4MAT BOOK REVIEW DEMPSEY

docx

School

Liberty University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

510

Subject

Philosophy

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by eroh17

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY 4MAT Book Review: Dempsey, Earley, and McClendon Assignment Submitted to Dr. James Wood In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the completion of LEAD510 – D08 by Elizabeth Roh November 10, 2023

1 Abstract The text, “The Three-Dimensional Leader: A Biblical, Spiritual & Practical Guide to Christian Leadership” is a useful resource to equip and guide those who desire to grow spiritually, especially within leadership. Chapter 5 discusses the importance of cooperating with the Holy Spirit before we approach serving and leading others. If we are so focused on pouring into others without being led by the Spirit, then we cannot lead with a clear and pure motive. Spiritual leaders of God’s kingdom must lead out of a clear sense of divine calling, personal integrity, spiritual depth, and dependence upon Christ. 1 Chapter 6 discusses the relevance and weight of spending time meditating on Scripture paired with prayer. Not only does a spiritual leader have the responsibility of leading others, but they must first be able to lead themselves. The first step and the best way to lead yourself is to take care of your spiritual health. Christians understand that Jesus is the greatest leadership role model because, despite the chaos, he always prioritized time to take care of His soul, especially through prayer. 2 Prayer is Jesus’s advice to His disciples to maximize the results of their kingdom efforts, as mentioned in John 15. 3 Chapter 7 goes on about what it means to advance God’s kingdom and what a kingdom-minded leader looks like. If we know that there is the kingdom of “light,” which is God’s kingdom, therefore, we know that there can only be one other kingdom, the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of God can only be entered when we become a new creation by the blood of Christ, and through repentance, humility, and fear before the Lord. 4 Jesus promises that His kingdom will be fully restored when He returns to earth to claim His throne. However, until His return, we must be 1 Dempsey, Earley, and McClendon, The Three-Dimensional Leader: A Biblical, Spiritual & Practical Guide to Christian Leadership (Bellingham, WA: Kirkdale Press, 2023), 64. 2 Dempsey, Earley, and McClendon, The Three-Dimensional Leader: A Biblical, Spiritual & Practical Guide to Christian Leadership (Bellingham, WA: Kirkdale Press, 2023), 82. 3 John 15:4-7, English Standard Version 4 Dempsey, Earley, and McClendon, The Three-Dimensional Leader: A Biblical, Spiritual & Practical Guide to Christian Leadership (Bellingham, WA: Kirkdale Press, 2023), 103.

2 active in the pursuit of advancing the Kingdom. Kingdom-minded leaders are motivated by godly ambitions and see leadership to advance God’s kingdom, not their own. Chapter 8 discusses how we ought to approach spiritual warfare. If a spiritual leader is not filled and led by the Spirit, it would be impossible to fight against the enemy’s attacks. There is much emphasis on prayers when it comes to engaging in spiritual warfare because we are inviting God and relying on His power to fight off all evil spirits and realms. Chapter 9 talks about how important it Is for a Christian leader to have a vision. Moreover, the authors say that being a leader means that you are a follower of our one true “Leader,” which is Christ. 5 The main vision and goal Christian leaders must have in mind and heart is to connect with Jesus’s commission, which is to make disciples of all nations. Chapter 10 discusses goals for disciple-making by first explaining the importance of biblical community. Each member fits together which promotes the growth of the body for building up in love by the proper working of each individual part. 6 Those who desire to become disciples should focus on the goal to love God and to love others, as those are the greatest commandments given to us. Chapter 11 touches on how to plan to make disciples, which is to first connect the individual members to the head, and the body, and then connect the body to the mission. A final tip the authors give us in Chapter 12 is how to train an effective team for the mission of God. Christian leadership teams must be developed one by one, and they must learn to work together. A common vision, communication, complementary gifts, and community can allow the leadership teams to effectively conquer and advance the Kingdom. 7 Concrete Response 5 Dempsey, Earley, and McClendon, The Three-Dimensional Leader: A Biblical, Spiritual & Practical Guide to Christian Leadership (Bellingham, WA: Kirkdale Press, 2023), 142. 6 Ephesians 4:16, English Standard Version 7 Dempsey, Earley, and McClendon, The Three-Dimensional Leader: A Biblical, Spiritual & Practical Guide to Christian Leadership (Bellingham, WA: Kirkdale Press, 2023), 201.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

3 As I was reading through this text, my first instinct was to consider the leadership teams that I see now versus those I have encountered in the past. It is unfortunate to say that most churches I have been to in the past consisted of leaders who were not built on strong faith and were not being led by the Spirit. As a churchgoer my entire life, I didn’t see the importance of a strong pillar of leaders until I stepped into a leadership position myself in college. Although I am aware that no one can satisfy everyone’s needs, and since no one is perfect, there is abundant grace for each person. However, as I continued to mature in my faith, and as I tried to actively seek the Lord every day, I realized how many false teachers and servants there are. It is not my place to judge the eternal outcome of each person, however, I do believe that as Christians, we should consider the motives and actions of others. A passage that I always keep in mind comes from Matthew 7, where Jesus warns us of the false prophets, and a big indicator of a false prophet comes from the fruits that they bear. 8 I realized that a person could last so long to try to produce the fruits of the spirit through their own efforts. A person who is being led by the Spirit bears fruits consistently. I feel as if consistency is a big factor that many overlook or do not even consider, even though we see that time and time again, Jesus is the greatest role model for Christians because of His consistency. If Jesus was inconsistent, we would question everything He did. Despite our evil nature and flaws, it’s so beautiful that we can still rely on God to allow us to grow deeper in our faith and love for Him, along with consistently producing the fruits needed to advance the Kingdom. I hope to keep praying for all leaders within the churches and within all ministries because we have a responsibility of tending to the flock, which belongs to Christ. We must understand the weight with which God entrusts us to care for each soul. Reflection 8 Matthew 7:15-20, English Standard Version

4 One of the things that I realized was not touched upon was the importance of leaders having mentors and counselors to guide them and to also speak life into them. There are so many pastors and leaders who serve, thinking that they can keep up the good work, without being held accountable and called out. I see this problem mainly with pastors or leaders who are much older and have lived longer. A big reason why I saw many get puffed up with arrogance is because they run the ministries by themselves. They do not allow themselves to receive help, specifically when it comes to receiving feedback or constructive criticism from spiritually strong and mature Christians. They believe that only God is allowed to say something to them, even though that is a dangerous mindset to have, especially since we understand that biblical community is also meant to rebuke each other in love. Even within godly friendships and relationships, we cannot grow without seeing our mistakes from an outsider’s perspective. There is so much “objectivity” we can view upon ourselves since we are biased in nature, whether we would like to admit that or not. It would have been useful for the authors to include the topic of mentorship, which could be added to the section on biblical community. This would have allowed the readers to see the communities beyond the members of the community being the leaders and congregants. There could be a more open perspective on the gifts and relations that could be built within the communities, including the relations between the leader and their trusted mentors. Action I realized that reading this book called me out on many things, in a positive manner. Although I implement a prayer life every day, along with reading the Bible, I realized that I am not as intentional in the way that I meditate on the Word. It is so easy for me to go on the Bible app on my phone and just skim through the passage without doing any research or praying

5 deeply about what I have read. As I am continually studying the Bible in seminary, I also desire to be even more intentional in my personal life, outside of reading the Bible at church or for school. I want to make sure that my private devotion to God is the most important asset I desire because, without it, I cannot possibly expect myself to grow spiritually and to effectively advance His kingdom. Rather than reading on my phone, I want to open my physical Bible because I do see a huge difference and weight in the way I read. It also helps to retain the information when I physically highlight, underline, and take notes in my Bible. It is so easy to neglect these spiritual disciplines when life gets busy or when hardships come unexpectedly, however, I do not want that to be an excuse. The enemy is always actively waiting to receive more information about the ways we live our day-to-day lives so that he can effectively attack us and claim victory. However, I take heart in knowing that there is nothing new under the sun and anything that Satan tries to plan, is nothing surprising or too much for God to handle. Another spiritual discipline I have been actively trying to incorporate is to be more intentional with my community at church. I have only attended my current church for a little over a year, but it is by the grace of God that I am able to find a spiritual family that I can grow with and do life with. I have seen the beauty of serving with fellow believers who truly desire to honor God with their lives, even though we may have different seasons of trials. I am also seeing the beauty of being spiritually yoked with other sisters, and I am aware of this by the content of our conversations and how we speak life to one another. Prior to coming to my church, I struggled to find a community that I believed really desired to surrender their lives to God. There were many who were inconsistent churchgoers and many who were not deeply rooted in Christ because when they would go through a moment of inconvenience or discomfort, they would fall away from their faith so easily. I have much compassion for those who struggle because we’re all

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

6 human and our faith is always going to be tested. However, as someone who wanted to grow and abide in God, it took many years of prayer and patience to have the community that I have now, which I am so thankful for and do not want to take for granted. Because I do not want to take my community for granted, I want to challenge myself to continue to reach out to people whom God has given me a heart for and to keep praying for those I may not have close relations with because the souls of every person matter. Bibliography

7 Rod Dempsey, Dave Earley, and Adam McClendon, The Three-Dimensional Leader: A Biblical, Spiritual & Practical Guide to Christian Leadership (Bellingham, WA: Kirkdale Press, 2023).

4MAT BOOK REVIEW DEMPSEY

Related Documents