Greetings;
Welcome to the first of my leadership blogs. I will be posting a weekly blog in regard to values for leadership. Some of you are part of the Missions/Church Tract in G42; others are leaders that I am working with in some way through House of Bread Ministry. If you would like to receive this blog on a weekly basis PLEASE CLICK THE FOLLOW BUTTON at the right of this page.
I am writing this blog to share some things that I feel are necessary for a multigenerational focus in the church. I don’t expect any of you to have to buy into my topics of sharing, but I feel that it is beneficial for me to share some of the strong values of my own heart for the sake of inspiring you to find the values of your own. I will also include audio teachings once in a while from a set of core values that I shared with a group of church influencers in our church of Abundant Life.
In today’s blog I want to address the topic of the Body of Christ. 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 that the task or the work of ministry. As leaders we must lead for the purpose of a BODY not a WORK OF MINISTRY. God’s will was not sacrifice and offerings. It was a body.
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 in 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.
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 and of 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 earth.
It is not the works of church ministry of 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 in tact and make relationship with God and people our primary aim in life.
Divinely joined human relationships empowered by the grace of God’s Holy Spirit are the true testimony of Christ’s power. We must never cheapen the gift of life in God and in the power of Christ in each of us for one another. If you are seeking to expand the influence of the kingdom today, don’t just look for good works. Look for God relationships. Who are the connecting members in your life that will become the ground in which God writes His expanding letter of life? Maybe we should honor common relationships and discover common purpose in life? Surly a true sound of purpose and attract common relationships, but I also believe that supernatural relationships spawn the expansion of greater purposes in the earth.
Who are the people that God has divinely joined you to? Who is God sending you to? What is the letter that God wants to write with you and others that will reveal the testimony of God’s grace? They will know us by our love!
A revelation of God’s love will empower our commitment to God and one another. A receiving of God’s love will active works of love toward God and others. An understanding of God’s love will invoke a response of love. A relationship of love will inspire a submission of love. An awakening to love will call for a contribution of love. A sharing of love with one another will further a transparent and vulnerable communion of love with one another. An awe of love will empower the reigning of love. I believe that these things can only be found in the place of true relationship, not merely the function of ministry. We are called to great things in Christ!
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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This is not just food for thought but it is the real meal for life now. Once again, that rhema word spoken has pierced the body, soul and heart of the reader. It is truly about relationship with God and with each other. What a joy it is to be connected with House of Bread and Abundant Life. I am a blessed man and my family is blessed even though they do not know it. I certainly do not take these words lightly. Joining my heart with others who read this weekly blog.
gary