PEDESTRIANS, PASSENGERS AND DRIVERS

LIFE is a journey. We move from the point of birth to the point of death. Many of us embark on this journey of life in different capacities and categories. There are pedestrians, passengers and drivers. As you travel through the road of life, it is crucial that you come to terms with the traits of each of these categories of people and decide where you fall.

PEDESTRIANS
TAKE a look at any highway and you’ll see pedestrians. A pedestrian is a person who travels on foot, especially in an area also used by cars. Pedestrians don’t walk in the middle of the road. They avoid getting in the way of the cars on the road. Even when they have to cross the road, they wait for the cars to stop or pass by before they cross. Because of risks and potential dangers on the road, they spend most of their time on the side lines. Some pedestrians specialise in commenting on how people drive and so on.

Likewise, on the highway of life you will find those who walk on the side lines. They like to play it safe. They do not participate in the important issues of life. They like to mind their own business. They believe that if they get involved, they would be knocked down by the cars on the road. Pedestrians are apathetic, unimaginative and uninspired. They play in the realm of conservatism and don’t take initiatives. Worse, they spend a chunk of their time criticising, instead of contributing to what others are doing.

PASSENGERS
PASSENGERS travel in a motor vehicle, train, aircraft or ship, but do not drive or belong to the crew. Nevertheless, they are among those who operate on the highway of life. Typically, passengers sit in a vehicle and end up at wherever the vehicle will deposit them. They do not control the functioning, direction and speed of the vehicle they travel in. But you see, any accident that occurs will have an impact on them.

In a wider perspective, passengers are persons who seemingly participate in life but do not influence the course of events. These are people who only enjoy what is available without making any additions to life. Passengers do not initiate change, progress and development. They just flow with the tide. Any society that is full of passengers will not experience meaningful progress. Such a society will always be at the mercy of their environment.

DRIVERS
ANYBODY can be a pedestrian or passenger. No special skills or qualifications are required to be on the side lines of the street as a pedestrian or get on board a vehicle as a passenger. But then when it comes to driving, one has to attain a minimum legal age, learn the skills of driving and get certified by the licensing authority. This is because driving is no joke. It is serious business. If a driver messes up, it could have devastating effects on the pedestrians, passengers, the driver, the vehicle involved and the wider society.

Drivers call the shots in every society. These are the people we call leaders. They are the movers and shakers of our world. They make things happen. Without such people society will be static, if not retrogressive. If there are no leaders in the society, there will be no meaningful progress. People who take time to develop themselves are able to drive society towards its aspirations.

If everybody decides to be a pedestrian or passenger, how do you think our society will be? It would probably mean that we would all be looking at each other and hoping that somebody would take a step. But if everybody decides to drive, it would imply that everybody is controlling their own destination and influencing an aspect of society. In a vehicle, it is the driver who determines the destination of the vehicle and thus the passengers.

ARE YOU…?
THIS is my task for you. Spend some time alone and consider whether you are a pedestrian, passenger or driver. Assess what your view of life is. Do you think that the government is responsible for your well-being? Or do you see yourself playing any role in life? Ask yourself these and many more questions and identify who you are.


© 2011 by Terry Mante
Accra, Ghana
http://terrymante.blogspot.com

SPIRITUAL CAPITAL

IN Africa and many parts of the world, anything with the word ‘spirit’ or ‘spiritual’ must be about some mystic force beyond the realm of human grasp. To some people it’s a set of ritualistic deeds captured in a frame called religion. But I have come to discover that spirituality is neither about religion nor some mystic powers. Spirituality is you; your innermost self, the real you. It is the centre of your life; the place where everything emanates from. Your spirituality makes a definite statement of who you are and clarifies the existential questions of life. Who am I? Why do I exist? What is my mission on earth? What is the meaning of life? Is there life after death? What kind of person am I? A clear understanding of these issues will converge to constitute your spiritual capital.

THE COMMITMENT OF YOUR LIFE: MISSION
I HAVE often wondered, “Am I just to get an education, get a job, marry someone pretty, have kids, grand kids, grow old and die?” If all I strive to accomplish will land me in death, then why do I work so hard? Is that all life is about? There must be something more compelling and significant than that. I don’t believe that God would create such a complex being as man to just come and wander on earth and go.
Every human life on earth has been tied to something specific. Each person is uniquely shaped to make a specific contribution to the world. That’s why every single person has a unique DNA, differentiated fingerprint, exact voice structure and many other features that are specific to them and is not duplicated in any single person. This implies that throughout the course of human history, there has never been anybody, there is nobody and there will never be anybody like you. You might resemble somebody else but you two are never the same.
This quintessential uniqueness of every human being implies that there is something specific that each of us is created to do. If you fail to live up to it, your life on earth would have been a worthless experience. Any person who recognises this will gain fulfilment and inner peace. The quest for a meaningful life would be reached when you discover what your mission on earth is and decide to harness it.

THE CHARACTER OF YOUR HEART: INTEGRITY
CHARACTER is what you do when nobody sees you. It is what you say that nobody hears. It is the difference between what people think of you and what you think of yourself. It is the difference between what you say to everybody and what you say to yourself; the difference between your public life and your private life. A person with low regard for character is a consistent adherent to the eleventh commandment; “Thou shall not be caught.” Do you cross the red light when the police are not watching? What are the movies you watch when you are alone? If being caught will embarrass you, then you have a character deficit. If you are concerned about being caught, reassess what you are doing and clean yourself up. The value of your human capital will always rise or fall to equate your character.

THE CONVICTION OF YOUR SPIRIT: FAITH
FAITH is firm assurance and belief based on spiritual conviction rather than physical evidence. It is what you hold on to when everything around you crumbles. It is that which will remain standing within you when the world around you collapses. Faith is not a matter of religion. It is an issue of insurance. It’s a belief in God’s power to create, redeem and restore. For me, it is characterized by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and absolute commitment to His person, principles and power. This gives you stability and resilience.
A person of faith experiences a meaningful life. I share ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair’s view that “The meaning of life cannot be explained by science.” It is faith that does. When you don’t know what to do, your faith will direct you. When you are down, your faith will lift you up. When you are discouraged, your faith will encourage you. When everybody doubts you, your faith will make you believe in yourself.
SPIRITUAL capital is a non-negotiable. As we walk through life, it’s important that we walk with purpose, integrity and faith. These are the values that will stand the test of time. They will prevail in all situations of life. As you build your life, don’t neglect the accumulation of spiritual capital.

© 2011 by Terry Mante
terrymante.blogspot.com

IT'S A BIG DEAL

NOVEMBER 13, 2010. Myanmar’s pro-democracy opposition leader and human rights activist Aung San Su Kyi regained her freedom after seven continuous years under house arrest. Twenty-one years leading up to that time, Su Kyi had spent fifteen years of her life under house arrest. A couple of days after her release, I got the chance to watch an interview she granted the BBC. I must admit that the entire interview was very insightful and inspiring but a particular line struck me. The interviewer asked her, “How does it feel to be free again after seven years?” Her response captured what I consider to be imperative for human development and progress. She remarked, “I have always felt free because I had my books and I could listen to the BBC and read.”
What?! Seven years under house arrest and she always felt free? How is that possible? For Su Kyi, that was possible because she had access to knowledge and information – she could read her books and listen to the BBC. If you are exposed to relevant knowledge and information, you will never feel confined or limited in life. The way to rise above your limitation is to step up your knowledge base. If you want to progress beyond the current level of your life, then extending the boundaries of your knowledge is not an option. It is a must. You must give the acquisition and usage of knowledge an elevated position in your life. Your ignorance limits your horizon. You cannot progress beyond what you know.
So, if you are not learning, then you are limiting yourself. You cannot move beyond your current location to harness the boundless opportunities that exist in the world. As a matter of fact, before you can take advantage of any opportunity, you have to know about it. Then, you have to know what is needed to nib it in the bud. You see! If you don’t know, you can’t pursue.
Thus in today’s world, what you know and what you don’t know is a real BIG DEAL. You cannot achieve beyond the level of your knowledge. The reason you are behind is the information you don’t have. And it will take relevant knowledge to leap you from the back to the front. If you see yourself to be in front, it’s because you possess some knowledge that those behind don’t have. You must constantly update your knowledge to keep leading.
So, what constitutes your knowledge base? Four components – Information, insight, observation and experience.
1. Information. Each day of our lives, somebody tells us something, either directly or indirectly. We hear stuff from our family members, our friends, colleagues at work and mates in the classroom. We listen to the news, we read statements by politicians and journalists, and our pastors preach to us. When somebody tells you something, what you hear becomes part of what you know. Information is the knowledge we have in our heads. It refers to facts we have accumulated about phenomena, persons or places. It doesn’t matter what you believe. Once something is in your brain, it’s information; even if you’ve not seen any evidence.

2. Insight. Insight takes you deeper into what you already know. It processes information you already have and gives you understanding. Insight is the ability to see; except that you see not just with your natural eyes but with your mind’s eye as well. Seeing with your mind’s eye involves prying the surface to unravel the hidden meaning of an idea or concept. You do that by asking why, how, what, who, when and/or where. When you see something with your mind’s eye, it gives you understanding and helps you to establish a conviction. It carves your perspective.

3. Observation. When you look around, what do you see? What impression do you get? What ideas come to your mind? Do you get any inspiration? Things that happen around us can draw our minds to issues and phenomena we might never have considered. They open our eyes to opportunities we must harness and challenges to confront. You must not be in a place and close your eyes to things happening around. Be alert to your environment.

4. Experience. I was chilled when CNN named Anuradha Koirala as CNN Hero of the Year 2010. At age 9 or 10 (she’s not so sure), Koirala became a victim of child trafficking. She went through shock and torture whenever she refused to sleep with any of the about 30 men she was supposed to service each day. She eventually got redeemed from it and since then she has dedicated her life to educating people about child trafficking. It was in recognition of her commitment to expunging child trafficking and abuse that CNN acknowledged her as a hero. Experiences are real. It’s important that we don’t take our experiences for granted. They constitute an essential segment of our knowledge base. Let Anuradha Koirala be your hero too; let your experience build your knowledge package and inform your engagement in life.
The educated or knowledgeable are people who pack information, open it up with their senses of perception and understanding and relate such knowledge with what is happening around them. Ultimately, such people test their knowledge through experience and application to their day-to-day endeavours.

By Terry Mante
© 2011 Accra, Ghana
terrymante.blogspot.com

FROM SUCCESS TO SIGNIFICANCE

CALCUTTA IS the capital of West Bengal state and one of India’s largest cities. In this city lived a woman who was well-known and highly-respected, both within India and across the globe. She was not known to be rich but she made a lot of impact; Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (1910-1997)! You probably know her as Mother Teresa. From 1948 until her death in 1997, the Albanian-born nun devoted her life to helping the poor and the sick of Calcutta and other parts of India and the world at large. She founded Missionaries of Charities and opened shelter for dying people. Teresa lived for the under-privileged in society. Her life counted for the worn out, weak and weary. She was not wealthy but her life brought a wealth of hope, joy and inner peace to millions of people.
Now you! How will your story be told when the time comes? What meaning have you ascribed to your life? Are you just living to be successful? Success means getting what you desire out of life. So if a politician desires to win an election and goes on to win, that could be described as success. A student who passes an examination may be described as successful. But you see, the problem with success is that it is too narrow – if not selfish. More than becoming successful, we’ve got to make our lives count. We must aspire to be significant. Instead of seeing the world in terms of what we can get, we must see the world in terms of what we can give; how many people we can touch. I see Ben Franklin’s reflection that "I would rather have it said 'he lived usefully' than 'he died rich'" apt and witty. More than just words, it was the way Franklin lived his life. One example of his useful nature was the invention of the Franklin stove. Instead of patenting it and keeping it to himself, Ben Franklin decided to share his invention with the world. Leadership expert John Maxwell also posits that, “If you are giving, loving, serving, helping, encouraging, and adding value to others, then you're living a life that counts!” A life that counts is a significant one that flows into the lives of others.
We can all become significant in various ways but here are three brief pointers on becoming significant.
• Discover your purpose. No one is on earth just to wander about or to add up to the numbers. We all have an assignment to fulfil, an answer to a question, a solution to a problem and a provision for a need. Every person on the face of the earth has a contribution to make. We make that contribution when we fulfil our purpose. Discovering and fulfilling our purpose is the vehicle by which we impact our world and add value to other lives.
• Develop your talent. A talent is an inborn ability that inclines us to perform certain tasks without necessarily being taught. To be able serve people with your talent effectively, you must find ways to sharpen it. This can be done via reading, regular engagement, mentorship and collaboration.
• Deploy yourself. You make great impact when you step out with confidence in what God has given you. If you don’t step out you can’t give out. Decide to release yourself unto your generation and you will have moved beyond success to significance.
Significance is attained when we allow what is inside us to come out to benefit others. Nelson Mandela’s conviction that South Africa could be free led him to fight for his country’s liberation. Thomas Edison’s quest for significance ushered us into the modern age of electricity. Jesus Christ’s passion for significance led Him to sacrifice to attain redemption for the entire human race. Those guys who offer assistance when the traffic light breaks down are expressing their significance through public spiritedness. Success is good but it is largely personal and could get selfish. Significance, on the other hand, is driven by the public good and it is selfless. It is better to be significant than to be successful. Success is great but we need to share our success with the world in order to be significant.

http://terrymante.blogspot.com
© 2010 Terry Mante
Accra, Ghana

BOOK LAUNCH: BE OUR GUEST

Every space of ignorance will be occupied by failure in one aspect of your life or another. There is always a price to be paid for what you don't know - the cost of knowledge or the price of ignorance. Join us for the launch of the latest incisive and inspiring book by Terry Mante titled IT'S A BIG DEAL - Sunday September 12, 2010 at Teachers' Hall, Accra, Ghana.

A STORY THAT CHANGED THE ENTIRE WORLD

BY Terry Mante
March 2009
Accra, Ghana
Culled from http://terrymante.blogspot.com

THE ANTECEDENT OF EASTER

According to the Bible, God created the world and everything that constitutes it. He crowned His creation with human beings at the commanding heights. Our role was to partner with God to rule His kingdom. God wanted us to superintend the physical realm on His behalf. He gave us sufficient authority to dominate the earth as well as maintain and harness all the elements and resources of the earth. Somewhere along the line, we lost our guard and ceded our authority to another force. It then became necessary for God to repossess what man had relinquished. He sent His Son Jesus to carry out that mission.



THE MISSION OF EASTER

Jesus came to reclaim and repossess what man had given away. His intention was to restore us to our dignified position in life. Jesus’ operation on earth was to give us dominion over demonic forces and all the storms of life. The birth of Jesus was an announcement of a new dawn in human existence. His death symbolised the end of our bondage to elements of darkness. It marked the end of ignorance and insecurity in the mind and heart of man. It does not end there. Three days after His death, Jesus returned from the dead. He vanquished death; having done that He set the stage for our restoration. All the conditions necessary to put us back to our privileged position had been met.



THE OCCASION OF EASTER

Every year, when we celebrate Easter, we try to accentuate the mission of Jesus. We remember what Jesus did to restore our dignity. While we may want to go to the beach, play some games or participate in various church activities during Easter, we should not lose consciousness over its real essence. This year, as we celebrate the occasion, it must not just be a holiday; we should determine to make it a holy day. We must realise that the significance of Easter is to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus. We have to be aware of how His death and resurrection influence our destiny.



THE PEOPLE OF EASTER

Somehow, Easter has come to be seen as a festival for Christians. Well, my own view is that Easter is a festival for humanity. At the time Jesus died, there was no Christianity. Christianity evolved only after Jesus had resurrected and ascended to heaven. Christianity as a religion is a creation of man. Easter is for every person who desires to have a meaningful existence. It is for people who are seeking to live a dignified life. Anybody who accepts what Jesus did qualifies to be part of Easter. If you acknowledge that the death and resurrection of Jesus was to give you a meaningful and dignified life, then you are the person of Easter; you have cause to celebrate and give thanks to God.



EVERYDAY IS EASTER

What Jesus did for us has daily significance. It is not exclusively useful to us during Easter. It benefits us every time; even when we are dead. It stands to reason that each day of our lives we acknowledge what He did for us. We must always walk in the consciousness that we have been redeemed by God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Easter is not just an occasion, it’s a daily celebration.

WHY LARGER CHURCHES DON'T GROW

Dan Reiland
Culled from The Pastor's Coach

The names are changed, details protected, stories true. Hey, we can have a little privacy in the church! Redemption Church, in Windsor, Oregon grew at a steady pace for thirteen years to an attendance of about 1400 including kids. The worship auditorium seats 400 so they struggled a little with building capacity and parking. They continued to add services, growing from 2 one hour services to 3 on Sunday and then added 1 on Saturday night. They are prepared to go to a 2nd on Saturday night or a 4th on Sunday or both. So space is not an issue until well past 2,000 in attendance. Redemption has a strong local compassion ministry in the community and has a steady stream of visitors but hasn't grown in a year. A couple church board members think it's related to the economy, but the senior pastor assures them that while that might affect the income, it wouldn't prevent them from growing. There is no apparent reason for Redeemer to have stopped growing.

2nd Baptist in Norman, Virginia has averaged just a little over 3,000 for almost three years. They shot up quickly as a very successful church plant. 1st Baptist launched them with staff, money, and a huge building they renovated in a strip- mall. The building was formally a grocery store with lots of traffic in the area. The other businesses are still successful and pull in large numbers of people during the week. The parking is great and the renovation, now seven years old, has been well taken care of. There has been a little staff turnover, but nothing unusual. The worship services are amazing and the children's ministry is strong. Their small groups are above average. The church has a little coffee shop with a friendly vibe to it. The senior pastor is focused on evangelism. There seems to be no reason for the church to have stopped growing.

So what's the answer? How can these larger churches figure out the code to grow again? It's complicated, but not an unsolvable mystery. Prayer and fasting is required. Diligence is demanded. But these churches can grow again. If your church is anything like Redeemer or 2nd Baptist, your church can grow again as well. It's not easy, but absolutely doable.

The following are five possibilities for you to consider. The list can be longer, but these should be among the first things you have candid conversations about. Jump in, talk honestly, and see what you discover.

• Have you forgotten where you came from?

There was a day when every large church was small. The leaders chased every creature that breathed who showed any interest in attending. They also chased people who showed no interest in attending. Every individual mattered! The leaders were relentless in their pursuit of new people. Repeated phone calls and contacts were made with zeal. There was little money, lean and often inexperienced staff, and faith-filled vision was the best thing you had to offer. Zealots with vision and a promise!

Now, there are people everywhere you look. The church is strong. You have resources. You don't have time to mess with everyone's questions and concerns. You can't. If they leave, its not that you don't care, but there are twenty other people who want your time who are waiting in line. Success mixed with pressure can change your perspective in the wrong direction. You can forget where you came from.

You can't do ministry the same way in a larger church as you do in a smaller church, but your heart and passion must remain the same. Humility, zeal, and a spirit of hospitality are vital to continued growth. There is something about gratitude for people and dependence upon God that is critical for churches to grow. If that begins to slip, take some time to reflect on your humble beginnings. That may free up something deep within you that unlocks a key to your church growing again.

• Has innovation taken a back seat to excellence?

Doing things with a world-class bias for excellence is good, but not if you burn all your energy in doing things right, rather than doing the right things. Excellence is important but not if it stifles innovation. Innovation in some ways is counter-intuitive to excellence. Innovation is messy. It requires change. Innovation doesn't always work right the first time. But innovation is essential. Innovation keeps churches alive, healthy and growing.

I have a deep affection for small group ministry. In fact, I invested a tremendous amount of energy into small group leadership as part of my Doctor of Ministry program at Fuller Seminary. At that time, and for many years after, I possessed an unalterable belief that small groups could only be successful if done within a certain reproductive model involving apprentices and a certain time frame. Innovation has allowed me to discover, consider and implement something new. At 12Stone Church we now do small groups in a semester system. We had the previous system down to a near flawless science, but as good as it was, it wasn't keeping up with the needs of the church. Innovation got us to something new and improved. How you do small groups is not the point. Innovation is the point. The thing is that the process was messy, and we still don't have the semester system down to a science. But it's the right new thing for now, we have more people in small groups than ever. I suspect that when it's "perfected" it will be time for innovation! Get the point?

So what in your church is excellent but needs innovation? Is it your worship service, children's ministry, or world mission strategy? How about your efforts toward compassion and justice? Maybe its leadership development or your staffing systems. Always press toward innovation.

• Has the primary leadership become distracted?

Believe it or not leaders in large churches can get bored. Not because there isn't enough to do, but because they've been doing the same thing over and over again for years. This "boredom" leads to the potential to be distracted by other endeavors that appear more exciting and challenging. These "other endeavors" by themselves can be good, but perhaps need to be set aside until the church is growing again.

Distractions can also come in the form of pressure. Finance is a common source of tremendous pressure. If the financial problems of a church become so overwhelming that the key leaders can't help but be consumed by them, it is easy to see how they might lose sight of the vision. That's the primary definition of distraction. The leaders have taken their eyes of the main thing! The scary thing is that the leaders are working so hard in the midst of it all that they often can't see that they have become distracted. Asking the question is a good start and having outside help come in with fresh eyes is beneficial.

Distractions can come from a number of others things such as personal issues, discord in the church, lack of focus, unclear strategy or spiritual attack. How about your church, are you distracted or on target?

• Does the machine override the mission?

At 12Stone Church www.12Stone.com where I'm part of the leadership team, "mission over machine" is one of our mantras. At somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 in attendance the machine has shown up and it's hungry. (It really kicked in at about 4,000). It demands all our attention and it's never satisfied. The machine always wants more but never gives more. We understand the need to be organized, to have policies, and the complexities of communication at this level. This is no longer a mom and pop deal. Life in a larger church is different. That's part of the price tag of reaching people. But you can never give in to the monster called "machine".

Mission must always come first. Hire for mission, organize for mission, invest financially for mission. Make the machine suffer on occasion. Make sure the machine serves you, not you serve it. For example, always hire for growth (first) over maintenance. The pressure to hire staff to help you with the "stuff" of the church will always be with you, and you will have to make some of those hires. But stay tough. Hire staff that help you reach the mission over staff that help you maintain what you have. You do, however, have to learn to live with the tension. Larger churches without good machinery fall into chaos. The machine is not going away, just keep it tamed. Show it whose boss. Mission first!

• Has a God-dependence been replaced by self-sufficiency?

No leader means to do this, but it happens. It is never a pastor or board member or small group leader's intent to take God's place, but it happens.

It's a strange process but easy to see how it happens. You trust God when there is little, because there is no option. The resources are few and you say: "Help me God because I can't do it without you." And God provides. Then there is more, perhaps even much more. Pressure exists when there is little to work with, but there is far more pressure when the resources are greater. This is true because there is so much more at stake. So you, or I, or anyone in leadership is tempted to take back the reigns of leadership because we can't risk that God will continue to be in control and take care of what is at stake. In your mind you know that is dumb. But in your everyday leadership you are tempted to step in and attempt to make things happen yourself. On paper it's crazy, but it's possible for leaders to get a little crazy.

For me, when I have too much work to do I'm tempted to pray less and work more. It's the same thing. Crazy! So the spirit of God prompts me to stay faithful in my prayer time and remain dependent upon the Father. This pattern always works, self-sufficiency never works.

I encourage you to take these five questions and take a close look at your church. Talk with your team and I trust that you will discover something that helps your church grow again. If your church is growing, these questions can serve as preventative medicine and help keep your momentum going.