don’t get bored by doing the same thing. If Alan would throw them into the air and catch them, you better believe the first thing they would say is, “Do it again, Daddy!”

 

These memories open me up to at least one way God must love us. Certainly, as an infinite being, God has been there and done that. Yet there is no evidence that God tires of his creation. What a gift it is to imagine that God takes pleasure and delight in the way each of us takes in the world…and that God never tires of us or our lives.

 

Just as I drew pleasure from visiting sites with friends and seeing the world anew through my son’s eyes, might not God be delighted to see the world through our eyes?

 

God has taken care to craft us in his image. What an amazing sensation it must be to share how seven billion people take in God’s own creation. It must be…delightful.

 

Many of us may struggle with thinking about God delighting in us. There are many reasons we could point to in our lives that may make that seem impossible. But here’s something to ponder:

 

“The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

 

REFLECTION

 

What do you delight in?
Do you believe that God delights in you in that same way?
If so, spend some time in gratitude.
If not, how might you take one step toward opening to that reality?

 

“….God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic monotony that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never gotten tired of making them.” (G.K. Chesterton)

 

You are, in fact, delightful. Let God express that to you today.

 

https://unsplash.com/photos/pYrGvADwG_8

Podcast 114: Grace-Inspired Generosity (Inhaling Grace Audiobook, Part 18)

Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, we are sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode. We pray these might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen.

The Addiction to the Illusion of Urgency

What is most needed in the world today is non-anxious presence. (Walter Brueggemann)

A while back, I heard a compelling phrase spoken by Brie Stoner on the Another Name for Every Thing podcast:

“The addiction to the illusion of urgency.”

Each one of the main words in this sentence packs a punch. Do we really want to struggle with an addiction? Do we want to be under any illusions? And is urgency our best mode?

I thought it might be interesting to ponder this sentence together since we are all learning, in our own lives, how to live, influence and lead in the unhurried way of Jesus.

Do you find it difficult to maintain an unhurried inner pace in the culture in which you live? Most of us live here in North America. But we also have readers from around the world. In every country we have visited, the leaders struggle with hurry in various forms. 

It’s very easy to get stuck in emergency mode. Most of us don’t actually have a true emergency going on all the time. And yet our brains get stuck in a pattern of thinking we are in a rush and that there is a sense of urgency to complete one task and move to the next as quickly as possible. This can take on the aspects of an addiction. More, more, more. Push, push, push.

Why?

Why must we complete everything quickly? Why must we do more? Why must we rush from one thing to the next? Why do we act like a victim to this inner sense of urgency?

These are great questions. Sometimes we believe that being fast and checking off more items on our list equals true productivity. But fast is not the measure of fruitfulness in the Kingdom of God.

What does it take to produce the fruit that lasts that Jesus speaks of in John 15? Jesus says this phrase to the disciples in the context of love, joy, relationship and being chosen by him. If anything is urgent, it is our need to remain attached to the Vine, Jesus himself.

Why might it look like to use some of our urgency energy to make space and time to rest, reflect, recharge, and refill? This is the starting place of unhurried leadership. We give from the reservoir that has been filled by God himself, not from the last drop of our ever-emptying cup.

So, go ahead, look back at the questions above and ask yourself: Why are you in such a hurry? Are you stuck in emergency mode? Do you need to rethink the definition of productivity?

Much to ponder…I realize I may have raised more questions than answers. I encourage you to look within and lean into the ways you might want to unhook from rush, false urgency and hurry.

Let’s let Pierre Teilhard de Chardin close us here for now. 

“Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.” ― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

 

Photo by Matthew Brodeur on Unsplash