Insights

Transitions in Leadership

2012-04-19T00:00:00-06:00

The movement of time progressively carries us forward with a motion that we cannot stop. This movement brings with it many seasons and changes. Recently, I have been contemplating the changes brought about by transitions in leadership.

Being a Biola graduate and Torrey Honors alumni I am joining with my fellow chums as we face a transition within Torrey as our beloved and fearless leader, Dr. John Mark Reynolds leaves Torrey to be provost at Houston Baptist University. Despite grief at his departure, Dr. Reynolds exhorted his students to embrace the change and know that the most growth comes from transitions and changes. The values that he instilled in Torrey, the pursuit of goodness, truth, and beauty, these things shall persist after his departure. They shall remain in the foundation of the program and continue to be lived out by Torrey's new Director, Dr. Paul Spears, the remaining faculty, staff, and all of the students.

Prominent on my mind as well is the more sobering change at Prison Fellowship and the change in leadership that is imminent with the decline in health of their founder, Chuck Colson.

Chuck has brought years of service and heartfelt passion for the Lord to the table in all that he has pursued since his conversion in 1973, amidst the Watergate scandal. From all his experiences he was able to pour a passion and bring a light into prisons all over the world and upon this passion and devotion, Prison Fellowship was founded.

The values, passions, and dreams of a true leader shall remain after the leader does not or cannot.

I believe the same to be true of Prison Fellowship. While Chuck will be dearly missed and we will move to support his family and the ministry the best we can, his legacy shall live on through those he lives behind at Prison Fellowship and across the nation.

Blessings,

Melissa

A Portrait of Love

2012-04-19T00:00:00-06:00

If "love for one another" were a portrait, it was standing before us earlier this week at Ambassador. Al and Margaret Sanders are clearly a couple in love--with each other and with a God they honor and serve.

Tuesday we celebrated Al's 85th birthday. And those of our Ambassador tribe who are the youngest were treated to something I hope they'll emulate in their lifetime--a life well lived. It takes the kind of choices Al and Margaret make in their personal walk with the Lord, in their desire for their children to know God, in their business decisions, in their giving, and in their graciousness to pass on leadership to the next generation, to live well throughout their days.

It has been my distinct pleasure and privilege to be in the path of their lives for nearly 40 years. I take none of those years for granted, but rather I'm grateful to know them, to be stamped with their imprimatur, and to serve those of their family they've taught and nurtured for such a time as this.

Evelyn Gibson

The Power of Radio

2012-04-05T00:00:00-06:00

Natalia Duarte is 17. She's the daughter of one of the hostages freed this week by Latin America's fierce guerilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia, more commonly known as FARC. Natalia was only three years old when her father was taken hostage.

Her quote in a Wall Street Journal article dated April 4, 2012 said: "My dad only knows me through my voice on the radio." Every Sunday for the past four years, Natalia has spoken to her dad in a one-way conversation over the "Voices of Kidnapping" radio program. Her messages to him were everything from school assignments to family news. "I always feel like I'm talking to him and that he is close by," she said.

At the height of their reign of terror in the 1990s, the FARC kidnapped more than 3,000 people a year. *In 2009 I read the book, Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Columbian Jungle." It was written by three men, each telling their own story of captivity and release. It was shocking and sobering to realize there are so many others still held captive in that Columbian jungle.

These authors and those released this week said the guerrillas usually allowed them to listen to the radio programs to help keep their spirits up; not out of any sense of compassion, but because hearing the messages kept them from thoughts of suicide, giving them hope and strength--keeping them alive and valuable as hostages.

Natalia's father said he listened to his daughter every Sunday for those four years-even the day before he was freed.

Herbin Hoyos, the man responsible for the "Voices of Kidnapping" broadcasts, said "I'm probably the only reporter who wants his show to be canceled, but I think we are going to be on the air at least for a couple of more years."

The power of radio--one person speaking to another words of encouragement and hope!

Evelyn Gibson
Ambassador: We Connect. Ministry and Media.

*A footnote to this story comes from my reading of Out of Captivity.

In a sentence buried in the narrative is the discovery by the hostages of a fix-tuned radio containing Gospel messages, and secretly passed among several of the hostages. The description was remarkably like the radios supplied by HCJB Global in their "Turn the Radios On" campaign which has distributed more than 41,000 radios over the past decade in Latin America and other locations around the world.

The Hunger Games

2012-04-04T00:00:00-06:00

Everything about The Hunger Games--the books or the movie--as entertainment causes me visceral pain.

A recent review in Entertainment Weekly describes The Hunger Games thusly: "The horrific vision of a near future in which teenagers are in peril is sickening, but the individual heroism of some who fight is also thrilling. . .for those who already know just how brutal the Games become, the movie adaptation knows how to play too. . .it's brutal where it needs to be particularly when children fight and bleed."

My 23 years as an advocate for children of abject abuse and considerable years as a sponsor of children in poverty makes The Hunger Games' subject matter personally untenable. Let's not entertain ourselves with the pain children suffer at the hands of others, whether it's governments or individuals.

Suzanne Collins does bring to her chronicles' conclusion, a "spirit of hope that good will prevail." There are millions of children right now for whom there is no good prevailing. I would applaud these chronicles and the movie if that were the overt, thought-provoking prelude.

Evelyn Gibson

Learning From Mistakes

2012-03-12T00:00:00-06:00

I recently made a couple of significant mistakes . . . while I make mistakes all the time, recently, two very significant mistakes came to light. Had they been mistakes only impacting me, that'd be one thing . . . but my errors ultimately impacted others which only made a bad reality far worse.

At the end of the day, I believe in a God full of grace. I know He loves me and I know He forgives me. And yet . . . not wanting (or being able) to quickly walk through the valley of my mistakes, I searched His Word for what I needed to learn.

I am blessed to love my church and am thankful for a pastor who shares from his heart so transparently and most importantly, whose messages are so Biblically based. I've learned more about God's Word in the decade Pastor Ed has been at Church of the Open Door than I've learned in the nearly 30 years I've been a Christian.

So, perhaps God wants to remind me as it says in 1 Corinthians 10:12, "If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall." Perhaps I've been guilty of thinking "I stand" and that was my first mistake.

But in further searching through God's Word for what lesson I am to learn today, (what I need to learn right now), it was the story of Peter that really ministered to my heart.

Peter broke his promises to Jesus.

Jesus told Peter . . . you made a mistake (three times in fact!).

And three times Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me?"

Jesus didn't ask Peter the question because He didn't know the answer. He knew all too well what was in Peter's heart. He knew Peter loved Him -- despite his broken promises . . . despite his mistakes.

That's the part of the story which most gripped me - Jesus telling Peter, "cause I know your heart is right, I still have work for you to do."

Peter's story reminds me that Jesus knows my heart too.

He knows I will fail (that I did fail!) and yet, His Word tells me to not let my failures stop me. He reminds me that I know what it feels like to fail (too well I might add) and that I can reach out to others who struggle with failure.

As someone once said, "We are learning how not to live - so that we can learn how to live."

At the end of the day, Jesus invites me to feed His sheep . . . failures and all.

Lee Ann Jackson

Ambassador Advertising

We Connect. Ministry and Media.

How do You Parent?

2012-01-25T00:00:00-06:00

I wish kids were like play-dough .I wish you could just mush them in a mold and have them turn out just the way you want … but if you are a parent you know that isn’t how it works. In fact it doesn’t work in the way 4+5 =9 works. The longer I parent, the more I am convinced it’s more art than science.

We had staff devotions this week and our guest speaker happens to be pregnant. She is due in the beginning of April and already the she’s worried about “raising” her new son “right.” After being a parent for 7 years, I still think about that everyday on my way home from work.

What I have come to realize is while I can force my children to behave a certain way, what I want is for them to obey “the first time with a happy heart.” What I need is (1) Jesus and (2) all the help I can get. That’s why I was so encouraged to listen to HAVEN Today this week. On Monday and Tuesday Charles Morris had Elyse M. Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson on talking about their new book “Give the Grace.” Grace is what my kids need, and what I need as well. "We have far too high a view of our ability to shape our children and far too low a view of God's love and trustworthiness. So we multiply techniques and try to control the outcome." (p59). Yea – I got the book (but I haven’t finished it yet J).

If you missed the broadcast, it’s still available online, and I’d encourage you to give it listen and let me know what parts resonate with you. The rest of the week Charles (and Janet too) will be sharing “Give them Grace” themes … because ultimately – you and I are “them” and we all need it.

Grace, Peace, and Joy

Robert Jacobsen

BTW – if you are coming to NRB, make sure you come see Charles Morris at 1:30pm Monday in the Ambassador Suite (Presidential Boardroom A) – have a cup of coffee and enjoy some free wifi.

Lessons from A Skunk

2011-11-21T00:00:00-06:00

Especially these days, we're running around with more items on our to-do list than there are hours . . . shopping for the Thanksgiving meal, trying to find this year's "perfect" family Christmas card and hoping to get a jump on the gift buying. All while during the normal day to day routine of life.

That is, until a skunk stops us dead in our tracks.

Having just placed my briefcase in the car this morning to head off for work, I quickly ran back in the house to take our little dog out before leaving. She refused to cooperate (which is not entirely uncommon). I gave up and opened the door to head out for the day.

That's when I stopped. Less than 5 feet away, there sat a skunk scouring under my car staring right at me.

I don't know if my dog had sensed the presence of this unwelcome visitor (or, if the 46 degrees just fueled her "I'll do what I want when I want" attitude), but suddenly, my day took on a whole different look.

With one hand still on the doorknob and body forward, I gasped. One move (backward or forward) and I could inadvertently provoke my new friend and he would leave me with a parting (and long-lasting) gift.

I weighed my options and decided the best approach would be to see if I could quickly unlock the door I'd just locked and slip back into the house.

I prayed it would work.

It did. I breathed a sigh of relief inside the safety of my home.

I waited a few minutes before taking a peek outside. As I cautiously took a few steps towards the drive-way, I saw the skunk slowly making its way away from my front yard and down the street.

I'm at the office now and thankfully sans any odor . . . reflecting back on this morning's excitement though, wondering how often in the busy-ness of my days, God has to stop me dead in my tracks to get my attention.

It's a timely reminder for me that I need to set aside (and maintain!) a specific time for God and my prayer life . . . daily.

If prayer is going to happen consistently in my life, in addition to including it on my To Do list, I need to also be mindful to:

Make prayer a priority
Get up a little earlier (even 5 minutes) to allow for some morning prayer time
Work prayer into my break time at work, after dinner or just before bedtime

Where and when we pray isn't as important as making it a routine.

Here's to prayer . . . and a sweet smelling day!

Lee Ann Jackson

Ambassador

We Connect. Ministry and Media.

Al Sanders: Ambassador's Favorite Speaker

2011-08-19T00:00:00-06:00

One of my strongest childhood recollections is "tagging along" with my dad when (primarily on behalf of his role as host for "The Biola Hour") he would do pulpit supply in local churches. It was a terrific way to connect with my dad, driving to and from some previously unknown (to me) SoCal town, experiencing a new church setting and then hearing my dad teach.

That delight has carried over to the many years at Ambassador when, as we meet weekly, our team has been encouraged by Al's devotionals. We've heard some pretty tremendous speakers but (shhhh!), I don't know any that is more titled "favorite" than my dad.

Recently, it was a joy to attend the Sunday AM services at the Fullerton Evangelical Free Church--a place significant to my family. My mom sat at the organ bench there for many years ... my dad first heard Chuck Swindoll preach there ("and the rest they say is history," indeed) ... and I spent the formative teen and early married years on a front pew being deepened in faith. It's really "going home" when we return to FEFC. But a couple weeks ago, it was even more so as once again I was "soaking in" my dad's reminder about Rahab's role in "Faith's Hall of Fame."

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, it's my delight and privilege to share that message with you as well. As our good friend and pastor Dan Crane noted at the service close -- we laughed and we cried -- and, frankly, shouted "Victory"!

Grateful for such rich legacy -- Peggy Campbell

Watch Al's message: "A Faith that Delivers"

"You are amazing!"--it works for me!

2011-07-11T00:00:00-06:00

A major impact in any fundraising communication is saying, "thank you!"

It's too often neglected in strategy and in implementation.

I recently received an example of an excellent "thank you" from an organization I support--not just financially, but as a volunteer for the past 22 years. They have never taken me for granted--and this recent letter is proof of that.

Just a few notes! The letter is a monthly "form" letter, obviously personalized. It's thanking me for my monthly contribution. For additional "wow" factor they could have acknowledged my contribution as a volunteer advocate. But that's only a suggestion, not a critique.

I hope my notes are helpful!

Evelyn Gibson
Ambassador Advertising Agency: We Connect. Ministry and Media.

Staying Ahead of the Bulls!

2011-07-07T00:00:00-06:00

Three minutes.

That's how long a group of runners managed to stay ahead of the bulls at the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona this morning.

The first day of the annual running of the bulls was a swift race through old town for hundreds of runners trying to stay a step ahead of the raging bulls.

Some days it seems that's about how little I'm ahead of my own "raging bulls" - the daily to-do list, the emails, the phone calls.

As I listened to the news this morning about the runners-mainly men dressed in the traditional white outfits with red handkerchiefs, I thought about my "dress" for the day . . . my spiritual dress. So, I'm making sure this morning to take a little extra time in the Word and in prayer-with my eyes focused on putting on the full armor of God.

Because it's not just in Pamplona where you need to watch your back for what is ready to trample you. Whether it's a 1,397 pound bull chasing you around the bin (unless this 400 year tradition is on your "bucket list!"), or it's the day-to-day more mundane challenges, our best protection against what is exiting the corral seconds after we start our day, is the One who goes before us.

Lee Ann Jackson

Ambassador

We Connect. Ministry and Media.