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Welcome, this page will be dedicated to monthly updates from my office. If we can be of any service to you, please contact me or our office personnel by clicking on their name on the main page, or you can click on the scroll icon on the bottom of this page to send e-mail directly to me. Our District covers 3 states; Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
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THIS MONTH'S MESSAGE
Everything
about the Christmas story can be summed up in one word: “surprise!” Mary was surprised
when an angel visited her and announced she was going to have a baby –
impregnated supernaturally - the Messiah.
Joseph was surprised
when Mary told him that her pregnancy was because of God’s doing, not some
man. Joseph was later surprised
in a dream by an angel who told him it was all true; he didn’t believe Mary at
first! The Roman Empire was
surprised
to hear of a “king of kings” born among them … Herod
thought no one could rival him. The
Magi were surprised
to see a star in the heaven’s announcing Christ’s birth, and they marveled at
it! The shepherds were certainly
surprised,
they were “sore afraid”
when the angels showed up and made the announcement. In Jewish custom angels showing up at
night usually meant a sign of disaster, hence their great fear. When the shepherds left Mary after
seeing Jesus and after spreading the word around, the Bible says that all those
who heard them were “amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” They
were all surprised! Elizabeth, who was Mary’s relative, was
“surprised”
when Mary came and visited her, and so was the baby in Elizabeth’s womb. “The baby leaped in her womb”
upon the greeting of Mary!
Interestingly
enough, there were two people at the time who were NOT surprised! Their names are recorded in Luke’s
gospel as Simeon and Anna. Simeon
was an old man, described simply as a righteous and devout man. He had been waiting for many years for
the promised Messiah to come, and the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he
would not die until he had seen Christ born. So, he was waiting … thus no surprise
for him! He was already very old
and knew that it had to happen any day now. He
was living in expectation. So was woman named Anna. She is described as a prophetess, very
old, a widow, who never left the temple … worshipping God night and day by
fasting and prayer. She walked
right up to Mary and Joseph when they entered the temple, for it is recorded
like this: “Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and
spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of
Jerusalem.”
(Luke 2:38)
She had no problem telling everyone that this baby Jesus was NO
surprise! He was the answer to all
those who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. This implies that there were people
looking for Jesus’ coming! Some
people expected Messiah’s coming.
For them God’s plan was no surprise!
How
about today? We keep hearing that
Christ is coming again, yet how many will be surprised when
it really happens? (Notice I did not say “if it happens.”) But how many of us are REALLY expecting
it? How different would our actions
be today if we thought Jesus was coming tonight? Who would we be sure to call or visit
before Jesus showed up? What issues
would we take care of or straighten out before the moment came for Jesus’
coming? If none of these statements
moves us to think differently or act differently then maybe we will be
surprised!
PASTORAL
LEADERSHIP!
In the business world
you cannot spend capital you don’t have, at least not without serious
consequences. In the ministry this
is also true. So often pastors
don’t understand authority and leadership.
They move into a new church and immediately begin to exercise authority
and then wonder why they get a backlash of anger and resentment to their
leadership. You cannot lead people
in the ministry that you have not EARNED their respect and trust first. This is the capital you have to “earn”
before you can “spend” it.
Pastoral ministry is a
lot like a bank account. When you
first open an account your balance is almost $0. You haven’t made any real deposits yet
so any attempt to spend will prove to be empty or bankrupt. As time goes by, with each demonstration
of servanthood and trustworthiness as a leader you make more and more deposits
into your account. As your account
builds you can draw on it as needed.
You cannot spend more than you have. If your account is still fairly low and
you have to spend a large amount of your capital on a single moment you might
find yourself bankrupt. This is by
the way why ministers who have stayed a very long time in one place have such
powerful ministries. They have
built up huge bank accounts by their long proven record of sacrifices, trust,
and selflessness. They can draw on
their capital in large measures and get things done because of their large
account. BUT … it takes the RIGHT
kinds of investments over time to build up this kind of capital to have this
kind of power or authority.
Jesus taught that
these are the right kind of “investments” to make in one’s leadership account:
“selfless love, servant-hood example, laying down one’s own life for the sheep,
feeding, listening, caring, valuing others over self, not lording over others,
sacrificial giving, not demanding one’s own way, honesty, trustworthy,
etc.” When a leader exhibits these
qualities his authority bank account builds quickly, and when he needs to draw
on the capital to exercise authority it will be there. New deposits will quickly replace that
capital and he/she will continue to build up that account. However, when a pastor demands his own
way, lords over others, fails to engender trust in his leadership by being
honest or gives the impression of manipulating events toward his own plans he
fails to have any capital to work with.
This type of pastor resorts to exercising authority based on position or
title, “I’m the pastor” rather than authority garnered from
respect. By the way, this applies
to all areas of leadership, not just pastors.
Real power to lead
comes gradually, it does not come instantly. This is why it is such a mistake when a
leader tries to make major changes at first, they have not yet been at a place
long enough to have “earned” capital for their bank accounts. They may spend capital before they have
actually gotten it and the results can be tragic. Even if they get by their early
decisions and make the major changes they may have bankrupted their accounts for
some time to come and they will find the next several years difficult at
best. They won’t be trusted and may
find a congregation that refuses to follow their leadership. By the way, this is why many ministers
never make it past a few years at any one place. They become so frustrated and realize
that things aren’t going to change where they are and so they move on, often
repeating this same process at each new church they go to.
The first couple of
years at a new place of ministry should be devoted to one thing, proving the
minister. It is interesting that
when Paul wrote to a young pastor named Timothy about defending his ministry he
did not exhort Timothy to prove his calling by the Apostolic laying on of hands,
or by Paul’s letter of confirmation on him, but by Timothy’s behavior. 1 Tim 4:12 “Don't let anyone look down on you
because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life,
in love, in faith and in purity.” Timothy would prove his
qualification by his behavior, not his credentials!
The Senior pastor of my home church gave me good advice when I left for Bible college many years ago, he said, “Dennis, God builds a man before he builds a man’s ministry,” and I’ve never forgotten those words. Build capital before you spend it!
The mission of NNED is to promote the establishment, development, and the health of our Churches and Ministers.
We will accomplish this mission in the following ways:
* By providing visionary leadership for the expansion of the Gospel.
* By providing strategies for new Church plants in our district.
* By providing resources and training to strengthen churches and ministers;
* By providing guidance and encouragement to churches and ministers;
* By providing accountability for churches, church leaders, and the district;
* By providing a process for credentials in ministry within the A/G;
NNED CORE VALUES:
* Our core values are not dependent on present leaders or their terms of office, they are the very character of godly leadership in accomplishing the tasks given to us by our Lord and therefore they transcend institutional paradigms.
* Relationships built on godly love, trust, and openness.
* Integrity in character and communication.
* Service that expresses the very attitude and example of Jesus Christ.
* Excellence as the standard for all our efforts.
* Culturally relevant while anchored to historical and biblical truth.
If you want to send me e-mail just click on scroll icon
Webmaster for site:
Dennis Marquardt
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