One Life

Yanah has been persistent in trying to get me to blog the last few weeks, she is quite the expert blogger these days and is setting high standards on the Onelife blog! My literacy skills won't compare, but for those of you that were at the YLC's and heard Yanah speak - I will put the tape measure down! 

So I ended up driving a rather large, but very nice VW van to Manchester and Glasgow for the YLC's. You would have never have guessed but there's a few parallels that can be drawn between Van driving and leadership: 

1) You carry a heavier load and have a much greater responsibility - don't neglect those that you are leading and don't take them for granted. If you don't get them to the destination, you not only let them down but many others too. 

2) You need more stops to Re-fuel. Rest is so important for any leader and I think the more you lead, the more you realise the need for rest and re-fuelling. Too many leaders end up doing far too much, spread themselves too thinly and become drained and ineffective. Make sure you take time out to do things that energize you and re-charge the batteries. 

3) Friends and accountability keep you out of trouble. Having friends in the cab with me was very helpful, especially when parking! I didn't want to hand the van back with any more dents or scrapes that it already had. We can so easily isolate ourselves as leaders, don't, it endangers you and those that you lead. 

So I hope this is in some way helpful and you have enjoyed my first Onelife blog! 

Macca 

I am officially a fan of Glasgow, and will forever be. The first ever YLC in Scotland was phenomenal. I think it’s fair to say that God more than exceeded our expectations. For 48 hours, passionate young Scots were stirred up and inspired – more convinced that God not only loved them, but had chosen them to lead. The incredible team from Queen’s Park Baptist Church and the surrounding area (a huge round of applause, please!) served their socks off. The whole conference was a living, breathing, laughing testimony to the unshakable faithfulness of God.

The most remarkable thing for me was the incredible passion that these young leaders had for Scotland. I have to say I’ve not seen that kind of desperation for God to move in England. (Take that as a challenge, oh southerners!) During one evening meeting the prayers bubbled over and kept bubbling...the session ran late, but no one cared! I was moved, and I’m sure God was too, so keep your eyes open – something is happening in Scotland.

And not only is God able to do things big scale, nationally, but also on the small scale – personally. We saw His gentleness and strength at work in people’s hearts, mine included. He was drawing out of us pure hearts ready to run the long, hard race.

So I repeat: I am a fan of Glasgow and a lover of the Scots. In this, I am in good company: Jesus is too. We saw it last week, and we will see it in the weeks, months and years to come. This is the beginning!

So, the grand report: The Young Leaders Conference 2010 has visited Manchester! Over seventy delegates and volunteers spent 3 days together, fully enjoying the teaching, company and inspiration of a whole collection of remarkable leaders. Highlights included the input of the likes of Rear Admiral Alan Richards and Bishop Graham Dow, a moving performance of ‘The Stand’ by our very own X-Factor potential, and hot chocolate expertly made and skilfully consumed. The team from Onelife joined forces with the heroes of St Chad’s and others in the Greater Manchester area to serve and equip the young leaders of the north.

And while the team was amazing and the leadership tips were insightful (I was scribbling away!), the most valuable and honestly life changing thing was that we met with God – plain and simple. Both those of us on team and the delegates came away knowing that we’d been shaped by the presence of God.

If you haven’t yet clued in, the theme for the conferences this year is Unto Us, (if you have one of the incredibly cool badges, wave it proudly!) making Jesus – as the best leader this world has ever seen – our model. He revealed to us the character of God, the character we want as leaders. And honestly, I feel like I know Jesus better. At the end of the day, that’s worth more than all the wisest one-liners or the best books. Or as one delegate put it, we could come away knowing lots of stuff about leadership, but it’s better to have met with God. And you know what? We did.

Just a quick one – we’re all packing up and on our way north! The Young Leaders Conference comes to Manchester and Glasgow! Whether we all get there too is another question...but you gotta love a little chaos, right?

I’ve just got back from Cornwall, and bring you a little thought...or rather an observation. We happened to spend some time with young families, in the midst of meeting with youth workers and other heroes, and I laughed as much as I usually do around little kids. Their rather limited vocabulary is hilarious – they try so hard with such a serious face to tell you something, but you haven’t got a clue what they mean. In the middle of this comic miscommunication the parent steps in, and amazingly knows exactly what the kid is trying to say! Basically, I was struck by how well a parent knows a child. And so it must be with my Father – I try so hard, and look so serious, but only rarely say something intelligible. What a relief that He gets it!

Anyway, back to the chaos! See you in the north...

You’d be surprised how easy it is to write a sermon. Yesterday at the Watford School of Leadership we were given the task of writing one: we had eight minutes to write a two minute sermon. And believe it or not, we all got there – some unfortunate souls actually had to give theirs in front of the class, but really it wasn’t nearly as frightening as it sounds.

The real challenge is this: could you give me a two minute sermon, right now, about something that God has said to you today? Not what he said last week, last month, last year…today. Did he whisper something when you were waking up? When you saw the sky? When you read his word? Give me three points, (if you’re really good, they’ll all start with the same letter!) to sum up what your Father said…

And if you’re ready, ask someone for theirs! Let’s be able and eager to communicate what our Father is saying, and be excited to hear it! The incredible thing is that God is always saying something, even if he says it in silence. You never know, you might hear some real gems!