Pride Kills

It blocks your access to God
Is the sin behind every sin
Is what makes a father not reach out to his child
Is what makes a man leaves his family for a younger woman
Is what destroying marriage
Is what destroying & breaking up family
Is why you hold on to that unforgiveness and bitterness
Is what destroying churches
Is what destroying big corporations
Is what ruin relationships
Is what turning parents against children
Is turning an angel in heaven into devil, because he wanted to receive the credit in the worship instead of giving it to The Lord
Is what make people kill and murder

#PRIDE IS THE ORIGINAL SIN
It is the carbon monoxide. Its colorless and odorless yet so deadly.
And many times we dont know that it exists until its too late.

God detests pride. All of us wrestle with pride, but pride will really hit 4 categories of people:

1. The highly inteligent
2. The greatly gifted
3. The incredibly wealthy
4. AND THE DEEPLY RELIGIOUS!

Eleven Characteristics of Spiritually Weak Christian Leaders

I’m hesitant to write this post because I know I probably exhibit some of these characteristics. 

Nevertheless, I’ve seen a lot of Christian leaders who never fully live up to their potential in the power of God’s Spirit. Here are some of the primary issues I see in this group of leaders:

They lead in their own power rather than God’s power. They may use the language of “God’s power,” but honesty would require them to say that they’re living in their own strength. They’re tackling very little that they could not do on their own.

They manage rather than lead. They’re not casting vision. They cannot talk with specificity about what they believe the church should be three to five years from now. Most of their work relates only to managing what’s already happening.

They pray reactively, not proactively. In fact, most of them are not prayer warriors. Their tendency is to plan first and then ask God to bless their plans. Seldom do they genuinely seek God first and then follow His lead.

They lead an organization, but not their family. They might even appear to be great leaders of their church, but they’re losing their family in the process. Externally, they get good publicity. In their home, everything is in shambles.

They firefight rather than ignite fires. That is, much of their ministry is responding to fires, often because they believe that putting out little fires saves the church from facing bigger fires. They’re always watching for the fires of conflict, and they consequently give no attention to igniting fires of worship and evangelism among their church members.

They lead out of charisma rather than crucifixion. On the stage, they excel. Any thought of “dying to self,” though, is more a matter of saying the right words than living the life. Leaders who love being on the platform seldom think about being on the altar.

They speak the gospel on Sunday, but “foolish talking and crude joking” (Eph. 5:4) the rest of the week. For some reason, they give themselves permission to talk privately in ways they would never talk from the pulpit.

They tell others to evangelize but expect the lost to come to them. Others must reach out to their friends and neighbors; these leaders, though, evangelize only from the pulpit and within their office. Any initiative belongs only to the non-believer seeking help.

They call for sacrificial effort from their people while they maximize their leisure. That’s often the case when no one holds them accountable for how they use their time.

They’re aware of everyone else’s sin, but not so aware of their own. Apparently, their discernment stops with their own lives, and they genuinely miss what others see so obviously in them. Hence, they can be both arrogant and unaware—a dangerous combination.

The Bible is their source for sermons, not their source for life. Beyond sermon preparation, their spiritual habits suggest that the Word means little to them.

Pastors, do you find yourself in any of these descriptions? If so, spend some time with the Lord. 👌

(Article by CHURCHLEAD)

YOUR MARRIAGE IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT MINISTRY

While history tells us that it is possible to have an effective ministry without a healthy marriage, it is not what the Lord desires for us. And not what the Lord desires for those who are impacted by our lives. Here are three reasons why your marriage is your most important ministry.

1. Because your marriage is a picture of the gospel

A healthy marriage gives the world a beautiful picture of the gospel. Just as God unites a man and a woman together and makes them one, Christ unites us to Himself. We are one with Him and receive all His righteousness. He pursues us, loves us eternally, constantly forgives us and continually cares for us. When we are committed to our spouses, people are reminded of God’s commitment to us.

2. Because your marriage is the greatest gift you can give your kids

More important than giving your kids a healthy church is giving them a healthy marriage. I am so thankful we are able to give my kids a healthy church, a church they love, but much more important is giving them a healthy marriage. A healthy marriage gives them security and offers them a picture of the gospel.

3. Because your marriage is sanctifying

To not prioritize your marriage is to not prioritize your sanctification because God uses marriage to form us more into His image. I know this personally as God has used Kaye to grow me in compassion towards other, and to help me see how others process and think, and to regularly remind me that the Christian life is a life of joy.

The most important ministry you will do this week is in your own home.

https://churchleaders.com

SELF JUSTIFICATION (Narcissism Part 3)

Self-justification can be deceiving. We choose narcissists for our leaders precisely because they are so good at justifying themselves. They are good at having all the answers and sounding right.

People who have not been trained to spot self-justification misjudge it for self-confidence. To the discerning, the justifications sound reasonable at first, but they know something is wrong below the surface. A stiff neck is often well hidden.

It seemed like once we spotted the first weakness, we started seeing many of them. We came up with the following weaknesses of the self-justification listed above: 

• This statement is belittling and impatient. 
• It shuts down further discussion.
• It keeps the self-justifier from needing to explain further. 
• This justification shows arrogance: “I’m so much smarter than you that you will never understand my lofty thinking.” 
• This statement might also be a cover-up for laziness. 

Narcissists will resist receiving healthy correction. Since they are unable to feel special through relationships, they rely on accomplishments, position, and attractiveness. They use self-justification to defeat anyone who may seem to threaten their sense of being special.

These strategies cause them to live most of their lives like a predator. They view the people around them in two ways: either people make them feel special or people are threats to them. 

NARCISSISM: Healing The Relational Infection in The Church (Part 2)

Unfortunately, the narcissistic “I must win” strategy can spill over into Christian communities, which explains why we see narcissistic behavior in leaders of organizations and churches. 

When a Christian community has low joy, weak hesed, and a poorly developed group identity, the culture is armed for narcissism to spread. 

How does narcissism play out in the life of a pastor? An inability to metabolize shame inflates a person’s need to be special, a narcissistic strategy of handling shame. Wanting to be special is a healthy desire we all have, a God-given desire.

However, narcissists are unable to satisfy this need relationally, so they are driven to perform and succeed. We see this as good leadership. Narcissists satisfy their need to be special through performance and winning, using Christian ministry as the vehicle. 

Infected leaders use ministry to communicate, “I’m not just special, I’m more special than all of you.” Their ability to win helps them avoid shame, their greatest fear. But as we have seen, without shame, our character does not change.

Giftedness, ministry success, and bold leadership may look good on the surface, but the inner motivation has been detached from relationships. We may find this confusing because their ministries look impressive.

Let me state this again, because it gets to the center of the dysfunction: Ministry becomes more important than relationships. Now we are finally looking at the soil and not just the symptoms, and a soil analysis reveals depleted hesed.

The pulpit is a strong magnet for narcissists, and they use it to achieve what they crave: attention, control, being at the center, being able to create the narrative. For the narcissist pastor, the sermon becomes performance art. The overemphasis on the sermon in modern Christianity is like chumming the water for narcissists.

Up on a stage, the grand leader can appear to have a strong connection with the congregation while maintaining real relational distance. The stage, the image magnification, and the microphone allow pastors to appear close while avoiding real attachments to anyone who might threaten their control and sense of being special.

From this exalted position they can choose their friends carefully. Surrounded by a supportive community of weakly attached people with a shallow group identity, pastors can exercise significant control. 

NARCISSISM: HEALING THE RELATIONAL INFECTION IN THE CHURCH.

An eye-opening Devotion by Michel Hendricks and Jim Wilder. #narcissism #narcissist

TUHAN RENCANAKAN, TUHAN IJINKAN

Semoga semakin kita dewasa dalam iman, semakin kita bisa memahami hal ini. Bahwa ada hal-hal di dunia fana ini, yang TIDAK Tuhan rencanakan, namun Ia IJINKAN terjadi.

Mungkin 2020 banyak yang ngalamin kedukaan, kehilangan, kesakitan, kekurangan, dst. Mungkin kita nggak punya masalah dengan keuangan, tapi dengan hal lain yang bikin hati, pikiran dan perasaan kita sakit.

REMEMBER: Tuhan TIDAK PERNAH merencanakan hal2 buruk semacam kecelakaan, sakit, kemiskinan, kekurangan dalam hidup kita. Tapi kadang Tuhan ijinkan semuanya terjadi. Dan kalau Tuhan ijinkan, pasti Tuhan memperlengkapi. Kalo Dia ijinkan, Dia pasti kasih kekuatan & kemenangan.

Ada banyak hal di 2020 ini yang Tuhan ijinkan terjadi dalam hidup keluarga kami juga. SATU HAL aku selalu yakini: Kalau sehelai rambut kita aja TIDAK AKAN jatuh jika Dia tidak ijinkan, apalagi hal2 lain yang jauh lebih besar dan serius? Gimanapun juga, GOD IS IN CONTROL! Tuhan itu tetap memegang kendali atas hidup kita. So dont give up. Never loose hope. Dont beat yourself up!

Yang selalu aku lakukan saat harus menghadapi badai: Ya jalanin aja. One day at a time. Nanti tau2, eh kita udah lewati semua. Tiap ada badai, aku selalu berpikir: Kalau ini semua berlalu, aku akan jadikan cerita buat mereka yang mengalami hal yang sama. ⬅️ Perkataan ini jadi penghiburanku! Selalu….

Jadi inget2 aja ya gengs, Tuhan selalu merencanakan hal-hal baik buat kita. Namun Tuhan juga mengijinkan hal-hal yang (kita pandang) kurang baik, untuk terjadi. YANG PENTING: Ending-nya pasti baik. Itu istimewanya ikut Tuhan! 殺 Lima hari menuju 2021. Semangat yah kawan-kawan! #KarinaBDMN