ted4leaders

Greetings,

Peter wrote to first-century church leaders in regard to the responsibility of caring for the flock of God. His words were words of wisdom and truth to the foundation of the Church, thus they are significant to the building of God’s Church in the generations of men. Peter, a sent authority (apostle) to the Church, understood that he was not just a sent authority, but also a fellow worker with those who held the responsibility of caring for the community of God. He saw himself as a fellow presbyter (elder) in taking care of those in the community of God that had been entrusted to his care. He wrote letters of instruction to the responsible leaders of his day, setting a foundation for instructions to the leaders of our day.

1 Peter 5:1-4 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

When someone has been given the responsibility of leading in the community of God it is important for them to embrace all that goes with the task. Leaders must embrace the suffering of Christ and a partnership with the glory of God to be examples to and leaders in the community of Christ. Every leader must set an example in embracing the process of God’s grace in their own lives so that those they lead can also do the same. The suffering of Christ is not suffering for our own needs, but a willingness to lay our lives down for the sake of others. Leaders set an example in giving their lives for the sake of others. This empowers those they lead to do the same.

Suffering and pressure is part of the process of walking in the grace of God. As leaders in the body of Christ we are not just gifted to lead by the grace that is given to us in Christ, we are to also be examples of the character of Christ to those we lead. This is perhaps the greatest testimony of our leadership to the lives of those that we stand before in the spheres of our influence in life. The process of God’s grace in each of our lives is one of revealing the testimony of Christ in us. This means that the character, nature, way, power, and authority of Christ must become embodied in each of our lives. Whether it is the promises of God or the pressures of testing, both are part of a process in our lives that makes us partakers of God’s divine nature. The promises are the substance of life that He gives us and the pressures of testing are the proving of what is being given to us by God within our lives.

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;  and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

The true test of what is in us is made known by the pressures that come against us from the outside sources of our lives. This dynamic of the inward life of Christ and the outward pressures upon our lives causes the testimony of Christ within us to become a force of life that changes the character of our lives. In this process of grace we face tribulations or pressures in life. All who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Leaders must set an example that members of the community of Christ can follow. When we face the pressures of persecution we choose to persevere. Perseverance is not just a holding on to something in pain. It is a position of attitude from within our hearts. It is a choosing to cheerfully endure in the midst of the pressures that are against us. This is not just a thing of our soul. It requires us to draw from our spirits to receive the life of the Holy Spirit within our hearts. In the presence of the Lord there is the fullness of joy and true perseverance is drawing upon the presence of God in our hearts in order to see His life flood our souls with the testimony of true endurance. It is not a thing of misery, but a decision to embrace the life of Christ that is within us. True perseverance always carries the substance of a choice to be cheerful and to endure. It is a cheerful endurance. When we find the secret of true perseverance we discover the key to seeing the character of Christ in us manifest. Our own character changes by the life of the character of Christ within us. The beliefs of our hearts become transformed by His life within us and this empowers our actions to be those of the character of Christ. Those inspired actions activate the imaginations of our hearts. Our imaginations begin to create the truth of Christ and His kingdom that defy the pressures that oppose us. This in turn releases an influence of the change of character in our lies. This is seen as hope – a testimony of Christ in us revealed through the substance of our lives.

God appoints leaders in the expressions of His community in the earth to be shepherds of His flock. They are an example of the testimony of all that God is doing in their midst and they are those responsible to lead for the purpose of God in the community. Five-fold ministry should be a part of the governmental leadership of the local church. The character of elders and responsibility as the sent leaders to the local church body are what qualifies governmental leaders to lead. It is likely that the lead individual of a ministry could be an apostle and not a pastor by grace gift, since God is restoring the element of inheritance and the ‘sending forth’ of ministry to the church body. There may be many apostles by grace gift in the local house, but there is only one lead elder. Tradition has made the lead elder the senior pastor while other ministers within the local church have been known as associate pastors. It is perhaps more proper to refer to other five-fold elders as associate ministers or individual terms that describe their function in lieu of the traditional term “associate pastors”. There may be many associate ministers, but there should be one who is the senior leader. In the sense of responsibility, all of the overseeing elders are given the responsibility of pastors (shepherds) to the local flock and therefore are associate pastors together. It can be said that they collectively carry the responsibility of providing pastoral care to the flock and they work with one another in bearing that total responsibility.

Elders are a team called a presbytery. That presbytery is a team of proven leaders who have been appointed by God to govern the local church by serving them in ministering of the Word of God, the ministry of the Spirit, and the practical daily functioning of that body. They lead the local community by whole heartedly embracing all that the Holy Spirit is doing in the local community. This includes the direction of the Holy Spirit in becoming a corporate expression that releases a heavenly influence to and through the lives of those who have been joined together by God for His will and the influence of His kingdom to come into the earth. It also includes the character change and the substance of the expressed word being written by the Holy Spirit in their midst. God sends a leader to the leaders for this purpose and the leaders serve together in leading the community in a response of cooperation with the work of the Holy Spirit in their midst.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Last week I wrote in regard to God’s desire for ministries to be established as written letters of His Spirit at work in the hearts and minds of men and women in the communities of the earth. Today I want to present a personal testimony from a book I have written, New Covenant Leadership. For some of you this will be a reminder to what I have written before, while others will find this a testimony for the first time. This is a lesson from my past meant to inspire an embracing of all the Holy Spirit wants to write in the corporate expressions of His community in the earth.

For twenty years I was the senior pastor of a local church in an area that was affected by and saturated with self-focused and self-concerned people. In 1990 God revealed to me that one of the strongholds of our city was a spirit of greed. It appeared to me that this influence of greed upon the hearts and minds of people caused the community and its members to often exhibit actions of what I call ‘small minded thinking’. People were often concerned with themselves and little effort was ever given to meet the needs of others. This was especially true in the late 80’s and early 90’s, when I first started ministry in the area. In those days we would call a church potluck dinner and would usually have to send out to Kentucky Fried Chicken for more chicken and run to the local market for all the other ingredients of an established meal. Those who came to eat simply came to get what was being offered, but they had little concern for giving to the needs or desires of others. The mindset of the people was not one of ‘generosity’. This was a mindset found in the general public of the community. Our church body was just a common expression of the community. It was merely a piece of the pie. It was just a slice of the common ingredients found in the general population. One of the things that God began to have me do was to address the strongholds of the hearts and minds of the people in regard to a spirit of generosity and hospitality. God instructed me to schedule outside guest speakers to minister in our church on a monthly basis, to whom we sowed generously in offerings. When the people didn’t give, I would set the example with personal giving and corporate sacrifice in order to be a blessing to those that God had sent us. God began to change the hearts and minds of the people by the influence of His Spirit. We eventually became known as the ‘hosting church’ of the community. When we called for a potluck dinner, the leftovers were enough to feed plenty more. The spirit of generosity had overtaken the spirit of greed as God had written a corporate letter in the hearts and minds of the local body of believers. For many years we hosted a monthly prayer gathering of leaders in the community and fed them a feast fit for a king. We hosted an annual conference for fifteen years and received numerous comments in regard to the hospitality and generosity of the church body. A corporate gathering of poverty minded people became a corporate expression of God’s generosity and abundant life. I believe it also affected the spirit of the community. The credit is to God and His work of government in the church. This influencing force of generosity could only be effective through God joining of individual members for this corporate cause. Strength and power of change is found in the force of God’s corporate letter being written. God gathers a people together for His purposes in the earth and then He writes a letter of life upon their hearts and minds to bring change.

This aspect of corporeity in the Church is not only seen in the changing of the character of the Church, it is also seen in the administration of the Church. In order for us to understand the equipping, governing, and functioning aspects of church government, it must first be understood that God’s Church is a corporate Body and that Body is knit together in fellowship, purpose, and destiny.

As a local church, our church experienced a continual increase of diverse expressions of ministry among its members. We had teams that ministered prophetically, teams that ministered healing, and teams that ministered in the spirit of counsel. In worship we had those who sang, those who played instruments, those who danced, those who painted pictures, and those who wrote poetry by the leading of the Holy Spirit. We had various expressions of prayer ministry with people who saw visions, had dreams, and those who saw visually into the realm of the spirit. Every year we saw new expressions of ministry added to the local body as God continued to write His letter among us corporately. This testimony of diversity has carried on to the next generation of our church under the leadership of my son Pastor Jonathan Hanson. It has continued to take on more spontaneous and organic expressions of those things written in the days past, but it is the Holy Spirit that writes the letter of life in the expression of community in the Church.

God desires to write a spiritual letter through divinely joined members of the corporate Church. Unity in the letter comes from the common value in the letter. The letter written by the Spirit of God is diverse in its expression, but single in its purpose. The substance of the letter is written with the heavenly values God desires to bring into the earth. Those values come from a corporate purpose and plan from heaven. God desires to unify each expression of His Body and fulfill a common purpose upon the earth. Leaders have a responsibility to embrace God’s way and purpose in that expression and all of the members of the community are responsible in their response to the letter being written by the Spirit of God.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

We often think of ministry as that of making sacrifices to God, serving Him, obeying Him, following Him, or relating to Him in some way of religious sanctity. Although this is how much of the church thinks, it is not what God desires. God has always desired a body by which His will could be fulfilled. God has always desired a place where He can live among men. He has desired a place of habitation, not merely a place of visitiation.

Hebrews 10:5-7 5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come — In the volume of the book it is written of Me — To do Your will, O God.” (Ps. 40:6-8)

God’s will is not a ‘what must we do?’ but rather a ‘who are we?’ We are the body of Christ and the body of Christ is made up of individuals who have been divinely joined together for God’s holy purpose and glory. These are individual members who have been set apart to be joined together as a corporate expression of God in the earth. They have been set apart for the governmental decisions of the kingdom of God in the earth. Those decisions are not about right and wrong, they are for the purpose of releasing God’s life into the world. The administration of the body of Christ is not based upon a justice system of good verses evil or right verses wrong. The administration of the body of Christ is based upon a justice system of love. This is what God desires to do in the earth through the body of Christ.

A body of saints, people divinely joined together for God’s purpose, is not a new idea. Saints are simply people who are called and sanctified unto God to love Him and serve Him together. This was God’s plan for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. Israel was considered to be a holy nation. Israel was a type and shadow of the body of Christ. The nation of Israel was not just a group of people joined together. They were a nation of people expected to live according to the standards and testimony of all that God was in His character, nature, way, power, and authority. Although Israel was a nation depicting what God wanted, they lacked the internal testimony of the kingdom of God and the life that comes by the Holy Spirit and the Tree of Life. The actions of the nation of Israel were based upon the knowledge of God, but the inspirations of the body of Christ are based upon knowing God.

When considering the body of Christ, its structure and its governmental administration, a syntactical look at the Scriptures reveals a theme of calling, purpose, and destiny. A ‘type’ of the Church in her calling was the Old Testament nation of Israel. Israel as a nation was God’s expression of the Church in the Old Testament. The Old Testament Temple was a ‘type’ of the Church’s structure, and the Old Testament city of Jerusalem was a ‘type’ of the Church’s testimony, influence, and destiny. The Church is not meant to be merely a natural expression in the earth, however. The called out assembly of God in the earth is made of men and women from the natural nations of the world who are supernaturally changed and supernaturally empowered to become expressions of God’s heavenly will in the earth.

The various expressions of the Church are expressions of letters written upon the hearts of leaders and upon the hearts of those they lead as divinely joined members for God’s purposes. Leaders in the body of Christ are responsible to the Holy Spirit in His desire to write the will of God upon the hearts and minds of men and women in the corporate expressions of God’s purposes in the earth. Members of the body of Christ must desire Spirit-led leaders who will lead them to become what God desires for them to be in this world. Paul, an apostle of the first century Church, understood this well. He understood his role as a leader and the role of those that God had sent him to in building the Church.

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

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

2 Corinthians 3:4-6 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The letter that God desires to write in any expression of His Church involves the fellowship of divinely joined believers. Without unity and the bond of fellowship there cannot be a full expression of the corporate calling, purpose, and destiny of the Church.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Leaders are commissioned by God to lead us in a way of life, not activities of Christian expression. A personal relationship with God in Christ transforms our lives to become Christ-like in our character, nature, way, power, and authority. Leaders in the community of God set an example of such a change of life and they lead others into embracing a way of life that comes by the kindness and the love of God.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Our main focus in life should be to see and embrace the kindness of the love of God in all things. He is the One who saves in all situations. He doesn’t just give us salvation into eternity when we die; He saves us daily in the desires, thoughts, reasoning, imaginations, and emotions of our souls. He rescues us in natural and supernatural ways with interventions of His mercy and grace to keep us in the path of life. Our aim in life is not to be right, but to be in a right relationship with God in all things. One can be right in their actions, but wrong in their hearts. One can be right in the law, but wrong in the actions of love. It is dependency upon God and a relationship of love that leads us into the way of life. We are part of a new generation. We are part of a family that has roots in the Tree of Life and is of the testimony of Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead for all of mankind. The Holy Spirit in our lives is the testimony that our life is no longer bound to the life of the flesh, but we have been grafted into the Vine of eternal life in Christ. The way of our family is eternal life in all things and in all times.

Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

Our focus should be a focus of good works for the sake of others. We are children of God and as children of God our plans should be plans of nobility in this world. We were born for the life of the world and we should live our lives to give life-giving water to those who lack life. We are children of the King and we were born-again for the good of God’s kingdom in this world.

Isaiah 32:7-8 As for a rogue, his weapons are evil; he devises wicked schemes to destroy the afflicted with slander, even though the needy one speaks what is right. But the noble man devises noble plans; and by noble plans he stands (NASB).

Noble plans include the noble works that bring life to those in need. As children in the family of God we must avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law. A leader must not endeavor in the path of such divisive things and they must lead the community of God in doing the same.

Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.

True doctrine is not what we believe about Scripture or our own views of the meaning of the law. True doctrine is our way of life. It is the way we think, the way we act, and the motive our hearts in all that we do. Our doctrine is seen in the character, nature, way, power, and authority of our lives. Our lives should cast a shadow that looks like the things found in the law, but we are not bound to or under the law. We are empowered by grace for real life-transforming change in our hearts and minds. This is what inspires the actions of our lives. It is not our understanding of Scripture, but our intimacy with God in Christ. Leaders must lead the community of God in the things that matter and they must avoid things that are unprofitable and useless in the family of God.

Titus 3:10-11 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.

Paul told Titus to deal with divisive people in the community of God, but not to waist time with them. They are not the focus of the community of God, but are a distraction to the real issues of life. A leader must seek to bring life-giving correction to those who are divisive, but not let them determine the agenda of a leader’s time or the important matters in the community of God. Divisive people are twisted in their thinking, missing the mark of true connection with the life of Christ, and thus putting themselves in the consequences of their own condemnation. The main events in the community of God are things of life, so leaders must simply put lesser things in their place. Lesser things are simply dealt with and not allowed to dictate the agenda of a community of God.

Titus 3:12-15 When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing. And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Paul understood the importance of relationships and the testimony of life that comes through covenant-keeping, grace empowered lives. He was more than willing to call upon those in relationship with Him to join in the purpose of His life. Leaders must call upon and empower others to embrace the responsibility of bringing God’s people to the place of fulfilling God’s purposes in the earth. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will be with the leader’s spirit and that same grace will empower all in the community of God to become who God declares them to be.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

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

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

Leaders remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities and to obey them with demonstrations of good works. This is not blind obedience to things that are beyond an authority’s measure of rule, but obedience to the God-appointed responsibility given to men and women in life. Leaders remind those under their authority to not speak evil of anyone, but to be peaceable, gentle, showing humility to all men. They must set an example that true change and empowerment to live godly lives is by the mercy of God and by the power of His grace. Leaders remind the people that they are new creations being renewed by the Holy Spirit and it is by this they present an example of grace transformed people that inspire others to maintain good works.

Our testimony among the kingdoms of the world must come from the internal kingdom of Christ within our hearts. We cannot condemn the world for acting like the world, we must simply demonstrate to the world what those embracing the internal kingdom of God look like. We never need speak evil of those who do not understand what we know. We are graced by God to be expressions of the peace of God in ways of love with a humble attitude in our hearts.

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

It is not our role to condemn people in the world for being foolish. True wisdom comes from the Spirit of God in our hearts and it is gift from God not a prideful skill of the flesh. We can make a judgment of their foolishness, but the only judgment we can make of the foolish is one of mercy as a testimony of love. We do not condemn the foolish; there own foolishness is their condemnation. Our judgment of mercy does not include condoning their foolishness; it only removes any condemnation of them from our hearts and allows them to find the wisdom of God even as we have. We were once foolish, but Christ in us is granting us the grace of wisdom from God that empowers us to do works of faith towards God. We cannot condemn the people of the world for being disobedient. True obedience is obedience to God and the things of God by the grace of the Spirit of counsel in our hearts. We cannot expect those in the world to understand counsel that leads to life. Only Christ in them can empower them for true obedience unto life. We cannot condemn the people in the world for being deceived. We were deceived, but the Spirit of the Lord made us alive toward God in Christ. We cannot expect people with hearts that are dead to God to not fall for deceptive things in life. People in the world serve their own desires and wants in life. We were this before Christ put His desires in our hearts. As everyday people, we are still vulnerable to fail in the same way again in some measure, but Christ in us is our hope of direction that leads to life. He gives us the true desires of life within our hearts. He gives new heart desires. We cannot judge those in the world for acting selfishly, we must simply inspire them to think differently by the attitudes and actions of our lives.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

Leaders lead the community of Christ in practical realities in the growing process of maturity as a community of Christ. The family members of Christ are to be sober in the purposes of God, reverent to the presence of God, and temperate with personal opinions, exhibiting a willing and teachable spirit in all things. Those in the community of Christ are growing in maturity in being sound in faith to the internal voice of God, sound to the testimony with the obvious love of God, and sound to the patience of God in the process of Christ in all. Those who lead must seek these things and lesser things must not distract them. They must teach those they lead to do the same through their personal examples and through a clear presentation of the principles, patterns, and values found within the heart of God the Father of His family in the earth.

Titus 2:1-5 But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things — that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

Older men were to be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, sound in love, and sound in patience. Paul’s words to Titus are as true today as they were in his instruction to Titus. These are not instructions for religious living. They are common sense instructions for good character. God’s children should be sober in the purposes of God and not distracted by selfish ventures for personal opinions or personal gain. They should be reverent to the presence of God. They should seek God’s presence in all things and be aware of Him in all situations. A child of God should be temperate with personal opinions, exhibiting a willing and teachable spirit in all things. These are all marks of maturity in Christ. Christ-like character and faith are testimonies of members of the community of Christ and older men are to set an example that maturing members can follow. Paul’s instructions were not given to control what a person can do or cannot do. They were instructions for good character. Leaders are called to exhort, encourage, and challenge older men in the community of God to walk in this character in the community of Christ and in the world as a member of God’s family.

This is also true for women. They too were, and are, to live their lives with a testimony of good character. Their lifestyles were, and are, to be godly and honorable. Their behavior is not to be religious but practically real in demonstrating the character of Christ. The fruit of the Spirit should be a manifest attribute of the character of a woman of God. The character of the flesh is to be self-gratifying in behavior and to seek to take advantage of others through false accusations. This is not fitting for the community of God.

Desires of the world are not the focus or the motivation of the heart of a daughter or a son of God. Even as Paul instructed Titus, leaders must help men and women live for God and for the life of others. This is the testimony of the family of God. Leaders teach those they lead to live life in a godly and honorable way. Even the practical everyday things of life are spiritual. The love of a wife for her husband and a mother’s love for her children are a spiritual reality of life. No one is to live self-seeking lives or exhibit self-seeking behavior. These things are not meant to be a law of order, but the testimony of life-giving actions and attitudes that make for healthy family relationships in the body of Christ. These things reveal a good witness of Christ to the world in which we live.

Leaders don’t just lead Christian activities or services of ministry. They lead people in becoming a testimony of a godly lifestyle in Christ in the midst of an everyday world. Teaching people and families to be real to the character and nature of Christ is real church stuff! This includes the young. They were to have integrity in their way of life.

Titus 2:6-8 Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober- minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

A culture of honor is indicative of a community of Christ. Honesty and integrity are normal expectations for members of the family of God. The expressions of our words must be life giving and honorable to God and one another. These are the real issues emulated and led by leaders in the body of Christ. It is part of the every day environment of the community of God that causes children to grow in the knowledge of God. These are not things we put upon those who live in the world, but they are attributes of those who are children of God. These instructions were not given to condemn those in the world who do not embrace them, but to encourage those in the church to be a community of Christ as a light to the communities of the world. People with the kingdom of God in their hearts are internally empowered to look different to those in the world. Not to condemn them, but to show them how practical and real a relationship with God is in life.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Paul knew that being a leader means standing fast to lead. A leader leads others into the grace of all that God is doing in His community, but they must also be able to receive God’s anointing to deal with any opposing situations in the community of Christ. A leader has to withstand those who oppose God’s will in the community of God. Paul knew that there would be some who would seek to subvert the households of faith through illegitimate teaching for their own dishonest gain. Leaders were to rebuke such individuals sharply that they may become sound in faith, or sound in their ability to hear God’s voice in their hearts. Titus was to speak the things that were proper for sound doctrine. He was to speak things that assist people to live with covenant-keeping character in life.

Titus 1:10-11 For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.

What does it look like when someone seeks to subvert a community for dishonest gain? I really don’t believe that there are many people who intentionally seek to subvert a church community. I have seen it happen on numerous occasions in ministry, but I don’t believe it starts out with overtly bad intentions. It happens more subtly than that. A subversive person usually thinks they are trying to do something for the community. They don’t recognize their actions as being for dishonest gain, because they believe in their hearts that their actions are somehow justified. Sometimes dishonest gain can come in a package of trying to get the finances or material resources of a ministry, but I think that most of the time it comes in the form of spiritual pride or spiritual witchcraft. The jealousy of others in ministry is often the cause. Like Cain who became jealous of the fact that Abel had the favor of God, they seek to destroy someone else in ministry thinking that the favor that is upon that person should be God’s favor upon them. These people often see others in ministry as a hindrance to who they believe they are called to be in ministry. They justify their destructive actions through the deception of jealousy. They are not being honest. They honestly delude themselves to believe they have a better gift and that if that other person was removed they would be the one that God’s favor would be upon. They usually blame some expression of authority in the church as a means of suppressing who they really are. Some like Balaam seek to trick some in the ministry to siding with them to advance themselves in some way in ministry. They justify their actions through the deception of valuing anointing, ministry, or some other thing above the life and purpose of a community. Some act like the sons of Korah in that they pride themselves in hearing God, even as the leaders of the community hear God. They fail to realize that hearing is not the same as properly discerning what is being heard through the authority of leadership. There is a different grace given for those in a leadership role than for those in a membership role. When someone prides themselves in their ability to hear God too, foolish things happen. If I want my finger to point I think the thought in my head and then communicate it through my body to my finger in order to accomplish the task. There are probably thousands of connections that take place between my brain and my finger in order for that simple task to be accomplished. I think now, even as I type these words, that there are thousands of connections in my body in order to type these words. In reality the sense of hearing passes through many members in my body in the task of pointing or in the task of typing. What if my elbow decided to accomplish the task, after all the word being transmitted is to point or to type? If my elbow should decide to point or make a useless attempt to type, it would cause the signal to stop short of the finger and the action would be one that is in a total different way and direction than was intended. This sends a wrong signal to the body and causes the testimony to be something different that was intended. I believe that subversive people in the church are sometimes like that. Actions of individuals sometimes oppose the life of God in the community because of insecure and subversive attitudes. Paul was not afraid to confront those who opposed the life of God in the community of God. He stood as a spiritual father to protect the environment of the community. He instructed Titus to do the same. He gave him instructions to not be afraid to deal with those who oppose the life of God in the community of Christ. We must follow this same example in our roles of responsibility to the community of God.

Titus 1:12-14 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.

Even though we live in a new covenant reality there are times when a leader must rebuke and even sharply rebuke those who oppose the life of Christ in the community. Foolish traditions and divisive teachings have no place in the community of life. A leader must protect the life of the community when necessary. This is an act of love to maintain an environment of faith. That is an environment where the voice of the Holy Spirit is heard within each heart for the individual testimony of each believer and for his or her part in any corporate purpose of the spiritual letter being written by the Spirit. A leader cannot allow the abominable, disobedient, or disqualified to have a voice in the community.

Titus 1:15-16 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

A leader leads others to believe God by standing fast in believing God in all things. The focus of a leader is upon all that God is doing. Their main objective is not to fight the enemy, but to promote God in all things. They remain pure in their thoughts and in the intentions of their hearts.

Food For Thought

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

Paul instructed Titus to appoint elders in the cities of Crete in order to put order to the things that were lacking there. Those elders were to be the testimony of God’s authority that would help propagate the life of Christ there. They were not to be hierarchal leaders that would control the religious order of those cities. They were to be people who would activate, facilitate, and release the growing life of Christ. They would be community minded individuals that would serve God in bringing about the expressions of God’s community in the earth.

Titus 1: 5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you—…

Paul was writing to his spiritual son Titus. His words were words based upon relationship with God and relationship with a son of God within Paul’s God-given responsibility in life. In his instructions we can find clear principals for leadership material. Paul didn’t tell Titus whom to select. God is the One who makes the selection of people. Paul simply told Titus what kind of people were those God would select. The fruit of community leadership would be in their lives before they were selected to serve in the community of God for such a cause. Paul presented the qualifications of a leader to Titus and these qualifications are still true today. He was letting Titus know that he was to look for people who manage their own lives – these are the kind of people that are the potential material for God’s appointment in serving as apt to teach leaders in a community of Christ.

Titus 1:6-9 …if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

I don’t believe that Paul intended his presented criteria to be used as a legalistic form for the selection of leaders in the church. He was presenting the basic character of a leader who could set direction in the church. The word bishop is the Greek word episkopos (SG1985), meaning, a superintendent, i. e. Christian officer in genitive case charge of a (or the) church (literally or figuratively). This is not some high and lofty hierarchal controller in the church. It is a proven Christ-character individual appointed by God for parental responsibilities in the church. Those appointed to this role of responsibility in the church would have to correct, direct, and even stand against people who would be insubordinate, idle talkers, or deceivers of others. These leaders would have to be able stand to stop the mouths of those who would oppose God’s direction from being heard in their God-given areas of responsibility. Simply stated, the kind of leaders that Titus was to look for were leaders of covenant character. These would be the types of people God would select. Their selection would be by the Holy Spirit’s guidance in any decision Titus would make in their appointment, but Titus needed to be looking at the correct field of selection in order to hear God’s voice clearly. Paul was presenting that character of leadership was more important than gift of ministry. I believe this is important to understand in the selection of leaders in the church. The church is the expression of the community of God. It is a corporate expression of God’s family among the communities of the earth. It is not about works of ministry, gifting of ministry, or some form of Christian service or ceremony. The church is the testimony of God’s family, thus leaders must be family-minded people with covenant keeping qualities in their character. They must guide, lead, nurture, protect, and grow to maturity family members in the family of God. Love is the essential attribute of an overseeing leader in the church. The kind of love needed to be a leader is the love of a covenant partner to their spouse or a parent to their children. Leadership is not merely a matter of equipping people for some religious task; it is one of loving them in their growth to maturity.

Paul’s instructions for leaders were not instructions for some law of leadership qualifications. They were simply foundations for understanding the needed character for leadership. I don’t believe that these were people who had never seen any failure in their own lives or leaders who had never made mistakes in their past. These people were obviously sinners in their past, but they had discovered and embraced the overcoming power of God’s grace in their own lives. We were all sinners in our past, but we are being saved by the power of God’s grace to reign in life. Bishops, apt to teach leaders, are people who lead the community of God in the life-transforming testimony of God’s grace. Paul was presenting that leaders are people who have discovered favor with God and men in the community of the church. These were covenant-keeping men who knew how to be husbands and fathers in their own families. Paul was not addressing the testimony of their entire lives, but presenting where they were in the present reality of Christ at work in their lives. Many people have taken Paul’s instructions as a form of legalism against anyone who has experienced a divorce or some other form of failure in their past. Not everyone who has a failed relationship has failed character. God’s children have all been rebellious at times, does that make God a failure as a Father? God’s wife, Israel, sought foreign lovers, did that make God a failure as a husband? I don’t believe that this is the point of Paul’s instruction. Paul was presenting the qualifications of a covenant keeping, life giving, man or woman, as God is always covenant keeping and life giving in His character. Paul’s instructions were in regard to the present qualifications of those being selected, not merely the fact history of their past. Leaders must be people who have discovered the life-changing grace of God in their lives. These were people who were willing to give their lives for the sake of others. They lived for their own families, thus they would be able to serve the family of God. They were not self-seeking individuals, but those who had discovered the secret of sacrificial love for others. In order to deal with problematic situations in the community of God they would have to be individuals who had learned how to overcome problematic situations in their own lives. Any expression of God’s church is an expression of family. It must be a community of Christ before it can do the ministry of Christ. These things are true today and must be embraced in the role of appointing leaders in the church.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

A leader must know that it is God who stands with them. Though they feel alone at times, they must always know they are never alone. They are an expression of the authority of God and not merely ministers to the needs of people. Authority is a testimony of life and proper authority is a testimony that comes from intimacy with God in who each one is in life. Authority is a measure given by God for the sake of others. It is a substance of life given in order to empower us to give life to others. Even as it was in the life of Paul, there will be times when people will abandon a leader. This will even include other leaders at times. Paul exhorted Timothy with his testimony of the faithfulness of God in his life. The Lord stood with Paul and the message was preached that those who did not know God could hear it.

2 Timothy 4: 17-18 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

A leader must know that God will support them in their commission of ministry. This even includes a confidence of God’s protection and deliverance. A leader should know that God is with them and He will do whatever is necessary on behalf of them as a leader. God delivered Paul from the mouth of the lion. A Leader can expect to need the supernatural intervention of God at times. A leader leads in knowing the loving protection of God in their lives. Paul knew that Lord would deliver him from every evil work and would preserve Him. This is the confidence of a leader who knows the love of God. The glory in all things belongs to God.

Paul set an example of a true apostolic leader. He was more concerned with people than he was with numbers. He knew those within his sphere of influence by name. When writing to Timothy he named those in the church that were significant in the church. This was the case in every place that Paul was sent as an apostle. A leader must know that relationships are the foundation of ministry. Even Paul’s appeal for Timothy to come to him was one of relationship, not mere duty of ministry.

2 Timothy 4:19-21 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick. Do your utmost to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren.

Paul commended several who were also doing the work of God and being true to the faith. He knew them by name. Paul encouraged Timothy that the Lord Jesus Christ was with his spirit. Grace would be given to him. Grace is the divine empowerment of God’s Spirit at work in our lives. A leader knows the power of God’s Spirit and the working of His grace in their lives.

2 Timothy 4:22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

The foundation of relationships was also in Paul’s letter to Titus. Titus is also a letter written from a spiritual father to a spiritual son. It is a letter written from an apostolic leader to a leader responsible in the church. The letter of Titus was not written to church members, but to leaders responsible in the pastoral care of God’s church. Titus was left in Crete to set things in order that there would be nothing lacking. He was to appoint elders in every city as Paul had commanded him. Paul’s example to Titus was not one of a hierarchical bishop in the church, but as a servant to the body of Christ. Servanthood is a necessary attitude and attribute in the heart of a leader.

Titus 1:1-4 Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

Paul’s greeting to Titus revealed that he clearly understood that his role of authority was one that represented God, but it was also subject to the will of God. He was a servant of God before he was a servant of the people of God. His role was to lead others in what God desired in their lives. He recognized that he did not choose his role of leadership, but God had chosen him. He acknowledged that his part was one of faith, thus it was the result of an intimate hearing of God in his own heart as to what his role was in the community of God. God had committed him to the will of Christ as a leader in the body of Christ. His relationship with Titus was one of being a spiritual father and Titus a spiritual son. It was about relationship, not ministry. He knew that the essentials for the life of Titus were the same as his. It was the grace, mercy, and peace that come from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every leader must know their role in the body of Christ. A leader must understand that thy are a servant of God first and then they can be a servant of God’s will with the people God appoints them to. Before they can serve God in His will, they must serve God. It is a matter of intimacy with God not obedience to His commands. It is a matter of relationship, not works of ministry.

A leader leads others into things God desires in their lives. The role as a leader depends upon hearing God in their hearts. Relationship with God and relationship with God-given and God-sent authority is essential to a leader. A leader must know who are the divine connections in their lives that are human expressions of God their Father. It is about relationship, not ministry. This is true for a leader and it is a true attribute of the community of God. Leaders lead people in the aspects of relationship with God and as the community of God. Knowing God’s grace, mercy, and peace in all things are essential attributes of a community of Christ. These things must be qualities found in those who lead.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

Leaders are to be watchful for the sake of all that has been entrusted to them. When Paul wrote to Timothy, he instructed him to be watchful in all things. To be watchful is to be awake and alert to the things of God. It is more about being awake to the things of God then it is about being aware of the things of the enemy. If a leader is awake to what God is doing they will quickly notice the things that God is not doing. When others turn from their faith, leaders must be an example of those who are awake to God in all things.

2 Timothy 4:5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Like Paul and Timothy, leaders must endure afflictions for the sake of the measure of grace given to them for those they lead. Leadership is about leading. It is leading people to where they have not gone before. It is leading people to embrace the changes that God is bringing into their lives The work of bringing many to Christ in a revelation of reconciliation to God in Christ has been given to them. All believes must be life to others, but leaders must lead in this reality. A leader cannot expect an easy life, but they can expect a great life. I believe a great life is a noble one. It is a life that is given for the sake of others. Paul gave his life as a drink offering, he had fought the good fight, finished his race, and kept the faith. He expected that same quality of character to be inherited by his spiritual children and their children. Leaders must endure for the sake of others.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

A true leader knows that their leadership is really about giving their lives as an offering of life to those they lead. They understand that Jesus said those who drink of Him would have rivers flowing from within them. Those rivers are the diverse expressions of Christ’s life for the sake of others. This requires passion, endurance, and intimacy with God in all things. We cannot fight a good fight without a revelation of why we fight. Our fight must be one that is motivated by a love for God and a love for others. There is no stronger power than love. Our endurance in the race must be for the sake of seeing others come to know that same love. Our faith is motivated by the voice of the One who loves us. We live to see the love of our Father known in our lives in the lives of all those we lead. God is a righteous Judge, but He does not judge with a gavel that pronounces the guilt of our sins. He judges righteously. He judges to make things right, to clear the things that have held us in shame. A leader doesn’t lead to see the judgment of God pronounce the guilty to condemnation. A leader leads to see those bound to shame made free unto life.

Being as a leader includes the experiences of challenges and heartbreaks of leader. Paul’s second letter to Timothy reveals some of the personal struggles of leadership. Paul had been rejected, abandoned, and left alone. A leader must be willing to be rejected, abandoned, and even left alone at times for the sake of leading others into the path of life in Christ.

2 Timothy 4:9-16 Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica — Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come — and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words. At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.

Demas had forsaken Paul because he loved the things of the present world. Others with Paul had been sent to other places. Paul was alone with Luke. He recognized his need of partnership with Timothy, Mark, and Tychicus. Alexander the coppersmith did much harm to Paul and others had been caught up in the plots and harmful strategies of Alexander. Paul requested that the Lord repay Alexander according to his works and that Timothy should be aware of Alexander also. He had greatly resisted their words. At the charges by Alexander to Paul, no one came to Paul’s defense. Paul asked that this would not be charged to them. A leader must not be afraid to set boundaries for the protection and safety of those they lead. They must also understand the difference between those who are lawless and those who are simply caught in deception. A leader will be opposed by some, abandoned by others, and even required to send some for the destiny of their own journey. These are painful breaches in soul relationships. Though there is pain in losing friendships and suffering for being rejected by those you pour your life out for, a leader must still be eager to invite others to come along side of them in their responsibilities as a leader. This is the life a leader as they lead for the sake of life in the community of Christ.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson