Three Question for Deep Spiritual Formation
February 16, 2022
As a pastor, I am professionally trained to study the bible, understand theology (some), preach, and offer pastoral care. However, there is one area where most pastors… maybe even most Jesus-followers are under trained in. This area is in trying to figure out what God is doing in our own life.
The other day I was listening to a podcast where my mentor, Brian Russell, was interviewing another pastor/author, Marc Alan Schelske. Marc was talking about his own spiritual formation and struggles as a pastor.
Marc also shared a tool he uses to help him process what God is doing in his life. He gave three questions he asked that are inspired by an ancient church father, St. Ignatius.
I found them so helpful I tweeted, blogged about, and made it the cover of the church newsletter. Marc offered the practice of time daily journaling through these questions.
#1 What happened in my life yesterday?
#2 Why did I respond or choose the way that I did?
#3 Who is God inviting me to be?
These questions have added value to my processing time with the Lord.
What practices do you find helpful in addition to your prayer and scripture reading?
3 Things I Learned from Jay Hanson
July 28, 2014
Over the past two weeks I have had the privilege of talking with two of the finest leaders in the United Methodist Church. Today I want to share with you about Jay Hanson. He is the pastor of one of the fastest growing United Methodist Congregations in the country. He was preaching at Tattnall County Camp Meeting and was gracious enough to take a couple of mornings to spend an hour with me on each of these days. Here are three of the biggest lessons he shared with me.
1. You will be forgotten. One of the first things he told me was about the meal he shared with the pastors and leaders the night before. He said the others were trying to describe to him a former pastor but no one could remember his name. He said we will all be the same way one day. We may remember but the focus will be on the next pastor and it should be.
2. Pray more. Jay’s father, Dave Hanson, is a pastor and one of the most respected people in our conference. Jay told me he asked his father if he could go back what would he do different. His father’s answer was short and meaningful. Dave answered, “I would pray more.” Jay is someone who takes his spiritual formation serious. He had just got back from a week long retreat where he spent a week in silence at retreat center. I walked away excited, challenged, and encouraged to spend more time working on myself first.
3. He asked me for advice. At the conclusion of our time we had several great closing thoughts but the most astonishing was when he asked me what advice I may give him. I can not remember anyone ahead of me in ministry asking me what they could do better. I honestly do not remember what it is I told him. The question just struck me as a great example of how leaders are learners. The most productive leaders are the ones who are constantly trying to get better.
Lesson(s) from Beryl
June 2, 2012
This week we have seen our first tropical storm of the hurricane season. All week Beryl has been reaking havoc. As I was checking twitter the other day two tweets caught my eye and reminded me of two leadership principles.
The first was this:
It was apparent there was a de-lima. As Beryl took an intermission, Tybee was crowded with people hoping to enjoy a day at the beach. Unfortunately there were some extreme rip currents. What should be done? As a leader you want to encourage people to enjoy and visit your area, yet you want to be able to make sure they are safe. I did not want to be whoever was in charge of making the call on this one. The first thing I was reminded of is leadership is about making tough decisions.
The second tweet seemed to be a compromise. Apparently one red flag means you can still get in the water, but according to the news you can only get into up to knee deep. I know it is hard to put the entire idea into a 140 character tweet, but it made me wonder. How do they enforce “knee deep”? Did the life guard or police pull people out who went in below knee deep? What if I was knee deep, but when a wave came in it went above my knees? The second thing I realized is there may not always be a clear answer. If it were easy leaders would not need to make the decisions. If the choice was clear anyone could make it.
Am I on track here? Let me know.
