Leading Out of Love
A Christian Leader's Guide to Genuine Ministry to Genuine Ministry
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If you are like the average pastor, deacon, lay-leader, or church-goer you’ve learned to conceal your true identity. You have learned to hide your messy side. You have built walls so tall that even Spiderman could not scale them! You have been taught to do this by your pastors, your parents, your co-workers, your neighbors, and virtually everyone else with whom you have come in contact. We are a generation of fakers. We know the game. We play to win. Do we really win though? I think not. Look at the divorce rate. Examine the stats on married (or even single) men who view pornography. Think of the lonely wives and the abandoned children. Our game is not really a game – it is a nightmare. I am done playing. I hope you are too. Here is the question again, who are you? I know it is a little frightening because you are so used to hiding in the shadows. Your spouse may not even know the real you. God certainly does know you whether you like it or not. Now is the time to "fess up." Make peace with who you are and then make peace with who God has called you to be. Let’s not worry about the doing for now. Let’s just look at the "being" and the thinking. I know about a lot of things. For instance, I know that George Washington was the first president and that he was a great man. I know that he crossed the Delaware River and that he cut down a cherry tree. He is merely a great historical figure in my mind. That is the way many people view Jesus – just a great historical figure. While Jesus was a man in history and we can locate Him in time and space, He is not merely historical. You believe in the resurrection, don’t you? We can know the living Jesus right now. Knowing about Washington has not significantly changed or molded my life. I am not supposed to merely know about Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, it is great to know about Him, but there is more to it than that. I must know Him. I am supposed to be divinely connected to Him in a relationship. My connection is based on faith. I know Him (and about Him) through His divine Autobiography, the Bible. A Christian leader must be connected to Christ by more than mere knowledge about Him. There must be a living, breathing relationship based on the love of Christ and the leader’s desire to truly know Him.
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About the Book
Doing. Doing. Doing. That’s all most books on Christian leadership talk about. Leading Out of Love explains the importance of "being" the person God intended you to be. Let’s stop all the doing for a while and examine "who" we really are as leaders. Leaders that will last a lifetime are the kind of people who are more than mere doers –
About the Author
Paul Heier currently serves Lifespring Community Church located near Tarpon Springs in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. He is a favorite speaker at conferences, evangelistic meetings, and college chapels. Paul is a graduate of Clearwater Christian College, Tyndale Theological Seminary (Texas), and Columbia Biblical Seminary and School of Missions. He is currently working on his doctorate, teaching college-level courses on Christian leadership, ministry, and theology, and serving as a consultant to Christian organizations on leadership, spirituality, and growth.