House on Fire!

A Story of Loss, Love & Servant Leadership

Ken Jennings, Michael J. McCormick

• Publisher: Morgan James Faith
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780830844807
• eBook ISBN: 9781642794885
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

A tale of leadership in a class of its own, House on Fire!, winner of the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Award, moves past tips and techniques to uncover the heart of leadership transformation that occurs when people see differently and serve differently.

House on Fire! follows Sophie, a young investigative journalist searching for answers whose sources for a story on leadership principles in a high-purpose organization get mixed up in a series of mysterious fires around Pittsburgh. Along the way Sophie meets Jeb, a handsome firefighter and leadership partner at The House who is working to determine who is behind the mysterious fires targeting local Christians. Despite herself, Sophie finds herself falling for Jeb and tension mounts as she comes face to face with her past. Will Sophie confront her fear of fire and help solve the arsons before Jeb gets hurt?or worse?

Based on the conviction that leadership transformation in the real world is more caught in the context of community than taught by a single textbook, Ken Jennings and Mike McCormick brilliantly bring leadership development to life through an integrated team of characters, each contributing to the personal growth of the others. Fit for the new landscape of leadership, House on Fire! specifically helps those navigating the shift from leading a company to leading a cause, from command and control to team empowerment, or from leading an organization to transforming a community. Readers follow Sophie as she explores the intersection of faith and Servant Leadership in high purpose organizations and discover how to put Serving Leadership to work in their own high-purpose organization today.

IN TRAINING FOR REIGNING

Luke introduced me: “Sophie, meet Julie Zheng, our resident doctor.”

Julie, who had a silver and pink stethoscope looped around her neck, was wearing a white lab coat over her skinny jeans and bright red blouse. I was envious. With my copper hair, I could never pull off red.

Julie walked around the table, her slight arms full of heavy medical books. Right behind her was a powerfully built African-American man in a gray Pitt sweatshirt and khakis. His hair was cut in a military fade with flecks of premature gray and white. He had a well-worn black backpack with military patches slung over his broad shoulders.

I stood up and stuck my hand out. “Sophie Alsas. I’m a reporter from the Herald, doing a story on The House.”

“We know,” he boomed, a grin spreading across his face. “We’re going to be famous!” Julie hit him hard on the shoulder and smiled. Her punch did not even register.

“I’m Julie.” Firm grip, eye-to-eye contact, and a sunny smile. She continued, “I’m a surgical fellow at Pitt. We use the See Differently - Serve Differently principles you will see at The House at our hospital. Come and see.”

Byron rocked back and forth on his feet. The sway was unnatural. I could see metal and plastic where a sock should have been, a prosthetic. Do your research, Sophie! The guy was a combat wounded veteran, I should have known about his injury. His face told a further story. His dark skin was pebbled with dozens of patches of scar tissue, a virtual constellation.

“Yinz guys want to join us?” Luke invited them both.

“I’d appreciate anything you all would like to add,” I said.

Byron took that in, seemed to consider it, and said, “Hold that thought.” He wheeled around and limped out of the room.

Taking a seat on the couch, the rest of us watched him go.

“Byron’s in some discomfort today,” Julie said. “We should pray for him.”

We all looked at the door. “I’ve got a little time before my clinic,” Julie continued, and then she repeated Luke’s line: “I’m so glad you’re doing our story. We love your mom. She’s been down here helping and talks about you a lot.”

Julie looked at the door again. “Can you hold on a second? Let me just check on Byron.” She walked briskly out of the room.

Luke filled in. “There’s one other key leader, Jeb Phelps, who leads in our sister community house. I want you to meet him. His work is also around discipleship, but in a work setting.”

The other House? I pressed on.

“Can you give me your definition of discipleship here at The House? I need to use your working definition in my article.”

“Sure. We help Christ’s followers to do all that Jesus said to do and did himself. We show love and serve students to help them grow deeper in their relationship with Christ. God calls all of us to join Him in achieving good and great goals together.

“I once heard Dallas Willard say, ‘We’ve already started an eternal kind of life. You can learn to truly see His Kingdom in action now. We’re all here in training for reigning.’⁴ We’re learning and developing the character we need to join Christ in leading and stewarding his kingdom starting now, and … well … forever. We’re here to grow as disciples, to serve others, and to learn to lead with a servant heart.”

We’re all here in training for reigning. We’re learning and developing the character we need to join Christ in leading and stewarding his kingdom starting now, and … well … forever.

While we were talking, Julie slipped back onto the couch beside me. Byron was right behind her. He walked over to the fireplace mantel behind us and struck a match, lighting a white candle. We watched as it sputtered.

“What’s with that?”

Byron picked up the candle like he was doing this little demonstration. “It’s a House tradition. The church worships in some dark places. In a most real way, we’re downrange in enemy territory, and candles push back the darkness. It helps us to see.”

Luke laughed. “Byron has given out hundreds of those candles. I think he believes we should be ready for some long, lights-out national emergency. Maybe it’s the medic in him.”

Byron just lifted the candle up for us to see. He explained, “Some nuns in Eastern Pennsylvania make these candles for us.” The hot wax dripped onto his hand, but he did not flinch.

He said, “Candles also remind us to see differently. At The House, we believe that leading others starts with seeing both God and people differently. Many of us are trapped into seeing God as a grumpy judge or an absent parent. Actually, God absolutely loves us, enjoys us, and desires to have a personal relationship with us. His deepest desire is for us to live, love, and partner with Him in His work of bringing light into our dark world. He’s with us to give us strength for our daily work, friends to join us, and people to love right in front of us. We believe God always has our highest good in mind. In fact, He knows what’s best for us, even more than we do. What many people consider to be “rules for Christian behavior,” we see as loving boundaries He has set so we can fully become who He created us to be. Ultimately, we trust God’s heart for us. We learn to think and see that way. This seeing reality is at the center of what The House is. We help our students to see God as on their side, loving, joyful, and for us in all we do in His kingdom.”

“How does seeing God differently affect how you lead?”

“When we see God truly for who He is, the most loving and giving being in the universe, we can also happily join Him in enjoying and leading His Kingdom. We’re on an adventure. An eternal kind of life starts here, right at The House, right on planet Earth. It’s an adventure to bring light into the darkness, to overcome evil and injustice with good, to reflect His image, and be His hands and feet.

“I know that’s a lot Sophie, and I’m getting hot wax on my fingers. Yow!”

We all laughed. Luke said, “We prepared some background for you on The House’s applied servant leadership principles.” They went to the kitchen for more coffee and to let me read.

See Differently - God

We practice an applied form of Servant Leadership at The House. What appeals to us, what first sets this form of leading apart, is learning to see what is true and real.

Start with God.

Some of us see Him as a distant, harsh judge or an absent parent. Actually, He is wildly loving towards us, wholly for us, and deeply relational. The forever relationship mending work of Jesus the Christ makes this real. God dances for joy at our restored relationship. He watches us, not looking for ways to punish but keeping His eyes on us for the same reasons that any loving parents watches their child. God wants to be with us and for us. God is working to form us with the character of Jesus and to empower us to join Him in co-managing His Kingdom. We join Him as a fellow servant.

“Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” Mark 10:43-45.

See Differently - People

How we best live and lead is made possible by how we see others. Do we see people as objects to be used for our benefit? Or do we see others as worthy individuals stamped with God’s marks of endearment? The question is: Do we see people the way God sees people?

People are eternal, never-ending creatures made in God’s own image.

If God sees the people around us as worthy, so should we.

People are full of God-given strengths --- bring out the best in them.

People are ready for great adventures — invite them.

People are sometimes offensive — love them.

People get lost — find them. Invite them home.

People flourish with good leadership — empower them to overcome evil with good in God’s never-ending Kingdom, starting now.

Seeing God rightly and seeing people clearly helps us to serve well!

Serve Differently

We strive to lead others with respect. We practice everyday love. We serve by making a ‘way’ for them to succeed. We connect our team to the ‘why’ of their efforts.

Way Power-As servant leaders, we put ourselves in service to those who work with and for us, encouraging and empowering them to grow and perform against our shared goals. We dedicate ourselves to discerning best routes forward, building teams capable of drawing on each other’s strengths and abilities, leveraging our available assets, building on past successes, creating cultures of shared achievement, giving rich feedback and coaching for success. We celebrate successes and model ourselves to be proactive people, outcome achieving, reliable, and trustworthy. In short we commit to having the kind of character that is crucial to community harmony and success.

Why Power-As servant leaders, we put ourselves in service to the purpose or cause that calls us to give our very best. We work to create connections from every person on our team to the highest and best greater goals that achieve good for those we serve, including ourselves. We work to connect all of us to doing the good that is out in front of us, beside us with our honored colleagues, and within us as that person whom God loves and sacrificed for. We aim to create lines of hope and optim...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• In the Dark
• First Source
• Solo
• Infiltrating the Community
• The House
• In Training for Reigning
• Firefighter
• Afghanistan
• See What Can Be
• Way Power – Building Effective Organizations
• Firetrap
• Serve Differently
• The Chefs
• Friends
• Tattoos on the Heart
• A Girl Needs Her Mom
• We’re All Caregivers
• Two Minute Drill
• Danger Close
• Journeys
• Commissioned
• Hammer and Spike
• House On Fire
• Forever in My House
• Postscript: Make a Difference
• Join the Movement
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors