My wife and I were giving counsel to a good brother in the Lord yesterday concerning Biblical Manhood. I believe it was not only helpful advice for him, but a good reminder for me and anyone else that wants to be be a godly man. Here are some helpful principles:

1. Direction

A man of God knows where he is going in life. Although it may not be completely and absolutely clear in the moment, he has some sense of direction and purpose in life. Direction (for a Christian) is obviously grounded in God's Word. A man must know that he is called to salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. He must know that he is called to spread the gospel locally and globally. He must know that he is suppose to love the Church and his own family. Take care of these things, and I believe God will take care of the rest.

2. Discipline

Discipline in Greek could also be translated "training" "exercise", where we get the word "gymnasium" from. A man of God disciplines himself for the purpose of godliness (1 Tim. 4:7-8). Discipline includes both physical and spiritual training. A man must have right sleeping patterns, a healthy diet (something I need to work on), regular exercise, and just simply getting things done in life. Spiritually, a man must know the Word of God. He reads his Bible everyday. He prays to the God of the Bible everyday. He spends time with the Saints so that he can be sharpened and refined. He spends time serving others. He spends time witnessing to others. A man must discipline himself so that he can be both healthy physically and more important spiritually.

3. Dependability

Every great man of God is a faithful man of God. In other words, he is faithful first and foremost to Jesus Christ. He follows Christ no matter what the cost: through pain and suffering, through blood and tears, through life and death. Second, he is faithful to his family. He is committed to his wife (if he has one) and committed to his own family. Those who do not provide for their own household are worse than unbelievers (1 Tim. 5:8). Third, he is faithful to the Church. He gathers with the Church regularly, consistently, and joyfully. He loves being in the house of worship. He loves hearing the Word of God preached. He loves singing about the Savior who died for Him. Fourth, he is faithful to evangelize the lost. Paul told Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist" (2 Tim. 4:5). He knows that people are lost and are in need of a Savior. He prays for opportunities to reach the lost. He is always aware of unbelieving lost people and out of compassion he wants to reach out to them.

4. Devotion

He is a devoted man. In other words, he lives to serve others. He serves because the Lord Jesus Christ has served and has been devoted to him. Great devotion calls for great sacrifice. This is what the Lord Jesus has shown us. He was so devoted to the Father's glory, that He would willingly, obediently, and even joyfully die on a bloody cross to redeem us from our sin (Heb. 12:1-3). Now that's devotion!

Some more helpful principles on Leadership from Conviction to Lead by Albert Mohler

1. Leaders are Speakers

All great leaders in history have been great communicators. One can think of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, or Winston Churchill's speeches during World War II. Likewise, great pastors are great speakers. According to Aristotle, effective communication is broken down into three elements: ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos refers to the character of the speaker, while pathos refers to the arguments used to persuade the emotions of the listeners, and logos refers to the actual content of the message. I should be training myself to preach and teach regularly in front of public audiences. I am also helped by fellow Christian brothers who point out both my strength and weaknesses in preaching. I need to refine my grammar, subject-verb agreements, use illustrations, and speak with great conviction.

2. Leaders are Stewards

Simply put, God owns us. This means that I lived on borrowed time. I will give an account before God on how I used my time. This means that my body belongs to the Lord and my wife. This means "my" money is actually God's money. This means that I am to pass on truth that has been deposited to me to the next generation.

3. Leaders are Decision Makers

Leaders make decisions. In indecisive leader is a weak leader. I had to make a decision to marry my wife. I had to make a decision to go to school. I had to make a decision to commit to serving Christ. For Christians, the decisions we make must be rooted from the Word of God. To make effective decisions, we must present the problem, identify alternatives, analyze the problem, pause for reflection, and make the decision by faith grounded in biblical convictions. Leaders may fail and make bad decisions, but great leaders learn from their mistakes and make better decisions in the future.

4. Leaders are Virtuous

Character is a key ingredient for any effective leader. Paul lays out these characteristics in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 for pastors. According to Mohler, great virtues include: honesty, dependability, loyalty, determination, humility, and humor. A leader must always tell the truth, be a dependable person, and demonstrate loyalty to the organization he leads. He is also determined to get the tasks done. Moreover, he is a humble servant imitating the Greatest Servant, the Lord Jesus Christ.

5. Leaders Understand the Media

Mohler gave some practical wisdom on if you are interviewed from a newspaper or television report. If this is the case, then a leader must know what he is going to say. He must be respectful to the host. He must not be monotone. He must be presentable. If the leader seems uninteresting on radio or television, the listener or viewer will simply change the station or the channel.

6. Leaders are Writers.

Written communication is more important than ever as our technology become full of tweets, emails, and blogs. Leaders know how to write. To be a better writer, you need to read a lot! Leaders will also try to find the best words to communicate his thoughts. To get better experience in writing, simply write! I need to blog more and be thankful for my writing assignments in seminary.

7. Leaders Understand Digital Media

A leader will understand the avenues of social communication: blogs, websites, facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. Websites must be regularly updated and have good content if you want your viewers to come back. Often, many Christians who do not belong to a local church find places of worship from websites! I am grateful for my wife, who knows how to design a great website (www.cfbcwestcovina.org, www.ahthatslove.blogspot.com)! I am also grateful for my IPad and Kindle that carries multiple books on my eReader and podcasts of great Preachers.

8. Leaders Know How to Use their Time Wisely

Although digital media has provided great benefits to society, it can also be great time wasters. You can't buy back time. For Christians, we live for eternity. What we do on this earth has an eternal impact.

9. Leaders are Faithful

I was reminded to stay in the same place for a very long time. I want to celebrate with my wife our 100th anniversary. I want to be faithful to my local church just as my beloved Pastor Ed has served the church for over 25 years. I want to endure.

10.Leaders Understand Death

Everyone will die. It is a reality of life. However, great leaders will pass on their convictions, especially biblical convictions, to the next generation. Moreover, the leader will pass on his convictions to the organizations he serves (in my case the local church).

11. Leaders Leave a Legacy

Leaders will find a successor to lead the organization. The Lord Jesus passed on his authority to his twelve disciples. Paul passed on his ministry to Timothy. Timothy passed on his ministry to faithful men (2 Tim. 2:2). John Piper has passed on his ministry to Jason Meyer. Great leaders leave successors.

Leadership Is Management

Mohler argues that true leaders are also managers. Not managers in the secular sense, but managers in the sense they help organize, convince, and persuade people to achieve a common goal. Specifically in the Church, Pastors should strive to help equip every member of the body of Christ to glorify God through the Great Commission (Eph. 4:11-15, Matt: 28:19-20). Every member of the Body should be grounded in the Gospel and be able to both witness and disciple others. One helpful application that Mohler suggested was to understand the Church budget. The financial budget of the Church reflects the heart of the church in what it prioritizes. If a leader is not competent in finances, Mohler simply said to just learn!

 

Currently reading Albert Mohler's The Conviction to Lead and here are some principles of leadership I read this morning:

1.) Leaders are Communicators

All great leaders in the past have been excellent communicators. A leader speaks out of the conviction of his own heart. If a person is trying to "find" a message, he will not be a good leader. A true leader lives by convictions and lives to communicate those convictions. Obviously as preachers, we must live by the Word of God. Some convictions that I find out of the Bible include: God's Absolute Majesty and Holiness, the sinfulness of Man, the Substitutionary Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, the beauty of godliness and holiness, and the eternal hope of the Christian through the Second Coming of Christ. May the Lord make these convictions deeper within my own soul.

2.) Leaders are Readers

I bought Albert Mohler's book at the Shepherd's Conference Bookstore. One of my favorite reasons for going to Shepherd's conference is to get a handbag full of books and look at the conference bookstore. I love the conferences not only for the messages, but for the books! I walk around the bookstore multiple times just as the Israelites walked around the Wall of Jericho seven times to see if there are many books that I really want. Mohler argued that we must interact with the book we are reading by taking notes, analyzing arguments, highlighting key points, etc. P.J. also affirmed that I should interact with my readings more so I don't forget. As a Christian, the Bible must be the number one book to read. A Christian should also read great classics like John Calvin's the Institutes of the Christian Religion, the works of Jonathan Edwards and Martin Luther, and biographies of great preachers like Martin Lloyd Jones. Mohler also recommended reading fictional books to help me learn to be a better narrator and use my imagination. Another helpful insight is to read current events in Newspapers such as New York Times or USA Today.

I have found gold online! Mljtrust.org is the website of one of the greatest expositor's of the 20th century, Martin Lloyd Jones. There are some profound quotes that he said in the lecture:

My immediate thought was "Evangelism is the primary task of the Church"; however, evangelism takes place through preaching the Word! In his lecture, Lloyd Jones showed from the Gospels, Acts, and the Epistles that preaching was the primary task of the church. He argued that preaching was the primary task of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to preach good news. Miracles and Healing was secondary to preaching. He also commissioned his disciples to preach the Word. In Acts, the apostle Peter preached at Pentecost (Acts 2). When there was a crisis of the distribution in Acts 6 concerning the Jews and the Greek Jews, the apostles chose seven men so they could devote themselves to prayer and preaching the Word (Acts 6:4). As the disciples were scattered because of persecution in Acts 8, the went about preaching the Word (Acts 8:4). In his final letter to Timothy, Paul told Timothy to Preach the Word! (2 Tim. 4:1-5). These reflections strengthen my conviction to faithfully preach the Word of God! Lord, help me be a faithful expositor of your Word! Help me declare only what You have spoken in Your holy Scriptures! For your glory. Amen

With the upcoming Spring semester at The Master's Seminary, I am taking two preaching classes to help refine and improve my preaching skills. With that in mind, I just want to review my sermon process.

1. Read the Text

This is obvious. I pray that God would give me understanding and it His Word would saturate my soul.

2. Analyze the Text

I normally print out a Greek and English translation on Mondays and make a preliminary translation. I am not that skilled in Greek yet, so I must confess I use Bible Works to check my parsing and words I do not know. After translating the text, I ask questions, mark the text, and reread the text. This happens ideally on Tuesday.

3. Observe the Text

After a preliminary translation, I have about five or six commentaries I dive into. Some of the commentaries I often use are John MacArthur's New Testament Commentaries, anything by John Stott, commentaries by John Calvin, and NIV application commentaries because they are easy to read. Commentaries help me look at cultural information, word studies, grammar, geography or any other relevant information. This happens ideally on Wednesday.

4. Outline the Text

After a rough translation and looking at several commentaries, I try to create a simple outline that will be easy to follow. I confess that my default outline is a three point sermon, however, I have preached sermons with five or six points. This ideally happens Wednesday or Thursday.

5. Memorize the Text

As I continue to examine the text, I try to memorize the Scripture I am preaching from. I will recite it my head while driving to School or before I go to bed. I think about how my points comes from the text (or doesn't) and constantly rehearse in my head what I'm going to say. This happens throughout the whole week.

6. Manuscript the Text

On Friday Mornings, I write out my manuscript. My basic manuscript outline consists of an: Introduction, Biblical Background Information, Main Proposition, Scripture Reading, Main Points, Summary, and Conclusion. With that Skeleton, I fill in the blanks with my outline and studies throughout the week. After filling stuff in and distracted by facebook, thegospel coalition, and other things, I look for illustrations on the internet or my personal journal to help explain my main points. My introductions are not as strong, but I will normally write it during this time. Same with my conclusion.

7. Pray Over the Text

After my manuscript is done, I pray that the Lord would use me to preach His Word. I get feelings of anxiety, depression, excitement, sorrow, discouragement, and comfort every week before I preach. I get anxious because I think, "Man I hope this is clear...." I get depressed at times because I don't live up to God's standards or dealing with personal sin throughout the week. I get excited by reminding myself of the gospel. I get discouragement from various trials of life and ministry. I find comfort from reminding myself that God converts the heart and I am merely an instrument who is called to be faithful. I also find great comfort from my wife.

8. Deliver the Text

Sunday morning comes and I am ready to go by 8:30. I teach Sunday School at 9 and print out my manuscript that morning. 10 minutes before the service starts, my wife prays for me and tells me, "My love, be simple, be clear, use illustrations! I love you!" As the hymn of preparation begins, I walk up to the pulpit asking that God would be glorified and Christ would be exalted by the power of the Holy Spirit. As I preach, the Lord uses me as his instrument and he has always been by my side.

9. Rest

After the closing prayer, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I trust God for the whole process and ask my wife if I was clear and if it went well. And of course, my wife always encourages me and tells me the Lord used me. I go home for my traditional afternoon nap and normally eat dinner with my wife and parents as I try to gospelize them. Monday morning comes and I repeat the process.

1. Preaching and Preachers by Martin Lloyd Jones

2. Preaching: How to Preach Biblically by John MacArthur, ed.

3. Between Two Worlds by John Stott

4. Preaching the Psalms by Steven Lawson

5. Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell 

6. Toward an Exegetical Theology by Walter Kaiser