WHY? #Reimagine...
To reimagine is not to change what we believe
But to reconsider how we think about what we believe.
If we are unable to differentiate between our beliefs (theology, doctrines) and thoughts (ideas, applications, systems, best practices), then we will ultimately be unable to defend our values and discern the foundations of social change and political preferences.
To reimagine, is to rethink, review and revise, prompted by a Holy Spirit revealed fresh-for-our-times application of the unchanging truth of Scripture. We are blessed by and greatly benefit from but are not bound by tradition. Transformation requires fresh application.
To reimagine is not to rely on human imaginations; just the opposite, it is a yielding to the revelation of the Holy Spirit that infuses human thinking with the mind of Christ which allows us to know the will of our Holy God. A unique application to our times and our trials.
To reimagine, individuals – cohort groups - congregations – collaborations, must employ the gifts of the Holy Spirit (especially prayer) and the resource of scripture.
To refuse to reimagine, is actually an act of disobedience, because we are commanded to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we ( individually and corporately) demonstrate God's will is good for all. So that means our leadership and ministries, not just our personal moral life must be transformed: our disciple making, prayer, evangelism, church itself…
We should expect the renewing of our mind, a reimagination led by the Spirit, to result in great works for a great God.
CHURCH. THINK. DIFFERENT!
#ItSeemsToMe...Christians need to "repent" of behaviors AND beliefs that are not pleasing to God.
["Greek was the language of the gospels and the word “repent” was recorded as “metanoia.”
"Meta” means “after” and it bears the concept of “shift” or “change” (as in the word metamorphosis).
“Noia” translates to “mind.” “Metanoia” is a clarion call to transformational thinking. Suzette Martinez Standring]
Take faith! #Reimagine
Phil Miglioratti
Curator for The #ReimagineFORUM
NEXT STEPS ~
1. Affirm that you need to #Reimagine... if your church/ministry/team/group is going to be successful at reaching people with the Gospel and making disciples.
- >>>Scrolling comments below then...
- >>>Read how to reimagine like Romans 12:2 (scroll to also see guest commentary)
- >>>Reading Designing YOUR #Reimagine Journey...
- >>>Listening in prayer
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
Jeremiah 33:3
>>>KEEP SCROLLING for RELATED CONTENT & COMMENTARY, RESOURCES & REPLIES
AND...
When you begin to reimagine, apply these questions to your application of Romans 12:2:
“You want answers. You’ve got to ask questions.”.
{Unknown author}
5 #Reimagine Questions
Guest Post by Mary R. Miller
The best coaches ask powerful questions and then really listen to the responses.
Jesus was a perfect example of this, but someone already wrote a book about that. Thank you Bob! 339 Questions Jesus Asked.
Questions are a tool that coaches and leaders use to help others navigate through the rough terrain of life. They help people discern and decipher their next steps. Questions bring clarity by lighting the way and exposing one’s mindset a question at a time.
Here are five of the most powerful questions I’ve asked. How do I know they are powerful questions? From my client’s responses. Hearing what every coach wants to hear. A short silence, then the client saying “That’s a great question.”
1. What are you willing to change in order to reach your goal?
The answer to this question gives you a sense of how motivated the person is to change. How badly do they want to reach their goal? It exposes the areas in their life that they want to protect. That can be a path to developing healthy boundaries. It also exposes fear which may bring up the “what if” question. For example, “If I change my messaging to include my faith, what if I lose clients?” As you can see, this question creates a rich soil of deeper meaningful conversations that promote growth.
2. What is the next step you can take towards your dreams?
Sometimes people get stuck because dreams can be so large that they feel out of reach. If the person breaks their dream down into pieces that are actionable, it’s not as overwhelming. Then they can process their dream in more detail; allowing them to get their arms around it. The goal of this question is to get your client thinking and talking about their dreams so that they can take action towards them. One of the goals of coaching and leading is to help others progress.
3. If you could ask God for anything right now, what would it be ?
This is really digging into the core of a person’s heart. What they desire deep down. What do they feel like they can’t control? Something that only God can do. When a person answers this question, it opens your eyes to what they are longing for right now. The desire of their heart. It tells you where they are at right now.
4. What causes fire in your belly?
The answer to this is very telling. It tells you a bit about how someone is wired and what they are passionate about. When they don’t know the answer, that tells you that they may be a little lost in their search of purpose and may not know themselves very well. In either case, it gives you a path to investigate and to help them to find that fire.
5. Did you get what you needed from today’s session and what stuck out to you?
Assuming that they say ‘yes,’ it encourages the person that they did know where to start. This builds up their confidence. It also causes the person to reflect on what they learned in the coaching session. This reflection will reinforce what they learned, which typically motivates them to put it into practice.
If they say ‘no’’ and that ‘nothing really stuck out’ to them; this tells you that they didn’t really know where to start. That they need help taking a step back to narrow down and focus on one of their challenges. It also tells you both that you need to recalibrate. Sometimes it means that you are not the best coach for that person or that you need to change your approach.
There are many more powerful questions that you can ask your clients or your people but these five have really helped my clients to take steps towards achieving their dreams. My prayer is that you can add them to your leadership toolbox to grow your people and yourself.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary R. Miller is an author, poet, coach, engineer, and speaker all wrapped into one which allows her to make the invisible visible and provide a unique perspective to her readers, clients, and audiences. Using her gifts she founded Dream Catalyst, an organization that provides resources and coaching to help woman overcome what’s holding them back so they can claim their dreams. She is the author of The Birth of a Dream Catalyst: Unlocking the Dream from Within, God’s Warrior: 40 Powerful Prayers and a contributing author of the book Success: Powered by Relationships.
Search for these hashtags on Twitter for additional thought-provoking comments and quotes:
I recently saw an article on the top radio stations in Chicago.
Having listened to Chicago radio, beginning in my teens, I was interested.
What did I find?
My musical tastes have not changed.
But millions of listeneres are currently uninterested in what captures my attention.
America has becme our "mission-field."
As Jesus said to the disciples in The Chosen: "Get used to different!"
Insights for Change-Agents
Can you paint the big/little picture?
Vision is the big picture and it is crucial to the success of the enterprise.
But along with the big picture, people also need the little picture:
Big Picture—Presenting the concept of transformation.
Little Picture—How are we going to do that?
Big Picture—Setting long-term corporate goals.
Little Picture—Where do we begin?
Big Picture—Developing the overall objectives of the transformation.
Little Picture— What are the priorities?
Big Picture—Creating the mission of the organization.
Little Picture—Where does my contribution fit in?
Big Picture—Communicating organizational values.
Little Picture—What does this mean in my daily life?
WIth thanks to Bob Tiede @ LeadingWithQuestions.com/
To #reimagine is a Spirit-led, Scripture-fed journey.
"The action of the Spirit to transform our character must be accompanied by our active participation."
@DallasAWillard
“Information is not necessarily insight.”
George Stephanopols
Fathom Magazine Commentary
Transitions Are Great Times to Innovate
by Jerry Harris | 1 May, 2022 |
By Jerry Harris
I’m tired of several culturally popular words. The term “new normal,” which I’ve written about previously, is one of them; it seems to carry a connotation of something “less than before” that we must reluctantly accept. I’m also tired of the overuse of the word “season”—it causes me to have “friends are friends forever” flashbacks! But the one I’m seeing more and more lately is the word “transition.” That hits close to home, as I have just “transitioned” from being senior pastor of The Crossing—a position I’d held for the last 24 years—to teaching pastor; the person I’ve been mentoring for the past 16 years has been installed as the new senior pastor.
Churches of all persuasions across the country are transitioning to a post-pandemic reality, even though it’s a bit premature to declare the pandemic over. These churches are navigating different weekend attendances, offering amounts, staffing, how to manage an online audience, and a host of other matters. Christian colleges and universities are also navigating some tough transitions (as we shared in our January/February issue).
We live in a culture that gives a title to every hard thing with which one might deal, and post-traumatic stress disorder frequently is the term of choice. It is traumatic when you’ve established a vision, a metric to measure the success of that vision, and a game plan to implement it . . . only to have it blown apart by unforeseen circumstances.
All this transition causes me to remember the talk about innovation that Craig Groeschel gave at the 2014 North American Christian Convention. He referenced Mark 2:1-5, which tells the story about a paralytic lowered before Jesus through a hole in a roof. Groeschel said, “Innovation isn’t as much about what we do but how we think. When we can learn to think differently, we can become what God has intended for us to be.” He then laid out an equation of creating an innovation environment:
Limited Resources + a Willingness to Fail + Increasing Passion = Exponential Innovation.
If your ministry is experiencing limited resources—whether that’s attendance numbers, money, staffing, or your personal position—you are in a great place to try new things. We must get away from the attitude that“we can’t because we don’t.” We have everything we need to reach everyone God wants us to reach in this moment. Limited resources don’t hinder innovation, they catalyze it! We need to let our limited resources become a breeding ground for innovation.
We need to embrace the axiom, “Failure is not an option, failure is a necessity!” John Maxwell says, “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly!” I couldn’t agree more! No one ever does anything new perfectly the first time. Our greatest accomplishments in ministry rest on countless big and small failures, but every failure brings an adjustment that moves efforts forward.
Transitions in life and ministry can put us into spaces that are far from the usual. In truth, these transitions lead us to places with plenty of opportunities to fail, but those same places are rich with personal and ministerial innovation.
Transition is where we test the strength of our passion. Some people decided to just stop working because of the pandemic. But how about those of us in ministry? Transitioning out of a senior role could cause a person to start thinking about taking it easy, but we must not forsake our passion. Instead, at such a time as this, we need to turn up the power of our passion!
If we still believe people are headed to a very real fate called Hell unless they come to Jesus, then our “want to” has to move to “have to”! We have to reach people for Jesus! We have to care more about reaching them than we do pleasing them, and when we do that, innovation is fueled up with passion.
We are a movement that must embrace innovation without compromising the sacred truth of the Word of God. Whether you are involved in a church, ministry, or university, let whatever transition you are experiencing lead you to a place of innovation where your area of ministry is one of the hardest places from which to get to Hell!
JERRY HARRIS
WHY #Reimagine?
We have entered the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" Era
According to Michael Rectenwald, "The first, second, and third Industrial Revolutions were the mechanical, electrical, digital revolutions. The fourth Industrial Revolution marks the convergence of existing and emerging fields , including Big Data, artificial intelligence, mechanical learning, quantum computing, genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics. The merging of the physical, digital, and biological worlds...presents a challenge to the ontologies by which we understand ourselves and the world, including the definition of a human being." [Imprints; Hillsdale Colelge]
WHY #Reimagine?
The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”— Peter Drucker, (1909-2005)
“In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you.”— Warren Buffett
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