Karl Westerhof
What interests me: Books, babies, dogs,books, North Woods cabins, Liz my wife and Joe my son, organizational change, books, conflict management, community development, communication, discipleship, leadership, books... and did I mention that I love to read?
I've always loved Jesus, but in recent years that love has become so much more central in my life. Willard, Foster, Peterson, Chan and Wright, and the like have taken their places on my shelves along with Drucker, Collins, Heifetz, and Buckingham... I'm on the journey of learning how spiritual transformation happens in my life, and how I can become more like Jesus, my Savior, Teacher, Lord, and Friend.
I worked for the CRC in one way and another since the late 60s, and much of that experience was strongly shaped by being a child of the 60s. Race relations, justice, development, and social change were abiding interests. And the North Woods of Michigan.
Most recently I've been with World Renew (formerly CRWRC), the denomination's relief and community development agency. Our family lived in the Philippines while I worked as Asia Regional Director, and later I was Program team leader, coach to team leaders, and leader of the Advancement team. In semi retirement I'm working as coach for classis renewal in the CRC, and as outreach pastor for Grace CRC.
Posted in: A Bit More on NOT Tweeting
jcd unplugged! Alas for the fish! Hurrah for cabins in the woods! etc.
Darn it, I envy you. don't you DARE take your iphone!
Being quiet before God is at the very heart of piety, right? This is an opportunity that doesn't come along every day. Make the most of it. Reading is great, but it's not the same thing as quiet before God. Fishing the same. I challenge you to make daily quiet time, listening only, a discipline that marks your time apart. and come back and tell us about it. We are all increasingly distracted by the endless stream of busyness hurry and the press of staying connected to everyone all the time. We need you to report to us from the frontiers of piety to help us keep our daily balance. Thanks, James!
Posted in: Conflict: Inevitable, So Learn to Understand and Lead Through It
Ken, YOU a virus? I don't think so.
I'm inclined to see this Bowen stuff as potentially helpful tools that can be used by Christians trying to understand the dynamics of congregations and their pastors. Jesus had a very clear picture of his father's will, and no kind of pressure could make him turn aside. He was his own man, or better to say he was God's own man. He's like the perfect picture of someone who was perfectly compassionate, and also had good boundaries, and also perfectly obedient. So the needs of those around him did NOT force him outside of his father's will. I"m thinking of Mark 1:38, and also of his delayed response to Mary and Martha, and also of his self-composure in front of Herod and Pilate.
I found The Leader's Journey by Herrington, Creech, and Taylor to be a very helpful treatment of the concept of differentiation in a distinctly biblical context. (Jossey Bass, 2003)
I'm with you Ken, when people try to turn Jesus into a manager or a CEO or a therapist. I say Yuck. On the other hand, I want to hold on to Jesus' perfect life as the perfect illustration for how to live my day to day walking-around life. He's my Savior and he's also my Sanctifier.
Posted in: Oppression, Calamity, Sin -- How to Help
Ken, I would think that physical and mental hardships would be classified usually under the heading "calamity" - for the purposes of Keller's analysis. Along the same lines, I think Keller would see family history, education and social environmental factors as EITHER oppression, OR calamity, or both. Of course, human (irr)responsibility could be involved as well, depending on the circumstances, for example in fetal alcohol syndrome, surely we'd say it's a calamity, and also the result of irresponsible behavior / decisions by the mother.
Posted in: Oppression, Calamity, Sin -- How to Help
Thanks, Ken You have a perspective I don't have. Your comment that your experience actually opened up a whole new realm of blessings shows a "kingdom perspective" I think. The life of a disciple may be very difficult, and yet the way God works with us is to show us who he is in and through trials and suffering. No one "chooses" to suffer, yet we "choose" to trust God no matter what. We "choose" his will for us. Do I dare to say that suffering enriches us? Yes, because that is such a clear teaching in Scripture. Yet I think it is actually God's presence in the suffering, and the work of the Spirit in and through it is what enriches us. It's a kind of mystery. We don't ask for it, but we rejoice in it. and He uses it to bless us.
I'm trying to reflect on my own experience here, in the light of your testimony. I'm still a child at this, but I think that understanding this is a part of what it means to bear one another's burdens, and a part of what it means to be a true servant with and for those who suffer. Compassion... to suffer WITH.
What do you think?
Posted in: Oppression, Calamity, Sin -- How to Help
Thanks, I needed that blessing! This has been a hard year for us and Thanksgiving Day was a day for BOTH thanking our faithful God AND grieving a lot. God bless you too, my friend!
Posted in: Task Force on Deacons - Names Announced!
Surprising, yes, I agree. I think I'm right in observing that there is also no one from the Communities First Association, which is CRWRC's partner organization for working with deacons in the US. I suspect that choosing no one from either of these entities might be purposeful. Let's see if anyone can shed light on this for us.
Posted in: 7 Factors in a Strong Diaconal Assembly . . . Again!
Yes, usually at the classical level. Some classes have deaconal coordinators or coaches, and they could help explore how to create or recreate an assembly. OR, a church could write to the classical interim committee to request that this be considered. Some thought will need to be given to how to make this fresh since it's an old idea, and classical reactions could easily be, "we used to do that, but we don't anymore" and then give it no more time.
There are deacons' conferences that still exist, though in quite different form, for example in Kalamazoo, MI. http://www.kazoodc.org/
Another good resource would be the Deacons Ministry Conference in Canada.
Posted in: Great Resource
Thanks Terry! Yes, I agree this looks like an excellent resource. I appreciated the book SO much.
Posted in: Budget Crunch, Money and the Holy Life
Last Sunday an announcement was made at my church: We have fallen behind during the summer; please help us make it up this fall. Something like that. Sounds mundane. Bland. Don't forget to bring your lunch money tomorrow.
One of the church's neighbor kids is walking around in high heels because that's the only shoes she has. School has started and she's not there.
I flipped through my check book before church to remind myself of my giving over the past month .... The second offering today is for benevolence. I forgot to bring cash; forgot check book too.
Neil, I totally believe everything you wrote, but... if I REALLY believed it, I'd behave differently, right? What do you think of the idea of small accountability groups where people reveal their incomes and the amounts of their giving to charity. Sometimes I feel like I need that in order to be really disciplined.
Posted in: Claudette's Cancer: A Hard Sanctification?
Jim, thanks.
This is a moving and deeply touching narrative. I re-live my daughter's death from leukemia in November at 38 years old. It hurts so much, but God is so faithful.
I remember once years ago in a fiercely intense prayer time, asking God about the fact that my life seemed so very comfortable, and wondering if I was willing, and praying to be willing, to accept whatever experiences I would have as opportunities to grow in faith.
Could it be, do you think, that that prayer and Sarah's death were connected? Some days I shudder to think so. Other days I'd say Yes clearly there's a connection. Surely her 21 months of living with cancer turned out to be a powerful testimony of her peaceful trust, and what a gift THAT was! It was a time for us to learn deeper trust too. To regain perspective. To slow down, to get into the Spirit's flow in our life, to re-experience in fresh ways God's fierce and tender love and grace and forgiveness and acceptance. How unnatural and difficult it is to live that faithfully every day. And how wonderfully graceful. Thanks again for sharing this, Jim!
Posted in: Spider Deacons
What does it look like? Can you describe that a bit more so we can catch a glimpse? It sounds really attractive, and I am trying to picture it in a council room.
Posted in: Spider Deacons
I guess I wasn't paying attention!
Now that we're (back) on the topic, I can't resist the temptation to say a little more about this new kind of leadership.
I'm wondering if (church) leaders are finding themselves in crisis mode more often because church leaders, perhaps more than most any other group, tend to be (self) selected for their ability to lead in situations of continuity. Typically leaders are leading in one of three types of situations - growth, continuity, contraction. I think the CRC and its congregations was for some decades a prime example of an institution experiencing continuity. In more recent decades the pace of change has picked up rapidly, and has become a threat in many areas. Yet we have a predominance of leaders who are most gifted to lead continuity, AND we have a culture that makes it very difficult for leaders who are wired to lead in situations of growth.
So what kind of leadership is needed in this emerging denominational scene? Perhaps it could go without saying that it's going to require a passionate commitment to follow Jesus. Then I'm theorizing it's going to be people who are first of all characterized by competence and integrity. They are going to have to know what to do and they are going to have to be willing to do it. Their behavior will be marked by deep love and rich wisdom. They will be willing to take responsibility - in humility and strength. They'll be people who are trustworthy and who build a safe and trusting place around them.
This kind of behavior will be characterized by high reciprocity and exchange of gifts to achieve shared ends, and it'll be patient with opposition without being paralyzed by it. This kind of behavior will be attractive; it'll be invitational; it'll be Gospelized behavior. and it will influence others.
That's what I imagine organic and non-hierarchical leadership to look like.
Disclaimer: I work for The Network, and these views represent no one but me.