Revival Leaders Vision – I saw a vision or it was a wonderful dream. Whether a vision or a dream, I have lived my life directed by it. I was 28 years old. The year was 1989. I was planting a church near Chicago, IL.
In my dream, I saw people wandering and seeking the Lord. I wanted to be part of reaching them. I wanted to find ways to get others to help me reach people for Christ. Someone said to me. “You will be part of raising up thousands of church leaders.” I woke up and told my wife my dream. Since I was not part of a Pentecostal tradition, I did not attribute this as a “divine vision”, but in my heart I began to look for ways to help others lead people.
On that morning in 1989, honestly, I had absolutely no idea how I was going to be part of raising up revival leaders to reach more people to Christ. But I took that dream as a CALLING to spend the rest of my life finding and helping leaders reach people to Christ. This was my revival leaders vision and the dream was planting.
In the 90’s I kept planting churches, co-planted a ministry, and worked at an international Bible ministry called the Bible League International. In the 90’s I learned that new potential revival leaders were going to come from ordinary people, bi-vocational leaders. I also became convicted that these potential leaders needed high quality ministry training. But I did not know how this was going to happen.
Then on September 11, 2001, our world changed. My life changed. I was there in Manhattan, NY when the twin towers were downed. During that visit, the “vision” heated up in my heart as I saw in living color how our world needed Christ. Many people were desperate to be reached, there were not enough “reachers”. As I was making my way back to the Chicago area, I resolved to start a new organization.
I called my long-time mentor, Rich DeVos, Sr., and I visited another mentor, Ron Parr, to process what I was going to do next. I resolved to leave the Bible League and begin a new ministry called Christian Leaders. So on January 1, 2002, Christian Leaders started. I immediately began to research the use of the Internet to aid in the training of leaders. By 2005, we figured out how to open an online institute for ministry training and began classes in 2006. We named this institute, “Christian Leaders Institute”. At this time, I also co-planting a Church with Christian Leaders Institute Provost Dr. David Feddes called Family of Faith Church.
Now seven years later, we have met thousands of Christian leaders who are being given high quality ministry training. Christian Leaders Institute has been blessed with an able team of high quality leaders. In 2006, Jerry Lorenz started fulltime. In 2008, Dr. David Feddes assumed the responsibility of being provost. Many valued staff leaders have made a major contribution. The revival leaders vision remains vivid.
Revival Leaders Vision – Today
My vision and calling is to gather tens of thousands of revival leaders for training. I am resolved to keep Christian Leaders Institute “FREE” so that nothing will stand in the way. I am called to make this training more effective.
I am praying God will continue to bring supporters in prayer and resources.
I am praying that God will continue to inspire you to be part of the vision to reach the world for Christ.
In these last days, let it be that everyone who is called gets high quality ministry training.
I still see the dream. I still bask in the thinking that a dramatic time of reaching people for Christ is upon us. I still feel the urgency I felt in 1989. And I believe that God has been preparing leaders for a great revival to God.
And it shall be in the last days, saith God,
I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh:
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams:
Yea and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days
Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18)
REFLECTION PAPER ON SERMON CONSTRUCTION AND PRESENTATION
Preaching Confidence – My name is Ebenezer Osafo Aikins. I am a student of Christian Leaders Institute from Ghana. It has always been my dream to study at a Christian Seminary in order to prepare myself for the greater works God has called me to do. When I enrolled at Christian Leaders Institute in March 2013, little did I know that I will get to one of the challenging courses of study as Sermon Construction and Presentation? But I thank God for seeing me through all the time even to this point. My preaching confidence has increased!
I also want to take this opportunity to thank the leadership of Christian Leaders Institute for making it possible for me to take this course. I will forever be indebted to you for the wealth of knowledge and preaching confidence you have imparted to me through this course.
When I started this course, I didn’t know what I was actually going to learn. I thought about the title of the course “Sermon Construction and Presentation” and concluded I may to be given a formula or just some tips in preparing an effective sermon. But I was surprised the more when the first slide, “Introduction to Sermon Construction and Presentation” stated it as one of the things I will never get out of this course. I therefore opened myself to receive everything the course has for me. In doing so, I have come to learn a lot of things from the very beginning of the course even up to today.
First of all, in Dr. John Piper’s article, ‘What I mean by preaching is expository exultation’, I came across some things which are still guiding me in ministry. In the course of explaining why preaching is expository, he says, “The preacher’s job is to minimize his own opinions and deliver the truth of God. Every sermon should explain the Bible and then apply it to people’s lives. The preacher should do that in a way that enables you to see that the points he is making actually come from the Bible. If you can’t see that they come from the Bible, your faith will end up resting on a man and not on God’s word.” I have come to realize that the preacher should not only preach the message but should also make the people get the understanding of it. If after preaching for a long time nobody really seems to understand what I was saying, then it comes to mean I have been speaking to myself all this while. This can be made possible when I do not emphasize my opinion but allow the pure Word to speak. I believe by relying on the Holy Spirit, I can be able to bring out the message to God’s people as clearly as He would want me to.
He also highlights the point that preaching is not the totality of the church. And if all you have is preaching, you don’t have the church. A church is a body of people who minister to each other. I have across services where all the singing will be done but when it is time for the sermon, an announcement will be made that we have now reached the most important aspect of the service. Everything that happens from the start of the service to the end of it should be taken on the same serious note. I have a charge to keep. I am ministering to people with eternal souls and should therefore take time to be with the source of the Word in order to hear from Him. This will help me speak from the heart of God to His people knowing that I will give an account of whatever I did in my capacity as a preacher one day. I know a day is coming when people will not accept sound teaching and may even leave the church and go find teachers who scratch where they itch. And eventually they will wander off into myths. But I should not let this deter me. It is not a sign of my failure. Therefore I will not quit.
In the beginning of a sermon, Professor Henry Reyenga helped me to understand that the seed of a sermon is the Word of God which comes out of the truth of my own walk. I therefore have to maintain a life that is consistent with the doctrine I preach. My lifestyle should not contradict what I preach. There will also be different soils and different receptivity to the sermon I preach. Not all are the same in the hearing of the sermon. The only factor to make a sermon effective is the Holy Spirit. I can’t make it happen through any other means. This is where preaching confidence comes from!
There are other things I have learned in Sermon Preparation some of which I want to outline here. The first thing I have to keep in mind is my audience. I have to know the people I am going to speak to in terms of their ages, interests and needs. Another thing to think about is the occasion and the place where the sermon will be presented. I also have to conduct extensive research from which I will gather materials which includes but not limited to Bible verses, materials from books, articles, and notes from other peoples sermons, speeches, reports, conversations. After all these have been done I will commit myself to studying the materials I have gathered before the presentation of the sermon.
In walking with God, George Whitefield explained what the term “walking with God” actually implies. First of all, he says that walking with God implies that the prevailing power of the enmity of a person’s heart be taken away by the blessed Spirit of God. This enmity he speaks of as an enmity of man’s desperately wicked and deceitful heart and that before a person can be said to walk with God, the prevailing power of this heart-enmity must be destroyed: for persons do not use to walk and keep company together, who entertain an irreconcilable enmity and hatred against one another.
Preaching Confidence – Bring People to God
He also says that walking with God not only implies, that the prevailing power of the enmity of a man’s heart be taken away; a person is actually reconciled to God the Father, in and through the all-sufficient righteousness and atonement of his dear Son. This is the same as what is recorded in Amos 3:3 “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Therefore in order to walk with God, I have to yield myself to the Holy Spirit and the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have to maintain a constant abiding position in the Word of God and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit so that whatever is in me that does not agree with the Word of God can be dealt with. I should maintain a holy walk with God in all of my ways. The desires of God should be my desires. I have to walk in-step with Him. This means I do not go ahead of Him or stay behind. I have to be at His side at all times. It is only when I abide in Him that I will be fruitful.
These are some of the things I have learned in Sermon Construction and Presentation. I would not have learned these at any other place. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone here for helping to make this dream of mine a reality and increasing my preaching confidence.
God bless you all.
Reflection on the Pastoral Care and Marriage Course
Pastoral Care – When I signed up for this course, I thought lightly of it and had the preconception that it was all about teaching each partner in a marriage relationship how to love each other better. I did not know that there was so much involved in marriage! Although I am married, I found out that I needed to learn how to love my wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. This course really exposed me and showed me that I was not doing what I am expected to do in marriage. I was not playing my role as husband and head as I should. It also reminded me how women are more emotional than men and need to hear sweet words spoken; that husbands should also demonstrate our love to them by our deeds, like taking them to dinner.
I learned about buttons and how we need to be aware of each partner’s buttons and not deliberately push them. This is something we don’t usually think about. We sometimes try to fix or change the other partner, but I found out that’s the way they are and we have to deal with it. I might have been guilty of trying to push my wife’s buttons instead of showing the love of Christ. I am now aware of that!
I was really blessed by the presentation given by Brian F. DeCook Esq. of peacefire. I learned about the peace fire and the wild fire. He really put it in a way I never heard before. I was reminded of the peace that Jesus gives in the midst of the fire. I can now hold on to the promise of Jesus that He will be there in the midst of the fire to cause His peace to overwhelm the wildfire.
I also learned from this pastoral care course about how important boundaries are in order to fulfill the purpose of God. Sometimes I work without acknowledge the importance of boundaries. I gained an insight into how boundaries are vital in every aspect of life. Bible studies and prayer come to mind when I think about boundaries. I found out that if I don’t set boundaries, I would not be able to get enough time to study the Bible and pray.
I learned how dangerous it is to do marriage counseling alone. It just sounds like a pastor’s job is very dangerous. He seems to be in constant danger. I now have great respect for marriage counseling. It is not sometime I would want to do without first setting some serious and vital boundaries. The temptations and snares are too great, and that’s why this is such a scary area. All marriage counselors really need God’s grace and protection continually. This can be very destructive if care is not seriously.
The pastoral care course on hospital and home visit caught my attention, because I certainly would have done all the things that pastor Henry says not to do during a visit without thinking twice. Things like asking, “ how are you doing today?”, or walking straight into the patient’s room without washing my hands. I just didn’t think of a hospital visit the way it was presented in the course. I think everything I would have done would be contrary to the teachings of the course. I would have failed!
The pastoral care course on legal issues was a surprise to me, because I did not think that the church was supposed to report child abuse to the police. I know it’s the right thing to do, but I just did not think about the government and law being involved with the church. I found out how serious it is to be a pastor. I found out how a pastor must take all necessary precautions to protect himself from lawsuits and other issues, not only with men but with God.
Pastoral Care Summary
In summary, I can say that I learned a lot of things from this course of which I did not consider or had taken lightly. I now have a more alertness to my calling to being a pastor/leader of God’s people. I really have a sense of calling to ministry and would like to be fully prepared for what to expect. I have now learned even more in this course about being vigilant and watchful because of the adversary the devil, the flesh, and the world. We have got three enemies to fight and that in itself is a challenge to any child of God. I found out how many obstacles we have to face in this world, living as ambassadors of Christ.
As Jesus warned us, we would have tribulations in this world, and that was no lie! Also, He said we would suffer persecutions, trials, and temptations, which is strongly demonstrated in this course. We are citizens of the kingdom of heaven living in a hostile world that is against us and that’s why we must be so watchful. I just pray for all pastors that God will keep them from all evil and preserve them blameless until the appearing of Jesus Christ to whom be glory, power, and dominion forever Amen.
God bless all His faithful pastors and leaders in Jesus name Amen.