This Is Leadership of a Highly Different Kind and What Happened Was Not Something I Expected!
There are times when Almighty God speaks to leaders about leadership and specific types of leadership and this has been my experience over the past week.
During the past week I shared in a gathering which was speaking about the environment and the poor and what we must do and go on doing.
This aspect was not all that new to me as I have been involved in this work and service for almost forty years, and this has taken me to various parts of our needy world including Israel, South Africa and more recently to Uganda and Kenya.
When I met with those who were leading on this occasion they were so very genuine, and so very sincere, and gracious.
We were given a brief explanation of the form the gathering would take.
It was a 'rather wonderful' evening and quite different from previous similar gatherings, and quite unique.
I cannot say it was good because it was too challenging and too uncomfortable to be 'good' as we considered the plight of the poor.
The Glasgow International House of Prayer led us in a time of Praise and Worship and the songs were so new to me, and that is not normally something I appreciate, as it goes against my culture.
It was all so informal but not careless.
There were six in the Praise Group, and probably all under the age of 30.
This was one of the aspects which really touched me.
In fact, as I looked around this very special meeting, the leaders were all around 30 years of age and each led so ably and so well.
It was then that I sensed Almighty God speaking to me in a very quiet and gentle way, as though I were having my own little personal meeting in the midst of a crowded room.
We were singing about beholding the beauty of the Lord, from the Psalms when all this spiritual conversation within my heart and mind was starting to take place.
One of our aims was for the whole body present and from different churches to agree in prayer.
There were more words which came to me from Psalm 40 about having a new song to sing and standing upon a rock.
Then there came thoughts within my heart and mind which I accepted and embraced but found most moving and verging on the emotional.
Yes, emotion was there but I was not being emotional.
What was flushing through my heart and being? Seeing all these able and competent young people was I ready to hand over everything to this new and next generation? Some forty years ago, there must have been a group of spiritual leaders within the Church of Jesus Christ who handed over the leadership to us, and now it was getting near that moment to slip out and hand on the baton.
This is all about leadership, but leadership of a very different kind.
These thoughts remain very fresh in my mind as I continue to work out the physical and spiritual implications.
Sandy Shaw
During the past week I shared in a gathering which was speaking about the environment and the poor and what we must do and go on doing.
This aspect was not all that new to me as I have been involved in this work and service for almost forty years, and this has taken me to various parts of our needy world including Israel, South Africa and more recently to Uganda and Kenya.
When I met with those who were leading on this occasion they were so very genuine, and so very sincere, and gracious.
We were given a brief explanation of the form the gathering would take.
It was a 'rather wonderful' evening and quite different from previous similar gatherings, and quite unique.
I cannot say it was good because it was too challenging and too uncomfortable to be 'good' as we considered the plight of the poor.
The Glasgow International House of Prayer led us in a time of Praise and Worship and the songs were so new to me, and that is not normally something I appreciate, as it goes against my culture.
It was all so informal but not careless.
There were six in the Praise Group, and probably all under the age of 30.
This was one of the aspects which really touched me.
In fact, as I looked around this very special meeting, the leaders were all around 30 years of age and each led so ably and so well.
It was then that I sensed Almighty God speaking to me in a very quiet and gentle way, as though I were having my own little personal meeting in the midst of a crowded room.
We were singing about beholding the beauty of the Lord, from the Psalms when all this spiritual conversation within my heart and mind was starting to take place.
One of our aims was for the whole body present and from different churches to agree in prayer.
There were more words which came to me from Psalm 40 about having a new song to sing and standing upon a rock.
Then there came thoughts within my heart and mind which I accepted and embraced but found most moving and verging on the emotional.
Yes, emotion was there but I was not being emotional.
What was flushing through my heart and being? Seeing all these able and competent young people was I ready to hand over everything to this new and next generation? Some forty years ago, there must have been a group of spiritual leaders within the Church of Jesus Christ who handed over the leadership to us, and now it was getting near that moment to slip out and hand on the baton.
This is all about leadership, but leadership of a very different kind.
These thoughts remain very fresh in my mind as I continue to work out the physical and spiritual implications.
Sandy Shaw