December, 2012 | Release the A.P.E.

Transfer: Lay a Foundation, Don’t Cast a Shadow

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December 6, 2012

[This is part of a series called “What is an Apostle?” Check the other post here]

“More than any other gift, the apostle delights most when disciples carry the work on to others, and in everything he or she does is designed with this in mind.” [i]

Apostles transfer power and authority to others so they can carry out the God-given mission that is inside of them.

Apostles are what Neil Cole calls “Foundation Layers” and they lay down the principles of mission and the DNA that others then carry out.

A.P.E. Leaders & The Need to Re-Calibrate

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December 5, 2012

This is a guest post by Greg Jao. He serves as a National Field Director for the Northeast US for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and is the author of multiple books, including Your Mind’s Mission (an Urbana Onward book), and Following Jesus without Dishonoring Your Parents. A second-generation Chinese American, he helped develop The Daniel Project, a leadership acceleration program for Asian American InterVarsity staff.

In addition, Greg serves as the MC for the Urbana Student Missions Conference www.urbana.org , where 18,000 participants will gather on December 27-31, 2012 to consider again the call to God’s global mission. Since Urbana is around the corner, we asked Greg to share his thoughts on how Urbana can help foster A.P.E. leadership.

“Who among us would make the best cult leader?”

We had collapsed in a lounge after an exhausting day, and we were identifying friends who would be the best (or worst) at various activities. We ran several scenarios involving people in the room. Some of our answers came quickly (e.g., The worst contestant on the television show, “The Amazing Race?” The consensus candidate: a cross-cultural specialist. We imagined him constantly getting distracted talking to locals during international missions). Some answers took time (e.g., the best friend to have after the zombie apocalypse? Did we choose the Asian colleague with multiple refrigerators, the petite friend living in the rural north with a side of beef in her freezer, or the urban leader who knew how to survive in resource-poor cities?)

The Parents of a Prophet

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December 4, 2012

Zechariah prophesying over lil’ John the Baptist. From Jonathan Case

[This is part of a series on John The Baptist as Prophet. You can read the other posts here!]

I love the Advent season. It is a time of collective waiting, contemplating the arrival of Jesus’ birth. Advent is a time to marinate in the early story of Jesus, and I particularly appreciate Luke’s account. In Luke’s gospel alone are we introduced to the family of John the Baptist.

One of my favorite Advent devotionals is called Watch for the Light, and the introduction writes this about Advent: “Mother Teresa once noted that the first person to welcome Christ was John the Baptist, who leaped for joy on recognizing him, though both of them were still within their mother’s wombs. We, in start contrast, are often so dulled by superficial distractions that we are incapable of hearing any voice within, let alone listening to it.” There is something about Advent that calls me to slow down, and listen to the deep longings within me, the things I wait for.

Travel Guides vs. Sales People

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December 3, 2012

We are right in the middle of the holiday season with thanksgiving in the rearview mirror and Christmas in front of us. We have a ton of parties coming up and for many of us that means gathering with family and friends that don’t know Jesus.

If you are anything like me I want to see them know Jesus and that can bring a lot of pressure to perform or make things happen.

I want to be on my best behavior, say the right thing, and be bold in the right moment.

But this pressure that I often feel leads me to have more of a sales person mentality and I don’t like how that comes across.

Pushy, pressuring, up tight and a low view God’s sovereignty in the situation.

But Rick Richardson in his book “Reimagining Evangelism” gives us another way