Greetings everyone. Merry and Blessed Christmas to you all. What a great couple of weeks in
Mike Prom
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF PETER
First impressions. Some of us work hard to make a good first impression because people often use that as their basis of liking or disliking someone. Do we go to a job interview in dirty clothes? Or do we wear some of our best, if not the best, clothes and look tidy? Remember your first date?
Ever wonder what were Jesus’ first impressions of Peter? In John 1:40-42, Andrew has spent met Jesus and went to tell his brother Simon that they had found the Messiah. When Jesus and Peter met, the first thing Jesus says to Simon is, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (Peter). Jesus says you will be called Cephas or Rock. Peter was given this name prophetically, something for which Peter could live up to.
How should we as spiritual leaders view or observe people? We need to keep an eye open for potential leaders, using “blepo” eyes, seeing what God is doing in a person’s life. “Blepo” is Greek and comes from Mark 13:2ff, where Jesus asks the disciples if they are seeing the great buildings of the
Have blepo eyes to see what God is doing in the lives of people. Encourage as you listen to people’s hearts. Ask questions about what makes them happy, cry and excited. Observe how they interact with people. Find out what their strengths are.
A second encounter in the initial phases of the relationship being established by Jesus and Peter was in Matthew 4:18-20 (also in Mark
Another question is how do you challenge someone to something greater than they are currently pursuing? Again some of the things we need to know are the strengths and weaknesses of the person, getting to know how they were created. You may need to disciple/mentor the person to stretch the person spiritually, getting them out of their comfort zone. Encourage the person to dream and to dream big. The person needs to have a heart that wants to get to know God and we may need to nurture that along, massaging the spiritual heart. Jesus challenged Peter to be a fisher of men. He did not just pray for Peter but invested a great deal of time into Peter. Jesus saw the potential of Peter long before Peter had a clue.
In Luke 5:1-11 we have one more encounter in the initial phase between Peter and Jesus. This was perhaps the encounter to get Peter thinking beyond what he was used to and comfortable with. Peter had spent a little time with Jesus prior to this as in the previous chapter Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law.
After Jesus had Peter push Him out a little in Peter’s boat so as to be able to speak to the people, Jesus tells Peter to put the nets out one more time. Peter and his crew had been out for a very long time, had caught nothing and they were the fishing experts, not Jesus. Jesus had worked as a carpenter, not a fisherman. How did Peter react to this request of Jesus? Peter had a humble, teachable spirit and obedient attitude.
We know that they caught an enormous amount of fish. Peter’s reaction to Jesus could be surprising as he asked Jesus to leave him for he was a sinful man. Yet Peter had seen miracles and heard Jesus speak, so Peter knew he was in special company, not able to measure up to Jesus. This attitude of Peter’s is probably something Jesus saw in Peter’s heart.
Jesus uses sinful people to do His work (look in the mirror). Peter realized his sinful state and knew he did not belong with Jesus. Jesus saw Peter’s heart before Peter saw his own heart. How do we develop such eyes to see the hearts of people and challenge them to great spiritual opportunities when most likely they are not very spiritually mature yet? Jesus challenged Peter to something great even though Peter knew his sinful state.
As spiritual leaders we need to ask God to develop us so we are spiritually alert and have “blepo” eyes to what God is doing, see in whom God is working. We need to intentionally spend time with God, reading His Word and praying (includes listening to God), spending time with godly Christians who will sharpen us. We must invest time and energy in people with whom we see glimmers of potential and work with them, getting that “diamond out of the rough”.
ILLUSTRATION
As the German poet Goethe stated, “Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”
Robert Rosenthal demonstrated this in a famous classroom study. He and an elementary-school principal tested a group of students. They then mentioned to the students’ teachers that some of the kids had done extremely well on the tests. The teachers were led to believe that five or six of the students had an exceptional learning ability.
What the teachers did not know was that the names of the “exceptional” students had been chosen entirely at random. They were no different from the others, but since the teachers thought they were, the teachers treated them differently. By the end of the year the ones the teachers thought were brighter actually were! They scored ahead of their peers and gained as much as fifteen to twenty-seven IQ points. The teachers described the students as happier, more curious, more affectionate than the average, and having a better chance of success later in life. This was all due to the attitude of the teachers! The teachers thought the students were special, and the students lived up to their treatment. Rosenthal wrote:
The explanation probably lies in the subtle interaction between teachers and pupils; tone of voice, facial expressions, touch and posture may be the means by which – often unwittingly—teachers communicate their expectations to their pupils. Such communication may help a child by changing his perception of himself.
In addition to the first illustration:
From “Dunce” to Genius in One Easy Step
When victor Seribriakoff was fifteen, his teacher told him he would never finish school and that he should drop out and learn a trade. Victor took the advice and for the next seventeen years he was an itinerant doing a variety of odd jobs. He had been told he was a “dunce” and for seventeen years he acted like one. When he was 32 years old, an amazing transformation took place. An evaluation revealed that he was a genius with an I.Q. of 161. Guess what? That’s right, he started acting like a genius. Since that time he has written books, secured a number of patents and has become a successful businessman. Perhaps the most significant event for the former dropout was his election as chairman of the International Mensa Society. The Mensa Society has only one membership qualification, an I.Q. of 140.
The story of Victor Seribriakoff makes you wonder how many geniuses we have wandering around acting like dunces because someone told them they weren’t too bright. Obviously, Victor did not suddenly acquire a tremendous amount of additional knowledge. He did suddenly acquire a tremendous amount of added confidence. The result was, he instantly became more effective and more productive. When he saw himself differently, he started acting differently. He started expecting, and getting, different results. Ah yes, as a man thinketh.
YOUTH MINISTRY INSIGHT
Topic: Inner and Outer Beauty
The Object: A Kiwi and three or four other types of fruit.
The Lesson: Show students the fruits, one by one, and ask them which they think is the best looking fruit. (If it’s within your and your groups tolerances, it might by fun to have a fruit fashion show – a banana-burlesque of sorts, in which the banana or other fruit gets a little carried away and unpeels a bit.)
Now ask the students which is the ugliest fruit. Pass around the kiwi so the students can touch (and perhaps taste) the outside of the kiwi. It’s rough, tough and tasteless. Then pass around slices of the kiwi’s fruit – and they’ll discover it’s deliciously sweet.
Like the kiwi, what we see on the outside is seldom an accurate indicator of what’s on the inside.
The Word: 1 Samuel 16:6-7; James 2:1-9
Discussion Starters:
1. What makes the kiwi look less appealing?
2. What are some of the outward factors by which we judge others?
3. Who are some of the “kiwi people” in our society? In your school?
4. What are some of the marks of “kiwi beauty” (inner beauty despite a plain rough exterior) that God looks for in a person He can use?
Life Changes:
1. In what ways and with which groups of people are you tempted to concentrate more on your outward appearance?
2. What are some of the kiwi qualities that you need to cultivate so that God can use you better?
3. What steps can you take this week to get to know the inside of one person you have been avoiding because of a rough, unappealing exterior?
SCRIPTURE-BASED PRAYERS
To Have Your People Pray For You and Other Pastors
1. I pray that the eyes of my pastor may be enlightened to know the hope which to which we are called and know the riches of our glorious inheritance in the saints. Let my pastor know the incomparable great power which is in us who believe (Eph.
2. Lord, I lift up the hands of my pastor and his/her family. Place them in the shelter of the Most High to rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, You are their refuge and fortress. You will preserve their family time. You will cover their home. Your faithfulness will meet their financial needs in Christ Jesus (Phil.
QUOTES ON POTENTIAL
“Psychologists estimate that we use considerably less than a third of our actual potential. This means that by increasing your potential just slightly, you can make a sizable improvement in your effectiveness. If, for example, you are now using 30 percent of your potential, you could choose to use an additional 3 percent – a total of 33 percent of your potential. This additional 3 percent is equal to 10 percent of what you were previously using. So, with relatively little effort, you can be 10 percent more effective than you are now.”
Paul J. Meyer
“Successful corporations don’t wait for leaders to come along. They actively seek out people with leadership potential and expose them to career experiences designed to develop that potential. Indeed, with careful selection, nurturing, and encouragement, dozens of people can play important leadership roles in a business organization.”
John P. Kotter
“The greatest of all miracles is that we need not be tomorrow what we are today, but we can improve if we make use of the potential implanted in us by God.”
Rabbi Samuel M. Silver
“Always dream and shoot higher then you know you can do. Don’t bother just to be better then your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better then yourself.”
William Faulkner, Nobel Prize-winning novelist
“Given the right encouragement, training and opportunities, nearly anyone who has the desire has the potential to emerge someday as an effective player.”
John Maxwell
“God’s gift to me is my potential. My gift back to God is what I do with that potential.”
John Maxwell
NEPALI JATI (people), MISSIONARY JATI;
NEPALI JATI, VIJAYEE (victorious) JATI
That is the slogan of the missions conference at which I had the great opportunity to speak. About 500 pastors and leaders from
In the mid-1950’s, there was only one church (Christianity had just been introduced to
Why
WILD can help meet the needs of some of these problems. The illiteracy rate and the multiple language barriers have started my wheels turning because there are similar problems in
With the assistance of a translator, I spoke twice during the Missions Conference on leadership issues. A few pastors spoke English but for the most part I was in the dark when they spoke to each other. With the exception of three others who gave their messages in English, people could have picked on me all day and I would not have known the difference.
The second week of my time in
I received feedback from some of the students, mainly in the form of questions as they wrestle through the material. Within a week or so I expect to hear from all the students. Being an elective class, I was instructed to give an exam and then a grade on that exam. This class graduates in May and they all are determining where God is leading them.
One of the female students is Maya. She comes from a village in western
Knowing that I would have a fair amount of down time to myself on this trip, I intentionally took projects along to work on. To be honest, these two weeks were the best times I have had being alone with God since my sabbatical six years ago. In the continuing development of spiritual leadership training and material, I am doing Biblical character studies. Right now I am looking at Peter from day one when Jesus met him through the Gospels, Acts and writings of 1 and 2 Peter. Wow! I was able to dig ever so deeply into that study and God was speaking to me.
During every trip I seek to learn what the next steps are for WILD. As for
Along with the
I close this letter with a story about my plane rides this year. Our world is much different than it was even ten years ago. Flying back from
