This post is the last entry of our blog series on Spiritual Leadership while the Freedom to Lead team is in India and Nepal this month. Spiritual Formation This past month we have been talking about the Streams of the Spiritual Life. Our discussions have addressed both the leader’s personal spiritual development as well as his or her role in the spiritual development of others. And to do that we need to understand where we’ve
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This post is part of the Spiritual Leadership Blog Series while the Freedom to Lead team is in India and Nepal this month. Only two more posts remain in the series. An Example of the Witnessing Life Their names were Carpus and Papylus. And they demonstrated the Witnessing Life. In A.D. 165, Carpus and Papylus were brought before a governor in Rome and charged with the “crime” of being Christian. The governor of the
Read more →What about terrorists? Yesterday we were challenged to look at The Compassionate Life a little closer. In the attempt to write a modern day parable similar to The Good Samaritan, we look at different kinds of people that cross our paths every day. I believe God brings certain people across our path for a reason, but sometimes we have to go TO them. As we think of these people, though, we ask ourselves the hard
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Jesus chose to communicate “The Compassionate Life.” When Jesus saw the crowds “he had compassion for them.” (Matthew 9:36) With a broken heart he said aloud to whomever was listening, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Later, he spoke of ministering to “The Least of These” (Matthew 25), demonstrating how we are called to help those that cannot help us in return. Jesus often spoke of his own mission to “to proclaim
Read more →We’ve had a good couple of weeks so far, haven’t we? The next “stream” of the Spiritual life that we are going to discuss is “The Compassionate Life.” However, before we dive into the topic, I’d like to bring something to your attention that is very serious. There is an ailment that is infecting many well-intentioned Christian people around the world, including myself. These people are good people. They are generous people. And they are
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People know this pictured spiritual leader as A.B. Simpson, especially those who associate themselves with a Christian denomination called the Christian & Missionary Alliance. But, before that he was simply a young man named Albert. And Albert was one who exemplified The Empowered Life. Albert was born in Canada in 1843. He was raised in a strict religious tradition, and was converted to Christ under the ministry of a visiting evangelist from Ireland when he
Read more →Yesterday we started examining The Empowered Life. We acknowledge that we are tired of living this upright kind of life and that we have come to the end of ourselves. We say with our mouths that we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, but how much do we really hold that to be real? The fact is, Jesus – through the sanctifying Spirit – is able to do for us what we cannot
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Is anyone tired? Not the kind of tired that comes from staying up late last night or from having a busy week at work. I’m talking about the kind of tired that is bone-weary, the kind of tired that says, “I’m ready for the next world. Jesus, take me home now.” Do you feel that you are sludging along in a field of molasses, weary in this struggle of just trying to live life, let
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The last few days we’ve been talking about the New Life. Yesterday we heard John’s story. Now we’re moving on to the second stream of Spiritual Leadership: the Abiding Life. What exactly do we mean when we talk about the Abiding Life? Basically our main idea is this: Both the receiving of the sacraments (baptism and communion) and human intuition can be means by which believers experience intimacy with God; however, both sacrament and intuition
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This post is part of the blog series on Spiritual Leadership. Our Freedom to Lead International team is currently in India doing our final module on the subject to church and ministry leaders from all parts of India and Nepal. These discussions on this blog are a way to invite you into the experience. I’d like to introduce you to John. I’ve never met John personally, though I have benefitted from his influence. Perhaps his story
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This is part of a blog series on Spiritual Leadership. As you are interacting with the themes, please be praying for the Freedom to Lead team that is currently in India and Nepal this month teaching on this important subject with national leaders there. October 15, 1974. As an elementary student I went to the Good News Club after school, and through the story of the Wordless Book, I prayed and invited Jesus into my heart.
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Tell me, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of spiritual growth or discipleship? A solitary individual meditating or praying? People who are always ready to tell others about who God is and what He has done? The woman who reaches out to her neighbors in their time of need? People gathered together doing service on behalf of their church? Healings, miracles, and speaking in tongues? Administering the sacraments? When
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