ted4leaders

Blog in Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am taking an exert from by book, Authority – Control? or Release! As leaders we lead others in walking in the life-giving authority of who they are in the world in each season of their lives:

Authority and destiny are not the same. Life comes out of authority, not destiny! Dreams come out of destiny, but dreams alone are fantasy. The authority of today is not the authority of tomorrow, nor is the authority of yesterday the authority of today. The perfect will of God is for you to be who you are today.

Authority is a Testimony of God’s Kingdom:

Flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). We do have flesh and blood though, don’t we? I am flesh and blood, but I want the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). The kingdom of God is not a natural kingdom, but when it is manifested within us it affects even the natural things of our lives. It doesn’t come by what we see in the natural, 103

but when we embrace the power of Christ’s kingdom within us it brings God’s influence into our everyday worlds. When Jesus was fulfilling the law, the kingdom of God was at hand, but now by the power His grace it is made alive within us.

Luke 17:20, 21 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

If the kingdom of God is within, shouldn’t there be some form of inheritance today? There is an inheritance that comes from the kingdom of God that is within us. That kingdom within us has the power to affect the things of our lives in both spiritual and natural ways. The authority of the kingdom of God within us will influence the practical areas of our daily lives. God wants us to bring the influence of heaven into earth. He wants His kingdom to come and His will to be done upon the earth as it is in heaven. This is a daily reality and a continual advancing and maturing process in our lives.

The glory of a king is everything that is in his kingdom. King Jesus owns all of creation: visible and invisible. Flesh and blood can’t inherit the kingdom of God, but we have the power of Christ’s Spirit within us that the inheritance of God in our lives might come by the power of His Spirit and even effect the things in the natural areas of our lives. God’s kingdom is the kingdom affecting our flesh, but it is not the kingdom of seeking the life of self. It is the kingdom of His glory. When we live for God and for the wellbeing of others we are living for the kingdom of God. The power to walk that out is hidden within the power of Christ within us. The life of Christ within us empowers us to live for God and the wellbeing of others. This is a spiritual reality, but it is seen in things that appear to be spiritual and in things that appear to be natural in our lives.

If you hate who you are today, you will never be able to be who you are destined to be tomorrow. There is a glory of who you are today. We are earthly and of the spirit. We are born of the water (natural) and bornof the Spirit. It is these two things together that make us spiritual (spirit-natural) beings. Authority is in the present and not meant to be a mere promise of the future. It is present and progressive in all that we are and do. That progression is both natural and spirit and thus it is revealed in our lives as spiritual beings of life.

The former glory is not the glory of today, nor is the future glory the glory of today. There is a glory of the earthly and to neglect or reject who you are today is a denial of who you are today. The earthly is today and the heavenly is to come. In the process of our journey there is a continued increase in the mix of these two values in our lives.[1]

As leaders, we must be examples to those we lead in both the natural and the spirit. We must embrace who we are in each season of our lives and encourage others to do the same. Today is the day to give life to our world in the testimony of who we are in the responsibility of our lives.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Authority – Control? or Release! By Ted J. Hanson – In print, e-book, and audio on Amazon:

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[1] Ted J. Hanson, Authority – Control? or Release!, (Bellingham, WA: House of Bread Publishing, Second Printing 2022), pp. 102-104.

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Leaders create pathways that others can walk in. Leaders take footsteps for the sake of those they lead. Leaders are a gift to those they lead but it is important that each believer is able to find their own footprints in the pathways that leaders create. In a sense, proper leadership creates footsteps that others can find their footprints within. In other words, God gives us leaders so that each of us can find our role in a corporate plan of God.

The apostle Paul addressed the fact that those in his sphere of influence were the fruit of a spiritual letter written whin his heart by God. What God put in his heart was not for himself but for something that God was doing in a greater way by His Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

Paul confirmed that the purpose of a spiritual letter is to express Christ, its source is the Spirit of the living God, and the parchment of the letter is the corporate heart of divinely joined believers. He professed a dependency upon Holy Spirit to participate in the administration of this letter to see the corporate expression of this letter become a living reality.

A key to leadership is a submission to Holy Spirit in all that God desires to write as a corporate expression of Chist identity, testimony, and purpose. For this reason, the identity, testimony, and purpose of every leader is connected to those they lead. They lead for the sake of those that God divinely joins them to in life. God is not merely interested in us leading some generic Christian ministry. God is prophetic and every expression that He creates is meant to influence the world in a prophetic way.

I believe that God has many spiritual letters to fulfill His prophetic purposes in our world. A spiritual letter is not the fruit of leadership skill. It is the fruit of a personal relationship with God that empowers and inspires each one to be a part of something greater than themselves. For this reason, Holy Spirit has the supreme authority in the life of every leader and every believer. The direction of Holy Spirit in our lives is more important than learned methods or practices of ministry. Not knowing what we are doing as leaders is a requirement for our dependency upon Holy Spirit in every season of our leading others in being expressions of the body of Christ in specific ways.

We need God’s plan in every situation of our lives. Turning to the Lord is the secret to becoming what the Lord desires. Turning to the Lord is made possible by our connection to Holy Spirit within us. Every measure of God’s glory is a testimony of God’s purpose and plan.

2 Corinthians 3:16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Leader’s turn to the Lord every day and they lead others in this as well. The footsteps of leaders are discovered by turning to the Lord for His direction of life. A leader’s footsteps create pathways that others can follow. Believers find their footprints in the footsteps of leaders when they too turn to the Lord in their hearts. Christ in humanity includes the spiritual letters of God’s choosing.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Leaders have a responsibility of leading others in the path of relationship with God. That path includes finding our identity, testimony, and purpose in Christ. These things are not orchestrated by the will or plan of man. They are discovered in the human heart through a personal connection with God in the Spirit. Leaders can only lead others into this reality if they themselves have found, and are continuing to find, their own identity, testimony, and purpose in Christ. Holy Spirit writes a letter in human hearts that is a message of life to the world. Each believer is called to be a scribe in the kingdom of God. They are not scribes who write down what God is saying as some form of information to the world. They are scribes in that they allow Holy Spirit to write in them something that empowers them to become a testimony of God in Christ. This is a personal message of life that brings life to their world.

Leaders are not called to lead for Christian ceremony, program, or some form of religious society. Leaders are called to lead others in becoming the body of Christ, a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. We can do Christian works and have Christian activities, but these are not the goal. These are simply tools of expression used as we ultimately grow as sons and daughters of God led by God’s Spirit for His kingdom and will in our world.

As leaders, we don’t measure those we lead by law. We don’t seek to merely hold those we lead to a measure of accountability to the written word or some Christian belief system. We measure those we lead by grace. Grace comes through a personal revelation of Jesus Christ in the human heart.

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ…

Grace is the testimony of God working in and through our lives that empowers us to increasingly manifest the character, nature, way, power, and authority of sons and daughters of God. The Scriptures contain many principles, patterns, and values of a godly life, but the ultimate goal is a personal relationship with Jesus, the Prince of princes and King of kings. Mere Christian instructions or natural obedience to a written law through a discipline of the flesh is not enough. Only God’s grace that comes through a personal encounter with God in Christ can change our hearts and minds. When we turn to Jesus in our hearts, we find grace and grace changes us.

Leaders lead others in finding the grace of God. Grace overcomes all things. Grace enables each one to walk with God in a testimony of love. Grace destroys all fear of death. Grace empowers an internal and external testimony of God’s Word and Spirit in our lives. Grace enables each one to be givers of life to their world in the authority of who they are. Grace causes each one to be confessed as a son or daughter of God clothed in Christ. Grace invites each one to be member of the community of God in a testimony of intimate love. Grace activates a partnership with God in all things for God’s purpose in all things. Leaders lead others for this cause.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of: www.ted4leaders.com www.ted4you.com or www.houseofbreadministry.org. Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to: House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225 To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year. Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As leaders, we lead others in knowing God. Knowing God is knowing His heart. Knowing His heart comes by hearing His voice within our hearts. It is not just a matter of hearing Him. It is a matter of understanding Him when He speaks. It is a matter of understanding His heart. This is true for every relationship. When we don’t love someone, we often misunderstand what they say to us. A key to understanding God is a revelation of His love.

Love must be the foundation of our relationship with God so we can understand things that are beyond our understanding. That understanding can only be given to us by God as a gift of grace. God’s ways are higher than our ways so in our misunderstandings of Him we must trust His love and His ability to bring revelation to our hearts. God must be our teacher. We cannot rely upon our natural understanding or logic of things. We must trust His understanding. Holy Spirit is God in us and with us and He is our teacher in all things. As leaders, we lead others to allow Holy Spirit to be the teacher to their hearts and minds for God’s will and desire in their lives.

Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Scripture is a witness to the voice of Holy Spirit in our lives. Leaders must excel in the study of Scripture as a tool in the hand of Holy Spirit as He brings revelation to every human heart. We don’t merely study Scripture for the sake of those we lead. We study Scripture for the sake of knowing God that we might inspire others to study in like manner.

Scripture is a book of covenant. That covenant is the fruit and testimony of a revelation of God’s love and being loved by God in this world. This is the essence and character of God. He is love and He wants us to see ourselves as His sons and daughters who know His love and reveal the glory of His love to our world. Scripture reveals the person God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Scripture reveals God as a person of relationship who wants a relationship with us in all things. The greater purpose of any created thing as described in Scripture, or as described in creation, is it reveals something of the Godhead.

As leaders, we seek revelation in our study of the person God. We then share the message that we are becoming and have become in our daily relationship of partnership with God. Part of that partnership is a study of God’s word in conjunction with the presence of Holy Spirit. Our message to those we lead is not one of information. It is one of inspiration that those we lead may also know God in a partnership of Holy Spirit and His word that they too might become a message of His truth to their world.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Leaders lead for the sake of relationships. The primary relationship for us all is a personal connection to God in our hearts. A personal relationship with God gives us a common bond for a personal relationship with one another. Our fellowship is not merely a fellowship of natural people. Our fellowship is centered on the person Jesus and Holy Spirit is God dwelling in us in Jesus’ name. By this we are called to know God as our Father and thus we know one another as members of the family of God. We are sons and daughters of one Father, and this is the bond of our connection to one another. For this reason, we minister the love of God by the power of His Spirit to one another as the body of Christ.

Philippians 2:1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Love inspires fellowship and fellowship inspires more love. Love knows the comfort that comes by the care of another. Our affection for one another is bound to a need for mercy and grace. Love is more important than ministry since it is for love that we minister to others. The work of ministry is a service of love. That love manifests in both natural and supernatural ways.

We are not merely called to tasks of ministry. We are grafted into a family of love and purpose whereby we know a life of being loved by God that inwardly empowers us to love Him and one another. Leaders lead for the sake of love. We care for one another and in our caring, we feel both the blessing and the pain that comes with relationships. When I am blessed to see my family, I am happy; but when I have to say goodbye for any length of time it touches my emotions in sadness. Both joy and sadness are experienced in love.

I have been a believer for more than 52 years and in that time, I was a senior pastor for twenty years and another 15 years as a spiritual father to many in the body of Christ. As a senior pastor I felt the joy of loving and the pain experienced when there was a loss of someone I loved in my life. As I connect to leaders globally, I find a common thread of both the joy of connection and the sadness that comes with loss. I have known the joy of connection and the pain of disconnection. I have known the joy of living and the anguish of loss at the death of someone I have loved. I have known laughter, and I have known the tears that come with the sorrow of loss. These are the testimony of love.

I believe that every leader experiences the joys of connection and the sorrow of disconnection. Leaders are desired by some and rejected by others. Leaders are understood by some and misunderstood by others. I believe the pain of loss is as important as the joy of connection. Both of these prove the testimony of love. All believers must know that life is about love. We were born to be loved by God, and we were born again to love Him and others. Holy Spirit in our lives enables us to experience love in the fullest way. Without joy and sorrow we lack in understanding love. The fruit of all that we know in life is meant to be a testimony of love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

As leaders, let us lead others in knowing the treasure of love. It will be filled with joy, and it will also be filled with tears. This is the value of God and others in our lives.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As leaders, we lead others in matters of relationship. We don’t merely lead them in matters of obedience. The two greatest commandments in the Law were to love God and to love your neighbor (Mt. 22:36-40). The Law and the prophets depended upon these two commandments, and these two commandments were the governing administration until John. Jesus came to give us something greater than the commandments of the Old Covenant Law. He came to give us a testimony of the kingdom of God.

Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.”

The commandments of the law were the governing voice of the Old Covenant. You cannot break laws; you can only violate them and then they break you, unless you supersede those laws with a higher law. The law of lift, thrust, and propulsion can supersede the law of gravity and enable a helicopter to fly. They don’t eliminate the law of gravity; therefore, the law of gravity can be a servant that enables the helicopter to land when necessary. Jesus superseded the law of the knowledge of good and evil by the law of the Father’s love. The new commandment is to love one another as Jesus loves us. It is based upon a revelation of His love in our lives and not mere obedience to a command.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus was the firstfruit of a different race of humanity. That race was the race of being sons and daughters of God who would manifest the life-giving character, nature, way, power, and authority of God in their lives. These are those who are part of a family tree of life. They are motivated by a revelation of God’s love in their hearts and minds. These will cast a shadow that looks like obedience to a covenant of law to love but it is really the fruit of intimacy with God. Jesus came to give us all an administration of love, the administration of the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is different than the kingdoms of men. The kingdom of God is an eternal reality of life. It is filled with a testimony of God’s grace to overcome all manner of death and dysfunction. The kingdom of God is built upon a foundation of our heavenly Father’s love. This is a higher law than a law of commands to love. It is a personal experience of being loved by God and it is experienced through faith in the person – Jesus Christ. A revelation of God’s love will empower us to be loving. It enables us to understand mercy and grace and to be people of mercy and grace. It doesn’t destroy the commandment to love; it casts a shadow of love that others can see because of a revelation of God’s love within them.

The kingdom of God is an eternal kingdom within the heart of those who join themselves to God in Christ through an intimate knowledge of Jesus – the eternal salvation of mankind. God’s internal kingdom empowers us to become sons and daughters of God who know righteousness, peace, and joy in God’s Holy Spirit. This causes our external kingdoms to increasingly become expressions of the kingdom of God in character, nature, way, power, and authority. As leaders, we lead others in embracing the realities of the kingdom of God within their hearts. We lead others in embracing an administration of our heavenly Father’s love.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As leaders we lead others in knowing an intimate relationship with God. We don’t teach them to know God. We set an example of knowing God ourselves. Knowing God is an increasing fruit of being loved by God. God loves us and when we respond to His love in our lives we grow in knowing Him. God’s love is for everyone. God made a covenant with mankind through the shed blood of Jesus – God’s Son. That covenant was the fruit and testimony of God’s love for mankind as the Father of all flesh.

Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The riches of God’s grace are the testimony of His presence working in and through our lives. It is by His powerful love that we know the testimony of His presence dwelling in us. This is the testimony of God’s covenant with mankind.

Covenant is the fruit and testimony of love but covenant by itself cannot lead to love. Only a revelation of love can empower true covenant. The Old Covenant, a covenant of commitment based upon information, does not produce the fruit and testimony of love. The New Covenant is not based upon a covenant made by man. It is based upon knowing a person who demonstrated the fruit and testimony of love, Jesus Christ. He loved us before we loved Him and love is based upon a revelation, not a command.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Love is a revelation, not merely a command. When we have a revelation of God’s love, we are empowered from within to love God and to love others. This is the testimony of God’s New Covenant of grace at work in our lives.

The Old Covenant presented a perceived paradigm that God is the one who commands men and women to love Him. One day a Pharisaic lawyer approached Jesus with a question in regard to the commandments of God. Jesus told Him that the greatest commandment was to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength. He told Him that the second commandment was like the first, that we must love one another. Jesus said that upon these two commandments rested the entire law and the prophets (Mt. 22:34-40). The entire law and prophets rested upon two commandments. The Old Covenant law and prophets never really changed mankind. They offered commandments to love, but they didn’t provide transformations for loving. Later Jesus told His friends that a new commandment was now being given to them. He said that the new commandment was to love one another, even as He had loved them, that they love one another (Jn. 13:34). This commandment was not merely a command of law. It was an empowerment based upon a revelation of Christ’s love for them. Love is a revelation, not merely a command. Jesus shed blood to give the life-giving Spirit of Knowing so we could know the true intimacy of freely loving others from the substance of who we have become in Christ.[1]

The strength of our relationship with God is not a commitment to obey His commands. It is an empowerment to do all that He asks because of a revelation of His love for us. When we know His love, we cannot help but love Him. As leaders, we don’t lead others to be obedient to the commands of God. We lead them to know His love. Knowing God’s love will envision and empower each of us to believe Him and to do what He desires us to do. Knowing God’s love leads us to knowing God and knowing God will empower us to be who He desires us to be.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

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[1] Ted J. Hanson, The Now Covenant, (Bellingham, WA: House of Bread Publishing, Second Printing 2022), p. 77.

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As Leaders we don’t merely lead people to be obedient to the Scriptures. We lead people to know God intimately. We lead people to become expressions of God in their lives through a personal connection with Him in their hearts. I gave a prophetic word this past Sunday that I believe to be the heart of God and something that should be in the heart of every leader.

Prophecy July 13, 2025 by Ted J. Hanson

God says, I’ve desired to know you, I’ve desired for you to know Me. I’ve desired to express Myself in a way that you could see, in a way that you could be touched, in a way that you could touch Me. So, My word became flesh and moved into your world.

And I gave My word a name above all other names, the name Jesus, Salvation, Rescuer is My favorite name. My favorite name, is to save you. My favorite name is to draw you close to Me. My favorite name is to bring you near when you were far away, because I want you to know Me. And I want you to know that I know you and I’m the salvation of your soul, I’m the salvation of your thoughts. I’m the rescuer of your reasoning. I rescue your imagination, your emotions, and your desires, for I am love, and I want you to know that you have always been loved by Me. So, I became expressed in human form, touchable, one who could touch, one who could be seen. And I’m here today in your flesh, that you would know My name, My favorite name. My favorite name is Jesus, Salvation, Rescuer, because I want you to know that I am your Father and I love you dearly. This is not just a day to see Me in awe, it’s a day to see the awe of Me very near and close and I love you and I am your Savior.

Salvation is in the heart of God. As leaders we live to serve others in knowing the saving grace of God working in their lives. We know who we are as sons and daughters of God, but we choose to embrace the role as a servant so that all can know God as the Savior of their souls. He is the one who rescues them in all things.

Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The name that is above all other names is Jesus – Jehovah is salvation. God’s desire is to be the rescuer of every soul. As leaders we dedicate our lives to serving others as Jesus did so that they might know the love of God in all things. We make ourselves of no reputation and we lead according to the will of our Father in heaven that others might personally know the salvation that comes in Jesus name for the glory of the Father’s will in all things.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of: www.ted4leaders.com www.ted4you.com or www.houseofbreadministry.org. Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to: House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225 To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year. Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

God has called His people to be light and salt in this world. Members of the body of Christ are members of the community of Christ. The testimony of the community of God is to be an influence of life to the communities of the world. Paul’s instructions to Titus as a leader in the church were instructions to lead the community of God in the midst of the communities of the world. His instructions were not meant to be instructions of law to leaders, but ones of wisdom for leading God’s people in the testimony of life. A policeman has the authority of a policeman, an employer has the authority of the business for which one is employed, a president has the responsibility of executing the responsibilities of implementing the decisions of the governing body of a nation. Authority only exists within the boundaries of given and received responsibilities for the sake of some form of life to others. The family of God should live under authority and demonstrate what true life-giving authority looks like. It is not merely a matter of obedience to authority, but a witness of grace empowered people in an everyday world.

Titus 3:1-2 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.

Leaders remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities and to obey them with demonstrations of good works. This is not blind obedience to things that are beyond an authority’s measure of rule, but obedience to the God-appointed responsibility given to men and women in life. Our testimony among the kingdoms of the world must come from the internal kingdom of Christ within our hearts. We cannot judge the world for acting like the world, we must simply demonstrate to the world what those embracing the internal kingdom of God look like.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

It is not our role to judge people in the world for being foolish. True wisdom comes from the Spirit of God in our hearts. We were once foolish, but Christ in us is granting us the grace of wisdom from God that empowers us to do works of faith towards God. We cannot judge the people of the world for being disobedient. True obedience is obedience to God and the things of God by the grace of the Spirit of Counsel in our hearts. We cannot expect those in the world to understand counsel that leads to life. Only Christ in them can empower them for true obedience unto life. We cannot judge the people in the world for being deceived. We were deceived, but the Spirit of the Lord made us alive toward God in Christ. We cannot expect people with hearts that are dead to God to not fall for deceptive things in life. People in the world serve their own desires and wants in life. We were this before Christ put His desires in our hearts. We cannot judge those in the world for acting selfishly, we must simply inspire them to think differently by the attitudes and actions of our own lives.

Titus 3:4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. 9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. 10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. 12 When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing. 14 And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. 15 All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Leaders are to remind those they lead, to not speak evil of anyone, to be peaceable, gentle, showing humility to all men. They must remember that true change and empowerment to live godly lives is by the mercy of God and by the power of His grace. Leaders remind the people that they are new creations being renewed by the Holy Spirit. In this, we do good works that bring life to our world. Leaders present an example of good woks and lead all to maintain good works in their lives.

Leaders teach and lead others to avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law – it is unprofitable and useless. They teach those in their care to reject any who are divisive. They do this in a spirit of love, not one of division. They simply don’t give room for any word of division to come to the family of God.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will be with the leader’s spirit in these things.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Paul’s instructions to Titus included exhortation concerning the character of the family of God.  These are not things we put upon those who live in the world, but they are attributes of those who are children of God. These instructions were not given to condemn those in the world who do not embrace them, but to encourage those in the church to be a community of Christ as a light to the communities of the world. People with the kingdom of God in their hearts are internally empowered to look different to those in the world. Not to condemn them, but to show them how practical and real a relationship with God is in life.

Titus 2:9-10 Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.

These things were true in Paul’s day, and they are true in every season of men. Leaders must encourage and lead those in their care to be testimonies of Christ in an everyday world. Employees are to serve their employers and employers are to treat their employees righteously. Teaching people to have good work ethics, good attitudes, good morals, and overall godly lifestyles is part of the responsibility of God-sent and God-appointed leaders. Every member of the community of Christ should set an example in these things that others can follow. The Holy Spirit’s demonstration of grace in the lives of those who believe is very real and very practical. Christ in us causes people to become godly in their character not religious in their activities.

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Leaders are to speak things that teach and inspire living godly lives. They must speak them, exhort those they lead to embrace them, and even rebuke those who oppose them with the authority given to them by God to lead. This is not an authority of control but an authority of love knowing that embracing godly living produces a blessed life.

Titus was to not let anyone despise him in his role as a leader among and before those God had given him responsibility to lead. Rebuking those who oppose instruction for godly living should be far outweighed by the momentum of those who embrace them. Leading people to become an expression of Christ in everyday life should be a thing that is willingly embraced by all. It should not be the exception, but rather the expected desire for members of any community of Christ. 

Titus 2:15 Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.

For a leader to challenge those they lead to walk in the character of Christ is not a thing of control. It is an aspect of being a responsible leader. A leader must know that outward actions are not the goal, but an embracing of the inward change that is only found in Christ. Christ in the heart of each man and each woman is the key to living with godly character in the everyday realities of life. This is more important than the activities of religious life. Christ-like character is more important than good songs, good programs, or good Christian activities.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of: www.ted4leaders.com www.ted4you.com or www.houseofbreadministry.org. Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to: House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225 To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year. Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728