Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Numbers, Chapters 26-27 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Numbers 26: 63-65: … [God’s Promises and the People] … 63 These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. 64 Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. 65 For the LORD had told those Israelites they would surely die in the wilderness, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
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Numbers 27: 15-23 : … [Leadership Selected by God] … To study this passage, go to this link -
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My Journal for Today: Day 65 in my chronological read through the Bible this year; and today we see that God cares about the documentation – in His word – of His purpose, His promises, and His plan for God’s people as He leads them, using Moses and the lineage of God’s directed leadership , into the promised land. It may be boring reading; but it’s awesome in considering how patient, long-suffering, and merciful God is to carry out His designs for the future of His people in the lives of those who are obedient and have faith in His promises.
And if you’re reading along with me today, I want you to use the link I’ve provided above to go to Numbers 27: 15-23 and note how Moses went to God to selected a successor to lead the people into the promised land, knowing that he, Moses, would not be able to do so. And also note how God specifically picked a groomed and capable leader, Joshua, to be that anointed successor, … a man who had passed the test of action over many years, following God’s and Moses’ leadership. And so Joshua became the commissioned and God-anointed leader to take the people into the land which God had promised to Abraham in His covenant generations before. And it is beautiful for to me to read this morning how God picks and uses people, … people of faith and with gifts He has imparted, to carry out His plans and His promises.
Some years ago, I saw this happen in the church where I had been selected – and surprisingly so – to be an Elder for our congregation. And after my anointing and apprenticeship as an Elder, as well as after a few years of service, I wondered why I had been selected to Eldership for our flock. I just didn’t seem to have a place and didn’t seem to have the skills and gifts which matched where our church was going. But then, out of the blue, our church was confronted with a deeply disturbing and potentially divisive scenario which involved the Elders having to investigate our Pastor at the time for an alleged action of a sexual impropriety. Well, there was only one Elder on our board at this time who had had any personal experience with sexual sin; and that was yours truly. And because I had gone through many years of that sin pattern prior to becoming a Christian; and I had been delivered by God’s prevenient and sanctifying grace from that habitual sin – even to the point of becoming an anointed Elder – I was the perfect person to help lead our Eldership and our church through this fire storm and into the future God had awaiting His Church and our local body of believers.
It’s a long, complex story, which I’ll not go through here; but like the scenario which Moses was faced with in today’s highlight passage in Numbers 27, God had prepared exactly the right person, having shaped His man for the job through many years of God’s personally engineered preparation. I’ve experienced just how intimately and personally God’s preparation is when He needs His person to be His leader in His time and in His place … for His purposes. And if you’ve read through and into the future of God’s leadership, using Joshua, taking His people into His promised land, we know that God had groomed just the right man for His purposes and His plans for His people. And that will always be the case in our world as God readies us for His will for our future.
God has a plan for me, … and for you, my dear one; … and we need to surrender to His purposes for our lives to be used in His timing and for His glory.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, continue to use me in Your way and in Your time for Your glory all the remaining years of my life. Amen
Showing posts with label church leadership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church leadership. Show all posts
Monday, March 05, 2012
Thursday, March 18, 2010
2010 – Mar. 18 – Reluctant Role Reversals
Study from God’s Word…Judges, Chapters 4 and 5 … Passage for Reflection: Judges 4: 9 … NIV 9 "Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman."
My Journal for Today: HOT BUTTON!!! Today, as I reflected on the stories, in Chapters 4 and 5 of Judges, what came to mind – and what I’m about to post here as a hot-button issue in my life – may not sit well with some of my more, independent, “liberated” female followers [if there are any out there? ;) ]. But today’s lesson is a good one we need to read in these days where the outcomes of “woman’s liberation” are so apparent in our world.
Deborah was a unique – and most interesting – personage in the history of Israel. There is no doubt, as Dr. Smith points out in his devotional today, that Deborah was a very capable, strong, and decisive leader. But one has to take into account the cultural milieu of her time, which was decidedly male dominated when it comes to political and/or military leadership. And yet, in Deborah’s time, the people, including the men, came to Deborah as their “Judge;” and she decided their directions. And this included the political/military leaders of the day. All you have to do is read Judges 5: 7-8, from the song of Deborah and Barak, to see that male leadership had failed in those days of pagan influences in Israel.
God’s order, whether you like it or not, is to have males at the forefront of leadership, taking their assertive roles as leaders of families, communities, cultures, countries, and yes, … churches. In Deborah’s day, reading Judges, Chapters 4 & 5, we see that God’s order had broken down; and a void in the ability to lead the political structure, as well as the military, had been created; and without any capable or willing male leaders on the scene, God led Deborah into the breech to lead the Israelites; and she did, along with another key woman, Jael, who was needed to help the armies kill a fleeing Cannanite King, Sisera.
As we see in these passages, the question is not whether a woman can lead effectively. Deborah is ample proof that women can lead when they’re called upon – by default or desire – to do so. The question becomes, in light of Godly design, whether women SHOULD be put in roles where there are no men to lead. The wavering passivity of leadership began in the Garden of Eden when Adam balked, stood back, and let Eve take the lead. That led to the curse of God upon women, which you can read in Genesis 3: 16, which, in turn, led to women desiring to take the leadership God had intended for man and for man to overcompensate by trying to “rule” women.
The design for man and for woman is modeled in the marital relationship; and there, as you can read from God’s word in Ephesians 5: 22-33 - [linked], God would have the man take the lead in the marriage, honoring and loving his wife the way that Christ loves His Bride, the church. And the order would have a wife (i.e., woman) respecting and yielding to a capable and loving husband, who would lead as God has intended men to lead families – and by extension whole cultures.
But this was not certainly the case in Deborah’s time; and because if it, God’s people once again, in spite of a generation of numbing military peace, were led toward disobedience and disastrous consequences in their history. You may not like my position being state here; but God does not intend for a family, a church, a community, or, I believe, a country to be led by a woman. And when that happens, I see it is because a void of God intended, male-led, leadership which has been cast on the scene. When men become passive and surrender to female leadership, God cannot impart His enabling and empowering grace in the same way He could or would if men were taking their rightful roles of assertive leadership, … following God and pursuing His grace the way they should.
We see this today with default, dead-beat dads taking a hike in our world; and the results become fatherless kids and a social plague of gangs, drugs, and destruction in our world. We see this with husbands not honoring and loving their wives the way they should and not taking the spiritual leadership in their homes; and the results are broken marriages, broken families, and broken communities. We see this with churches, which are being led by women. And God cannot, and will not, honor a church with His Spiritual power when it’s led by a woman, especially with men cowering and not taking their designated and God-led roles as leaders.
Where are the men in our world? Where are the leaders? Where is God when the men are not there to take their place in leadership? You look at our world and answer these questions.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be the man I need to be in my family, in my church; and in my world. Amen
My Journal for Today: HOT BUTTON!!! Today, as I reflected on the stories, in Chapters 4 and 5 of Judges, what came to mind – and what I’m about to post here as a hot-button issue in my life – may not sit well with some of my more, independent, “liberated” female followers [if there are any out there? ;) ]. But today’s lesson is a good one we need to read in these days where the outcomes of “woman’s liberation” are so apparent in our world.
Deborah was a unique – and most interesting – personage in the history of Israel. There is no doubt, as Dr. Smith points out in his devotional today, that Deborah was a very capable, strong, and decisive leader. But one has to take into account the cultural milieu of her time, which was decidedly male dominated when it comes to political and/or military leadership. And yet, in Deborah’s time, the people, including the men, came to Deborah as their “Judge;” and she decided their directions. And this included the political/military leaders of the day. All you have to do is read Judges 5: 7-8, from the song of Deborah and Barak, to see that male leadership had failed in those days of pagan influences in Israel.
God’s order, whether you like it or not, is to have males at the forefront of leadership, taking their assertive roles as leaders of families, communities, cultures, countries, and yes, … churches. In Deborah’s day, reading Judges, Chapters 4 & 5, we see that God’s order had broken down; and a void in the ability to lead the political structure, as well as the military, had been created; and without any capable or willing male leaders on the scene, God led Deborah into the breech to lead the Israelites; and she did, along with another key woman, Jael, who was needed to help the armies kill a fleeing Cannanite King, Sisera.
As we see in these passages, the question is not whether a woman can lead effectively. Deborah is ample proof that women can lead when they’re called upon – by default or desire – to do so. The question becomes, in light of Godly design, whether women SHOULD be put in roles where there are no men to lead. The wavering passivity of leadership began in the Garden of Eden when Adam balked, stood back, and let Eve take the lead. That led to the curse of God upon women, which you can read in Genesis 3: 16, which, in turn, led to women desiring to take the leadership God had intended for man and for man to overcompensate by trying to “rule” women.
The design for man and for woman is modeled in the marital relationship; and there, as you can read from God’s word in Ephesians 5: 22-33 - [linked], God would have the man take the lead in the marriage, honoring and loving his wife the way that Christ loves His Bride, the church. And the order would have a wife (i.e., woman) respecting and yielding to a capable and loving husband, who would lead as God has intended men to lead families – and by extension whole cultures.
But this was not certainly the case in Deborah’s time; and because if it, God’s people once again, in spite of a generation of numbing military peace, were led toward disobedience and disastrous consequences in their history. You may not like my position being state here; but God does not intend for a family, a church, a community, or, I believe, a country to be led by a woman. And when that happens, I see it is because a void of God intended, male-led, leadership which has been cast on the scene. When men become passive and surrender to female leadership, God cannot impart His enabling and empowering grace in the same way He could or would if men were taking their rightful roles of assertive leadership, … following God and pursuing His grace the way they should.
We see this today with default, dead-beat dads taking a hike in our world; and the results become fatherless kids and a social plague of gangs, drugs, and destruction in our world. We see this with husbands not honoring and loving their wives the way they should and not taking the spiritual leadership in their homes; and the results are broken marriages, broken families, and broken communities. We see this with churches, which are being led by women. And God cannot, and will not, honor a church with His Spiritual power when it’s led by a woman, especially with men cowering and not taking their designated and God-led roles as leaders.
Where are the men in our world? Where are the leaders? Where is God when the men are not there to take their place in leadership? You look at our world and answer these questions.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be the man I need to be in my family, in my church; and in my world. Amen
Thursday, December 24, 2009
2009 – Day 357.Dec 24 – Disintegrating Families
Passage for Study: 1st Samuel 3: 1 – 18 … 1st Samuel 3 linked for study and context …
My Journal for Today: The lessons we parents can learn from Priest Eli’s failure as a daddy should be quite obvious; but they may not be to a parent who, like Eli, was locked into a long standing pattern of inactivity, passivity, and denial when it came to his kids. He could not – or would not – see that he was not there for his boys while they were growing up in the home of a prominent religious figure of that day.
I can just imagine how difficult it must’ve been for Billy Graham to raise his kids; and we now know that Billy and Ruth Graham had five children, all of whom became dedicated Christians, involved in Christian ministry in some way, … two of them Anne and Franklin becoming very prominent in international Christian ministries. But Franklin was an example of a prodigal child, who questioned why his dad was not around all that much when he was growing up; and he rebelled, going through a period of questioning, and even being expelled from his Christian college, not coming to Christ until he was 22. But as it is said in Prov. 22: 6, he was raised by loving parents who set clear boundaries and provided their boy with time and affirmation. He was also mentored by Christian leaders in Graham’s ministry, two men who helped give the rebelling Franklin clear guidance. And now, we know that Franklin Graham, returned to the faith as promised in that Proverb, having founded and leading Samaritan’s Purse and becoming very active in preaching in the Bill Graham crusades, now taking the reigns of that ministry now that Billy is aging.
As Chuck Swindoll points out today, by using the case of Eli and his sons, even if you’re dedicated and prominent as a religious or business leader or public figure, you cannot abandon the role which God considers every parent’s primary mission field, and that is the family, with the priesthood being the co-roles of parenting. Every man should be the Priest of his home; and his wife becomes the minister’s help-mate in the role of parenting. And so, when priority decisions come as we parents must decide between time spent in parenting and the home as opposed to the church, business, or the public life, the priority decision for time investment should always come back home first.
Such was obviously not the case with Eli; and we read of the result of his parenting decisions. His two boys grew up as deviants and drags upon Eli’s ministry and society; and the Priest may have been a Priest to God’s people; but he certainly was not THE priest in his home and for his boys. Oh, how I hope that all who read this have been the parents we should have been for our kids. For me, it came close to being a disaster. For the formative years our girls were being raised, I was an athieist and an AWOL parent, deeply into a Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde double life. But praise God, He brought me to brokenness just in time; and coming to know Christ when our girls were pre-teens, both my wife and I became break-through Christian parents in time for God’s Spirit to get a hold of our daughters and to help us become the parents they needed when they were going through those tough teen years. Now our girls are dynamic Christian mothers, who have had their own children and are doing their best to raise them in Christian homes, where their dads are Christian fathers. I can only praise God for His intervention and redirection in our family life so that our girls could be raised by spiritually growing Christian parents, who learned, from God’s word and from the example of the church, what parenting should be like in God’s scheme of living.
I can only pray for all of us that we take the role and ministry of Christian parenting very seriously; and for those who have been blessed with the stewardship of having children to raise for God’s glory, may we acknowledge the blessing and do all we can to prioritize that mission field as being the pre-eminent ministry of our lives.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, our daughters are Yours. Our grandchildren are Yours. Help us to parent and grandparent them as Yours, … for Your glory. Amen
My Journal for Today: The lessons we parents can learn from Priest Eli’s failure as a daddy should be quite obvious; but they may not be to a parent who, like Eli, was locked into a long standing pattern of inactivity, passivity, and denial when it came to his kids. He could not – or would not – see that he was not there for his boys while they were growing up in the home of a prominent religious figure of that day.
I can just imagine how difficult it must’ve been for Billy Graham to raise his kids; and we now know that Billy and Ruth Graham had five children, all of whom became dedicated Christians, involved in Christian ministry in some way, … two of them Anne and Franklin becoming very prominent in international Christian ministries. But Franklin was an example of a prodigal child, who questioned why his dad was not around all that much when he was growing up; and he rebelled, going through a period of questioning, and even being expelled from his Christian college, not coming to Christ until he was 22. But as it is said in Prov. 22: 6, he was raised by loving parents who set clear boundaries and provided their boy with time and affirmation. He was also mentored by Christian leaders in Graham’s ministry, two men who helped give the rebelling Franklin clear guidance. And now, we know that Franklin Graham, returned to the faith as promised in that Proverb, having founded and leading Samaritan’s Purse and becoming very active in preaching in the Bill Graham crusades, now taking the reigns of that ministry now that Billy is aging.
As Chuck Swindoll points out today, by using the case of Eli and his sons, even if you’re dedicated and prominent as a religious or business leader or public figure, you cannot abandon the role which God considers every parent’s primary mission field, and that is the family, with the priesthood being the co-roles of parenting. Every man should be the Priest of his home; and his wife becomes the minister’s help-mate in the role of parenting. And so, when priority decisions come as we parents must decide between time spent in parenting and the home as opposed to the church, business, or the public life, the priority decision for time investment should always come back home first.
Such was obviously not the case with Eli; and we read of the result of his parenting decisions. His two boys grew up as deviants and drags upon Eli’s ministry and society; and the Priest may have been a Priest to God’s people; but he certainly was not THE priest in his home and for his boys. Oh, how I hope that all who read this have been the parents we should have been for our kids. For me, it came close to being a disaster. For the formative years our girls were being raised, I was an athieist and an AWOL parent, deeply into a Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde double life. But praise God, He brought me to brokenness just in time; and coming to know Christ when our girls were pre-teens, both my wife and I became break-through Christian parents in time for God’s Spirit to get a hold of our daughters and to help us become the parents they needed when they were going through those tough teen years. Now our girls are dynamic Christian mothers, who have had their own children and are doing their best to raise them in Christian homes, where their dads are Christian fathers. I can only praise God for His intervention and redirection in our family life so that our girls could be raised by spiritually growing Christian parents, who learned, from God’s word and from the example of the church, what parenting should be like in God’s scheme of living.
I can only pray for all of us that we take the role and ministry of Christian parenting very seriously; and for those who have been blessed with the stewardship of having children to raise for God’s glory, may we acknowledge the blessing and do all we can to prioritize that mission field as being the pre-eminent ministry of our lives.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, our daughters are Yours. Our grandchildren are Yours. Help us to parent and grandparent them as Yours, … for Your glory. Amen
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
2009 – Day 307.Nov 04 – People Pleasing
Passage for Study: Acts 12: 25 – 13: 3 … 25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark.
Acts 13 1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
My Journal for Today: My devotional Pastor, Chuck Swindoll, takes a bit of a “rabbit-trail” today, using the same passage for yesterday to illustrate a point which Pastors, church leaders, and all Christians who are serious disciples of Christ should avoid; and that is the pitfall of people-pleasing.
Certainly what transpired in the context of today’s passage is an example of seeking, hearing, and following God rather than taking the route which the people, i.e., the church, would likely desire. Swindoll testifies that over the years, in his ministry and service to God as a Pastor, he discovered that it was his responsibility to follow God’s leading and to deliver to his flock what they NEED and not what they necessarily WANT. That is the anti people-pleasing principle we see illustrated in today’s passage.
Leadership in a church is different from corporate leadership in the world, where, in the latter, there is often a bottom-line of profit to pursue. In that milieu people-pleasing can become morbidly epidemic, as CEOs do all they can to please the Board of Directors and the corporate investors. And in doing so, the pursuit becomes quite clear and simplistic; and that is to make a profit, often at all cost. But in the Church, leaders are out to do God’s will; and often His leading is not clear, nor is it easy to come to a consensus on the route God would have the church follow. Take if from a church Elder of almost 13 years, pursuing and following God’s will can often be a very challenging proposition; and when church leaders or Pastors feel they have discerned God’s route to follow, it often – no, it almost always – produces controversy; because someone, and often groups of people, are not going to see it the way the leaders interpret God’s leading. But as is often taught in church leadership training, it is the responsibility of Godly church leaders to lead the church by following Christ.
And since we’re studying the Apostle Paul now in this devotional series, as I read this Swindoll’s exposition today, one stark leadership statement Paul made to the church in Corinth comes to mind. We read Paul exhorting the church leaders there, in 1st Cor. 11: 1, as he said (in the NIV), ”Follow my example, just as I follow the example of Christ.” And we certainly know from studying the book of Acts, that Paul often created a stir of controversy almost everywhere he went, following Christ, and taking the Gospel message to the people. Paul was a God-pleaser, not a people-pleaser; and that’s what churches need to emulate as do all of us who follow Christ.
And Swindoll closes this brief commentary on church leadership with this directive, which strikes to the core of the issue. He writes, ”May God deliver every honest pastor, every truth-seeking church leader, and every Christian from the bondage of people-pleasing.”
My Prayer for Today: And that today, dear Lord, is my prayer for myself, for all who are in leadership in their church, and most especially for our Pastors. Amen
Acts 13 1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
My Journal for Today: My devotional Pastor, Chuck Swindoll, takes a bit of a “rabbit-trail” today, using the same passage for yesterday to illustrate a point which Pastors, church leaders, and all Christians who are serious disciples of Christ should avoid; and that is the pitfall of people-pleasing.
Certainly what transpired in the context of today’s passage is an example of seeking, hearing, and following God rather than taking the route which the people, i.e., the church, would likely desire. Swindoll testifies that over the years, in his ministry and service to God as a Pastor, he discovered that it was his responsibility to follow God’s leading and to deliver to his flock what they NEED and not what they necessarily WANT. That is the anti people-pleasing principle we see illustrated in today’s passage.
Leadership in a church is different from corporate leadership in the world, where, in the latter, there is often a bottom-line of profit to pursue. In that milieu people-pleasing can become morbidly epidemic, as CEOs do all they can to please the Board of Directors and the corporate investors. And in doing so, the pursuit becomes quite clear and simplistic; and that is to make a profit, often at all cost. But in the Church, leaders are out to do God’s will; and often His leading is not clear, nor is it easy to come to a consensus on the route God would have the church follow. Take if from a church Elder of almost 13 years, pursuing and following God’s will can often be a very challenging proposition; and when church leaders or Pastors feel they have discerned God’s route to follow, it often – no, it almost always – produces controversy; because someone, and often groups of people, are not going to see it the way the leaders interpret God’s leading. But as is often taught in church leadership training, it is the responsibility of Godly church leaders to lead the church by following Christ.
And since we’re studying the Apostle Paul now in this devotional series, as I read this Swindoll’s exposition today, one stark leadership statement Paul made to the church in Corinth comes to mind. We read Paul exhorting the church leaders there, in 1st Cor. 11: 1, as he said (in the NIV), ”Follow my example, just as I follow the example of Christ.” And we certainly know from studying the book of Acts, that Paul often created a stir of controversy almost everywhere he went, following Christ, and taking the Gospel message to the people. Paul was a God-pleaser, not a people-pleaser; and that’s what churches need to emulate as do all of us who follow Christ.
And Swindoll closes this brief commentary on church leadership with this directive, which strikes to the core of the issue. He writes, ”May God deliver every honest pastor, every truth-seeking church leader, and every Christian from the bondage of people-pleasing.”
My Prayer for Today: And that today, dear Lord, is my prayer for myself, for all who are in leadership in their church, and most especially for our Pastors. Amen
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