Category Archives: Issues

Issue 20: Leadership and Influence

“Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”
John C. Maxwell

Most management writers agree that leadership is primarily about influence .

Hersey, Blanchard and Johnson in Management of Organizational Behavior note that: “leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in efforts toward achievement in a given situation.” It relates to the ability of leaders to influence followers and others to work toward agreed goals within a given situation. Continue reading

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Issue 19: Pentecost, the Holy Spirit and Today

The first Pentecost saw the birth of the Church with the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples as they gathered privately together.

The Holy Spirit’s arrival came with a commotion so loud that it attracted thousands of people to see what was going on. Some three thousand people were added to the church that day.

What a beginning! Continue reading

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Issue 18: A Garden, A City and Trouble

The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city. Both the garden (described in Genesis 2) and the heavenly city (described in the end chapters of the Book of Revelation) are seen in idyllic terms. Before the Genesis story of the disobedience of humankind to God, the garden is seen as a place of tranq uility, prosperity and unabated relationship and fellowship. The intimacy of those relationships existed because of the lack of guilt and shame. Not only was there an intimate fellowship between humanity and God but also unabashed intimacy between the woman and the man.

By the time we get to the heavenly city in the book of Revelation, once again there is tranquility, prosperity and unabated relationship and fellowship. There again human beings live in unabated adoration of God and in intimate fellowship with Him and with one another. Continue reading

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Issue 17: Following Your Own Convictions – And Letting Others Follow Theirs

Paul writes, “accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong” (Romans 14:1 New Living Translation). He refers to two examples where he believes this principle should be applied. The first related to the type of foods they ate and the second to the days they considered holy. Paul’s concern in the passage is that we do what we believe to be right and leave others to their Lord and Saviour to do what they should be doing. He says, “Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let Him judge whether they are right or wrong. And with the Lord’s help, they will do what is right and will receive His approval.” (Rom 14:4). Continue reading

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Issue 16: The Generosity Factor

In the book The Generosity Factor Ken Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy note four areas that we need to implement generosity as a basic aspect of our lives. These are Time, Talent, Treasure and Touch. It is through the use of these four areas of our life that we learn to be generous and significant people.

Time – have you noticed that we all have the same amount of time? We all have 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The question is how we use the time we have been given? Paul tells us to make the most of our time for the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). By this, he means to use the opportunities that come our way to sow into the kingdom of God. Continue reading

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Issue 15: Sin and Separation

Certain scholars claim that the word “sin” itself (in Hebrew or Greek) does not appear in the early Genesis stories about the creation of humanity. This is accurate. The additional inference that sin is finally dealt with as a result of this observation is probably not quite so accurate. We know that sin and its repercussions are pretty much alive and rampant in our world and community. That is, sin understood in terms of doing immoral or selfish things. For instance, some commentators have noted that the world is still reeling from economic chaos due to greed in some parts of the market place. Even though the creation stories do not mention sin, they clearly underline the fundamental nature of sin in terms of an independence from God – which was the essence of the temptation presented to Eve. Because of the decision to act independently of God, a number of areas of separation occurred. Continue reading

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Issue 14: Who is the Son of Man?

In Daniel 7:9-14, it refers to one like a son of man coming to the Ancient of Days who was seated on a throne. To this son of man was given all dominion and power. All peoples, nations, and men and women of all languages would serve Him. This passage in Daniel seemed to point to this event occurring at a future date.

In Mark 13:24-27 Jesus speaks of the coming of the Son of Man in clouds with great power. The term “the Son of Man” is used in the New Testament only in the Gospels and once in the Acts of the Apostles. In the Gospels, it is used only by Jesus to refer to himself and his mission, and once by the crowd who wanted to know what the term meant. Continue reading

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Issue 13: Faith – The Challenge of Unbelief

The second half of Luke 4 tells the story of Jesus’ visit to his own home village of Nazareth. He entered the synagogue and read one of the messianic passages from the Book of Isaiah that outlines the activity of the Messiah. It read:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD .
(Isaiah 61:1-2) Continue reading

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Issue 12: Faith – Responding to God’s Request

In 1 Kings 17 there is the story of the prophet Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. A great famine had come upon the land of Israel, due to Elijah’s prayers. God was demonstrating through Elijah that God was Lord; not Baal whose followers believed controlled the weather. During this period, God told Elijah to go to Zarephath, because there God had commanded a widow to provide food and shelter for him during the time of the famine. Continue reading

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Issue 11: Effects of Disengagement Part 4 – Your Perspective on Life

We have been looking at the effect of disengagement and the drive to passivity that influences us in our daily life. Last week we noted the importance of disengagement upon our attitudes.

This week we touch on its impact upon our perspective of life. Your perspective on life is fundamentally linked to who you are! Who you are determines the lens or eyeglass through which you see life. Continue reading

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