Tag: encouragement

Two Things You Need To Know

by Brianboswell

There are two things that can derail you in your walk through this life. Think of it like taking a trip. You have to know where you are and you have to know where you are going. You would be surprised how many people are going through life and can’t tell you where they are or where they are headed. It seems simple and it most certainly is, but most of us spend little time thinking on these two subjects. Instead we are simply positioned and lead by external forces. Wherever the wind is blowing is where you will find me type of thing.

Where you are matters. If you don’t know where you are, how will you ever get to where you are going? If you go on to any gps device, it has to have a starting point. It’s got to know where you are starting from. Where exactly are you? Because of you think you are in one place, but you are actually in another, guess what? You won’t get to where you want to be. You have to know where you are starting from. Some people are scared to know where they are starting from. Why is that? Because you have to admit that you aren’t where you want to be.

There is a confession in the fact that you haven’t “arrived.” And for some of us, this is a hard confession to make. We’ve spent most of our lives trying to prove to others that we have arrived, that we know what we are doing. We spend most of our lives not being honest with ourselves that we haven’t arrived. Confession is good for the soul. You need to be honest with the fact that you aren’t where you want to be. If you can admit that, then you can start to be honest about discovering where you are.

In discovering where you are, you need to have clarity of thought. If your thoughts are clouded and lost in the fog, you won’t be able to see the markers telling you where you are. I see this a lot with people who think they are farther down the road than they actually are. They know which road they are on, but they are simply confused with how far they have to go. When looking honestly at ourselves, we have to come to the realization that we may actually have a long ways to go in improving ourselves or in our walk with God. We need to be able to read those road signs.

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Leadership 101: Empowering Others

by Brianboswell

Too often leadership becomes about the leader. Leaders are put up on pedestals in our society. Look no further than our politicians. This is the opposite of what leadership looks like in the kingdom. God expects his leaders to serve others and empower them, not the other way around.

Leading through empowerment is one of the most effective tools a leader has in his toolbox. When you empower others, you multiply your influence. John Maxwell says, “leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”

In the kingdom, influence is with a purpose. Influence isn’t to make people adore the leader more, influence is to get people to be more like Christ. When we are granted influence over the lives of other people, it is a solemn responsibility.

Typically you find at least two ways leaders will use influence – empowerment or authoritatively. Some leaders simply wish to lord over those under them. They don’t want to see others succeed, they want to see themselves succeed. Those who use influence to garner more authority do not realize they are actually limiting their influence, not increasing it. Godly leaders increase their influence by giving their authority to others.

“And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.”

Luke 9:1-2

Jesus models leadership to us in this passage. Jesus was the one with authority. He was the one with power. But, He didn’t lord that power over his disciples. He gave them his authority and power. This is the very definition of empowerment. Jesus empowered his disciples to do the work of the ministry.

This is an important principle for church ministry as well. Paul echoes this when he is describing the function of church leadership in Ephesians chapter 4, “to equip the saints for the work of the ministry”.

Church leadership really has one goal – to equip others. As leaders, we have to be willing to empower our people to do what God has assigned them to do. The point is not to get a large church so that we can say, “look at how good of a leader I am!” That’s not leadership.

I think a lot of people avoid church for this reason. They do not like to be lorded over. They want to be empowered. They have a lot to offer and they have typically been devalued by others. This simply should not be the case. I want you to know, that no matter where you are or what you are doing, you are valuable. You are valuable to God. You have a lot to offer.

Don’t think that you are unworthy. Jesus empowered Judas even though he was going to betray Him. Leader, sometimes the people you empower will hurt you, but you can’t let that stop you from doing what God expects from all of his leaders. Empower others. It will multiply your ministry.

The Fear of Man

by Brianboswell

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” – Proverbs 29:25

There are many fears, but the fear of man, is one in which everyone has to do battle with on some level. Fear is a spirit and one of its key elements is distrust. Fear seeks to sow seeds of distrust into your heart. These seeds, when they are allowed to grow, form into a fruit known as the fear of man.

When we read the Book of Acts, one of the things that strikes me the most is that the disciples prayed for boldness constantly. They even prayed for boldness immediately after showing great amounts of boldness by preaching in a certain place and getting arrested. In Acts 4, we read about the arrest of Peter and John after preaching with boldness in Solomon’s Portico. The inspiring part of this story is that while they showed great amounts of boldness in front of the Sadducees, the first thing they did when they got released was to pray for more boldness.

“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” – Acts 4:29. The disciples knew that boldness was something that ebbed and flowed. It is a constant battle to fight against fear. The fear of man seeks to silence you. We know this to be incredibly dangerous because this is one area in which the gospel is spread. We spread the gospel by speaking it, by preaching it, by teaching it and by singing it.

As we look across our culture today, the fear of man permeates everything. We have cancel culture, we have people who are being deplatformed and we have people who are simply ostracized for speaking an opposing point of view. And while most of this in the US is centered around politics, it has certainly affected the mindset of all people and kept them from sharing their opinions openly.

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Exhortation: Let’s Get Encouraged!

by Brianboswell

Exhortation_ Let's Get Encouraged!

In this episode, we discuss the important spiritual gift of exhortation or otherwise known as the gift of encouragement. Not only do Christians need daily encouragement, they need to encourage others as well. In our Good News segment, we talk about a man whowas wrongly convicted of a crime and spent 30 years on death row, where God used him to minister to inmates. Our Unreached People Group is the Kumhar of India and Today’s Word is from John 7:14-24. Continue reading “Exhortation: Let’s Get Encouraged!” →