ted4leaders

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Greetings,

If you have ever made the statement, “It’s not fair”, you have made a statement of truth. Life is not fair. It is life! Everyone is given a measure, a boundary, and an opportunity to affect this world with the life they live. Life is not meant to be fair; every life is an opportunity for the testimony of God’s love to shine through that life to the world around them. Leaders have been given a responsibility for the sake of others. They must set an example of how the love of God and the testimony of God prevail in all things. Their measure, their boundary, and their opportunity to affect this world is for the sake of those they lead. A leader will suffer trouble as though they are an evildoer, this is part of pressing through for the sake of others as a leader.  The apostle Paul suffered even to imprisonment.

2 Timothy 3:8-10 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

A leader endures things for the sake of those they lead. Being a leader means you have been given a grace and an anointing to take people where they have never been before. Leaders must press through things that resist what God wants to do in and through them so that those they lead can break through to the things of God in their lives. I believe that the number one testimony of sent authority is endurance. To live for Christ is to endure for Christ, thus leaders must be the first to endure for the testimony of Christ in their lives. How can we say we are the character of Christ without facing things that oppose His character in our lives? God gives a special grace to leaders to endure things for the sake of those He has given them to lead. When we receive God-sent authority in our lives we also become inheritors of the heavenly harvests obtained through the endurance of their lives. Endurance is the strength of faithfulness and faithfulness is the inspiration of one’s ability to endure.

2 Timothy 2:11-13 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

To remain faithful to Him is to reign with Him, thus faithfulness is the path to authority in all of our lives. Leaders must set an example in this and lead others into the same. Jesus gave His life for us; thus our testimony is to give life to others. This is to live for Him. Leaders set an example in the character, nature, way, power, and authority of giving life as Jesus gave His life for us. This is the true testimony of reigning in life. Our victory over all things is found in the empowerment of God’s life within us in all things. Our confession of Jesus is the testimony of His life within us. He does not seek to deny anyone, but only the testimony of His life within us is a testimony of His life-giving nature through us. This is the testimony of our faith – a response to His life within us that is seen as life for others. We are the body of Christ and leaders set an example to follow in this. They activate, facilitate, and release those within their measure of rule to become true to the nature of the family of God. Timothy was to remind his appointed leaders of these things and to set this example to the flock.

2 Timothy 2:14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.

A leader is not to strive about words that have no prophet but only ruin those who become bound by those meaningless teachings. The focus of every leader must be God and the family of God. It is not about disputes and arguments that lead to destructive testimonies in the family of God. Foolish theological debates and wrangling about religious views and perceptions do not serve to give life. They only prove to produce divisive debates that propagate foolish heresies. These are things found in the kingdoms of the world but are not attributes of those who are motivated by the internal kingdom of God’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,

Leader’s lead others in a path of faith regarding their calling, testimony, and purpose in Christ. The purpose of each one’s life is harvest. Harvest is what gives life to others beyond us and because of us. Who we are in Christ empowers us to give the life of Christ to our world. Paul told Timothy that he was to endure like a good soldier, compete like a good athlete, and work hard like a good farmer. The path of a leader is meant to fulfill the purpose for which they lead. That purpose is what I call the law of harvest

A leader must think in a manner of a soldier, athlete, and farmer. A leader thinks with a purpose-focused mind. Let’s think about Biblical meditation a minute. Meditation in the world is a process of emptying our minds of everything to receive some form of serenity. Biblical meditation is to fill our thoughts with all that is of God in order to see the character, nature, way, power, and authority of God birthed within our hearts and souls. We choose to look at what God says and what He is like in order to receive a transformation by the metamorphosis of our minds. It is a principle of the law of harvest. We choose to see how it is in heaven and then we submit the lesser laws of our thoughts and lives in order to reap that heavenly harvest in our lives. Leaders must understand this principle well.

God determines the harvest before He determines the sowing. Our eyes have not seen, our ears haven’t heard, and our thoughts haven’t thought of the things God has prepared for us; but He has revealed it all to us by the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:9, 10). This is the law of harvest. We know the end in our spirits before we can even know the beginning in our minds. We must choose to submit to this greater law of harvest in everything we do. I hope that I am challenging your thoughts. I am not attempting to answer all the questions or explain all of the details of the law of harvest in this letter. I am simply seeking to provoke you to think according to a greater calling, purpose, and destiny as a leader.

God has determined an end, but we must start with a beginning. We must never despise the day of small beginnings, because great destiny requires many small beginnings. When we think small beginnings, God thinks harvest.

Isaiah 46:9, 10 Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,’

The law of harvest demands that we sow seed in order to reap a crop, but we must see the crop in a spiritual realty before we can choose to labor in the natural. Leaders must see where they are going in the Spirit before they see it in the natural harvest fields of life. The labor of every leader must be towards a spiritual goal seen in heaven. Not everything that we sow is purposed by God for us to reap, but everything that God has purposed for us to reap requires us to sow. We don’t sow to reap. We sow because we see the harvest. Ishmael was a result of the law of sowing and reaping while Isaac was the result of the law of harvest. We don’t sow seed because we want to see a harvest. We see a harvest, so we sow seed. Leaders lead people to live their lives by the vision of a heavenly harvest. What God says, we can do. What God makes known in heaven, we can receive here on earth. Leaders must be men and women of faith who lead others to become the same. We see the harvest, so we sow seed. Blindly sowing seed is seed sown from unbelief. As leaders we must live for the harvest!

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,

Being a leader means standing fast when others want to quit. A leader takes people into territories of faith and the opposite of faith is natural sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Since sight is the opposite of faith, someone who walks a path of faith will likely encounter things that intimidate him or her on the journey. A leader must know how to press through in faith when natural experiences seem to threaten them. In Paul’s instructions to Timothy, Timothy was to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, compete as an athlete in a competition, and be as a hard-working farmer in the field of purpose.

2 Timothy 2:3-7 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

Being a leader is to be a soldier in a war. At times a leader will feel threatened in their spiritual, emotional, and even physical life, but they must fight the battle to win. Being a leader is like being in an athletic race of competition and the race must be run according to the rules. This includes the training process, the physical fitness plan, and all the rules of engagement in the race. Those rules are not rules of law. They are boundaries necessary for success. We do not just lead to lead; we lead to accomplish our task. We lead to be successful in our endeavors. We lead to win! Being a leader is also like being a farmer. One must work hard but also one be the first to eat the fruit of their labors. The fruit of the harvest is life to the world! A farmer lives with the law of harvest and submits the lesser laws of sowing, tilling, watering, weeding, etc. to the greater law of the vision of harvest. Like a farmer, a leader sees, believes, labors, reaps, and experiences the taste and benefits of the crops desired before the harvest goes to market.

In light of these things, every leader must understand what I call the law of harvest. I believe this is a spiritual law and it is determined in heaven and its benefits are seen in the earth. The lesser laws of first fruits, first things, sowing and reaping, gravity, density, and numerous laws of physics all serve this law of harvest. When we pray, “Let Your kingdom come, Let Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”, we are praying according to the law of harvest. Harvest is how it is in heaven. Leaders must see things as they are in heaven in order to lead earthly people into heavenly realities.

God wants for us to live our lives by the law of harvest, but most people choose to live their lives by the lesser laws. Most Christians think that living their lives by the law of sowing and reaping is the way to go. No true farmer lives by the law of sowing and reaping. A true farmer lives by the law of harvest and knows that he will have to also choose the law of sowing and reaping to serve that greater law of harvest. No farmer simply scatters seeds and hopes to get a crop. He determines what crop he wants long before he sows the seed. Leaders must do likewise in their role of leadership in the fields of Christ’s harvest. A farmer decides in his heart and mind as to what the market demands, how many acres are needed, how much seed is needed, what soil conditions are required, what growing care must be provided, and many other things before he even puts a seed in the ground. The law of harvest demands the service of the lesser laws of nature. The law of sowing and reaping might mathematically say that 1+1=2, but the law of harvest says that if you want 2 you must get 1+ another 1. The law of harvest sees 2 before it demands 1. That is a bit simple, but it is a way of describing the law of harvest in mathematics.

Leaders must think thoughts of harvest, not merely ones of sowing. God has purposed for everything to end in harvest (Mt. 13:39). The end of every age is culminated in harvest. Everything about every age must serve the purpose of the culmination of that age. It must serve harvest. Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. He didn’t just blindly hope everything would work out. He saw a harvest and then did everything to accomplish that end. He was willing to embrace the suffering of the cross for the great harvest that would follow. It is a kingdom principle and a spiritual law of heaven.

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 was redemptive in his attitude towards those who had disconnected from him and were caught up in some deception of life. Paul also commended the faithful, for the sake of others who would follow in the example of the same. He understood that those who served him in love were also examples of the love of Christ for others to follow in life. Onesiphorus was such a man, who perhaps was caught up in some of the same deception as Phygellus and Hermogenes.

2 Timothy 1:16-18 The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day—and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.

Paul’s prayer was that the Lord would grant Onesiphorus mercy, surely implying that he needed mercy for challenges that perhaps came to him through the lives of Phygellus and Hermogenes or maybe even some error in his own life. It appears that shaking in the present moment didn’t negate Paul’s recognition of this man’s love for him. Whatever the situation was, Paul was stirred in his love for him. Leaders must know that even in the difficult times of betrayal, abandonment, or some opposition inspired by deception, that an attitude of love and the substance of love was to be in the heart of those who lead. Love is the true substance of leadership, and it is the bond of any expression of the community of God.

Paul presented to Timothy that many had turned away from him, but Timothy was to be strong in the grace that is Christ Jesus. Leaders cannot allow the wounding in their hearts caused by others to affect their attitude towards them or towards anyone as they continue in their responsibility of leading in the community of God. No matter what human conflicts a leader faces, they must never allow the actions of others to affect their attitude and willingness to give life to others. This is a supernatural testimony of the work of God’s grace in the human heart. Enduring the challenges of others and continuing strong in the grace of Christ is a part of leadership. This is more important than the tasks of ministry. It is about maintaining the character of Christ in all things.

2 Timothy 2:1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 

Leaders must not just lead tasks of ministry. They must lead people. They must seek to multiply the life given to them by God in the lives of others. Discipleship is not about teaching others what to do in life. It is about increasing the inheritance of life given by God in the generations that follow. The increase of God’s government and peace is a grace to be multiplied in the generations of the family of God. There should always be a multigenerational focus. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel. God is the God of Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and others also. This is what I call a one-hundred-year plan.

2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 

Every leader should seek to live in this standard of inheritance in the community of Christ. Timothy was to take the things he had heard from Paul and to commit them to faithful men who would be able to teach others also. The focus of father is to live for the sake of the children and the children’s children. This attribute should be in the heart of every leader.

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 must know that suffering is part of the process of revealing the true testimony of Christ’s life to those they lead. Paul told Timothy to share in his suffering for the testimony of the Lord. The testimony of the Lord in our lives can only be revealed through the testing of our faith. Leaders must embrace a willingness to endure for the sake of their responsibility in Christ. Endurance is a key to the process of receiving the character of Christ in our lives. Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. We must also endure the cup given to us in life for the joy that is set before us. That joy is that the future generations of men and women in Christ will know a greater fullness of Christ because of who are and what we do today.

2 Timothy 1:8-12 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

The true mark of sent authority is endurance. That endurance leads to a testimony of life for the sake of others. It is through endurance that the purpose of God in our lives is revealed, and the testimony of His grace is empowered. This is when the light and life of Christ in us is truly made known.

As leaders we have a responsibility of both a heritage and an inheritance for the sake of those we lead. Leadership is not simply a skill learned and then a task we do to simply perform some role of ministry. I believe that leadership is more like taking your spot in a relay race. A leader receives the baton given them from those who have run the race thus far. Paul told Timothy to hold fast in presenting a pattern of sound words that he had received from Paul. He was to embrace those things with the faith and love given to his own life through Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 1:13-14 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

The role of leadership is one of being responsible for what has been given to you through the heritage of leaders before and the substance of the Holy Spirit, Who was the author in the lives of those who led before and the author of the role of leadership in the present. A leader must depend upon and seek to be intimate with the Holy Spirit in keeping to the task given to them by God in Christ. Paul commended Timothy for his faithfulness to these things and gave examples of others who had abandoned the responsibility given to them by God. When Paul named those who had failed, he was not attempting to pass a judgment upon them, but to warn, protect, and guide others to stay fast in the call of God in their lives.

2 Timothy 1:15 This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. 

Authority represents authority and when a leader rejects those who have been sent to them as spiritual fathers, they themselves become spiritual renegades. They can hardly set an example of the faith to others since faith includes faithfulness to those that God sends and to the task that God sends them to do. I believe that the number one mark of authority is endurance. It is not just endurance for the sake of enduring, but endurance to be true to who God has made them to be and endurance in all that God has given them to do. It is endurance in love, hope, and faith for the sake of the community of God that they have been joined to.

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 we read the letters written by Paul to Timothy, we must notice the depth of relationship expressed from Paul’s heart to Timothy. It was not just the writing of a leader to another leader who was accountable to them for some tasks of ministry. It was a heart-felt expression of a spiritual father to a spiritual son. I believe that it is important for every church leader to identify those who are spiritual fathers in their lives. Some are no doubt spiritual teachers, or spiritual mentors, but only a few are spiritual fathers. Paul understood this very well in that he wrote that there are many teachers, but only a few spiritual fathers.

1 Corinthians 4:15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Paul’s words to Timothy were words of relationship, not words for denominations or non-denominations of ministry structure of organizational accountability. This is the testimony of true life in the family of God.

2 Timothy 1:1, 2  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul’s expression to Timothy was one of love and affection. He recognized that his own role as a leader was one of spiritual inheritance and that Timothy must be aware that his role was also one of the same. Being a leader is not a matter of merely being qualified to lead or supervise in tasks of ministry. It is a role of spiritual inheritance and responsibility. Paul was a testimony to his forefathers in the faith and Timothy was a testimony to the faith of his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois. Notice, Paul knew Timothy’s family, their character, their love, and their spiritual testimony.

If we consider Jesus, He had a role of being a spiritual father to twelve men. He was not over hundreds of churches and hundreds of ministries. I have often heard so-called apostolic leaders cite how hundreds of churches are in relationship with them. My question to them would be for them to tell me the name of family members, family history, and spiritual heritage of those they claim to be in relationship with. Being a leader involves being in an intimate relationship with God-sent authority in their lives. It is a matter of relationship, not ministry task or gifting. It is a matter of Divine connection and destiny.

2 Timothy 1:3-5 I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day,  greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy,  when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 

Timothy was to remember his spiritual heritage and to stir up the gift of God that was in him through the laying on of the hands of Paul. Every leader must be able to recognize their spiritual heritage and to recognize that what God has given them is a gift from heaven. It is not a matter of qualification by human strength or skill. It is a matter of gift and grace given by God from heaven. Every leader is responsible before God to stir up what God has put within them for the sake of those they lead.

2 Timothy 1:6, 7 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Every leader must understand and embrace the love that God has for them, the power of His purpose and presence in their lives, and the strategy of thinking given to them by God’s grace. God’s love for them is not merely a love for them, but a love to be shown and given to those they lead. Perfect love casts out all fear, and when a leader knows the love of God, they can walk in the power that God has given them. When they walk with confidence in the power that God has given them their thinking becomes clear and the strategy of leading rises up from within them.

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

Greetings,

I hope you are all well. I am writing this letter to present a need of House of Bread Ministry. I am excited with all that God has done and is continuing to do. I have been providing equipping and resources to the body of Christ in many places for these past years. This is my 52^nd year as a believer in Christ and I will complete my 70^th year on planet earth this year. God continues to open effective doors for me to bring life to this world.

Much of my focus these past fourteen years has been to equip and train people in parts of the world that cannot financially support or contribute to my ability to come to them. I am asking for your help.

I need funding for air travel and support to do all that God has called me to do. House of Bread has been supporting the establishing of churches and schools in Angola, Africa. We need funds for building materials, staffing, and ministry development there.

Even when I travel to places in Europe or the UK, my expenses are very often not covered. I need support for travel, but also for my own family while I am focusing on giving life to God’s family. If God blesses you, please consider partnering with House of Bread Ministry in our commission to reach the nations and generations for God’s glory.

My mandate is to bring Christ’s New Covenant life and the empowerment of His grace to places that have been bound to death and the legalism of law. Anything you can to support House of Bread Ministry will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your prayers and support,

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 leader’s we can easily get caught up in the task of ministry. We can become very focused on the task of ministry or the works of ministry. I believe that God has much more in mind than the task or the work of ministry. As leaders we must lead for the purpose of a BODY not a WORK OF MINISTRY. The will of God was never a matter sacrifice and offerings. His will was a body – a dwelling place of God by His Spirit.

Whether you are called to leading in the church or leading in missions, you are called to people. I believe that the place of God’s choosing for all of us is to find our place of planting in the body of Christ (Deut. 12:5). Jesus Christ was the first expression of the body of Christ in human form. He became a manifestation of God in the flesh so that we as flesh could become an expression of God. The human expression of God in the earth is the very thing that Jesus came to restore. We are called to become the fullness of the likeness and the image of our heavenly Father in human form (Heb. 1:3).

It is the expression of the body of Christ in the earth that is going to subdue the enemies of God in the earth (Heb. 1:13). Jesus as the head is waiting for the fullness of His life to be made known in His body in heaven and on the earth. Our covenant with God is not one of works, but one of relationship. God is writing His nature upon our hearts and upon our minds. The body of Christ is in organism, not an organization. God’s covenant is with a living body, not an institution of works. I believe that the true holy place of God is not a place of coming together for Christian efforts, but a relational place of knowing God in the Spirit.

The power of God’s grace is not discovered in the works of ministry. It is found in the relationship of the body of Christ. The forgiveness of sins is not a testimony of works, but one of relationship with God in Christ as a part of the body of Christ. We must never forget that this is our focus of ministry. We are not here to build the works of the kingdom. We are here to participate in the increasing testimony of the kingdom. This is the testimony of being the family of God. It is a testimony of sons and daughters of their Father in heaven.

We have entered the holy place by the blood of Jesus. It was through the rending of His flesh that we have been invited into membership in His body. The veil that was rent at the cross was not merely the veil of the temple. It was the veil of His flesh that invites us into true relationship with God in His true temple. The body of Christ is the temple of God that is being increasingly filled with the life of His Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 10:19-25  Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

As leaders and influencers of the activities of the church, let’s not be distracted by mere activities. The holy of holies is the heart of the church and it is a corporate place of life in Christ. God is doing a good work in the earth and His enemies will be made His footstool beneath His feet. Those feet are the standing place of the body of Christ in heaven and on earth.

It is not the works of church ministry or mission endeavors that proclaims the glory of God. It is the increasing habitation of God in the earth through the testimony of the written letters of Christ in the body of Christ. Works of ministry are adjustable; relationship in the body is not. Let’s keep our covenant responsibilities intact and make relationship with God and people our primary aim in life.

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 instructed Timothy to consider his role of leadership to be an awesome responsibility before God. Leaders must understand that they are leading others to become a testimony of God’s family in the earth. This is not a matter of personal gain, but of personal sacrifice for the glory of God’s will and kingdom in the earth. It is an eternal responsibility before the highest authority in heaven and earth. Timothy was to give his life to the purpose of leading God’s people in his time. Leaders must give their lives to the purpose of leading God’s people in their time in the earth. It is an honor and a great privilege to be chosen by God for such a task.

1 Timothy 6:13-16 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

It is an awesome thing to be entrusted with a responsibility before the One who is the Potentate, King of kings, and Lord of lords! God is the only ruler of all things and to Him all things belong. The One who is the source of all beginnings and endings, the One who made all things and sustains all things, and the One to whom all things belong has chosen to use men. To think that God trusts and entrusts people to represent Him to and for the sake of others is an honor with amazing ramifications. Leaders must realize the gravity of their role in God’s church.

Leaders must be bold for Christ and bold for the sake of leading others into places they may not desire to go. This is not merely leading them into earthly tasks, duties, or responsibilities. It is leading them into the character of the family of God upon the earth. Timothy was to command the rich to not be proud nor trust in their riches but to be generous and to be rich in good works and a willingness to share with others. This was not about their money, but about the character of their hearts.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.  Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Paul didn’t tell Timothy to ‘suggest’ that the rich give to others. He instructed Timothy to ‘command’ them to do good and to use their financial blessings as a means of revealing who they were in the character of Christ with the material things entrusted to them in this life. For a leader to do this means that they must see the character of Christ as more valuable than the riches possessed by men. In order for leaders to be bold in the matters required to lead others into the will of God, a leader must realize that the attributes of Christ’s character, nature, way, power, and authority outweigh the value of personal opinions, possessions, intentions, attitudes, and any other individual quality in life. We must never seek to control or manipulate others to the agendas of our will, but leaders must willingly accept the responsibility of leading people to respond to God’s desires in their lives. It is not that leaders decide what others should do, but they must lead others in responding to what God is requiring of them in their personal lives. 

Timothy was to guard what was given to him by God and avoid entering into disputes with those who contradicted and were concerned with things that did not pertain to the faith in God.

1 Timothy 6:20-21 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge — by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

God’s grace is with leaders to lead. What has been entrusted to them by God is a testimony of God’s trust in them and His willingness to anoint them for the responsibility of leading others. Leaders must lead! Foolish things that are not the issues of Christ and Christ-like character should not distract them. Disputes over laws, preferences, prideful knowledge, judgmental arguments, feasts, festivals, and various opinions and superstitions are not to be the diet of leaders or of those they lead. A leader must focus on what God has given to them and they must not be distracted by the agendas of foolish people who want to make issues out of matters that do not concern the faith. Faith is towards God and it is a matter of responding to the voice of God in the human heart. It is an action inspired by God’s voice in an atmosphere of a revelation of His love. This must be the focus of leaders, and this is to be the focus of those that leaders lead. Leaders set an example in this, lead others to embrace this, and guard to protect this purpose in the community of Christ.

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