“A Spirit-filled leader will not shrink from facing up to difficult situations or persons, or from grasping the nettle when that is necessary. He will kindly and courageously administer rebuke when that is called for; or he will exercize necessary discipline when the interests of the Lord’s work demand it.” (73)

The spitual leader must deal promptly with potential causes of weakness (245)

Guidelines for Discipline (186-187)

1. Action taken only after the most thorough and impartial inquiry
2. Action taken only when it would be for overall good of the work or individual.
3. Should always be in spirit of genuine love and conducted in the most considerate manner.
4. Should always be with the spiritual help and restoration of the offender in view.
5. It should be done only with much prayer.

Source: J.Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Leadership

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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“One morning as I was hurriedly dressing to begin a full and thrilling day I felt pain in my back. I mentioned it to my wife but was sure it would soon pass away. However, she insisted I see a physician, and he put me in a hospital.

In the hospital I was very unhappy. I had no time to be wasting there in bed. My calendar was full of good activities and the doctor had told me to cancel all my appointments for at least a month. A dear minister friend of mine came to see me. He sat down and very firmly said, “Charles, I have only one thing to say to you–‘He *maketh* me to lie down.’

I lay there thinking about those words in the Twenty-third Psalm long after my friend had gone. I thought about how the shepherd starts the sheep grazing about 4 o’clock in the morning. The sheep walk steadily as they graze; they are never still.

By 10 o’clock, the sun is beaming down and the sheep are hot, tired, and thirsty. The wise shepherd knows that the sheep must not drink when it is hot, neither when its stomach is filled with undigested grass.

So the shepherd makes the sheep lie down in green pastures, in a cool, soft spot. The sheep will not eat lying down, so he chews his cud, which is nature’s way of digestion.

Study the lives of great people, and you will find every one of them drew apart from the hurry of life for rest and reflection. Great poems are not written in the midst of clamoring multitudes; our visions of God come when we stop…”

Author: Charles L. Allen
Source: “God’s Psychiatry”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Decision making…

1. “…must be based on sound premises.” (83)
2. “Procrastination and vacillation are fatal to leadership. A sincere though faulty decision is better than no decision. Indeed the latter is really a decision, and often a wrong one. It is a decision that the status quo is acceptable.” (85)
3. The leader may be “obliged either to greatly modify or lay aside projects which were sound and helpful but met with determined opposition, and so tended to create greater evils than those which might have been removed or mitigated by the changes in question. Later on, in answer to patient continuance in prayer, many of such projects..[may be] given effect to.” (100)
4. “No small dissident or reactionary element should be allowed to determine the policy of a group, when the concensus of the spiritual leaders is in the opposite direction.” (168)
5. “Spiritual ends can be achieved only by spiritual men who employ spiritual methods” (40)
6. “A leader must be able to invision the end result of the policies or methods he advocates. Responsible leadership always looks ahead to see how policies proposed will affect not only present, but suceeding generations.”(78)
7. He must never be swayed by considerations of personal reward. (56)

Source: J. Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Leadership”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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The Lord seeks out men for spiritual leadership.  When God finds a man who fits His spiritual requirements, and is willing to pay the full price of discipleship, He uses him to the limit despite his patent shortcomings.(18) “Service to which God calls must not be refused because of a sense of unworthiness or inadequacy.” (65)

“God is always at work, unpercieved by men, preparing those of his  choice for leadership.” (211)

“No theological training or leadership course will automatically confer spiritual leadership…”You did not chose me, but I chose you and appointed you” (John 15:16)” (25)

“If a man possessing great gifts will not place them at the disposal of  God…He will take a man of lesser gifts that are fully available to Him  and suppliment them with His own mighty power.” (214)

The road to spiritual leadership. Samuel Logan Brendle stated:

“It is not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears.  It is   attained by confessions of sin, and much heartsearching and humbling before God; by self-surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol, a bold, deathless, uncompromising and uncomplaining embracing of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering looking unto Jesus crucified. It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but…by counting those things that are gain to us as loss for Christ.  This is a great price, but it must be unflinchingly paid by him who would not be merely a nominal but a real spiritual leader of men, a leader whose power is both recognized and felt in heaven, on earth and in hell”(21)

Dr. A W. Tozer stated:

“A true and safe leader is likely to be one who has no desire to lead, but is forced into a position of leadership by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and the press of external situation. …I believe it might be accepted as a fairly reliable rule of thumb that the man who is ambitious to lead is disqualified as a leader.  The true leader will have no desire to lord it over God’s heritage, but will be humble, gentle, self-sacrificing and altogether ready to follow as to lead, when the Spirit makes it clear that a wiser and more gifted man than himself has appeared.”(36)

Source: J. Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Leadership”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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1. “Spirit leadership is a blending of natural and spiritual qualities. Even the natural qualities are not self produced, but God-given, and therefore reach their highest effectiveness when employed in the service of God  and for His glory.”(32)
2. “Leadership that can be fully explained in terms of the natural, although ever so attractive and competent, will result only in sterility and moral and spiritual bankruptcy”(19)
3. Natural endowments and traits of personality and scholastic attainments greatly enhance leadership, but they’re not the factors of paramount importance.(20)
4. “Each of us from birth possesses skills that either qualify or disqualify us from certain tasks.  Those skills often lie dormant until some crisis calls forth their exercise.  They can and should be developed.” (34)
5. “Because qualities of natural leadership are by no means unimportant in
   spiritual leadership, there is value in seeking to discover leadership potential both in oneself and in others.  Most people have latent and undeveloped traits that, through lack of self analysis and consequent lack of self knowledge, may long remain undiscovered” (43)
6. “It is the perogative of the Spirit to bestow spiritual gifts that greatly enhance the leadership potential of the recipient.” (35)
7. Some important differences between natural and spiritual leaders:

Natural Leader…………………………..Spiritual Leader
Self-confident…………………………………Confident in God
Knows men……………………………………Also knows God
Makes own decisions………………………..Seeks to find God’s will
Ambitious………………………………………Self-effacing
Originates own methods…………………….Finds and follows God’s methods
Enjoys commanding others…………………Delights to obey God
Motivated by personal considerations……Motivated by love for God & man
Independent………………………………….God-dependent

Source: J. Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Leadership”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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• “Leadership is influence, the ability of one person to influence others. One man can lead others only to the extent that he can influence them to follow his lead.”(31)
• He does this “not by the power of his own personality alone but by that personally irradiated, interpenetrated, and empowered by the Holy Spirit …There is no such thing as a self made spiritual leader. He is able to influence others spiritually only because the Spirit is able to work in and through him to a greater degree than in those he leads.”(33)
• The person most likely to be successful is one who leads by not merely pointing the way but by having trodden it himself. We are leaders to the extent we inspire others to follow us.”(33)
• D. E Hoste stated: “When a man… demands obedience of another, irrespective of the latter’s reason and conscience, this is… tyranny. When… by tact and sympathy; by prayer, spiritual power and sound wisdom one is able to influence and enlighten another, so that through the medium of his own reason and conscience is led to alter one course and pursue another, that is true spiritual leadership.” (83)

• “All are leaders to the extent that they influence others. All of us can… increase our leadership potential. The first step to achieve that end is to discover and correct weaknesses in that area and to cultivate our strengths.” (160)
• “leadership is the ability to recognize the special abilities and limitations of others, combined with the capacity to fit each one into the job where he will do his best. He who is successful in getting things done through others is exercizing the highest type of leadership.” (202)
• True leadership is an internal quality of the spirit and requires no external show of force. (44)
• “Many who take courses in leadership in the hope of attaining it fail because they have never learned to follow.” (72)

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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I. Reasons to Read

• “The man who desires to grow spiritually and intellectually will be constantly at his books.”(148)
• “the spiritual leader must master God’s Word and its principles and know as well what is going on in the minds of those who look to him for guidance. To achieve those ends, he must, hand in hand with personal contacts, engage in a course of selective reading.” (148)
• “The spiritual leader should read for ‘spiritual quickening’  and profit, and that will strongly influence his selection of books for reading.”(151)
• “The spiritual leader should read with a view to ‘mental stimulation’.”(151)
• “He should read for ‘cultivation of style’ in his preaching and teaching and writing.” (151)
• “The leader should read… with a view to the ‘acquiring of information.” (151)
• “He should read in order to have ‘fellowship with great minds.’ “(152)
• “It is for the spiritual leader to cut a channel between what he reads and what he says or writes, so that others may reap its benefits to the full….many more ministers could communicate their appreciation of spiritual books to their congregations by guiding them in a course of selected reading.”(159)

II. The Choice of Books

• “Some are to be tested, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” (150)
• “If it is true a man is known by the company he keeps, it is no less true that his character is reflected in the books he reads, for they are the outward expression of his hungers and aspirations.”(152)
• “Our reading should be regulated largely by what we are and what we do or intend to do.” (153)
• Biographies- “One cannot read the lives of great and consecrated men and women without having inspiration and kindled and aspiration aroused….It provides him with numberless illustrations for use in his own service.” (154)
• “It is better that we should always tackle something a but beyond us.”(155)
• “The leader should immerse himself in books that will further equip him for a higher quality of service and leadership in the kingdom of God.” (156)

III. How to read

• “It is easy to read. It is much more difficult to secure effectually the fruit of reading in the mind.” (156)
• “We cannot profit from what we read unless we think”(156)
• “Master those books you have.”(156)
• “Read little that is to be forgotten.” (157)
• “Read with pencil and notebook in hand.” (157)
• “Have… a book in which to put what is striking, interesting, and worthy of permanent record.” (157)
• “Verify as far as possible historical, scientific and other data, and let no word slip past until its meaning is understood.”
• “Let the reading be varied, because the mind so easily runs into ruts.” (157)
• “Reading should be correlated where possible”. (157)
• “He suggests that evey solid book requires three readings.  The first reading should be rapid and continuous.  The subconscious mind will then go to work on it and link it up with what you already know on the subject.  Then take time to think what contribution it has made to your knowledge.  The second reading should be careful, slow and detailed, as you think out each new point and make notes for later use.  After an interval, the third reading should be fairly rapid and continuous, and a brief analysis should be written in the back of the book, with page   references to subjects and illustrations.” (158)

Source: J. Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Leadership”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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“To find me, look in the corner of the shop, over here, behind the cobwebs, beneath the dust, in the darkness. There are scores of us, broken handles, dulled blades, cracked iron. Some of us were useful once, and then… many of us never were. But, listen, don’t feel sorry for me. Life ain’t so bad here in the pile… no work, no anvils, no pain, no sharpening, and yet the days are very long.” (p17)

With a strong forearm, the apron clad blacksmith puts his tongs into the fire, grasps the heated metal, and places it on his anvil. His keen eye examines the glowing piece. He sees what the tools is now and envisions what he wants it to be–sharper, flatter, wider, longer. With a clear picture in his mind, he begins to pound. His left hand still clutching the hot mass with the tongs, the right hand slams the two-pound sledge upon the moldable metal. On the solid anvil, the smoldering iron is remolded.

The smith knows the type of instrument he wants. He knows the size. He knows the shape. He knows the strength. Wang! Wang! The hammer slams. The shop rings with noise, the air fills with smoke and the softened metal responds. But the response doesn’t come easily. It doesn’t come without discomfort. To melt down the old and recast the new is a disrupting process. Yet the metal remains on the anvil, allowing the toolmaker to remove the scars, repair the cracks, refill the voids, and purge the impurities.

And, with time, a change occurs: what was dull becomes sharpened; what was crooked becomes straight; what was weak becomes strong; and what was useless becomes valuable. Then the blacksmith stops. He ceases his pounding and sets down his hammer. With a strong left arm, he lifts the tongs until the freshly molded metal is at eye-level.

In the still silence he examines the smoking tool. The incandescent implement is rotated and examined for any mars or cracks. There are none. Now the smith enters the final stage of his task. He plunges the smoldering instrument into a nearby bucket of water. With a hiss and a rush of smoke, the metal immediately begins to harden. The heat surrenders to the onslaught of cool water and the pliable, soft mineral becomes an unbending, useful tool….(I Pet. 1:7,7) (pp47-48)

“An instrument is useful only if it’s in the right shape. A dull axe or a bent screwdriver needs attention, and so do we. A good blacksmith keeps his tools in shape. So does God. Should God place you on the anvil, be thankful. It means he thinks you’re still worth reshaping.” (p50)

Author: Max Lucado
On the Anvil (ISBN 0-8423-4568-X)

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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Servanthood– “greatness comes only by way of servanthood”(26)

• “Jesus did not have in mind mere ‘acts of service,’ for those can be performed from very dubious motives. He meant the *spirit of servanthood*  “(27)
• “He will without reluctance undertake the unpleasant task that others avoid or the hidden duty that others evade because it invokes no applause or wins no appreciation.” (73)

Source: J. Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Leadership”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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1. Sacrificial– “true leadership, is achieved not be reducing men to one’s service but in giving one’s selfless service to them.  And that is never done without cost.”(15)
   • “True leadership always exacts a heavy toll on the whole man, and the more effective the leadership is, the higher the price to be paid.” (169)
   • “Willingness to renounce personal preferences, to sacrifice legitimate and natural desires for the sake of His kingdom, will characterize those marked out by God for positions of influence in His work.”(169)
   • He must be “able to recieve from others as well as to give to others. There are some who delight in sacrificing themselves for others, who are quite unwilling to allow others to reciprocate… [although] that is a very powerful way of exercizing helpful leadership.”(77)

Source: J. Oswald Sanders “Spiritual Leadership”

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

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