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“Shelo lishma ba lishma” – a phrase used by Cohen toward the end, which he was reminded of by a Catholic priest who urged him to “come to services anyway, because it eventually will have meaning for you.”

The book is written by the son of a Jewish Rabbi, whose faith had become routine and mundane at best. He saw things advertised both in theory and in practice throughout Jesus-loving realms that he desired in his own faith experience. He’s also a writer in a world of “writers doing year-long experiences in order to create a book” fads. So he spends a year in new spiritual worlds. He visits protestant, Catholic, and a few…well…”other” situations.

It doesn’t take long before a Christian reader would raise alarm. “He’s not really experiencing Christianity” would be easy to say. And it’s true. I’ll even give away the ending – he doesn’t “accept Jesus” in the end. But his openness to God, and description/vantage points offer us some important images some of us may see if we look in the mirror.

There are also insights into the Jewish world that can be beneficial for anyone who wants to follow Jesus (a Jew). Including the phrase above. It basically means “even if you do something desirable for the wrong reason, you’ll eventually end up doing it with the right intentions.”

And I think the converse can be true as well, as proven by Cohen’s desire to spend the year with Jesus. If we do something desirable with right intentions, eventually we may end up doing it for the wrong reasons. May God renew our passion and desire and LIFE toward HIS Kingdom. May we see beyond ourselves, and our consumerist nature. May we belong to something else for a larger purpose than what it offers us…as we all discover the part of the “body” God has created us to be.

Altogether a great book, personalized by illustrations from Cohen’s own life and childhood. Stories that poke fun at some of the sillier things that happen in the lives of Jesus-followers (and people who claim they follow Jesus), raise important questions about what it actually means to be a Christian, and participate in the body of Christ.

I’ll end with a quote, from Cohen’s visit to “Winter Jam”, a popular concert tour fronted by Mr. Toby Mac:

(just after a preview clip for the film “Amazing Grace”) “Slavery is at an all-time high this year!” The audience, not sure how to respond to this political declaration, does what it’s been doing all night when the various bands take the stage – they cheer.”

So I scribbled some notes from Bishop Thomas’ words to we the youth leaders of the denomination, on the topic of “Leadership Development”…

“We are inviting others into the journey of becoming someone others can follow.”

“Service is an ESSENTIAL part of discipleship.”

“Multiplication requires developing (your) leaders.”

“Shared ministry is the MOST effective.”

(in regard to what book to read) “I’d rather tell you what KIND of book to read/not read. If it’s formulaic (points a, b, and c will yield ____ results), it probably won’t help you a ton. If it’s bashing the church, without regard for healing and solutions, it probably won’t help you much. If you gave the book to someone from another culture, and they told you they couldn’t understand it, it probably doesn’t have the “big picture” truth to be very relevant.”

The general message of our time together, and of the words we were given, was an encouragement to be purposeful in our leadership development. Not simply future pastors or youth workers. But to target the people who are, and will be, followed….to develop them into those who are being followed toward Christ.

The body of Christ as a whole, and the Free Methodist Church needs to be raising people who will step into areas of need. Who will begin new conversations. Who will participate as committed members of a specific body that commits back to them in return, to say “let’s move toward Christ together, and experience an accountable community as we do this…”

These are all things that will not happen simply by allowing those who are charismatic or popular rise to the surface naturally. We (read that “I”) need to be identifying and developing more of those who have the characteristics of Christ, and guiding/calling them into leadership/discipleship. The valuable point was made that most leaders today weren’t called by a mystical “calling of God in the quiet moments”, but were actually tugged at through another person in relationship with God.

I pray that this continues to develop as I’d readily admit, due to my low administrative nature, my leadership development has lacked a sense of structure and discipline. Lord, help me…

I’ve begun reading “Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009” edited by David Eggars, for fun recently . Probably not the best book to be reading on an airplane, as the cover depicts a grandmother reading her granddaughter a gun magazine, and with chapters like “The Ticking is the Bomb”, it just feels iffy.

It includes an assortment of different types of published works from various sources throughout 2008. Foreign comics, essays, short stories, and other brief works from all sorts of publications, compile what has been a pretty great read thus far. I look forward to more.

One of the entries, from the Paris Review, “Diary of a Fire Lookout”, by Philip Connors, made me compare what often happens in ministry to his summer employment. During the summer months, at the Gila National Forest, in New Mexico, he looks out a giant tower and spots plumes of smoke, reporting them to the Forest patrols, etc.

One thing he points out, is that most often they don’t actually DO anything in response to the fires. They announce what is happening. They keep tabs on it. Sometimes they even fly someone in for a better look to assess what is going on, and how large the fire is. But usually it’s allowed to simply burn its course, being surrounded by so much open land. This is for good reasons, and he explains them well.

In ministry, we are often the “Fire Lookout”. Both in a negative (things going wrong) sense, and in a positive (Holy Spirit moving) sense. It can be easy for us to feel like our job (not just pastors, but followers of Christ) is to point out and announce what is happening. We keep tabs on it. Sometimes we even do something unique to get a better look and assess what is going on. But how often do we interact with it? Get our hands scarred a bit by our proximity to the flame?

May we not only announce the plumes of smoke we see rising in the Kingdom around us….but may we get our hands dirty and singe our eyebrows by being active where God can utilize us in very important ways….