Pan Dulce

More Than Two Things

The last time I wrote on this blog, my father-in-law had recently passed on to be with the Lord. I wrote about how our youngest son, Thomas, reminded us about biblical and theological truth that our Grandpa was with Jesus and he also reminded us that there was a silver lining in the whole experience, that is, he got to get out of school for a few days. He said he knew that there were at least these two things that were true about Grandpa’s sudden passing.

Well, you guessed it… there were more than two things.

We were able to see family members we had not seen in weeks, months, and years. It was a blessing to be with family again. There were members of the Alvarado family (Belinda’s paternal family) and the Olivares family (Belinda’s maternal family) together to honor Rev. Baldemar Alvarado. There members of the Reyes family there (my paternal family) and the Garcia family (my maternal family) together to support us and honor us. There were also members of the Texas Baptist family. Dr. John Lilley represented Baylor University; Felipe Garza represented Buckner International; Drs. Javier Elizondo and Marconi Monteiro, Sandee Elizondo, and Maria Monteiro represented Baptist University of the Americas as well as Rev. Teo Cisneros, board chair of BUA. Debbie Ferrier represented the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas; Gus Reyes represented the BGCT Executive Board Staff; and Todd Robertson represented the South Texas Children’s Home in Beeville. I am sure there were others from the Texas Baptist family that came to offer their condolences as well.

The family asked me to officiate a Wake Service, the Memorial Service, and the Graveside Service on Wednesday and Thursday. This was an honor of a lifetime for me. It was hard work but I enjoyed every minute of it. The best part of this experience was at the end of my message at the Wake service. I extended an invitation for those in the crowd who wanted to begin a personal relationship with Christ that night. I said that Bro. Alvarado would be pleased to know that this invitation was extended. I ask those who would be saved to slip their hands up and down so I could pray with them and for them. About a dozen or so folks raised their hands. Then, I asked them to repeat a prayer of salvation with me so that at least one other person could hear them and serve as a witness to this experience. When I prayed the first few words, the response sounded more like a congregation choral reading in the small chapel with standing-room only attendance. The next morning during the Funeral service I extended the same invitation and two other people also prayed to receive Christ.

Even death could not stop the gospel and the Kingdom influence of Baldemar J. Alvarado. I cannot think of a better legacy for a pastor than to offer new life in Christ at his home-going celebration. The love of God filled the room and there was rejoicing upon rejoicing in those final moments. The pain is still fresh but so is the joy. This is the hope we have as followers of Jesus. We grieve but not like people who have no hope. We live looking forward to the trumpet sound when we will rise to meet him in the air and to be united with all our loved ones and the nations who have gone before us.

Many of you have written emails, made phone calls, made gifts in honor of my father-in-law, sent flowers, and cards. Your love toward us in this difficult time is overwhelming. Thank you for blessing us and standing with us during this time.

Two Good Things

Some of you may know by now that my father-in-law, Rev. Baldemar J. Alvarado, passed away this past Easter weekend. He was a semi-professional baseball player, a pastor for over 30 years, served in the Air Force, retired from civil service, a father and faithful husband for almost 50 years. Belinda, the boys, and I had planned for several months to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Belinda’s parents at the Beeville Country Club this past Easter weekend. We were so excited about this celebration. Baldemar and Elia have been such servants to us that this was our one opportunity to serve them. It was fun just watching them wait and get excited for this day.

On Good Friday my father in law had a massive stroke. My brother-in-law and I loaded him onto the stretcher and road with him in the ambulance to the hospital. I knew he was having a stroke but I did not think it would be fatal. The doctor came out to give his report and told me what I already knew…he was having a stroke and they were going to do a CT scan. The doc said it would either be a light stroke or worst case scenario, a hemorrhage that would be fatal. I thought, with unfounded certainty that this would be a light stroke. I was wrong.  The doc came out and said “I have really bad news…your father had a massive hemorrhage and will most likely not live past 24 hours without life support. Belinda’s PhD is in Communication Disorders and working with stroke victims is her specialization. She knew way too much. She knew what the doctor meant.

To say that the doctor’s words were devastating would be an understatement. Grandpa was sent via Angel Flight to Corpus Christi for another CT and possible surgery but surgery was ruled out. He drew his last breathe about the same time the 50th wedding celebration was to have occurred. Seemed like the whole world shut down and like the tomb of Jesus, silent, confusing, painful, and disorienting.

We returned to Beeville to tell all the grandkids that grandpa had passed away. There would be no surgery and no 50th wedding anniversary celebration. We grieved with them for about an hour and then sort of huddled back in the den. Belinda’s brother was trying to explain how family members would be coming by the next day and the kids would see lots of crying, some laughing, and some more crying, and so on. At that point, Thomas, our youngest, raised his hand as if he was in school (the school of faith) for permission to speak. Uncle Rocky said “Yes, Tom?” Tommy said “Well, I know two things that are good about this situation…first, Grandpa is with Jesus and second, we get to be out of school for a few days.”

Thanks, Tommy for taking us to our faith and for bringing joy into a difficult situation. We planned for a 50th wedding celebration but another celebration took place instead. Our thoughts are not his thoughts and our ways are not his ways. He gives and takes away but my heart will say, blessed be the name of the Lord. I am driving with my two older sons to Beeville again today but this time for a different kind of celebration…a homecoming celebration. I have been asked to preach the funeral service. Please keep us in your prayers. We are still dealing with the shock of Grandpa’s unexpected departure. I loved him like my own father. He accepted me and loved me unconditionally. He reminded me what it is like to live like Jesus and he always saw more in me than I could see in myself.

There are more than two good things about this situation. We are just now remembering to count our blessings. Life is but a vapor. Enjoy the privilege to be alive today and enjoy your family, your loved ones, and those you work with. Life is too short to live it any other way. The Lord is good, his mercy endures forever, and He lives…

It's Good Friday…What Did Jesus Die For?

Today is Good Friday. It is good because it was the day Jesus died a terrible death in order to make the redemption of my life and soul a possibility. But is that all?

Absolutely not! He died to set us free from the slavery of sin. He died to make a way for us to have a relationship with God. He died to give us abundant life. He died to weave us into his plan for history. He died so that we might have life. He died so that we might discover the meaning of life and his plan for eternity. He died to restore the imago Dei in us.

The life, death, burial, and resurrection make possible the indwelling Spirit of God in you and me. He died and rose again to conquer death and to breathe new life into us. He died so we really could be the salt of the earth, the light of the world.

Through his death and resurrection we are called out of darkness into his wonderful light. So why did he die for you? Why did he die for your family? Why did he die for your church? Why did he die for our family of faith?

I think he died that we might fully live and grow into our full potential for his glory. We give God glory and we honor our risen King when we do his work, the work of bringing real good news to homeless in New Orleans, the abandoned children in Mexico City, the child who has no family and whose only choice is to live in Beaumont or Lubbock in one of our residential facilities. We bring glory to God when we preach good news to abused moms and their children by offering them The Family Place in Dallas, Amarillo, Lufkin, Midland, and Lubbock to recuperate, re-group, and re-start their lives with new opportunities for economic sustainability.

We bring good news to families when we dig water well in a community where there was no water. We bless the nations when we create jobs where there was no work. We bring freedom to the prisoner when we make a place for their children at the Lord’s Table. We bring good news to the oppressed when we help them obtain documents for legal immigration to the USA. We bring good news when we put new socks and shoes on children who do not have shoes in 60 countries. We serve the least of these: the hungry, the poor, the naked, and the sick. We serve the least of these when we say “you don’t have to face life alone” and we provide a family for that child.

I think Jesus died and rose again so we might do everything he commanded us in the fullness of his redeeming love for us and for those who live without hope, without God, and without Christ in this world. This is why Friday is good.

I will see you on the other side of Easter because He is Risen!

Churches, Institutions, and Denominations…A Jesus Agenda-Kingdom Response

I left off yesterday asking how we can get the Jesus Agenda done while we have an opportunity. I think we need churches, institutions, and denominations to work together in a way that demonstrates maximum stewardship. That means we adopt a culture that does not tolerate duplication of effort. So what would each group do?

Churches are still at the cutting edge of redemptive reality. The local church has all the resources it needs to get the Jesus agenda done. The resources are in the congregation and in the institutional ministries it supports. Churches are made up of the redeemed. Let them say so and do so. The imaginary and creative capacity of the Kingdom is in the church. In the history of Texas Baptists, local churches saw the need to create institutions to do two things: educate the next generation of leaders and minister to the least of these. In the mid 1800’s we started universities, human welfare agencies, and hospitals. That looks like the Jesus Agenda to me.

Churches started churches, demonstrated evangelistic fervor, and were serious about developing disciples. They also created institutions to educate and to care for the least of these. The institutions became specialized arms for ministry beyond the local church. Today we have 9 universities in Texas, 4 human welfare agencies, and several hospital systems. What an incredible resource. We have all we need to do the Jesus Agenda through local churches and their institutions.

So why do we need a state convention? That is a good question. It is a good question for 2008 as we anticipate the coming of a new Executive Director at the BGCT. If we did not have a BGCT here are a few reasons why I would support starting one:

Coordinate
The convention was created years ago to coordinate ministries of the churches and its institutions. The convention was not created to become an institution but it has moved in that direction to its own peril.

Facilitate
A state convention would be useful to help churches and institutions do together what they could not do by themselves. So what would that be? Pick a societal problem, pick anyone that we would be bold enough to attack and you would find a good reason for the convention to exist. What would our state be like if our convention rallied all its constituent churches to clear the rolls of children waiting to be adopted? What would our state be like if our convention rallied its affiliated churches to give every Texas Baptist youth an opportunity to go to college, effectively eliminating the high school drop out rate among the most under-served and under-represented in higher education.

Catalyze
A state convention could be useful to help catalyze church planting movements and evangelistic creativity. A state convention could help catalyze new possibilities for churches and institutions to advance Kingdom activity in the world.

The Perfect Missional Blend

Yesterday I wrote about the current state of philanthropic giving and future trends. I ended the blog trying to paint a picture of how Buckner is blending social responsibility on a global scale with gospel focus and compassionate concern to embrace the Kingdom of God in our midst. I try to keep this blog to one page single spaced, about 500 words so frankly, I ran out of space as I was picking up steam.

I am struggling to find the words to describe our missional focus. Buckner is a social service, multi-service agency with state, national, and global scope aimed at serving children at risk, orphans, and families. We do the gospel from a social perspective but we also have deep appreciation and value spiritual regeneration and the local church as the cutting edge of redemptive reality. Our purpose is not to plant churches and evangelism but those activities tend to happen every place we have invested our resources to serve others.

I spoke with Dr. Bob Garrett, Director of the Master of Arts in Global Leadership at DBU and asked him what he thought about the blending of social ministry and missions. He said (not an exact quote) it was the perfect blend at the perfect time and he also commented that he saw Buckner as a leading missions agency. Buckner is a social service missions agency. That means that we have coupled our historic purpose with the heartbeat of Baptists: Missions.

Buckner has the framework for delivering social service, expert consultation regarding children and families, as well as systems of care that are contextually appropriate in 15 Texas cities, Washington, Tennessee, Oklahoma and we will soon be adding New Mexico, Missouri, and Illinois as well as presence in 9 countries. When we couple this delivery system with the missional passion of Christians and congregations, we have an alliance that is right on point. While Buckner does not focus primarily on evangelism, discipleship, and church planting, churches that go with us to serve children tend to have the freedom to share the good news and demonstrate the love of God in practical ways.

It seems to me that the false dichotomy of social service (Luke 4, Matthew 25, and James 1:27) and evangelism/disciple-making (Matthew 18) should have never existed. It is our focus to bring the two together to present a full complement of what God intends for the church and for followers to do at this time in history. That is why we have about 140 groups and over 4,000 projected this year for short-term mission trips.

So back to my question that I left off with yesterday:  What do we call this? I don’t know that it needs a name. Maybe it is simply doing everything that Jesus commanded us to do. If we have to have a name maybe we can call it “The Jesus Agenda.” He came to preach good news to the poor, the blind, the prisoner, the oppressed, the child at risk, the orphan, the family, the least of these, to make disciples and baptize them, and to teach them to obey all he commanded. It is the Jesus Agenda. What do you think?

What is the best way to get this done? I will talk about that tomorrow.

Kingdom Resources and the Perfect Missional Blend

I recently heard some very interesting information about philanthropy that caused me to think about the Buckner mission. Today philanthropic giving can be categorized into three groups: The World War II Generation, the Baby Boomer Generation, and the Gen Xers (20’s and 30’s). Giving to charitable causes remains steady among the builder generation. Baby Boomers are interested in giving but their big question is this: What is the purpose of my life? They tend to be social entrepreneurs who expect lots of accountability and benchmarks to measure their philanthropic investments. The Gen Xers are on a spiritual journey that may or may not involve church or organized religion but they are moving more and more toward an interest in providing social services for others. The serving may be local as well as global.

Giving to denominations that in turn serve others may not have a bright future. In 1998 a whopping 50% of philanthropic giving in the United States was religious in nature. By 2008 that level of giving fell to 30%. Less than 50% of seminaries accredited by the Association of Theological Schools have fewer than 17 donors who gave more than $5,000 in a given year.

What does this mean? It seems like giving to religious causes may be on a downward trend, especially giving to institutional causes. However, ministries that provide opportunities for direct service to others with the potential of providing an opportunity to find a meaningful and purposeful life is on an upward trend. Bible colleges, seminaries, and denominations searching for a productive future must find a way to meet boomers and Gen Xers at the point of the philanthropic interest while enjoying the faithful giving of WWII donors.

I remain convinced that there is not a shortage of Kingdom resources, only a shortage of Kingdom oriented activity and vision. We are living in a time when there is a shift from building an institution to embracing the Kingdom of God all around us in fresh and creative ways. Kingdom building is on the minds of Boomer and Xers versus institutional building that has become a major contribution of the WWII generation. We now have a variety of institutions that have the potential for building the Kingdom. This is the legacy of the WWII generation and we are extremely fortunate for this contribution. So what is next?

Enter Buckner International, a historically Baptist and increasingly interdenominational ministry created to serve children with a global focus on serving the “least of these,” the poor, the prisoner, the blind, the oppressed, child at risk, the orphan, and families. We are creating the perfect blend for Kingdom mission. Take a passion for serving children at risk, orphans, and families; add evangelically minded, gospel focused, and compassionate churches and Christians, and you have a compelling platform for engagement of hands-on generous Christians and churches who want to make a difference in the world and who want to be personally involved in the transformation of children, families, and whole communities across the globe. What do we call this? Tune in on Wednesday for more…

Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond: Resources to Serve Children

Today I am attending a board meeting at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The offices of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist General Association of Virginia are also located in this city. Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland are home to more than 5,500 Baptist churches. The mission of BTSR _www.btsr.edu is as follows: “The purpose of the seminary is to provide advanced theological education and training for effective leadership for the various ministries of the church for those men and women who are called and committed to Christian ministry.” BTSR, accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, was founded in 1989 and currently enrolled about 300 students pursuing masters and doctoral degrees.

There are many Baptist seminaries and theological schools accredited by ATS that serve as resources for Kingdom work around the world. Schools affiliated with the Association of Biblical Higher Education _www.abhe.edu and the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities also serve as prime resources for Kingdom activation. ABHE and ATS enrollment is about the same. That means there are as many undergraduate theological students as there are graduate theological students.

Baptist Universities and theological schools affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas include: Baptist University of the Americas, Baylor University, Dallas Baptist University, Houston Baptist University, Hardin Simmons University, Howard Payne University, University of Mary Hardin Baylor, East Texas Baptist University, Wayland Baptist University, Truett Seminary, and Logsdon Seminary represent significant resources for the Kingdom at work around us.

College and seminary students in America are the future of vocational ministry in the United States of America. My passion and dream for many of these students is that they become familiar with the work of Buckner International. Buckner is a natural bridge for them to get in touch with the least of these even if for only a week, a month, or a semester. My prayer is that many of them will have an opportunity to serve a few of the 143 million orphans around the world.

Take a look at Dr. Hall’s blog last week related to his trip to Viet Nam. Over 4,000 children await our response to the opportunity to demonstrate God’s love in a practical way. During Passion Week let’s pray that the resources I mentioned above will be connected in some way to the overwhelming needs of children both here and abroad.

Personal Focus: Leader Development Profile

Today, we launched a pilot project involving 13 Buckner Staff in leadership development. We used conference call technology to introduce the LDP: Leader Development Profile as a tool to develop leaders for Bucker. Several members from Dallas, San Antonio, Midland, and Lubbock gathered on the phone for a training session on Leadership Development.

The main thrust of the LDP is to help individuals define who they are and what their life mission is. The tool works through vision, passion, mission, results and creative performance, life output, unique ability, purposeful relationships, assigned tasks, and a blended statement of mission. The end result is a razor sharp focus for the emerging leader. We hope that the LDP is a foundational tool that will become part of a comprehensive plan to develop Buckner staff for future leadership in our ministry. The next phase will be an inventory of skills, abilities, credentials, and experience followed by asset mapping and succession planning. I am very encouraged that we have taken the first step in a long journey to demonstrate how valuable each Buckner staff member is and how strategic they are in accomplishing our mission of serving children at risk, orphans, and families.

This week I have featured the idea of focus. I started talking about this on Monday, and then asked Kenton Keller to help us think about organizational focus by exploring the concept of core competencies. I am more and more convinced that a sharper focus and a sharper sense of who we are and what we do best will help us enhance our effectiveness and our value in the marketplace and the Kingdom of God.

Our plan for the LDP is to work through enhancements and improvements before we roll it out to all our management staff. My plan is to get this accomplished in 2008 so that we will be ready to move toward human resource inventories and asset mapping in 2009 and significant skills acquisition and succession planning in 2009-2010.

Light diffused is good. However, a laser is a powerful use of light that can cut steel and useful in surgical procedures. We want to move from good, to better, to the best use of our existing resources. That is what focus is all about.

Hedgehog Concept and Core Competencies (Part II)

Yesterday I featured Kenton Keller’s article on the Hedgehog and Core Competencies. Today he is writing the second part of that first installment. Kenton is Chief Strategic Initiatives Officer at Buckner. Take a moment and think hard about the questions he is raising. You will also find a personal application at the end of today’s blog. I dare you to respond. No, I double…triple-dare you to respond. Just kidding. But I am interested in your thoughts on this topic. What do you think?

With all the many opportunities for ministry that we have at Buckner, we need to maintain vigilance around focus.  And, although it is crucial to concentrate on what we do best, it is also important to make sure we avoid activities in which we do not excel, i.e. those that are not our core competencies.  Worthwhile endeavors that are not part of our organization’s core competencies should be performed by alliance partners or subcontractors. Organizations which have developed expertise in these areas can be real assets to Buckner’s work.  We should network and seek assistance from other entities which are proficient in areas where we are not.  Working together with others in building God’s kingdom is certainly a biblical principle!      

Buckner is continually blessed with many growth and service opportunities which reflect the purest of intentions and a willingness to serve Christ.  With so many options how do we select the best?  To ensure that we have the right focus (and in honor of the hedgehog!) we will assess opportunities by asking two key questions:
Is this opportunity consistent with our mission, vision and values?
Does this opportunity take advantage of our core competencies?

At this point you may be asking yourself, “What exactly ARE Buckner’s core competencies?” or “Where SHOULD we place our focus?”  These are questions that deserve much prayerful consideration and evaluation.  Please pray that we get this right as it determines the direction Buckner will take during this time of explosive growth and opportunity. 

And let’s all pray that we get this right, too, as individuals. You see, the hedgehog principle can also apply personally as we all need to develop focus in our lives.  We may each want to ask ourselves:
What do I do especially well? 
What am I passionate about?
How can I work with Buckner to protect children, promote independence and build strong families?

We’re waiting to hear from you at pandulce@buckner.org

Hedgehogs and Core Competencies

Today I have asked Kenton Keller, Chief Strategic Initiatives Officer to write about Core Competencies in an effort to gain laser focus as we think about growth at Buckner. He brings extensive experience from the business sector on the issue of organizational focus, among a wide array of other topics and issues. Read and find the wisdom of his words:
All organizations, even excellent ones, face challenges as they grow.  One of the challenges we face at Buckner is determining how to grow responsibly.   How can we better serve at-risk children and their families and ensure that we are good stewards of our limited resources?
One way to address this question is to follow a very simple principle:  Focus on those things we do exceptionally well.  Although this sounds easy, recent business history is littered with examples of struggling companies who have failed to execute this vital tenet.   To successfully apply this principle, an organization must clearly define its focus areas based on its mission, its vision and its core competencies.   Over the past year, Dr. Reyes has repeatedly reminded us that “as a global Christian ministry, we are devoted to protecting children, promoting independence and building strong families.”   So what is this big idea about “core competencies?”

We may have first heard about core competencies from the Greek poet Archilochus who wrote a parable about a fox and a hedgehog
(a simple, porcupine-like animal).  The poet wrote, “the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”  This suggests that although the fox is very cunning and will make many different attempts to outwit the hedgehog, the hedgehog usually wins by following a single, simple strategy when threatened:  He curls up into a tight ball becoming invulnerable to almost any predator! The

hedgehog is an expert at this task – It’s what he knows best, and repeating this activity makes him successful.  This is a hedgehog core competency.

Even the apostle Paul talks about the “one thing I do.”  In Philippians 3:13-14 he says, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  This suggests that we should be focused so that we will reach the goal and win the prize.  I wonder if this tentmaker knew about hedgehogs . . .

At its simplest, a core competency is a unique capability that an organization has and continues to focus on – maybe better than anyone else!  A core competency enables the organization to provide extraordinary services to its customer base, as we have seen with Buckner’s residential services programs.  A core competency can provide access to a wide variety of markets, as we have experienced with Buckner’s foster care programs throughout the world.  And a core competency is typically a capability that is very difficult for others to imitate like Buckner’s retirement programs.  More on Core Competencies tomorrow…