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A new chapter in our journey…

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In a few days, Kay and I will shake hands, hug Stefan and Marie, and pray with them. Then our 12-year journey of pioneering the role of Chief Technology Officer and founding the Global Technology Office will be over and their journey of leading into the next phase will begin. And we could not be more pleased or more excited about what God is doing.

As we began this global leadership journey 12 years ago, I wrote down 4 things I sensed God leading me to focus on. One of these was:

Identify emerging leaders with a pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit who are willing to claim a part of the technology world for Christ

For 12 years, Kay and I have identified and trained emerging leaders who are stepping into significant leadership roles. About 18 months ago, I felt God saying it was time to turn over my role to an emerging leader. Kay and I talked and prayed.  I informed my boss, the Vice President of Operations. We launched a transition process that selected a new leader from many highly qualified people.  Stefan is that new leader.

The Dell FamilyStefan and Marie are from South Africa, so there have been many things that had to happen for them to exit their ministries and lives in Pretoria and move their family to Orlando. They have two children, Kenneth (grade 5) and Monica (grade 3). We have seen God’s hand of provision in their arrival this summer.

Stefan is not a replacement for me. Marie is not a replacement for Kay. Stefan is a new leader with new ideas and a new calling from God.

So, here we are. Saying goodbye to our team that has journeyed with us. Reflecting on dreams fulfilled. Reminiscing with friends. Moving out of our office cube. Processing emotions that come with change. Anticipating the future.

What will we do next? Kay and I are asking this same question. We are in conversations with a number of Cru ministries who are offering us amazing opportunities. We are taking September to pray and evaluate where God is leading us.

Kay and I value your prayers. Please pray with us as we seek God’s wisdom and leading about our future. Like a two-part episode, this story is To Be Continued…

Uncharted territory

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I’m in uncharted territory. Helping my dad as he faces feeling useless. Alzheimers is stealing his mind and he is wondering why God is leaving him here. I’m realizing how much I live in the world of strategic thinking, planning, and executing. I live in the world of grand plans. The Great Commission. Planting 5 million churches. Helping everyone know someone who truly follows Jesus.

I live in the world of options. If A doesn’t work, we try B. If B doesn’t work, we re-evaluate and move forward again. We bathe our decision-making in prayer and trust God to lead us through the strategic planning process.

But there is no strategicness in alzheimers. There is no world to conquer. There is no grand mission. There is only waking up each morning, saying “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” [Ps 118:24] There is only “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” [Ps 16:6]

And it is enough. No, it is more than enough.

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Feeding a Missionary Soul

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Even missionaries do it. I did it last Monday.

We don’t take advantage of opportunities to talk about Jesus.

I have long said that the airline seat assignment system would be God’s appointment system for me. So last Monday, why didn’t I take more initiative to talk with the man from New Zealand about Christ? Flying to Dallas, he was talkative. We talked about the economy (he is deeply concerned). We talked about political instability in Nigeria (he has done business there).

But we didn’t talk about Jesus. And I didn’t even get his name. I was not very friendly or engaged!

After the flight, I talked with God about it. I told him I felt unable to turn the conversation to spiritual things. I haven’t felt that unable in a long time. Kay and I have been traveling together most of the time lately so I’m not engaging another seatmate. I must be out of practice.

So with a renewed dependence on God’s empowering, I took my seat on this morning’s flight home to Orlando.

And I had a wonderful conversation with A—. She grew up an active follower of Jesus and even thought of mission work but has become engrossed in her career since college. She no longer attends church. Her parents have split up. She told me she is drifting.

But in her story, I heard a heart for Jesus. Her eyes danced when she talked about a missionary friend’s emails from Ghana and a college friend’s job in Kenya.

I left her with a challenge—find an accountability partner who will ask her hard questions to help her stop the drift, someone who will hold her accountable to find a group that can feed her soul. I challenged her to save $3000 and join a mission trip to Ghana or Kenya and come back a changed person because she’s seen God at work in a place very different than she’s ever experienced.

To give her something tangible to feed her missionary soul, I showed her the Jesus Film app on my mobile phone with films in hundreds of languages. As we taxied to the terminal, she had already downloaded the app and eagerly showed me the app on HER phone.

A— is reconnecting to a seed God planted many years ago. The worries and cares of the world have been growing and choking it out. My prayer is that the garden tending of yesterday will help the seed to grow and bear fruit.

And once again, the airline seating system provided a divine appointment, as long as I’m willing to talk about Jesus!

Who can you talk about Jesus with today?

What makes Good Friday good?

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What makes Good Friday good? I like this cartoon from BC cartoonist Johnny Hart.

Good friday cartoon bc

Good Friday is good because of the forgiveness, love and freedom we experience. This video is from the Magdalena Jesus Film, a version of the Jesus film prepared especially to reach out to women. It was inspired by a colleague while visiting Afghanistan. He saw the women covered head-to-foot in burka dress. His heart was broken by their isolation. He asked God how could these women hear about the freedom and love they can have through Jesus. The Magdelena film was a result.

Magdelena This is Freedom

 What makes Good Friday good for you? 

Remaining Dangerous

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Are you infected?

There is an insidious disease among Christians. Over time, we often lose our willingness to do daring and dangerous things, especially within a fulltime vocational organization, and ESPECIALLY when we are in a headquarters and distant from the rawness of field engagements with the kingdom of darkness.

I watched Act of Valor recently. It opens with a thought that the worst thing about growing old is that other men stop seeing you as dangerous. I’m not sure about that statement, but it got me to wondering, does Satan view me as dangerous? Am I still dangerous to the kingdom of darkness?

J.B. Philips wrote

The real danger for professing Christians lies not in the more glaring and grosser temptations and sins, but in a slow deterioration of vision, a slow death to daring, courage, and a willingness to adventure.

While searching the internet for this quote, I found J.B. Philips on Vision.

You’ve heard the saying, “The best Defense is a good Offense.” Yet often, as professing Christians, our focus is more on sin management—not dropping the ball—than building a thirst for the end-zone. It’s as if we only possess a Defensive Playbook—worrying more about being scored against, than scoring. But vision, daring, courage and adventure are in the Offensive Playbook. And the more we practice plays from that book the less our Defense needs to be on the field.

I like the phrase “building a thirst for the end-zone.”

To often in Christian circles, our focus is more getting along with each other rather than scoring. We feel often feel on the defensive, explaining ourselves to each other, making sure all the right people are included, moving ahead slowly and tentatively.

As I thought through some of these things, different people came to mind. People who I have known as dangerous to Satan and his kingdom.

Who is the most dangerous follower of Jesus you know? Maybe it’s someone you know now. Maybe it’s someone you worked with in the past.

What attracted you to this person? What character traits?

Send an email to this person today, if he/she is still alive. Thank them for modeling dangerous living, thirsting for the end-zone, refusing to be safe.