By Steve Stuckey
Last week Beau put up a post on “How to Identify an Evangelist in Your Ministry”. I agree that the six indicators that he lists are a good start to identifying someone as a potential evangelist. I was intrigued that some of his indicators suggested an underlying tension between an evangelist and those running established church ministry programs.
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
By Steve Stuckey
In this season of reflecting upon the incarnation, it strikes me that the response of the shepherds to the coming of the messiah might be helpful to apostle, prophet, and evangelist types. Some of Scriptures greatest pioneers of the faith–Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and Amos–all got their start as shepherds.
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
By Steve Stuckey
You will not find his name on the APE mailing list. He would not have stormed out the door last week to be the first one on Beau’s party bus` to El Camino College. He founded no organizations or churches; never wrote a book or gave a speech (though those are excellent things). The mechanics of leadership, a topic that preoccupies many of us, did not exist as a subject in his mind. He was not good with words, a prerequisite for all of us who write and read this blog. In fact, no words are ever attributed to him in the Scriptures. He was probably a humble, quiet man who worked with his hands and lived much of his life in the shadows of his world. When his mission in life was complete, he silently faded into the mist of history without fanfare or applause. He must have been a fellow easy to overlook, even by God. When his young fiancée was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit, a highly unusual and suspicious story, he was left to find out her situation through second hand sources.
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
Maybe someone left the gate unlatched. Or maybe one of the animals leaned hard against the wooden rails of the coral. Regardless, the herd of donkeys escaped their quarters and wandered off to who knows where. When the loss was discovered, Kish longed to get his valuable pack animals back. In the 10th century B.C economy, donkeys were the fuel efficient cargo trucks of the day. So Kish recruited his handsome son Saul and a trusted servant and sent them on a search. They looked far and wide. No donkeys. Finally the servant said, “There is a man of God in the next village. Let’s ask him.” So their loss, longing, and search led them, as a last resort, to seek God for help.
But what they found was not what they expected. Their seemingly haphazard search for delinquent donkeys led them into the middle of an epic search conducted by none other that Yahweh himself. The Lord was looking for a man with a heart for God who would serve his people with him. He is still looking.
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
“What can I do to try and stay healthy?” I asked my doctor during my annual physical check-up. His reply, “ Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, exercise, get adequate sleep, and keep an eye on your cholesterol, weight, and blood pressure.”
This is standard advice that is easy to remember though sometimes harder to follow.
What can an apostle, prophet, or evangelist do to stay vital and connected to God? Or put another way, what are the fruits and vegetables for the soul? Here is advice from three respected soul doctors:
By Steve Stuckey
Steve is a spiritual director with InterVarsity in Southern California. He writes here on this blog to foster spiritual formation for us catalytic leaders. Our hope is to create some space online to not only stir you up to be an APE leader but also help you connect with God well in your soul. He has developed many APE leaders and knows what our strengths as well as struggles are.
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
I remember as a child watching the program Queen for a Day during the 1950’s. Each week a flabbergasted American housewife was crowned with a diamond tiara, wrapped in a velvet robe, and showered with lots of large appliances. (It was years later before I realized that the Kings of Everyday were the guys giving away the appliances.) What I found attractive about the idea of royalty was neither the loot nor the attention, but the power to decide one’s destiny.
From “The Power of Habits”
By Steve Stuckey
Steve is a spiritual director with InterVarsity in Southern California. He writes here on this blog to foster spiritual formation for us catalytic leaders. Our hope is to create some space online to not only stir you up to be an APE leader but also help you connect with God well in your soul. He has developed many APE leaders and knows what our strengths as well as struggles are.
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
Looking back, the two of them could see that the tensions in their marriage began six months ago. Heather landed an internship at a graphic design studio. She left their apartment at 7:30am each morning. Four days a week she stopped off at the gym on her way home from work so it was 6:30pm before she got back to their apartment. Jeff worked afternoons at Starbucks to supplement his income as a church planter. He got off at five and grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading out to lead a Bible study or meet with neighborhood friends. By the time he arrived home at 10:00pm, Heather was usually in bed asleep. Jeff checked his email, caught the sports highlights and then went to sleep around midnight. Minor irritations that never got talked about grew to become sharp tensions between the two of them. Finally after one heated argument, the two of them realized that something needed to change. Their daily routine was not giving them enough relaxed time to listen and talk together. As a result they were slowly drifting apart.
By Steve Stuckey
Steve is a spiritual director with InterVarsity in Southern California. He writes here on this blog to foster spiritual formation for us catalytic leaders. Our hope is to create some space online to not only stir you up to be an APE leader but also help you connect with God well in your soul. He has developed many APE leaders and knows what our strengths as well as struggles are.
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
His name means El is Yah or God is Yahweh. His job was to confront false religion, clear out the pantheon, and call a recalcitrant people back to their roots. He performed his dangerous task with authority, humility, and humor. Like Moses he had a twin peak experience in life—two high points with a valley in between. (Read 1 Kings 17-19 and view this artistic study). Learning to navigate that type of spiritual geography is an important task for any follower of Jesus, especially for apostles, prophets and evangelists.
By Steve Stuckey
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
“Wow! What a weekend,” Bill said. “I was up till 2:00am on Thursday night arranging rides for the conference. I woke early Friday morning with a call that one of our seminar leaders was sick and would not be able to make it. Between trying to find a replacement, complete my own seminar, and pack my car with musical equipment, I was tired before I ever reached the dock for our 5:00pm departure to Campus by the Sea. But once on the boat with all the students, the adrenaline kicked in and I was fine. I had a great conversation with a new student on the ride over. My Friday night presentation went well. Students told me how much they appreciated what I had to say and that encouraged me. The next two days were filled with transforming conversations over meals, great worship times, basketball with fellow staff in the afternoon, and a prayer session lasting late into the night. Though I got only five or six hours of sleep each night, I didn’t feel all that tired. The energy of the group and a lot of strong coffee carried me along. So much kingdom work was getting done in such a short time. But then on the boat ride home Sunday afternoon, I noticed that my head hurt and I was starting to feel a little sad. I had worked on the conference for four weeks. It was a fantastic success with numerous students deciding to follow Jesus. But it was coming to an end.”
It is with great excitement and pleasure that I introduce to you Steve Stuckey. Steve is my spiritual director and many others as well. In a nut shell, he keeps me focussed on Jesus and paying attention to His voice. I would say he is a master at helping to shape the APE type leader and keep them walking with Jesus in healthy and whole ways. I have asked Steve to write a monthly post with us to help us think about the spiritual formation side our lives. He is going to do a year long series called “Rooted” for us! We only need to turn so far to see how many leaders like us have crashed and burned…not because they weren’t well trained, or prepared, but because they lost their inner compass that pointed them to Jesus. I hope these posts from Steve are a monthly online opportunity to stop and reflect as catalytic leaders. He is passionate about helping APE’s get shaped, just in a different way than we normally read about here!
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for God gives to his beloved, even while they sleep.” Psalm 127:2
A recent conversation with a fellow InterVarsity staff member began this way. “I feel anxious,” he said. “I have too much to do with the InterVarsity group on campus. My wife is upset that I am out so many evenings. My donors are feeling the economic crunch and donations are down. God seems distant and I have a hard time sitting still long enough to pray.”
I have noticed that 8 out of 10 people that I meet with mentioned feeling anxious. Maybe it is a disease of our American culture which tends to be narcissistic, goal oriented, and constantly restless. It is certainly a dis-ease of the soul that disturbs our peace, undermines our confidence in God, and focuses our minds upon things temporal and often irrelevant. Leaders who are inclined to be highly responsible and future focused seem to be especially prone to the condition. Some even wear their anxiety as a badge of honor to demonstrate how hard they are working.