The Character of a Leader: Love Those You Lead

 

This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters.

In my previous two messages, I shared leadership values from VCP Supervisor Peter Baraka. We began with being a willing listener.  Good leaders listen well in order to understand others’ thoughts and opinions.  We followed that with being unafraid of criticism because we stand secure in Jesus Christ.  Today, I will conclude these insights from Peter with what is most likely the most powerful of his leadership values.  “We must love those we lead.”  

Love is a very strong motivator for us as well as for those whom we lead.  The apostle Paul described this mindset in Philippians 2:3-5.   “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:”

At the heart of “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit” and “in humility value others above yourselves” is servant leadership.  Leadership is for service, not power.  Christian leadership is firstly for the benefit of the Kingdom and secondly for the benefit of others. Leadership is not about making oneself appear great to others or about amassing financial resources.   

When Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew 20:25-27, He … “called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.’”  

As good and godly leaders demonstrate their genuine love for their followers, several positive things happen:

• Followers feel appreciated and motivated.  Their commitment to the vision increases.

• Relationships and loyalty with one’s followers develops and then becomes strengthened. Teamwork and hard work follow. 

• There is forgiveness for unintended mistakes or offenses

• You begin to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2), to pray for one another, and to provide practical support for each other. 

• Kingdom work advances because everyone is working for a common Purpose.  

Love for those we lead is a mindset.  It’s a choice and a commitment that we must intentionally make. 1 Corinthians 13 is often called the “love chapter” of the Bible. Verses 4 and 5 read in part, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered” 

Let us love well those whom we lead.  

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

Church Planters Develop the Prayer Life of Their People

 

Hello my brother, hello my sister, my name is Dean Davis and this is Multiply, a podcast that provides a word of encouragement for village church planters.

Have you ever taught a small child to pray?  My wife and I taught our own children to pray and now we are helping our grandchildren learn to pray.  When children learn to pray they often say something like this, “Thank you God for this day.  Help us to have a good day tomorrow.”  Now, there is nothing wrong with this prayer.  In fact, it is always good when we direct our thoughts and our words toward our Father in heaven.  But, this prayer, “Thank you God for this day. Help us to have a good day tomorrow.” is rather self-centered.  Now, of course, it is the nature of a child to be self-centered.  So it is very important for good parents to help children grow to think of other people and their needs.  Soon children learn to pray for the needs of people beyond their own family.  When my son Nathan was about four years old he prayed every night for our neighbor, a girl named Veronica who was bedridden with osteomyelitis, an infection that was eating away her hip bone.  He prayed every night for weeks that God would heal her.  Then one night he stopped praying for Veronica and he never mentioned her in prayer again.  Soon the doctor said the infection was gone. Veronica was healed.

It is a wonderful thing to teach children to pray. It’s better yet to teach them to pray for people beyond themselves and their immediate family. The Apostle Paul, an exemplary church planter, was concerned about the prayer life of the Colossian Christians.  His words found in Colossians 4:2-5 help us develop a balanced prayer life.  Paul says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.  Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”  

 Paul wanted his grandchildren in the faith to be devoted to prayer.  He wanted them to watch out for themselves and trust God to protect them.  He wanted his disciples to be thankful.  But that is not the whole story.  Paul wanted his followers to be concerned about people who were not a part of their family or their church.  He said, “Pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ.”  He wanted his followers to think about outsiders and pray for the Gospel to spread to their hearts.

One of the greatest privileges you have as a disciple maker is to teach people to pray.  Teach them to pray for themselves and to pray for others.  At first they will pray like children and that is okay.  But help them learn to pray like mature adults lifting up the needs of others, advancing the Gospel of Christ.  God delights to answer those prayers.  What a joy you will have as you see the faith of your church members grow week by week.

This is Multiply, offering a word of encouragement to village church planters.

If you have found this message to be helpful, please forward it to fellow church planters and disciple-makers who may need encouragement.  Feel free to share it on What’s App, Facebook, and other platforms you use to connect with others.

Be encouraged, God is with us! EC-27

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters #Colossians #LearnToPrayer

www.vcpencouragement.org

Church Planters Champion On-Going Transformation

 

Hello my brother, hello my sister, my name is Dean Davis and this is Multiply, a

podcast that provides a word of encouragement for village church planters.

As church planters, you and I have the wonderful privilege of proclaiming the

Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ. We confidently tell people that,

although the world we live in is broken, Jesus, by his death and resurrection,

has made a way for us to be restored to God. It is our privilege to help men

and women, boys and girls put their trust in Christ. When they do, they

experience forgiveness from sins and begin a new life.

I remember when leaders from my church shared this Good News with me. I

could hardly believe it. I could hardly believe that I could be forgiven and that

Jesus would take my guilt away. I was so hungry for God. I wanted to have

that peace and joy my new friends were telling me about. Soon I did trust

Christ and His peace flooded into my heart.

I am so thankful for my church. Though they rejoiced in my new birth in

Christ, they knew that I was just getting started on the path to a transformed

life. They knew that sinful ways of thinking and sinful ways of living that I had

learned before I came to Christ would need to be dealt with now that I was

born again. So they kept teaching me the word of God. They taught me that

the will of God for my life was always good and that I could trust Jesus and

obey him. In fact, they taught me that the only way to be happy in Jesus was

to trust him and obey him.

I can’t tell you how thankful I am for this patient, teaching that was both firm

and clear. I am so glad that after I was born again, they taught me, “Dean, you

have begun well, but there is so much that needs to happen for you to be

transformed. What about you? Who helped you understand that the Christian

life is more than the new birth, it is a life of putting off our earthly nature and

putting on a new way of living? If you have the chance, take a moment today

to thank those who helped you learn to walk with Christ in ways that honor

him.

Wise church planters understand this need to help new believers be

transformed. Wise church planters are faithful evangelists who proclaim the

Good News and call people to be born again. But wise church planters don’t

stop there. Their goal, like the Apostle Paul’s is to present people complete in

Christ.

When Paul wrote to the Colossians believers, they had just begun their new life

in Christ. He said to them in chapter 3, “Put to death, therefore, whatever

belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires

and greed, which is idolatry.  Because of these, the wrath of God is

coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.  But now

you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice,

slander, and filthy language from your lips.  Do not lie to each other, since you

have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new

self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 

As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with

compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each

other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which

binds them all together in perfect unity.

As you follow this example of Paul, as you help new believers be transformed

by Christ, wonderful change will come to the communities where you plant

churches.

This is Multiply offering a word of encouragement to village church planters.

Be encouraged, God is with us!

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters #Colossians #LifeTransformation

www.vcpoencouragement.org

Church Planters Care About Healthy Families

 

This is Brad & Daneille Snowden with Multiply, a podcast that provides a word of encouragement for village church planters. Farmers work hard to have healthy plants in order to have a healthy harvest. It takes a lot of work at first and then careful attention in order to see the plants produce as it should. The apostle Paul shares with us the care that we need to practice in order to have heathy families.

Colossians 3:18-21

“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”

Most of our lives are lived within the context of a family so it would only be natural for Jesus to include instructions for family life.

The term subjection is a military term which means to "place oneself under." When God made the husband-and-wife relationship he made it with order so that the relationship could function properly. Submission does not imply that the wife is less than the husband, for Scripture clearly proclaims the equality of all in Christ. Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Greek nor Jew, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

When the family flows together they are most productive when they flow in unity, we all do this as we model our lives by serving one another. We serve each other not only as husband and wife but also as brother and sister in Christ.  Romans 12:10 says to prefer one another above all else, then there can be unity in our family.  For example, it is like two people rowing a boat, if they are not rowing together then it will be hard for both and it will be a very slow trip or they go around in circles which is not productive.

God’s desire for each one of us as Christ followers comes in the form of working together for one common goal which is to be more like Jesus. We are to be co-laborers as we encourage each other to become more like Christ. The responsibility that we have is to teach our children, also to be a Christ-like example to them as we respect each other and the life positions we all have, in order to remain as healthy followers of Jesus.

The first part of our relationship, husband and wife and our relationship as parent and child all must flow in love for one another and to that which would please the Lord. As our hearts are filled with love for each other and will strive to please the Lord by serving each other; we will have a healthy family that will draw others to Christ. It is our witness to those around us that will draw them to the truth. The care we invest into our families will open up the hearts that we are able to witness to the complete love of God.

This has been Multiply, please be sure to share this episode with others. Find us on Facebook Encouragement for Village Church Planters and on Podbean called Multiply. Remember to click follow and share.

God bless!

 EC-26

Church Planters Make Disciples That Care About Holiness

 

Hello my brother, hello my sister, my name is Dean Davis and this is Multiply, a podcast that provides a word of encouragement for village church planters.

It is not easy to be a good parent.  Being a good parent means hard work starting before the baby is born.  Yes, we must have clothes for the baby and a place for the baby to sleep.  But there is so much more that must be done to raise a child.  Good parents, both fathers and mothers, must constantly teach their children. Good parents teach their children to be helpful and respectful. They teach their kids to work and study and learn and be healthy.  Good parents teach their children to make wise choices.

But there comes a time when children grow up and they go away.  Maybe they go away to take care of the cattle in another place.  Maybe they go away to go to school.  Maybe they go away to work in another place. Maybe they go away when they get married. When our children are not with us, it is up to them to make good choices and wise decisions.  We cannot make the decision for them.

When my children were going away from me for the first time, I found that I prayed for them even more than when they were with me.  Why did I pray so much? Because I wanted them to apply well the lessons I had taught them when they were with me.

The apostle Paul wrote to the people in the church in Colossae.  He did not plant that church, Epaphras did.  But when Paul wrote a letter to the Colossians, Epaphras was with him.  Epaphras was not in Colossae with his disciples.  Here is what Paul said In Colossians 4:12,13 to the believers there about their church planter Epahras:

“Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Epaphras was like a parent who had children who were not with him.  And so, like a parent whose children are far away, Epaphras prayed.  And his prayers were not just simple words like, “God please bless my spiritual children in Colossae. Amen”

 No!  Epaphras wrestled in prayer for his disciples.  To wrestle is to struggle with all your might in order to get the victory.  When Epaphras prayed, he struggled and wrestled and persevered in prayer.  What did he want from God? Epaphras was praying that his disciples would live according to God’s will.  He wanted them to obey Christ and do what is right. He wanted them to make wise decisions every day, every week, every year. He wanted them to be mature in their faith and in their obedience to Christ.  He longed for them to live a holy life, filled with the Holy Spirit without doubting and without turning back.  When Epaphras was in Colossae spreading the Gospel and planting the church surely he, as a good spiritual parent, had taught his disciples to love and honor God, to love their neighbor, and to walk in righteousness. But that was not enough.  Now he wrestled in prayer for them so that they would do the will of God no matter what.

It is not easy to be a parent.  When you chose to become a village church planter, you chose to have spiritual children.  It’s not easy.  Praise the Lord, he longs for your spiritual children to be strong and to live holy lives even more than you do.  When you pray for their maturity, you are praying according to the will of God. So pray for them with faith.  God is with you and he will hear your prayers.

This is Multiply.

If you have found this message to be helpful, please forward it to fellow church planters and disciple-makers who may need encouragement.  Feel free to share it on What’s App, Facebook, and other platforms you use to connect with others.

Be encouraged, God is with us!  EC-25

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters #Colossians #WrestleInPrayer

www.vcpencouragement.org

The Character of a Leader: Not Afraid of Criticism

 

This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters.

In my previous message, I shared one of VCP Supervisor Peter Baraka’s leadership values regarding being a willing listener.  Good leaders listen well to in order to understand others’ thoughts and opinions.  I closed that message by saying, “Good leaders listen well to understand others’ perspectives.  Having done so, they move forward to make decisions and provide direction… [as they do so], godly leaders are not afraid of criticism.”  This is another of Peter’s leadership values.  

I recall that over 40 years ago, a young pastor friend passed along to me some excellent advice that he received as he was beginning ministry.  He told me, “Whenever I receive any praise or any criticism, I hold on to it briefly in order to determine its validity and any appropriate response that I need to take.  Having done that, I give both praise and criticism to the Lord.  In this way, if it is praise, this keeps me from becoming prideful.  If it is criticism, this keeps me from becoming depressed and defensive.”  

That is excellent advice, and I offer it to you, my friends.  

The Apostle Paul had some helpful words on this subject.  What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.  (Romans 8:31-34)

As Christ followers, we can be assured of our security in Him and our acceptance in Him (Eph 1:6). Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 3:5 reminds us “that we are not competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.”

Because it is God who justifies us; because we are secure in Christ; and because our competence and abilities come from him, then – I would suggest – that our proper response is to seek to obey, serve and please an Audience of One.  In other words, we can live and work with the mindset, the motivation that we are seeking to please God and not men.  

With this attitude, we need to honestly and prayerfully evaluate criticism to determine if we need to make corrections.  Then, having done so, we release that criticism to Lord and move forward.  

 This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

Church Planters Develop Faith And Love In Others

 

Hello my brother, hello my sister, my name is Dean Davis and this is Multiply, a podcast that provides a word of encouragement for village church planters.

The life of a farmer is hard, but the life of a farmer is good. He or she cooperates with God who provides the soil and brings the rain for the crops to grow. But is not easy to prepare the ground for planting, or to sow the seeds and protect them from birds and cattle and goats that want to eat the growing crop. It is not easy to hoe a field to control weeds as the crop grows. Even the harvest is hard, backbreaking work. Farming is hard, but it is good. Through the hard work of farming a farmer produces food for himself and his family.

After the struggle of planting, cultivating and harvest, grain can be sold to pay for clothes and school fees for the family. Farming is a good occupation. The life of a church planter is hard, but the life of a church planter is good. It is not easy to go to a new village and find persons of peace. Not everyone receives you well. Some days you look, but do not find anyone with a heart hungry for the Gospel. Even when you do find a person of peace, it is not easy to help his or her family understand and believe the Good News. Some people like church planters and they like the Gospel, but they are afraid to repent and live a new life. One of the hardest parts of being a church planter is that it is so hard to measure growth.

Farmers can watch their crop grow taller. They can see when the seed head forms. They can see the grain grow in the seed head and the plants change color as harvest draws near. But what does a church planter look for to know that his crop, the believers in his newly planted church, are growing and maturing?

Paul, the model church planter knew what to look for. In Colossians 1:4-6, he said, “…because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.” 

Paul knew that after he and his disciples sowed the Good Seed of the Gospel, he would see evidence that the seed had sprouted and was growing. He would observe faith and love in the lives of those who received the Gospel message. When the Gospel grows it produces faith and love.

You are a church planter. You are like a farmer, but the seeds you plant are spiritual seeds. The seed you plant is the Good News of Jesus. After you sow the good seed, you cooperate with God who develops faith and love in the lives of your church members. How do you cooperate with God to produce faith and love? You tell about the goodness of God again and again, assuring your listeners that He is worthy of their trust. You tell of the love of God that sent

Jesus into our world to heal and deliver and forgive. And you call people to follow the example of their savior by loving their neighbors and bringing hope and salvation to their families. A farmer can measure the development of his crop by watching it grow and change color. A church planter can measure the growth of his church by observing how people trust in the goodness of God and by how they love their neighbors.

This is Multiply, offering a word of encouragement for village church planters. If this message has encouraged you, won’t you share it with fellow church planters and disciple makers?

Be encouraged, God is with us!

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters #Colossians #FaithAndLove

www.vcpoencouragement.org

Prayer for Those In Service To God’s Work

 

Hello! This is Multiply a podcast for the encouragement of village church planters and all who are serving God in His Kingdom. We are Brad & Daneille Snowden.  Today we will focus on the ...

Prayer for Those In Service To God’s Work

 Colossians 1:9-12   “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”

Why would the Apostle Paul write this?  Apostle Paul is encouraging the church planter, and followers of Jesus, that prayer is the key ingredient to living out our lives pleasing to the Lord.

If you want to cook something, you must first get together all the ingredients and then put them all together to insure the food tastes as it should. The same goes with our growth as a disciple of Jesus.

As we pray we are asking specifically that:

1- You be filled with the knowledge of His will.

2- That you shall be equipped with spiritual wisdom, which is insight into His purposes.

3- We pray that you shall have understanding of spiritual things. For a deep discernment in all you do, experience, and see. Discerning means: the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.

4- We pray that you be strengthened and invigorated with all power from God Himself.

The objective of this prayer is:

That you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

So that a follower of God displays admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity.

 With a heart to fully please Him in all things.

 And that we all bear fruit in every good work.

 Plus, consistently growing in the knowledge of God.

 As all who walk this journey of service to God these objectives help us to attain every kind of endurance and patience with joy.

As we pray for one another, we always give our Lord and King all the thanks and glory! With hearts full of praise for His Love and glorious works He has done and will continue to do.

This has been Multiply. Please share this podcast and visit us also on Podbean and remember to click follow.

God bless.