In this letter I am going to quote a small passage from the biography of C.T. Studd, missionary to China, India and to Africa. His life shines as a bright light for all Christians to see and follow. Let these words challenge you to a deeper commitment to the Great Commission.

“God’s man is a servant of Jesus Christ with whom he has settled terms of agreement already. He knows no other Master. He has not the ghost of a doubt about God supplying his need; he carries his checkbook with him always, and has no fear of the checks being dishonored. If death overtakes him on the battlefield, he knows such to be a special mark of Christ’s favor, Who has thus honored and promoted him sooner than he had any right to expect. As he looks to God to supply his needs, so also shall he look to God for his guidance and shall obey Him.

“Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin. The time for waiting is past. In God’s Holy Name let us arise and build. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should such men as we fear? Before the whole world, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only in our God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign is sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.”

Blessings,

Dr. Jim Burbank

Everything associated with Christianity is about relationships. The reason the Father created the universe is as a home for man. The purpose of the cross is to bring man and God back into relationship after the fall in the Garden of Eden. Now, as Christians, we are to be involved with other people in order to lead them to Jesus, assist them in becoming strong disciples and be leaders in the world.

Leadership is also relational, meaning the best way to lead is to first know the people you are leading. In John Maxwell’s Leadership Bible he lists three levels of leadership.

1. Leaders can IMPRESS others from a distance. We can impress others by our qualifications or our experience. The leader’s lifestyle should be ‘impressive’, this will bring others to willingly follow our lives. Paul said, “Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.” I Thess. 2:9.

2. Leaders can INFLUENCE others as they grow closer to them. Leadership is influence. The influence happens when the follower chooses to duplicate the example of the leader. At this stage the follower’s life will change. It is a humbling matter for our lives to bring about positive change in others.

3. Leaders can IMPACT others only in close relationships. Closeness brings about a climate for growth and transformed lives. It is as a leader opens his/her life that the followers see what needs to happen in their lives.

To be a leader is not about control or domination; it is about helping people fulfill God’s plan for their lives. Love is the only motivation for real leaders.

Dr. Jim Burbank

The purpose of these teaching letters is to give each of you something to be thinking about that will encourage your personal spiritual growth and the growth of those with whom you have influence. Last month we looked at Gal. 4:19, “But now that you know God – or rather are known by God – how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?”, where the Apostle Paul expressed his commitment to the church by praying until the character of Christ was “formed” in them. Think of the words that the root word ‘formed’ is a part. Words like conformed, transformed, informed, and reformed. Each of these words carries the concepts of change. The Greek word is the same as the concept of a caterpillar changing into a butterfly. Paul believed his intercession would be a part of that transformation process. In Romans 8:29, “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.” , Paul teaches us that God’s plan for our lives is for this process of change to be so complete that we become “conformed” to the image of Jesus. Because we know this to be the will of God for our lives we must know that God is committed to giving us whatever we might need for this conformity to take place. Look at verse 32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”, God will not withhold anything necessary for His plan to see us changed into the image of His Son.

See also Paul’s teaching in Romans 12:1,2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Each of us must be on our guard that we do not allow ourselves to be conformed to this world system around us but we must give ourselves to being transformed in our minds. This includes the process of having our wills under the Lordship of Christ and our thinking processes in line with the will of God and the Word of God. God loves each of us so much that He has a plan and a program to keep changing our lives so that we are like Him and so that our lives can be complete. In order for us to enjoy the abundant life He promised we need to submit to Him so that we will change and be formed into mature believers.

Let us keep praying for each other so that Christ will be formed in us.

We are standing with you,

Dr. Jim