Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Olive tree near Jerusalem, Israel (Photo by Steve Martin May 2017)
How Leaders Lead
- The Maxwell Leadership Bible
Isaiah 3:14,15 Reading
"The more power leaders gain, the more they reveal of themselves. Power causes the heart to disclose its contents.
Leaders must consider the impact of their every move. Leaders always lead. There are no time-outs! There never comes a time when it doesn't matter what you do. Think of your leadership like a diet. Suppose you eat right in the restaurant with friends, but then go home and consume a whole strawberry cheesecake. You don't lose weight that way! What you eat eventually shows. In the same way, those you lead eventually reflect your leadership. Your navigation as a leader depends on the following:
1. When you know where you are going, you gain conviction.
2. When you have been there before, you gain credibility.
3. When you can take someone with you, you gain connection.
John C. Maxwell
The Maxwell Leadership Bible
Maxwell Motivation, Inc. 2002
Thomas Nelson Bibles
A note from Steve Martin, Love For His People Founder/President: Here is something you would like to read that I wrote in 2014, for you and your staff. I share from my experiences from my 24 years of leadership with three international ministry leaders. As the Office Manager, Director of Operations and Finances, and USA Director, respectively, with Derek Prince Ministries, All Nations Church - Mahesh & Bonnie Chavda, and Barry & Batya Segal - Vision For Israel and The Joseph Storehouse.
Leadership Through Love: Both Are Needed In Order To Properly Administrate & Appreciate Those Who Serve Together in His Kingdom
Where would churches, ministries or businesses be without the administrators, the directors of departments, or the executive secretaries and administrative assistants? Those organizations who have them know their value. Those who don’t may or may not realize what they are missing. It has been my desire to share a bit of what I have experienced, and learned, over 40 years. Each one of you who now serves in this capacity is very important to the “visionaries”.
The work that you do, and the support that you consistently give, enables the top leaders of the organization to do what they have been given by the Lord to do. I like to think of our role as similar to that of my Biblical heroes. Joshua assisted Moses and Timothy served with Paul. May the Lord encourage you as you read my thoughts and what has worked for me. I hope the stories and suggestions will impart to you further measures of blessing, for those you support and also to those you give direction to.
Lutheran Pastor Wolfgang Schuch was one of the giants of the 16th century. According to Charles Spurgeon'sThe Treasury of David, Schuch was imprisoned for denying "the Church and the sacrifice of the mass" and was sentenced to be burnt at the stake. Upon hearing his sentence, he began singing the 122nd Psalm, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'"
In fact, it was in the 19th-century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon's aforementioned commentary on the Psalms that I read about Schuch. But Spurgeon read about Schuch from within the pages of Foxe's Book of Martyrs. When Christians stand with courage and conviction—even in the face of death—their testimony inspires others for generations to come.
Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis faced her own trial and dilemma in 2015. She would either knuckle under to secular judicial elites and compromise her beliefs as a Christ follower, or she would go to jail. Confrontation with evil is nothing new; John N. Oswalt says believers throughout history have been "flayed alive, impaled, mutilated and killed" (Isaiah Commentary). Theology can make for splendid Bible study discussion in the safety and comfort of a yet-free society, but the real question is this: Will you bet your life on it?
Secularism is a pagan ideology, a religion. According to Harold J. Berman's Law and Revolution, secularism divorced itself from Christianity, and yet still retained "from traditional Christianity both its sense of the sacred and some of its major values." But a rival now challenges secularists in the form of revolutionary totalitarianism.
For instance, homosexual militants once lobbied for a libertarian acceptance of its lifestyle with this mantra: "Allow us to live our lives in the privacy of our homes." But then, the homosexual movement shifted to a totalitarian posture: "Bakers, photographers and Christian retreat centers will take part in our weddings or be bankrupted." Finally, the situation Kim Davis faced introduced us to the next chapter: Fascism, with its declaration, "You will ceremonialize and pay homage to our weddings, or you'll spend time in jail."
Pro-life evangelical and Catholic Christians have favored an esoteric, academic approach over the last two to three generations. But in the battle with secularists for ideological supremacy in the public square, the cancer of secularism has now run its course. The decay to this once-great Christian nation is nauseating.
In plain English, Peter J. Leithart spelled out his diagnosis and corrective to the gathering storm when he wrote in Between Babel and Beast:
"Until American churches actually function as outposts of Jesus' heavenly empire rather than as cheerleaders for America—until the churches produce martyrs rather than patriots—the political witness of Christians will continue to be diluted and co-opted."
Edmund Burke observed that those who refuse to look backward to their ancestry would not look forward to their posterity. Jewish talk show host Michael Medved observes, "The Founders weren't atheists, agnostics or secularists; they were, almost without exception, deeply serious Christians."
I predict that a future American leader will conclude that America's greatest need is a spiritual awakening. Once inaugurated, repentance will be the first order of business; first confessing his own sins, and then admitting his and the nation's folly for replacing Jehovah and traditional Christianity with a "religion of secularism." (This is U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's prophetic language in his lone dissent in the 1963 SCOTUS ruling to remove the Bible from public schools in America: "It led not to true neutrality with respect to religion, but to the establishment of a religion of secularism.")
According to Eric Metaxes, this historic figure, "something like what a Moses was to Israel" will have set in motion a movement to oust the false religion of secularism from the political, legal, economic, religious and cultural institutions of America. And analogous to Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, a "cataclysmic" explosion of faith will rock the world for generations.
But this movement likely won't come into view until the church returns to the priority of prayer, establishing righteousness above sacrifice and the priority of ethics over ritual. God's name has been brought into contempt, but like the prideful Philistines in 1 Samuel 5, secularists have misinterpreted their victory:
"The only reason that they had defeated Israel was because Yahweh was using the Philistines to discipline His people. How much better it would have been for His glory to be revealed on the battlefield, but He couldn't give victory to a disobedient people. The living God cannot be used, manipulated or managed. God allows Himself to be humiliated and exalted. But through it all, He will not compromise His holiness or integrity. In the church God often appears to be losing because Christians refuse to submit to His lordship. The Lord longs to show up in a powerful way, but He is waiting for us to be holy as he is holy (1 Pet 1:16). So instead of blaming the church for being anemic, lethargic and irrelevant, perhaps we should blame ourselves" (Dr. Keith Krell,1 Samuel).
Once we return to God, He will then attend to the honor of His name. Public education and universities will again focus on the principal component of education: incorporating the character of the Father into our children, thus creating an exceptional and virtuous people. Test scores in education will soar for, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov. 1:7).
Once gospel righteousness is restored to the public square, virtue will suddenly come to the forefront at City Hall. America will again bring forth outstanding men and women of character, produced by a Christian culture, Christian thought and biblical wisdom. As Charles Spurgeon said, "He who is taught of God has a practical wisdom such as malice cannot supply to the crafty; while harmless as a dove he also exhibits more than a serpent's wisdom."
We simply need a Gideon or Rahab to stand.
David Laneis the founder of American Renewal Project.
NEW from CHARISMA:Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here
Lutheran Pastor Wolfgang Schuch was one of the giants of the 16th century. According to Charles Spurgeon's The Treasury of David, Schuch was imprisoned for denying "the Church and the sacrifice of the mass" and was sentenced to be burnt at the stake. Upon hearing his sentence, he began singing the 122nd Psalm, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'"
In fact, it was in the 19th-century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon's aforementioned commentary on the Psalms that I read about Schuch. But Spurgeon read about Schuch from within the pages of Foxe's Book of Martyrs. When Christians stand with courage and conviction—even in the face of death—their testimony inspires others for generations to come.
Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis faced her own trial and dilemma in 2015. She would either knuckle under to secular judicial elites and compromise her beliefs as a Christ follower, or she would go to jail. Confrontation with evil is nothing new; John N. Oswalt says believers throughout history have been "flayed alive, impaled, mutilated and killed" (Isaiah Commentary). Theology can make for splendid Bible study discussion in the safety and comfort of a yet-free society, but the real question is this: Will you bet your life on it?
Secularism is a pagan ideology, a religion. According to Harold J. Berman's Law and Revolution, secularism divorced itself from Christianity, and yet still retained "from traditional Christianity both its sense of the sacred and some of its major values." But a rival now challenges secularists in the form of revolutionary totalitarianism.
For instance, homosexual militants once lobbied for a libertarian acceptance of its lifestyle with this mantra: "Allow us to live our lives in the privacy of our homes." But then, the homosexual movement shifted to a totalitarian posture: "Bakers, photographers and Christian retreat centers will take part in our weddings or be bankrupted." Finally, the situation Kim Davis faced introduced us to the next chapter: Fascism, with its declaration, "You will ceremonialize and pay homage to our weddings, or you'll spend time in jail."
Pro-life evangelical and Catholic Christians have favored an esoteric, academic approach over the last two to three generations. But in the battle with secularists for ideological supremacy in the public square, the cancer of secularism has now run its course. The decay to this once-great Christian nation is nauseating.
In plain English, Peter J. Leithart spelled out his diagnosis and corrective to the gathering storm when he wrote in Between Babel and Beast:
"Until American churches actually function as outposts of Jesus' heavenly empire rather than as cheerleaders for America—until the churches produce martyrs rather than patriots—the political witness of Christians will continue to be diluted and co-opted."
Edmund Burke observed that those who refuse to look backward to their ancestry would not look forward to their posterity. Jewish talk show host Michael Medved observes, "The Founders weren't atheists, agnostics or secularists; they were, almost without exception, deeply serious Christians."
I predict that a future American leader will conclude that America's greatest need is a spiritual awakening. Once inaugurated, repentance will be the first order of business; first confessing his own sins, and then admitting his and the nation's folly for replacing Jehovah and traditional Christianity with a "religion of secularism." (This is U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's prophetic language in his lone dissent in the 1963 SCOTUS ruling to remove the Bible from public schools in America: "It led not to true neutrality with respect to religion, but to the establishment of a religion of secularism.")
According to Eric Metaxes, this historic figure, "something like what a Moses was to Israel" will have set in motion a movement to oust the false religion of secularism from the political, legal, economic, religious and cultural institutions of America. And analogous to Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, a "cataclysmic" explosion of faith will rock the world for generations.
But this movement likely won't come into view until the church returns to the priority of prayer, establishing righteousness above sacrifice and the priority of ethics over ritual. God's name has been brought into contempt, but like the prideful Philistines in 1 Samuel 5, secularists have misinterpreted their victory:
"The only reason that they had defeated Israel was because Yahweh was using the Philistines to discipline His people. How much better it would have been for His glory to be revealed on the battlefield, but He couldn't give victory to a disobedient people. The living God cannot be used, manipulated or managed. God allows Himself to be humiliated and exalted. But through it all, He will not compromise His holiness or integrity. In the church God often appears to be losing because Christians refuse to submit to His lordship. The Lord longs to show up in a powerful way, but He is waiting for us to be holy as he is holy (1 Pet 1:16). So instead of blaming the church for being anemic, lethargic and irrelevant, perhaps we should blame ourselves" (Dr. Keith Krell,1 Samuel).
Once we return to God, He will then attend to the honor of His name. Public education and universities will again focus on the principal component of education: incorporating the character of the Father into our children, thus creating an exceptional and virtuous people. Test scores in education will soar for, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov. 1:7).
Once gospel righteousness is restored to the public square, virtue will suddenly come to the forefront at City Hall. America will again bring forth outstanding men and women of character, produced by a Christian culture, Christian thought and biblical wisdom. As Charles Spurgeon said, "He who is taught of God has a practical wisdom such as malice cannot supply to the crafty; while harmless as a dove he also exhibits more than a serpent's wisdom."
We simply need a Gideon or Rahab to stand.
David Laneis the founder of American Renewal Project.
NEW from CHARISMA:Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here
I absolutely believe in the glorious, overwhelming success of the gospel, but I will not sell my soul or compromise my convictions for the sake of carnal "success."
I encourage you to stand strong in your resolve as well. It's better to be scorned by this world than to lose your integrity.
Recently, a young pastor wrote to me with a heavy heart.
He had been invited to a closed leadership meeting, with many well-known pastors in attendance. He explained to me that they talked openly about not using entire verses or passages from the Bible in their sermons and that it was fine to pull snippets of verses and to build entire messages from them, as if too much of the Word would drive people away.
He said that they instructed the leaders in attendance not to speak on sin, judgment, conviction, obedience, morality, etc., stating that it is not our job to convict of sin, only the Holy Spirit's job, as if the hundreds of verses in the Bible dealing with these issues were irrelevant, and as if they knew better than Jesus and the apostles, who often preached with words of deep, biting conviction as they labored together with the Holy Spirit.
And of course, he wrote, they told the other leaders to avoid politics and political issues, which is similar to the mindset of those who chose not to get involved in the divisive slave-trade controversy in centuries past or to oppose the Nazis last century.
This, they said, was the path to follow if you wanted to be "successful."
I categorically reject such a definition of "success."
It has nothing to do with the true success of the gospel, which I love and revel in before God.
To be absolutely clear, and so that no one thinks that this is a matter of "sour grapes," I am not speaking about any particular ministry and I have no idea which pastors and leaders were at this meeting. I love and embrace the expansive blessing of God.
By God's grace, I have had the privilege of preaching in some of the largest and most influential megachurches in the world, and their growth was the result of the work of the Spirit in their midst, not the result of carnal techniques.
One of our ministry school grads, Daniel Kolenda, has taken over the leadership of Reinhard Bonnke's Christ for All Nations, and Daniel regularly preaches to crowds of multiplied hundreds of thousands. Praise God for Spirit-anointed, Jesus-exalting, Word-based success!
When God opens new doors for our ministry on radio and TV, in print and online, or when He blesses our material with greater circulation and impact, I rejoice and take this as an answer to prayer, as providing another avenue to advance the work of the kingdom. Onward and upward in Jesus' name!
So I am all for growth and numbers and prosperity when it comes from heaven as a gift from God, although I know that often, the most significant gospel work is totally hidden and obscure, taking place behind closed doors, with God using unknown saints who live in the midst of persecution and poverty. Their lasting fruit will put most of us to shame.
That's one reason Jesus said that many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first.
Remember, it was the church of Laodicea that Jesus rebuked saying, "For you say, 'I am rich, and have stored up goods, and have need of nothing,' yet do not realize that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:17).
In stark contrast, He said to Smyrna, "I know your works and tribulation and poverty (but you are rich). And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Rev. 2:9-10).
In the same way, He rebuked Sardis, which had a reputation for being alive but was dead (see Rev. 3:1) and commended Philadelphia, which had little strength but had not denied His name (see Rev. 3:8).
What would our worldly minded leaders have told these congregations? And how would they have rated the "success" of these different churches? Obviously, their perspective would be a lot different than the perspective of the Lord.
Without a doubt, we have different callings and emphases, and while we should all do our best to be faithful to God's Word and "balanced," it's clear that one may be called to emphasize evangelism, another social justice, another holiness, another grace, another family and another the Spirit, just to mention a few. Some congregations excel in administration and management, while others excel in building community, and still others excel in sending out missionaries.
That's what makes the body of Christ a truly functioning body.
Let us learn from each other however we can, and let us complement each other in the work of the ministry, honoring one another as colleagues rather than criticizing each other as competitors.
But let us not deviate from the high calling of God, let us not form a theology that bypasses the cross, let us not water down the Word, and let us not mistake earthly growth and "success" for the blessing of God.
In the words of Charles Spurgeon, one of the most truly successful gospel preachers of all time, "Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificed on the altar of conformity and popularity."
Don't sacrifice your soul on that very seductive altar.
