Tim Keel's Blog

In Transit - Once Again

Hey friends...

I am blogging while on layover at Heathrow Airport in London. We left Nairobi late last night and will arrive back in Kansas City early evening today.

I really look forward to describing something of the quite amazing experience our team (in partnership with a team from City Harvest Church) had in West Pokot.

A few quick and cursory observations:

• City Harvest Church and the life and ministry of their founding pastor Edward Simiyu is a gift to the church at large and we were overwhelmed to be able to join with them for even a short time...
• West Pokot is even more environmentally devastated than I expected. The systemic issues the people there face as a result of that devastation are profound and any attempt to help the community begins with clean and accessible water...
• I had no idea I would learn so much about "pastoral" communities. I don't mean communities with pastors, but rather societies that survive through the domestication and herding of animals (mainly goats and cows). It is not a culture where women are highly valued. In fact a good portion of Bible was written out of a pastoral context. I learned how radically different such a context is from our own and that perspective has helped to enliven the background of the Bible we often read and miss, divorced as we are from that setting and worldview...
• We need more leaders to think systemically and holistically about the gospel, the world in which it is being incarnated, the structures/narratives/metaphors that frame it, and the long-term impact and implications of the life that is being shaped by our current way of locating ourselves in both our world and our reading of God's story.
• Americans need to get their news from a (true) global news provider...
• 14 days is a long time to be away from my family and community.

Looking forward to seeing many of you soon.

In Nairobi - a Warm Welcome and a Surprise

We've been in Nairobi for two days and depart this morning for Kericho, then Pokot.

We arrived Saturday afternoon and after settling in at the Lanana Guest House (the same one we stayed at during the Nairobi Amahoro field trip last year), we joined Pastor Edward Simiyu and his family for dinner at their home. Edward's wife Beatrice prepared a wonderful meal and we enjoyed a time of eating and catching up with one another. A few people we met from City Harvest Church also joined us. It was very good to be back in Edward's home only one year after last being there.

On a kind of random note, I don't ever associate positive experience with passing through an airport. But passing through Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport on Saturday we had not one, but two great experiences.

After an uneventful flight we made our way to the visa/customs counter. We were intercepted by a Kenyan official who ushered us to an unseen, unoccupied line just opened. All six of our team passed through customs in less than five minutes. In another ten we had our luggage and were passing out into the arrivals area looking for whoever was picking us up. Phyllis Njuguna and Peter (?) were waiting for us with a "Jacob's Well Church" sign. It was unnecessary. We recognized them and they us. We were greeted with warm smiles and embraces.

Looking around the place I slowly/quickly realized that I had seen something that, on a subconscious level, didn't seem right. I rescanned the area my eyes had passed over and realized that a good friend of mine from college was standing ten feet away from me. I looked over now and saw my friend Sean Sheridan.

Sean lives in Colorado Springs and is a writer and filmmaker. He does all kinds of different projects with his company, 4:Minute Media. A few years ago Sean began traveling regularly to Africa making films for World Vision. The work of his that I have seen is very compelling. Before I left I knew we were going to be in Africa at the same time, in fact our time in Kigali was going to briefly overlap. We exchanged emails leading up to our departure but then were never able to connect. I was bummed, but I figured we'd eventually reconnect over email upon our return. It's probably been five years since I have seen Sean. I was hoping to see him, and also to surprise Ruthie Harrison, who was also in the same community of friends from college. I didn't tell her about the possibility of seeing Sean, wanting to surprise her. Now knowing that it wasn't going to happen, I told her of my frustrated plan while we were waiting for our luggage. Then less than ten minutes later there he was - right in front of us.

Apparently Sean had arrived that morning at 5:00 a.m. He had two flights cancelled and wasn't departing until sometime after 11:00 p.m. He was killing time and decided to leave the secure departure area for some variety. The story gets better still, though. When I approached him, he was talking to a very young woman holding a baby. He introduced me to her as Rhoda. Rhoda is a refugee from Sudan. Sean had met Rhoda sometime in the previous couple of years when he came across her working on the crisis in Sudan. I think she may have even been featured. In the same place we discovered each other, Sean had discovered, amazingly, Rhoda. It was good to see them interact. I didn't get much of her story because we only had a short time and everyone was going in separate directions. Hopefully I will learn more.

Seeing Sean was a really surprising and good gift. It seemed like God allowed a number of circumstances to align in such a way to give me a really good gift. In fact, I was trying to surprise Ruthie but it was me who was surprised...

This morning we attended City Harvest Church's worship service - another sweet reunion. I had the honor of speaking there. This humble group of people are really engaging their community with opportunities for spiritual, social, economic, and physical transformation. In other words, the gospel. I will write more about our time with them in the coming days.

For now we are packing up again and preparing to head out to Pokot with some of the people of City Harvest. We don't really know what to expect. When we tell Kenyans where we are going they get a confused look on their faces and ask, "Why?" I am not taking my computer, but will be recording my experiences by photo and journal. When I return I will transcribe some of our experiences to the blog. I think we all miss home, but our time here is good and we are grateful to be here.

Departing Kigali

We are at the airport. The wifi screams here so I am posting a picture of myself and my friend Moses. We got to spend the entire day with Moses yesterday. This picture was taken in a small, lush valley on the way back from Nyamata.

Rwanda and its people have been amazing hosts to us this week. We will miss our many new and old friends and the beautiful land they inhabit.

This marks the halfway point of the trip. Which seems amazing...I am a little tired today but really looking forward to our time in Nairobi.

Jambo.

Nyamata

We just got back from some time at Nyamata, a Catholic church about 45 minutes outside Kigali, where tutsis were killed en masse.

When you enter the church you immediately see enormous piles of clothing laying on the pews, the musty and blood-stained garments standing in for the people whose bones are encased in the catacombs below and behind the church. The ceiling is riddled with holes, some from bullets, others from shrapnel pushing outward through the room from the inside out.

Seeing row after row of fractured skulls staring out at you as you pass down a steep staircase to a narrow underground passage cannot adequately be described - nor should it. That is why we had to go and bear witness. Above and below the skulls were platforms of arm and leg bones, the quantity of which can be counted but hardly conceived. It is then you remember that this is one of 72 such sites around the country...

Outside the church were two older women tending the grounds, tilling the earth with simple hoes. While we were in the church it began to rain quite hard. As we came out we gathered with a small group of people under an awning. Everyone was filled with emotion and most of the people in our group had eyes brimming with tears. To the side hung a metal security gate, its frame twisted where a mortar bent its bars outwards giving the attackers access to the people hiding in the church.

Beth Mercer approached one of the older woman who was there gardening and greeted her with a few simple Kirundi words. She responded quietly, gently. Beth then asked her if she could take her photograph and she said that we could. As Beth and I continued to interact with her, she lifted her hands up towards us and spoke a phrase neither of us knew. Our friend Moses said she had asked God to bless us.

It was incredibly humbling and I felt like we should have all been asking God for his mercy instead...

Conference Update 4

Well, it's Friday morning and the conference is now over.

The afternoon and evening sessions were really good. I mentioned in update #3 that Edward Simiyu would be leading a panel discussion about post-election violence in Kenya. It was helpful to listen to Edward describe the context of the violence that happened there, though it is obvious and understandable that in many ways it is so fresh that it is hard for them to discuss. I am glad to be going to Kenya, to engage people in their pain, to hear their stories, and to simply bear witness to their experiences and be present.

After the time with the Kenyans, Brian McLaren keynoted a session titled, "Pre-emptive Reconciliation." If you have read Brian's book or attended the conference based on his book Everything Must Change, then you are somewhat familiar with some of the context and content Brian referenced. However, the integration of that content (and the introduction of new material) into the context and conversation of reconciliation in Africa and around the world was outstanding. I have heard Brian speak many times but I have to say I have never heard him like I heard him yesterday. Beth filmed the entire hour long presentation and discussion. Rather than try and summarize Brian's message, what we will do is upload the video of it onto either the Amahoro website, or create a YouTube Amahoro channel with it - or both.

In fact, most of the footage we have been capturing here is towards a ten-minute informational video about Amahoro. There is no way we will be able to use all of the footage we have and so I am thinking we will take the footage and edit it into two to five minute video vignettes that we will make available in either of the previous mentioned formats.

The night ended with one final session.

Native American Lakota tribe member Richard Twiss, an amazing man and a stimulating (and hilarious) presence throughout the entire week, did one half of a session on "Reconciliation, Restitiution, and Remembrance." He talked about restitution. My time and experience with Richard will have to be a post of its own, however central to this conversation has been the reality of the destructive impact of colonialism (and the cold war) on indigenous populations. Most of the time we have been talking about reconciliation in the African context of colonialism, post-colonialism, its impact on the people, the land, and our reading of theology and gospel. But unfortunately the African continent is only one of many instances of the colonization of an indigenous people. Native populations in the Americas were devastated by colonialism and the statistics even to this day about the suffering of Native American people are surprising and overwhelming. The same could be said for the aboriginal peoples in Australia, the Maori in New Zealand, and many others. When Richard shared his story and the story of his people I asked myself, "As a Christian, why haven't I heard this before?" And the truth is that in America the church became one of the main institutions that colonized and dehumanized native peoples. I'll share some of Richard's presentation and statistics later. But if you think that Richard used this information for some kind of complaint or sympathy generating gimmick (though he would have been perfectly justified to do so) you would misunderstand the man and his intent. He was simply telling his story and stating the truth about what has happened to his people. This is a crucial aspect of reconciliation: the naming of the offense. He did this, but in a sober spirit. In fact, he blamed no one and said that were he in the same place he might have done the same thing given the narratives that were/are driving people to do what they have do/continue to do. Truth telling in this context confronts the dominant narratives of power that mask or divert attention from hidden realities and provide/provoke the possibility of repentance and conversion to another way.

The second half of the presentation was given by Trevor Nthola, a colored South African (in South African you are either black, colored, or white) on "Reconciliation and Remembrance." Trevor is a dynamic presence, a loving and sharp-witted man. But he also speaks in a powerful, truthful, and prophetic way. As you laugh, you realize your heart has just been stabbed with something God's Spirit wants you to feel.

Today is a transition day. Tomorrow we leave for Nairobi. We are relaxing this morning. We are also going to take a few trips around Kigali today. Five of our group are going to one of the churches where a massive number of Tutsis were slaughtered. Later in the afternoon we are going to travel to an orphanage started by two young Rwandan men named Emmanuel and Leonce. They have developed a bread company where the orphans can work and the ministry can be sustained by what they produce. I think we'll end with a good dinner in town.

Thanks for following along with what is happening here. Amahoro.

Brief Interlude

Reflecting on the posts I have made thus far, I am sure that I am giving the impression of great weightiness, sadness, and grief. This is true, of course. But it is equally true that this has been also a profund time of laughter, worship, hospitality, celebration, friendship, learning, and embracing.

In fact, listening to Africans watch the European Cup match between Manchester United and Chelsea, cheering across ethnic/tribal lines for their team last night until after midnight, was an example of how even in the midst of hardship, normal life continues to break through. Another is my 11-year-old daughter emailing me, ecstatic that David Cook, the American Idol contestant from Kansas City, won the competition last night.

Conference Update 3

Today is the last day of the conference. Our time continues to be both very good and very challenging.

This morning Philbert Kalisa addressed us on the topic of "Reconciliation and Forgiveness."

Philbert is an ordained Anglican priest in Rwanda. He also began and directs a ministry called REACH (Reconciliation, Evangelism, and Christian Healing). Philbert spoke only a short time outlining some of what the ministry of REACH is doing. Any ministry done here is by necessity holistic: it addresses every aspect of people's needs. Of the many things they are doing, I was most touched by their ministry to women. There are many widows in Rwanda. Some are widows because their husbands were killed in the genocide. Other women are not widows in the classic sense: there husbands are not dead. Rather their husbands are in prison for their crimes. REACH has brought these two groups of women together.

As Philbert described this he stopped talking and instead brought up a panel to share stories. Judith, Agnes, Anastasia, and Alexander came forward to share. Celestine, another member of the REACH team, acted as translator. Please forgive me but I cannot remember with any confidence the names in the order of how these women shared. The first two women to share described being Tutsis at the time of the genocide and what they lost in terms of family and property. Again, it is hard to relate the devastation and power of these stories. After each of these women shared, then the third woman and the only man, Alexander, shared. Both of them are Hutus and confessed responsibility for their crimes. In fact I believe that Alexander was responsible for the death of Judith's husband (I will double-check that).

When REACH began to gather these widowed Hutu and Tutsi women together, their resentment and hatred for each gave them few options except for plotting and executing revenge. However, as they talked together in this space, they began to recognize their mutual pain and despair. By the grace of God and through the work of people like Philbert and Celestine they were given another possibility for their grief and rage: they chose forgiveness and reconciliation. Now they were sitting before us together sharing their story and challenging us by their lives. Reconciliation becomes more than a theoretical idea when you see victim and victimizer sitting together on the same stage openly talking of their loss and their crimes.

At the end of this part of the discussion, Philbert introduced one last member of their team: a Japanese man named Kazu Sasaki. Kazu lives and works in Rwanda with REACH. Kazu only talked for about five minutes, but part of his time was the telling of his story. Prior to coming to Rwanda, I believe Kazu was working for either a NGO, or some government related task force, around issues of development. In one conversation a Rwandan asked Kazu, "Where were you in 1994?" This was not just a question about geographical location. It was a question that could of been asked of any us: "Why weren't you paying attention or doing anything in 1994? Where were you?" The question cut him to the quick and the end result of it was his relocation to work for the healing of this place. While many of the talks about reconciliation thus far have come to us through the form of personal stories and some theological reflection, Kazu followed his brief story with a more academic reflection on the nature of forgiveness and reconciliation. It was very good. Unfortunately, he had to rush through it. I am going to download his presentation off his jump drive and will post it for downloading later (in fact, please check back on all the entries in the following weeks; as I have opportunity and bandwidth, I will add pictures, downloadable notes, and links to these posts to give greater contexts).

Our morning concluded with a Eucharistic worship service. Philbert and Steve Bonsey, an American Episcopal priest from Boston, presided over the service. It may have been the most significant part of our time together for me thus far. Every week at Jacob's Well we celebrate communion. It comes as the climax of our worship, following the sermon. I am always surprised and humbled by how the ministry of the Word and the ministry of the Table are so integrally related to one another. Talking all week about reconciliation, about confession, remembrance, forgiveness, truth-telling, peace, and being sent out as agents of the Christ, the reconciling God, was real in a way that I only have experienced a handful of times in my life (that is not to diminish any of the my previous experiences - it is only to say that at times God pours out his grace in such simultaneously transcendent and immanent ways that you are able to sense the manifest presence of God in this sacrament). Perhaps one of the most significant ways the message of reconciliation was incarnated in the service was in the passing of the peace: to look another human being in the eyes, to shake their hand or embrace and be embraced proclaiming, "The peace of the Lord be with you," and hear in reply, "And also with you," demonstrated that we are in fact one body - that the reconciling God is our host at this table and we are his guests. As he has embraced us, so we in turn embrace one another, not in spite of our difference, our diversity, and our pasts, but especially in the midst of them. On this day, our Eucharistic celebration became a manifestation of the stories we had just heard in the lives of Judith, Agnes, Anastasia, and Alexander.

I know that in the future, as we continue to allow the experience of what we have seen, heard, and felt, to sink more deeply into our beings, we will have to reckon with this in the context of our place: Jacob's Well, located in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States of America.

This afternoon, our friend Edward Simiyu (the pastor of City Harvest in Nairobi and the man connecting Jacob's Well to the fresh water well project in Pokot) will facilitate a discussion about reconciliation in Kenya following the horrible post-election violence we witnessed this winter. I have talked to several Kenyans here and they are devastated and the wounds from the violence are open and raw. Following that Brian McLaren will give a talk called, "Pre-emptive Reconciliation." In other words, instead of always responding/reacting after the fact, how do we live and engage in such a way that short-circuits/defuses the powder kegs that we all are sitting on in our respective cultures? In other words, how is it that the church is prophetic?

Conference Update 2

It is Wednesday evening here in Kigali. Today was a good. Most of our jet lag is in the past and our energy levels are returning to normal. Also, thanks to any of you who prayed for the recovery of Ruthie Harrison's missing luggage. It was tracked down to Heathrow in London and arrived in Kigali today.

We had a long, good conference session this morning. Antoine Rutayisire told some of his story and described his ministry work. When Antoine was five he witnessed his father murdered. His ministry is extensive in Kigali encompassing members of the Rwandan Parliament as well as prisoners, often talking about reconciliation. The title of Antoine's talk was, "Reconciliation and Justice."

Following Antione, Brian McLaren interviewed two people separately. I don't know how to spell the first man's name. He is a member of a third, relatively unknown tribe in Rwanda (they are also in many other places around East Africa). He is a member of the Abatwa people. While the Tutsi's and Hutu hate and fight against one another, both despise the Abatwa people. They have been persecuted and often treated as less than human. They are the people who have traditionally been called "pygmies," a very disparaging and hurtful term akin to any other minority people's perjorative nickname at the hands of a majority. He shared his experience living in this context and the power of being acknowledged, listened to, treated as a human. It was very powerful. Brian also interviewed Annemie Bosch, an elderly South African woman. Annemie was married to the late David Bosch, a now famous missiologist who wrote one of the books that has been most influential texts in transforming how Christians engage "mission" called "Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission." It was David Bosch who coined the term missio Dei to describe the call of the church to participate in the mission of God in the world. However, Annemie did not talk about her husband's academic work. She talked about the context of their life in South Africa and the difficulties of being in a minority of Christians who opposed apartheid and the minority of dissidents who refused to use violence to effect liberation. People from both sides hated and marginalized them. Their path of faithfulness was a painful and isolating one. Recalling different experiences she more than once paused because of the emotion she was experiencing and the tears that were flowing freely from her eyes. It was a moving time.

This afternoon a group of 60 people from our gathering traveled to one of the many genocide memorials around Kigali. I have not yet been able to go, but I may travel tomorrow with a small group to visit a museum dedicated to stories of the genocide. It is my understanding that 268,000 people are buried there. What is amazing is that this is not the largest memorial dedicated to the preservation of the stories and memory.

I was not able to go because with Beth Mercer we spent the afternoon interviewing and filming different people about the concept of Amahoro, God's work in the world, and the critical nature of the conversation we are having. This is such a unique event that only a few people get to experience and so we are trying to document the experience in order to share it with others, as well as cast vision and invite partnerships so that the scope of what is happening here can continue and grow. I have to say that I am really enjoying my first attempt helping to produce a video. I am pleased with what we have been able to do thus far. Beth has been amazing and is working hard to document the many different people and experiences that are going on here.

Finally, a small group of us went into town this afternoon. We have mostly been in the hotel compound since Monday so it was good to be out and about in town. The quality of light here is stunning and the weather has been mild and very comfortable. Claude Nikondeha, the founder and director of Amahoro, gave us a brief tour of this very beautiful city. I was amazed to discover paved roads throughout the city (pop. 750,000). Apparently, after the genocide, money poured from all over the world into Rwanda and as a result they were able to develop infrastructure that has benefited the people here. Our tour ended at the hotel where the events recorded in the movie The Hotel Rwanda happened. If you saw the movie you know that 1500 people found sanctuary at the hotel, The Hotel des Milles Collines, for 75 days. We sat outside at the pool, drank a beer, and enjoyed a time of laughter and beauty.

Until next time...

Conference Update 1

While the conference began last night, most of the evening was designed to welcome people and introduce the idea of our time and the spirit of the Amahoro gathering.

Today the conference began in earnest. We have had three main sessions. They have been full of challenging content as you might guess. However the greater challenge has been the emotion behind the content. At some point (when I have more bandwidth) I will upload some of the notes that I have taken.

What my notes will not capture is the profound and raw power of listening to the stories of two Rwandan genocide survivors. One is a Tutsi woman named Frida whose entire family was killed when she was 14. They attempted to kill her, too, but failed. She was buried alive and later escaped. She has an amazing story of survival and forgiveness. The second survivor is not what you would traditionally consider a survivor. Mary is a Hutu women whose extended family was directly and indirectly responsible for participating in the genocide. While she herself did not participate in the killing she claims responsibility as a member of her people. She travels around proclaiming a message of repentance for her people. Not surprisingly, she is often not well received and is endangered from those to whom she naturally belongs. Mary is herself a survivor.

It is hard not to feel overwhelmed not just with these stories, but recognizing the way this dynamic gets played out in so many different places around the world historically and currently, Kenya's post-election violence the most recent example.

More later...

Having Arrived Safely in Rwanda...

Well, after 36 hours of travel we have arrived safely in Kigali Rwanda. We left Kansas City Saturday night at 5:00 p.m., flew to Chicago, then London. After a nine hour layover at Heathrow, we left the UK for Nairobi (Kenya), Bujumbura (Burundi), and finally Kigali. It is amazing how humanizing a shower is after all that time.

Kigali is beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful. I am seeing all kinds of friends I met at last year's gathering in Uganda, many from the United States, but many more from Africa, Europe, Central America, and Australia.

We have six people from Jacob's Well at this gathering: Beth Mercer, Philip Lesniewski, Ruthie Harrison, Ashley Cleveland, and Laura Lesniewski (I'm number six). Take a minute and say a prayer for Ruthie if you would. Her luggage didn't make it through. Hopefully it is simply delayed, not lost. Being this far from home without any of your own things is not great.

I will be posting often I think. The hotel has free wireless. It is slow so that means few if any pictures, but I can post those later.

Amahoro!

60th Wedding Anniversary

If you ever come to our Sunday evening worship gathering then you have probably seen John and Ora Oliver.

John and Ora are in their eighties. They live in the neighborhood. I met them first when they attended Roanoke Presbyterian Church - the church that opened themselves and their space to Jacob's Well in its infancy. When Roanoke "closed" its doors most of the people who were a part of that congregation moved on to different churches. Not John and Ora.

They are a beloved part of our community. They come to our youngest gathering. They sit in the back. Ora wears earplugs. We are so glad to have them as part of our congregation.

Last week John and Ora celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Amazing. John no longer has family (apart from Ora's). Ora's family is in Oklahoma. So we decided to have an anniversary party for them. We had a great time sharing lunch and listening to them talk about how they met, their engagement and wedding (two weeks after they met, they got married over their lunch break, then went back to work...work was hard to find and so you couldn't assume that your job would be there if you were gone too long), their marriage, Kansas City in the 1940s. It was a great time with the Olivers. As you can see, they have a great sense of humor.

New Art at Jacob's Well

During the call to worship at Jacob's Well yesterday, I called attention to an art installation that was recently added to the sanctuary. At the front of the sanctuary there is an engraved "Lord's Prayer." On either side there are panels covered with burgundy patterned fabric that is somewhat thread-worn.

Several months ago a textile artist in our community, Debbie Barrett-Jones, approached Jannelle Mastin, one of our creative team members, about designing and creating two new pieces to replace what was there. We gave her the go ahead. She hung them last week and they made their first public appearance yesterday. They are amazing...from a distance, but even more so up close.

Click here to see a gallery with pictures of the project's progress.

In the slide show you'll see that Debbie hands dyes her yarn. How cool for an artist to be involved in nearly every aspect of the creative process. I am jealous. I remember as a fine arts major being unable to get elective courses in textiles. They only allowed majors to take the textile courses. The only experience I have weaving was from a middle school art class I took. I remember weaving on a loom and being captivated/entranced by the process. Looking at her weaving the pattern into the cloth reminds me of that experience.

Amazing work. Thanks to Debbie.

Khrusty Brothers Concert

On Friday night, May 9, my friend Don Chaffer's band, The Khrusty Brothers, will play their second concert at The Crosstown Station. If you missed their Record Bar debut don't miss this.

To say that it is a "spectacle to behold" is an understatement. The concert is a piece of musical, conceptual performance art that is a freak-show of epic proportions - in the best tradition of Meatloaf/The Flaming Lips/KISS. To say that the music is amazing is...well, exactly what you'd expect from anything Don Chaffer is connected to.

They received a great write up in the newest issue of The Pitch. You can also give a listen to one of my favorite songs from the debut record: "Sympathy for Jesus." The mp3 is embedded in The Pitch article.

Read: "The Khrusty Brothers bring their weird-ass gospel to the stage"

Leadership Journal Review of Intuitive Leadership

Former seminary classmate and Leadership Journal columnist Angie Ward has reviewed Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos in the most recent issue of said magazine. Kind of...

Actually what Ward does is compare my book to another recently published leadership book called Making Vision Stick by Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point, what Ward describes as a mega-church near Atlanta.

It is a pretty interesting review of both books and she does it by comparing and contrasting what she sees as two very different approaches towards church and leadership. Here is a sample:

"The differences between Keel and Stanley go beyond style, however. They have very different views of the leader's role. For Stanley, the leader is central to a church's vision, responsible for creating it, communicating it, and maintaining it. 'When a leader blames the follower for not following, the leader has ceased to lead,' he writes. Keel, by contrast, presents a decentralized approach in which direction is discovered from within the community. In this setting, the leader's primary role is that of environmentalist, not program director; one of asking questions, not giving answers. 'Such a move requires that you trust the people with whom you dialogue enough to listen to what they have to say.'"

It's a short review but I feel like Ward has interact and understood what I am getting at with my book. I can't speak to her review of Stanley's book, but by her description it sounds interesting and worth reading.

In writing a book (or preaching a sermon) I am not so invested in whether or not someone agrees with me. What I desperately hope, however, is that they interact with what I have said. It makes me crazy to read something when it becomes clear that someone has not understood or taken the time to truly process what is being proposed. Thus I am grateful when Ward reports and then summarizes:

"Both books are worth reading, but they have very different objectives. Keel wants to change how leaders think. He seeks to convince readers of the need for a massive shift in how leadership looks. Stanley keeps the goal simple: to make vision stick.Taken together, the two books with their divergent perspectives, provide a full and complementary picture of effective leadership today. That's some real brain power."

Christianity Today has posted the review online:

Read "Which Half of the Brain Do You Lead With?"

T.D. Jakes on Race and the Church

I really like Bishop T.D. Jakes. He is the pastor of The Potter's House, a multiracial, nondenominational church in Dallas, Texas.

I remember one night several years ago when I was home by myself and flipping through the channels on the television. I can barely tolerate any religious broadcasting and so when I flipped by Jakes preaching and stopped it was with the implicit understanding that I would only be here for a moment to once again affirm the manifold reasons why I don't watch anything religious on TV. Except once I started watching/listening I could not flip the channel. The man and his words captivated me. I was blown away, challenged, pushed, etc. I have subsequently only seen him a few times but usually I am provoked by what he has to say.

Once again flipping through channels (this time on my RSS reader), I found an article posted today on CNN.com regarding the recent furor surrounding Barack Obama's candidacy and his relationship to Reverend Jeremiah Wright. I think Jakes does an admirable job not only dissecting some of the rhetoric and division of the past weeks, but also casting a vision for a future where the church takes the lead in embodying something different. In that sense I think Jakes's message connects to the most profound aspect of what makes Obama such a compelling candidate for so many people: a refusal to accept politics on the terms and terrain it has occupied.

T.D. Jakes article on CNN