by Brett Fuller

Genesis 26 details Isaac’s efforts to establish himself in the Land of Promise. To do so meant he had reclaim the water wells his father Abraham dug and for which his dad paid. However, every time he rediscovered one, the Philistines would claim it as their own. Vigilant, Isaac keeps digging until he unearths one for which the Philistines don’t contend. Satisfied, he says in verse 22, “…At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” That same night, verse 24 says the Lord appeared to reminding him of his future saying, “…I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, for the sake of My servant Abraham.”, When we make the effort to excavate the wells of our fathers, there will always be opposition. Yet, the labor which nets us our refreshing heritage may also unearth more than just water. Like Isaac, God might draw from our past to remind us of our future. So, dig right, dig well.

Brett Fuller is the senior pastor of Grace Covenant Church in Chantilly, Virginia. He is also the founder of the Legacy Institute and the president and co-founder of African American Resource Ministry (AARM).

by Dennis Sy

WORK, WORK, WORK. If I have one life to live I would want to know how I could get my work done. But here is the BAD NEWS. Our work will always be there. Work is never ending. There are more staff meetings to attend, more people to counsel, more sermons to prepare and preach, more people to disciple.

WORK is never ending BUT it should not be FRUSTRATING.

How? Develop leaders and delegate

I started this year with a resolve to improve my leadership skills. That means more time to develop and produce leaders so that our load won’t be as heavy.

Multiply yourself. Share some teaching loads, share some counseling loads, train people.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, Ephesians 4:11
to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up Ephesians 4:12

by Ross Middleton

The Pendulum swings back and forth in the church.

Back in the day it was called “The Social Gospel” and it was more about meeting physical needs than preaching the gospel. Don’t read into what I’m not saying. I’m not saying that’s not important, just saying that there should be balance.

Then later it became all preaching the gospel and very little if any meeting of needs.

Fast forward to modern day 21st Century American Christianity.  Social justice is more en vogue than ever before. While I am a huge fan of many of the amazing groups out there pulling people out of sex slavery, digging wells and what not, we cannot neglect the preaching of the gospel.

We don’t need one and not the other, we always need both.

Ross Middleton is an Every Nation campus director in Florida State University, Tallahassee and is the author of  Collide Leadership.

by Brett Fuller

Generally, people get the kind of leader they deserve. A wise, discerning, Bible adhering, Spirit led group would not choose someone of lesser quality than their standards demand. Neither would a great leader be satisfied with leading people who are unwilling to follow. However, disunified moments arise in the best of circumstances. When they do, there are five options:

1. The people conform to the leaders expectations.
2. The leader conforms to the people’s expectations.
3. The people decide to find a new leader.
4. The leader decides to find a new people.
5. The people and the leader change.

In a free country, the citizens have the privilege of choosing who will lead them. If the vast majority of the citizenry have a biblical world view, generally, so will it’s leaders. However, if the vast majority of the citizenry hold to an unbiblical world view, their leaders will also. When the environment exists whereby there is discontinuity between the leaders and the followers, there are five options:

1. The people conform to the leaders expectations.
2. The leader conforms to the people’s expectations.
3. The people decide to find a new leader.
4. The leader decides to find a new people.
5. The people and the leader change.

What kind of people will we elect to represent us? Knowing that most Americans do not serve Christ or rely on the Bible for guidance, one cannot have confidence that Biblically grounded, politically competent civil servants will be elected. America will get the leaders it wants and unfortunately, the ones she deserves. The question is, what option are we going to employ when we come to our moment of discontinuity. While noticing the “splinter” (Matt 7:3) in the eye of one with whom we have disagreement, may God give our citizenry and it’s leaders the grace to see the “log” in our own eye, and help all of us choose #5.

Brett Fuller is the senior pastor of Grace Covenant Church in Chantilly, Virginia. He is also the founder of the Legacy Institute and the president and co-founder of African American Resource Ministry (AARM).

by Ross Middleton

Just finished A.W. Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy. One of the things that stuck out to me was how he talked about language.

What’s amazing is that there is no language on the planet that can even come close to describing God. Our words fall short, very short, of even giving to description to who God is, its just an amazing thought to me. We are bound by our language in the description of God.

When you look at Ezekiel or John when they were having heavenly vision’s, they began to have trouble even describing what it looked like. They would say things like, “it looked like….” They compared it to something else they were familiar with because language itself could not contain the vastness of God or explain what it was they were experiencing.

The more you get to know God, the more you realize you don’t know Him and I believe it will take an eternity to figure out who He is.

Ross Middleton is an Every Nation campus director in Florida State University, Tallahassee and is the author of  Collide Leadership.