ted4leaders

Greetings;

As leaders we must lead for the purpose of God’s kingdom. The kingdom of God is a testimony of the good news of God to mankind. That good news is often termed as being the “gospel”, but the word “gospel” is a word that was religiously created to encompass a simple phrase, “good news”.  Unfortunately, when we use the word “gospel” rather than “good news” we can often disguise “bad news” in the cloak of “gospel” and dupe the world in to believing something less than the “good news” of Jesus Christ. The “good news” is not that Jesus died so that we would go to heaven when we die. The “good news” is that Jesus reconciled all men to know God and Jesus whom God sent. This is eternal life (Jn. 17:3). It is now and forever! It is the place where heaven comes to our realities of the earth and where the life beyond this world is an increasing testimony of that heavenly reality. It is the place of forever knowing God! We have been given really good news in Jesus. He is the door to the eternal reality of the blessings of heaven in our lives. Jesus was the Seed promised through the faith of Abraham and that Seed was the source of heaven to this world in which we live.

Galatians 3:8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.”

What was the gospel preached to Abraham? As I have already stated, the word gospel means “good news”. The good news is that an eternal Adam gave is life so that all can find themselves in the family of blessing! The good news is that Jesus Christ reconciled men to God while they were yet sinners so the blessings of heaven could flood the worlds of men. The message of heaven is one of transforming the world. It includes life beyond this world, but it brings the life of heaven to the world in increasing measures.

What was the gospel (good news) preached to Abraham? I believe that we find this good news recorded in the 22^nd Chapter of Genesis. In this story, Abraham had revealed his faith in believing God’s good news by his willingness to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. He expected God to raise him from the dead, because he believed the One who promised more than he believed the promise (Heb. 11:17-19).

Genesis 22:15-18   

Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 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.”

There are four key elements in the good news preached to Abraham. Those four things were:

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

The good news that God gave Abraham was not that He would merely bless him. It was that in blessing He would bless him. The Hebrew word for blessing here is placed in a double. It is the word blessing repeated twice. It can mean great blessing, but it more clearly states that in blessing God would bless. This is the foundation for belief of every human being. Do we believe and know that we are the blessing of God in the earth? When we realize who we are, we will live to be who we are. We are a testimony of God’s likeness and image in this world and we were born to bring glory to His name. As leaders we must lead people in a way that they know who they are in Christ. They are not only blessed by Him they are His blessing in the earth. While the enemy pronounces “shame on you” words of bondage and death, God pronounces “shame off of you” words of freedom and life. Being a blessing starts with believing who God is so you can believe who you are in Him. This is the foundation of the good news preached to Abraham. God’s plan was to make a way for human kind to be restored in the likeness and image of their heavenly Father in the earth. As leaders we must lead others with a foundation of believing God and believing who we are in Him. It is the power of God’s Word and Spirit conceived in the human heart that establishes a foundation of believing God and believing who they are in Him. As leaders we must be facilitators of God’s Word and Spirit in the hope of transforming the beliefs of men.

The second thing that God told Abraham was that in multiplying He would multiply Him. The Hebrew writing of this is also a double word for multiplying. It is the word for multiply written twice. This is not just God really multiplying those who believe Him, but those who believe Him living to multiply. It involves the actions of those who believe God. When we believe we are blessed then we live to multiply. This is not living to add things to our own lives, but living to give our own lives for the sake of others. The actions of our lives must be to give and release life to others in this world. As New Covenant leaders we must lead to inspire others to seek to multiply who they are in the lives of others. This is the second part of the good news preached to Abraham.

The third thing that God told Abraham was that his descendants would posses the gates of their enemies. Gates are the places of influence in the earth. They are the powers that affect the minds and hearts of the generations of men. When we know we are a blessing we live to multiply in the lives of others. When we live to multiply in the lives of others we live for those beyond our own lives. We live for our children and for our children’s children. I call this a 100-year plan. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel. God is the God of Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and others also. He is a generational God and we can expect that the inheritance beyond us is a greater power than what we live in today. The good news preached to Abraham was that the generations of men would destroy the powers of the enemy. The power of God’s inheritance in the earth is greater than the disinheriting powers of the enemy! The imaginations of our hearts and the actions of our hands must be to release the inheritance and the power of life to our children and our children’s children. The gates of Hades (the realm of the dead) cannot prevail against the advancing family of God in the earth. As leaders in the New Covenant we must lead in a way that inspires others to live for their children and their children’s children in the earth.

The fourth thing that God told Abraham was that through his Seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This is the transforming power of God’s influence to all the nations of the world. The good news given to Abraham was that the influence of God through the generations of men in Christ would know no limit! It was the power of the likeness and the image of God to change the world! The good news preached to Abraham was all about beliefs, actions, imaginations, and influence. This is the testimony of God’s life within those who manifest the likeness and the image of God in the earth. The image of self would be destroyed by the growing image of God in the earth. As leaders in the New Covenant we must lead with this aim. It is the “really good news” preached to all men in Christ!

I will write more next week in regard to this “really good news”. It is time we believe the message of His kingdom come and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven! Let’s lead for His glory!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

God’s government is the visible evidence of His administration that reveals the glory of His kingdom upon the earth. His administration is an administration of grace (Eph. 1:9,10). That grace is a demonstration of God’s power that accomplishes His purposes in the earth. Righteous governors administrate the facilitation of God’s righteous government. God’s government accomplishes the purpose of making His manifold wisdom known to principalities and powers in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 3:9 -12 …and to make all people see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

What we become by the influence of God’s Spirit will influence the atmosphere of the environment around us. The increasing dominion of God’s kingdom will influence the dominion of the enemy and will dispossess the strongholds of death. The kingdom of heaven in every system will change every system. The kingdom heaven will change human hearts. I believe it is essential to lead any expression of God with a view of advancing the kingdom of heaven in the earth. God’s government has the power to implement and to make God’s glory known in a generational way.

Today I want to write a summary of leadership responsibilities. Leaders lead for the will of God and not for their own will or personal desires. I have been presenting in my last blogs the idea of a corporate letter written by the Holy Spirit to fulfill a purpose of God in the earth. God kingdom and will made known in the earth is the true power that changes the world. It is not merely the good works of mankind, but it is the supernaturally empowered works of Christ that reveal the glory of God in the earth. In order to fulfill this purpose there is a need for God-directed leadership in any aspect of church expression.

In fulfilling this mandate I believe that any team of leaders must rely upon the input and counsel of trusted relationships who are outside of their immediate sphere of responsibility. These could be apostolic relationships that God has given to them to relay objective insights concerning team function from their arenas of God-given grace. In any case, the team sees those outside relationships as a source and resource to the local church body. Those relationships must be both God ordained and God sent to them. Those outside connections give an expanding challenge to any isolated or ingrown tendencies that might arise within a specific group

Every leadership team should also rely upon the council of various prophets sent to the local church by God’s divine choosing. These prophets or prophetic voices must have a relationship with the local church and are not just prophetic voices that come for an event or merely a moment in history. They are fully submitted to the local church authority and the apostolic mission of the ministry. Their concern is for the will of God in that local church expression and not their own prophetic agendas.

There should be a leader of every leadership team. In some forms of leadership this could be a deferring function based upon individual grace and the specific task in any measure. This could mean that several individuals could serve as the leader for various aspects of ministry with an understanding that the grace of leadership for specific tasks could fall upon different individuals in the team at various times. In my own form of leadership and ministry there has always been a ruling leader with the final shepherd’s authority in the local house. Again, the principal of leadership is more essential than the form of leadership.

For the corporate purpose of ministry there should be ruling leaders who serve as pastors or shepherds. Those leaders articulate what God is saying to the church and the team in practical instruction (they are apt to teach). They are apt to set direction for the local church body in regard to God’s corporate instruction of direction. These are apt to serve as shepherds, pastors, or spiritual parents in the local church body.

There should also be other leaders who have a grace to function as facilitators and administrators who serve as leaders in the church by assisting the congregation in walking out the practical instructions given by the ruling leaders. All of the leaders do this, but these facilitative leaders carry this responsibility as their primary role of leadership. They are not the ones who do the practical aspects of ministry for the congregation members. They activate all of the members to do their part. This could be any aspect of ministry from meeting the needs of the poor to laying hands on the sick.

There should be individuals who have a grace to bring spiritual equipping in various areas of the ministry. The equippers train, activate, and facilitate body members into ministry according to each equipper’s God-given grace.  All of the leaders do this as well (apostles, overseeing leaders & facilitative leaders), but the equippers carry this responsibility as their primary role of leadership. Their equipping grace will be according to their specific gift of ministry and call in Christ.

Team members rely upon the input and counsel of one another in all of these areas to help each member walk out God-given strategies and actions for their individual areas of responsibility. The team willingly and diligently seeks to hear God’s voice through every member of the corporate house. This is often discrete and simply a daily awareness of the leaders to recognize God’s voice to the corporate body through every source. This includes paying attention to individual prophecies, dreams, visions, and sense of things. Every member of the congregation has the responsibility of hearing God and sharing what they believe He is saying. All of the aspects of leadership work together to fulfill the full function of leadership.

There are times when the set leader meets with the apostles alone for direction and input to lead the team of leadership. There are times when the ruling leaders meet alone to facilitate the input of the voice of God in practical ways of direction as God has spoken through the team, the congregation, and to them personally. There are times when the ruling leaders meet with the facilitative leaders alone to coordinate the practical ways of facilitating the instruction given by God through the ruling leaders. There are times where the whole team meets together (including the equippers) for the full expression of leadership as it pertains to the will of God and the congregation. There are times when the leadership calls upon various members of the congregation for their sense of things within their own God-given measure of rule. Various aspects of this leadership dynamic can occur in order to practically facilitate the task of responding to the Theocratic rule of God to the local church.

No matter what form of leadership we feel is the God-directed way, we must lead for the glory of God. We must seek to fulfill God’s will as God’s expresses His word in corporate ways in the earth. Leadership is a gift to the body of Christ and it is important to embrace God’s gift in order to fulfill God’s purposes in the earth.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

    leader4 – Monthly Audio Concerning The Leadership Form

     Leader4 – Monthly PDF file for Audio Teaching

Greetings;

God has always wanted a people who could say from their hearts that God is their God. Passover was a shadow of the reality of Christ within the lives of human beings who from their hearts proclaim that Jesus is Lord. God has always wanted a people that it could be said of them that they are obviously God’s people. Pentecost was a shadow of the testimony of Christ’s anointing upon human beings who proclaim the power of Christ’s resurrection life to the world. God has always wanted a people who would truly live with God in His presence. The celebration of Tabernacles was a shadow of the abiding relationship with God found in the life of Christ. As leaders in the body of Christ we must lead in a way that these three testimonies become an increasing reality in the lives of those we lead. These three testimonies will be real within the context of the specific spiritual letter that God is writing in the hearts and lives of those He joins for a corporate testimony of His glory. This testimony takes both the leadership and the membership of the expressions of Christ’s body.

Men make methods while God gives wisdom. The leaders of a local church must seek the wisdom of God in all things and not rely merely upon their position as leaders and natural wisdom (Ephesians 3:10). Structure will not bring forth life, but life does give structure. The leaders of a local church expression must not propagate principles at the expense of imparting life. The restoration of the Church is not simply a restoration of certain truths and ministries to God’s people. It is the restoration of God’s Son to His rightful place in their midst. The leaders must seek Christ’s manifest presence in His Church. It is with a contrite spirit and fear of God that leaders must seek to obey His Word in everything. Their function as shepherds of His flock must be a manifestation of Him as the Chief Shepherd. The ruling leaders of a local church must oversee through a spirit of liberty and not control. It is under the direction of the Holy Spirit that they will seek to shepherd through the spirit of liberty. The Spirit of the Lord is the Spirit of the Chief Shepherd. The leaders should always seek to allow the Spirit to be Lord (2 Corinthians 3:17).

I believe that the governing team of the local church is a team of leaders who serve as overseers to the local church. Their roles as ‘under-shepherds’ are to be viewed in reverence and fear of God as being visual expressions of Jesus in His headship to the church. This is by all means subordinate to the personal relationship of each church member to God through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. It is in every way subordinate to God’s Word and Spirit and cannot violate these higher authorities. The term “under-shepherd” refers to the fact that Jesus is the “Chief Shepherd” and that the team of leaders represent an expression of Him. As “shepherds” (Greek “poimen” = shepherd or pastor) they are expressions of the true “Shepherd” of the flock, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25; 5:4).

The leaders must work together to allow each member of the ministry leadership team to operate within the boundaries and expressions of his or her sphere of influence. The leads must yield to and express the Spirit of God the Father in order to allow each team member to fulfill his or her role within the church body. Each leader serves in whatever function given to him or her by the grace of God. It is by God’s grace that they are builders in God’s house. It is God who will use each one as He builds His house (Isaiah 66: 1-2). God will use the leaders as manifestations of Himself in building His house, and only that which is of Him will stand (1 Corinthians 3:9-13). Each leader must function in his or her unique area of service. There are no clergy-laity distinctions, simply different functions in the Body of Christ. Therefore, the leaders are not to be viewed as greater than the congregation. They are servants of God sent to assist the local congregation in fulfilling the role of oversight through a physical expression of Christ’s spiritual life (1 Corinthians 3:7).

Godly oversight is not control. It is learning to submit one to another in the fear of the Lord in order to manifest the oversight of the “Chief Shepherd”, Jesus. Godly authority does not carry the element of domination. Leadership is an expression of God and His means of releasing His authority and grace to, in, and through others. Leadership is given as a gift from God to the local church and it is relational, not a matter of obligation.  Godly order is the divinely arranged assembly of individual parts of Christ’s Body into a collective whole.

Each church member has an authority to function in what God has given him or her. God’s anointing is given to each one in order to accomplish the grace given to them individually, as well as corporately.  All grace is given to contribute to the manifestation of the whole body and thus releases the authority of the one Man Christ, of whom all share equal corporate authority. Authority does not come from position. It comes from responsibility given. When someone is given the responsibility of any area of rule, he or she also receives the authority to carry out that rule. Godly authority does not carry with it the power of subjection. It carries the true power of anointing and thus draws others to yield to its direction. Although the leaders have authority over the church, godly authority chooses not to use that authority in a way of subjection or control (2Thessalonians 3:9).

Authority (“exousia”) is given for edification and not for destruction (2 Corinthians 10:8; 2 Corinthians 13:10). Overseers (“episkopos”) have authority over (“epitasso”) saints. This authority does not equate to value, it simply equates to function and responsibility. Authority given to overseers is not authority to have dominion over the saints. It is authority given to function as fellow workers for their joy (2 Corinthians 1:24).

Leaders are God’s servants. Church leadership is a harmonious order of servants submitted to God and one another. Every local church expression is meant to be a family of sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters who seek to live as the family of God in the earth. Leaders are part of that family, not dictators in a congregation. Leadership is not an escalating hierarchy of persons competing for authority. The leadership team of the local church must be committed both to God and to the local body, to set an example in servanthood and zeal for the house of God. Family must be more important than ministry, but because they lead in the family of God the family of God does the ministry of Christ in all things. They must covenant with God and each other to see the purpose of Christ formed in the corporate house. The objective of leaders is not merely to lead according to godly principles, but to lead according to God’s own divine direction and desires in writing a spiritual letter of His purpose and will. That spiritual letter expresses the community of God, not merely the works of God in the earth. Together the body and its leadership reveal the character, nature, way, power, and authority of Christ in a unique and specific way for His glory.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

Last week I began to present a form of New Covenant operation in the church that includes a spiritual letter written in the lives of people divinely joined by God for a specific purpose in the earth. In my experience I have seen God join people together for a corporate purpose. I have led and developed leadership that facilitates a corporate purpose in the church. That purpose is not the kingdom of a man or the will of any leader. It is an expression of the kingdom of God and the will of the heavenly Father. That expression is unique to each individual, but common in a corporate purpose of God’s kingdom expression. Leaders have a responsibility to facilitate the voice of God in a corporate way. They cannot merely hear God for people. They must serve in creating a culture of hearing God to enable the members of the congregation to hear God’s individual and corporate directions to His Church. New Covenant government must provide clear direction for a corporate purpose within the context of the life of God’s Spirit. New Covenant governors must recognize and facilitate the spiritual letter written by God’s Spirit within the hearts and lives of the corporate body of believers. They must serve the corporate purpose of that letter.

All New Covenant government must include governors who accept the responsibility of providing the appropriate environment of equipping the saints for the work of ministry. That work of ministry includes an involvement by each member in the corporate purpose given by God. The expressions of God are not mere testimonies of works, but they are works that result from God’s expression of community. I believe that there are countless expressions of God’s community that reveal His purposes and demonstrate His governmental power in the earth. It is important to seek out the place that God chooses His name to abide for each of us in order to contribute the fuller purpose of Christ’s wisdom in the earth.

In the writing of a corporate letter there is a need for the full expression of the diversity of Christ’s expression in the body. There must be an influence of that which is apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, teaching, and pastoral. This doesn’t mean that the leaders equip the congregation members in all of these attributes, but that they see too it that diverse expression of these equipping graces are made available to the congregation in order to activate, facilitate, and release congregation members in their unique expressions of God’s grace. God is the one who gives the wisdom for this and it is therefore not just a methodical task of ministry, but a relational connection to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Facilitation of diverse expressions of equipping will serve to activate the diverse expressions of Christ in the writing of the corporate letter and fulfillment of the corporate purpose.

In this responsibility of exposing the congregation members to the various expressions of equipping ministry, it is important to seek God directed connections outside of the local body. Although God will no doubt put key equipping graces within the congregation, gifts beyond the local body will inspire the body to grow to its greatest potential. In this the governmental expression of leadership must seek to be relationally joined to the bigger picture and purpose of God’s full government in the earth. Any letter that God writes is only one expression of His greater purpose in a city, a region, a nation, or in the earth.

All members of the corporate body must seek to hear God’s voice and respond to His will at every level of their function. This includes those who lead and those of function in the daily activity of the corporate body. Remember, the government is the grace of the Holy Spirit and God uses leaders to assist in the facilitation of that government. They assist in governing, but the power of the government is in the life of the Holy Spirit. Direction must be sought and given that propagates the life of the Holy Spirit within the local body. Leaders must lead in a way that appreciates, facilitates, and propagates that life.

In my own experience, God gathers and joins a group of people for a corporate expression of His kingdom influence in the earth. He chooses a leader and a team of leaders to facilitate that corporate purpose. He expects that leadership to seek out God ordained connections with equipping ministries beyond that local congregation in order to activate, facilitate, and release that corporate body in a continued process of growth and maturity in their God-given purpose as a body.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

Today I want to begin to address the function of leadership in the local church setting. The principles presented in this instruction are more important than any single form used to implement those principles. There are many forms of governing that can work both biblically and effectively. For over twenty years I have led the administration of a form of governmental expression that implements key New Covenant principles that can be applied in many forms of church operations. The main focus of any form of New Covenant governmental function must be the New Covenant life of God. Structure does not produce life, but life will create structure. Any proper form of function of leadership must seek and submit to the Holy Spirit’s ability to speak to the human heart. Leaders must seek to hear God and to create an environment where every member is inspired to hear God himself or herself. That hearing will be for both individual connection with God and for corporate direction as a body of purpose in Christ. The significance of any New Covenant expression of governing is measured in its ability to activate, facilitate, and release the members of that church expression in hearing God to manifest His word, will, and way. It must facilitate the priesthood of the believers. This function will always include the grace gift of leadership and diverse gifts of body membership given by God to provide the governing function of the Church. This is never to mean domination or control of leadership over the saints. No leader of the New Covenant has a responsibility to hear God on behalf of others. Every leader has the responsibility to aid and assist each member in hearing God and responding to His will. The New Covenant function of government is always one of activation, facilitation, and release. With the same consideration, church government is not a form of manipulation. It is never the will of the people over the direction of leadership. It is always the direction of God through leadership, with each congregation member bringing his or her responsible contribution to the process of hearing God in the local church. It is important to note the basic elements of any form of New Covenant government. Those elements must include the substance of New Covenant life.

I believe that God gathers people together in a local church expression for a specific purpose of Christ’s testimony in the earth. This can be clearly seen through a spiritual experience in my own life that set a foundation for an expression of the body of Christ in the city where I live. One morning over twenty-five years ago I had a vision. In the vision I was standing in my city were there is often a gathering of young people. Above me I could see a principality and he had three large chains extending from the ground to three sides of his body. The chains were each stretched tightly as the principality stretched them to his place of standing in the air. He was shouting out belligerently. He declared, “There is no God!” “There are no absolutes!” Then I heard someone say, “Pull him down”, and some began to focus on him and try to pull him from his place of standing. Then I heard God say. “I don’t want him down. I want him out of here!” I turned with my side to the principality and I lifted my hands and began to worship God. I saw thousands of young people stand with me and they raised their hands in worship to God as well. Jesus began to come down in bodily form in the midst of the people. As He did, I could hear the breaking of the chains holding the principality. The presence of Jesus was dispossessing the ability for the principality to be held to the ground. God was revealing to me that the way to destroy the power of the enemy was to fill the place of its standing with an expression of the body of Christ. Jesus in bodily form was the secret to bringing freedom to the place of the stronghold of the enemy. This vision has proven to be true in many areas of my life, but it was a key to a corporate expression of Christ that God authorized me to facilitate over twenty years ago.

My journey of seeking to understand the principle revealed in this vision has not been perfect. Not many years after that vision I was part of a ministry in our city that engaged in the classic form of spiritual warfare often attempted by the church. Our focus was to assault the principalities in the hope of transforming our community. Back then I was known as the prophet whose nose could cut diamonds and my task was to identify the powers of the air in our region. I discerned that the two major powers of our area were those of greed and religion. We staged a warfare conference and I confronted those powers with a challenge of removing them. One month after that confrontation we found ourselves in shambles as the church split and great destruction swept the congregation. The senior leader left and I was left with a handful of bleeding, wounded people.

It was out of that experience that God spoke to me concerning His plan in the city. He told me that we had challenged greed and religion, when we ourselves were also greedy and religious. We had no authority to dispossess the powers of greed and religion. God said, “You tried that your way, now we will do it my way.” He made it clear to me that His process would not be instant, but would take some time. He told me that he would give me a handful of people who were a part of the greed and religion of the community and that He would write a spiritual letter of generosity and freedom within their lives. The effect of His spiritual letter would break the chains that held greed and religion to the region. An expression of Jesus in bodily form would dispossess the strong holds of the enemy. He told me to name the expression of this letter “Abundant Life”. “Abundant Life” would become an expression of the life that Jesus came to give and it would bring liberty to the former places of greed and religion in the region and beyond. For twenty years I was the senior leader of that letter and I watched as God miraculously transformed human lives and it affected the community and even the nations. Today my son Jonathan continues to lead the furtherance of the spiritual letter.

New Covenant government must activate, facilitate, and release each member of the local church body to function within their God-given grace of ministry. God joins members in the expressions of His body that contribute to the stature of Christ revealed in that expression of His eternal Church. In the letter of Abundant Life God has added many expressions of diversity to bring the expansion of His liberty. God wants to write many spiritual letters in the earth, but they begin with a handful of people joined together for God’s purposes. God takes that gathering of people and writes a spiritual letter revealing His purpose and will. The foundational strength of the letter is God’s connection to the leader, the leadership team, and to each member of that corporate gathering.

2 Corinthians 3:1-3   Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

In my time of leading Abundant Life, God has spoken to us corporately and individually. We have watched as a body of people has increased in generosity and the freedom of life. There has been a continued increase in the liberty of the Spirit, the liberty of the soul, and a liberty in life. Leadership has had to model generosity and freedom while each member has learned to respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit in the writing of this spiritual letter. The congregation is not the same as it was in its conception. I have also watched changes come into our community as a result of the influence of God’s Spirit among us. Many may not even be aware of what has happened, but the proof is in the influence happening as a result of God’s New Covenant expression among us. God chooses leadership and body membership to write a spiritual letter to bring about changes in the earth!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

I have been addressing the topic of the equipping ministry to and in the body of Christ. I want to continue today with a slightly different focus than my past few blogs. I believe that equipping ministry in the body of Christ has a responsibility of releasing the proper authority of God the Father in the earth. God is the Father of lights and we are therefore the authority of His light in the earth. That light is the authority of His light to the darkness of the world around us.

When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost at the anointing of the body of Christ there were several things that were manifest in the Church. The Church was filled with members who had been empowered to repent. That repentance was a repentance unto life that revealed a testimony of repentance from death and the works of death. Members of the Church were submerged in water as an act of faith that identified them as members of Christ’s body. That work of water baptism was a testimony of their faith toward God. Those in the Church received the gift of the Holy Spirit that revealed the testimony of heaven as a demonstration of the power of His resurrection life through them as His anointed bride of Christ. As the Church that was empowered by repentance, demonstrated works of faith, and manifested a testimony of Christ’s resurrection life they also continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine (Acts 2:42). What was the apostle’s doctrine? There were no New Testament Scriptures written for the first twenty years of the New Testament Church so the doctrine of the apostles were not their writings of Scripture. Their doctrine was simply their way of life empowered by the authority of Christ. To continue steadfastly in their way of life was to also be empowered by the authority of Christ.

The Church continued to manifest the authority of Christ’s light to the world of darkness around them. They were the sent members of the body of Christ. God is constantly authorizing and anointing His sent purpose to the earth through His sent body in the earth. This is the testimony of the manifest letters of Christ being written in and through the Church. Continuing steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine (instruction and way of life taught them by the apostles) is to keep in God’s ‘sent word’ to the corporate body. God wants to accomplish the corporate ministry of the ‘laying on of hands’ though His Body. This is the releasing of His authority of life and inheritance through the Church to the world in which they reside. God wants to accomplish a ‘corporate work’ through His Body. He has a specific task for every corporate expression of His Body.

God will give specific tasks for specific times. Our obedience is necessary to fulfill God’s purpose and will. If obedience to God was required in the Old Testament through some who heard God, don’t you think that obedience to God’s words is even more essential to a Church where everyone can hear God? We tend to make the New Covenant weak and sloppy by not expecting God to give corporate instructions and commands as part of a corporate process in the Church. We tend to believe in individual purpose, but fail to realize a greater testimony found in corporate purpose and direction.

There is a great example of a corporate purpose in the Old Testament. When the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land they were instructed by God to take the city of Jericho. There were specific instructions given that God expected them to follow in order for them to receive the testimony of God’s victory over the city. Why don’t we believe that God might want to give corporate commands for a corporate testimony in the New Covenant? I know that we cannot rob people from hearing God for themselves, but I also believe that we must position ourselves with an expectation of corporate instructions from God for specific times and specific purposes of His will. Here is a summary of the commands and expectations of God in the taking of the city of Jericho:

Joshua 5:13-15; 6:1-20

• … “As Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my LORD say to His servant?”
• … march around the city
• … go all around the city once. This you shall do six days.
• … seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark.
• … the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times,
• … the priests shall blow the trumpets.
• … when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn
• … all the people shall shout with a great shout;
• … then the wall of the city will fall down flat.
• … the people shall go up every man straight before him.
• … You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice,
• … nor shall any word proceed out of your mouth,
• … until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’
• … Then you shall shout.”
• … by all means keep yourselves from the accursed things,

• lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things,
• and make the camp of Israel a curse,
• and trouble it.

The governing of the church must be focused on seeking and maintaining the Lordship and direction of Jesus Christ to His body.  All members of the body must continually seek His mind and will, through His Spirit and the Word of God, in all actions and decisions. Any governmental function by those given authority to rule must be under the headship and direction of the Lord Jesus Christ, but Paul gave specific instructions concerning the connection of the members of the Church and its leaders.

Hebrews 13:7 Remember (to exercise memory /to bear in mind, call to mind, to stay, to chew) those who rule (lead / bring, drive, induce) over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering (to look again attentively /to be a spectator of /to look closely at) the outcome of their conduct.

Hebrews 13:17 Obey (to convince; pacify; assent; rely on) those who rule (lead / bring, drive, induce) over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls (they are awake concerning your souls), as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

Here is a great rendition of the above Scripture:

Rely upon those who lead and induce you toward life, surrender yourself to them, for they are required to be awake concerning your souls, and they must give an account in thought and word for you. They will help keep you from falling into deception and will be alert to the life that God has for you. Let them do this with cheerfulness and joy and do not make them sigh and murmur because of you. Don’t put them in straits, for if they are forced to live in a tight and narrow place because of you, it will only work against your gain and prove to cut your purpose short. (Ted J. Hanson)

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 And we urge you, brethren, to recognize (to see; know) those who labor among you, and are over you (stand before you or stand in front of you ) in the Lord and admonish (to put in mind, caution / calling attention to; warning / to place in your intellect a knowing) you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.

The government of the Church comes through God’s gift of grace and apostleship to the church. Grace is the power of the Holy Spirit within the life of each believer. Apostleship is the “sent” and “sending” authority given to us as the body of Christ.

Romans 1:5 …through whom (Jesus) we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name…

The government of the church is both in the headship of Jesus Christ and in the full responsibility of Jesus Christ. God wants us to reveal the calling of Christ and the inheritance of Christ in the earth. We are the fullness of Him in corporate form in heaven and upon the earth.

Ephesians 1:18-23 …the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Audio

leader3

Monthly Audio Teaching

Greetings;

I have been addressing the topic of equipping ministry in the Church. Today I am going to further detail some ways in which the equipping ministries serve the body of Christ. The fivefold expressions of Christ in the form of the equipping ministries are to teach the body members to grow in maturity in speaking the truth in love. What does it mean to speak the truth in love? This is not speaking the truth for truth’s sake, but speaking it for the sake of love. Any written truth or principle of truth is only a testimony of the person the Truth. He is God’s gift of love to men and He came to make men free! We must remember that the administration of the Knowledge of Good and Evil will not do, all things must operate according to the Tree of Life. The emphasis is upon relationship and not upon truth. The truth inspires a right relationship with God and with one another. The objective is the testimony of the body of Christ. This is to be the way the fivefold ministry functions and facilitates the members of the body. The idea is that the body continues to grow in the testimony of Christ.

The equipping ministry will also serve in causing the members of the body to function and grow in all things. The equippers are not to be the ones who function while body members observe. They are gifts to the body of Christ so that every part of the body will function. The growing testimony is one of intimacy in Christ and responsibility before Him. The objective is an increasing testimony of the character, nature, way, power, and authority of Christ. The whole body is to be properly joined and the equipping ministry is sent to activate, facilitate, and release members according to a Spirit relationship with Jesus Christ the head and the members of His body. In this the whole body will be knit together in covenant and life. The wording of Ephesians 4:16 reveals a contribution of life of member to member that causes one another to come to life. They supply each other with life in a way that causes one another to dance or to become who God made each of them be for the sake of His full testimony in the Church. The testimony of Christ in one that is dependent upon the supply of Christ in another. This is the proper joining of the members of the body. Again it is a testimony of relationship through knitting together in love and the flow of life. Each member is to supply life to another so the glory revealed is the body of Christ and not merely members of the body. The testimony is Christ!

Ephesians 4:16 …from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

The equippers are to serve in a way that causes each member of the body to find their place of effective working. That effective working will be in an apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral, or teaching way. This is why it takes all of the fivefold expressions of Christ revealed in the equipping gifts given to the Church working together for the glory of God. The objective is life and the power why which that life is made known is through each member of the body doing their share. This will cause the body to grow and find the edifying life of Christ. It is a testimony of love!

I believe that the glory of Christ can only truly be revealed through a testimony of intimacy in Christ. For this reason those who have been given as equipping gifts to the body of Christ must seek relationship above the power of ministry. I believe that the equipping of the Church can only be done through a plurality of ministry and that plurality must put the greatest emphasis upon covenant and the testimony of love. It is not the power of the apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral, or teaching that is the focus. It is the function of these things together in covenant life that serves to reveal the greater testimony of life. The body is filled with diverse members that are meant to reveal the testimony of Christ in His fullness. It is not about the work of ministry, but the body. That body will do the work of ministry, but it is because it is the body of Christ. The work of ministry is the fruit of being the body of Christ. The equipping ministry is sent to reveal the body of Christ for who she is in the fullness of Christ in the earth.

The body of Christ is a part of the calling of Christ and a part of the inheritance of God in the earth. Our objective is not to fulfill the calling of individuals, but to fulfill the calling of Christ as His body in the earth. That is done through diverse individuals working together through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not our goal to obtain inheritance in the earth, but to reveal the inheritance of God through every member made alive and doing their part in Him. The equipping ministry is not given to make each member powerful, but to reveal the wonderful power of Christ in His Church. We are together the fullness of Him and the fivefold ministry is another part of the Church sent to see Christ made known in His body.

Ephesians 1:18-23

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

Welcome to my leaders blog. I have been presenting a testimony of one of my non-negotiable values concerning the equipping of the Church. That non-negotiable is that of activating, facilitating, and releasing the characteristics of the apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral, and teaching testimonies in the saints. I believe that the body of Christ is filled with diverse members that exhibit the actions and testimonies of these attributes found in Christ. God has given equipping gifts in Christ that are sent to release and facilitate a culture where the maturation these attributes can come about in the body. As those characteristics and attributes are made manifest the members of the body will be edified and will edify one another. There will be an increasing unity of faith, knowledge of the Son of God, increasing perfection, and continued maturation among the members of the body.

Today I want to look further into some of the things I presented as part of the list that the equipping gifts fulfill. As I have stated the five-fold equipping nouns don’t do the work of ministry, they equip the members of the body to do the work of ministry. Because those men and women with equipping gifts are part of the body as well they will also do the work of ministry, but they will do it as part of the body and not as the equipping gifts given to the body. That work of ministry is to manifest the likeness and image of the Father to the world and thereby propagate the works of God and destroy the works of the devil. Those works are unique and diverse in that it takes all together to express the fullness of Him.

The equipping gifts are given to cause the body members to come to the unity of the faith. Faith comes by hearing and that hearing is by the personally spoken words of God to every human heart. Faith is a natural response to a supernatural relationship. The equipping gifts cannot be a substitute for faith. Their responsibility is not to teach people what to do, but who to believe. They do this by example and by the power of God’s grace given to them for the equipping of the Church. That believing is a believing of God in the life of each and every member of the body of Christ. It is not a matter of task, but a matter of relationship. Works will testify of it, but works cannot attain it. It is attained by revelation. The equipping gifts of Christ are meant to set an example and to facilitate a culture and atmosphere where people hear God and faith thus happens.

A huge part of equipping is creating a culture of relationship in the Church. The culture of relationship is God centered and not man centered. It is a culture dependant upon grace that comes at a revelation of Jesus Christ. The equipping gifts are to serve God by the power of His grace in establishing a place where Jesus can be increasingly manifest in the lives of people. That place is not merely a geographical location, but a spiritual reality for a group of peoples in a seven day per week reality.

God desires for all people to become expressions of Him in the flesh. Like Jesus, the body of Christ is destined to be an expression of God the Father in the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person (Heb. 1:3). That is to be the weight of the Father’s influence and a manifestation of His character, nature, way, power, and authority. The equipping gifts have the responsibility of leading in a way that causes the members of the body to become a testimony of Christ in the flesh. This is the testimony of the stature of Christ in His fullness.

The government of God in the Church is the design of the body and the power of God’s grace made known within it. The equipping gifts are merely part of the governing of the body. They are part of a directional grace given by God to assure there is a proper focus to the operation of the body of Christ. It is part of God’s design that causes the body to accomplish its greatest purpose. With this in mind, the equipping gifts are part of the leadership given to the body that sets a boundary of direction for the body members that assures the members do not remain as little children, but continue to progressively mature in their walk with God exhibiting the testimony of Christ. The equipping gifts are given so that body members will not just function by the power of the Spirit, but will grow in recognizing the leading of the Spirit. This provides a protection to the body from being tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. The equipping gifts should create a source of stability so that the body will not fall for the traps of the trickery of men. This means that the primary responsibility of the equipping gifts is not found in just teaching good doctrine, but in establishing a culture where a proper relationship with God is maintained whereby members know what God has been like, so they will recognize what God is like. It is a relational reality and not a matter of teaching ways of right and wrong. It is based upon the Tree of Life and not the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is based upon a relationship with God whereby they can properly understand His word. It is not a relationship with His written word, but with Him as the expresser of life. A witness is His written word, but His written word is not the rule of life. A proper relationship with God and understanding Him correctly is the basis of His Lordship.

Consider the culture of equipping and being equipped. We are the body of Christ and therefore we are the testimony of Him in this world.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Hi;

Today I want to continue on the subject of the equipping ministry to the body of Christ. God has given grace gifts to His Church. Those grace gifts were given for the glory of God and His purpose in the church. I will begin by looking at a Scripture text from the book of Ephesians that describes the equipping gifts.

Ephesians 4:11-16 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ–from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

In this passage of Scripture there are several things listed that are the responsibility of the equipping ministry of the church. As I mentioned in my last blog, there are 4 or 5 equipping gifts that are given as grace gifts to the body of Christ. I personally believe that there are 5, but I don’t believe the number of nor the definition of the nouns are as important as the verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and things of action made manifest by the nouns in the church. In other words, the purpose of these equipping gifts is to activate the attributes of Christ in the collective, yet individually unique expressions of the body.

The first thing that I find in the description is that these gifts are given to equip the members of the body of Christ for the work of ministry. These are not those who simply do the work of ministry, but rather they equip the saints for the work of ministry. What is the work of ministry? The word ministry is simply a word that means to serve or do actions that testify of the works of God. Every believer is called by God to serve with actions that demonstrate the love of God. Those works reveal the testimony of the love of God and thus they destroy the works of the devil. God has given His equipping gifts to make every believer ready and able to express the works of God in their own unique and powerful way. Those works of ministry will manifest apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral, and teaching attributes to the world in which we live. People will touch the lives of other people with a sending power of grace. The result will be increasing revelations of purpose and generational destiny. Fathers will turn their hearts to children and children will turn their hearts to fathers. People will touch people with the power of God’s voice that causes dead places to come to life and the world to change. They will activate the saving grace of God in miraculous ways of life. Lost lives will be found and God’s love will capture the hearts of many in simple, unique, profound, and powerful ways. People will inspire people to care about and for one another. The pastoral heart of God will become increasingly evident in human hearts with demonstrations of God’s love through human hands. The grace of discipleship will cause many to understand the ways of God and walk in His paths of life. The body of Christ will be seen doing the work of ministry and the world will increasingly change for the glory of God.

The five expressions of equipping will release the unique expressions of the body of Christ. They will activate, facilitate, and release the members of the body to be themselves with the anointing of Christ in unique ways that contribute to the collective purpose. Members of the body will be edified and will edify one another. There will be an increasing unity of faith, knowledge of the Son of God, perfection, and continued maturation among the members of the body.

Here is a list of the things the equipping gifts will do, and even more so inspire to happen among the members of the body of Christ:

• Equip the saints for the work of ministry
• Edify the body of Christ
• Cause the body members to come to the unity of the faith
• Cause the body members to come to the knowledge of the Son of God
• Cause the body to come become a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
• Prevent the body members from remaining little children, but to grow up in maturity
• Protect the body from being tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine
• Protect the body from the trickery of men, who come in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive
• Teach the body members to learn to speak the truth in love
• Produce a functioning body that grows up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ—
• Cause the whole body to be properly joined
• Cause the body members to be knit together
• Cause every joint (body member) to supply life to one another
• Cause everyone to find their place of effective working
• Cause every part to do their share
• Cause growth of the body
• Cause the body to edify itself in love

I will address some more of the specifics of the purpose and fruit of the equipping gifts to the body of Christ in my next leader blog. Please consider your role as an equipper and as one who also must be equipped in the body of Christ.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Greetings;

Today I am going to further address the issue of New Covenant governors. In these next series of blogs I will specifically expound upon some of my personal convictions concerning what is often referred to as “five-fold ministry” or what some prefer to refer to as “four-fold ministry”, since some lump the ministry of the teacher and the pastor together as one. My convictions are not so much about whether there are four or whether there are five equipping gifts in the body of Christ, but rather how those nouns activate verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and things of action in the attributes of the body of Christ. Just as we are all human beings and not mere human doings, the body of Christ is a testimony of being and that is what inspires all of its doing in life.

Before I begin I must remind us of the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Old Covenant was a covenant of the knowledge of good and evil. It was not God’s choice, but man’s choice by choosing to value decisions of doing as more important than a trust relationship with God and a testimony of being. The knowledge of good and evil is all about decisions of right and wrong and it has little to do with a value of life. We can blame Adam, but we have all had thoughts that amount to seeing life as a matter of right and wrong decisions. We often value the knowledge of good and evil more than we value life. We think that the worst thing that could happen to us in life is to be wrong, so give us enough information about good and enough information about evil so we can choose good. However, it never really works out good in that thought process. In as system of the knowledge of good and evil we need the knowledge of good, but it leaves us short of finding life. It is called the rule of law and conscience. Law and conscience can never really change us they merely control us. The purpose of law and conscience is to say to us there is a God and He is good, but it never changes our true nature and thus we are bound by them and not transformed. The New Covenant is one of grace and truth. It is the testimony of God’s grace that transforms our nature to become a true testimony of truth. It is not merely knowledge of good, but the empowerment of a relationship with the One who is good. The result is that we become good! There is more that I could say in all of this, but I have said this to present that the purpose of equippers in the body of Christ is that of serving the New Covenant and not the Old. The equipping ministries in the church are not meant to focus on the knowledge of good and evil. They are gifts sent to activate grace and truth! They are sent for the purpose of the being of the body of Christ and not merely the doing of the body. As leaders we are not sent to teach people the knowledge of good and evil, but to reveal to them the power of God’s grace.

2 Corinthians 3:17, 18

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Remember our illustration of the governor on an engine. The governor on an engine doesn’t make the engine run. The design of the engine and the fuel supplied to the engine make it run. The governor on an engine is a regulating device that assures that the supply of fuel to an engine results in uniform motion as well as a limiting of speed in order to make the engine more effective for its workload. That device doesn’t give power to the engine; it merely gives proper focus to the operation of the engine. It is the design of the engine and the fuel supplied to the engine that causes it to be empowered. The governor is simply a directional device to assure the engine accomplishes its greatest purpose. God put the hunt in the hunting dog. The environment of the hunt activates the inherit nature of the hunting dog. God put His grace in the body of Christ. Leadership doesn’t make the body live, grace does. Leadership in the body of Christ is part of the design of God in the church that is given to cause each corporate expression of Christ to have a proper focus and connection to fulfill the purposes of God in the earth.

Proper governors in the church make the government of God effective for work. A governor causes the power of an engine to produce more effective working power. A governor makes an engine effective for work. The government of God is the Holy Spirit and the life of the Holy Spirit in the church. He is the personal connection as God and with God for each member of the body of Christ. The governing of God is within the body of Christ. It includes the expressions of headship and body members.

Jesus gave these gifts for the equipping of the saints: Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. They are not gifts for individuals, but individual gifts given for the profit of the maturing of all believers.

The body of Christ contains the attributes of Christ in His character, nature, way, power, and authority. Like Jesus, the body is apostolic. It is “sent” by God to bring glory to His name. The body is also a source for “sending” life to the world. I believe the apostolic equipping gift is a noun sent to activate, facilitate, and release the “sending” actions and attributes within the design of the body of Christ. An apostolic ministry is one that will send forth other ministries. An apostolic spirit is a sending spirit.

The gift of the prophet should ultimately activate the prophetic testimony of the church. A prophet doesn’t just prophesy; he or she activates a prophetic spirit in the body of Christ. I define prophecy as the testimony of God speaking. God speaks and life happens! The prophetic equipping gifts activate, facilitate, and release God’s voice in the church. The result will be an increase of God’s life in the church and to the world.

The gift of the pastor should activate the members of the Body to care for one another. It is an Old Covenant practice to expect the pastor to be the one who provides all the pastoral care for the members of the body of Christ. The pastor is not the priest of the people. The five-fold ministry is not the priesthood. Every believer is a priest.

An evangelist should not only evangelize, they should activate an evangelistic spirit in the believers. The passion and compassion of Christ should manifest with attributes and actions of reaching the lost and a revealing of God’s miracle power of grace.

The equipping gift of the teacher is not meant to teach as teachers did in the Law. They are not the revealers of principles and truths, but the activators of the Mentor Christ and the connection of truth through a grassroots discipleship reality within the body of Christ.

I will continue more in my next blog, but for now please consider the importance of the attributes of the church. The work of ministry is more important than the mere equipping of ministry, but the equipping is necessary to raise up the body of life!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson