FIVE ELEMENTS OF KINGDOM MINISTRY
Noel Castellanos

1. Incarnation: We must have not only the same message as Jesus but the same method. You really reach people when you enter into their world, their hurt and pain. Just as Jesus was God present in the world through his incarnation the church is God present through this incarnational understanding of being church. We need to recognize the church isn’t simply and organization or institution but the being of God in the world.

2. Proclamation: Proclaiming the truth in love, and in the context of incarnation, is not forcing it down people’s throats. Proclamation is also about formation, describing the kind of people God shapes us into. None of us are comfortable with those who stand on the street corner or knock on our door and try to force us to believe the way they do. However, our reaction to that has been to avoid proclaiming at all or delegating that to others to do. Each Christian needs to become comfortable with their faith story so it can be shared. We also need to recognize that proclamation is more than just preaching, it is our lives in action as well. It is important that we recognize – as James said – that it takes both our words and our deeds together to reach the unchurched.

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FIVE CANCEROUS BEHAVIORS
Stephen R. Covey

1. Criticizing – it seems to be a natural trait for us to look at something and begin to find what is wrong with it. It is much harder to find the good in something and praise people for that good. It also seems to be easier to find what is wrong that it is to suggest ways that it might be improved.
2. Complaining – for some people this seems to be their calling in life. All of us have known someone who never seems to be happy with anything. All of us at some time or another – probably more often than we wish to admit – have been that person.
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Empowering Leadership
Cynthia Woolever & Deborah Bruce
Leadership is not so much about technique and methods as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration – of oneself and of others….It is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. Lance Secretan
Few worshipers seek out a faith community with the goal of being passive observers. As a matter of fact Doug Pagitt says the people of this new day want to be a part of a church where they can participate, share their gifts and be accepted for who they are. That means we need to be less focused on finding people to sit in the pews and put money in the offering plate and be more concerned about including people in meaningful roles of and for ministry.
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