“Equipping the Church 4 the Harvest”

Here is the message/training i did at our Unity service on 8/21/11 in Orlando. Hope this will encourage and bless your life; my purpose was to inspire men & women to raise up to be leaders. Pioneering is tough work, so my goal in our church is to raise up a team who has an understanding of leadership and ministry service. At this foundational stage in our little church I am striving to create a leadership culture in our church; i want it to be in our CORE.

Proverbs 14:4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.

When it comes to owning oxen, there are disadvantages. They eat a lot. They can be expensive and time-consuming
to keep. If you don’t have any oxen, you can save a lot of time and expense.

On the other hand, oxen are the tools for an abundant harvest. Their cost and inconvenience does not compare with their productivity.

Our greatest return – churches growth is going to come from people bringing people! We must equip our people to bring people and train them to “keep people”.

Proverbs 24:27 Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.

NLT – Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house

-  the “field” may be the man’s outer common work, the “house” the dwelling-place of his higher life. He must do the former faithfully in order to attain the latter. Neglect in one is fatal to the other.

We must Prepare for the Harvest! The harvest we keep is in direct proportion to how much we can handle. God will not give us what we cannot handle.

- Leadership is the key!

- The size and quality of our leadership will determine the size and quality of our harvest.

- Little leadership, little harvest.

At This Stage (pioneering) What Kind of Leaders do we need?

1. Faithful Leaders

Faithful; strict or thorough in the performance of duty; reliable, trusted or believed.

• Now how to come to church, now how to serve, now how to give.
• Completes tasks and compliments the ministry.
• Are assets and not liabilities
• Know how to perform under extreme pressure.

Lk. 16:12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your
own?

• This is the true test of a leader; to see if he will be faithful with what is someone elses.

2. Committed Leaders

• Count the Cost: ministry is hard work and demanding.
• Determine to pay the price: willing to serve no matter what.
• Committed Leaders Focus on Choices, not conditions

-People approach commitment in two ways: they focus on the external or the internal.

-External expect conditions to determine whether they keep their commitments.

- Internal, focus on their choices, your choices are the only thing you truly control. You cannot control your circumstances,
nor can you control others’. By focusing on your choices, and then making them with integrity, you control your commitment –               this often what seperates success from failure.

3. Competent Leaders

• Research has found that this is one of the attributes that people look for and admire most in leaders.

What is Competence?
It is the leaders capability to perform well in a specific context, having the expertise and ability to get things done.

Three elements of Competence:

1.   Competent Leaders are Gifted leaders.

-   God has given them the necessary gifts and abilities to lead and serve in the ministry – these are both natural & spiritual gifts.

2.   Competent Leaders are Knowledgeable leaders.

-  They have the knowledge and intelligence necessary to accomplish their God-given tasks.

-  They know what to do, either intuitively or because they’ve learned it.

3.   Competent Leaders are Skillful leaders.

-  Competent leaders generally know what to do, it’s also important that they know how to do it.

-  Knowing what to do is half the battle, being able to carry it out assures victory.

-  We need to know how to do what we know.

Why is leadership so vital to a church’s growth?

-  It enables the Pastor to extend his influence to the congregation.

- The congregation is the greatest factor in new guests coming back.

The most Important Person on Sunday:

1. The Visitor, then…
2. Usher

5 Significant Facts about first time guests

1.   Visitors make up their minds regarding a new church the first ten minutes of their visit.

-  Are we prepared for Guests.

2.   Most church members aren’t friendly

- They may be friendly to people they know, but not to guests.

- We must make them feel welcome before & after the service.

3.   Church guests are highly consumer –oriented

- If we don’t provide what they need then they’ll go where it does.

4.   The church is in the hospitality business

- Difference between a Visitor/Guest

5.   You only have one chance to make a good first impression

- First impressions are lasting ones; there’s little hope of correcting a bad first impression.

- This is why Vision plays a vital role in a pioneering church; because we are limited in oue children’s ministry, our music needs work, but  if we can cast a compelling Vision so our guests can clearly see we have plas for future up-grades and doing ministry with quality and excellence.

The Ox represents our Leadership;like the oxen having them or developing them will require a lot of work and feeding/training, but from them we can receive and keep an abundant harvest.

In order for us as a church to keep our harvest then we need to equip leaders to Serve, Host and Lead in our churches.

Hope this can be a blessing to someone out there; Leader, RISE UP!

“The CONNECTION Principle”

This is a Principle that many miss or struggle with, it is the Principle of CONNECTION! In the gospels Jesus continually gave reference that He was in the Father and the Father in Him. He also mentions that He was not here on his own accord but was sent by his Father and that the authority he possesed was from above. In John 10:37 he even goes on to state, “Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does.” Now that’s Connection!

So many in Christendom struggle because they have not come to the reality of this principle in their lives. This is especially true for those desiring or in Christian leadership. Very simply put we must come under the authority of the leadership of the church; God has divinely called and appointed the pastor and his wife to lead and build the church. God places His Vision in the couple and gives them authority to build the church in the city to meet the needs of the city. As leaders in the church we must connect with our pastors in order to receive, know and learn to transmit the vision.

There are occasions when individuals are unwilling to learn from the pastors; they love the vision but have a hard time with learning. The reason is because learning has to do with correction and many refuse to be corrected. In order for a leader in the church to be EFFECTIVE and not INFECTIVE, they need to submit to the Vision of the house. If not then they can infect others with wrong attitudes, methods and schools of thought that is not in unity with the vision & leadership style of the pastor whom God called for that particular church. If the individual does not submit to the vision of the house, then in most cases the individual becomes embittered. It’s not uncommon for these individuals to become Critical, Divisive, Gossipers and even Envious towards the pastors. In this scenario the individual either needs a Holy Spirit breakthrough or find another church were they can grow. The reason being is that once an individual becomes critical of their leader, they lose respect for them, which now makes it hard for them to receive from them, so they are not being spiritually nourished any longer and need to go where they can be spiritually fed.

We must understand that God has planted us right where He wants us and that it is part of His plan for us to learn, grow and work in the church where He has us. God provides Provisions, Blessings and Resources to accomplish His Vision in the church, so when we plug into or Connect with the vision/leadership then those Provisions, Blessings and Resources flow on down to us in order for us to do our part in building his church.

The Anointing comes from spent time with God and from being Under Authority. Much of our success is dependant on our ability to Connect and stay Connected to our Spiritual Leaders. Let’s not make the same mistake Miriam Moses’ sister made when she began to question her leader! God had to chastise her; the reason was because she was really questioning God’s Decision to make Moses leader. The result was she had to be cut off from the congregation for a season; when we do this we also cut ourselves off from the leadership, congregation and most severely God’s Blessing.

So what does being Connected mean?

1. Being Accountable: Jn.7:18

- Jesus did nothing of his own accord, but was sent with specific orders from his Father.

- Accountability protects you from the temptation of the enemy to act on your own or lean on your own understanding.

- Christian leaders should be accountable to their leaders/pastors with their marriage, family, ministry & personal life.

- Accountability is not Control!

2. Being Open to Learn from your Leaders

- Simply put, Can your Leaders speak into your life? Can they Correct you? Can they Lead you?

- I may have a knowledge to do something, but it may not be according to the plan God gave my leader. So I need to learn how to do it their way!

- When God chose your leader He knew their exact personality, gifting and abilities. These will result in his/her leadership style; each pastor will have their own leadership style. Connecting is important so you can learn their leadership style. Paul said of Timothy, that he was like minded. Paul stated that sending Timothy was like Paul being there himself. Over the years of mentoring, Timothy learned Paul’s Style of ministry & leadership to the point that Paul could now trust Timothy to make decisions because He knew that he had learned to value what Paul valued.

3. Being Sincerely in Prayer for your Leaders

- We usually develop a burden for the things & people we pray for; in other word develop a heart for them.

- It’s in prayer that we truly make a Spiritual Connection with our Pastors. A pastor’s heart beats for the vision of God, and when you catch your

pastors heart you will discover Gods heart for the church.

Maybe you have been hurt in ministry and are very reluctant even against Connecting with your spiritual leader, unless you do it will be difficult to find and fulfill your God-given purpose. It will take great humility and determination, i have been there before! Get Connected!

Excellent Givers

Here is a portion of a message I spoke at our SE Gulf Coast Regional Conference in Atlanta on “Excellent Givers”

2 Corinthians 8:7 But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us^[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Giving has to do with spiritual health and not Prosperity. Spiritually Healthy Christians = Healthy Churches = Church growth!

Many Christians and churches suffer today, they are lame, cripple and paralyzed because they have a misunderstanding about giving. They think Giving is a money thing, when according to the bible it’s a HEART THANG!

An Examples of an Excellent Giver:

Genesis 4:3-7 ³ And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. ⁴ Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
⁶ So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted?

The Lord RESPECTED Abel and his Offering/He did not RESPECT Cain and his offering.

RESPECT (Heb.) Sha’ah/Shaw-aw to gaze at or about; non-plussed (as looking around in amazement)

The Lord Accepted Abel then his offering; God is not concerned about what we give, but what we give with!

Abel found favor with God because he gave himself first, then his offering was acceptable to God

– an excellent giver give from their heart not their wallet!

The Poor Widow and her two mites-(Mark 12:41-44) she gave all she had, not because of the two mites but her heart.

Mary Magdalene – (Matt. 26:6-9) she broke her alabaster Jar (life savings)the disciples were indignant because they seen money, but Jesus saw her heart.

Lil Lad – (Jn. 6:8-10)who gave up his lunch of 5 loaves and 2 small fish, there was a great need and very little provisions, he gave his all that day, he was an excellent giver!

God – The greatest giver of all! Gave heaven’s best; His son!

Giving is not about getting blessed, but being a blessing! Those who don’t grasp this concept will not grow spiritually and will always suffer financially.

Moving To Another Level

Text: John 3:29-31

If you were born in the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s you are apart of what is being called the ME Generation. These are today’s young people, those who take it for granted that the self comes first. Generation Me has never known  a world that put duty before self, and believes that the needs of the individual should come first. This is not the same thing as being selfish – it is captured, instead in the phrases we so often hear: Be Yourself, You must love yourself before you can love someone else, I’m doing Me today or It’s Me time. This culture has brought a self awareness; it’s the Garden revisited. This coincides with Paul’s warnings in: 2 Timothy 3:1-4  ¹ But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—

1.   Servanthood

          -   The way up is down; if we desire to be great then we must become servants of all.

          -   The greatest responsibility of man is to serve his fellow man, golden rule.

          -   Servanthood checks self-centeredness.

          -   This quality in a person will catapult them in all areas of their life; marriage, work, family etc.

2. Faith – Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

-   Without it we CANNOT PLEASE GOD! Knowledge, experience and technology cannot replace spiritual power.

-   It is our vehicle to the next level and beyond! 

- When venturing out to fulfill a dream/vision there is uncertainty and risk 

  involved

- Sometimes you don’t have the answers; cant see the tangible; this causes

  fear of the unknown to set in.

-   Many times we are unwilling to leave the safety of the harbor.

-   This is where FAITH comes into the picture. 

What is FAITH?     

-         Faith is a passionate intuition.  ~William Wordsworth

-         Every tomorrow has two handles.  We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith.  ~Author Unknown

-         Faith makes things possible, not easy.  ~Author Unknown 

On the journey to fulfilling our dreams/vision we will encounter setbacks; opposition and the temptation to quit will be ever present! 

-         When things don’t go as planned or anticipated we tend to look back or entertain the thought of quitting.

-         Usually there is a period where all goes wrong and we begin to ask ourselves did I make a mistake?

-         It is here that we begin to doubt our dream/vision because we are not seeing the tangible results – we are moved by what we see or rather what were not seeing.

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.” But the boy protested, “Daddy, I can’t see you.” The father replied, “But I can see you and that’s all that matters.”

2 Cor. 5:7 We live by faith; not by sight. 

“Faith Honors God and God honors Faith.”

3.   Discipleship

-         With the advancement with technology and education; there is the sense that our young ones are growing up too fast!

-         We cannot have that same mentality when discipling people for the Kingdom.

-         Jesus was with his disciples for a period of three years; key word is WITH!

-         Good discipleship comes through good teaching & training, but great discipleship comes through great modeling & exampleship. 

2 Fold:

1. People do what people see – for the Leader
2. You cant go far on your own – for the potential disciple 

-         Don’t just recruit them in to your ministry, recruit them into your lifestyle!

-         This might not go well with the Me Gen. cause this means it’s going to cut into your Me Time!

-         Our greatest contribution to mankind will be our EXAMPLE!

-         People who have been honored throughout the annals of time are rememberd for their contribution; what they did, how they lived.

-         As Leaders and those who have been around we need to WORK with people; it’s not easy! But very rewarding!

-         We tend to leave a disciple when they get the hang of the task and eventually they don’t last long because they have been taught that ministry is work not people – they burn out! 

John understood this principle, that anytime we need to go to the next level, there must be a decrease in self and an increase in Christ in our lives.

Conclusion: we must be willing to make a commitment to go to the next level no matter what!

“5 Ways Leaders can Help their Pastor’s on Sunday”

1. Be Prompt
– As Leaders we should be early to church service; if your
on time your late.
– Pastor’s depend on their teams to be at their posts; the
Spirit of God flows, so should the church service.
2. Be Prayed-up
– Leaders need to have church before church. As leaders
we cant serve if were sitting at the table.
– We need to be Spirit filled to serve in God’s house.
3. Be Prepared
– Make sure your ready to serve in your ministry, Eli’s sons
were considered profane because they gave sloppy service.
4. Be Passionate
– Leaders are to lead the way in the ENTHUSIASM dept. We
should serve with JOY!
5. Be Personal
– 10 minute rule, devote the first 10 minutes to touch new
guests the first 10mins. after service.

3 Leadership Essentials

This is a Leadership Lesson I was privileged to communicate to Victory Outreach Oxnard’s Leadership at their first Leadership Training of the 2011 year. Thank you Pastor Fernie & Sis. Veronica (My Pastor’s)!

VICTORY OUTREACH OXNARD

LEADERSHIP TRAINING

3 Leadership Essentials
Psalm 133

The oil or anointing poured on the top of Aaron’s head should be of the same quality and potency at the feet! In other words it shouldnt be watered down as it reaches the feet. Point being that as a church grows larger there is now tears of leaders, and there is a tendency for the newest level or tear of leadership to not have the values & principles of the first generation of leaders. Yes we must evolve and expand our methods, but our values & principles should remain the same. Here are some Principles or Values I learned in my early experience as a christian; these same principles & values I am drilling in our 2 and a half-year old church now in Tampa!

1. Leaders must be good FOLLOWERS(Jn. 6:66)
-The ability to follow is one of the first qualities that qualifies us for leadership.
- Strangely, when we become leaders we struggle to follow.
- Usually, when there’s leadership crisis, it’s not a leadership issue, but a follower issue.

We can all agree that Moses and Jesus were great leaders! So why did they lose people along the way? Was it because they were not good leaders?

No! It’s because the people had a problem following their leaders.

If we are to be good FOLLOWERS we need to learn to follow:

A. Our Pastors VISION(Big Picture)

B. Our Pastors DIRECTION(Where
were going)

C. Our Pastors INSTRUCTION(How
to get there)

2. Leaders must be good MODELS.(1
Cor. 11:1)

“People do what people see!”
– We must model the desired qualities,
values & principles we want to see in
our disciples.

“He that gives good advice, builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example, build with both; but he that gives good admonition and a bad example, builds with one hand and pulls down with the other.”

What should we be modeling as leaders:

A. A life of FAITH (Giving, Trusting &
Risking)

B. A life of COMMITMENT &
SACRIFICE(See how its done)

C. A life of BALANCE(Marriage &
Ministry)

D. A life of FAITHFULNESS &
FOLLOW THROUGH

3. Leaders must be GROWING

In order for leaders to grow, they need:
A. DISCIPLINE
B. TRIALS
C. CHALLENGES

– Leaders with destination disease stop growing when they achieve a position.
– When plateaued a leader must either Move-up or Move over.

Growth Hurts

I have made quite a few posts/quotes on twitter; most from the things I have been experiencing in this stage of my life. Let list a few: God Makes the Man before He makes the ministry, If you want to take a city you must take you first, A novice leader makes  big  boasts until he realizes he must live up to his words, do not allow our mouths to write a check our commitment cant cash and so on. These I have written because I have found out that in the beginning of any endeavor as a leader we have big Vision and goals and sometimes like Joseph speak freely and loudly of things before there time. This often gets us in trouble. It is a good thing that we have big Vision and goals; but we must understand that its gonna take hard work and dedication to see them come to pass. Not only that but things dont work that easy as just speaking them into exhistence. Before things can really take off in your life and ministry; God has to proove some things in us first. As a leader we must continually strive to GROW and if you are growing then you will agree that growth hurts!

As a leader we must get acustomed to pain. Pain brings with it discomfort, a sense of insecurity and breeds a lack of confidence in yourself. Pain is part of the process in a growing leaders life; it prepares us to handle the disappointments in ministry and developes resiliency in the leaders life that enables us to bounce back from failures. Although I have served in support leadership for a number of years, I am a novice in the lead role as a Pastor. I realize that I have a lot to learn; and what I have learned so far is that I need to keep learning. It always seems that just when I feel like im getting it God has a way humbling me.

So if I desire to be effective as a leader I need to keep growing, keep learning and welcome pain. If I am to keep growing then I need to keep paying a price for my growth.

Here’s a few things I’m learning to do:

1. Stay Flexible

- In leadership you need to eat a lot of humble pie; when your flexible you won’t get bent out of shape when you grow through changes.

2. Keep A Learning Posture

- You don’t know everything. Anything we begin we are a novice of; we must 1st become students of our field.

- Find those who know more than you in your field; experienced, seasoned leaders to speak into your life and correct you when your wrong.

3. Find a Model to Grow After

- Pray and select a model: Leader, church or organization you desire to become like. Your goal is not to become a clone, but to minic someone elses success, growth and achievements.

- There’s a possibility to grow the wrong way. If you have a model then you can measure your growth periodically to see if your on the right track.

- Most novice leaders mimic someone elses growth in the beginning stages until they have fully captured God’s Vision and plan for their life and ministry.

God Bless!

2nd Man Ministry

Here is the conclusion to the Armor Bearer’s Arise Lesson. 2nd Man Ministry is difficult because it requires a lot of self sacrifice. Again, is the individual is not called to this position in most cases they will get hurt because of a lack of understanding of the responsibilities and the price. Paul called Timothy his son in the faith; not because he was simply young and under his wing; but because he had Paul’s heart for the Vision, Ministry and People. This sonship is achieved over time with many corrections and rebukes. If you can’t receive the discipline then we are illegitimate children and will most likely walk away from the position with a bad heart. You will know when you are a true Armor Bearer when your Pastor’s wife acknowledges you as one. I say this because she is his #1 Armor Bearer she sees him behind closed doors and as his wife and help mate has the greatest understanding of how to take care of him. Women have a way of spotting a fake; when she sees that you truly have your leader’s(her husband) best interest at heart she will acknowledge you.  Enjoy and feel free to leave any questions you might have in the comments section and I will get back at you – God Bless!

ARMOR BEARER’S ARISE! P2

2.  You Need to Get your Leaders Heart: 1 Sam. 14:7 So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here am I with you, according to your heart.”

a. This is were we truly begin to follow.

 - Because this armorbearer had his leaders heart he was able to come up behind him and slay – He knew his place.

 - You can never lead if you first don’t learn to follow.

 - Hear the voice with in the voice.

 - Become like-minded – Paul & Tom (Phil. 2:20)

 - There are many capable men, but don’t have the heart!!!

3. You Need to Catch your Leaders Vision: 1 Chr. 11:10

 a. The leaders heart beats for the vision – Get the heart, then the vision.

1. You must be willing to sacrifice your personal vision, to back up your leaders vision.
2. When you do this, God will bring your vision will come to pass.
3. If you can’t be faithful with your leaders vision, how can God trust you with your own.
4. How? He speaks it every Sunday morning.

 Now you can get your Leaders Back: How?

Duties of an Armorbearer

1. Praying for your leader daily: Aaron & Hur Ex. 17:10-12

 - Intercede for them.

2. Serving your leader sincerely: Elisha & Elijah 2 Kn.3:11

 - Take care of them.

3. Assisting your leader: Joshua Moses’ aide Ex. 24:13

 - Get busy, be a worker, build the ministry

4. Encouraging your leader: Jonathan to David 1 Sam. 23:16-17

 - Kind words, affirmation.

5. Provide strength for your leader: Epaphroditus to Paul Phi 2:25

 - Don’t be a burden, know how to get victory.

6. Represent your leader: Benaiah 1 Kn. 2:28-35

 - Wasn’t a blood thirsty man, thought twice.

 - He was under orders.

7. Add Value to your leader: Joab & David’s Chiefs 1 Ch. 11:4-

 - They brought something to the table.

8. Bear Fruit for your leader:

 - Reproduce yourself, arrows in the quiver, disciple.

9. Protect your leader: 2 Sam. 20:15-17 / 1 Sam. 26:5

 - Put to death negativity, gossip, division

10.  Respect your leader: Joab & Absolom 2 Sam. 18:12-15

 - Call, judgment, time!

Prov. 27:17-18 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored.

2nd Man Ministry

For some time I have been wanting to do this and I have finally got myself to begin. I will be adding to this blog entitled “2nd Man Ministry” for some years I had the priviledge of serving my Pastor as an assistant then as an Armor Bearer. To be an Armor Bearer one has to be called to do so or you will get hurt by the one you serve; not intentionally of course. But because its more than being an assistant, administrator, secretary or even a friend it’s a combination of all those and more. This blog is to hopefully bless some men that are in 2nd man positions. It’s not easy serving next to great men/leaders; they think differently; they have a passion for God and the ministry that sometimes we cannot understand we just need to obey and follow. Anyhow, during my time as an armor bearer I went through a lot of changes mostly mental and sought out some help to give me understanding about my role and the changes I was going through. There was not much out there that I could find to assist me; so I learned by experience; triall and error. Today I am a lead Pastor in the pioneering stages of building a church(two years into it); but am a armor bearer at heart. So for those of you that are in 2nd man positions I pray these posts will be a blessing to your life. This is part one of a lesson I taught to the men of Victory Outreach Oxnard while I was the associate pastor.

Armor Bearers Arise – Part 1

 Topic: Learning to Support our Leaders

Text: I Samuel 14:1-14

What is an Armor Bearer? This warrior is vital, but not glamorous. The person bearing your armor is the person bearing your defense. This individual covers his leader spiritually. During medieval times, these people were called squires. Like medieval times, the show, there is one who carries the armor of a knight and equips him with weapons when needed.

The duty of an armor bearer was to stand beside his leader to assist him, to lift him up, and to protect him against any enemy that might attack him. The same is true today. The New Testament armor bearer is called to stand beside his leader to assist him, advance him, bear him up, help him, lift him, regard and respect him, stir him up, yield to him, and protect him. It is an awesome responsibility indeed.

 Song of Solomon 3:7-8 These were the most valiant warriors of the realm. The Kings own personal guard, they guarded their king unto death. They were men who would lay down their lives for his sake. These men followed the king everywhere he went, they would be posted around him day and night.

Armor Bearers Code of Conduct

1. You have to Love your Leader: 1 Sam 16:21 So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he “loved” him greatly, and he became his armorbearer.

        a. Love equals Loyalty – I Sam. 24:5, 7

         - David didn’t raise a hand against his leader because he loved him.

         -  He didn’t allow resentment into his heart, though his leader mistreated him. He refused to become a spear thrower.

         -  He didn’t sow discord amongst his men about Saul, but rebuked them.

         -  Jesus put it this way…”Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jn. 15:13

         - Loyalty without love only lasts as long as it’s good for you.

        - Ex. 24:13-18 Josh waited for his leader 40 days without knowing if he was alive. 32:17 He was loyal.

      b. Love equals Trust

      - Jonathan’s armor bearer was willing to follow his leader on a crazy mission.

      - The odds were against them; realistically it was a suicide mission but he trusted God was with Jonathan.

      - He trusted his leaders direction, even though he wasn’t clear on the plan or outcome.

     – Trust your leader when he works with you, even when he doesn’t seem logical.

     - Allow him dress you for success or gird you up!!!!

1 Kings 20:11 Let not the one who puts on his armorboast like the one who takes it off.

Trust your leaders guidence he has fought battles we have yet to fight; trodded paths we yet to step on. What they teach us today is for our success tomorrow. They are training us for the battles that are ahead. LISTEN & LEARN!

“Your Call and the Element of Fear”

As I write this blog, I have people in mind that one day soon will be taking a city. I hope these words or better yet my personal experience can be of some encouragement to someone. The greatest obstacle I have had to face is FEAR!  I know an ex-gang member scared to take a city. Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t. I feel that this could possibly be many couples reasons for not responding or delaying their call.  Here are a few:

FEAR OF:

1. Not Being Ready - Truth is you will never fully be ready or feel completely ready. How can you be made ready for something you have       not faced? We have great models who can coach us before hand but the truth is many of those things go over our head, it doesn’t really sink in until we are in our cities. A perfect example is found in Matt. 10:19 Jesus told his disciples not to worry about what to speak; He said it would be given to them at that hour. On the other hand we do need to get as prepared as we can; but ultimately we will not be totally ready for everything. If that were so then we wouldn’t have to learn anything new. And beleive me Pioneering is a great humbling and learning experience. What you need to know will be given to you in your city!

2. Sacrifices – For those like me who have been in their churches a long time before going out; this can be the hardest thing to do. I remember at our launch out banquet singing the song “I Give you my Heart” and the part that says, “I surrender my favorite thing” well months later when I was able to return to my home church for the MMOV I was singing that song and I came to the realization that my favorite thing was my home church. I grew up there, from 19years old to 38years old all my friends were there I had a lot of fruit there, but I surrendered it for the call of God. It was easy for me back then to get on the phone with marching orders and assemble a crusade or city wide event, now in my city pioneering you know who has to get busy! Family – this was the greatest sacrifice of all; leaving behind our family! I can honestly say that I didnt truly count this cost. I guess I didnt want to face it leading up to our departure. But God has been faithful he has given us new family in Tampa, and He has done something special in our hearts as well. God will take care of you. Our children were teen agers when we left, they also grew up in the church. This was the most difficult of all; having to see our boys go through changes. A strange city, culture and lonliness! During this time we have had to remember our founders testimony about hteir experiences with their children and the ministry. I have had the opportunity to work in the youth when Pastor Sonny Jr. began the gang and I have been greatly inspired by his testimony. We are beleiving God for the same with our children; we have had to reflect that we dedicated our children to him. We are still trusting and beleiving God for them. I just know that there are no gaurantees that my children will not go through it here or if we had stayed in Oxnard. The sacrifices are many; we have come to learn that it’s a lifestyle…a sacrificial lifestyle when you say yes to God. In all this God has shown himself faithful.

3. Personal Failure – there is nothing more paralyzing then this issue of personal failure in my opinion. None of us want to leave it all behind to fail in our cities, we all want to be successful! When you know that God has called you to take city and the realizatin is there that you indeed are going and soon, then all of a sudden all our insecurities, complexes and failures seem to speak louder than the voice of God. I delayed hearing the call of God to take a city for a long time – you know what I mean; “I wasn’t hearing that!” I was so afraid of the thought “What if I fail and have to come back?” “What if I can’t cut it?” “What if I fall?” “I don’t know what to do?” I mean I would look at my Pastor’s and see their labor and their sucess and it would frighten me; I would begin to measure myself up to them and feel so inadequate to the task. I didn’t show it or say it until KNOW, but that’s how I felt and still feel many times still. This is where I have to know that God called me and like my pastor has said, “God doesn’t call the qualified, but qualifies the called”. I’m in the process, God is making me into a Lead Pastor and He brought me to Tampa to do it. God beleives in me, my pastor believe in me and my home church beleives in me and my wife beleives in me what more do I need- ME to beleive in ME! And you will need YOU to beleive in YOU!

Again, we have a long way to go! But the hardest part has been done – the GO! part. Do I look back? YES! And so will you, but you just got to keep moving on. You will get discouraged, you will feel like a failure, you will doubt your call, you will feel like you made a mistake,you feel alone &  forgotten, the enemy will try to make you feel guilty when your family goes through hardships – but it’s part of the process, it comes with the territory. The enemy’s tactict is to get you to contanatly look back or focus on what you left behind so you don’t see what God is doing through your life. For some the results may come fast and others slow; each will have it’s challenges. The experience is awesome to know that God has called us to make history in our cities. The key is keep your eyes on Jesus and keep doing what you have learned, Pray, Fast and hit the streets – you have what it takes, God is with you!