ted4leaders

Greetings,

God wants to build strong leadership teams. Strong leadership teams are covenant teams. They are not teams that are joined by mere contracts for mutual benefits, but teams that are joined together in covenant for God’s kingdom purpose. I have spent time this past month presenting the ingredients of a strong team and I have also identified the things that destroy relationships within those teams. Today I want to recap the key elements for building a team.

The first thing that is needed is a commitment to God’s purpose in the team. This also means a commitment to one another in the team. The needs of each team member must be fulfilled by God and not by their role in the team. Offenses will come at times, but no team member can afford to ever take an offence. There will be miscommunications, misunderstandings, wrong interpretations of communications, and other things that will no doubt create a natural reason to take an offence. No team can afford to take an offence with any other team member. Each and every team member must be motivated for commitment to the team and that commitment must be stronger than any offensive weapon of destruction in the relationships of the team. Team members must each see that their future is with the team. There are various levels of this in various types of relationships, but these things are essential in a covenant team. The strength of a team is not in who is right or who is wrong; it is a relational commitment to one another in the team.

There has to be a continually fresh anointing of faith within the team and its members. Members must be empowered to do works of faith. This is a demonstration of their hearts towards one another and towards the purpose of the team. There can never be any fear-based decisions; therefore love must be the motivator of each member’s actions. Those acts of love will spawn works of faith. That love is first for God and then for one another. Natural perceptions, whether they are true or false, can never spawn judgments within the team. A covenant team must be spiritually minded and directed by the voice of God and not the voice of natural perceptions. Each member must be willing to give up his or her own desires and agendas for the purpose of the team. There can be no fear of death within a covenant team, therefore decisions of the team must be faith-based decisions led by the voice of God. Team members must seek to always keep their hearts alive towards one another. Each team member must demonstrate that their hearts are with and for one another and this comes by a continual empowerment of faith.

Covenant teams must see themselves as a team. They are not mere individuals who comprise a team; they are one team. There is a constant activation of response to the testimony of the team. The team knows that their footsteps are one. They are many members, but they are also one team. There is an activation of one another for the purpose of the team. Although no team can ever destroy the unique identity of each member of the team, no individual member of a team can destroy the corporate identity of the team either. They must never live for themselves, but for the corporate purpose of the team. There is no room for individual agendas that defile the corporate identity of a team.

Team members must be enlightened to the testimony of submission to one another. Each member must know that his or her connection to one another in the team is what gives the team its full authority of life. There can never be a drawing back or a death-giving confession by a team member. There must be a shield of togetherness and a spirit of submission within the team. Each member of the team knows that they need the other team members in order to be fully alive in the team.

It is important that each team member know who he or she is in the team. The purpose of the team is dependant upon the purpose of each individual member of the team. That purpose is not self-motivated, but Christ motivated according to the resurrection life of Christ within each member. This allows each team member to make a contribution to the team that is in accordance with his or her testimony of Christ in him or her. A free flowing testimony of life contribution is needed from each team member.  There is no room for apathy in the life of any team member.

As a covenant team grows so does the testimony of that team. The true testimony of a covenant team is their love for one another. They are not easily distracted by personal needs. Covenant team members are drawn to love one another and freely give their lives to one another. The confession of each team member’s life is a confession that portrays love for each member of the team. Carnal logic and reasoning can never bind a team member’s love for others in the team.

There must be a sense of destiny in a covenant team. Team members must be impassioned to dedicate themselves to God’s kingdom purpose for the team. There must even be an awe of one another in the team.  Honor for one another is essential as each member of the team realizes that the purpose of the team is for things that even beyond the life of the team. Something of kingdom greatness is destined to release a spiritual inheritance to those who follow. There can never be a loss of destiny in the team.

These are the attributes of a covenant leadership team. I believe that God wants these elements in the life of the church and its families, but without these elements in the lives of leaders we cannot expect to see the testimony of this kind of life in the church. May God empower us by His grace to see these things increase in the body of Christ!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

 Leader10

  Leader10

Greetings,

Today I am going to continue to address the issues of relationship for leadership. It is important that leadership leads as a team of relationally connected leaders. The glue of the team will be true relationships within the team, not mere common tasks of ministry.

Last week I began to layout the steps that lead to the destruction of relationships within a leadership team. I addressed offences, judgments, defilements, and separation by differences. Offenses lead to judgments, judgments lead to defilement, and defilement leads to separation by differences. When destructive forces infiltrate a relationship to this level the individual members of a relationship no longer live for the corporate testimony of the relationship, but begin to measure things in their circumstance with self-focused agendas and thoughts rooted in a defensive survival mentality.

In review, the foundation of a life‐giving relationship is based upon a motivation of commitment. Each member sees that their future is connected to the other members of the team. The members of the relationship are then empowered to do works of faith toward one another and the team. Because they realize their future is with one another, they do actions from their heart for one another and the team. They then become activated to respond to the testimony of the relationship. In a marriage, they see themselves as one flesh. In a covenant team they see themselves as one team. Because of these elements each team member then becomes enlightened to the testimony of submission one to another. There is a strong shield of togetherness in the team whereby each member sees himself or herself easily together and seldom apart. The team members are awakened to contribute to the destiny of the relationship because they have a living revelation of the purpose of the team. They are alert to purpose. They live to contribute to the fellowship of the team. Their thought process is to advance the purpose of the team, whether that is a marriage, a leadership team, or a covenant family.

The enemy seeks to destroy relationships, because relationships are the key to the inheritance of God in the earth. Offences seek to destroy commitments. Judgments will resist faith actions in a relationship and fortify self-preserving defensive acts that begin to establish walls of disconnection. Defilements will propagate self-testimonies that close the heart to corporate realities. Disconnections by differences will set foundations for self-seeking divisiveness. A force like the prophetic power becomes a destructive power of negative attitudes, thoughts, words, and actions. There is no submission, but only subversion due to differences.

Now we come to the fifth stage in the destruction of a relationship. This is a stage of apathy. At this stage things become more important than the relationship. Whatever touches us in a natural way becomes more evident to us than any spiritual awareness of the importance of the destiny of the team.

Revelation 6:14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up…

The sky is a testimony of that which is “heavenly”. A strongly connected life-giving relationship is made of members who are awake to one another and to the unseen realities of heaven’s grace in their natural circumstances. When offences lead to judgments, judgments lead to defilement, and defilement leads to separation by differences the members of the relationship spiral down the fall of apathy toward one another in the relationship. They no longer attempt to contribute to the destiny of one another because they are growing cold in a revelation of the purpose of the team. They care about their circumstances more than the purpose of the team. They no longer live to contribute to the fellowship of the team. Their thoughts are not to advance the purpose of the relationship, but to fulfill their own purpose. When a relationship degenerates to this level the testimony of purpose is rolled up in exchange for individual pursuits apart from the fellowship of the relationship. At this point the life of the relationship is coming to an end and those left in the assault of its destruction become distracted by things that get their attention from external places. They have lost the life of the relationship and are now asleep in regard to its purpose. They are no longer awake to its destiny and have abandoned the “sent” or “sending word” of faith for the process of the future of the team. A loss of seeing life in the relationship has caused them to give up and they have yielded to find their fellowship in external places. At this point they no longer give the vowed level of relationship toward the team. They are no longer awake to contribute to the life of the relationship and there is a loss of strength for the future. They now believe the relationship is over and will not and cannot wake up. The antidote is found in their CONTRIBUTION to the sent purpose of the relationship. For the relationship to come back to the course of destiny they must WAKE UP to the purpose of the team!

The next phase in the destruction of a relationship is one of atrophy. Apathy in a relationship quickly degenerates to atrophy. Apathy is the place of not caring, while atrophy is the place of being unable to care.

Revelation 6:14  The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

When a relationship degenerates to the place of apathy the loss of fellowship leaves the members unable to draw one another to the place of true love. That loss of love is not just the love of commitment, but also the love of connection that seeks to give all that they have for the purpose of the team. They are now bound to logic and human reasoning and cannot see the value of sacrificial love. When a relationship comes to this point of exasperation the members of the relationship exhibit conversations that are no longer for one another and what comes off of them is an attitude of betterment of themselves and no longer betterment for the team. The future of the relationship is now being exchanged for a new reality like the moving of mountains and the isolation of islands. Now the members of the team see themselves bound in the relationship and can only complain about their own lack of resource and supply. They no longer see the community of the relationship as a thing of value. Their thoughts and concerns are about themselves and not thoughts of giving life to the team. When a covenant team reaches this level of degeneration what seemed permanent relationship is changing and drifting apart.

At this stage the failing member or members can no longer freely offer love. They are going through the motions but not giving their hearts to the relationship. There is no more communion in the relationship, because they no longer see the community of relationship as more important than their own personal needs and agendas. Judgments have destroyed unity and sharing. Judgments have triumphed over unity through diversity. There is now a total loss of sharing and intimacy.  Self-seeking has weekend their will toward personal agendas in the names of logic and reason. The strongholds of their minds prevent them from being open in their hearts toward the relationship. They have quit living in or for the RELATIONSHIP. Natural works have become evident for they have made judgments according to the flesh. They are no longer planted in the community of the relationship. They are no longer drawn, nor do they draw, a freewill level of love. The antidote is unconditional LOVE – an ability to seek to be the substance and the testimony of life to the relationship.

The final stage of destruction to a relationship is the reality of divorce. At this stage the relationship has manifested to be a testimony of nothingness.

Revelation 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains…

This is the testimony of the grave. In the case of a failed relationship, the testimony is now one of burial and dust. There is no more dedication to the future fruitfulness of the relationship. Passion has become lukewarm and has given way to death. There is no more “AWE” in the relationship. The only hope left is for the relationship to return to dust, because there is no more vision of corporate destiny. It has become impossible for the team members to be impassioned to dedicate their lives to one purpose and that purpose is that of the team. A culture of honor has been rejected for a culture of death.

Offenses have caused legitimate needs to be fulfilled illegitimately. The fear of death has empowered judgments of the flesh. The identity of the team has been sacrificed for personal testimonies based upon defilements. Submission to one another has been lost and control and manipulation have damaged the flow of life in the team. An apathetic reality has warranted distraction from purpose by external things. Logic and reasoning has bound the team from knowing the true intimacy of love and the relationship has been fully defeated by a natural testimony of death.

Offenses lead to judgments, judgments lead to defilement, and defilement leads to separation by differences. The measuring of things in the relationship becomes self-focused and apathy spawns a care for external things above the relationship. Logic and reasoning bind the failing members to a stronghold of atrophy toward the future. The result is a divorce and a loss of destiny in the relationship. Can you see how important that first level of connection is? Offences are not worth taking!

Every God-ordained relationship must have within it increasing measures of commitment, faith, response, submission, contribution, love, and dedication. Let’s not forget that the strength of every relationship is only found at its simplest level of its formation. That simplest level is the point of your commitment. That commitment is based upon a revelation of who the others are in the relationship, not what they can do. As I have stated before, I call it a “first love” level of the relationship. The degree of connection to the “first love” level of the relationship will determine the increasing testimony of every other level that follows.

As leaders in the Church we must understand these things and we must live to demonstrate true relationships within our team connections. This is more important than what we say. Who we are as a team will demonstrate God’s grace and will empower those we lead to live in healthy relationships.

Food For Thought

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

I have been addressing the subject of relationships in regard to leaders and the substance of the community they lead. As before, I wrote on this in my weekly blogs of 2012, but I believe this subject is essential for leaders in this leadership resource.

When relationships have a commitment of love they do works of faith toward that relationship. Those acts of love will activate responses that reveal a growing testimony of togetherness that in turn will cause each member of the team to draw together with an attitude and demonstration of submission one to another. A growing revelation of connection will cause members to boldly express themselves in a way that contributes to the corporate cause. The members of the relationship will be drawn toward one another and something will continually manifest in their lives that declares a love and a free gift of giving. The relationship will take on a dimension of destiny and all of the team members will be empowered to do whatever is necessary for the destiny of the team. These are the elements of a covenant life-giving team. Now I will address the issues that destroy relationships.

The enemy would like nothing less than to destroy every human relationship that has ever been. Since people cannot really discover the meaning of relationships without a proper relationship with God, the enemy especially targets God ordained relationships. Since leaders are called to lead, leadership level relationships are a for sure target of the enemy. If we are wise to the schemes of the enemy, we can thwart his attempts to destroy our relationships.

What is it that causes relationships to fail? I believe that the failure of every relationship begins with an earthquake. That earthquake is nothing more than the manifestation of a shaking earth or a shift in a natural reality. It is called an offense. Offenses come when our natural experiences or perceptions tempt us to see things through the eyes of a right and wrong mentality. An offense is a breach in trust and it is a test of our “first love” connections in our relationships. This can be true for our relationship with God or with one another. Something like an earthquake happens that sakes us in our commitment to the relationship.

Revelation 6:12  I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake…

Offenses happen when right and wrong challenges love and relationship. An adherence to the law is a rejection of mercy and grace. Offenses are inroads for deception, conflict, and even the devouring of the core connection of life-giving relationships. Offenses challenge the motivation of the heart and prevent us from giving our hearts to a connection of commitment based upon love. The ground of every relationship will shake at some point. Someone we love will at sometime treat us wrongly, but will we remain in love when challenged by the unfair actions of another? When the ground of our commitment shakes will we take an offense? Taking up an offense is the first step toward destroying a relationship. The antidote to every offense is to return to our “first love” commitment in the relationship. This is not our “first experience” but a “first love” commitment that guarantees new “first experiences”. When we are tempted to be offended we must reaffirm our commitment to trust the relationship. Of course, this takes all parties of the relationship to work to the full effectiveness of life.

Revelation 6:12 I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair…

The second step in the destruction of a relationship is seen with a darkening in our vision for the relationship. This is a step beyond an offense where we make a judgment. The opposite of faith is natural sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Natural sight or natural perceptions produce judgments according to the flesh (2 Cor. 5:16; Jude 10). Those judgments are self-preserving and are invoked by a fear of death in some way. That death could be a death of our own desires, expectations, hopes, dreams, or any perceived reality of our future. Our sun turns black. Our light turns to darkness. This is the place where faith for works is lost and works of fear begin to prevail. Those works are not team infusing, but self-preserving in some way. This is where we begin to make judgments in the relationship according to things that are naturally true or perceived to be naturally true. Natural sight begins to overpower faith. Earthly wisdom replaces heavenly wisdom in the relationship and judgments make us reluctant to act in faith toward the relationship. This is where we begin to lose our ability to live from the heart and become increasingly bound to the logic of the mind and strongholds of wounded emotions. Judgments are not a testimony of love and only perfect love can cast out all fear. The antidote is to do works that testify of our faith in the relationship. Those works must be rooted in our commitment of love.

Revelation 6:12  I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood…

Now we come to the third stage in the destruction of a relationship. This is where we begin to lose the testimony of relationship in exchange for the testimony of self. We become defiled in our thinking. The moon is a testimony of the sun. It doesn’t have any light of its own; it only reflects the light of the sun. Individual members of a relationship are like the moon. They are meant to reflect the light of the relationship. The Bible teaches that the life of the flesh is in the blood and the moon becoming like blood is a testimony of self-seeking. It is a testimony of the life of the flesh and not the testimony of the Spirit. It is the place where we are no longer responding to the testimony of the relationship, but seek the testimony of our own ways. This is a stage of destruction that destroys the understanding of a corporate connection. Offenses lead to judgments and judgments lead to defilements. When we become defiled in our thinking we are reluctant to respond to the testimony of the relationship. Our world takes on a fleshly focus and a carnal testimony. This is where the thought patterns of the mind begin to put up walls toward the other member or members of the relationship. We must return to our first love commitment, exhibit faith actions of our hearts, and seek to respond to the life connection of the relationship.

When we progress through these stages of destruction we find it more and more difficult to sustain the relationship. Without supernatural connections and heavenly realities in our thinking we cannot maintain God anointed commitment, actions, and responses. This sets us up for a loss of submission in our relationship.

Revelation 6:13 …and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.

Stars are a corporate testimony of light in the darkness whereby others can chart their courses in life. Stars can only chart the skies when they live for one another and hold their place of submission. They are defined by their connection to one another and not their agendas for personal identity. They make their heavenly display through a submission one to another and it makes a map toward generational destiny. Without submission we are left with control and manipulation. Submission is a giving reality, while control and manipulation are taking realities. Relationships are meant to reveal a glory that is greater than the individual testimonies within them. Submission to one another makes us part of something greater than our selves. Offenses lead to judgments, judgments lead to defilement, and defilement leads to separation by differences rather than unity through diversity. This is where the individual members of a relationship no longer live for the corporate testimony of the relationship. They lose concern that others are watching their light in the darkness. This is where divisive actions and attitudes manifest and we enter into conversations of darkness. This is where disconnected members become negatively prophetic and their conversations for one another are no longer sweet. Negative conversations with others in regard to covenant relationships are an indication that you are no longer living for the relationship. You’ve lost the corporate testimony of light to darkness and now the light of the relationship is turning to darkness. You have lost your ability to submit to the hope of a new day. The antidote is submission for the purpose of a new day and a testimony of light.

Members of a leadership team must stay committed to one another in their relationships. They must understand that there will be misunderstandings and natural disappointments at times, but team members cannot afford to take any offense with one another. Team members must remain active in their faith toward one another in the team. If they choose to be naturally minded, agenda driven, or self-focused in any way they will open the door for making judgments of their fellow team members and the result will be a disconnection in their hearts that will bring a defilement in the team. When members become concerned about themselves they fail to be life-giving members. The purpose of any leadership team is not just to lead, but also to lead as a team. This means that submission one to another is at the core of defining who they are. Without submission there is no testimony of team. Each team member must be secure in who they are and they must each lead within their measure of God-given grace for the purpose of the team. There is no room for offenses, judgments, defilements, or self-seeking agendas on a leadership team. Keeping healthy relationships with one another is essential to every team.

Next week I will continue in regard to further elements of the enemy’s schemes of bringing destruction to a team. Let’s all guard our hearts from ever allowing an offense to lodge in our hearts that endangers the relationships of our lives.

Food For Thought

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

This month I am addressing the subject of the elements of living relationships. These ingredients are what it takes to walk in a relationship, especially in covenant relationships. I believe that leadership in the church must understand and embrace the elements of relationship for the sake of those they lead. I wrote in regard to these things in my weekly personal blog in 2011, but these things are essential for leaders in the church and thus I am writing of these things in this leadership blog.

I believe there are seven elements in any living relationship. Once again, the elements of life‐giving relationships are most critical in covenant connections, but the principles can apply in any type of relationship in varying degrees. Every relationship must first have a foundation of connection of commitment. This is a place of the heart where you believe in the relationship. For a relationship to last there must first be a believing in the relationship and a first love connection. This will create constant and continual “first experiences” that are essential to the passion and life of the connection.

The second key ingredient to a living relationship is that of “actions”. Those actions are connected to the commitment to the relationship and they are meant to be actions of the heart and not merely the mind. I call this the “faith level” of the relationship. Whatever we believe will always determine how we act. When we believe in a relationship our actions toward that relationship will testify of our commitment to it. The actions by each member of the relationship must be actions of believing in the relationship, not merely actions preformed for the purposes of one’s own agendas. Those actions must be rooted in the belief of the heart and not in the circumstances surrounding or affecting the relationship. Every member must do works that speak of their faith toward one another. Without this, the relationship will begin to dwindle and die. “Actions” of the members of a relationship will testify of the commitment of its members one to another.

If a relationship is going to thrive there must be a “response” level connection. When commitment inspires actions there is then the need for the members of the relationship to “respond” to one another. When the actions of other members in the relationship bring life to its members, each member responds by “spilling over” in the direction of the other members with an evident testimony of the relationship. Commitment inspires actions and actions induce responses of the members of the team toward one another.

Now we come to a very important element of the relationship. That element is one of submission one to another. Now without the first three elements there is no true submission in the relationship. You see true submission is absent control and manipulation. It is not an issue of getting, but rather of giving to the relationship. True submission in a relationship involves freely receiving what another is giving and freely giving what one has to another. It never includes forcing or taking. It is a life giving interchange that brings health, growth, and increasing life to the relationship.

The foundation of a life‐giving relationship is based upon a motivation of commitment. Each member sees that their future is connected to the other members of the team. The members of the relationship are then empowered to do works of faith toward one another and the team. Because they realize their future is with one another, they do actions from their heart for one another and the team. They then become activated to respond to the testimony of the relationship. In a marriage, they see themselves as one flesh. In a covenant team they see themselves as one team. Because of these elements each team member then becomes enlightened to the testimony of submission one to another. There is a strong shield of togetherness in the team whereby each member sees himself or herself easily together and seldom apart.

Each team member is then awakened to contribute to the destiny of the relationship because they have a living revelation of the purpose of the team. They are alert to purpose. They live to contribute to the fellowship of the team. Their thought process is to advance the purpose of the team, whether that be a marriage, a leadership team, or a covenant family.

When a team operates at this level of relationship the members of the team are easily drawn to the love one another. Even their conversations are for one another and what comes off of them is an attitude of betterment for the team and its members. They see the relationship as a place of community and not merely a resource supply for their own lives. Their thoughts and concerns are now those of freely giving to the life of the team. When a covenant team reaches this level of relationship it is easy for its members to be impassioned to dedicate their lives to one purpose and that purpose is that of the team. There is an awe of each other on the team and this is a life‐giving team of destiny. A culture of honor increasingly develops and matures within the team.

I believe that every God‐ordained relationship must have within it increasing measures of commitment, faith, response, submission, contribution, love, and dedication. Next week I will address the failure of such teams, but for this week please consider these elements of a life‐ giving team. To be a covenant team of life every God‐ordained relationship must be filled with members who exhibit the following attributes:

1. Motivated for commitment – My future is with you
2. Empowered to do works of faith – My heart is with you
3. Activated to respond to the testimony of one household – Our footsteps are one
4. Enlightened to the testimony of submission to one another – We walk with a shield of togetherness
5. Awakened to give a contribution to one another – We are of one mind and I am dead without you
6. Drawn to the love one another – What comes out my mouth and off of my life is for us
7. Impassioned to dedicate our lives to one purpose – I see the awe of you as a member of the team – We can do whatever is necessary for the destiny of our team

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

This month I am going to be addressing the subject of relationships. Everything in the body of Christ is about relationship. I believe that everything in life is a matter of relationships. Proper relationships produce the substance of life. It was God’s gift of His Son that gave us eternal life. Eternal life is a place of relationship. It is the gift of knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He sent in a personal way now and forevermore. Intimacy with God is the source of eternal life. It is the source of life and that life more abundant.

As leaders in the body of Christ we must understand the importance of relationships. Relationships are more important than any task of ministry. We are not merely called to serve, but to relate to God and to God’s family. It is out of relationship that we serve. Service in ministry doesn’t create relationships, but proper relationships will empower us to serve in ministry.

There are certain ingredients that are essential in any living relationship. Everything in life is a matter of relationship. Relationship is the most important value of life. It is the key to the expansion of the kingdom of God and it is essential that we as believers in Christ discover the secrets of life-giving relationships. Whether it is your relationship with God, with your spouse in marriage, with your family members, your church members, your leadership team, or whatever relational connection you might have; I believe there are seven Biblical levels of connection. I also believe that here are seven root causes and symptoms of failed relationships. Today I will lay a foundation for us to understand the ingredients to a healthy relationship and as the month unfolds I will present the causes of failure in relationships. I wrote in regard to these things in my June and July weekly personal blogs of 2012, but this same material is essential for us as leaders in Christ’s Church.

Please remember that there are many different types of relationships and that the principles I am presenting are more critical in covenant level connections than in short term objectives. I am especially concerned with covenant level relationships that are meant to bear the fruit of destiny in life. Even if you have experienced a failed covenant relationship, God wants to give you keys for the relationships of the future. I am also going to assume that you, like I, have determined to commit your way to God and that you understand the will for your life is not based upon your own personal agendas. God has a plan for your life and He has your best interests in mind when it comes to relational connections. With this in mind, let me begin to set a foundation for understanding the ingredients of a life-giving relationship.

Within a healthy relationship there is a foundation of commitment for the relationship. So the first key element to a life-giving relationship is a commitment to the other or others in the relationship. This commitment is based upon a divine connection and it is a matter of the heart. It is the source of desire in the relationship. This is why it is very important to consider the possible boundaries for any relationship before allowing your heart to go to a level of commitment. God gives clear direction in His written word that confirms His voice in our lives. If we ignore simple wisdom like “equal yoking”, “godly pursuits”, “godly lifestyles”, “covenant principles” or other things instructed by God we will be inviting a destructive force into the foundation of any relationship we seek. Every relationship will be tested and only those established on God’s word and godly character produce the destiny of God’s will. We won’t get everything right, but we must seek to try to get it right!

The strength of any commitment in a relationship is the heart. Even if you are part of a team that sells a product, you must first be convinced that the product is valuable to those who will buy it. It cannot just be a matter of reasoning of the mind, you must believe in your product in your heart. This is even truer in life-giving relationships. You must believe in your heart that God is good in order for your commitment to Him to be lasting and true. The source of your belief must be rooted in your heart and not merely your head. For a relationship to be birthed and succeed takes a commitment to believe in the ingredients and the purpose of the relationship. The ingredients are its members and the purpose is its destiny.

When a man or woman fall in love with each other the human heart becomes very big and the mind can become very set in its way. I have observed this in too many situations to even count. This is the way of things. It is not a bad thing. I think it is a good thing. The problem comes when we give our hearts to a relationship that we shouldn’t have in the first place, because when a relationship captures our heart our minds become blind to any altering wisdom.  The wonder of the heart is almost like a gift of stupidity to any flaws that might be found. The flaws will soon enough manifest, but relationship is not base upon perfection. It is based upon connection that is willing to seek to press through all things to the perfection that can be found through the relationship.

When we find the key of commitment to a relationship we progress to a second level in the relationship. This is a level of actions. Every relational commitment is testified by actions of faith for the relationship. These are not self-gratifying actions, but actions that seek to reveal a value of our commitment to the other or others in the relationship. Self-gratifying actions are not relational. They are self-focused and will only serve in aiding the destruction of a relationship.

Here is a key to every relationship: the strength of every relationship is only found at its simplest level of its formation. That simplest level is the point of your commitment. I call it a “first love” level of the relationship. The degree of connection to the “first love” level of the relationship will determine the increasing degree of the action level and every other level that follows.

When I counsel couples that are about to enter into the covenant of marriage I make them do a couple of things. First we get a dictionary and we mark out the word “divorce” with a non-translucent dark marker. I instruct them that “divorce” cannot be an option in a covenant life-giving relationship. The removal of the word “divorce” then creates another problem with their dictionary, because if “divorce” can never be an option then neither can words pertaining to “merely existing” or “just getting by”. These types of words must also be removed. We cannot merely “exist” in a relationship and expect it to be a covenant life-giving reality. Since these words are then also removed from their dictionary we must then find a word like “flourish” and we have to mark it with an extremely bright translucent marker so they will pay full attention to its meaning and its development in their relationship. I then tell the couple that the worst day of their marriage should be the day they get married and it should actually be wonderful and astounding! I explain that it is the “worst day” because no other day can look back and make a comparison. It is a first experience that is the result of a “first love” commitment. First experiences are never meant to be repeated; they are meant to be continually lived. Every couple must live in a “first love” level in order to constantly create new “first experiences” in their relationship. Some experiences will be with great joy while others will include great pain, but they will be the experiences that come from committing their lives to one another in all things. It is a place of the heart and not a place of the reasoning of the mind. This principle is true in the highest level of covenant such as marriage, but there is also a reality of this truth in the core connection of a covenant leadership team.

Beyond the level of actions there are levels of response, submission, contribution, selfless love, and dedication. I believe that every God-ordained relationship must have within it increasing measures of commitment, faith, response, submission, contribution, love, and dedication. I will continue with more of these in my next week’s blog. For today please consider the simplest form of every relationship in your life. It begins with a heartfelt commitment. Please return to your “first love” level of commitment and expect this week to begin a new measure of the first experiences discovered in the life-giving relationships of your life.

The “first love” level of commitment is essential to a covenant leadership team. Each member of the team must realize that they are there for one another and that together they stand for the purposes of God in their lives.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

I believe that there are five basic classes of people on planet earth. There are the very poor, the poor, the middle class, the rich, and the very rich. The possessions of these people are not what determine who these people are. Each of these classes of people actually determines how much they possess. These classes of people are based upon the beliefs of their hearts. For a large part those who comprise the Church are very poor in their mentality. The very poor think from day to day. What in us thinks only for today? Whatever in us thinks for today will act for today, think for today, and live for today. A very poor mindset will keep us bound to today. It will not bring blessing of the rich inheritance of God into the earth. What in us doesn’t understand how awesome we are as the family of God? These are the things that keep us bound to a very poor mentality in life.

The second class of people is the poor. Poor people think for some short segment of time. They live for the month, a few months, or maybe even the year. Their strategies and plans look to things that are within their own reach. The live to maintain life in this world, but they don’t live to change the world. They believe in entitlements more than they seek empowerments. Any riches they receive they spend it upon wasted causes and short-term agendas of existence in this world.

The middle class lives year to year and may even plan for the comfort of many years. Their focus is comfort. Much of the Church lives to be comfortable. It is a middle class life. Those with a middle class mindset don’t live for significance, but spend any inheritances they receive on the successes of their own lives.

The rich live for longer segments of time. They may even live a segment of inheritance to their children, but they still lack something of the substance of true destiny. The very rich live for decades and even centuries. Very rich people don’t think about what is going to happen in the next year. They think about changing nations. They think about changing generations. Very rich people don’t live to make more money. They live to change the world. God doesn’t just want to give us possessions; He wants us to be people who possess the earth.

We could have a widow’s coin and not have a poor mentality. We are not equal with others. We are not supposed to be equal with others. God does not want us to be equal with others. He wants each of us to be significant in the worlds in which we live. He wants us to influence others by the things we possess. A lady named Tabitha had to be raised from the dead because she had the mentality of a rich person in this earth. She made valuable clothing for forgotten widows and when she died God summoned Peter to raise her from the dead, because her destiny of bringing heaven to the earth for widows was greater than her ultimate destination to a heaven beyond this world (Acts 9:36-41). Tabitha was a woman with a kingdom mindset in this world.

Abraham understood the keys to a kingdom mindset even while he was still called Abram. When he encountered King Melchizedek upon his return from rescuing Lot and the goods of Sodom, he recognized Melchizedek’s gifts of bread and wine as but a spillover of the blessings God held for him from heaven. Abram spilled over with a tithe of what he had as a covenant response calling for all that God would give him from heaven for his inheritance in the earth (Gen. 14:17-24). He had a mentality of Abraham even though he was still Abram.

Abram was destined to become Abraham, but he didn’t know it. God knew it, but Abram did not. However, Abram thought like a very rich man. He understood that a kingdom mindset has to do with who you are and not what you do.

Abraham was a rich man, but God was very rich (Gen. 13:2,3). When God gave His covenant promise to Abraham a very rich God was talking with a rich man. God was presenting a 100-year plan to a rich man. Abraham was 99 years old. There must be a 100-year plan? The church is 99! There must be a very a 100-year plan! To receive a 100-year plan we must know the one with the 100-year plan.

Genesis 13:2, 3 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.  He went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai…

Abraham’s foundation was the mindset of a very rich man. Because he thought like a very rich man he could go from Bethel to Ai. The journey of his life supernaturally demonstrated that as the house of God (Bethel), the only direction you can go is to the heaps and the testimonies of God in the earth (Ai). The real issue of inheritance is that God is very rich and He wants His family to change the world.

Genesis12:7,8 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.  And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

Abram moved, but when he moved the house went with him. Too much of the Church is begging to be the house when they are already the house. Build a tabernacle and move! Don’t stay at the memories of what God has done. Move forward with grace that God has given you to do all things.

Move from the place of the house of God because they are the house of God and move west. Ai is on the east and Abram went on a journey still!

Abraham was very rich therefore God could make him exceedingly fruitful.  How do you see yourself? Abraham was not a person. He was a house. How you see yourself determines your beliefs, your actions, your imaginations, and your influences. Do you see yourself as a house? Don’t see yourself as a ministry, a giver of blessings, or a healer. See yourself as God’s inheritance in this earth.

God of heaven, possessor of heaven and earth, impregnate us and activate us to be your testimony of inheritance in this world. Activate us to be very rich so we will be exceedingly fruitful. Give us an impartation and an activation of a 100-year plan for the sake of those we lead.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

 Leader9 – An Audio Teaching on this month’s subject.

 Leader9 – A PDF Outline

Greetings,

I have been writing this month in regard to a 100-year plan. I have proposed that a 100-year plan is found in the promise that God gave to His friend Abraham. God told Abraham that in blessing He would bless him, in multiplying He would multiply him, his descendants would possess the gates of their enemy, and that through the Seed of Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. These are the ingredients of a 100-year plan. It begins with a man and then it extends to a third and fourth generation. When this principle is applied in each and every generation it creates a perpetual testimony of life-giving destiny in the earth. I believe that this is God’s way in things.

These four things comprise the basic substance of humanity and mankind’s      facilitation of spiritual forces of either good or evil. They are the issues of belief, action, imagination, and influence. These four things hold the power to bring about change in the earth. This is not a grace for mere blessings in our lives, but the very keys to unlock the destiny of our lives as those who rule in Christ. It all starts with the issue of belief in our lives.

Who you believe is whom you will be like. Who you believe determines what you believe. It is not what you believe that determines whom you believe, but whom you believe that determines what you believe. What you believe is the image that you will present to others, but it is all rooted in whom you believe. I believe that whom you believe determines who possesses the gates in your life. Who you believe determines who possesses the gates in the earth, because possessing the gates has to do with what you believe. Gates are places of influence. Gates are the power of true inheritance in the earth.

John 8:31, 32  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

In these verses we see that Jesus was talking to Jews who believed Him. He was not talking to those who did not believe Him. He told those who believed Him that if they were to abide in the words that God speaks personally to them they would know truth that would bring a power of freedom. The word translated as “word” in this Scripture is the Greek word “rhema”. It is not the word “logos”. Rhema is a personal expression given directly to someone.  The secret to knowing truth is not in something that God has already said. It isn’t in believing something that God had said. It is found in believing God. True belief in the person God would enable men to receive truth from God. It would enable them to receive a substance of inheritance from the one who gives inheritance, but the secret would be a close relationship with God where inheritance could be received.

Who you believe determines who possesses the gates. Who possesses the place of heaven in the earth? Who possesses the high places in the earth? Whoever possesses the gates, possesses the places of influence. God’s covenant promise to us is that our descendants should possess the gates of their enemies. This is part of God’s inheritance in the earth.

When inheritances are given they remain in the earth. These are the things that create places for the coming generations to stand. We stand in the inheritances given by those before us and we walk forward to expand those inheritances to the generations beyond us. God’s covenant promise to men is that wherever the soles of their feet walk it will become the possession of their inheritance. Money is not for spending, Money is meant to change the world. Wealth isn’t given to merely gratify the pleasures of a generation. Wealth of any kind is meant to influence the world. It is not the destiny of any generation to spend the inheritances given from the previous generations upon themselves. Inheritance is meant to influence the generations of men. The riches of inheritance far exceed the value of mere things and those valuable things are a power of influence in the world.

Jesus came to this world as a man so that through Him all the families of the earth could be blessed. Going to heaven is a fringe benefit of believing in Jesus, but bringing heaven to the world in which we live is a part of our destiny. We are called to advance the kingdom of God in the earth. We are called to bring the kingdoms of this world into the kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love. We must receive the inheritances given to us by God to pass them on the generations that follow our lives in this earth.

God’s promise to Abraham was not a promise to a man. It was a promise to his house. The good news given to Abraham was that he could trust in the Promiser. He could trust in the one who gave a promise and that He could change the world through the house of Abraham. The strength of the world is that they think they are the house, but they are not the house. The weakness of the church is they don’t know they are the house, therefore, they long to go to God’s house in some place in the sky. All God has every wanted is to tabernacle with men. All he wanted to do was to move in the neighborhood of humanity and satisfy the human heart.

We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing from God in heavenly places, but we must first believe that we have been blessed in order for us to receive the blessing of those blessings here upon the earth.

When I have lived my life and run my race I want to be said that I believed therefore I acted. I acted therefore I dreamed. I dreamed therefore my children and my children’s children were born with vision. My family was born with vision therefore many families of the earth were blessed. This is a testimony of inheritance and the reality of a 100-year plan. This is the kind of leaders we should be in the Church.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Hello,

Last week I began to present the ingredients of a 100-year plan. I have written to you in previous blogs in regard to four levels of spiritual warfare. Those levels are the elements of belief, action, imagination, and influence. Beliefs inspire actions and actions propagate imaginations of the heart. The imaginations of the heart determine the influences of our lives. When we receive a belief we activate actions of that belief. A belief received is most often the testimony of an old belief lost and a new belief taking hold. A life-giving belief will dispossess a death producing one. Life-giving beliefs then inspire life-giving actions. When we act upon our beliefs we inspire the imaginations of our hearts towards further influence of that belief. It all begins with a belief and it culminates with an influence to others in the world. As I stated last week, God wants to reveal to us the secret things that belong to Him so those things can become influencing inheritances in the world to and through our children and to our children’s children.

When God reveals His secrets to men His secrets become a revelation to men. A revelation is a secret that existed, but has now become known to those who discover it. Revelations are simply disclosed secrets. The purpose of every revelation from God is to invite us to have an encounter with God so we will be transformed by God and become a testimony of that revelation from God. A revelation from God brings a blessing of God into our lives. When we receive a revelation from God we are called to act according to that revelation. It is impossible to act upon a revelation from God without God’s transforming power at work in the actions of our will. Anything less than faith will only result in dead actions of vane works. They may mimic truth, but they will never propagate real truth. Revelation from God is given to release spiritual inheritances into the earth.

Inheritances are cultural and not structural. They are living and not preserving in nature, therefore inheritances are meant to expand in the generations of men. Inheritances are a substance that can be received by the children of a passing generation. One generation gives the substance of its beliefs to the next generation and those beliefs are expanded through actions, imagination, and influence to the generations that follow. Inheritances are a substance of value to be expanded to greater value in the earth. An inheritance is not meant to be spent by the next generation, but to be used to increase the influence of a family to the generations beyond their day. Inheritances are measures of power given to expand the influence of God-given destiny in the earth. When inheritances are received they are supposed to be cultivated, propagated, and released to expand in the earth. They are the testimony of a family name. Inheritance is a measure of destiny given to a family name. Destiny received is a substance to be passed to and through the dynasty of a family name that brings blessing to the world in a multi-generational way. The Church bears the name of Christ and God wants to give inheritances that can release a destiny of His great grace to the world.

Inheritances from God come by revelation. God has blessed us in heaven with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3). Those blessings are only ours when we come to see what they really are. When we see them, we can receive them. When we see the blessings of God we can also believe that God is giving them to us. God wants us to receive His blessings from heaven so that we can become the riches of His inheritance in the earth (Eph. 1:18).

The blessings of God come from God. God is not a performer of works. He is a being and He wants to bless us by who He is. What we believe is the image that we will present to the world we live in. What we believe is not really based on the knowledge we believe, but in the person we believe. Who we believe determines what we believe and beliefs determine who possess the gates. Gates are places of influence. They are what determine the future of the world. Whoever possesses the places of influence possesses the future of the world. Whoever possesses the gates possesses the future.

The future of the world is determined from heaven, but the question is, “Where is heaven?” Much of the Church believes that the future is determined by heaven, but their focus of heaven is a place that is far off or far away. I believe that we go to heaven when we die. It is a great promise and reward when our race has been run in this life, but our race is the destiny and not merely the reward that we will receive in heaven. Jesus didn’t instruct us to pray that we would one day go to heaven. He told us to pray that the kingdom and the will of heaven would be done in the world in which we live. He told us to look to our source of inheritance while we are here upon the earth not to our hope of God’s power for escape. He didn’t instruct us to pray to a God who is powerful. He told us to pray to our heavenly Father who is holy. A father is a source of blessing. A father is a source of inheritance. This is not commonly understood in the fatherless societies of the world today, but a father is the source of a family name and a family name is a source of inheritance. A family name carries the power of a family’s destiny that carries through the dynasty of a family name. Having a father in heaven guarantees heavenly blessings in any world in which we live.

As leaders in the body of Christ we are not called to tasks of Christian ministry. We are called to inherit the blessings of God our Father and to expand them as His inheritance in the earth. The secrets given to us by God are the substance of inheritance that belongs to our children and to our children’s children. This is the power of God’s increasing kingdom in the earth.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings,

In this month’s blogs I am going to address the need for a 100-year plan in the church. I am not talking about our ability to live for 100 years, but rather our ability to transition inheritance to the generations beyond our lives. God is a multi-generational God. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel. He is the God of Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and others also (2Tim. 2:1,2). As leaders we must lead in a way that the God’s given vision and the God given letter entrusted to us becomes a spiritual reality in increasing measures beyond our lives. Our leadership must not be for our lifetime, but for the generations of our lifetime. The generations of our lifetime will lead to the generations of the lifetimes to come. I believe that there should be three and four generations revealing the glory of God at all times.

So much of the church is longing for the day of Jesus’ return, but I believe that our aim in life must be for His continual return. Jesus’ is revealing Himself as the one who stands in the midst of His Church at all times (Rev. 1). His prophetic testimony is a testimony of life that continues to mature and advance in the generations of men. We are the bride of Christ and the Holy Spirit lives within us. The cry of the bride and the cry of the Holy Spirit are for Jesus to come (Rev. 22:17). This is not just an event in the coming future, but a continual reality of Christ’s manifest presence in the advancing generations of men. We are living in administration that is suitable for the summing up of all things in Christ and there is a continual increase of glory to the fullness of the summing up of all things in Him (Eph. 1:10).

There is a difference between being a successful person and a significant one. One can be successful in life and only accomplish things that can be measured in his or her life, but true significance is to make an impact upon others. When we equip others we find that the testimony of all that God has given to us becomes a testimony in the generations of tomorrow. I believe that the heart of leadership in the church must be the heart of a father. Fathers live to raise up sons (men and women) that can carry the vision of today as a dream for tomorrow. A father seeks to put responsibility in the hands of the next generation. A father takes the secrets that he has received from God and gives them as an inheritance to his children and his children’s children.

Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

Abraham is known as the father of faith. God’s promise to Abraham was a multi-generational promise. When we read the covenant promise given to Abraham we find that it is a multi-generational plan. I call this a 100-year plan. God made a covenant promise to the human race through the SEED of Abraham. That covenant promise was one of blessing, multiplying, possessing, and influence in the world.

Genesis 22:17, 18 “…blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

God’s words to Abraham had four levels of ingredients. Those levels are generational in there nature. They are the ingredients of a 100-year plan:

1)  In blessing I will bless you

2)  In multiplying I will multiply

3)  Your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies

4)  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed

Some translations read that God would “greatly bless” Abraham. The Hebrew word for blessing here is a double use of the same word. It implies that in blessing God would bless him. It implies blessing beyond him own life. God was empowering Abraham to be a blessing and to live for the sake of blessing others beyond his life. This is the anointing of a father’s grace. It is an anointing to bring inherited favor to the generations beyond one’s own existence.

The same significance exists with the word “multiply”. Some translations read that God was going to “greatly multiply” Abraham. The Hebrew word for multiply is also a double use of the same word. God was not only empowering Abraham to multiply, but to release an anointing and action of multiplication to those beyond himself. Abraham would be empowered to do actions of faith that would propagate actions of increase in the generations beyond his life. These are the actions of a father for the sake of all that is to come.

God told Abraham that his descendants would “possess the gate of their enemies”. This is not a measure that would be seen directly in Abraham’s life, but in the lives of his children and his children’s children. This was an anointing of imagination. It was a grace that would carry beyond the vision of Abraham’s life into the generations beyond. It meant Abraham had to live with more than a vision for his life. He had to live with a dream that would extend beyond his life. Gates are places of influence. The gates of the enemy are the influences of the enemy in our lives. God was revealing to Abraham that they present conditions of his world would be changed through his generations tomorrow. It was part of an increasing inheritance and the power of a multi-generational plan.

God also told Abraham that “in his Seed all of the nations of the earth” would be blessed. This is the ultimate testimony of influence. God was prophetically declaring the Seed of Christ that would be shadowed in the nation of Israel, but fully revealed through supernatural Seed of Jesus Christ and the conception of the Body of Christ.

I will be addressing these things and what it means to have a 100-year plan in my blogs for this month. What secrets are you called to release as an inheritance in the earth? What secrets have and are you receiving from the generations of the past? The revealed secrets of God are the blessings to men. The blessings of God are supposed to be expanded in the generations of men. All that God gives is meant to change the world to become a testimony of the increasing inheritance of God.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

I have been addressing the subject of leading the ekklesia of God. That ekklesia is the called out assembly of members of the bride of Christ. She is the life-giving womb of God in the earth. She has been sent to bring the influence of the kingdom of heaven to the kingdoms of the earth. There is a great description of the function of Christ and His bride in chapter 5 of the book of Ephesians. The Scripture is referring to the function of husbands and wives, but more specifically it is a description of the function of Jesus Christ the head and Christ His bride. The secret to these verses is found in verse 32 of this chapter.

Ephesians 5:32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

The first verses of this segment of Scripture describe the function of the bride of Christ in relationship to her husband Jesus Christ the eternal Adam of God. This is a description of a wife’s relationship with her husband, but it is more specifically a description of the body of Christ as the feminine expression of Christ in relationship with the masculine expression of Christ in His headship. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, God created mankind in the His own likeness and the image (Gen. 1:26,27). That likeness and image was expressed in that which was both masculine and feminine. Mankind was created both male and female. They were created to have dominion over the works of God’s hands in the earth (Ps. 8:3-8). Jesus came to redeem the human race. He came to restore the masculine and feminine expressions of God in mankind to their state of dominion in the earth. This is to be expressed in every family and in the family of God known as Christ’s church (ekklesia). Everyone must express the attributes of body membership and leadership must express the attributes of Christ’s headship.

Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

In these verses the wife is instructed concerning her submission to her husband. She is to submit to him as to the Lord. She is to submit to him as the church does to Christ. She is to submit to him in everything. Under the paradigm of the curse of the fall this is a recipe for disaster. The curse of the fall left the wife bound to a condition of worry and pain, a desire for her husband, and a situation where the husband rules over the wife. Under the paradigm of the fall these words are words of a curse and not words of blessing.

Genesis 3:16   To the woman He said:

¹“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children;

² Your desire shall be for your husband,

³ And he shall rule over you.”

Whereas the curse left the wife with a temptation to fear death, a suppressed identity, and bondage under dominant control, the blessings of Christ have brought an activation of life, a facilitation of life, and a release of life to the church in her fullness. This is the life given to the bride of Christ through the headship of Christ. This is the life of the body revealed as the feminine expression of mankind in Christ. The masculine expression is seen as that that activates life, facilitate life, and release life in the full expression of the family of God.

Godly leadership in the church must not dominate or control. It must seek to activate, facilitate, and release the members of the church to the true testimony of Christ’s life within them. The masculine expression of God is that of protecting life, while the feminine expression of God is that of being a life-giver. The verses in Ephesians reveal that there are three aspects to protecting life. The husband is to:

1. Love as Christ and give himself for her
2. Sanctify and cleanse her with washing by the word
3. Present her to himself a glorious church

These are the very things that Jesus did for us. Husbands must do this for their wives, and the leadership aspect of Christ’s government must do the same in the church. To love and to give as Christ, is to provide and supply the needed resources for life. We love Jesus, because He first loved us. Church members will love leaders, because leaders first love them. New Covenant leadership seeks to provide each member with whatever is needed to bring them to faith in Christ. They do not rule them through natural tactics that promote fear to bondage. They seek to activate each member to the faith of life and function in Him.

Leaders must sanctify and cleanse church members with washing by the word. This is the “rhema” (GSRN 4487) word. These are God’s words from their mouths. This is not the letter of the Law, but Spirit-words of life! This sanctification is one of protection and shelter in the Spirit. Leaders must seek to “facilitate” the identity of each church member. They seek to help each member find their identity in the Father of lights. Only by this can they be the true light of Christ in the church. New Covenant leadership doesn’t seek to force church members to identify in them, but facilitates members to find their identity in Christ.

Leaders must seek to present church members ‘along side’ of them as a glorious church. This is a leadership role of propagating and expanding the destiny of the church. This is the “release” of every member to his or her role in ministry. New Covenant leaders don’t seek to control church members. They seek to release them for the purpose of Christ’s kingdom in the earth. The Greek word for “present” in Ephesians 5:27 is the GSRN 3936. “paristemi, par-is´-tay-mee, or prolonged paristano, par-is-tan´-o; from GSRN 3844 and GSRN 2476; to stand beside, i.e. (transitively) to exhibit, proffer, (specially), recommend, (figuratively) substantiate; or (intransitively) to be at hand (or ready), aid”. As you can see, this is everything but dominant control!

In order to lead in this way, every member of every leadership team must be empowered by God’s Spirit of Might. They must seek to love God and people more than ministry. Prickly things cannot distract them. New Covenant leaders must be empowered by the Spirit of Knowing. They must increasingly know the communion of the Spirit and of the saints. New Covenant leaders must also seek to be led by God’s Spirit. They cannot be circumstantially ruled. The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord must empower them to have an awe of God and His plan for every member entrusted to their leadership.

Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

It is important to understand that the submission is of a wife to a husband, not women to men. In every case, a wife’s submission is to her own source of life. Her submission is to the one who loves and gives love to her. It is to the one who sanctifies her with washing through life-giving words. Her subjection is to the one who presents her alongside of him as a glorious church. God joins a man and a woman for a corporate purpose and destiny. Within the church there is both a masculine and a feminine dynamic of life. Leadership is a masculine expression of Christ’s rule and membership is a feminine expression of Christ’s rule. These are not bound to men and women, but are expressed in both men and woman to reveal a mystery that is best depicted in the covenant of marriage of a man and a woman. Like the man and the woman in marriage, God makes them one flesh for His purposes. God also joins church members to church leaders. He does not join all leaders from everywhere to church members, nor does he join all members to all church leaders. God joins members to leaders and leaders to members so that His glorious church can be made manifest. So, what does New Covenant submission look like?

1. The members are to submit to their “own leaders” – “as to the Lord”. These are the leaders who love them and give their lives to them. This brings their submission to become an activation of faith. Church members love their leaders, because their leaders first love them.
2. The members are to submit to their own leaders as unto to the Lord. Our submission to the Lord is a direct connection to God as our Father. He has even given us His Holy Spirit that causes our hearts to cry out “Abba, Father”. Church members are to submit to their own leaders by being activated to know God their Father as the source of their own identity.
3. The members are to be subject to their own leaders as those who cause them to come along side of them and serve with them in the corporate testimony of Christ and His glorious church. They are not controlled, but rather released to their full testimony of destiny in Christ.

The testimony of New Covenant will be to have a threefold attitude toward every member joined to them. They must confess from their hearts the desire to make others become who they in Christ.  They must live for them and understand that the members of the Body live for them as well to be the communion of the saints in Christ. They must decide to bring church members alongside of them to live with them for the future generations of the church. New Covenant church members must have an attitude that professes to their God-given leadership that they will live from their hearts for them. They see themselves as one body with them and trust the God the Father of them all. New Covenant church members understand that their purpose is divinely joined to the leadership that God has given to them in Christ.

In doing these things, the life-protecting and life-giving image and likeness of God will be revealed in the earth. This is the testimony of the blessed Body of Christ and the true manifestation of the children of God. May we all grow in this grace and may the church become the glorious testimony of Christ!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

  Leader 8 – Audio Teaching

  Leader8 – Outline Notes