Spiritual Formation Plan II

Kevin Jones

Indiana Wesleyan University

Dr. Tim Beuthin

DOL 840 Legal and Ethical Issues

December 6, 2007

Revised October 15, 2008

Revised January 10, 2009
Spiritual Formation Plan II

Introduction

This is an attempt to examine the effectiveness of my original spiritual formation plan and to identify areas in which there is need for modification or improvement. There is the very real danger that I could become self-centered in putting into action my goals for continued spiritual transformation because of the nature with which I was born. As Drury (2005) points out "preoccupation with the personal disciplines can lead to a preoccupation with self" (p. 163). Knowing that the nature of man is to be self-centered, I must be ever vigilant against allowing this to happen.

Sproul (2000) notes "to any serious thinker, and especially to the professing Christian, an unexamined life is not an option" (p. 11). My goal through these assignments is not to simply fulfill the assignments, but to witness in my own life the instruction of Paul in his letter to the Romans which states "do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (12:2a, New International Version).

Kouzes and Posner (1993) note that honesty is what followers most want from leaders. How can I be honest with followers if I am not first honest with myself? It is not possible to be transparent with others if I am unable to be transparent with myself. I keep asking myself this question: Am I being completely honest with myself when I reflect on my thoughts, motives, reactions, and actions? If I do not reach that place than I will never be a great, or even good, leader over an extended period of time.

                                    Update on My Spiritual Formation Plan

Transforming My Thought Life

I will be the first to confess that I must improve in my goal of memorizing scripture in a scheduled manner. This is an area that needs to be very intentional and I have not been as diligent as I would have liked to have been. I have begun memorizing Romans 12 which deals primarily with personal responsibility.

I have increased the time spent reading and studying both God's Word as well as leadership. I now make it a practice to spend at least one hour per day reading the Bible as well as a book related to spiritual things. Recently, in reading through Paul's Letter to the Philippians, I found these words "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (2:5, King James Version). The chapter goes on to list the characteristics of Jesus which are those of a servant. Yancey and Brand (1984) state that "in such acts as meditation, fasting, prayer, simple living, worship, and celebration, we can build proper communications between ourselves and the Head" (p. 375). It is this proper communication I desire with the Father.

Transforming My Feelings

Over the past several weeks I have slowly come to grips with my feelings. As I have begun to share my story of restoration and transformation with others, I have begun to experience a deeper level of healing. I have learned to not be so driven by the ebbs and flows of my feelings but to focus on the solidity of my faith in and relationship with, Jesus Christ.

Part of the process for has involved taking the time to reflect on my reactions to situations. This time spent on reflection has helped me to understand that I need more of this discipline in my life. It has enabled me to begin to learn to reflect before responding as opposed to being so reactive. This is just beginning to yield fruit and my hope is that this will be reflected in exhibits in the next term.

My wife, Linda, has expressed to me how she has witnessed my transformation over the past several years (Appendix A). She bore the brunt of my pain in the early and middle years of our marriage.

Transforming My Will and Character

Cymbala and Sorenson (2002) note that "numerous things can be accomplished in our lives as Christians when we follow a simple but radical change of diet" (p. 43). By "changing my diet" in regards to what I feed my mind I am also seeing transformation in my will and character. Steve DeNeff (2007, personal communication) recently shared with me the difference between God's calling on our lives and His will for our lives. As I learn to put into practice His calling, "therefore go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19a, NIV), I will see His will for my life become more visible.

This understanding has empowered me to place my will into His hands as I seek to develop the character necessary in order to carry out His plan and will for my life. This is becoming the motivation for me to hunger to have the kind of character Christ modeled for us.

David Munson, the principal under whom I served when teaching school in Fairbanks, Alaska had the opportunity to see my character when I was under extreme pressure (Appendix B). My desire is to continue to see transformation in my will and character until it has become a mirror of the will and character of Christ.

Transforming My Body

Part of the plan in regards to transforming my body has included spending more time in reading and reflecting upon those things which are wholesome. I have reduced the time spent in the viewing of television and filled the time with study. Of course, some of this has been due to the time necessary in order to complete a doctoral program but it has also been motivated by a desire to transform my body. This transformation includes the training of my eyes on when to look away.

Physically this has been a very trying period in my life. I have suffered blinding headaches caused by repeated sinus infections that will soon lead to surgery being required. As a result, I have not been able to implement as rigorous a physical exercise and sleep plan as I would have liked but both remain high priorities for me. 

Transforming My Social Dimension

It has been with great joy that I have observed my children as they demonstrate a desire to serve Christ. Even as I write this paper, my son who is a junior in high school is on a mission trip in Mexico. My son and daughter who are college students will be taking mission trips to Bolivia and Spain respectively in May of this year. My oldest daughter, who has strayed away from her faith, has recent begun attending church again. There are few things in life that can bring the kind of joy to a parent than to see their children make choices that give evidence of a desire to follow Christ.

I also desire to see those around me grow in their faith. As a result, the past two years I have taken a leadership role in the exposure of Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) at a Christian worldview conference. Over 3000 people attend this conference each year and it provides valuable exposure for the university. More importantly the conference helps in my own personal and professional development as assistant director for the online bachelors business and management programs (Appendix C). I am better equipped to more ably integrate faith into every aspect of the program.

Transforming My Soul

All of the above changes have assisted in the ongoing transformation of my soul. I have a closer relationship with Christ than ever before.

New Leadership Competencies

The idea that leadership is not all about me has been reinforced. My focus is increasingly on what is best for others and the organization and less about my best interests. I have begun to hone in on attribution or what motivates people to do what they do (Greenberg & Baron, 2003). I also am gaining a better understanding of appropriate methods of disciplining those whom I am in authority over (Appendix D). This is allowing me to better understand those I lead as well as those I follow. I am learning that unless I become a great follower I will never become a great leader (Dixon & Westbrook, 2003).

Personal Mastery

This process of developing and implementing a spiritual formation plan is empowering me to move towards the primary target in my life: That of becoming more like Christ. It is also enabling me to see others in a new way that I believe is changing the way I lead. It is guiding me in becoming more of a servant as a leader.

While I am not where I want to ultimately be in both my spiritual formation and in my leadership I believe that this plan has placed me upon the correct track for moving in that direction. My desire is to be the honest leader that followers seek to find and that my leadership is transparent.

References

(Cymbala J Soreneon S 2002 church God blesses)Cymbala, J., & Sorenson, S. (2002). Church God blesses. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

DeNeff, S. (2007, personal communication). DeD

(Dixon G Westbrook J 2003 Followers revealed [Electronic version])Dixon, G., & Westbrook, J. (2003). Followers revealed [Electronic version]. Engineering Management Journal, 15(1), 19-25.

(Drury K 2005 With unveiled faces: Experience intimacy with God through spiritual disciplines)Drury, K. (2005). With unveiled faces: Experience intimacy with God through spiritual disciplines. Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House.

(Greenberg J Baron R A 2003 Behavior in organizations)Greenberg, J., & Baron, R. A. (2003). Behavior in organizations (8^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

(Kouzes J M Posner B Z 1993 Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it)Kouzes , J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (1993). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

(Sproul R C 2000 consequences of ideas: Understanding the concepts that shaped our world)Sproul, R. C. (2000). The consequences of ideas: Understanding the concepts that shaped our world. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

(Yancey P Brand P 1984 In His image)Yancey, P., & Brand, P. (2004). In the likeness of God. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Appendix A

Since I know you best, this is a great and hard assignment! I could write several pages but will try to be brief since I know you HATE wordy! You have grown so much in a lot of areas but one that seems important for this assignment is communication. When we were first married, you had a problem communicating because as a hurting teen-ager you had learned to "shut down" emotionally. That emotion translated to lack of caring to me since I grew up in a family that probably communicated too much-ha! The point is that once you realized what was happening, and dealt with the real issues, it allowed you to change and become a better person. It was painful and hard for you but it changed and saved our marriage. Without that change, we could have never made it through many of the tough things we have been through. You have been able to reach so many people because you are so changed. 

Four areas where you have done meaningful things would include examples in you personal, business, spiritual and emotional life. When you were in the management business and  were dealing with million dollar budgets, boards, and many professional people, the stress was incredible.  The fact is you had more to deal with than you were probably ready for at twenty eight. In spite of trying to prove you could do the job and trying to provide for our family, you left a board meeting one afternoon to take Kristi to the Emergency Room for stitches. That was one of your best moments to me and you won respect with others too for having your priorities straight. One of the hardest decisions you ever had to make was to quit a job because you knew your boss was having an affair and was destroying his home and business because of what he was doing. It affected you physically because things were so stressful but in doing the right thing morally, you gained respect in that boss's eyes and you still have a friendship and are highly respected by him today. We changed churches at one point because you knew it was best for us. It was very hard for me to agree with you but it changed our lives and is probably the reason we have been so blessed the experiences we have had in Alaska and here. If we had stayed where we were, we would not have grown so much spiritually and would not have been ready for the experiences God had for our future. The most outstanding times I have seen you at your very best have been the heartbreaking, terrible times we went through in 1999-2000. I am thinking of the times when we did heart wrenching things like staying with Dad until he died, going through Jeff and Teresa's papers to try to find something that would give Teresa some hope after Jeff was killed, taking charge and helping with details when everyone else was falling apart, and physically being there to listen, help with children and give advice even when you were hurting yourself. You not only promised to be there for all of my family members that were affected but have gone above and beyond anything that was expected the past seven years. You have not only helped many times with taking care of widows and children but you even agreed to move your MOTHER-IN-LAW close by and that is really BIG!

You took the things that could have crippled you for life (emotionally) in all of these cases and allowed God to make you a better person because of them. That is real growth in leadership. You have not let other people's opinions affect your outcomes. I love you for being a REAL man!

Linda Jones

Appendix B

I worked with Kevin Jones at Far North Christian School.  Several things impressed me in this setting.  First of all as a principal I noticed steady improvement in classroom management, knowledge of material, teaching techniques, and student rapport.  These factors along side a cooperative attitude made him a faculty member I wanted to keep and was proud to have on staff.

The second noteworthy observation involved a deeper sense of conviction as to student life outside the classroom.  His care for the spiritual well-being of the students caused him to listen to their lunch time chatter and be around them in their free time.  From these times he picked up on everyday teen issues that were being faced by the students.  This guided him into appropriate class discussions that led to an encouragement of strong spiritual life.  For the school this made Christianity an all day every day life, not just a Christian school practice, which added meaning to the school's stand on all moral issues.

            Kevin's outstanding characteristic was his constant desire for Jesus Christ to be honored in all that he did. Kevin demonstrated repeatedly his servant heart to those around him including students, fellow teachers, and parents.

David Munson

Principle

Far North Christian School

Fairbanks, AK

Appendix C

Kevin,

As I have mentioned to you in person, I have been advocating for IWU's increased participation in the Worldview Weekend for nearly seven years. You are the first person to take me up on this and help create synergy to that end through influencing others to become involved, as well helping to secure funds that enable the university to be represented at this gathering of over 3,000 Christians interested in learning a biblical worldview. The university stands to benefit from this relationship as it continues to address the need and desire for this type of education.

Dale Fowler, Ed.D.

Lead Instructional Designer

Center for Distributed Learning

Indiana Wesleyan University

Appendix D

Kevin, I believe I have seen you at your best under pressure – not the kind of pressure that would make or break you, but the type that requires firm, decisive thinking and communication. In particular, I recall a couple incidents requiring administrative counseling of adjunct faculty. Due to the faculty being distance learning facilitators, this had to be accomplished via phone, and you invited me to be a part of the phone conferences. Admittedly, the situations were not anticipated as being jovial, conversational, goal-oriented chats; rather, they required the use of cautious verbiage, gentle but corrective advice, and perhaps even what could be described as invasive querying.

In noting your demeanor, I observed poise and prescriptive thinking. You approached each situation positively, with amiable conversation that would put the adjunct at ease – so as to avoid their perceiving your call as a personal attack. You commended them in prelude to addressing the issue. When the "item of business" was called, you engaged the adjunct by asking rather than telling. This offered an opportunity for the individual to respond thoughtfully instead of defensively. You steered the conversation toward a reasonable solution for the stated problem, extracted a verbal commitment to future excellence, and assured them of your heartfelt support as you and the subject pledged to move forward for the benefit of all concerned – and most definitely for the obligatory responsibility to maintain academic and spiritual integrity.

All things considered, you exhibited resolute strength in Christian love – acting as a mentor as opposed to a micro-manager who was self-aggrandizing.  I believe you excelled in wisdom and leadership.

Respectfully submitted,

RB Kuhn, Colleague