ted4leaders

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

I have been addressing seven essential truths found in the foundation of Christ that a leader must lead, and believers must believe. I have presented the first two. As leaders we must lead others in embracing a lifestyle of repentance from dead works. This is repentance unto life. It is a gift of God’s grace working in our lives. The dead places in our hearts become empowered by the life of God and the desires of our hearts change. We know God’s love and our hearts and minds are changed by the Spirit of the Lord.

A second thing that leaders must lead, and believers must believe is a lifestyle of faith toward God. This is not faith towards the promises of God. It is faith toward God as the Promiser. The evidence of our faith is seen in works of love towards God that demonstrate our belief in Him. We believe Him, and we respond to His words of love in our lives. We live our lives as members of the body of Christ with no fear of death. God’s perfect love has cast out our fears and our lives are filled with works that testify of our identity in Christ’s body.

Today I want to address our need to embrace, and lead others in a lifestyle of being submerged in the Holy Spirit. Being submerged in Christ changes our lives and we become a testimony of that change, both inside and out. We live on daily words of His life and outward testimonies that reveal that our character, nature, way, power, and authority are being made new in Christ.

The writer of the book of Hebrews describes this truth as the doctrine of baptisms. It is not the doctrine about baptisms. It is the doctrine of baptisms. It is not what we believe about baptisms, but rather what happens when we are submerged in Christ’s anointing.

If we translate the word ‘doctrine’ we would say that it is ‘teaching’ or simply, ‘our way of life’. Holy Spirit teaches us by transforming our lives. The transformation that comes by the work of Holy Spirit in our lives causes the testimony of Christ within us to become an outward testimony of our lives. This is not a one-time experience in our lives. It is a testimony of baptisms, a testimony of many submersions in the anointing of Holy Spirit.

The word baptism means to be “submerged” or completely “immersed” in something. The doctrine of baptisms is the transformational teaching that comes into our lives when we are “submerged” or “immersed” into the anointing of the Holy Spirit and His grace of the Spirit of Understanding. How are we submerged in that anointing? We are submerged in that anointing when we live a lifestyle of responding to the One within us in outward ways. We become submerged as we respond to Holy Spirit and what is within us overflows from our hearts.

Holy Spirit takes what is of Jesus and the Father and reveals it to us (Jn. 16:14). He doesn’t reveal His teaching to us as ‘information’. He doesn’t come to ‘inform’ us of anything. He comes to change our lives! He comes to ‘transform’ us. He comes as the Spirit of Understanding to open up the eyes of our hearts to know the hope of Christ’s calling and the riches of His inheritance in us (Eph. 1:18). That is the kind of teacher He is! He is the facilitator of the covenant of grace. Grace is the power of the Holy Spirit’s presence that changes our lives! The Holy Spirit is the only teacher of the New Covenant.

1 Jn. 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

1 Jn. 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

The way of life that comes by submersions speaks of the ability for the power of God inside of us to be visibly known in our lives. This happens when we willingly respond to the presence of Holy Spirit in us by giving expression to release what is within us out. The belief in our hearts becomes the outward testimony of our lives in supernatural and miraculous ways. The outward ways of our lives are changed by internal ways of God in our hearts. When we give expression to the daily internal words of God in our lives, the external testimony of our lives becomes a testimony of our new name in 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

Blog In Audio

Greetings,

Today I am going to continue to address seven things a leader must lead in – seven things a believer must live in. The first thing was a matter of repentance unto life that frees us from being bound to dead works. The dead places in our hearts are continually transformed by God’s life as the grace of the Spirit of the Lord gives us God’s desires in our hearts. This is a daily process and part of our journey in life. We are continually renewed in the desires of our hearts as God changes us from within.  

The second thing that a leader must lead in, and a believer must live in, is a matter of faith towards God. True faith is towards a person, not toward a promise. Because we know the love of God, we love Him. We know that our future is secure, and we have no fear of any form of death, not even the physical death of our lives. The works that we do in life demonstrate our faith towards who God is.

The act of water baptism is a testimony of a work that declares our identification in the person Jesus Christ as a member of the body of Christ. A second aspect in the foundation of the body of Christ is to live a life of faith towards the One we identify in.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Colossians 3:3-11 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Faith Towards God is demonstrated in works of faith that testify of our connection to God. Water baptism is such a work. It is an outward testimony of our internal connection to God in Christ. We are baptized unto a person, who is a personal leader. Baptism is an act of faith that identifies us in a living relationship with a real person. Being baptized in the name of Jesus means being baptized in the name of God’s fullness. That is to be baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19).

Water baptism is a first work of faith and is to be one act among countless acts of our faith toward God. Water baptism reveals the truth of every act of faith we do in Christ. Water baptism testifies to the fact that we died in Christ, were buried in Christ, and have risen to a new life in Him (Rom. 6:4). That new life has no fear of death, since water baptism is an act that testifies of the once-for-all death of Christ. By this act of faith we can know that every action we take of faith toward God has no fear of death in it. Not even the second death, the final eternal death, has any power over us (Rev. 2:11).

A lifestyle of faith marks us as being a part of the Body of Christ. Water baptism is the act of the Christian faith that marks us as part of the Body of Christ, the circumcision of our hearts toward God.

We have faith toward God by the Spirit of Wisdom at work in our lives. Faith toward God is faith filled and fear empty. Faith toward God is not the fear of circumstances.

Every work we do should testify of our connection to Jesus Christ as a member of His body here upon the earth. The works we do we do by faith in Him. Whatever we do testifies that we are members of the body of Christ. We are loved by God, and we love God. Our love for God is testified in the works of our lives.

As the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, faith towards God is an empowerment of the Spirit of God in our lives. The Spirit of wisdom empowers us to do works that testify of our love for God because we know we are loved by Him. It is part of the grace of God working in our lives. We have no fear of death because the perfect love of God in Christ frees us from yielding to any fear of dying. Leaders lead by example in this, and leaders lead others to embrace faith towards God in their hearts so the works of their lives will demonstrate their faith in the person Jesus 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

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Today I am going to begin to address seven things a leader must lead in – seven things a believer must live in.

The writer of the book of Hebrews addressed the foundations of our lives empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is Christ in us that gives us the reason of use in being a testimony of a member of the body of Christ. Whereas the Old Covenant was a matter of information and instruction of law, the New Covenant is the empowerment of our lives as believers by the power of God’s grace. The Old Covenant was an administration of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but the New Covenant is an administration of an intimate relationship with God and the tree of life.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to ⁷perfection, not laying again the foundation of ¹repentance from dead works and of ²faith toward God, 2 of the ³doctrine of baptisms, of ⁴laying on of hands, of ⁵resurrection of the dead, and of ⁶eternal judgment.

In these verses seven things are revealed that every leader must embrace and seek to live in to lead others in doing the same. These are empowerments of God grace concerning:

1. Repentance from dead works
2. Faith towards God
3. A way of life that comes by submersions in the Holy Spirit
4. The life-giving authority of the laying on of the hands of Christ
5. Living in the manifest presence of the Resurrection Life of Christ
6. Embracing the Eternal Judgment of God’s Mercy
7. Growing in the perfection of the maturity of Christ to release an inheritance to others beyond our lives

These seven realities are also seen in the testimony of seven things found in the foundation of the birthing of the New Covenant Church as seen in the book of Acts.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, ¹“Repent, and ²let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall ³receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Acts 2:42 And they ⁴continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and ⁵fellowship, in the ⁶breaking of bread, and in ⁷prayers.

The first thing that every leader must embrace and lead others to live in as well, is a repentance from dead works. This is not a repentance from evil. It is a repentance from being dead. It is a gift from God, not a discipline of the flesh. It is an empowerment of the Spirit of the Lord in our lives. The Spirit of the Lord gives us a desire empowered by being loved by God! Repentance is a gift, or granted to us by God when we embrace His love in our hearts. 

Acts 5:31 “Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”

Acts 11:18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

When we seek external things to find love, to find our identity, it is because we lack an internal revelation of being loved by God. Receiving the love of God in our hearts makes us come alive to God in our hearts. The dry places of our hearts become empowered to be a watered garden of God’s presence. Paradise is restored in our lives – a place of knowing God, living with Him, and walking with Him in life. It is the desirable place of knowing God and it frees us from being dead in our hearts. Leaders must lead others by example in being loved by God in their hearts and no longer living in the shadows of illegitimate life sources that only leave us dead to repeatedly do dead works that never produce the fruit of life. It is not a repentance of condemnation and shame. It is a repentance unto life! It is knowing the truth of God’s love in our hearts. We were born to be loved by God! He loves us and He gives us the desires of our hearts! Those desires given to us by Him change our lives forever and it is a continually growing reality in our lives. This is not a one-time experience of turning to God in our hearts, but a daily turning to Him so the light of His life gives desires that come from being loved by God.

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,

A couple of days ago I head God say that 2023 is a year of ‘new strength’. It will be a year of hurdles. What is a hurdle? A hurdle is an obstacle that you are expected to overcome. It is not a place that you cannot get over. It is a place that you are expected to get over, but you are going to have to find the strength to do so. That strength comes from within.

A hurdle is a device used to draw the best of the abilities of the one who finds the hurdle on the course. It is part of a training course, but that training simply reveals a fuller potential from within the one on the course. It is meant to draw out a strength that reveals one’s true abilities.

The central attraction in our lives needs to be God our Father, Jesus the Son, and intimacy with Holy Spirit. These are the center of our world. In God we live, we move, and we have our being. Christ in us is the hope of glory. So, to find ‘new strength’ means that we will discover a deeper understanding of Christ in us. I believe God is going to draw out the identity, testimony, and purpose of Christ from within our hearts and we will see new things in 2023. Those things will reveal a greater purpose for God’s glory.

Yesterday I heard God say that 2023 is going to have some unexpected turns. Perhaps the unexpected turns will reveal the hurdles that we can expect to overcome. Unexpected turns are not something we can plan for. They are unexpected. We can plan to find our strength in Christ. Finding our strength in Christ will surely give us whatever we need for any unexpected turns in our lives.

I don’t sense that unexpected turns of 2023 are a negative thing. I feel that the unexpected turns of 2023 are going to inspire us to believe for more, see more, and experience more in our identity, testimony, and purpose in Christ. Holy Spirit is working in our lives to walk with God as our friend in our paths of destiny.

The apostle Paul wrote that the signs of a sent one (apostle), were accomplished with all perseverance. They were demonstrated in supernatural ways, but they were accomplished with perseverance.

1 Corinthians 12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

The word perseverance is not just endurance or a determination to win. The word implies a cheerful endurance. It is a persistence that draws upon the life of Christ from within us.

I believe that we are facing a new season in Christ to know the cheerful endurance that comes by the life of Christ within us. The hurdles before us will only challenge us to find the joy of Christ within our hearts to experience new testimonies of our victory in Christ.

As leaders, we must set an example in perseverance that others can follow. The joy of the Lord is our strength and a new strength for our new path in Christ will come from within. We must inspire those we lead to find their strength from within. We must inspire those we lead to overcome every hurdle put before them to find the joy of new testimonies in Christ in 2023.

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,

Today I felt to post a portion of some prophetic declaration and words given by my son, Pastor Jonathan Hanson, and myself, this past Sunday. I believe that 2023 is a season to embrace the fresh presence of Jesus in your life. He is coming in clouds! He is coming in His manifest presence in bodily form. We are in another measure of His life-giving, life transforming river. It is another measure to know Him in a deeper way and to see His glory rise in the earth. The body of Christ is going to arise and shine in this hour in new levels of intimacy and testimony in the power of Christ.

Jonathan Hanson:

I decided to look up the word Advent this morning, and it means “important coming”, or “important arrival”, or “important promise”. So, I just feel like, what Amy just said being grateful that Jesus is the greatest gift.

I hear Him say, “Are you ready for an important arrival? Are you ready for an important coming.”

There’s something in the air, there’s something God is doing in your life. Even if you can’t see Him working, He’s doing something. I promise you, He’s up to something. Even if people around you can’t feel it or sense it, and you like, how come I am the only one that is bubbly and everyone else is like tormented? It’s because God is doing something whether you feel it or not. So, I want to posture my heart to just believe what He says more than what I feel. I want to believe what He says more than what everyone around me is feeling. I want to believe God.
I know You are the most important arrival that every came, You’re also the most important that is coming, and You’re the most important that’s here right now. And so God, I just know you are up to something in this season that we’re in. You’re always working. You’re always doing things. You’re always talking to us. You’re always preparing and making ways and providing a way.

So, I just hear Him say, “Get ready! I’m coming! Get ready, I’m coming! Get ready, I’m coming in your life in new ways. Get ready, I’m about to show up in a way that you’ve never experienced Me before. Where you’ve only tasted blips of Me before, I’m coming in a brand-new way. So, get ready, 2023, I’m coming. Get ready for the most important arrival of your life. Jesus is showing up in your life in ways you’ve never experienced before. So posture your hearts to receive, posture your hearts to believe, posture your ways of knowing who I am more than what you see, but posture yourself to believe and to trust that I am here with you.”

Ted J. Hanson:

“Do you understand that My mercy is new every morning? That My grace is sufficient for every situation. I am not turning the page to give you a new calendar, I’m giving you a new appointment book, says God.  For this is not a time of opportunity, this is a time of divine appointments. And you’re going to understand in this new season, how wonderful My mercy is. That I am not the One who simply comes to do ‘do overs’ in your life, I am the One who makes all things new.  And that which you have not even dared to see or dared to believe for, is going to stir in your spirit. For God says, I am renewing your thought, I’m renewing your strategy, I’m renewing your emotions, I’m renewing your imagination, I’m renewing your desire.”

“This is going to be a season of you depending upon Me, not out of desperation, but out of joy. Out of anticipation. Out of divine connection, and you will understand that I work on your behalf. That I look at you as children and friends and I move on your behalf to reveal who I am. Not so that I will receive, but so that you will receive. So that you will believe. So that you will become all that I have declared,” says God. “So, this is not a season of a new calendar. This is a season of new appointment and it’s a fresh season to know that My mercy is new every morning and my grace is more than sufficient for every situation.”

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,

Today I am posting a portion of a blog from 2014. I felt stirred to repost this in light of us all doing our share, not to demonstrate ministry, but to be a witness of connection to God and to one another by the life of God’s Spirit. As I wrote last week, “love is the bond, but that love is God’s love and not love that is connected to our own self-seeking desires.” Each of us are who we are for the sake of giving life to others in our world.

Many people believe that what they do determines who they are in this life. This is the way of thinking in the world. Living for what we do is very self-focused and narrow-minded in fulfilling human purpose. People in the world seek to fulfill their own destinies, but they very seldom discover the greatness of living for the life of others. Unfortunately, this same thinking often prevails in the Church. Our thinking must change in order for us to live for God’s purpose in this world. We are all called to the hope of Christ’s calling, we reveal a testimony of His inheritance, and the power of Christ in us is meant to change the world beyond our own lives. This was the way of Jesus. He lived for a calling beyond His natural circumstances, He stood as a heavenly testimony of life in the midst of a dead world, and the testimony of the power of His life was seen in the changed world of others beyond His own natural days. His mindset was one of true authority. He knew that the will of God was who He was; therefore He could do whatever was necessary to fulfill His destiny.

Jesus didn’t come to die for our sins. He came to reconcile us to our heavenly Father, but He was willing to die for us to make that happen. He could do the will of God because He first knew that He was the will of God. He was the Savior of the world; therefore, He could do whatever was necessary to save it. We must embrace this same way of thinking.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Our minds are continually being changed so we can stand in the authority of life that God has given to each of us. No one’s measure of authority is less significant. Each and every one of us was born to bring life to others. Each and every person in this world has a value of being a one and only child of God. That value is not determined by what we do. It was determined by the price that God paid for each and every one. He gave His only begotten Son as the redemption value of each one. We must all value who we are, and we must seek to live life in the uniqueness of our own authority.

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 

To think of ourselves more highly than we ought, is to think outside of the boundary or sphere of who God has made us to be. We don’t need to become smaller so that others can be bigger. We need to be true to who we are so that who we are will bring life to those who are what we are not. We each supply life to one another. We cannot live in false humility thinking we are nothing; we must embrace true humility simply living for the sake of others within the boundaries of our own authority. We are all part of a corporate plan of life. Faith comes by hearing God, and it is in hearing God that we come to know who we are. We cannot do anything or be anything we want to be in life. We must discover who God says we are. This will fulfill our destiny in this world. Anything less is missing the mark.

Romans 12:4-8 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

We have each been given a combination of motivational giftings from our heavenly Father that serves the uniqueness of our ability to bring life to others. Those internal motivations determine our ability to function in various realms of responsibility. Those realms of responsibility are the place of our destined authority. Those who are motivated to perceive are not greater than those who are motivated to serve. Those who teach are not greater than those who are motivated to exhort others. Those that exhort are not better or less than those who are motivated towards mercy. Those who lead are not greater than those who join to their leadership for the purpose of God’s life in this world. We are each motivated to fulfill a measure of authority. That authority will bring life to others.

We must be true to whom God has made us to be. When we embrace who we are in life, we can bring life to others. We were created to bring life to this 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,

As leaders, we aren’t called to merely lead Christian ministry. We aren’t merely called to lead Christian works. We are called to lead the family of God in relationships. First, and foremost, we are called to lead people in knowing God. We cannot teach them to know God, but we can inspire them to know God through the example of our own lives. Our intimacy with God, and our reliance upon Him in all things, will inspire those we lead to live their lives in the same way. I believe that this is most important.

As leaders, we are also called to lead others in relationships with one another. We are not merely believers in Christ. We are believers of Christ and our believing Him inspires us to live together as His family. He is our Father, and we are His sons and daughters who live for His glory in all things.

Our commission is not to do Christian works. Our commission is to make disciples of nations. Jesus made disciples by living with a few, revealing a life of connection to God His Father. That connection was demonstrated with works of ministry and supernatural testimonies of God’s power, but His goal was not ministry or power. His goal was to reconnect us all to God as our Father. When we are connected to God our Father, we will manifest His works of love. We will manifest His supernatural power of life. That power of life is not life that can die, but resurrection life that cannot be killed. It is a testimony of triumphant love made known by our Father’s supernatural abilities.

I believe that we fall short of who we are meant to be when we make ministry or works our goal. When we make ministry or works our goal, it is easy to become offended in our relationships. I believe our goal must be intimacy with God and with one another. This will be demonstrated though our willingness to minister to one another. We will do works of ministry, but those works will demonstrate that we live for the well-being of others.

1 Corinthians 10:23-24 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.

Leaders present their bodies for the testimony of the body of Christ. They give their all as an example to be followed. Leaders inspire body members to do the same. God’s mercy has justified us to be joined to God and to one another in Christ, for His glory in our world.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We are being changed in our thinking. We don’t live for ourselves. We live for God and for one another. Each of us are perfect in who we are and who we are is only found in Christ for the purpose of Christ in all things. We never need to be jealous of someone else. We don’t seek to be competitive, but submissive one to another for God’s purposes.

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

We each do our share, not to demonstrate ministry, but to be a witness of connection to God and to one another by the life of God’s Spirit. Love is the bond, but that love is God’s love and not love that is connected to our own self-seeking desires.

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,

There are many styles of churches and ministries. The style of church we lead, or the style of ministry we lead, is simply a vehicle to carry the presence of God for the purposes of God. I liken the expressions of churches and ministries to boats that contain the presence of Jesus.

We sometimes make the miracles of God our focus and we miss seeing the presence and purpose of God in our lives. Sometimes we make ministry structure and style our focus and we miss seeing the presence and purpose of God. The presence of Jesus in our lives empowers us in supernatural ways, but those supernatural experiences only testify of our need for Jesus to fulfill God’s purposes in our ministries.

In the gospels, there is a story of Jesus walking on water. Jesus walked on water to the disciples in the boat in the midst of a storm (Mt. 14:22–33; Mk. 6:45-52; Jn. 6:15–21). I believe that this story depicts our need for Jesus in all that we are and do. Peter could step out of the boat because Jesus bid him to come. When Peter was distracted by the waves of the sea, he began to sink, but Jesus took his hand and led him back to the boat. The storm was tossing the boat but Jesus in the boat calmed the sea and boat was able to continue to its destination, where many people were healed and touched by the supernatural love of God.

God used a boat with Noah in the days of world change (Gen. 6:13-15). God shut Noah in the boat (Gen. 7:16). I don’t believe that God merely sealed the boat tightly. I believe that God’s presence was with Noah and his family while they were in the boat and that God’s presence sealed the boat from the flood waters of destruction. God’s presence surrounded the boat and empowered it to move forward into the purposes of God for the earth. This was Old Covenant testimony but in the New Covenant God’s presence is in the boat.

There is one story of Jesus walking on water, but there are numerous times where Jesus needed a boat. The boat was not a boat of human purpose. It was always a boat for the presence of Jesus and the purposes of God in the earth. Peter, James, and John had to leave a boat to follow Jesus because the presence of Jesus was more important than merely a boat (Mt. 4:21-22).

Jesus was asleep in a boat when a storm arose because God always rests in what carries His purpose in the earth (Mt. 8:23-27; Mk. 4:35-39). When Jesus awoke, He demonstrated that His presence in the boat is stronger than any storm that resists the purpose of the boat. The boat then carried Jesus to the other side to bring freedom to the Gadarenian demoniac (Mk. 5:1-4).

Jesus used a boat to cross over to the other side to heal a paralytic (Mt. 9:1-2). He used a boat to cross over and heal a woman with an issue of blood and to raise the daughter of Jairus from the dead (Mk. 5:21-23). Jesus used a boat so the crowd could see Him and hear Him speak (Mt. 13:1-2; Mk. 4:1; Mk. 6:34-45). He used a boat to get to a secluded place a to pray (Mt. 14:13; Mk. 6:30-33). Jesus used a boat to minister to the sick (Mk. 6:53-54) and He used a boat to get to the region of Magdala (Mt. 15:39). Jesus used a small boat to escape from being crushed by the crowd (Mk. 3:9-10). Jesus used a boat to demonstrate God’s supernatural provision for Peter (Lk. 5:3-7) and He also used a boat to demonstrate who He was to Peter after His resurrection (Jn. 21:6-8).

I think the story of Jesus walking on water illustrates our need for Jesus in our boat. We need a boat to fulfill the purposes of God, but any boat that God instructs us to get, or build, must be for the presence of Jesus and the will of God. Without the presence of Jesus we cannot fulfill His purpose, but we also need a boat. We must never dispute with other ministries over the structure of their boat and the structure of ours. We must only look to see the presence of Jesus in the boat.

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 are not representatives of the people of God, they are examples to people of God in being sons and daughters of God. They demonstrate a lifestyle of living for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Leaders don’t lead for their own purposes, but for the will of God in the lives of those God has sent them to serve. For this reason, leaders must lead for God’s presence and for God’s purpose.

Revelation 1:12-13 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

John’s revelation of Jesus began with seeing Jesus standing in the midst of the church. He is the voice behind us that motivates our lives to move forward by an empowerment of faith. That faith comes from a personal encounter with Jesus when we turn to see Him in our hearts.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 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.

Leaders live their lives as examples to those they lead by turning to the Lord for a continual process of change that testifies of the glory of God. Leaders lead others to turn to the Lord, even as they turn to the Lord. The presence of Jesus in our lives is essential for all that we are and all that we do. Jesus must be seen standing in the midst of His church for it to be an expression of His church.

We cannot create ministries that take people by the hand and lead them. We must create spiritual spaces that enable people to have spiritual encounters with God that transform their lives to fulfill His purpose and will. The Spirit of the Lord empowers God’s children to live, move, and have their being in Christ.

Leaders are not called to merely lead Christian expressions. We are called to lead Christ expressions of the body of Christ. Christ in each one is the hope of glory. That glory is not just for going to heaven when we die. That glory is to live to bring the life of God to our world. Each season of our lives is for the calling of Christ, the testimony of Christ, and the purpose of Christ.

Colossians 2:6-7 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

We don’t lead others to merely fulfill Christian ministry. We lead others to walk in Christ as a testimony of the glory of God. That glory brings life to our world. We lead by being an example to others in being a part of the body of Christ that reveals the testimony of Christ and fulfills the purpose of Christ by the power of His resurrection life. God’s grace empowers us to reign in life for the glory of God’s name.

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