Multiplying Joy

by Mike Johnson

12.12.12

“Since you have received any blessing from the coming of Jesus Christ who gave up all the luxuries of heaven to live in a weak and pained human body for our sake—hot his, since you have felt love radiating out from his act of stepping in for you on the cross, since you have been comforted by his presence, then make his joy complete by being like Him in every way, loving Him more fully and better giving of yourself to others.” Paraphrase from Philippians 2:1-7.

I love the way Philippians 2:1-7 connects the essence of Christmas (“did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,”) with the many mundane moments of our seemingly-meager lives (“be like-minded, having the same love…”). The Christmas season is perfect for considering and taking measures to become more like Christ in every way, loving Him and others more fully.

Helping people better live Philippians 2 is what my life has become about. Seven years ago I began Ascending Leaders as an avenue to write, teach, train, consult and coach to that end, and to invite friends to do the same.  Helping church leaders succeed at their mission of helping people better live Philippians 2, as disciples on mission, has been our guiding principle in 2012.

A common theme we hear is, “I’m too busy.” Brandon Bajema and I traveled to Lubbock, Texas; Bellingham, WA; Holland, MI and Ada, MI to share with pastors and ministry staff of over 50 churches how to help people keep busyness from distracting from spiritual issues. Our free half-day workshop on the topic, Leading People from Busy to Engaged, coupled with a full day Charting Your Course seminar for church members blessed many.

Ascending Leaders is working towards becoming stronger and better able to serve churches and people.

1. Getting better at growing people of character and impact: Of those who have benefited from the work of my friends and I and completed our survey, over 95% indicated that we exceeded their expectations—up 5% from last year. 90% of the survey responders said that they experienced some tangible life change as a result—that is up from 65% last year. That is what we want to see! The answers to our woes in North America do not lie in Washington D.C. The answers lie in followers of Jesus living out His image in them, with his thoughts, emotions and actions, impacting our families, our churches, our communities, our country and our world. We are getting better each year at growing these kinds of people.
2. Pursuing Denominational Interest: One denomination, the Christian Reformed Church in North America (my “home” denomination), in June declared Ascending Leaders “accredited” to their churches. This means Ascending Leaders is recommended to churches to help them with discipleship and for their support of our work. This means that we will more easily help people in that denomination better live Phil. 2. Currently 55 churches of that denomination support the work of Ascending Leaders. One church of that denomination has contracted me to bring a Charting Your Course seminar to them 5-6 times over the next couple years. Another group of 21 Christian Reformed churches has contracted me as a consultant for church health in 2013.
3. Recruiting foundations to support special large projects: Several foundations in Michigan, Iowa and Texas expressed confidence in our work. The grant funds we received in 2012 from foundations totaled 55% more than last. They and individual donors allowed us to bring growth in character and impact to over 550 people and many more whom they impact and influence. The grants especially supported the half day workshops in various cities and our production of six more workbooks.
4. The discipline to tighten our belt when necessary: In the midst of political debates and talk of national “fiscal cliffs”,  it is gratifying to know that we have the discipline and self-sacrifice to live within our means. Our administrator Teri Watson and I were able to trim our cost of administration in 2012 by 75% from 2011. That means it takes longer to get things done, and some things we used to do get left undone, but are able to be responsible so that we can focus on our mission, rather than on organization survival. We thank God for this demonstration of responsibility.
5. Deepening our Trustworthiness: We continued as members of the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability, a sign that we can be trusted as an exceptionally credible organization. I learned many good things from their workshop this year to strengthen Ascending Leaders.  We also make our financials and other matters about us easy to find through our complete entry with guidestar.org and our “transparency” button which Is easy to find on our website beneath the “About Us” button. When so many nonprofits have gone for years without reporting to IRS, we are proud to show our report form of each and every year. Because of our strong financial transparency we were awarded in 2012 the Guidestar Exchange Seal. Both the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability accreditation and the Guidestar Exchange Seal point to our strong credibility and transparency of the way we steward this ministry.
6. Providing more topics to grow people’s character: By the end of this year, we will have published six more books. Five of them are about stewardship of different aspects of life. We now have 25 books, totaling over 150 sessions that small groups can use. We have ended the year by making this and others more accessible through our “Buy 3, Get 2 Free!” promotion. 
7. Actively seeking a humble, key partner to more strongly influence Christian character: It makes no sense to try to go it alone, when there are other good organizations who are passionate about Christ-likeness, character growth, missional impact, discipleship and leadership development from the very early days of people’s spiritual lives. We approached over 40 organizations this past year to explore the possibility of a partnership. Our search has narrowed to just a few organizations that share our mission and can complement our strengths. We trust that by mid next year we will be announcing who that key partner is. Our strength that most seem to be interested in is my God given ability to shape ideas into a curriculum and materials to be used across a congregation.

7.1Helping build church-wide cultures of discipleship: I have learned even more about this, this past year, blogged about it and even worked with one church to design a one month all church discipleship emphasis. I hope God allows me to do more of that in the future with other churches.

7.2Helping more people by teaching workshops at more conferences: This past year I presented workshops at three different conferences. The attendance at each workshop was exceptionally large. I helped people see the importance of self-awareness and some of the tools available.  Participants ranked these presentations highly.

I count it a privilege and joy to be able to work at innovative ways to help churches succeed in their mission of growing people of character and impact. It is my joy to serve you and your churches, to serve alongside friends (dedicated contract staff, our board and volunteers) who also care about character growth and to use resources to not help just an individual, but hundreds and thousands through the domino effect of impact that one growing character has on those in his/her sphere of influence.

 Help us meet the challenge!

Help us meet the match!

Multiply Joy!