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The Gift of Limited Time

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Originally published in the Vermilion Standard, here is my recent article: “The Gift of Limited Time.”
A common question I hear during this time of year is: “Where did the summer go?”  It isn’t so much a question as it is a lament of the limited time we have in this part of the world for summer.  It is as if we are surprised each Fall when the days begin to shorten and the trees begin to change colour.  The same challenge is true when it comes to our often-lamented limited hours in a day.  In our rushed culture where we foolishly try to jam more and more into our limited schedules, we forget the gift of rest and finding a healthy rhythm in our lives.
The creation narrative in the Bible (Genesis 1-2) speaks about God creating our universe in such a way that time has a rhythm and cyclical reality (night and day, seven days in a week, rotating seasons).  This was not a mistake or a consequence but it is a gift; however, we as productive and efficient North Americans bock at such inefficiency.
Think of it this way, by having limited day light hours we are forced to stop and rest – to reset for another day.  Or by having limited time we are forced to have others help us (something experienced by many farmers each Fall and Spring) and, as a result, we experience the beautiful gift of community.  Limitation is a gift to be celebrated not a limitation to be mourned.  If you had unlimited time, you would probably rarely ask for help from others and, as a result, live an isolated life of individual busyness.  But by God’s grand design, you have limited time, need to rely on others and, as a result, experience the gift of community, relationship, co-operation and support.
Think of time as a beautiful musical chorus.  God created our world to function in the rhythm of time (day and night – winter and summer) and this rhythm is something we are to embrace rather than rebel against.  It is similar to a beating drum.  The brilliance and genius of a good drumbeat is not the beat itself but the rest between those beats.  Some of us, in our lives of busyness, are just making noise and not learning the dynamic of rhythm and gift of rest.
I am not writing as a master in this topic but a fellow struggler that seems to pretend that he can fit more into a day than is possible.  This is not something I neither boast about nor embrace.  Instead, like you, I have been created to live in a rhythm of rest, embracing my limitations and seeking help from others in community. If I deny that rhythm, there are inevitable consequences.
I find it ironic that a hundred years ago the rich and powerful would boast about their leisure and recreation time as a badge of honour rather than their busyness.  Think about it.  If you were to ask a successful person how they are, the first thing out of their mouth today would be “I’m busy” and we would embrace that as the expected and celebrated answer.  Historically, this was not always the case.   Why has busyness become the mantra of success?  I think, partially, because it, strangely and sadly, gives meaning to our lives.   We are all in search of finding meaning and purpose to life and in lack of a good alternative, busyness becomes an easy and artificial substitute.
But, what if we embraced the limited time we have, asked for others to help, started to celebrate a quiet evening as a sign of God’s rhythm of rest rather than feeling guilty we are not producing something?  What if our identities were not equal to our productivity and, instead, we found meaning in something more powerful than that – God, through a personal relationship in Christ, and his unique purpose for each of us?  What if, we discovered that our purpose was not in our productivity but in our love for God and others?
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Beware The Journey Down

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Originally published in the Vermilion Standard, here is my recent article: “Beware The Journey Down.”

I recently watched a fascinating documentary on an expedition trip to the top of Mount Everest.  Whether it is because of the discipline of the climb, the athletic skill, or the mental strength it takes, I have always been enthralled with mountain climbing.   It is an amazing sport that tests the limits of our human bodies and capacities.  As I watched the documentary, I was surprised by the statistic that 80% of mountain climbing accidents occur on the way down the mountain.  Although the harrowing journey to the summit is the focus for the layperson, it, interestedly, is the safest part of the journey.  As one comes down the mountain, they are more prone to physical exhaustion, oxygen depravation, attitude sickness, and mental lapses.  Consequently, the trip down is the most dangerous part of the journey.


This is analogous to life on so many levels.  We, too, can loose focus when we have achieved success, when we are healthy, or when life is good.  We can forget that life is not simply about being on the mountaintop but it is also sometimes about journeying well in the valley.  The challenge in either of these situations is to put our focus on God.  Psalm 23 communicates the need to put our focus on God (our shepherd/guide) in all parts of the journey.

“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,  he refreshes my soul.He guides me along the right paths   for his name’s sake.Even though I walk through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil, for you are with me;  your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

God leads us to green pastures and sometimes our journeys take us through the dark valley, but in both of these places our focus needs to always be on God, our Good Shepherd.  To use mountain climbing language, we need to have our focus on our guide, at the summit and on the journey down to the valley.  

The Bible is full of stories of people who lost their focus on the summit and the valley of life.  But it is also a message of hope and redemption, teaching us that even when we lose focus, when we make mistakes, when we fall or get lost in the valley, God is waiting with open arms.  

Jesus tells us a story of a lost and wayward son who is welcomed back as a reminder that no matter what we have done, God waits with open arms for us to come home (Luke 15).  To that end, scripture teaches that if we confess our sin (our mistakes, failures, etc) that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us completely of it (1 John 1:9).  We can experience new life through faith and trust in Christ that is, as Jesus describes, a life that’s abundant and eternal.

Where are you on the journey?  Are you on the summit or are you in the valley?  Either way, where is your focus and your hope?  In either situation “…fix your eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before us endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2)

Remember, most accidents occur on the way down the mountain, so beware the journey down and fix your eyes on Jesus.


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Seven Reasons Why Churches Should Do Annual Evaluations

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It is annual evaluation time at the church where I serve as Lead Pastor (Parkview Alliance Church).  Consequently, it is a busy time of year (I do formal evaluations, written and verbal, for the 8 staff members I supervise) but it is also a great time a year.  It is busy because I try my best to do this area very well and take intentional time and effort to make this is constructive and positive experience for everyone.

I often get asked on how we do this at Parkview and if you were interested in the full evaluation and professional development documents and policy we use, let me know and I would gladly send them off to you (in full disclosure, we edited and reworked some resources we took (with permission) from somewhere else).  We are in the process, over this next year, of expanding our evaluation process to include all our staff, not just the staff that I personally supervise.

The challenge for most churches is not the evaluation forms they use but about taking the time and effort to do them.  To that end, I thought I would present the principles and guiding philosophy that make this a positive part of our staff dynamic.

7 Reasons why I believe that evaluation is key to a healthy staff:

  1. It communicates trust and constant communication.  
    1. My goal is that nothing said in the evaluation time will be news to the staff member.  If I have an issue with them, I commit to not “gunny sack” it until our evaluation time (potentially holding it for months) but deal with it at the time of occurrence.  
    2. Regular annual evaluations, with 6-month reviews, aid in a continual communication process that is ongoing and consistent.  It helps to foster regular communication, it does not take the place of it!
  2. Evaluations are a regular part of all our staff’s life and ministry whether they are struggling or thriving.  
    1. My observation has been that churches often only do evaluations when things are bad with a staff member.  This should never be the case.  Evaluations should be ongoing and consistent. This will help to alleviate the need for bad evaluations, help to encourage success, provide opportunities for encouragement and celebration, as well as give a positive route, with a foundation of trust, to deal with area of weakness.
  3. It links self evaluation with supervisor evaluations – growing increased self awareness.
    1. The best part of evaluations for me is having the staff members do their own self-evaluation and using part of the evaluation time to compare my observations with their own self-assessment.  By doing this it helps to raise self-awareness and therefore growth in specific areas. 
  4.  Evaluations are related to personal growth and professional development.
    1. Particularly with our full-time pastoral staff, this is huge component of our evaluation process and one of the best benefits of it.  Our full-time pastoral staff, myself included, also complete a yearly professional development plan that takes into account the areas brought out in our evaluations and helps us create a plan to manage and/or work through our areas of weakness (our growth potentials) and work more in our areas of strengths.
  5. It makes me a better Lead Pastor because I am being evaluated.  
    1. I lead by example.  My annual evaluation (done by a couple Elder’s based on evaluation forms filled out by all our elders, all our staff and six congregants) is the most intensive of all our staff members.  
    2. I helps me be aware of areas I am not great at and need to grow in and it helps we check my “blind spots” regularly.  It, also, helps me to refocus my energies in areas of my strengths and find new ways to manage some of my weaknesses.
    3. As a side note and separate from my annual evaluation, I do sermon evaluations several times a year having congregants fill out a sermon evaluation that aids in my desire to constantly grow as a preacher/teacher.
  6. It provides opportunities to celebrate success.
    1. If we are never honest about areas of potential growth, we will never be able to celebrate our growth in these areas.
    2. My favourite time in evaluation with staff is looking at past years evaluations and seeing growth and then celebrating that growth with the staff members.
    3. One of the benefits of annual evaluations is the cumulative nature of these and the subsequent ability to track growth.
  7. It leads to personal and professional growth.
    1. We will never grow if we are unaware of our current situation and don’t create a plan for growth.
    2. Our professional develop plans and funds are connects to our evaluations and so if I, or a staff member, need to grow in an area and a certain conference or resource will help, we can strategically allocate funds and resources to see this happen.
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Social Media and the Vancouver Riots

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I, along with most of Canada, was appalled at the Vancouver Riots after the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Boston Bruins in game seven of the Stanley Cup final.  However, in the midst of my disgust, I was fascinated by the events that were unfolding in the national news coverage as I witnessed the masses capturing the riots via smart phones and sharing them on social media.  In the midst of breaking the law, the rioters and looters activities were being passively encouraged by the riot onlookers who stayed to witnesses and record these events.  At the same time my eyes were witnessing this spectacle, I was listening to the commentary of the new’s channel reporters who, along with myself, were shocked and appalled by the hundred of onlookers who were, at the very least, recording and witnessing the destructive behaviour while all along recording it on their electronic devices.

Part of what was most shocking and ironic to me was the contrast between the new’s reporters commentary of the appalling behaviour of those who were witnessing and recoding the events and the deluge of ads the same new’s channel constantly run encouraging people to be iReporters – in essence, to do the very things that they were appalled at.

Our culture has radically shifted because of smart phones and social media.  The human condition is still the same but technology (as it always been since the Tower of Babel) has found a new outlet of expression.  Every piece of technology created alters our social construct and our culture and social media technology is no different.  The same technology that was used to bring down oppressive regimes by putting power in the hands of the oppressed is also used to help organize riots and public looting.  The same technology that stirred a crowd to act foolishly will be used, in the end, to bring justice.

Technology is not a passive force in our world, culture or social constructs.

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Finding Hope, Truth and Wisdom in the Ancient and Timeless Scriptures for our Rapidly Changing World.

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Many people believe that the Bible (Scripture) is out of date and irrelevant in our modern world; that the Bible’s antiquity makes it obsolete and useless in a technologically rich culture.  I would submit that the opposite is actually true; that in a world of rapid change, abundance of knowledge and unfiltered access to information, there is something inherently compelling about a sacred and ancient text that has been true and applicable for millennia past.  In our world of constant change and adaptation, having timeless truth is incredibly uniquely valuable and the biblical account of David and Bathsheba is a prime example of this in our culture.  Let me explain…

If you are unfamiliar with the story, you can link to the biblical account here in 2 Samuel 11.

In the Biblical narrative, we discover King David, king of a HUGE empire with massive power,
influence and access.  King David, by nature of his situation, can have whatever he wants, whenever he wants it.  In essence, all he has to do with the temptation before him is say “YES.”  The problem for people who have preached on or attempted to learn from this portion of scripture in the past is that we, until recently, have not been granted equal access as Kings.  However, with the rise of technology, specifically the internet (TV, websites, smart phones, iPads, etc.), we have been given equal power and the unfiltered access to content and situations that were once only available to kings or those in power.  In sum, we now, because of technology, have more in common with King David and his sexual temptation than ever before.

This story has immense and powerful implications and applications for our new world and the widespread nature of power, information, unfiltered content and accessibility.   The Bible is equally relevant in our world today!  It has more to say than many realize and it’s timeless truth and eternal message is worth sharing!

If you are interested, I preached on this passage a few months ago with this intro and communicated the similarities that David’s sin has with the temptation of the Internet for many people today.  You can listen or watch it on our Parkview Alliance Church website under the date: January 30, 2011.