Principles of leadership by St. Paul

The other day I had the privilege of attending our monthly Precept meeting at our leader, Vasile Filat’s home. It was a pleasure to hear all of the testimonies from the different workers in the Gospel, ordinary people who serve the Lord with all of their hearts. Some are teachers, others are coaches, still others are business people yet all of us has the same thing in common, our relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ which gives us a passion for the people around us.

The Sermon on the Mount (part 5)

I just returned home from teaching a session on Missiology based on the Sermon on the Mount. I have decided to continue writing on this subject. This is an amazing message because it sets in contrast the righteousness of man and the righteousness of God. The characteristics of the righteousness of God have been covered in the previous articles. Once a person encounters God

Fix your eyes upon the Lord

As you go through the daily activities of life, do you have your eyes (your heart, your focus, your perspective) fixed on the things of God or on the quickly fading things of this earth? What are you living for, to eat, drink, and be merry because you never know how much longer you have or are you living with eternity as your perspective setter? What do you spend the majority of your time focusing on, the things that are here today and gone tomorrow or the things that will last all throughout eternity. The things of this world are fading away so if you are focused on them, you and your perspective on eternity will fade away along with them.

How to have a winning year in 2013

As I prepare to teach this Friday night at our youth group’s first meeting of the New Year, 2013, I want to encourage the youth to prepare themselves to have a winning year. What I mean by winning year is, when you look back over 2013, you can say that you accomplished many things for the Lord by serving the people around you. Many people just live their lives day by day with an attitude of mediocrity. They are satisfied with the “status quo”.

Finding our adequacy in Jesus Christ

As I prepare to lead lesson three from the study, “Lord give me a heart for You” based on II Corinthians, I would like to analyze this lesson and explain its amazingly practical truths for daily living in this article.

The apostle Paul was a great missionary, church planter, pastor, and overall leader during the early years of the Christian Church. He had to deal with a lot of stuff on a daily basis, doing things that had never been done before. He did not have a model to follow or even a manual other than the Old Testament and maybe a few of the Gospels. He was taught directly by Jesus Christ which greatly helped him but mostly he depended on the examples of the great leaders of the Old Testament. As a leader, he had to depend completely on God and not his own adequacy. He knew that in himself and his own strength he was inadequate. He explains that in Romans 7. Paul knew that he needed help and he knew exactly where to turn for that help. In order to be adequate in the Lord, there are certain things that we must do and there are certain things that God must do. We know that God will always do His part so it is up to us to do ours.

Principles of Leadership from II Corinthians (6)

I have really enjoyed looking at II Timothy and discipleship together with II Corinthians and Biblical leadership. The two go hand in hand. If we would follow God’s Word, we would learn how to disciple others and be good leaders as we do it. You can read article number 5 here. As a recap, here is what we learned in the last article on leadership.

1. A good leader is able to forgive and he teaches his followers to do the same.
2. A good leader cares for the well being of his followers.
3. A good leader is an aroma of the knowledge of Christ everywhere he goes.
4. A good leader does not manipulate people with the Word of God.

Discipleship and Second Timothy (4)

In this article I would like to revisit the subject of discipleship in II Timothy. It is amazing to see Paul’s ministry, specifically the way that he led God’s people. Article 3 contains teaching on retaining the high standard of the Gospel as you serve God by serving the people around you through the process of making disciples. You can read that article here. As way of review:

1. A good disciple retains the high standard of the Gospel by living It out day by day and investing It in others.
2. A good disciple views the Gospel as a precious treasure that must be guarded as he lives It out and shares It with others.
3. A good disciple is aware that not everyone who claims to follow Christ is a genuine disciple.

Principles of Leadership from II Corinthians (5)

I want to take a short break from II Timothy and revisit the theme of leadership back in II Corinthians. I love teachings on mentoring (discipleship) and leadership and the Bible is full of both. I pray that my generation will invest in the future generations by showing them how to be good leaders through our example and teaching them to be good leaders based on the principles of the Word of God. Here is a quick recap of the previous lesson.

1. He does not lord his leadership over his followers.
2. He confronts and rebukes correctly, not to cause sorrow.
3. He communicates with his followers for their own benefits.

Discipleship and Second Timothy (3)

I would like to continue our study on the topic of discipleship from II Timothy. I addressed the issue of suffering for the Gospel in the last article and you can read it here. As a recap of the previous article, when suffering for preaching the Gospel:

1. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel.
2. Do not be ashamed of those who do suffer for the Gospel.
3. Follow your mentor’s example of suffering for the Gospel.

Discipleship and Second Timothy (2)

In this article I would like to continue focusing on the process of Christian discipleship, a lost art in many of our modern, Western churches in the 21 Century. In the previous article, we covered the first 7 verses of II Timothy 1. In order to be a good disciple of Christ who retains the standard laid out in the Gospel, you must:

1. Be ready and willing to serve the Lord by serving the people around you.
2. Prayerfully thank God for your disciples and work to develop close, personal relationships with them.
3. Challenge your disciples to action.