Persevering Power - Look Around

Part #4 - Launching A New Work

I wear glasses. It's a distinguishing feature of who I am. I wear them almost every waking hour of every day. Why do I wear glasses? When I was young, my mother took me to the eye doctor at J.C. Penny's in the Hoover Galleria. I don't remember the eye exam, but I remember when we returned to the store to pick up my new glasses. I was ashamed because I thought I would look like Steve Urkel from Family Matters. After trying them on and ensuring they fit, we walked outside, and I had a moment I still vividly remember. I could see. Everything was clearer. The colors were more vibrant. Faces had more details, and I instantly felt like my entire life had changed.

I've heard many people share similar experiences. Earlier in our series, I wrote about how my mother always told me to look up. I later learned that I looked down so often because I couldn't see, so I had to stare down to know where I was going. This all changed when I got my glasses.

We learned the importance of persevering power when we started this journey together. I hope that what you've learned will be like new glasses. A new perspective to see the world through. We first discussed looking up to God, who brings clarity to life. Then, we looked at how looking back can help us understand where we came from and gain a proper viewpoint of our past. In our last post, we discussed what it means to look inside, how fear can silence us, and the need for faith and courage.

Now, we will end with what I've learned from looking around and seeing the world through our new glasses.

Something New

As I look around at our world, I see that we desperately need leadership. Leadership is complex and messy and cannot be easily distilled into a simple definition, though I find some definitions helpful. Leadership is challenging because it demands all of us.

I’ve grown to define leadership in many ways. I see how the definition changes based on the goal of the leader, group, or organization. However, if I had to offer up a definition for leadership, I would say transformation. Leadership, at its core, is transformation. We ask people to trust us to see themselves, our communities, our workplaces, and our world transformed.

As I’ve traveled and worked alongside leaders in almost every sector imaginable, I’ve come to see that we have a leadership deficit—not a “leader” deficit, but a leadership deficit. I find many people dedicated to certain causes, serving others, and leading people, but I constantly find people struggling to bring leadership to their service.

To address this problem, I am launching Forged: Birmingham Leadership Foundation (Forged BHM). Forged BHM exists to help leaders of good faith and good will thrive! Thriving leaders are transformative leaders who can bring leadership to every area of their lives and every corner of our world. Leadership happens from the inside out. We are transformed and, in turn, seek transformation in every area of life. Take a look at my leadership model below:

For the last 15 years, God has placed a burning desire in me to see His church and the City of Birmingham reflect His heart! Whether launching a church, working for the Mayor's office, starting a school, or leading a nonprofit, this desire has played out in many ways. The call to work with leaders for the church and the city has been a burning desire of mine, but I haven't always known what to do with it.

That was until last year when a friend mentioned a Christian organization called Leadership Foundations. Leadership Foundations creates meaningful and productive relationships between experienced leaders, passionate local advocates, and community stakeholders, all working together toward one common goal: the exaltation of Christ in every city and every person's life.

Too many leaders try to lead alone. They are either cut off from others who can help them or from co-laborers with whom they need to be in a relationship to better serve their churches and cities.

Leadership + Relationship + Partnership = Transformation

In Titus 1:5, Paul tells Titus, "The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town" (CSB).

Something was going on in Crete that Titus needed to address. He needed to "set right what was left undone."

In Birmingham and across the nation, too many things are left undone that need to be set right—too many unfinished lives, families, and organizations. There is also too much injustice. We need both Righteousness and Justice, and we need them in practical, straightforward ways. We need them in our systems and the lives and homes of leaders.

Paul's solution to Titus to address these core issues of Crete (The City) was to "appoint elders (leaders) in every town." He was to help raise up leaders who reflected God's character and who were called to do God's work "in every town."

We need leaders throughout our city who are equipped to finish the work and restore what's been left undone. The work of gospel proclamation, disciple-making, and building strong organizations for human flourishing.

That's why I have started this new work—to disciple, develop, and deploy transformative leaders who provide holistic leadership. I cannot do it alone!

Will you join us? I will share more information about Forged BHM and the work we will be doing in the future. For now, I invite you to join our Monthly Leaders Fast to encourage leaders to set time aside to pray and seek the Lord together! If you are interested in joining us or learning more, use this link: https://forms.gle/t3pdWwUhxYbVbZav7