Women in Pentecostal-Charismatic Leadership Colloquium

The role of women in church ministry and leadership remains a major issue facing the Pentecostal/charismatic movement into the 21st century. Throughout the history of the movement, this issue has set Pentecostals apart from much of the rest of the Evangelical church while at the same time, galvanizing them. Yet though women have been vital in the movement since its inception, opportunities for leadership have gradually eroded and many highly-trained women are moving into traditions which provide them a more public role.

Leading scholars from around the world and from both within and outside the movement will join Regent faculty and Ph.D. students in a year-long colloquium designed to look at the historical struggles, contributions, current trends, and future challenges related to this issue which is vital to the future of the renewal movement.

The symposium on Women in Pentecostal/Charismatic Leadership is the first in a five-part series reflecting on major trends within this vital movement which has shaped not only American, but world Christianity in the 21st century.

Global Perspectives (June 9, 2007)

Gaston Espinosa, Ph.D. – Dr. Espinosa is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College. He is a graduate of Princeton (M.Div.), Harvard (M.Ed.), and UC Santa Barbara (Ph.D.). He served as manager of the $1.3 million Pew Charitable Trusts-funded Hispanic Churches in American Public Life (HCAPL) project, which surveyed the religious and political attitudes of 3,000 Latinos across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Espinosa is the author or co-author of four books, nineteen refereed articles, book chapters, and reviews, 54 encyclopedia entries, 76 scholarly keynotes and presentations, has made eight television and radio appearances, and has served as the director of six conferences. In 2002 he spoke at the National Hispanic Presidential Prayer Breakfast with President George Bush and Senator Joseph Lieberman. In recognition of his work, the Generations Center of Princeton named him one of the nation's 100 Positive Men of Color.
Paper title: "Third Class Soldiers: A History of Hispanic Pentecostal Women in Ministry in the United States"

Pamela M. S. Holmes, Th. D. (candidate) – Pamela Holmes is an ordained pastor who has ministered in Edmonton, Alberta, Ottawa and Trenton, Ontario. Spurred on by concerns arising from both her own and other women’s experiences, Holmes returned to school to work on an advanced degree in systematic theology focusing on the possibilities of a dialogue between feminism and Pentecostalism. Her dissertation entitled “Feminist Critical Theory of Religion and Pentecostal Spirituality and Praxis: An Examination of Select Themes” explores the relationships between ideology and power particularly as it influences and affects Pentecostal women in leadership positions. Currently she is teaching and overseeing the Field Education programme at Queen’s Theological College, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario an ecumenical, United Church of Canada college. Pamela and her husband, Tom, reside in Trenton, Ontario and are the proud parents of two sons and two daughters-in-law and one baby granddaughter.
Paper title: "Canadian Pentecostalism and its Ministering Women: A Pentecostal Feminist Critique"

Deidre Helen Crumbley, Ph.D. – Deidre Helen Crumbley is an Associate Professor of Africana Studies in Interdisciplinary Studies at North Carolina State University. Her forth coming book, Sprit, Structure and Flesh: Gender and Power in African Churches, explores the interplay of gender, power, doctrine, and ritual in African Instituted Churches (AICs). Her current research project focuses on the intersection of race, gender, migration, and religious innovation in the rise of an African American, female-founded storefront church. In addition to her terminal degree in anthropology from Northwestern University, Dr. Crumbley also holds a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. She is on the editorial board of Religion, an international and interdisciplinary journal, and she is an active member of the Society for the Anthropology of Religion.
Paper title: "Sanctified Saints – Impure Prophetesses: A Cross-Cultural Study of Gender, Purity, and Power in Two Afro-Christian Spiritual Churches"

Julie Ma - Ph.D. - Julie C. Ma served as a faculty member of Anthropology and Biblical Theology of Missions at Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, Baguio City, Philippines (1996-2006), while serving as a field missionary with her husband, Wonsuk, since 1981. She has also served as editor of Journal of Asian Mission (2003-2005), published When the Spirit Meets the Spirits (Peter Lang, 2000) and Mission Possible: Biblical Strategies for Reaching the Lost (Regnum, 2005), and edited with Wonsuk Ma, Asian Church and God's Mission (2003). She is now preparing a third book, Pentecostal Mission in Asian Context. Her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Intercultural Studies and Theology are from Fuller Theological Seminary. Currently she is serving as Research Tutor of Missiology at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.
Paper title: "Phenomenological Change of Woman's Image in Global Setting and It's Influence on the Role of Women in the Church"

Here is a link to this Colloquium: http://www.regent.edu/acad/schdiv/newsandevents/women_colloquium.shtml.

Reclaiming the Covenant Service

The Egyptian Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century on the Values of the Christian Teacher

"The same Abba (father) said that a teacher ought to be a stranger to the desire for domination, vain-glory, and pride; one should not be able to fool him by flattery, nor blind him by gifts, nor conquer him by the stomach, nor dominate him by anger; but he should be patient, gentle and humble as far as possible; he must be tested and without partisanship, full of concern, and a lover of souls."
- Philokalia.

New Book on Charismatic Leadership in the Old Testament

There is a new book out on stages of characteristics of Charismatic Leadership in the kings of the United Kingdom of Israel. The book by Tamás Czövek, which is an edited version of a dissertation from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, is entitled "Three Seasons of Charismatic Leadership: A Literary-Critical and Theological Interpretation of the Narrative of Saul, David and Solomon." It is published by Regnum Studies in Mission (Oxford, UK: Regnum Books International, 2006)

Here is a link to Czövek's dissertation abstract: http://www.ocms.ac.uk/abstracts/pdf/2002_czovek.pdf

What blinds the eyes?

How does one find happiness and fulfillment in life? How does the call to authentic leadership factor into this search? Why do I want to lead? Jesus addressed this human, existential cry for meaning with a paradoxical approach: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." (Luke 9:23-24, NIV).

The self-denial that Jesus is speaking about is the denial of the false, illusion-driven self that shadow us, self created in our quest to be the source of our lives. Thomas Merton in his great book, "The New Seeds of Contemplation" gives a great description of the nature of the false self and how it is the origin of dysfunctional, sin behavior: “All sin starts from the assumption that my false self, the self that exists only in my own egocentric desires, is the fundamental reality of life to which everything else in the universe is ordered. Thus I use up my life in the desire for pleasures and the thirst for experiences, for power, honor, knowledge, and love to cloth this false self and construct its nothingness into something objectively real. And I wind experiences around myself and cover myself with pleasures and glory like bandages in order to make myself perceptible to my self and to the world, as if I were an invisible body that could only become visible when something visible covered its surface.”

Who do we struggle to focus on the inner presence of Jesus as the source of our lives? For me, one of the better descriptions of this often misdirected focus on that which is outward and external, is found in the lyrics of Sam Phillips' great song, "Five Colors" (from Fan Dance - 2001). Even though Phillips is obviously speaking about her own struggle within the music industry, the lyrics do speak poetically about the futility of following the "false self" and the promise of the "small, forgotten road":

I don't mind if I am getting nowhere
Circling the seed of light
I've been greedy for some destination
I can't get to where are you?
Turning reverie to perfect solids
Bone and shells to hide ourselves
I tried but can't find refuge in the angle
I'll walk the mystery of the curve

Five colors blinds the eyes
See the world inside
Amazed alone

Opening my hands

closing wounds I made myself
Raise the dead and bury all my fears
Listen to the rain
And the bells that ring in my dreams
Turning time to break it's line from here
To the small, forgotten road
Where we see the concrete world disintegrating

Authentic Christian Leadership starts with the denial of the "false self" and the acceptance of the "true self" created in the Image of God through Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul gives us clear directions: "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. " (Ephesians 4:22-24, NIV)

The Power of the Small Way

In our increasingly competitive and pragmatic world we often think that is is doing large and impressive deeds that provides us with measure for effective leadership. So leadership meetings are often oppertunities for parading our strengths and insights. I am not better. During a providential discussion this morning I was reminded of the power of doing small things for the love of God. Thérèse de Lisieux (1873-1897) was a simple Christian leader that valued the power of child-like simplicity in her approach of spirituality and leadership: "Sometimes, when I read spiritual treatises, in which perfection is shown with a thousand obstacles in the way and a host of illusions round about it, my poor little mind soon grows weary, I close the learned book, which leaves my head splitting and my heart parched, and I take the Holy Scriptures. Then all seems luminous, a single word opens up infinite horizons to my soul, perfection seems easy; I see that it is enough to realize one's nothingness, and give oneself wholly, like a child, into the arms of the good God. Leaving to great souls, great minds, the fine books I cannot understand, I rejoice to be little because 'only children, and those who are like them, will be admitted to the heavenly banquet'."

For Thérèse the power of the "small way" starts in our relationships with others: "Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love." For me the "small way" includes accepting advise, admonition and rebuke from our brothers and sisters. To have the humility and grace to accept when we are wrong, the willingness to be corrected and the constant desire to learn from the those around us.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta who was deeply influenced by the "small way" of Thérèse de Lisieux once summarized this approach of leadership as follows: "Small things with big love. It is not what you do that is important, by how much love you put into it that matters."

Anima Christi (Easter Prayer from the 14th Century)

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated from You.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
In the hour of my death, call me.
And bid me come to You.
That with Yours saints I may praise You.
Forever and ever. Amen

Easter Poem attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153 AD)

O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down,
now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown:
how pale thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn!

What thou, my Lord, has suffered was all for sinners' gain;
mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
'Tis I deserve thy place;
look on me with thy favor, vouchsafe to me thy grace.

What language shall I borrow to thank thee, dearest friend,
for this thy dying sorrow, thy pity without end?
O make me thine forever; and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love for thee.

Easter Letter from John Michael Talbot

The following is the entire text of the 2007 Easter Letter from John Michael Talbot. JMT makes several really good points here:

Peace and Good in Christ!

We enter into Holy Week starting with Palm/Passion Sunday, going through Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and culminating with Easter Sunday. It is a journey that most of us have made many times. Yet each year the Lord has something new for us.

The word "holy" means "separated; set apart." In that spirit, this week we are called to set aside time and space to walk through the Passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, both as a gathered Church, and in a very personal way. We are to "set aside" this week as a special time of prayer and conversion.

This year I have read much in the religious press about "religion vs. spirituality," and how religion can sometimes actually hurt humanity. Some statistics show that the more religious a culture is, the higher its crime rate (especially drugs and sex), and the more warlike that culture tends to be. This is a shocking statistic. It is true that religion either brings out the best or the worst in human beings. When it works it can be wonderful. When it does not work, it can be like a bad dream.

The journey through the Passion of Christ also addresses this reality: Jesus was rejected by the most "religious" people of his time, and handed over by them to be crucified by the Roman government. Indeed, as the gospel stories unfold during the last days of Lent, we see a growing confrontation between the spirituality of Jesus and the religiosity and legalism of the Jews of that time.

This conflict gives me pause to reflect on a song I recorded on my first Christian recording in 1976 entitled "Would You Crucify Him?" I must ask myself: Would I crucify Him if He were among us today? Each of us must ponder that question during this Holy Week. Of course, Jesus founded the Church and her "religion," and bestowed upon us the Holy Spirit to guide us. Yet, there are plenty of examples from Church history of terrible popes, bishops, clergy and laity who were obviously very far from the teaching of Jesus in their own lives. So none of us are above the question.

Religion can tend to rely upon zealous fanaticism and legalism. In contrast, spirituality relies on enthusiasm in the Spirit and divine love. Simply said, religion is about law, while spirituality is about love. Religion tends to judge, while spirituality forgives. Religion, especially fundamentalism of any kind, can breed religious fanatics. Spirituality calls its followers to be wholesome and balanced radicals. While religion tends to produce fundamentalists, healthy spirituality develops solid fundamentals. There is a huge difference between the two. Most of us can tell the difference in the inner recesses of our heart, even though it is sometimes hard to verbalize. Somehow we just "know" when it is right-when it is in balance. This is the work of the Spirit within us.

How do we get to that righteous balance that is true spirituality? I personally get there through personal and communal prayer that is confirmed and strengthened by good teaching, receiving the sacraments, and dedicating myself to a life of prayer and charity. For me this takes on the expression of daily charismatic thanks and praise which fills me with positive rather than negative thoughts and emotions, and seated meditation using what I call "breath prayer," which allows me to physically, emotionally, and intellectually become still enough to allow the last vestiges of self- preoccupation to simply fall away from me. These practices give a whole new meaning to my daily life, permeating everything from doctrine to sacraments. Then doctrine, sacraments and daily life are "born again" as I am born again daily. These help me to more totally let go of my old self so that my actions in daily life slowly become more like Jesus. Though there may be initial periods of breakthrough, these practices are most often part of the normal lifetime journey toward deeper spiritual growth. For me, this is a powerful process.

After much reflection, I realize that what many others might deem a dichotomy between "religion versus spirituality," is in truth more about "vain religion" versus a "spiritually rich religion" that comes from and glorifies God. The true issue is not so much a matter of semantics or doctrine as it is a matter of the heart. It is upon the human heart that the new covenant of God is written by real relationship with and in the real Jesus.

What then is the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Remember, it is good news! We have only to look at the Beatitudes, or St. Paul's chapter on love in I Corinthians: 12, or to the fruit of the Spirit in Paul's letter to the Galatians. These scriptures describe the divine gift that every human being longs for in the depths of their heart. We are created for such God-glorifying love.

I believe in the wonderful news that the old man or woman can die with Christ on the cross, be totally forgiven our sins, and the person God really wants us to be can be raised up as a "born again" child of God through the resurrection of Jesus. The essential message of Jesus and call for Christians is nothing more complicated, but nothing less challenging.
This year we must make a decision: Are we going to settle for just being "religious," or will we really be born again, and let Jesus make us into the person God originally made us to be? Will we crucify Him by our stubborn adherence to vain religion, albeit under the name of "Christian" or "Catholic," or will we "let go and let God" by allowing Him to raise us up as a new creation-- a new man, a new woman? That process will help bring about a return to the original purpose of spiritually rich religion.

I will pray with you this year as we all make the journey through this Holy Week.

In Jesus,

John Michael Talbot

Founder, Spiritual Father and General Minister

The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage

Retrace the Footsteps of St. Paul and St. Francis of Assisi in Italy (June 15-24, 2007)

I am leading a studies abroad trip this June to Italy. If you have a passion for discovery, consider joining us for an incredible learning journey as we retrace the footsteps of the Apostle Paul and Saint Francis of Assisi.

This year's Study Abroad program, offered by the Regent University School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship, will take you to some of the most significant sites of our Christian history and examine, firsthand, the dynamics that changed the world .

• Retrace the footsteps of the Apostle Paul and Saint Francis of Assisi
• Explore key historic sites through private tours.
• Examine biblical perspectives, archaeology, theology, religion, humanities and the arts.
• Gain spiritual insights and a deeper understanding of biblical leadership and its contemporary applications.
• Enjoy the program as a leisure traveler or enroll for optional graduate-level credit (M.A. or Ph.D.).

For the first few years, the Leadership Study Abroad Program concentrated on the work, ministries, and leadership of the Apostle Paul in Asia Minor and Greece, covering most of the sites of Paul's first, second and third missionary journeys. The 2007 PROGRAM brings us to Italy, where we will walk in the Footsteps of the Apostle Paul and Saint Francis of Assisi.

Here is a link to the website of this trip: http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/abroad/home.htm

Inaugural Biblical Perspectives in Leadership Research Roundtable

The School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship will host the inaugural Biblical Perspectives in Leadership Research Roundtable on May 8, 2007 at The Founders Inn & Spa located on campus of Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA.

The Biblical Perspectives in Leadership Research Roundtable aims to provide a discussion and research forum for scholars, researchers, practitioners and ministers that work in leadership from a biblical perspective.

Roundtable Info
Date: May 8, 2007
At: Founders Inn & Spa
Online Registration >>

About this Roundtable
Representing the multidisciplinary fields of biblical, social-science, historical and leadership studies, the Biblical Perspectives in Leadership Research Roundtable hopes to explore, engage and extend the field of knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon of leadership as found within the contexts of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.

The following are a few of the topics that the Biblical Perspectives in Leadership Research Roundtable hopes to explore:

• The use of exegetical methods to explore leadership


• The relationship between scripture, faith, theology and leadership


• Models of biblical spirituality and leadership


• Models of tribal and other forms of leadership in the Pentateuch


• Models of ruling, leadership, governing and organizational structures in the history of early Israel


• Leadership values in the wisdom writings of the Hebrew scriptures


• The relationship between prophecy and contextual leadership in the prophetic material of the Hebrew scriptures


• Comparative studies of leaders and leadership models across the Hebrew and Christian scriptures


• Historical studies of leaders in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures
• Group dynamics in the Gospels


• Historical Jesus and leadership research


• Pauline perspectives in leadership


• Organizational design and dynamics in the early faith communities of the Christian scriptures


• Follower-leader relationships in the Christian scriptures


• Organizational and leadership values in the Christian scriptures


• Models of spiritual and leadership formation in the Christian scriptures


• Models of future studies and strategic foresight in the apocalyptic material of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures

To stimulate scholarly debate and a free flow of ideas, the proceedings from the Biblical Perspectives in Leadership Research Roundtable will be posted online and papers of high quality will be considered for the Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership (JBPL).

Leadership and Boundaries

One of the most important tasks of leaders is to define boundaries in which followers and organizations can live and operate. There is an increasing misconception that "no-boundaries" are the stuff of cutting-edge leadership, thus leaders are no longer held accountable to any standard of truth, integrity or holiness. David Steindl-Rast offers this perspective: "Our lives have many structures - our jobs, our families - because it's only within limits that anything meaningful can happen. If all possibilities were available at all moments, if there were no limits, no boundaries, no definitions, we'd be lost. People mistakenly think that happiness comes from removing all limits."

The early Christian Monastic Leaders provided boundaries for their followers by constructing "rules of life" based on the Scriptures. These ancient spiritual rules might look like a long list of requirements and legalism to the casual reader, but their real purpose and vitality lied in providing a moral context in which authentic Christian Leadership could occur. Henri Nouwen comments on the power of these rules:"Instead of giving us methods to control, direct, and determine our own life, a spiritual rule wants to offer an open and free space within and among us where God can touch us with His loving presence. It wants to make it possible for us not so much to find God as to be found by God, not so much to love God as be loved by God." In our search for authentic Christian Leadership we might have to think and consider what a spiritual rule of Christian leadership could look like.

Further Reading:

Steindl-Rast, D. (1995). The Music of Silence. San Francisco: Harper.

Nouwen, H. (1986). Rule for a New Brother. London: Darton, Longman and Todd.

The Power of Silence and Solitude

I presented a workshop today on the need for the return of the ancient and Biblical disciplines of silence and solitude to normative Christianity. I find it difficult to practice these discipline with any regularity, because the quest of these calls is in essence a call to do nothing. J. P. Moreland summarizes the benefits of these disciplines as means to sift our hearts and return us to a clearer, devotional and honest state of being:

“The regular practice of doing nothing, however, is crucial for spiritual growth. It keeps us from having an inflated view of our importance, it surfaces anxiety, fear, and worry along with our controlling strategies to keep from facing them, and it opens our heart to hear from our real, authentic selves and God. These benefits of solitude combined with silence — a form of ‘doing nothing’ — are of crucial importance in today's climate. Arguably, the most distinctive, pervasive characteristic of contemporary folk is stress. And a stressful life is one prone to depression and anxiety. So now more than ever it is important for Christians to incorporate the disciplines of solitude and silence into their regular practices.”

May we all learn the wisdom to be still in the presence of the Lord. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:10, NIV).

Painting by Luke Flowers (2006).

Human Longing and Christ

Why do people follow bad leaders? One of my fellow professors here at Regent University once told me that in the absence of good leaders that people would follow any form of leadership. I wonder if this does not relate to the deep existential desire that people have for Ultimate Truth and Love. Ronald Rohlheiser points to this human longing in his normal erudite manner: "Whatever the expression, everyone is ultimately talking about the same thing – an unquenchable fire, a restlessness, a longing, a disquiet, a hunger, a loneliness, a gnawing nostalgia, a wildness that cannot be tamed, a congenital, all-embracing ache that lies at the center of human experience and the ultimate force that drives everything else…”

Authentic Christian Leadership points to Christ as the answer to our human longing for meaning. Claire of Assisi in her letters to Agnes of Prague offers this advice in finding fulfillment in life: “Place your mind in the mirror of eternity; place your soul in the splendor of glory; place your heart in the figure of the divine substance; and, through contemplation of Him, transform your entire being into the image of the Divine One Himself, so that you, yourself, may also experience what his friends experience when they taste the hidden sweetness that God alone has kept from the beginning for those who love Him.”

Bruce Manning Metzer (1914-2007)

I was informed last week that the eminent theologian, Bruce Metzer passed away in February of this year. Metzer was an important guide in my own undergraduate and graduate studies in New Testament Textual Criticism. I remain inspired by his brilliant scholarship and the depth of his devotion to Jesus. He is a marvelous example of authentic Christian Leadership in the Academy. His orbituary from the Society of Biblical Literature reads as follows:

Dr. Bruce M. Metzger, the internationally renowned textual critic, bible scholar, and biblical translator, New Testament professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, and past President of the SBL (1971), died on February 13, 2007 at his home in Princeton at the age of 93.

Internationally recognized as a leading NT textual critic, Metzger was arguably the greatest textual specialist and biblical translator America has produced. Among his many publications, pride of place belongs to his trilogy on the text, versions, and canon of the NT. Most widely influential is his handbook on The Text of the New Testament (1964; translations include German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian, and Russian; 3d, enl. ed. 1992; 4th ed. with Bart Ehrman, 2005), from which multiple generations of textual critics learned their craft. It presented (in a genuinely balanced and pedagogically useful form) the essentials of what would later be termed "reasoned eclecticism," the dominant approach in the discipline today (his influence with regard to methodology was extended even more widely by A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament). Without rival in the field, and an outstanding example of Metzger's wide-ranging and encyclopedic knowledge, is his Early Versions of the New Testament (1977), which surveys not only the expected major versions, but also many minor ones (e.g., Thracian and Sogdian). The Canon of the New Testament (1987) combines careful and erudite attention to historical matters with a concern for theological questions and implications — another typically Metzgerian characteristic.

Metzger's recognition as a leading NT textual critic is due also to his influential role as a member of the editorial committee responsible initially for The Greek New Testament and later for the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, and also his involvement in, and leadership of, the International Greek New Testament Project (1948-1984).

The full breadth of Metzger's scholarship is most visible in his hundreds of articles, which cover textual criticism, philology, palaeography and papyrology, classical topics, Greco-Roman religions, the Hebrew Bible, the Apocrypha, the New Testament, patristics, early church history, and Bible translation (to name only the major areas). In addition he has published (in at least two dozen journals) reviews of hundreds of books written in eight languages. A master of bibliographic detail, Metzger would find that telling reference in sources the rest of us did not know existed (see, e.g., p. 271 n. 28 in the latest edition of the Text of the NT). In a remarkable feat, Metzger published in eight different decades: his first article appeared in 1938, and his most recent book in 2006.

Metzger's many awards, prizes, honors, and academic recognitions include honorary degrees from his alma mater, Findlay College, University of St. Andrews, University of Münster/Westfalia, and University of Potchefstroom; the presidencies of Studorium Novi Testamenti Societas (1971-1972), the Society of Biblical Literature (1971), the North American Patristic Society (1972), and the Society for Textual Scholarship (1995); and three Festschriften. Of particular note are Metzger's election in 1978 as Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy (its highest honor for those not residents of the UK), and the receipt in 1994 of its prestigious F. C. Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies (only the third American so honored). As Iain Torrence, the Seminary's current President, observed, "Bruce Metzger's sheer brilliance, clarity and Christian devotion set a standard all of his own."

Yet for all his academic achievements and international renown, Bruce is warmly remembered by many as much or more for his personality and character. Friendly, modest, and self-effacing, seemingly always courteous and gracious, he took a genuine interest in his students, was a source of encouragement to colleagues and younger scholars alike, and deeply enjoyed his many speaking engagements in churches throughout the world. He had a knack of always finding something nice to say about a person or a book, an engaging sense of humor, and an apparently endless supply of amusing anecdotes. Though he tended to avoid talking about himself, he had some remarkable stories to tell (many were finally told in his Reminiscences of an Octogenarian [1997]), some of which were quite endearing: he once admitted, a bit sheepishly, to having studied Syriac vocabulary instead of listening to the lecture in a Christian Education class while a seminary student. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him, whether as colleague, teacher, mentor, or friend.

New Book on Humble Leadership

There is a new book out by N. Graham Standish entitled: "Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God's Guidance and Grace". The write-up on the book reads as follows:

"A humble leader says to God, 'I’m yours, no matter where you call me to go, what you call me to do, or how you call me to be. I will seek your will and way as I lead others to do the same.' With this straightforward vision, Graham Standish invites leaders of faith to consider an approach to leadership he admits is at odds with popular images of leaders. Standish makes the case that humble leadership, grounded in the teachings of Jesus, means recognizing that what we have and who we are is a gift from God for which we must be grateful. It also means being radically and creatively open to God’s guidance, grace, and presence in all things. This state of being is like the jazz musician’s trust in improvisation. When we lead out of such openness, God’s power and grace flow through us.Standish offers advice on how to gain greater humility and sustain it in the face the pressures all leaders face. He discusses self aware leadership, wherein you understand your personality type; the need for prayerful discernment; overcoming divisiveness to be a unifying force; being spirit-led; and being effective through the practice of humility in all things."

N. Graham Standish is pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, a church devoted to following Christ through prayer and spirituality. He is the author of the best-selling Becoming a Blessed Church as well as other books and articles on spirituality and spiritual direction.

Prayer as the Source of Authentic Leadership

I am currently reading the early Church Father John Climacus (579-649 AD) in my prayer time. Here is an excellent section, where John speaks beautifully about the power of prayer as a source of authentic Christian Leadership:

"Prayer is union with God and colloquy with Him. Prayer maintains the equilibrium of the world, reconciles people to God, produces holy tears, forms a bridge over temptations, and acts as a buttress between us and affliction. Prayer drives away the struggle of the spirit. It is the blessedness to come. It is an action that will never come to an end. Prayer is a spring of the virtues, it is an illumination of the mind, it is a curtain to shut out despair, it is a sign of hope, it is a victory of depression. Prayer is a mirror in which we see our steps forward, it is a signpost of the route to follow, it is an unveiling of good things to come, it is a pledge of glory. Prayer, for the one who prays truly, is the soul's tribunal, it is the Lord's judgement on that person now, in advance of the final judgement."

Moral authentic leadership is birthed in the presence of God in prayer.

Simple Hearts

I was part of a great conversation this morning with some of the pastors, leaders and elders of our church on the subject of simplicity. I was reminded of several good statements that helps us in this regard. The Psalms declare that "The LORD protects the simplehearted" (Psalm 116:6, NIV). The idea in the Hebrew here is that a simple heart is a heart that wants one thing, focused in its pursue of God.

Richard Foster defines simplicity, in his book by the same title, in the following way: "The Christian Discipline of simplicity is an inward reality that results in an outward life-style. Both the inward and the outward aspects of simplicity are essential. We deceive ourselves if we believe we can possess the inward reality without it's having a profound effect on how we live. And to attempt to arrange an outward life-style of simplicity without the inward reality leads to deadly legalism. Experiencing the inward reality liberates us outwardly. Speech becomes truthful and honest. The lust for status and position is gone because we no longer need them. We cease from showy extravagance not on the grounds of being unable to afford it, but on the grounds of principle. Our goods become available to others." Foster highlight several very important aspects of the Christian discipline of simplicity, in particular the connection between simplicity and holiness, charity and wholeness.

Francios Fenelon echoes this sentiment when he writes that, "...when we are truly in this interior simplicity our whole appearance is franker, more natural. This true simplicity...makes us conscious of a certain openness, gentleness, innocence, gaiety, and serenity, which is charming when we see it near to and continually, with pure eyes. O, how amiable this simplicity is! Who will give it to me? I leave all for this. It is the Pearl of the Gospel."

What would Christian Leadership rooted in simplicity looks like?

Back Home

I am back home after a two week speaking and ministering trip to South Africa. It was a deeply fruitful and providential time for me, but I am grateful to be back. As I flew over the Chesapeake Bay in the flight from Washington DC to Norfolk, seeing the familiar bay bridge from the air, revelling in the joy of being back where God has put me, I was reminded of the importance of giving consent to God's will for our lives.

There is this wonderful interview that was done with Mother Teresa in TIME Magazine in 1989 by Edward D. Desmond, in which he asked her if she thought that she had any special qualities. Her answer: "I don't think so. I don't claim anything of the work. It's His work. I'm like a little pencil in His hand. That's all. He does the thinking. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do it. The pencil has only to be allowed to be used. In human terms, the success of our work should not have happened, no? That is a sign that it's His work, and that He is using others as instruments - all our Sisters. None of us could produce this. Yet see what He has done."

When we give consent to where He puts us and do what He asks us to do with a big smile great miracles can happen.

The Importance of Theological Reflection

I have been traveling in South Africa speaking and ministering at churches, ministries and University conferences and so have not been able to blog as regularly as I wish. This morning I presented a new paper on the use of the critical reflective competencies of theological reflection as a source for the construction of authentic Christian leadership at the “Leadership that Transforms” Conference at the University of Stellenbosch. Whilst presenting I was reminded of the words of Henri Nouwen on the importance of theological reflection in the formation and facilitation of true leadership:

“Without solid theological reflection, future leaders will be little more than pseudo-psychologists, pseudo-sociologists, pseudo-social workers. . . . But that has little to do with Christian leadership because the Christian leader thinks, speaks, and acts in the name of Jesus, who came to free humanity form the power of death and open the way to eternal life. To be such a leader it is essential to be able to discern from moment to moment how God acts in human history and how the personal, communal, national, and international events that occur during our lives can make us more and more sensitive to the ways in which we are led to the cross and through the cross to the resurrection. The task of future Christian leaders is not to make a little contribution to the solution of the pains and tribulations of their time, but to identify and announce the ways in which Jesus is leading God’s people out of slavery, through the desert to a new land of freedom.”

I will be back home next week and will return to blogging regularly.

Bridging the Gap

The challenge of Christian Scholars working in Leadership Studies (for that matter any academic field and discipline) is to bridge the gap between the world in which the Scriptures were produced and our own contexts. In a sense, serious thinkers working with the sacred Scriptures must be good exegetes not only of Scripture but also their own world.

Vernon Robbins' approach, amongst many other contemporary hermeneutical approaches is a good start to try to bridge this gap. Robbins summarized his approach in a speech he gave in South Africa in 1999 at the South African New Testament Society:

"As the twentieth century ends and the third millennium begins, socio-rhetorical interpretation has become a multi-dimensional approach to texts guided by a multi-dimensional hermeneutic. Rather than being another method for interpreting texts, socio-rhetorical interpretation is an interpretive analytic an approach that evaluates and reorients its strategies as it engages in multi-faceted dialogue with the texts and other phenomena that come within its purview. The approach does not claim to be comprehensive. Rather, the claim is that the approach uses the insights of sociolinguistics, semiotics and ethnography in an interactionist philosophical mode that sets ancient, modern and post-modern systems of thought in energetic dialogue with one another."

When we flesh our the Word in our world, we will see the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

The Start of the Journey

I discovered a box of old music cassettes today and as I listened to some of them I was taken back to the start of my journey with Jesus. As I listened to an audio cassette of the self titled album by John Michael Talbot (recorded in 1976 and purchased by me in 1981) this morning, I remembered the clean sweep God's presence made in the last months of 1981 as I surrendered my life, hopes and dreams to His Lordship. My favorite song from that album was a simple song called "Hallelu", a song that expressed my new found faith, the lyrics follows:

I gazed into the stars

I followed where the eastern light does show

I tried to find the Light to fill my achin' soul

I looked into the ocean

I walked upon the mountain tops

I trusted in my garden tryin' to set my spirit free

And then the Son of Man, He beckoned to me

The Spirit of the Light came in true love

Like a gentle summer breeze, so comfortin', so free

He gave the Light of freedom within Me

He is the Mornin' Star

He causes all the lights to shine

He walks within the garden beside me

From the depths of the sea

Beyond the highest mountain top

He causes all the universe to be

And I sing Hallelu, sing praises to my Lord

I sing Hallelu, Hallelu

My prayer for us all is that we might rediscover the simple faith we once had as we started this journey.

Laying down our broken Idols

I read an interesting book last night by Rick McKinley, entitled "This Beautiful Mess", in which he makes use of a great poem of Vania Brandley entitled, "Rahab's Song". I cannot help but to think that the first broken idol we need to lay down is that of our pre-occupation with self-affirming, proud leadership.

In the dirt I used to kneel

idols fixed upon vain hopes

blocks of wood brought down with weight of prayers spilled

but You came and stole my heart

now I pray to ears unstopped

I am watched over by eyes I can't outrun

You are God alone

lesser gods before you scatter

to the winds like sand

for you, the God I love

I lay down my broken idols

following Your steps

I can feel upon my skin

that Your tears have met with mine

and the earth around me shakes with your resolve

all my hope in You I find

all my heart like water poured

what is one more drop in hands that frame the world?

Downshifting and Voluntary Simplicity

I have been invited to contribute a chapter on voluntary simplicity in an new book on downshifting that will be published later this year, edited by Dr. Franco Gandolfi and Dr. Hélène Cherrier, published by ICFAI University Press.
In contemporary Western society, the idea of living more simply through "simplifying life", "downshifting", "lowering material possession", or "resisting consumerism" is a life choice phenomenon. Being widely used in ordinary conversation and by writers, the idea of downshifting consumption practices is not well understood by consumer researchers. Why are these lifestyles becoming popular in a consumer culture? Why are some consumers choosing to consume less? What types of discourses are used to learn about and justify this lifestyle? The goal of this book is to present theoretical aspects and real-life cases from around the globe that will help to better understand downshifting consumption.

My chapter will focus on the ancient Christian discipline of voluntary simplicity exploring the history, scope and significance of this devotional discipline.

ILA Conference in Vancouver, November 2007

The International Leadership Association (ILA) will have have its annual conference in Vancouver this year, November 1-4. The Conference theme is as follows; "Leadership: Impact, Culture and Sustainability." The Call for Papers puts it as follows:

Leadership: How can we assess its impact? How do we understand its cultural, ethnic, and organizational contexts? How will we ensure that practices advance sustainability and are themselves sustainable? The 9th annual ILA Conference will address, among other issues, these crucial questions, the answers to which influence and inform the works of those in the leadership field. When we assess impact we learn from our experiences. When we understand culture we open ourselves to ideas. When we practice sustainability we plan for the future. Vancouver will be the setting and inspiration for our global network to engage in dialogue, share best practices, and present research. The ILA seeks submissions that represent the best contemporary thinking about leadership from a diverse range of scholars, practitioners, educators, leadership program directors, leadership coaches/consultants, grant makers, business/community/public leaders, and students. Proposal formats include: paper presentations, panel discussions, workshops, conversations with leadership authors, roundtables, and posters. While we encourage submissions on all leadership topics, extra attention will be given to those submissions that relate to the theme, Leadership: Impact, Culture, and Sustainability.

I am part of two proposals for panel presentations; one on the integration of spirituality and organizational leadership and another on the dark side of leadership. Both of my presentations reflect my current research in the ontology of sin in the writings of the early Church as it applies to organizational leadership.