Thoughts on Christ and His Word

"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none." Ezekiel 22:30 Will I be the man God is looking for? Will you be the woman God is looking for? God is looking for men and women who will build the wall of his kingdom. He is looking for men and women who will stand between Him and the unsaved people of this world. From this position the man or woman would be able to pray for the people - to ask God for mercy for the people, as Moses asked God to forgive the Israelites when they sinned against God. From the position in the gap the man and woman would also be able to implore the people to turn to God and His Son for the salvation of their souls, as Peter did at Pentecost . If we decide to build the walls of our kingdom, instead of God's; if we decide to sit this one out, instead of stand in the gap, we will loose the privilege working for God's glory, bein...

Rick Warren says that the #1 reason people leave a church is unresolved personal conflicts. Regrettably , this seems to be true. This is how he puts it in a message to his church leaders: "The church is a family. Do families have conflict? Disagreements? Sometimes I violently disagree with my wife. And she violently disagrees with me. But my commitment to her is no less than 100% and vice versa . I can think of some people who’ ve been around here for nearly eleven years and they’re have been times where we’ ve disagreed over different things. But I’m committed to them and they’re committed to me and we’re still here together. I think that people need to learn how to handle conflict without getting a divorce. Too many people want to divorce their church. It’s the easier thing to do. But they go to another church and find out it’s not perfect either. You’re never going to find a perfect church. If you do, don’t join it. Then it won’t be perfect any more." Pau...

Joni Eareckson Tada became a quadriplegic after a diving accident in 1967. She was 17 years old at the time and faced a life stuck in a wheelchair unable to use her arms and legs for the rest of her life. One might excuse her if she became frustrated and depressed at life. But she didn ’t just curl up in a corner in useless existence. She drew strength from Christ and began an organization called Joni and Friends ( joniandfriends .org ) to extend the love of Christ to people with disabilities. Her organization has pushed the kingdom of God forward for over 30 years in the United States and around the world. In a conference where Joni was speaking, she was asked how she kept going, serving in spite of her obvious physical limitations. Her answer puts things in perspective: “This is the only time in history when I get to fight for God. This is the only part of my eternal story when I am actually in the battle. Once I die, I’ll be in celebration mode in a glorified body in whole differe...

Last Tuesday I was sharing with my men's Bible study class that "Readers are Leaders". This is what my youth group leader told me 30 years ago. And it’s true. Two days after I repeated these words to my class I was reading the book Axiom by Bill Hybels. In it he has a chapter titled “Read All You Can”. Here are some excerpts from that chapter: “Leaders have a responsibility before God to constantly get better, and one of the most reliable ways to do so is to read. Great leaders read frequently. They read voraciously. They read classics and new releases. They soak up lessons from the military, from academia, from politics, from nongovernmental organizations, and from church leaders who are leading well. They refuse to let themselves off the hook in this regard, because they know that all great leaders read.” “I have little patience with leaders who get themselves into leadership binds and then confess that they haven’t read a leadership book in years. If you’re a serious-...

Sacrifice is the down payment for leadership. If you want to influence people and have them follow you with their hearts, they must see you lay down your life for them and the team. In his book “Spiritual Leadership”, J. Oswald Sanders writes “To aspire to leadership in God’s kingdom requires us to be willing to pay a price higher than others are willing to pay.” This is called sacrifice. Jesus said that in order to be his disciple one must sacrifice comfort, time, and family relationships (Luke 9:57-62). And leaders should be disciples that live at a higher standard. So what should our sacrifice look like? Sanders continues “The world is run by tired men…Even Jesus grew weary in ministry and had to rest (John 4:6)…If a Christian is not willing to rise early and work late, to expend greater effort in diligent study and faithful work, that person will not change a generation. Fatigue is the price of leadership. Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired.” Some people want to ...

In his book Axiom , Bill Hybels describes the difference between a leader who is a hireling (a simple employee) of a vision and the one who owns the vision. The hireling begins to choose a path self-service. The vision becomes more about him – his career, his fame, his job security and his success. But the leader who owns a God-given vision is willing to pay any price to achieve it. Followers follow him to the extent that they feel he owns it – that his heart is in it and is willing to sacrifice for it. Hybels writes that followers “will only sacrifice for the vision if you will. They will only take a bullet for the cause if they believe down to their toes that you would do the same.” He then expresses what should be every leader’s prayer that believes God has given him a vision: “God...right here and right now, I tell you all over again that I will pay any price to achieve this vision so that someday, when I get to the finish line, I’ll be able to say with Paul that I fought the goo...

Have you heard that the human nose and ears never stop growing? Well good leaders never stop growing either. According to Bill Robinson, president of Whitworth University, good leaders “…develop the gifts God gave them. They hone and improve those gifts. They never stop learning how to use their gifts more effectively. And they change. They get better. And they get nervous at the first sign of stagnation.” Are you developing the gifts Godhas given you? Are you reading, going to conferences, or listening to seminars about areas in of your life that grow you up and affect your ministry success? If not, you may be stagnant and wasting the gifts God has entrusted to you. Paul wrote to Timothy “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.” 2 Timothy 4:13 The scrolls and parchments were books – possibly Old Testament books, new Scriptures from other apostles, or other books that inspired him. The point is he wanted to ...