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Other Recent Blog Entries: VBS a GPS Strategy Helping the
Haitians Abbreviated
Leadership Lessons An Amen Christmas A Great
Commission Convention Meeting Major Otis Corbitt Reports for
Duty! Happy Birthday, Billy! |
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| Submitted: Monday, December 28, 2009; 8:15 p.m. print this page ● feedback ● main ALSBOM site |
For the past year, Twitter has
been part of my daily tech life. It’s a strategy that has
allowed me to interact with young Baptist leaders and others who
regard this as a preferred communications environment.
As a unique communications tool, Twitter offers some unique
challenges – chief among them: how to communicate effectively in
“tweets” of 140 characters or less.
Those who tweet have turned to abbrevations and developed
something of a shorthand system of packing as much information
as possible into 140 keystrokes.
One of my ongoing goals with Twitter has been to share insights
regarding Christian leadership. For this my final blog entry of
the year, I’d like to share with you some of the “leader tweets”
I’ve sent during 2009:
Leadership observation. Every ministry needs dreamers, detail mgrs, decision makers. The ldr, 2 some extent, has 2 be good at all of them.
Revival is a good word. It is more than a series of meetings. It is meeting with the Lord, then meeting with others who need 2 know Him.
Christians in the USA know the meaning of "living beyond our means." Wonder what would happen if we learned 2 "give beyond our means"?
Leadership observation: Real ldrs r both confident & modest. For Christian ldrs, we have confidence n Christ, & we r humbled by His calling.
Leadership obsrvtn: Hiring good attitude & teaching skills is usu effective. Bad attitudes, even w/excellent skills, r disasterous.
The challenge of Great Commission Christians is 2 make a world of difference in an indifferent world. I want 2 be that kind of Christian!
Ldrship obsrvtn: Christian ldrs learn from Jesus how 2 lead. Lead like a shepherd guiding sheep, not like a cowboy driving a herd of cows.
Our lives w/out Christ are like "clunkers." Christ offers Himself 4 our sins. Not "cash 4 clunkers" but Christ 4 clunkers. In Christ alone!
Leadership observation: No one goes undefeated in life. Leaders learn far more from their failures than from their successes.
Growing 2 believe that passion 4 God must b wedded 2 godly patience in order 2 receive wisdom from God. He has passion 4 us, patience w/us.
In life, no Oscars given 2 people 4 having integrity. For Christians of character, there will be "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Someone said, "One criticism can erase 12 compliments." Criticisms, compliments are human opinions. Need to remember what Jesus thinks.
Leadership observation: There are enough celebrities in the world. Our Lord is looking for a few good servants.
Blessed are the flexible for they rarely get bent out of shape. Firm foundation on Christ. Flexible in circumstances of life.
The greatest call of all is to become a Great Commission Christian.
Sleepwalking is dangerous. Prayerwalking is too, but in an eternally positive way.
For Great Commission Christians, love has to be a verb!
Leadership observation: Let passion drive you, and let reason hold the reins.
I am afraid that nominal Christianity has become the normal Christian life.
No Christian is the main character in his/her story of life. Christ is the main character in story of the Christian.
"You are the master of unspoken words, the servant of spoken words, the slave to written words." (unknown)
To read more, check out http://www.twitter.com/ricklance.
| Submitted: Friday, December 18, 2009; 12:02 p.m. print this page ● feedback ● main ALSBOM site |
Saying "amen" in worship services is something most all of us as
Baptists grew up hearing. I have fond recollections of a little
fellow in one of my earlier churches who "amened" everything.
When we had announcements made, he would shout "Amen!" I called
him the "Amen Man." I told every guest speaker we had about my
one-man "amen corner."
I have found that Baptists and other lower-church evangelicals
pronounce the word "Aay-men" while higher church types, like
Episcopalians and Lutherans, pronounce the affirmation "Ah-men."
Despite the modern-day pronunciations, "amen" is a Hebrew word
meaning "so be it" or "yes." It was used frequently in the Old
Testament, beginning in the book of Numbers and then used in
Deuteronomy, I Chronicles and Psalms.
By the time of the New Testament, the affirmation had prayerful
and promissory meaning. At the end of the Lord's Prayer, "amen"
is used to underscore the affirmation of God's promise. Equally
true is the ending of the Great Commission: "'...and lo, I am
with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen" (Matt.
16:20, NKJV).
In Revelation, "amen" is found in reference to the seven
churches as well as the worship service in Rev. 5:14. Then
climactically, Jesus declares, "I am coming quickly. Amen" (Rev.
22:20).
My favorite reference to "amen" is found in the writings of Paul
in II Cor. 1:20-22. Here the apostle is mounting his personal
defense of his own ministry. He was making the case for his
integrity among the people. Paul had been called a liar. Yet he
said, "My yes was yes, and my no was no."
When Paul used the word "yes," it brought to mind the truth that
Jesus is God's "Yes." Jesus is God's "Amen." He is the ultimate
personification of the promises of God! In this way, you and I
can experience an "Amen Christmas."
Consider the declarations of Paul as a reminder of what the
message of Christmas means. In these three verses, we can
rediscover an "Amen Christmas."
I. Christ is God's Yes to the promise of salvation.
Remember that Jesus came to save us from our sins. That is the
very essence of the Christmas message. His birth was miraculous,
His death was victorious and the life He offers is precious.
One
word used to reflect the meaning of salvation is redemption.
Years ago,
S&H Green Stamps were used to entice consumer business. You
took the stamps to a redemption center. Those stamps were
"redeemed" in the sense that they were used to trade for other
items like pots and pans.
Redeem means to be bought back. We have been bought out of
slavery to sin to the position of freedom in Christ. God says
"amen" to our salvation in and through Christ!
II. Christ is God's Yes to the promise of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is God's presence in our lives. In the Old
Testament, the presence of God's Spirit was given to select
people for specific tasks and reasons. The prophets, for
example, were anointed by the Spirit to declare God's message to
the people in their times.
In Christ, the Spirit of God becomes real in the lives of all
believers, not just a few. We are all in Christ and His Spirit
in us. This is one of the great mysteries of the faith. God says
"AMEN" to our Spirit-filled living through Christ.
The Spirit of God is our "anointing." He is our blessing. He is
our seal or stamp of approval. He is the guarantee of our
salvation. He is the down payment on eternal life. God says
"AMEN" to the promise of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
III. Christ is God's Yes to the promise of service.
In the final verses of II Corinthians 1, the apostle becomes
personal again. He describes how the Corinthian believers and he
work together for the cause of Christ. They stand together in
"joy" and by "faith." There is joy in serving Christ, and He is
to be served by faith in Him, not in ourselves.
An "Amen Christmas" means we say yes to God's call to service.
That is why the Great Commission ends with "amen." He says yes
to our challenge to make disciples. As we "go" in the world and
"make disciples" of all people, God shouts a heavenly "AMEN."
Being called a "yes man" is not a compliment. Being described as
"God's yes people" is the highest and greatest compliment we
could ever receive. Let's have an Amen Christmas! Claim the
promises found in Christ: the pardon of salvation, the presence
of His Spirit, and our call to personal service for Him.
When a person becomes excited and exuberant like winning a
sports event, often you hear people shout "YES!!!" In Christ we
can shout "YES!!!" We can shout "AMEN!!!" Yes, God's Yes
provides us with an Amen Christmas.
