ted4leaders

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As leaders, we lead others in knowing God. Knowing God is knowing His heart. Knowing His heart comes by hearing His voice within our hearts. It is not just a matter of hearing Him. It is a matter of understanding Him when He speaks. It is a matter of understanding His heart. This is true for every relationship. When we don’t love someone, we often misunderstand what they say to us. A key to understanding God is a revelation of His love.

Love must be the foundation of our relationship with God so we can understand things that are beyond our understanding. That understanding can only be given to us by God as a gift of grace. God’s ways are higher than our ways so in our misunderstandings of Him we must trust His love and His ability to bring revelation to our hearts. God must be our teacher. We cannot rely upon our natural understanding or logic of things. We must trust His understanding. Holy Spirit is God in us and with us and He is our teacher in all things. As leaders, we lead others to allow Holy Spirit to be the teacher to their hearts and minds for God’s will and desire in their lives.

Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Scripture is a witness to the voice of Holy Spirit in our lives. Leaders must excel in the study of Scripture as a tool in the hand of Holy Spirit as He brings revelation to every human heart. We don’t merely study Scripture for the sake of those we lead. We study Scripture for the sake of knowing God that we might inspire others to study in like manner.

Scripture is a book of covenant. That covenant is the fruit and testimony of a revelation of God’s love and being loved by God in this world. This is the essence and character of God. He is love and He wants us to see ourselves as His sons and daughters who know His love and reveal the glory of His love to our world. Scripture reveals the person God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Scripture reveals God as a person of relationship who wants a relationship with us in all things. The greater purpose of any created thing as described in Scripture, or as described in creation, is it reveals something of the Godhead.

As leaders, we seek revelation in our study of the person God. We then share the message that we are becoming and have become in our daily relationship of partnership with God. Part of that partnership is a study of God’s word in conjunction with the presence of Holy Spirit. Our message to those we lead is not one of information. It is one of inspiration that those we lead may also know God in a partnership of Holy Spirit and His word that they too might become a message of His truth to their world.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Leaders lead for the sake of relationships. The primary relationship for us all is a personal connection to God in our hearts. A personal relationship with God gives us a common bond for a personal relationship with one another. Our fellowship is not merely a fellowship of natural people. Our fellowship is centered on the person Jesus and Holy Spirit is God dwelling in us in Jesus’ name. By this we are called to know God as our Father and thus we know one another as members of the family of God. We are sons and daughters of one Father, and this is the bond of our connection to one another. For this reason, we minister the love of God by the power of His Spirit to one another as the body of Christ.

Philippians 2:1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Love inspires fellowship and fellowship inspires more love. Love knows the comfort that comes by the care of another. Our affection for one another is bound to a need for mercy and grace. Love is more important than ministry since it is for love that we minister to others. The work of ministry is a service of love. That love manifests in both natural and supernatural ways.

We are not merely called to tasks of ministry. We are grafted into a family of love and purpose whereby we know a life of being loved by God that inwardly empowers us to love Him and one another. Leaders lead for the sake of love. We care for one another and in our caring, we feel both the blessing and the pain that comes with relationships. When I am blessed to see my family, I am happy; but when I have to say goodbye for any length of time it touches my emotions in sadness. Both joy and sadness are experienced in love.

I have been a believer for more than 52 years and in that time, I was a senior pastor for twenty years and another 15 years as a spiritual father to many in the body of Christ. As a senior pastor I felt the joy of loving and the pain experienced when there was a loss of someone I loved in my life. As I connect to leaders globally, I find a common thread of both the joy of connection and the sadness that comes with loss. I have known the joy of connection and the pain of disconnection. I have known the joy of living and the anguish of loss at the death of someone I have loved. I have known laughter, and I have known the tears that come with the sorrow of loss. These are the testimony of love.

I believe that every leader experiences the joys of connection and the sorrow of disconnection. Leaders are desired by some and rejected by others. Leaders are understood by some and misunderstood by others. I believe the pain of loss is as important as the joy of connection. Both of these prove the testimony of love. All believers must know that life is about love. We were born to be loved by God, and we were born again to love Him and others. Holy Spirit in our lives enables us to experience love in the fullest way. Without joy and sorrow we lack in understanding love. The fruit of all that we know in life is meant to be a testimony of love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

As leaders, let us lead others in knowing the treasure of love. It will be filled with joy, and it will also be filled with tears. This is the value of God and others in our lives.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As leaders, we lead others in matters of relationship. We don’t merely lead them in matters of obedience. The two greatest commandments in the Law were to love God and to love your neighbor (Mt. 22:36-40). The Law and the prophets depended upon these two commandments, and these two commandments were the governing administration until John. Jesus came to give us something greater than the commandments of the Old Covenant Law. He came to give us a testimony of the kingdom of God.

Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.”

The commandments of the law were the governing voice of the Old Covenant. You cannot break laws; you can only violate them and then they break you, unless you supersede those laws with a higher law. The law of lift, thrust, and propulsion can supersede the law of gravity and enable a helicopter to fly. They don’t eliminate the law of gravity; therefore, the law of gravity can be a servant that enables the helicopter to land when necessary. Jesus superseded the law of the knowledge of good and evil by the law of the Father’s love. The new commandment is to love one another as Jesus loves us. It is based upon a revelation of His love in our lives and not mere obedience to a command.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus was the firstfruit of a different race of humanity. That race was the race of being sons and daughters of God who would manifest the life-giving character, nature, way, power, and authority of God in their lives. These are those who are part of a family tree of life. They are motivated by a revelation of God’s love in their hearts and minds. These will cast a shadow that looks like obedience to a covenant of law to love but it is really the fruit of intimacy with God. Jesus came to give us all an administration of love, the administration of the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is different than the kingdoms of men. The kingdom of God is an eternal reality of life. It is filled with a testimony of God’s grace to overcome all manner of death and dysfunction. The kingdom of God is built upon a foundation of our heavenly Father’s love. This is a higher law than a law of commands to love. It is a personal experience of being loved by God and it is experienced through faith in the person – Jesus Christ. A revelation of God’s love will empower us to be loving. It enables us to understand mercy and grace and to be people of mercy and grace. It doesn’t destroy the commandment to love; it casts a shadow of love that others can see because of a revelation of God’s love within them.

The kingdom of God is an eternal kingdom within the heart of those who join themselves to God in Christ through an intimate knowledge of Jesus – the eternal salvation of mankind. God’s internal kingdom empowers us to become sons and daughters of God who know righteousness, peace, and joy in God’s Holy Spirit. This causes our external kingdoms to increasingly become expressions of the kingdom of God in character, nature, way, power, and authority. As leaders, we lead others in embracing the realities of the kingdom of God within their hearts. We lead others in embracing an administration of our heavenly Father’s love.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As leaders we lead others in knowing an intimate relationship with God. We don’t teach them to know God. We set an example of knowing God ourselves. Knowing God is an increasing fruit of being loved by God. God loves us and when we respond to His love in our lives we grow in knowing Him. God’s love is for everyone. God made a covenant with mankind through the shed blood of Jesus – God’s Son. That covenant was the fruit and testimony of God’s love for mankind as the Father of all flesh.

Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The riches of God’s grace are the testimony of His presence working in and through our lives. It is by His powerful love that we know the testimony of His presence dwelling in us. This is the testimony of God’s covenant with mankind.

Covenant is the fruit and testimony of love but covenant by itself cannot lead to love. Only a revelation of love can empower true covenant. The Old Covenant, a covenant of commitment based upon information, does not produce the fruit and testimony of love. The New Covenant is not based upon a covenant made by man. It is based upon knowing a person who demonstrated the fruit and testimony of love, Jesus Christ. He loved us before we loved Him and love is based upon a revelation, not a command.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Love is a revelation, not merely a command. When we have a revelation of God’s love, we are empowered from within to love God and to love others. This is the testimony of God’s New Covenant of grace at work in our lives.

The Old Covenant presented a perceived paradigm that God is the one who commands men and women to love Him. One day a Pharisaic lawyer approached Jesus with a question in regard to the commandments of God. Jesus told Him that the greatest commandment was to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength. He told Him that the second commandment was like the first, that we must love one another. Jesus said that upon these two commandments rested the entire law and the prophets (Mt. 22:34-40). The entire law and prophets rested upon two commandments. The Old Covenant law and prophets never really changed mankind. They offered commandments to love, but they didn’t provide transformations for loving. Later Jesus told His friends that a new commandment was now being given to them. He said that the new commandment was to love one another, even as He had loved them, that they love one another (Jn. 13:34). This commandment was not merely a command of law. It was an empowerment based upon a revelation of Christ’s love for them. Love is a revelation, not merely a command. Jesus shed blood to give the life-giving Spirit of Knowing so we could know the true intimacy of freely loving others from the substance of who we have become in Christ.[1]

The strength of our relationship with God is not a commitment to obey His commands. It is an empowerment to do all that He asks because of a revelation of His love for us. When we know His love, we cannot help but love Him. As leaders, we don’t lead others to be obedient to the commands of God. We lead them to know His love. Knowing God’s love will envision and empower each of us to believe Him and to do what He desires us to do. Knowing God’s love leads us to knowing God and knowing God will empower us to be who He desires us to be.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

---

[1] Ted J. Hanson, The Now Covenant, (Bellingham, WA: House of Bread Publishing, Second Printing 2022), p. 77.

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As Leaders we don’t merely lead people to be obedient to the Scriptures. We lead people to know God intimately. We lead people to become expressions of God in their lives through a personal connection with Him in their hearts. I gave a prophetic word this past Sunday that I believe to be the heart of God and something that should be in the heart of every leader.

Prophecy July 13, 2025 by Ted J. Hanson

God says, I’ve desired to know you, I’ve desired for you to know Me. I’ve desired to express Myself in a way that you could see, in a way that you could be touched, in a way that you could touch Me. So, My word became flesh and moved into your world.

And I gave My word a name above all other names, the name Jesus, Salvation, Rescuer is My favorite name. My favorite name, is to save you. My favorite name is to draw you close to Me. My favorite name is to bring you near when you were far away, because I want you to know Me. And I want you to know that I know you and I’m the salvation of your soul, I’m the salvation of your thoughts. I’m the rescuer of your reasoning. I rescue your imagination, your emotions, and your desires, for I am love, and I want you to know that you have always been loved by Me. So, I became expressed in human form, touchable, one who could touch, one who could be seen. And I’m here today in your flesh, that you would know My name, My favorite name. My favorite name is Jesus, Salvation, Rescuer, because I want you to know that I am your Father and I love you dearly. This is not just a day to see Me in awe, it’s a day to see the awe of Me very near and close and I love you and I am your Savior.

Salvation is in the heart of God. As leaders we live to serve others in knowing the saving grace of God working in their lives. We know who we are as sons and daughters of God, but we choose to embrace the role as a servant so that all can know God as the Savior of their souls. He is the one who rescues them in all things.

Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The name that is above all other names is Jesus – Jehovah is salvation. God’s desire is to be the rescuer of every soul. As leaders we dedicate our lives to serving others as Jesus did so that they might know the love of God in all things. We make ourselves of no reputation and we lead according to the will of our Father in heaven that others might personally know the salvation that comes in Jesus name for the glory of the Father’s will in all things.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of: www.ted4leaders.com www.ted4you.com or www.houseofbreadministry.org. Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to: House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225 To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year. Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

God has called His people to be light and salt in this world. Members of the body of Christ are members of the community of Christ. The testimony of the community of God is to be an influence of life to the communities of the world. Paul’s instructions to Titus as a leader in the church were instructions to lead the community of God in the midst of the communities of the world. His instructions were not meant to be instructions of law to leaders, but ones of wisdom for leading God’s people in the testimony of life. A policeman has the authority of a policeman, an employer has the authority of the business for which one is employed, a president has the responsibility of executing the responsibilities of implementing the decisions of the governing body of a nation. Authority only exists within the boundaries of given and received responsibilities for the sake of some form of life to others. The family of God should live under authority and demonstrate what true life-giving authority looks like. It is not merely a matter of obedience to authority, but a witness of grace empowered people in an everyday world.

Titus 3:1-2 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.

Leaders remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities and to obey them with demonstrations of good works. This is not blind obedience to things that are beyond an authority’s measure of rule, but obedience to the God-appointed responsibility given to men and women in life. Our testimony among the kingdoms of the world must come from the internal kingdom of Christ within our hearts. We cannot judge the world for acting like the world, we must simply demonstrate to the world what those embracing the internal kingdom of God look like.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

It is not our role to judge people in the world for being foolish. True wisdom comes from the Spirit of God in our hearts. We were once foolish, but Christ in us is granting us the grace of wisdom from God that empowers us to do works of faith towards God. We cannot judge the people of the world for being disobedient. True obedience is obedience to God and the things of God by the grace of the Spirit of Counsel in our hearts. We cannot expect those in the world to understand counsel that leads to life. Only Christ in them can empower them for true obedience unto life. We cannot judge the people in the world for being deceived. We were deceived, but the Spirit of the Lord made us alive toward God in Christ. We cannot expect people with hearts that are dead to God to not fall for deceptive things in life. People in the world serve their own desires and wants in life. We were this before Christ put His desires in our hearts. We cannot judge those in the world for acting selfishly, we must simply inspire them to think differently by the attitudes and actions of our own lives.

Titus 3:4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. 9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. 10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. 12 When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing. 14 And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. 15 All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Leaders are to remind those they lead, to not speak evil of anyone, to be peaceable, gentle, showing humility to all men. They must remember that true change and empowerment to live godly lives is by the mercy of God and by the power of His grace. Leaders remind the people that they are new creations being renewed by the Holy Spirit. In this, we do good works that bring life to our world. Leaders present an example of good woks and lead all to maintain good works in their lives.

Leaders teach and lead others to avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law – it is unprofitable and useless. They teach those in their care to reject any who are divisive. They do this in a spirit of love, not one of division. They simply don’t give room for any word of division to come to the family of God.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will be with the leader’s spirit in these things.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Paul’s instructions to Titus included exhortation concerning the character of the family of God.  These are not things we put upon those who live in the world, but they are attributes of those who are children of God. These instructions were not given to condemn those in the world who do not embrace them, but to encourage those in the church to be a community of Christ as a light to the communities of the world. People with the kingdom of God in their hearts are internally empowered to look different to those in the world. Not to condemn them, but to show them how practical and real a relationship with God is in life.

Titus 2:9-10 Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.

These things were true in Paul’s day, and they are true in every season of men. Leaders must encourage and lead those in their care to be testimonies of Christ in an everyday world. Employees are to serve their employers and employers are to treat their employees righteously. Teaching people to have good work ethics, good attitudes, good morals, and overall godly lifestyles is part of the responsibility of God-sent and God-appointed leaders. Every member of the community of Christ should set an example in these things that others can follow. The Holy Spirit’s demonstration of grace in the lives of those who believe is very real and very practical. Christ in us causes people to become godly in their character not religious in their activities.

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Leaders are to speak things that teach and inspire living godly lives. They must speak them, exhort those they lead to embrace them, and even rebuke those who oppose them with the authority given to them by God to lead. This is not an authority of control but an authority of love knowing that embracing godly living produces a blessed life.

Titus was to not let anyone despise him in his role as a leader among and before those God had given him responsibility to lead. Rebuking those who oppose instruction for godly living should be far outweighed by the momentum of those who embrace them. Leading people to become an expression of Christ in everyday life should be a thing that is willingly embraced by all. It should not be the exception, but rather the expected desire for members of any community of Christ. 

Titus 2:15 Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.

For a leader to challenge those they lead to walk in the character of Christ is not a thing of control. It is an aspect of being a responsible leader. A leader must know that outward actions are not the goal, but an embracing of the inward change that is only found in Christ. Christ in the heart of each man and each woman is the key to living with godly character in the everyday realities of life. This is more important than the activities of religious life. Christ-like character is more important than good songs, good programs, or good Christian activities.

Blessings,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of: www.ted4leaders.com www.ted4you.com or www.houseofbreadministry.org. Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to: House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225 To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year. Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings;

Leaders lead the community of Christ in practical realities in the growing process of maturity as a community of Christ. The family members of Christ are to be sober in the purposes of God, reverent to the presence of God, and temperate with personal opinions, exhibiting a willing and teachable spirit in all things. Those in the community of Christ are growing in maturity in being sound in faith to the internal voice of God, sound to a testimony of Christ with the obvious love of God, and sound to the patience of God in the process of Christ in all. Those who lead must seek these things and lesser things must not distract them. They must teach those they lead to do the same through their personal examples and through a clear presentation of the principles, patterns, and values found within the heart of God the Father of His family in the earth.

Titus 2:1-5 But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things — that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

Older men were to be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, sound in love, and sound in patience. Paul’s words to Titus are as true today as they were in his instruction to Titus. These are not instructions for religious living. They are common sense instructions for good character. God’s children should be sober in the purposes of God and not distracted by selfish ventures for personal opinions or personal gain. They should be reverent to the presence of God. They should seek God’s presence in all things and be aware of Him in all situations. A child of God should be temperate with personal opinions, exhibiting a willing and teachable spirit in all things. These are all marks of maturity in Christ. Christ-like character and faith are testimonies of members of the community of Christ and older men are to set an example that maturing members can follow. Paul’s instructions were not given to control what a person can do or cannot do. They were instructions for good character. Leaders are called to exhort, encourage, and challenge older men in the community of God to walk in this character in the community of Christ and in the world as a member of God’s family.

This is also true for women. They too were, and are, to live their lives with a testimony of good character. Their lifestyles were, and are, to be godly and honorable. Their behavior is not to be religious but practically real in demonstrating the character of Christ. The fruit of the Spirit should be a manifest attribute of the character of a woman of God. The character of the flesh is to be self-gratifying in behavior and to seek to take advantage of others through false accusations. This is not fitting for the community of God.

Desires of the world are not the focus or the motivation of the heart of a daughter or a son of God. Even as Paul instructed Titus, leaders must help men and women live for God and for the life of others. This is the testimony of the family of God. Leaders teach those they lead to live life in a godly and honorable way. Even the practical everyday things of life are spiritual. The love of a wife for her husband and a mother’s love for her children are a spiritual reality of life. No one is to live self-seeking lives or exhibit self-seeking behavior. These things are not meant to be a law of order, but the testimony of life-giving actions and attitudes that make for healthy family relationships in the body of Christ. These things reveal a good witness of Christ to the world in which we live.

Leaders don’t just lead Christian activities or services of ministry. They lead people in becoming a testimony of a godly lifestyle in Christ in the midst of an everyday world. Teaching people and families to be real to the character and nature of Christ is real church stuff! This includes the young. They were to have integrity in their way of life.

Titus 2:6-8 Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

A culture of honor is indicative of a community of Christ. Honesty and integrity are normal expectations for members of the family of God. The expressions of our words must be life giving and honorable to God and one another. These are the real issues emulated and led by leaders in the body of Christ. It is part of the everyday environment of the community of God that causes children to grow in the knowledge of God.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of: www.ted4leaders.com www.ted4you.com or www.houseofbreadministry.org. Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to: House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225 To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year. Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Paul knew that being a leader means standing fast to lead. A leader leads others into the grace of all that God is doing in His community, but they must also be able to receive God’s anointing to deal with any opposing situations in the community of Christ. A leader has to withstand those who oppose God’s will in the community of God. Paul knew that there would be some who would seek to subvert the households of faith through illegitimate teaching for their own dishonest gain. Leaders were to rebuke such individuals sharply that they may become sound in faith, or sound in their ability to hear God’s voice in their hearts. Titus was to speak the things that were proper for sound doctrine. He was to speak things that assist people to live with covenant-keeping character in life.

Titus 1:10-11 For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.

What does it look like when someone seeks to subvert a community for dishonest gain? I really don’t believe that there are many people who intentionally seek to subvert a church community. I have seen it happen on numerous occasions in ministry, but I don’t believe it starts out with overtly bad intentions. It happens more subtly than that. A subversive person usually thinks they are trying to do something for the community. They don’t recognize their actions as being for dishonest gain, because they believe in their hearts that their actions are somehow justified. Sometimes dishonest gain can come in a package of trying to get the finances or material resources of a ministry, but I think that most of the time it comes in the form of spiritual pride or spiritual witchcraft. The jealousy of others in ministry is often the cause. Like Cain who became jealous of the fact that Abel had the favor of God, they seek to destroy someone else in ministry thinking that the favor that is upon that person should be God’s favor upon them. These people often see others in ministry as a hindrance to who they believe they are called to be in ministry. They justify their destructive actions through the deception of jealousy. They are not being honest. They honestly delude themselves to believe they have a better gift and that if that other person was removed, they would be the one that God’s favor would be upon. They usually blame some expression of authority in the church as a means of suppressing who they really are.

Some like Balaam seek to trick some in the ministry to siding with them to advance themselves in some way in ministry. They justify their actions through the deception of valuing anointing, ministry, or some other thing above the life and purpose of a community.

Some act like the sons of Korah in that they pride themselves in hearing God, even as the leaders of the community hear God. They fail to realize that hearing is not the same as properly discerning what is being heard through the authority of leadership. There is a different grace given for those in a leadership role than for those in a membership role. When someone prides themselves in their ability to hear God too, foolish things happen. If I want my finger to point, I think the thought in my head and then communicate it through my body to my finger in order to accomplish the task. There are probably thousands of connections that take place between my brain and my finger in order for that simple task to be accomplished. I think now, even as I type these words, that there are thousands of connections in my body in order to type these words. In reality the sense of hearing passes through many members in my body in the task of pointing or in the task of typing. What if my elbow decided to accomplish the task, after all the word being transmitted is to point or to type? If my elbow should decide to point or make a useless attempt to type, it would cause the signal to stop short of the finger and the action would be one that is in a totally different way and direction than was intended. This sends a wrong signal to the body and causes the testimony to be something different than was intended. I believe that subversive people in the church are sometimes like that.

Actions of individuals sometimes oppose the life of God in the community because of insecure and subversive attitudes. Paul was not afraid to confront those who opposed the life of God in the community of God. He stood as a spiritual father to protect the environment of the community. He instructed Titus to do the same. He gave him instructions to not be afraid to deal with those who oppose the life of God in the community of Christ. We must follow this same example in our roles of responsibility to the community of God.

Titus 1:12-14 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.

Even though we live in a new covenant reality there are times when a leader must rebuke and even sharply rebuke those who oppose the life of Christ in the community. Foolish traditions and divisive teachings have no place in the community of life. A leader must protect the life of the community when necessary. This is an act of love to maintain an environment of faith. That is an environment where the voice of the Holy Spirit is heard within each heart for the individual testimony of each believer and for his or her part in any corporate purpose of the spiritual letter being written by the Spirit. A leader cannot allow the abominable, disobedient, or disqualified to have a voice in the community.

Titus 1:15-16 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

A leader leads others to believe God by standing fast in believing God in all things. The focus of a leader is upon all that God is doing. Their main objective is not to fight the enemy, but to promote God in all things. They remain pure in their thoughts and in the intentions of their hearts. 

Food For Thought

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Like the books of first and second Timothy, the letter of Titus is also a word from the apostle Paul to a pastor, pastor Titus. It reveals instruction concerning the responsibility of leaders in their role with the church.

Titus 1:1 Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, 3 but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; 4 To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

Paul’s words to Titus are true for us as leaders today. God has entrusted His word to us for the sake of the body of Christ. In our role of leaders we need God’s grace, mercy, and peace so we can lead others into the same.

Leaders are not to stand alone. They are to raise up other leaders for the sake of the body of Christ. Paul instructed Titus to appoint elders in in the cities of Crete in order to put order to the things that were lacking there. Those elders were to be the testimony of God’s authority that would help propagate the life of Christ there. They were not to be hierarchal leaders that would control the religious order of those cities. They were to be people who would activate, facilitate, and release the growing life of Christ in the life of believers in Christ. They would be community minded individuals that would serve God in bringing about the expressions of God’s community in the earth.

Titus 1:5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you—…

Paul was writing to his spiritual son Titus. His words were words based upon relationship with God and relationship with a son of God within Paul’s God-given responsibility in life. In his instructions we can find clear principals for leadership material. Paul didn’t tell Titus whom to select. God is the One who makes the selection of people. Paul simply told Titus what kind of people God would select. The fruit of community leadership would be in their lives before they were selected to serve in the community of God for such a cause. Paul presented the qualifications of a leader to Titus and these qualifications are still true today. He was letting Titus know that he was to look for people who manage their own lives – these are the kind of people that are the potential material for God’s appointment in serving as apt to teach leaders in a community of Christ.

Titus 1:6-9 …if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self- willed, not quick- tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober- minded, just, holy, self- controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

I don’t believe that Paul intended his presented criteria to be used as a legalistic form for the selection of leaders in the church. He was presenting the basic character of a leader who could set direction in the church. The word bishop is the Greek word episkopos (SG1985), meaning, a superintendent, i. e. Christian officer in genitive case charge of a (or the) church (literally or figuratively). This is not some high and lofty hierarchal controller in the church. It is a proven Christ-character individual appointed by God for parental responsibilities in the church. Those appointed to this role of responsibility in the church would have to correct, direct, and even stand against people who would be insubordinate, idle talkers, or deceivers of others. These leaders would have to be able stand to stop the mouths of those who would oppose God’s direction from being heard in their God-given areas of responsibility. Simply stated, the kind of leaders that Titus was to look for were leaders of covenant character. These would be the types of people God would select. Their selection would be by the Holy Spirit’s guidance in any decision Titus would make in their appointment, but Titus needed to be looking at the correct field of selection in order to hear God’s voice clearly. Paul was presenting that character of leadership was more important than gift of ministry. I believe this is important to understand in the selection of leaders in the church. The church is the expression of the community of God. It is a corporate expression of God’s family among the communities of the earth. It is not about works of ministry, gifting of ministry, or some form of Christian service or ceremony. The church is the testimony of God’s family; thus leaders must be family-minded people with covenant keeping qualities in their character. They must guide, lead, nurture, protect, and grow to maturity family members in the family of God. Love is the essential attribute of an overseeing leader in the church. The kind of love needed to be a leader is the love of a covenant partner to their spouse or a parent to their children. Leadership is not merely a matter of equipping people for some religious tasks; it is one of loving them in their growth to maturity.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728