January 2011
14 posts
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Leadership: God-Exalting Ministry Defined and...
This is part 8 of a series on Leadership. Read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, & part 7.
Scripture and theology have confirmed that leadership consists of two essential components: authority and responsibility. The history of Christianity warns against errors to avoid, and the two major dilemmas have been confronted. Yet, what does the ideal of God-exalting leadership look...
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Leadership: Dilemmas in Leadership
This is part 7 of a series on Leadership. Read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, & part 6.
The two major dilemmas in God-exalting leadership are conflicts of responsibility and rejection of authority. The Christian leader, especially the pastor, faces conflicts in his or her various realms of responsibility. A pastor will have responsibility to God, responsibility over his church,...
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Leadership: Theological Belief and the Practice of...
This is part 6 of a series on Leadership. Read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, & part 5.
Belief and practice relate in correlation. How one leads will betray what one believes. The current culture chastises the idea of an authoritative husband and father as oppressive. Churches forsake corrective discipline of members as unkind. Not even God is allowed to speak with authority. Such...
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Leadership: Success and Failure in the History of...
This is part 5 of a series on Leadership. Read part 1, part 2, part 3, & part 4.
Throughout the history of Christianity, the two components of leadership have been emphasized to different degrees, revealing the errors that exist on each side of center. The apostolic fathers were faithful in practicing God-exalting leadership. Clement of Rome, Polycarp, and Ignatius all commanded...
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Leadership: The Christocentric Leadership...
This is part 4 of a series on Leadership. Read part 1, part 2, & part 3.
The New Testament opens by depicting Jesus as the long-awaited leader who will bring lasting good to God’s people. Luke portrays Jesus as the one who has arrived to reverse the fortunes of God’s suffering people and bring peace to those with whom God is pleased (Luke 1:46-55; 2:14). According to Matthew, Jesus is...
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Days 3, 4 & 5 of Village Evangelism
I regret that I was unable to post updates over the past few days. As I will explain in a moment, we had an accident on Wednesday, and I needed to wait to post anything until the appropriate personnel had been notified. I am confident that many continued to pray for us even though your prayers would have been less specific.
Wednesday morning we returned to Morozeni where we visited the...
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Day 2 of Village Evangelism
This morning the majority of our team went to Morozeni, a village without any evangelical witness (two young men went to cut wood for an elderly person in Vatici as a way to demonstrate Christ’s love). Since the majority of people here just celebrated Christmas on January 7, we sang some carols at the center of the village and were able to speak to the people who stopped to listen. Then we...
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Leadership: The Christocentric Leadership...
This is part 3 of a series on Leadership. Read part 1, & part 2.
Following God’s establishment of the nation through the Exodus, three offices of leadership arose in Israel—priest, prophet, and king. God consecrated the priests with the authority to make sacrifices for the sins of the people, since without such atonement it was impossible for God to dwell in their midst (Exod 29:44-46). ...
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Day 1 of Village Evangelism
The day began bright and early as I met the team of students and led them in a time of prayer and Bible study. I wanted them to remember that we have nothing more or less to offer than the authority of the Bible proclaimed with Spirit-given ability.
After prayer, the students continued to plan and put together gift bags until lunch. After lunch we headed out into the mud of Vatici in six...
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A Story of Persecution
On Saturday, I preached in the village of Radoaia. Afterward, two of our students who are brothers invited us to their home for lunch. Their father, Victor, planted a church in a nearby village and has been a preacher of the gospel from before the fall of the Soviet Union. At lunch, he shared the following story about the persecution his parents had suffered for Christ.
But before I begin,...
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Leadership: The Christocentric Leadership...
This is part 2 of a series on Leadership. Read part 1.
Leadership originates with God. As the Creator, God holds unequalled authority. The twenty-four elders at his throne recognize this connection between creation, authority, and glory by singing, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created”...
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Leadership: The Two Components
The Bible is a story about God exalting himself among all peoples in Christ, but this grand narrative is also a story about leadership. God has chosen to use leaders as the means for accomplishing his purpose.
Leadership consists of two essential components: authority and responsibility. A leader exercises authority over others. God-exalting authority is imparted by God, submitted under the...
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January 2011 Update
About a year and a half ago, our family walked through the field near camp and up to a road. We walked until the road y-ed. At the y was a familiar sight here in Moldova, a crucifix. We knew that beyond this crucifix on the road that goes to the right was a village we had heard of but never visited, Tabară. On that day, we felt a tinge of sadness as the Holy Spirit led us to ask, “What...