So, You Want to Lead?

Back in 2001, I attended the Heart-Cry for Revival conference, a biennial event sponsored by Life Action Ministries. The Lord did a great work of conviction and renewal in my heart, for which I will be forever grateful. Prayer and the preaching of the Word brought about a defining moment of repentance and renewal for me, one that significantly impacted my life and ministry from that point forward.

It's been ten years since I attended that conference. Over the course of the past decade my wife and I have continued to be blessed through Revive magazine, a quarterly publication of Life Action Ministries. Its stated mission is "to ignite movements of revival and authentic Christianity." We have found each issue to be filled with biblical, practical articles written by leading Christian men and women.

In fact, leadership is the key theme of the magazine's most recent issue. Leadership is influence If we want to influence people for God, if we want to impact people for Christ, we must possess the distinctive qualities of Christian leadership. With this in mind, pastor and author Crawford Loritts laid out several "Guiding Principles for Godly Leadership." I have found these to be scripturally based and practically beneficial, which is why I'm sharing them here on the TruthWalk blog. Here they are:

• Do not tell God how to use you. Stay open. Stay flexible.
• Do not compete or compare. No mortal being can take from you waht God as for you. Just pursue what God places in front of you.
• Do not live by your rights, but respond to what is right. People who live by their rights only grow to the level of their demands.
• Do not operate from giftedness; operate from brokenness. Your gifts are not a statement of your identity--they are only something God uses. Your real identity is found in Jesus.
• Do not make decisions based foremost on your gifts. God wants to grow you and bring about new things. He may want you in a situation outside of your gifts so He an do something greater in your heart and life.

Can you think of some references and real-life examples and incidents from Scripture that validate these principles? Why not write them down next to your own reprint of this list?

The Christ of Christmas is the Christ of the Cross

The following article was originally published on December 19, 2008:

My dad has always had a knack for writing good poems. Some of them are hilarious. Others are rather profound. All of them convey a wonderful talent that Dad has put to good use over the years.

One of my dad's earlier poems centered on Christmas. In it, Dad encourages his readers to keep their focus on Christ - not in the sense that the world does this time of season but with the knowledge of who He really is and what He came to do.

Many folks have liked the evangelical thrust of this poem so much, that they have placed miniature copies of it in their Christmas cards. Whether you keep this to yourself or pass it on to others, I pray that you will heed its vital message.

The Christ of the Cross

by James W. Fletcher

Amidst all the tinsel and trappings,

The holiday glitter and gloss,

God help us to see past the wrappings,

Remembering Christ and the cross.

While many grow tear-eyed and tender

When scenes of the stable they see,

To little Lord Jesus they'll render their thanks

But not the Christ of the tree.

Now marvel we must at the manger,

The Babe, and the Bethlehem birth.

But, oh, let us stay not a stranger

To why Jesus entered this earth.

For Christ in the cradle could never

Have saved us from infinite loss;

But praise Him forever and ever -

He's also the Christ of the cross!

"Let Freedom Ring"

So go the lyrics of the hymn, My Country 'Tis of Thee, which served as the de facto national anthem of the United States before the adoption of The Star-Spangled Banner as the official anthem.

Years ago our family lived in Richmond Virginia. The church where I served as an associate pastor was located on Monument Avenue, so named because every few blocks there is a statue that has been erected in honor of an American hero. One such hero is Patrick Henry, a living symbol of America's struggle for liberty, who in March of 1775 uttered those time-honored words, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."

For many Americans, this is exactly what they got. Thousands of common people possessing uncommon valor sacrificed their lives on the altar of freedom. On this 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, we commemorate the 2,402 Americans who lost their lives on that "day of infamy." Like so many other soldiers who have fought for our freedom, including those who are fighting the war on terror today, countless Americans have sacrificed their lives so that their children and succeeding generations might live as free men.

This is the same reason that Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. "It was for freedom that Christ set us free" (Galatians 5:1). Yet it wasn't political freedom that Christ won for us, but spiritual freedom. Jesus himself declared, "If you abide in my word, they you are truly disciples of mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:31-32).

What are the practical implications of this? We don't have to guess, for Scripture tells us: "Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as slaves of God" (1 Peter 2:16). Here in America, one cannot be a free-man if he is a slave. But in the kingdom of God, the only way one can be truly free is to become a slave of Christ.

William Penn wrote, “Men must be governed by God, or they will be ruled by tyrants.” Sin is the cruelest of tyrants. How wonderful it is to know, experience, and declare the Good News of Christmas: "She will bear a Son; and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).