Prayers & Scriptures

 

    Hello! This is Multiply, a podcast to encourage pastors, Christian leaders and church planters. I am your host today, Daneille Snowden.

God’s Word is LIFE! God’s Word is powerful, and His Word is sharper than any two-edged sword!  We all share His truths from His Word when we witness, teach and preach; and we see lives changed (including our own)!

Applying scriptures to our prayers shall indeed MOVE MOUNTAINS! By asking the Holy Spirit to lead us to a promise to pray for ourselves, others and even the nations will fuel our prayers as it unites us with God Himself! Remember in John 1:1–3: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” 

There are so many themes, promises, and examples we can pray as we go to the Lord in prayer daily for our personal prayer times as well as with corporate prayer. During Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot and Chanukkah the Jews would climb the temple mount and for each step they would pray from Psalms 113-118.

I just heard one of my favorite pastors say that he prays the Beatitudes every day (Matthew 5:3-12). Personally, for many years I have prayed these scriptures as if I am being filled, renewed, and even clothed in the Spirit by the Word.

*Fill me with You Love God! (1 Corinthians 13) to Love Others (John 15:12-13).

*Help me to think on these things! (Philippians 4:8).

*I put-on the Armor of God daily! (Ephesians 6:11-13).

*Help me to walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-18).

*Cause me to never conform to this world! (Romans 12:1-2).

*Sharpen my spirit and mind to be discerning! (Romans 12:2).

*Forgive Me Jesus and others, even help me to forgive! (1 John 1:9, Ephesians 4:32, 2 Chronicles 7:14).

*Give me YOUR Heart God! (Psalms 69:32).

*To help me do even more for You – Give me YOUR creativity! (1 Corinthians 2:9).

This has been Multiply; please share this with your fellow leaders, your church and colleagues. Our website is vcpencouragement.org, you can find us on YouTube and Facebook too. Thank you and God bless!

The Trademarks of God's Leaders - Nehemiah a Masterful Motivator

 

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

Today we continue our series on the leadership qualities of Nehemiah, the Old Testament leader who led the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.  

In chapters 3 and 4 we read the details of the wall repair or reconstruction.  At times the reading becomes a bit boring and repetitious with all the names and locations; however, I realize in this account what a masterful motivator Nehemiah was.  

Chapter 3, verse 1 begins by telling us that “Eliashib the high priest and his priestly kinsmen took up the task of rebuilding the Sheep Gate.” As a master motivator, Nehemiah knew who the most influential leaders in Jerusalem were.  It was the high priest and those serving with him.  And Nehemiah tapped them to set the example for the people. 

• Here is a lesson for us.  Leaders find the influencers in their organization and engage their support and involvement early on.  By taking this approach, others are much more likely to join the cause and become engaged.   

As we continue in chapter 3, we read about those who joined the work.  It was “goldsmiths” and “perfume makers” in verse 8.  In verse 12, it was “Shallum … and his daughters.” Levites and others did their part.  

Throughout the chapter section assignments were made and carried out.  There was clarity in all the assignments. 

• This is a second lesson.  Leaders set clear assignments and expectations.  Followers are better motivated when they clearly know what is expected of them.  

Related to this, I see another lesson in verse 28.  “The priests made repairs, each in front of his own house.”  We see other similar assignments. 

• This, I see, is a third lesson.  Motivational leaders know how to appeal to the self-interests of participants in a way that achieves a win-win.  In this instance, the priests in verse 28 rebuilt the walls, providing protection for them and their families.  Nehemiah’s “win” is that another section of the wall project was completed. In a “win-win” scenario all parties benefit.    

Throughout this podcast, I have referred to Nehemiah as a “Masterful Motivator.”  This is evidenced in chapter 4, verse 6.  “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.” [emphasis added] 

• Leaders inspire their followers to a common goal and motivate people to do things they wouldn’t normally choose to do on their own.  

We will continue next time our study of Nehemiah, the Master Motivator.  

Be like Nehemiah; encourage and motivate those whom you lead.  

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

Do Not Create Dependency

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

When you start planting a church, it seems like nothing happens unless you do it yourself.  You expected to be the teacher and the intercessor, the evangelist and worship leader.  But you were not expecting all of the small organizational details you would have to take care of. Church planting is not easy!

But after a while, you began to have church members who would help you. Then you were able to delegate simple responsibilities to others.  What a relief!  After all, you always wanted to be like the Apostles in the Jerusalem church who could devote themselves to “the ministry of the Word of God” (Acts 6:2). 

But when it comes to delegating spiritual responsibilities to church members, that is more difficult. You are the leader and they are young in the faith. What if they make a mistake?  What if they teach false doctrine? What if they provoke a division in the church over some spiritual matter? So you are reluctant to delegate spiritual responsibilities to church members.

You may wonder how I know church planters’ reluctance to delegate spiritual responsibilities to others. I know because I have been reluctant; I know because if have seen on three continents the reluctance of other church planters to empower church members for spiritual ministry.

But not the Apostle Paul. In 1 Thessalonians 5, he gives a set of instructions to conclude his letter to the new church in Thessalonica.  1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 is a beautiful example of spiritual empowerment.  Paul said, “Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.”  Paul did not view himself as the final arbiter of every spiritual question. He did not expect every problem to be brought to him as church planter.  He said to his flock in Thessalonica, “You test prophecies. Together determine which ones are good. Then hold onto that which is good. And be sure to avoid every kind of evil.”

The apostle Paul did not create spiritual dependency in the churches he planted and neither should we. Rather we should empower the congregation to exercise wisdom and discernment. He did not expect his disciples to always be weak and unskilled.  He expected that they could and should distinguish good from evil when it comes to prophetic words and ideas.

What do you expect from your people? Can you delegate spiritual responsibility to them? Do you? Let me encourage you to examine the way you lead your people. If you believe in them and believe that God by his Spirit will guide them, then you will entrust them with ever greater spiritual responsibility. It’s not easy, but it is the way of wisdom that Paul demonstrated in his church planting ministry.

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #EmpowerOthers

The Trademark of God's Leaders - Nehemiah - A Planful Leader

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

planters and leaders.

Today we continue our series on the leadership qualities of Nehemiah, the Old Testament leader who

organized the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. In this episode we focus first upon chapter 2, verses 7 and 8.

“I also said to him, “if it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe conduct until I arrive in Judah? AND [emphasis added] may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.”

I am very much impressed with how planful Nehemiah was. Notice how he had thought through his

series of requests to King Artaxerxes.

o He asks for time off from his responsibilities as the king’s cup bearer

o He asks to go to Jerusalem

o He asks for letters of safe passage. The distance from Susa to Jerusalem was 1365

kilometers; this was not a short trek.

o He asks for the provision of timber for building the temple, the city walls, and his home.

After four months of prayer, Nehemiah knew the details of what was needed, and he had a plan. I

would suggest that we as leaders need a similar approach. Jesus illustrated this is the parable about

counting the cost. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate

the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able

to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ (Luke 14:28-30)

In our next episode we will discuss how Nehemiah was also a visionary. I find his combination of being

both visionary and planful to be somewhat unique. We will discuss this further in our next podcast.

I also observe one additional important leadership behavior in verses 11 to 16. Upon his arrival in

Jerusalem, Nehemiah carefully assessed the situation. He inspected the condition of the walls. Once

more he sets a helpful example for us; he does not rush into the situation trying to fix it. Rather, he took

the time to gather the necessary information before taking action.

May we be like Nehemiah, leaders who hear from the Lord and develop a plan.

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

The Trademark of God's Leaders - Nehemiah An Inspiring Visionary Leader

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

Today we continue our series on the leadership qualities of Nehemiah, the Old Testament leader who led the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.  

We continue the story in chapter 2 as we observe two more leadership characteristics. These are qualities that we want to imitate.    

We read this in verses 17 and 18. “Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.

* Nehemiah was a visionary leader.  He and those with him saw the reality of the wall in ruins.  Yet, unlike others, Nehemiah saw the potential, the possibility of a rebuilt wall.  Visionary leaders are able to see “into the future”, to envision what others cannot see AND to communicate the possibilities in a convincing way.  This leads us to a second leadership quality.

* Nehemiah was an inspiring leader. The wall had been in ruins since King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem 152 years before, when he knocked down the walls and burned the city’s gates. Nehemiah, appealed to the Jews’ sense of cultural identity and pride.  “Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace."  Nehemiah knew the right – the most effective – motivational appeal to those living in Jerusalem.  He was successful in this appeal; our text simply says, “So they began this good work.”  

I mentioned in our prior podcast that I believe that Nehemiah has the rather unique combination of visionary gifting as well as a strong ability to plan and organize.  I do not see this very often. More frequently the Lord uses a team of leaders with skills and giftings that complement one another.  

Personally, I am stronger in planning and weaker with visionary things.  (That said, I am more likely to recognize a visionary opportunity as being from the Lord because those ideas do not come “naturally” to me.)

In the context of our VCP ministry, vision and planning occur more often in this team context.  You see, Director Claude Douti and VCP Architect Dean Davis have visionary giftings, and we complement one another and work together to refine and implement vision.  

Nehemiah was an inspiring visionary leader. May we seek the Lord for this gifting. And may we work in teams with those who have complementary skills and giftings in order that God’s work and His Kingdom may be advanced.      

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

More and More

 Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

One of the hardest challenges for church planters is to make the transition from evangelist to disciple maker. When we start new churches, our focus is on finding persons of peace, sharing the Good News and helping new believers get started in obedience to Christ.  These are the activities of fields 1 and 2 in the Four Fields Model. And the need to evangelize never ends.  The need to explain Good News of Jesus to new people is a constant need in any church.

But sometimes church planters get stuck in the role of evangelist and do not take on very well the role of disciple developer. Their churches grow in numbers, but after a while, as many people are leaving the church as enter the church.  Church planters must be both evangelists and disciple developers. We must preach the Good News and call people to repentance and faith in Christ. And we must also constantly be helping new believers go on to maturity in Christ.

But sometimes church member can get discouraged and resistant if we push them too hard toward a holy life.  So Paul’s example expressed in his words to the Thessalonians is a great pattern for us to follow.  He said in 1Thessalonians 4:1, “We instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.”  What a great combination of affirmation and challenge!  This is the sign of a good leader. Good leaders know how to strike the right balance between affirmation and challenge.  Paul affirmed the Thessalonians progress in pleasing God. Then he challenged them to please Him more and more.

He uses this pattern of affirmation and challenge again in verses 9 and 10: “Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.  And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more.” Affirmation and challenge.

Why this insistence on growing in a life that pleases God? Because Paul understood that his job as a church planter was not simply to bring people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, but to help them become fully mature in Him.  He told the Colossians1:28, “[Christ] is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.”

My church planting friend, keep up the good work you have begun. Keep on evangelizing; keep on inviting men and women, boys and girls to follow Christ. And don’t forget to help them go on to maturity.  You are on a good path. Don’t quit!

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

#EncouragementForVillageChurchPlanters #GoOnToMaturity