Fanning the Flame

I don't know about you, but I've been slow to get back in the swing of things this semester.  Partly because I've been sick, partly because I've been scared to get back on the horse.
For some reason, I've been lacking the drive & energy to tackle the busy couple months that lay before me.
I needed a pick-me-up. I needed someone to light a fire under me!
I finally got just that.


Today I finished the book I started last semester In the Name of Jesus by Henri JM Nouwen (he is the most fantastic person). 
There were some POWERFUL words in these last few chapters.
I wanted to share them with you, my fellow Young Life leaders, in case I am not the only one that needed Christ to 'light a fire in my weary soul'.
Read them, take them to heart, maybe copy them down in your journal like I did.
Whatever you do with these words, be sure to be encouraged by them!




"Jesus has a different view of maturity than that of the world: It is the ability & willingness to be led where you would rather not go"


"The servant leader is the leader who is being led to unknown, undesirable, & painful places.  The way of the Christian leader is not the way of upward mobility in which  our world has invested so much, but the way of downward mobility ending on the cross"


"It is not a leadership of power & control, but a leadership of powerlessness & humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest."


"The loud boisterous noises of the world make us deaf to the soft, gentle, & loving voice of God.  A Christian leader is called to help people hear that voice & so be comforted & consoled."


"He asks us to move from a concern for relevance to a life of prayer, from worries about popularity to communal & mutual ministry, & from a leadership built on power to a leadership in which we critically discern where God is leading us & our people."


"I leave you with the image of the leader with outstretched hands, who chooses a life of downward mobility.  It is the image of the praying leader, the vulnerable leader, & the trusting leader.  May that image fill your hearts with hope, courage, & confidence as you anticipate the next [semester]."