Much of the Old Testament was written by prophets and scribes on the fringe of the main population. Many Old Testament books are like a minority report.Tim Mackie – The Bible Project I am studying a book called Leadership in Organizations. The authors outline five ways organizational leaders have the power to influence others.

1. Legitimate Power – When a person is assigned positional, formal authority.
2. Reward Power – When a person can provide something that others want.
3. Coercive Power – When a leader can punish someone, possibly by withholding a blessing.
4. Referent Power – When people really admire and want to identify with a leader.
5. Expert Power – Gained by gifting, life experience, wisdom, and knowledge.

This also applies to the general public.

For example, babies soon learn to use (3) Coercive Power to influence their parents or caretakers. They cry if they do not get what they want. They also use (4) Reward Power. They will stop crying as a reward to those who please them. They might even smile.

Servant Leadership

Obviously, babies know nothing about servant leadership. They have much to learn before they can use (5) Expert Power. Yet God expects (5) Expert Power from His leaders. Principally He is looking for those who understand and are willing to be Servant Leaders, with the larger goal of helping their people connect with Jesus. Sometimes this dropping an argument, not being right. Sometimes this means having difficult conversations, not knowing what the outcomes will be. Sometimes this means not talking. Mature Servant Leaders have a sense of their role in each situation. Jesus’ life is an example of what He was talking about.

Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28).

Christian Leaders 2.0: Influencing others because I am experiencing Jesus’ presence is a type of (5) Expert Power. I have often tried to use the first four types of power to influence others to advance God’s Kingdom. Jesus struggled with the Pharisee’s use of the first four types of power because it is possible to get off track with Legitimate, Reward, Coercive, and Referent Power. We hope that experiencing Jesus’ presence and helping others through the power of the Holy Spirit will be a driving motivation for a generation of church planters. They become Experts because they know Jesus personally. Imagine the Kingdom of God expanding through the Amazon, the USA, Canada, and worldwide because ordinary people experience God in life-changing ways that attract attention.

But He said to them, . . . “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).

1. Think of people you would like to influence toward God.
2. What combination of power are you using?
3. How is that working?
4. Can you think of a better way to influence your friends or family?
5. Have you asked Jesus about this?

Your thoughts?References
 Yukl, G. A., & Gardner III, W. L. (2020). Leadership in organizations (9th ed.). Pearson.

We are hosting an event on our chacará (acreage) this weekend.

The theme is to slow down enough to experience God. 

We do this by teaching and then practicing:

• Emmanuel Prayer
  • Since the Name Emmanuel means “God with us,” and since Jesus said He would be with us until the end of the age, we pray to experience Jesus’ presence now.
  • “’Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:23).
  • And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. . . . I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20).

• Centering Prayer
  • One main point of Jesus’ death and resurrection was to give everyone access to God.
  • And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Matthew 27:50-51a).
  • In Centering Prayer, we practice sitting quietly with God. As our brain works in the background resolving many issues for us, we keep bringing it back to our time with God.

One participating pastor said, “I came here thinking I need to learn how to do this so I can teach our church. Now I realize I need to put these practices into my daily life. This is for me personally.”

We hope that as people experience God, they will become lights to attract their people to God.

A few days ago we got an unexpected email from a friend. We rarely receive emails like this, and I pass the encouragement on to you.

Hi you guys – I was praying for you yesterday while walking on the trail nearby and I got a picture that I want to share with you.  It started with a spider web – just one ‘string’ of a web which was easily walked through or brushed aside without any bother. But then the web grew and grew and became thick like a very sturdy fishing net that was thrown in the water and brought in a huge catch of fish. . . 

Daide and the dentist team, along with Steve and Elba, Clenildo and Angelita, and others, opened a dental outreach clinic outside of Santarem. As locals wait to be treated Clenildo and Inilson, the Vineyard pastor in Santarem, introduced the clients to Discovery Bible Studies. (Clenildo is wearing the blue hat).

Inilson, the Vineyard pastor in Santarém, grew up in this region. The dental clinic is on his property, on the shores of the Tapajós River, a tributary to the Amazon River. 

The Tapajós River is about 17 km wide where the dental clinic is located.

You may send donations to us through

• Xtreme Mercy Canada,

• City Life Church in Canada (Designate Bergens in Brazil)

• International Christian Mission Services (ICMS) in the USA.

For more information please email rick.bergen@xtrememercy.com.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10).

As we are ambassadors for Christ, advancing God’s Kingdom worldwide, how do we influence others?

And how do those around us experience our influence?

Personal and Positional Power

Yukl and Gardner (2020) described the kinds of power people exert over others.

• Legitimate Power – When a person is assigned positional, formal authority.
• Reward Power – When a person can provide something that others want.
• Coercive Power – When a leader can punish someone, possibly by withholding a blessing.
• Referent Power – When people really admire and want to identify with a leader.
• Expert Power – Gained by natural gifting, life experience, wisdom, and knowledge.

Jesus uses all these kinds of power in the last chapter in the Bible, in Revelation 22.

• He is seated at the right hand of God.

• He offers tickets to get through the gate and into the heavenly city.

• He explains the punishment for not taking His offer.

• He is a beloved King, and the more people know Him, the more they will do anything to identify with Him.

• And Jesus is the all-time expert, the creator of everything.
  
  The problem comes in when people use power at the wrong time, or in the wrong way.

Maturity vs. Immaturity

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28).

Practically Speaking

Everyone is in some position of influence in their circles of family and friends. Many people have influence over small children, elderly parents, or both. How do we best influence people who are really different from us?

My brother is two years younger than me, and my sister is seven years younger than me. While I lived at home as a child, I related more to my brother. As a young adult, I worked on construction and road crews in Northern Canada when I left home. I was comfortable in the rough, mostly male camps. Then God gave me a wife and four daughters. It was a whole new world. Dr. Tim Kubacki, who is now a missionary in Angola, gave me some good advice. “Regularly go out for breakfast or ice cream with each daughter individually. Develop a personal friendship with each child.”

“What would we talk about?”

Tim taught me a power question.

“I’ve never been a 14-year-old girl. What is it like?”

Then let silence do its work. When the pressure is high enough, the other person will talk.

You may adapt Tim’s question for elderly parents, strangers at the bus depot, or even your pastor if you sense they need a friend and might consider you a peer.

Many people do not like talking with others who are different than them because they don’t know what to say.

Use the question. “I’ve never been . . . What is it like?” Or, “What is going on in your world?” The idea here is to go into the conversation with curiosity and the right open-ended question or two. It takes courage and discipline, but you can learn this.

Hopefully, when the relationship is strong enough, you will sense permission to share your experiences with God. Sharing your testimony is really important for you personally and for the other person.

Learn when to listen and learn when to talk.

Your thoughts?

When we were in Santarém, Edna invited us for a special meal of fish, pork, and salad. Edna recounted the following story.

A few years Edna and Angelita travelled over 2,000 kilometres to a distant city, Fortaleza, to visit an elderly aunt. They thought their sister, one of the non-identical twins, lived in that city of 2.5 million people, but they didn’t have any other details. One day they were on a crowded city bus, on their way home from sight-seeing. Because the bus was packed, Edna and Angelita were not close together. It was pouring rain outside. Somehow Edna sensed God saying, “Turn around. That is your sister behind you.” They did not know what their sister looked like. Edna tried to ignore the voice because Angelita is a pastor, not Edna. She thought if this was God, He should talk to Angelita. But the thought was persistent, so finally, she timidly asked the lady, “Is your mother’s name Isabel?”

“Yes.”

“Is your name Lindalva?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I am your sister.”

It turned out that Lindalva was coming home from work. She was supposed to get off at the last stop, but since it was pouring rain out, she decided to ride the bus all the way around the circuit and get off the next time around. City buses run in large circular routes in Brazilian cities.

This was a great gift from God to Edna, Angelita, and their whole family.

Lindete (in this photo with Deanna) is Lindalva’s non-identical-twin sister. Lindete was at the lunch meal with us. She had just arrived from another faraway city, Palmas, to spend time with her sisters.

How to Keep Children in Church

 Bob Logan helps leaders of churches and denominations. He thinks if children experience genuine connections with God, they are more likely to stay in church after graduating from high school.

 For the rest of Bob’s blog, CLICK HERE.

Help Others Get Their Own Experiences With God

As I pray about planting 1,000 churches and wonder how we will get there, I believe God wants us to help people have genuine experiences with him. Them personally. Their experiences. Once this is happening, the next step is to help them know how to teach others to get experiences with God.

My experiences are good for me, and my stories encourage some people, but they do not give other people enough energy to make long-term commitments.

Being nice, believing the right things, and good food are all important, but they are not enough. They are more like the consequences of genuine experiences with God.

How Can We Help Others Experience God?

1. Personal Experience: We need to know how to experience God for ourselves.

a) If you do not have this, think of some people who might, and go and ask them what they do.

b) Experiencing God usually involves disciplines. Here are a few that we are finding helpful these days.

c) Discovery Bible Studies – Helps groups of friends learn to obey what they think God is saying in a Bible study, and then have them come back the next week, share what happened, and do it again.

d) Lectio Divina – Put yourself in a Bible story, especially one from the gospels. Keep rereading until you get to a deeper understanding.

e) Immanuel Prayer – Get a good memory. Find Jesus in the memory. Ask Him what He wants you to know.

f) Centering Prayer – Spend time with God, just thinking about Him for 10-30 minutes every morning.

g) There are many other ways too, like studying, journaling, a gratitude journal, praying through lists, intercession, fasting, etc. 

2. Pass It On: If you share your experiences, they become yours. It is critical that you share your spiritual experiences.

a) LISTEN: First listen. It is helpful to get permission to share. You gain people’s permission or confidence by listening to their stories.

b) SHARE: At some point, when the time is right, share your God-experience stories. When you share them, your brain will hear you sharing them, and you will start to change. Your brain will start to understand this is who you are. You are a human who has experiences with God. If you do not share them or record them, they will fade away and cease to exist. Sharing also helps you get more experiences because the flow will increase.

Your thoughts?