Today, I had a conversation with a young woman that we’ll call “Amanda.” A conversation might be stretching it. Amanda made little sense in what she said and didn’t seem to hear–or at least respond–to much of what I said. She was mostly naked and stumbling down the sidewalk in downtown San Diego. She had scratches along her arms intermixed with sporadic, blurred tattoos. Her hair looked as if it had been cut with hedge trimmers. Her shirt looked as though she, or someone else, had torn it almost completely off. She wore a pair of shorts that were an inch away from being classified as underwear. She cried. She moaned. She spoke of having been killed, of being allergic to dirt and water, of Mother Mary, of being abused by horses, of being deaf and blind, of FBI conspiracies.

My latest contribution over at DBS.

On his magnificent book on Christian leadership, Spiritual Leadership, Oswald Sanders wrote, “True greatness, true leadership, is found in giving yourself in service to others, not in coaxing or inducing others to serve you.” Here, Sanders captures the heart of Jesus’ message to those that would lead the effort of taking the gospel of the kingdom around the known world. Jesus was serious about it, it wasn’t a nice platitude. Serving is how we lead.

My latest contribution over at DBS.

You gotta get to about the half way point for Matt Haughey's (founder of MetaFilter) talk to really kick in. But it's good stuff. The longer I'm with a 140 year old church the more I think about this kind of stuff.

Just a few quick thoughts of mine:
- it takes longer but...
- you are able to develop authentic community
- which equates remaining authentic to the context and calling
- you remain a healthy model for those you lead
- you don't have to be a wiz' fundraiser to lead ministry

Yes? No? Do you see other things to consider?

HT: BoingBoing

Disappointed that I won't be able to join some of my Anabaptist friends this weekend. If you can't either, the word is that you can still register to download the video of the conference after the fact here.

There's another gathering of Anabaptists coming up in April that you should consider attending. I won't be able to but I certainly wish I could! Some of my favorite Anabaptists will be presenting.

Changing World, Future Church, Ancient Paths

Presenters: Stuart Murray Williams and Juliet Kilpin

Date: March 10, 2012, from 10 am to 4 pm Pacific

Location: Madison Street Church, 3991 Madison Street, Riverside, California

What does it mean to follow Jesus in a changing culture, in which the Christian story is no longer familiar and the church is on the margins? Post-Christendom is well advanced in most western societies and this is the emerging reality in the US too. How do we respond to the challenges and seize the opportunities? What role does church planting play as we search for relevant ways of being church in this emerging culture? And what can the Anabaptist tradition offer –- a tradition with centuries of experience on the margins in which many are finding inspiration and fresh perspectives?

Stuart Murray has written some great stuff concerning mission in the 21st century from an Anabaptist perspective. And Juliet is not only a co-blogger with me over at DBS but also an inspiring practitioner of the kind of stuff Murray writes about.

You should consider making the trip up to Riverside next weekend.