by David Swanson

When I pray for our president and other government leaders, I pray that they have wisdom.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,” according to Proverbs 1:7.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding,” according to Psalm 111:10.

Job 28:28 reveals, “The fear of the Lord — that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding. ”

At least 14 verses relate wisdom with fearing the Lord. In 2 Samuel 23:3, God directly says a leader “rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God.”

Billy Graham[JF1]  wrote, “To fear God is not to shrink back from Him in terror. To fear God is to have a deep reverence for Him, and to stand in awe at His holiness and majesty and power and love. Only then will we love and serve and worship Him as we should.”

Is our nation failing to fear God? Are religious freedoms in danger? Do our leaders depend more on their own wisdom than the wisdom of the Word of God?

Wisdom starts with a deep reverence and awe of God. I pray for our president and other leaders to have a healthy fear of God through which true wisdom can be acted out in their lives.

David Swanson is the president of If My People 2012 (ifmypeople2012.org), a nonpartisan call to prayer for the United States.

GROUP DISCUSSION:

[1] What does fearing God mean to you?

[2] Do you think our nation’s leaders fear God?

[3] How can you incorporate the president and other government leaders into your prayer time?

by David Swanson

As we pray for our government, 2 Chronicles 7:14 becomes a practical verse: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

“If my people” – As God’s people, we need to act if we want to see God heal our land. We often want someone else to be the person to restore our nation to God, but God states clearly He wants His people to be the ones to pray and seek Him on behalf of our land.

“Humble themselves” – People who are not humble do not pray. Humility infers that we do not have all the answers, and we need the Lord. Humility realizes that God is the answer, and we need Him to intervene for our nation.

“Pray” – God says simply that we have not because we do not ask (James 4:2). God wants us to ask Him for the things we want changed in our government.

“Seek my face” – God wants us to seek Him. It is more than just serving Him. He wants a love relationship. Seeking goes beyond just looking for something. If I lose my remote control, I will look for a while, but I eventually give up and change the channel myself. Sometimes we look for God but give up when we don’t find Him quickly. God wants us to seek His face until we find Him (1 Chronicles 28:9).

“Turn from their wicked ways” – In the Old Testament, the greatest wickedness was having other idols before God. The Lord wants to be first in our lives.

So if we want God to heal our land, we must be the ones to be humble, pray, seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways.

David Swanson is the president of If My People 2012 (ifmypeople2012.org), a nonpartisan call to prayer for the United States.

GROUP DISCUSSION:

[1] What does humility mean to you? What actions would a humble person do?

[2] Do you make prayer a priority?

[3] How can you seek God’s face in your life?

[4] What areas of your life might you be putting before God?

Take a look at just a handful of the projects our team accomplished over the past six months:

• Deployed an organization-wide online giving system.
• Rolled out a financial reporting system for end users.
• Built a website template for denominational ministries and groups. (See The Free Methodist Church in Southern California and Europe Alive! for examples.)
• Designed a template and workflow for missionary blogs (Three actively using this template are Serving Haiti, From Every Nation and The Williams Family Ties.)
• Published monthly magazines in both English and Spanish. (See online versions.)
• Maintained the publishing of several organizational books and curriculum resources.
• Developed an area on our website for anyone to tell stories of what God is doing in the local church. (Visit Your Story.)
• Partnered with our bishop’s office to brand and distribute all official communications using MailChimp.
• Conducted monthly training and development sessions for our organization’s staff.
• And the list goes on. …

How does such a small, distributed team manage so many responsibilities? Communication, teamwork and prayer! But in January we rolled out another tool to help us.

The Challenge

It’s sometimes difficult to keep track of all the current projects our team is juggling, the projects we have not yet begun, and those requested by other departments. The majority of this has been greatly facilitated by our use of a software system called Basecamp. (We’ll share more about this amazing resource in another post.) But as of January, we still didn’t have a solution for how to take in project requests from other groups and then build them into our workflow.

The Solution

We developed an online request form using Wufoo. Because Wufoo forms interact seamlessly with WordPress, we were able to embed the form directly on our departmental website. Now, when another department needs assistance on a project, they simply complete this form, providing basic information to help us establish a baseline for their needs. Next, the appropriate people on our team discuss the request to determine who should be involved and assess if and where it will fit into our timeline. They then consult with the requestor to develop a project plan and get to work.

The Results

The process has been a great asset to our team, freeing us to focus on individual responsibilities because we trust that the system will keep us on task and things won’t fall through the cracks. Since rolling it out to other departments at the end of January, we have received 19 formal requests for our assistance. Of those requests, seven projects have been completed, seven are in process and five have not yet been scheduled.

We aimed for several benefits from the system and have seen all of them in action:

• Improve customer service and client satisfaction
• Manage timelines and available bandwidth
• Organize priorities
• Develop consistent communication
• Build upon the organization’s goal to serve.

The Future

From the beginning, we stated that our Workflow Management System would be a work in progress. We have made very few adjustments so far, but we understand that what works now may not work later. So we will regularly evaluate our process and adjust as needed.

The Conversation

How do you manage workflow in your business? What tools do you use? What processes have been particularly helpful to you and your organization?

Though most of the LLCOMM team works remotely, we gather regularly to work and plan together.

But like any team or community, it takes work. Light & Life Communications is a team of nine that works in three states in seven cities. Over the past two years, we’ve built something fairly solid as a team. From time to time, we’ll write about how we collaborate, connect and work together. To set the table for this conversation, I want to share some initial thoughts on the basics of virtual community, offer some key principles and ask you to share your thoughts. From research and trial and error, I’ve identified three keys to success: culture, leadership and tools.

Culture

Virtual community is defined as a “collection of individuals who interact and function as a group without being in the same place at the same time. Virtual groups are frequently created to complete a task. The task may be to solve a problem, make an important decision or set of decisions, or formulate a plan to accomplish a desired objective” [1]. They generally have geographic dispersion, asynchronism, porous boundaries and network compositions. It’s an important idea that there is freedom in the group because of an intentional and specific structure. This type of structure, married with empowerment and freedom of the team members, are keys to building an effective virtual team.

To accomplish this, it’s important to have the right kind of people on the team who are wired for this kind of culture. Some people aren’t wired to work independently, outside the office or with little supervision. To get culture right, you have to have people who are self-starters, passionate about the mission, and directed and resourced accordingly. This allows the leader to truly empower the group. To get culture right, you’ve got to hire the right kind of people.

One key principle found in the literature review is the importance of face-to-face interaction to build a virtual community. It can’t be done solely online. There has to be a balance. “Trust building is vital for sharing, and trust primarily develops through face-to-face interactions.”

This was a surprise to me as I was looking at research and developing these concepts while working in higher education at Spring Arbor University. We were building online courses and the importance of having students connect face-to-face. The research indicated that this was key to building community in the learning experience. As I transitioned this concept to building a department for the denomination, I recognized the need for our team to spend time together face-to-face. To accommodate this, our team meets in Indianapolis regularly throughout the year and in smaller groups regionally from time to time as needed. These shared experiences have definitely drawn us closer together and enhanced culture.

Leadership

The literature speaks strongly regarding the role of the leader in developing a strong virtual team. Dubé and Bourhis [2] assert: Those whose success exceeded initial expectations had very involved leaders who possessed the ability to build political alliances, to foster trust and to find innovative ways to encourage participation. These people ended up in this important position because a member of the organization’s management team or the sponsor had decided that they had the right set of abilities and should be selected and given the resources that were needed to do their work well.

John Maxwell famously coined the phrase, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” Building virtual community is no exception. To build community, the leader has to invest time in the people and process. This not only is an investment in time in the team but also in the concept of virtual community. Community is manifested by being intentional online on Skype for nonscheduled interactions to build community.

The big payoff is in when we gather together face-to-face. We try to eat together, drink lots of coffee and play together. We’ve read books together on how to connect and serve. Probably the greatest wins for building community through leadership is when our team gets wins. We celebrate our wins together. I also attempt to send encouragement cards and occasional gifts or books.

Overall, I continue to learn. Some of our attempts succeed and some fail. The importance is to recognize that the strength of the organization is related to the strength of the team. My priority is my team. When we win, the denomination wins.
Tools

Virtual teams thrive with culture, leadership and the right tools to connect and collaborate. The research points to this as an important piece of connecting people who are not in the same place physically.

“Virtual team leaders should take time to assess the needs of the team and its individual members, employing guidelines and rules of netiquette that the team can follow for the duration of the project” [3]. Not only do virtual teams need rules to agree upon, the research says they also need best practices to stay on the same page with goals and objectives. Gaudes points out “organizations can also facilitate training programs specific for virtual teams that may include conventional team development exercises (such as clarifying team goals and individual roles), but also include best practices in electronic communication and self-management”.

Tools

We will be taking a more significant time to unpack what tools we use and why we use them in subsequent posts. The key here is to underscore that tools don’t make the largest difference. They serve leadership and culture. They serve the team. They are important. We use Skype, Google Hangouts, WebEx, Dropbox and Basecamp for basic communication, project management and collaboration.

Feedback

Have you built a virtual community? Are you in the process? What have you learned? Share your best ideas by posting comments below. Virtual community is not a cookie-cutter deal. It’s still evolving. We understand that our road map isn’t the only one. Share yours.

1. Hirokawa, R., Cathcart, R.S., Samovar, L.A., & Henman, L.D. (2003). Small Group Communication: Theory & Practice: An Anthology. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press.
2. Dubé, L., Bourhis, A., & Jacob, R. (2004). Structuring spontaneity: the impact of management practices on the success of intentionally formed virtual communities of practice, [online], Cahiers du GReSI no 04-20, http://gresi.hec.ca/cahier.asp
3. Gaudes, A., Hamilton-Bogart, B., Marsh, S., & Robinson, H. (2007). A Framework for Constructing Effective Virtual Teams The Journal of E-working 1(2), 83-97

by Kelli Wommack

In “Transforming Church in Rural America,” Shannon O’Dell reports that 61 percent of U.S. churchgoers attend churches with attendance of 60 or fewer.

So why do we think large churches are the norm?

All healthy churches should have a desire to grow — numerically and spiritually. However, for small churches in rural areas, numerical growth can be extremely difficult.

Many rural churches struggle with communities in economic decline. In these areas with closed businesses and little hope for revitalization, the church may be one of the few nonresidential buildings to remain open. If more people are moving out of a rural community than moving in, church growth seems almost impossible.

I recently heard a testimony from a missionary pastor in the rural areas of West Africa. He said he and his wife felt called to reach out to the forgotten and the overlooked. I was struck by his passion to build relationships, not buildings. He shared that he often preaches to people gathered under a tree.

Numbers aren’t everything. Buildings aren’t necessary. God has called us to share His love with the dying and lost world, whether in a small town in the Midwestern United States, a jungle village in West Africa or a large city in Europe.

Regardless of the location, the calling is the same. People need Jesus.

The reality is that a small rural church will probably not become a megachurch. Nor should it desire to be one. The goal should be to reach out to the surrounding community that needs to hear the love of Jesus.

We should build relationships one by one. These are the numbers that truly matter.

GROUP DISCUSSION:

[1] What kind of importance does your church give to numbers?

[2] What should be your church’s goal?

Hello, I’m Jason, and I’m addicted to politics.

Peek into the window of the Archer home on debate or election nights, and you’ll see me watching hours of coverage and analysis. I digest CNN, MSNBC, Fox and, for fun, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

Why do I pay such close attention? As a citizen, I want to make careful and prayerful decisions on leadership at the local, state and federal levels. I avoid shortsighted decisions based on just one issue.

Involvement in politics is part of our DNA as Free Methodists. One of the key issues of our founding was freedom for all people. We took a stand on slavery. Our founders were involved and informed in the political arena.

On Page 8, Howard A. Snyder discusses how B.T. Roberts grafted political activity into early Free Methodism. Now more than ever, the church needs to be engaged in the political process. It’s important to listen, pray and participate.

All Free Methodists are not on the same side of the political spectrum, but Jesus was neither a Democrat nor a Republican. Regardless of our political affiliations, we’re called as “God’s people [to] live together in unity” (Psalm 133:1).

Jason Archer, Executive Director of Communications

How are you participating in politics? Join the conversation at facebook.com/fmcusa and fmcusa.org.

Downloadable PDF: LLM May 2012

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Features

• Table of Contents
• [Feature]: Government and God’s Will
• [Bishops]: Why I Lost My Mind
• [Foundation]: Politics Alone Not the Answer
• [History]: B.T. Roberts: Political, Not Partisan
• [Action]: Roberts Inspires Candidate
• [News]: Teen Interns Contribute to Urban Ministries
• [World]: Meet Japan’s New Bishop
• [Discipleship]: Pray for Our Government

by Matthew Hansen

In this election year, how can we “seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) without neglecting to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” (Jeremiah 29:7)?

How do we engage government without lusting after power that may cause us to promote our own will or territory at the expense of others? How do we pursue positions of leadership without putting our desire for self-advancement, self-promotion and self-protection before the leading of the Holy Spirit?

Church-State History
In pondering these questions, let’s consider the church’s complicated relationship with government:

• 33–312 A.D. The church experiences marginalization and persecution as an alternative society within the greater Roman Empire.
• 312 A.D. The church gains partnership and power with the government when Roman Emperor Constantine becomes a Christian.
• 1095–1272 The church becomes more of a military empire than the church of the Gospels. Instead of being persecuted, the church persecutes during the Crusades.
• 1534 The Church of England is ruled by the king of England.
• 1776 The United States of America declares itself an independent nation of 13 states recognizing the Creator but having no government-sponsored church.
• 1828 Andrew Jackson becomes the first “common man” elected to the presidency. The era of Jacksonian democracy leads to the United States becoming the most powerful nation as its leaders weave Christian morals and freedom together with power and greed. Some church and government leaders begin returning favors for the sake of self-promotion and self-protection.

History tells us our European predecessors’ mix of government and Christianity didn’t go well for the host countries or the church. Although the United States does not have a marriage of church and state that produces an official church, the U.S. church-state relationship could be compared to a civil union.

Biblical Issues
In today’s political environment, Christians face issues that may seem like hot topics. As Christians, it is our responsibility to be like the Bereans,  who did not take Paul at face value but did their research to see if what he said was true (Acts 17:11). How much more diligent should we be in using Scripture to question what we know from the media? It’s important to compare your thoughts on an issue to the views of Scripture, church history and even the perspective of people who think differently than you.

As we examine these issues, we may discover our value systems are in alignment with the kingdom of God, but consideration of some issues may reveal we have competing allegiances (Matthew 6:24).

Does our voting record show we believe every unborn child is a human being made in the image of God (Psalm 139:14–16; Jeremiah 1:5)? Does it indicate we are empathetic to those who are poor or seek refuge (Matthew 7:12)? Although many of us are avid pro-lifers for those between conception and birth, do we stay pro-life for those trying to escape cycles of poverty, exploitation, violence and unethical governments? Do we see immigrants as “illegal” before we see them as people (Genesis 12:1, Exodus 22:21 and 23:9)?

Do we vote for candidates promoting stewardship of resources or individualistic interests (Leviticus 19:9–10; Deuteronomy 15:4–5 and 24:19–22; Proverbs 14:31, 22:7 and 28:15; Isaiah 58:7–9; Amos 5:11; Acts 2:44–45 and 4:34–35)? Do we vote for candidates who favor responsible finances or debt (Psalm 37:21, Romans 13:7–8)?

How does Scripture line up with our views of war and violence (Isaiah 2:4, Matthew 5:39–44 and 26:52, Romans 12:19–21)?

Kingdom values may leave us at odds with all political parties. If a Christian’s goal is allegiance to a particular political party, he or she may have the impossible task of attempting to serve two different masters.

Although I cannot tell you for whom to vote, I can tell you not to reduce your involvement in these issues to a political vote alone.

Rest, Pray, Live
As we move closer to Nov. 6, we can rest in God.

I wish I could say, “If you simply vote for such-and-such candidate, all will be well with the world.” There are two problems with that: history and sinful nature.

No matter for whom you vote, make sure you have done your homework. Even if your preferred candidate is elected, he or she may break promises or make decisions that do not line up with kingdom values. The good news is man cannot thwart the plans of God. At the end of the day, God’s will moves forward. You can rest in the reality that all of history is in God’s hands (Daniel 2:21, Psalm 75:7, Job 42:2).

Pray for our leaders. One of the elements separating Christians from the rest of the world is the way we react to those in authority over us.

Matthew Hansen is co-founder of Restore Communities (restorecommunities.org), teaching pastor at Austin New Church (austinnewchurch.com) and director of justice for the River Conference (theriverconference.org).

Although we absolutely should disobey our authorities if they require us to disobey the Scriptures, we should still do our best to respect them (Hebrews 13:17, I Timothy 2:1–2, 1 Peter 2:13–14).

It’s easy to cast a vote and walk away. It’s much more difficult to deeply live out our votes in our daily lives. If we vote against abortion, for example, we may need to adopt a child or walk with a young mother through her pregnancy and use our resources to take care of her.

Loving Our Nation
I love this great nation. Because I love it, I will be honest about its history, prejudice and violence as well as its successes, advancements and opportunities. While trying to expose our nation’s problems, we should not be silent about the good that runs through its history.

I love the kingdom of God even more than I love this country, and my allegiance is to it above all. My heart’s desire is that the church would be a set-apart society that lives out love, mercy, grace, justice and truth in the midst of the “empire” and for the sake of it.

Because we love this country so much, we owe it to the United States to live out the values of the kingdom of God distinctly. As you go to the polls this November, I pray grace and peace on you and on this nation.

I must have lost my mind, because I reject that maxim. I firmly assert they do mix, at least for the mind made new by the Spirit of Jesus.

First, because Jesus is Lord, who He is, what He does and how He does it relates to every sphere of reality. Jesus’ universal lordship has to do with everything concerning how people govern or are governed.

Second, the lordship of Jesus and His kingdom are central to the gospel. The best news ever is that Jesus rules — in the United States, Iran and everywhere else. Those who understand who is really in charge have special responsibilities both to the One in charge and to all the others who don’t yet know. This is the subversive element in Paul’s naming Jesus’ followers “Christ’s ambassadors” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

They represent their nation just as all ambassadors do, but their nation and King claim the whole world.

Third, the story of God consistently positions God’s people in places of influence and power. Think about Joseph, Esther and Christ-followers through the ages (some of them martyrs). Their witness proved so telling because it engaged the powers who controlled public life.

Fourth, the commands to love and the Great Commission require political witness and action. Love that does not address injustice is not love, and injustice cannot be addressed in a political vacuum. The good news — that the Lord saves us from the worst evil for the best good — challenges profoundly the social systems and power arrangements that govern our lives. Those systems often oppose what the gospel would accomplish. Therefore, gospel telling and living will necessarily result in political action.

Fifth, we have specific commands that also lead to political action. If we are light, we will shine in dark places — not by accident but on purpose. Dispelling darkness doesn’t happen without political consequence.

We are commanded to submit to governing authorities and to engage in other ways with the social and political arenas. Even isolation and intentional nonparticipation are forms of political action, which, on occasion, Christ-followers have used powerfully.

by Joe Wickman

Navigating the Christian’s role in politics can lead us into turbulent waters.

If we lose sight of our first priority, we will careen into frustration and irrelevance. However, the church holds an unrivaled opportunity to chart a course to durable change in a desperate world.

Christians find themselves at odds with the world (John 17:14–16). Aghast at the obvious ills of our current culture, we can be tempted to rectify the shortcomings of society solely through political means.

God uses governments and expects us to respect them (Mark 12:13–17; Romans 13:1–7). If legislation alone were the solution, however, the Mosaic law would be sufficient for us. God’s change agent in the world is and will continue to be the church, which is charged with a singular focus (Matthew 16:18; 28:18–20). The deep transformation Christ offers (2 Corinthians 5:17), multiplied in the hearts of many, will precede and accompany any sweeping cultural change.

Belief paves the way for action, which in turn shapes our world. This is why Paul advises, “Watch your life and doctrine closely” (1 Timothy 4:16).

Our willful submission to God’s Word initiates a process of transformation of our minds (Romans 12:1–2). Scrutinizing every thought (2 Corinthians 10:5), we become useful and productive for God’s purposes in our homes, cities and nation.

As God’s change agents, ambassadors to a broken world, we must never forget:

• People are not the enemy (Ephesians 6:12).
• We are to be known by our love (John 13:34–35).
• We must “make the most of every opportunity” (Colossians 4:5–6).

Transformed people making godly decisions impact the world daily. Sinful people, made alive in Jesus Christ, have a history of turning the world upside down (Acts 2:36–40; 4:12–13; 5:12–16).

SCRIPTURE:

John 17:14–16
Mark 12:13–17
Romans 13:1–7
Matthew 16:18
Matthew 28:18–20
2 Corinthians 5:17
1 Timothy 4:16
Romans 12:1–2
2 Corinthians 10:5
Ephesians 6:12
John 13:34–35
Colossians 4:5–6
Acts 2:36–40
Acts 4:12–13
Acts 5:12–16