2 nd years Term 4 1 Week 1

0:08 Father God, I thank you Lord that even as we approach the finish line, Father, I thank you Lord that we would just see, Father, what you have in store, Father, I thank you for each and every single secondary, Father, that you have graced them, Father, two years of their life, Father, to show themselves approved. As Timothy wrote, study to show yourself approved. I thank you, Father God, that you have graced them, Father. 48 subjects almost, Father. And I thank you, Lord, that as they step out into their next, Father, that they will be used mightily, Father. I thank you that these have been two years of character formation, Father, that you have worked on the inside and the outside, Father. But I thank you, Lord, that I'm reminded that you have prepared them for such a

0:54 time as this. So I thank you, Father God, in these final sessions, final hours, final subjects, that you would just do a complete and a finished work. I thank you, Lord, that I'm reminded of your scripture that says that Christ has done a finished work. And so I thank you, Lord, that as the BI comes to an end, Father, it will be a finished work in each and every single student's life. Father, I pray you would open up their callings. You would open up the doors. You would open up the opportunities. You would open up even the boldness inside of them. That Lord, even as they trust you for great things, big things, that you would show yourself, Father, even more mighty and even more amazing to them. And I thank you, Lord, for the grace upon each of their lives in the

1:40 mighty name of Jesus. And everybody said, "Amen." And amen. So, six subjects in counting. Final three is in five weeks. So, literally just down to fingers, no more even your toes. And um we're going to kick off with preparation for ministry. And so, just like homalytics, everybody says, "Teacher T, I'm not called for ministry." Well, ministry may look and be boxed very different for each person. And I'm going to show you a couple of videos. If you are watching the rerun of this and YouTube does block the videos, I will put them the videos onto the Telegram group. So that's just for those that are going to watch the the rerun of

2:25 the class. But um I'm going to play the videos for you this evening. And it's going to be a series of 10 videos. He's going to talk specifically through different types of tests. And in the last session, I'm going to go through all of the kind of tests you will experience in your life. And again, ministry, what it means to me, may look different to what it's going to mean to Edith, may look different to what it's going to mean to Andrea, may look different to what it's going to mean to Andrew. It it it's not a pulpit. It's not a full-time job at church. It's not even a title. It's not even an office. Preparation for ministry is preparation into what God has called you. You know, when you started off with Bible school

3:12 way back when almost 80 weeks ago, 70 weeks ago, and some in between when you weren't at Bible school, right? You went with your very first subject, and it was vision. You were expected and asked to write down, Andrew, what is your vision? Edith, what is your vision? And now I encourage you as we approach the final weeks that you go back and read that vision. That you go back and you assess that vision and if you need to even extend it or change it or add onto it or work what was written there that you haven't yet gotten into. Now is going to be a good time to write your vision for the next 5 years or 10 years. All right.

3:59 The word of God says that people perish for a lack of knowledge. And a lack of knowledge, if we don't have a vision and you're running, how are you going to be able to see it? Right? My vision is I don't know if I've ever shared it with you. My vision is is I got a whole chapter just because I'm God's favorite. Unless you get a whole book, sorry for you. Um, but I remember a pastor that was our next door neighbor. He came in to break the news to my dad because my dad is Greek that I would becoming a pastor. I would want to go and study theology. And my parents had big big dreams for me. My dad is a big IT guru for the banks. He was number two in South Africa ranked. So to come home and

4:45 go, "Hey daddy, your lawyer slashdaughter slashdocctor slash whatever dreams and aspirations you had for me." Well, she's going to become a pastor. All right. I'm a first generation pastor in in our family. So, you know, in pastor Jake's family, his grandfather was a dwe. So, I think they took the news a bit easier. In my family, um, yeah, it was a very interesting conversation. My dad promised that he would always look after me because he was a good salary earner. Um, and I think he always had the hope I would marry a good businessman or a doctor or a lawyer. And then, of course, I went home and said, "No, I'm marrying a pastor as well." And my dad went, "Wow, my salary is not big enough to look after two of you." Needless to say, my dad has never ever looked after me or

5:30 Pastor Jake. God has provided all the way. And that's been the testimony from my life to his. Right. But in preparation for ministry, when I got this pastor over, he told me to get a scripture. And that was I mean I'm talking about 26 round about there. And that has stuck with me. That advice has kept me for 20 years never to lose sight of what I've been busy with because my scripture that I got and really it did fall into my lap. It really wasn't. It's kind of funny how God has always spoken to me through scriptures and some of you will

6:16 get a dream and but write it down and and keep it there in front of you. But um I got Isaiah 49 which funny enough is the servants call and if you have a look at on Sunday on my Bible it's printed out big. If you open up my Bible you will see that I've written there that it's the servants call and everything inside of there pertains to my life. What's very interesting and that was my first revelation and my first way I fell in love with the word of God like you know I love the word of God was every single time I read Isaiah 49 no matter if it's a sunshine or storm in my life it pertains to that season perfectly somehow it's an umbrella for the sun but at the same time it's a raincoat for the

7:01 the rain I I don't know how it changes I know that it's living and it's God's word But every single time I read it, it really touches my life. And and you know the story, Ariela's name and Arela's calling came from Isaiah 29. My birthday is on the 29th. Isaiah seems to always speak to me. Whenever God speaks to me, he calls me daughter of Zion. And then I know to pay good attention. Um and so what I want to tell you in preparation for ministry is get the vision of your life. Get a scripture. Get something that even when you're running, even when it's amazing high days, you know, holidays, it's going smoothly, but even when it's not so great days, cuz those days will come as well. And that's what we're going to look at in the subject is the different kind of tests that will come. Be careful not to jump out of a

7:49 test prematurely. All right? And if you want to go and really see somebody's life that was tested, go check out on the YouTube under revival bi in the word studies that I do on a Monday night. I've been studying out Abraham. So specifically, go and pick up where I start speaking about Abraham up until last night and I will show you exactly what it means to jump out of a season or to be in half obedience, what it does, but also how to get back after that. All right, but without further ado, two really cool videos. And I couldn't say it any better than Pastor Benny himself. So, let's >> Pastor Benny at the recent fire conference in Dallas, Texas, as he begins this most important message. >> I want to see God use you.

8:37 I said, I pray God will use you and I want to prepare you for the anointing to come on your life. Now, I know we're all anointed and God has used many of you in a wonderful way, but this is the time for higher grounds. >> This is the time to to release the power of God with force through your life. So, take your Bible, please, and go with me to second Timothy chapter 1. How many are young people here? You're between the age of um 15 to say uh 30. Let me show your hands up high. Stand up, please. All those between 15 and 30.

9:23 Wow. Lots of you take take your seats. I'm talking to all of you, but I want the young people to pay attention. My friend Reinhardt Bunkkey and I were having dinner in Israel recently and I began to talk to the gentleman who who was working with him about the price of the ministry. Very few people realize the price we have to pay for the ministry and the price the people with us have to pay. If they do not know that, they'll betray you one day. >> Be careful. You tell them what the price is before

10:09 they start moving in. >> The ministry is not a game. >> Because we've had many casualties in the ministry, >> right? >> If I knew, you listen to me well. I am not just preaching. I got to get this through to you. If I knew the price I would pay, I would never have accepted the call of God. You listen good to what I'm telling you. It's too late for me now. It's too late because I've tasted too much glory. It's no turning back when you're in it. No man puts his hand to the plan, looks back as worthy. Many will come in that day to say,

10:54 "Lord, Lord, have we not? I never knew you." Because of of the fact they broke trust. So don't start in the ministry thinking it's all glory and wonderful things. Forget it. The devil will aim at you to destroy you. If you think it's a joke, wake up. But without paying the price, there is no power on your life either. It comes with a price. I'm going to give you the I'm going to give you the real deal tonight. >> First of all, every one of you is called, but not every one of you is chosen.

11:41 The Bible is very clear on what this means. God will call you and watch how faithful you are and only then will he choose you for service. Many are called, few are chosen because along the way the called blow it and are dismissed from service, disqualified. But the moment he chooses you, he will guard that anointing on you. A lot of people have come and gone in the ministry who were called and used but dismissed from service for disloyalty,

12:29 unfaithfulness, and foolishness. Foolish. They were foolish in the way they lived. Foolish in the way they treated the anointing. They thought it was all a game. Are anybody listening here? [cheering] >> Now, what I'm going to teach you is what I was taught as a young Christian. What I'm going to give you is the real thing. If you want it, do you want it? [cheering] Loren Cunningham came to to the catacombs and taught on total death to self. Brother, we don't hear that anymore. Today they they they tell you how to feed the flesh, not how to kill it.

13:17 >> When Lauren Cunningham came and taught I was I was 19 years old and I heard the greatest message on self-sacrifice. >> Lay it all on the cross. >> Die to your desires and die to your wants and die to your wishes and your will. And I sat there and shook and cried under the anointing. There's a price for the call of God. Now, all of you are called. Everybody's called. In fact, 2 Timothy, read that for us, will you? Second Timothy 1:9 says, "We're all called." Please go ahead. >> Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling. >> And then second Peter 1:10, what does it

14:04 say James? >> Wherefore the rather brethren, give dilig diligence to make your calling and election sure. Everybody is called. Every Christian is called, >> right? >> But then you got to stick with the call. You got to be faithful to the call. >> The Bible clearly states that God will put you through a test. In fact, a series of tests, >> right, >> before you can ever qualify. The first thing you must understand is Proverbs 23:26. Please read that for me, will you? This is the first step into the ministry. The first step into the ministry is

14:49 Proverbs 23:26. >> My son, give me thine heart. >> Stop. Give me what? >> Yeah. God wants your heart to be his. You got to give him your heart. You start serving him by giving him your heart. That means you. That means your emotions. That means your being. That means your desires. That means your will. That means everything. Give it to him. >> Right? >> Your heart once given to Jesus becomes his property. >> It's no longer yours. Right? >> My son, giveth me your heart. And what

15:35 does it say then? >> And let thine eyes observe my ways. >> That's it. The first thing you do, give him your heart and then listen to him. Pay close attention to what his word says. People don't really want to listen to the Bible. They don't want to listen to the portion where it says for example. When Elijah chose Elisha, Elisha was required to destroy his business to qualify. He was a farmer. He destroyed the instruments that he was using to farm with. Nobody today wants to leave their

16:22 business for Jesus. >> They want to have a business on the side. That's >> right. >> He destroyed his farming instruments to prove how loyal he is to the call. >> He burnt all the oxen to say, "I am through with my old life. And Elijah got angry at him for even wanting to say hello and or bye to his parents. He said, "What have I got to do with you?" There's no mention in First Kings 19 that Elisha ever went home to say goodbye. A man comes to Jesus and says, "I'll follow you." And the Lord says, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests. I got

17:07 nowhere to lay my head and I got no place for you." Because some people are rejected. from the cold. But when the son of God says to a man, "Follow me." And the guy says, "Let me go bury my father." God says, "All right, go. Let the dead bury the dead. I don't need you." God has no tolerance for such things. If we refuse the call, we will never be accepted the second time. He He He does not play games with that. The call of God is a serious serious matter. People join ministries believing it's all glory. It's not.

18:00 The call of God is a serious serious matter. People join ministries believing it's all glory. It's not. >> But when when when you find somebody that is a potential chosen vessel, you train them. You start to train them. I'm doing that now with one of our young people. I'm training him, preparing him for his tomorrow. You you pour into these people, >> right? I had a talk with my own son-in-law about that. The the the demands of the ministry, the price Michael will have to pay. He'll have no choice. If he's getting in, you cannot

18:45 change your mind halfway and say, "Well, I I I I didn't know it's so hard." No, no, no. Once you're in, you're stuck. And God, and I mean, once you say yes to the call, that's before the tests even begin. And then the test begins. And and and here's here's u something that God will do with you. The minute you say yes, he'll try your heart. In fact, the Bible says in Deuteronomy 8:2, God tries the heart. In Jeremiah 17:10, God searches the heart. In Proverbs 2:12, God pers the heart. Um Jesus tested his disciples

19:32 before he ever chose them ever. You say how? Can I give you an example? He's walking on the Sea of Galilee and wants to see if they want him in the boat or not. So he makes it look like he going to pass by >> till they cried out. He's on the road to Emmas. There's a parting of the ways. He tests them by wanting to go one way while they're going another and waits till till till they see how demanding they become to keep him with them. God wants to be forced into position.

20:19 He loves a wrestling match with you. He wants you to push him. He wants you to urge him. He's not easily convinced by your decision. You can say yes to the Lord and and he will he will he will pull away from you to see if you're going to come after him. >> The Bible has a an amazing statement about Hezekiah in 2 Coronicles. It says God withdrew himself from him to see what was in his heart. God pulled away from Hezekiah to see what's in the heart of Hezekiah. God will pull away from you and see how

21:07 will will you run after me or say, "Well, I just won't bother." When God calls, he'll test. >> He'll check your heart often. He'll search it. He'll look at it. He'll test you every day. He'll test you at times you're not even looking for it. He'll pull away from you to see what you'll do with it. He'll take his presence away from you to see what you'll do with it. He'll send troubles your way to see what you'll do with that. >> So, here are the tests God will put you through. Write them down. Come on. I'm I'm I'm going to save your life tonight.

21:52 You really want this, right? >> The first test is called the time test. He'll just put you on the shelf. He will shut every door in your face. But you see, you just said to God, "I'm here. Use me. Here am I." Jesus calls you say yes Lord gladly and you cry at the altar and Lord thank you for your mercy and thank you for calling me and I'll give you my life and I'll do this and I'll do this and I'll do this and I'll do this and next thing you know he puts you on the shelf and ignores

22:37 you. That's test number one. Why does he do that? Come on. Very simple. He's looking at your motives. He's checking your motives. The minute you go through this time test, that's the time that God begins to purify the motives inside of you. Sometimes we say to the Lord, I'm here. But we our heart are not our hearts are not pure. So he he'll he'll search our hearts by just shoving us off to some

23:24 place, some corner, some shelf and just forgetting about us. Then you wait. You may have to wait a long time. And now if you stick with it, you'll discover that your faith will grow. God ignores you to build and grow your faith. Abraham and and I'm not going to give you every or read every scripture, but I'm going to give it to you. God called Abraham when Abraham was 75 years old. By the time he had Isaac, he was 100. That's 25 years of waiting.

24:11 In the meantime, he almost messed up when he had Isma because people sometimes don't want to wait. 25 years is a long time. >> God gives him a promise and 25 years later he fulfills it. During those 25 years, Abraham's faith grew. Abraham's faith was purified. Everything about Abraham began to change and he became pleasing to God. So God puts you through a time, a season when you will not be called. You will not be recognized.

24:57 You'll be ignored. Say, "Well, I'm called, right?" But the first thing will be a season of silence. So he calls Abraham. Genesis 12 verse4 he's 75 years old. Genesis 16 1-4 he he makes a blunder and ends up taking Hagar for a wife and has Ishmael. By which time this is 10 years later. It says it was 10 years later. You can read it for yourself in uh Genesis 16. It says after he had lived in the land 10 years, then uh Hagar comes along and becomes his wife.

25:42 A and so now he's 85 years old. And then uh he's 100 when Isaac comes along by which time and it's it's amazing he almost gave up halfway. Remember, he said to to God, he said, "Let Ishmael satisfy you." In other words, don't don't worry about Isaac. I'm fine with him. I I'm fine with this one. That's found in in Genesis 17 where it says, "Don't don't." Basically, he said to God, he said, "Don't worry about giving him another son." No, he said, "Thy seat shall be called in Isaac." Meaning, the Messiah will come through Isaac nourishment. Everybody goes through that. I went

26:28 through that. Everybody wants to rush into the ministry. You must understand God will put you through a season of waiting. Now, at the same time as you're waiting, these other tests come in. God doesn't wait for the time test before he begins another test. He may begin that at the same time. These tests all happen together. Are you listening? >> So while while Abraham was waiting 25 years during that season, God began to test him in other areas as he'll do with you.

27:14 Right? So I think um over the next five sessions, Benny Hinn's words will definitely stay for a very long time. Because many of the times and I can't tell you how many times students leave BI and they're done with BI and they say it's t nobody's recognizing me nobody's seen me and they abort the mission. So just remember one of the tests is the shelf test. You know it's there's a hard test. There's all sorts of tests that we go through. But be careful not to abort the mission just because it's not happening the way you planned, the way you thought. Um to give you an idea, I went to Rama Bible Institute or Bible College back then and

28:00 I spent three years full-time studies and I finished Bible school. I did not get a job for quite some time. I eventually got a job at a church. I operated as a pastor for I don't know many how many years. I mean I was a youth leader/pastor with 60 youth when I was 16 years old. I finished Bible school. I was working for a church. I was running youth. I was running a part of women's ministry. All that kind of stuff. Then I came over to Revival Church and I was operating as a pastor and I was doing whatever a pastor does and I was never ever officially ordained.

28:46 I think I only got ordained officially into a title probably I'm trying to think it was in the 10 days in Montana. So maybe 10 years ago, maybe 11, call it 11 years ago. But I've been operating in my calling for many more years than that. So what I'm trying to tell you is a paper. I say jokes and I laugh and say, right? I've been operating in my calling with or without the no name is still a name. It's still a brand. It's still a title. It's you don't have to wait. And and I had a lady that we've never ordained, but she is doing a phenomenal work. And I said to

29:35 her the other day, cuz she said, you know, you guys have never ordained me. And I said, you know, if we had to have ordained you, you would have thought that your title opened these doors. And your title didn't open up any of these doors, but your calling did. Your calling will make a graceway. Your calling will open up the door, not your title. So be careful because many people fall short of their mission because they're waiting for a sticker key. I say to everybody, if you want a title, here is your title. You are no name. Now go. There's your title, right? Go fetch your mother's curtains. And then

30:20 so that's just always been my thing about the don't think that without a title that doors will not open. I've seen people miss it because they've been waiting for a paper with a stamp on it. If you need it, I'll get Lehandra to sign a piece of paper and I'll post it to you. But that will not open the door. My title came very late in life. I remember and I didn't even share this with the previous group, but I remember being in a church and um way back when and I remember the pastor that we were serving under would just not ordain anybody. And I'm telling you, I've been operating in my office for many years. Like I literally think I said where and God put me into the

31:05 office of what I needed to whether it was teaching other kids in the street or whether it was teaching people the word. The Lord had put me in a teaching office. >> [snorts] >> But he was so des this assistant pastor was so desperate to get say hordana [snorts] that he was even willing to pay an American company to send him a certificate for seordana. Like pay dollars for curtains like seriously brother get over it. Your name is John and John you shall be known and operate as John. The second thing that I want to say in this, I'm scared I forget to say it is the word of God says you shall know them by your by their fruit. If you want to know how I look at people, I look at people through their fruit. If you want to know what is my ordination process, remember the Bible

31:52 institute doesn't ordain anybody. We're not an ordination institution. We're a training institution. and from my side, I can put a really good word to your pastor, but ultimately it's your local church that sees the fruit and says, "Listen, for this person, I want to ordain them." It's not the Bible school that has the power or the authority to ordain anybody because the local church will know more about your character. If Andrew has not gone to church for the last 6 months, I wouldn't know cuz I'm not his local church. So, the Bible school is merely just a vehicle. But can we train you and prepare you and make sure that you set up for success? Absolutely. Right. But it really is the local church that does that. So onto the course syllabus, you need to read I

32:38 think it is 10 power principles. Just check if it is on the group 10 power principles for Christian service by Warren Worisby. So you can just double check that one. And then you have a reading assignment, class notes, and you will have a a um essay type question. I will confirm the essay type question next week. Uh John Michael, if you'll just remind me. I think it is a based on Mark 1. I'm not sure if I changed it, but I'll just rather confirm. So, unless you're driving, I want you to close your eyes and I want you to listen to what I want to read to you. Close your eyes. Don't all look at me like you want to eat me. That makes me nervous [laughter]

33:23 right? An unlikely candidate. Learning from Peter. I wonder what it was like the morning in Galilee. The day that Peter decided to follow Jesus, exhausted and disappointed after a long and fruitless venture at sea. Peter was washing his fishing nets in the shallow of the Sea of Galilee. His brother Andrew and his two business partners, James and John, were with him. Not one of them had caught a single fish all night long, worn, wet, and probably not in the best of moods. They were doing what fishermen do, mending and cleaning their nets. But as the crowd grew larger on the shoreline, pressing in to hear

34:10 the man who was proclaiming the scriptures, something unexpected happened. Jesus stepped into Peter's empty boat as he asked Peter to push it out a little from the shore so that he could teach the people from the water. Peter had no idea that his whole life was about to change. He didn't know that this day, ordinary as what it had seemed, would be the day he entered into a life of ministry. He was just a fisherman. He was just about going with his work. But he willingly complied with Jesus's unusual request, steering the boat out into the shallows. And from there, Jesus preached, proclaiming repentance and the kingdom of God.

34:58 When he finished speaking, Jesus turned to Peter, Andrew, James, and John with another request. Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Must have sounded strange. They had just finished a long unproductive night. The last thing they wanted to do was return to sea. But Peter reluctantly obeyed. In Luke 5:5, he says, "Master, we worked all night and didn't catch a thing." But because you say so, I will let down the nets again. And then the miracle came. The nets overflowed with so many fish that they began to tear. Both boats were filled to the point of sinking under the

35:44 weight. At that moment, Peter realized that this was no ordinary teacher. This was no common preacher. There was power in this man. Power from God. Struck by a weight of holiness, Peter fell to his knees and cried out, "Go away from me, Lord. I'm a sinful man." But Jesus's reply was life-changing. Don't be afraid. From now on, you will fish for people. And so the story closes with a breathtaking line of surrender. Verse 11. So they pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything, and followed him. No theatrics, no attempts to prove themselves worthy, no plans to clean themselves up first, just simple faith.

36:32 You may open up your eyes. >> [snorts] >> Can you understand that so many times we come in and we we are so consumed in ourselves that we forget that God wants us just the way that we are. Yes, we're called to new creation realities. We're called to righteousness. We're called to a holy life. We're called to grow. We're called to pilgrim. We're called to all those things. Do you realize that God is calling us just the way we are? Jesus's disciples, right? were an interesting group. Seven of them were fishermen. One was a Roman hating zealot. Another was despised tax collector. And nothing about them really seemed qualified for ministry.

37:18 Yet it was these men that Jesus gave the great commission to. It was to these men, this group, that he said, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you, and surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age." So Jesus's desire was to reconcile himself to the world. And he chooses it to do through ordinary people just like me and you. People with flaws, people with weaknesses, people with pasts. He works through people that are simply just saying, "Lord, I'm willing and

38:05 obedient." He draws others by shaping and transforming just regular people. He just needs people who will fix their eyes upon him. He even calls and equips people like Peter, people like us. And there is only really one true qualification to walk by faith. So you too students are called by God. If you believe in Jesus, you have the privilege and the responsibility of being a minister of the gospel. No matter what your profession is or your age or your background or your last degree or your current situation, Jesus will never ask something of you that he'll not empower you to do by his

38:52 spirit. The one thing that the people needed in the upper room, wasn't another sermon. It wasn't a moment to fast and pray. They needed power. And the Holy Spirit gives us that power. Peter's step of faith that day was choosing to take Jesus at his word. So whatever Jesus tells you from here on out, step in faith. It may require the same faith for you to accept that God is calling you into his service, teacher. See, I'm not called for ministry. No, but you are. You are called into God's service. Remember this. Our confidence is not in our own ability and strength, but really just in our faith in Jesus.

39:38 Acts 4:13. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished. They took note that these men had been with Jesus. So, can a life of ministry really be for you? The answer, very simple, yes. Why God calls the most unlikely person. So if you've disqualified yourself this evening, I came to tell you that he wasn't looking for the worldly standards. He wasn't looking for powerful leaders or anything that the world looks at. He was simply looking that we would choose him. Peter wasn't chosen because of his education,

40:25 his eloquence. He was a fisherman. He smelled like sardines. Don't know how many of you have smelled sardines lately, but fishermen have a smell, right? If you are a fisherman or married to one, may the Lord keep you, bless you, make his face shine upon you, and may you have sinusitis for very long. No, I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding. We need the fisherman, too. But he was unpolished. He was impulsive. And yet God delights in using that kind of a person to display his strength. This principle is all the way. When God chose David, he was the overlooked shepherd boy. He later becomes king. When God raised, he was or Gideon rather, he was the least in his family,

41:10 but he delivers Israel. When God calls Mary, she's just a villager. Yet, she becomes a mother to the Messiah. Peter's calling reminds us that we have to follow and make the kind of choice. It's not on human merit. It's on choice. The call comes through the encounter with Christ. Right? Every single time that we have an opportunity to have an encounter with Christ, have an encounter. Fill your tank up. I remember sitting in a closed session with Pastor Benny Hinn and he said, "Keep your tank full. Keep your reservoir full. Never ever minister, preach, walk, live with an empty tank.

41:56 You know, it's not a great thing to have a car that's on empty because if there's an emergency or tomorrow you need to go somewhere or your child wants ice cream like my kids always at the most ridiculous hours, it's not great to have an empty car cuz an empty car will go nowhere, right? [snorts] So, we must make sure that we are always in a position that we are filled, right? Um, there was a clip and I'll go look at look for it. I know I I put it last year on the group. I think it could have been the show last year where they interview pastor Beni Hen and they say to Pastor Beni Hen, "If there was one thing you would change, what would you change?" And you know what he says? He says, "If there was one thing you could change, he would change that he went to Bible school." This person who ministers to millions

42:44 doesn't ask for anything else. He goes, "I kind of wish I went to Bible school." So, let me tell you my story. My story about Bible school runs a little bit deeper than what you know. When I was finished with school, I had made the decision that God was calling me. I I did kick against it, right? Let me not pretend like I'm Tanya, the shining angel, and my halo is on top of my head. My wings are sticking out. No, I was kicking and screaming all the way that God called me. I was planning on becoming an industrial psychologist. I was not interested in becoming a pastor. Here was my reasons. Very funny when I think of it because I was focused on my 10year reunion. I said to the Lord in

43:30 these words I'll never forget. Lord, if I have to become a pastor, what will I tell my friends at my 10year reunion? Well, the joke is we didn't have a five, a 10, a 15, or a 20 year reunion. Just saying. I still never did it. But I said to the Lord, what would I say to them? What kind of accomplishments is a pastor? Little did I know that that was all about me. God had called me and I had to be obedient. And I did kick and scream all the way. I didn't go down without a fight and without a bite and without a boxing match. [snorts] But in hindsight, I'm so grateful to the Lord for sending me to that journey. So at that time I was in a church a small little local church and I want was you know exploring

44:16 to go study and my parents didn't have all the money in the world so I didn't have a lot of options and we went to go view one place that was just ridiculously expensive. I won't say the name of the church cuz it is here in Ptoria and we just couldn't afford it. And the second place was also in Ptoria next to a cow farm. And my parents drove in and said, "You're not living amongst the cows." And drove right out. And the third place was Rayma. And when I went in, I immediately, I didn't look at the classes or anything like that. I just filled in a form and I submitted. And my mom said, "Do you realize that you just enrolled?" I said to her, "I think I did that." Yeah. But it just felt right. And I did. I had enrolled. When I went to go

45:02 and tell my pastor that I was going to go to Bible school, my pastor was infuriated. He wasn't happy at all. And he asked me this question. He said to me, "Do you think going to a Bible school would make you a pastor?" And I said to him, "No, that's not my intention. But I will tell you what going to Bible school will do. It will teach me about the Bible. It will make me a disciplined Bible believer." I said the difference is what you don't know is a couple of weeks ago I had an encounter where I was preaching and I saw myself behind a pullpit preaching and the devil showed up and the devil said Tanya you don't know your Bible and I said yes devil you're quite right and I walked off of the pullpit. So no pastor I don't think Bible school is going to make me a pastor but I do

45:49 think that it's going to make me a Timothy kind of person. I will study to show myself approved. And so that was my journey. It wasn't very supported. It wasn't very easy. It was a very tough three years of my life. But at the end of the day, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I had learned to walk and obey God. And it wasn't always easy. But grace precedes the mission. Again, going back to what I was dealing with last night in the word school, even when Abraham made mistakes, even not not mistakes, like blatantly lied, blatantly ignored what God had told him to do, there was still enough grace that he would be blessed. Now, please don't test

46:34 it out. Be like, "Hey, teacher T says I can do whatever I want cuz there's grace." No, no. You are going to get to the other side and there will be grace, but you will have blue eyes and bandages and you may be in a cast from the neck down to the toe. Okay, so be careful of that one. But there will always be grace. 1 Corinthians 15:10 says, "By the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace towards me was not in vain." Some of you need to write this scripture down. You are who you are. And that's not a mistake. It's not a shortcoming. Peter recognized that he was unworthy. But he recognized as well that Jesus didn't reject him because he felt that

47:20 way. Instead, he assured him. He said, "Listen, don't be afraid. From now onward, you're going to fish. You're going to start fishing for people." So, this really does show, you know, that grace will be there. And God's not waiting for people to be qualified. He qualifies you as you go. I want to tell you that if I knew what I know now, man, I'm not sure if I would have enrolled for Bible school. I'm not sure if I would have, you know, jumped at at what God was telling me. I I remember years after that, I was in Bible school. I think I was in third year and or sec third year. And I was sitting with not even one of my covering pastors, just a pastor. And I said to the pastor, you know, why is it that God doesn't show

48:06 you the whole video? Why does he only show you snapshots? You know, I know I'm called and but I don't know how to get there. I don't know what to do, what to pray, what to say, when to say, what to say yes to, what to say no to. I I don't know. I I I have snapshots of what God wants me to achieve, but I I don't know how to navigate until there. And he said this. He said, "Tanya, if God showed you the movie of your life, you'd be really scared and run away." And in hindsight, often times I still think, man, like did did was I worthless like Peter, worthless eye, insecure eye, able to get up and and preach or able to pray for somebody or able to see somebody's life?

48:53 Could I? Is it possibly I? And it's not so much I, but going to the scripture that I just said, by the grace of God, I am what I am. Right? You are who you are. And God will begin to to really sharpen and do what he needs to do. That's the beauty of being in the potter's hand is God is able to shape you the way he needs to shape you. But you kind of got to give yourself a little bit of space to go, "All right, Lord, I've said yes. What is it that you want me to do? The next one is that power comes from union with Christ. If you do not stay in relationship with the Lord, listen, you have no clue. You have me for the book of Acts, right? So, you get to see me for 2 hours up until your end. I should

49:41 have made it all three that you never forget my voice. And if my voice irritates you, I'm so glad you have suffered for two years and successfully still alive and being crucified. But in our next in our next um subjects, I'm I'm going to deal with prison epistles, but I'm going to say this because it's pertinent to what I'm teaching you tonight. If you ever, and this is me being quiet on you, if you ever step out relationship with Jesus, I will hunt you down. I will phone you up. I will make an appointment with you. I will Uber a punch or a kick or a slap, whatever it takes to make sure that you stay in union with Christ. I don't care if it's revival church or if it's three pigs and a broomstick church. All

50:29 I care is that you stay in union with Christ. There's a saying, "So help me Jesus if I find you have left the Lord because I will hunt you down." And trust me, I have. One of my good pastor friends started backsliding. They were no longer in Pritoria and they had come to come visit and I invited them. I took them out for a pizza and I said, "So, man of God, if today were your last day, you'd be going right to hell because you've backsliden. I did it. I promise you." He had run so far away from God. I said to him, "I'm going to lead you." And this was a big evangelist. I said, "I'm going to lead you to Jesus today." You know, he went back. He started up a church. He got back into ministry. He got back into his calling. But I wasn't

51:15 about to let any person step away from the union of Christ. So let this be a warning documented into your spirit, man. And may the Lord wake me up if you are stepping so much as in your little hair on your littlest toe in the wrong direction. Students, I love you and I will always, even after Bible school, be a phone call away, but please don't step. I mean, I was talking to one of the the people that well, I've been talking to a lot of our the previous people I studied with in the last little while and we were talking about how many people have stepped away from the Lord. How many and I not on my watch. So, this is a love warning, right? I know how to uber diarrhea for a year for

52:04 you and you will even like it. It will even smell good. I'm just saying. So beware. But the power comes really from the union with Christ. Never ever step away from the union. Remember the scripture I read from you now just a little while ago about Acts chapter 4. They were astonished that these were uneducated common men. But what they did recognize were these were men that had been with Jesus. You can be as simple as simple as simple, but may people recognize that you've been with Jesus. May people recognize that upon your life. You want to see open doors, let people recognize that Jesus is over your life. And so Peter's transformation was from this trembling fisherman into an

52:51 apostle. But it wasn't just to natural growth. It really had a lot to do with his union with Christ and the Holy Spirit, right? [snorts] Am I Yeah, I'm on time. Could you imagine? I waffled so much and I had to talk so much in between. So, God's calling you. He's calling me. I want to say this as well. And I say this, this is a subject I'm so passionate about because man, I've written all these tests I think 10 times over and I can't write the test for you and I can't dictate and but I'm going to say this, run forest, run, but you can't hide. If God has called you, if God has marked you, if God has put you can run, but you

53:40 won't go far. You know on those cartoons they have those dog on the lead and then the dog runs and right and he pulls the dog back. Have you seen those? Have you seen those leashes? I had one for my Yorkie. It could go for 2 m. But if I wanted to pull him really close, it could act in reverse and sort of suck the lead up and go and the dog comes all the way back to me. Right? You will never be able to run past your calling. You'll never outrun it. You'll never outrun God's plan for your life. You can run. You can delay it. You can walk for 40 years around the mountain. You can go to different places. You can experience certain things. But don't run from the call of God. It just wastes time. I remember when I was in youth ministry here in Pritoria in a different church,

54:26 not revival church, but in a a church, there was a school. We used to minister to the school and we had um really amazing kids that were in our youth when and this is no tap on my shoulder. It was really just the grace of God. But Pastor Jake and I were the first leaders to not have pregnant girls, teenage pregnancy in our youth group after a consecutive 10 years. We didn't have one of our teenage girls for pregnant. It was something we had broken off. It was something that we had lived by example. We had spoken. We had really laid good morals, good foundations. So like I said, it's not a tap on my shoulder. was just really something that we had brought into the youth was really a holiness movement. And so there was this one gentleman, his mom was actually uh

55:13 the pianist of the church. And this kid was born in a Christian home, grew up in a Christian home, knew Jesus, like went to a Christian school, did all the Christian things, finished school, and for some time we had lost contact. And then we our paths crossed again and and we got a chance to chat. And he said, "No, you don't understand." Cuz the make the statement I'm going to make, he was the typical Christian kid. When I saw him again, it looked like somebody beat him up with a wet newspaper. He was all inked out. He looked like the world. He And I said to him, "What did you do?" He goes, "No, I went to go look for a testimony." He said, "Everything I've done, he's been so Christian. I went to go look for a testimony." He said, "Dude, you had

56:00 the biggest testimony. Most people don't even have that testimony." Needless to say, with some work, he is back in the church. He's serving the Lord. He's busy with Bible school. So, it it took a bit of encouragement. And again, like my pastor's friend, I had to call him in and just ask him if he knew who Jesus was because I'm very serious about that. I'm very serious about people that I know have a relationship with the Lord. It's one thing if you are lost and that's fine. We have evangelism. We have mission. It's another thing when you know the truth and you deviate from it, man. You bring out like the sniffer dog with me. I will go on a trail and I if it you know there's a thing called five-fold ministry. Do you know what five-fold ministry is? Hold your hand

56:46 like this. It's the five-fold ministry. The apostles, the teacher, right? Now fold it. This is five-fold ministry. You use this to the cheekbone. Right? You use it. Now, I'm not encouraging you to have any violence or fight. I'm just merely telling you that sometimes I I can't remember who it was. I think it was Jimmy. No, was it Jimmy Swagot? I don't know. I'm going to I'm scared I'm going to say a name and I put the wrong person in trouble. But it was it was one of the generals, one of the really well-known um fathers of the faith. He said that um he would find a person, he would kill them and tell the Lord that he found them dead. I'm thinking, well, I would do that. I would attempt to resurrect you, but then I've never resurrected any person. So, that's kind

57:31 of your gamble, right? If I manage to resurrect you, great. If I don't, well, sorry, right? But really, this is something that I'm really passionate about. Never ever get disconnected from the Lord. If you go astray, pick up the phone, phone your pastor, phone me. I don't care what hour, what time, it doesn't matter. But may the Lord help you. Because if I have to come and put you on the right play, it may come with a kick and I may baptize you and I may severely have to sort you out. So thankfully up until this point none of the BI students have gone astray. I think this is because of this kind of a session where I remind you. But you know going back to to what we've been

58:17 discussing, God has called you for such a time as this >> as this. So don't don't go astray. Don't sacrifice on holiness. Don't sacrifice on God's calling. Amen. Love you guys. See you guys next week. I'm giving over to Nimvula. Enjoy leadership and I will see you in the next session. Thank you, Pastor Tanya. Uh good evening. Good evening. How are you? Can we please switch on the cameras? I just want to find out. Do you want to take a short break first before we start or should we go into it? Should we go into it? Okay. Uh the the the cameras were on. Sean, Michael,

59:03 Andrea Jason Camp, can the can can the cameras please be on? We are waiting, John. We are waiting. Andrea, we are still waiting for two. unless they've taken a short break. Okay. Um, good evening. Good evening, everyone. Uh, can you all hear me? Okay. Oh, okay. I've seen the message from from from John. Okay. Good evening. I am Nula Raul. I am happy to be with you for this part of the semester and I'll be taking you on on the leadership program. Basically we are going to look at how to lead like

59:50 Jesus but at the same time we are going to reflect on our own um leadership journeys. So with that said I don't know I would like you to quickly just briefly introduce yourselves and then the question that you must answer you must answer and say whether you are a leader whether you think you are a leader yes or no and what type of a leader. Do we understand the question? Can we go any volunteers or should I go with the name that I see? So for example, I will say I'm null. I am a leader both in the corporate space and also in a life role because I am a mother. I am a wife. So in that aspect

1:00:35 as well I'm a leader. So I think the reason why I'm explaining that is that when we look at leadership most of the time we think about leadership only in the work environment or within an organizational context but there is what we call life role leadership meaning in any area in your life be it a church and so on. So e e do you think that you are a leader or if you are a leader can you say in which arena? So can we start with Edith? If there's no volunteers, I'm gonna go with names. [laughter] >> Hi, my name is Edith. I think I'm a leader in Okay. At home definitely and then uh also at work and then at church I lead

1:01:24 an ushering team. Thank you. >> Okay, thank you. Can we go to Andrew? I am Andrew West. Um, yes, I'm a leader at work. Um, at home, I'm a father, three children, so I must lead there. [snorts] Um, I'm a leader in my community because my accent dictates what kind of a Christian I am. And then I'm a leader at church. So, yeah, >> we're going to have a nice session. We have leaders here. Okay. Can we go to is it Brioni? Am I pronouncing it right? >> Bioni. Yes. Good evening. >> Okay.

1:02:09 >> Okay. So, um I don't see myself as a leader though, but somehow I always end up being the leader in a group. Um currently leading um four people in a small prophetic group and I'm also a leader of the kids church. >> Okay. Did you hear that? I don't see myself as a leader but there's two areas where she's a leader. Okay. Let's go. we will be able to answer this question towards the end of the session not today as we go on with the uh with the other sessions. Not >> um good evening everyone. Um my name is not yes I am a leader um in my

1:02:54 own home I'm a leader. Thank you. >> Thank you. Can we go to Danila? [gasps and sighs] Ah, good evening everyone. I'm laughing because um a leader comes with responsibilities. So the way that you guys are saying it with so much of grace. Um I do lead at work. I sometimes try to run away from it. I'm a mom at home. And as to the type of leader, uh, let's just say the Lord breaks down and the Lord builds up. >> Love it. Love it. Okay. Uh, Jason.

1:03:43 >> Yeah. My name is Jason. I'm I believe I'm a leader in the work environment. I'm a director. Um, so I set the tone and set everything by example. I believe uh to serve and [clears throat] to do to have that servant humbled attitude is more than a title. It's a function and if the people see you the last one coming in and the last one leaving not necessarily forking all the responsibilities on people I believe that's a true leader and I beautiful girls and so I lead my household as best as I can. >> I can give the I can give the session to you. I think you'll be able to dish the rest of the remaining chapters. [laughter] Thank you for that. Um, Andrea.

1:04:29 >> Hi, my name is Michael. Andrea is my wife. I'm just using her laptop. All right. >> Andrea, your name is >> Michael. >> Michael. Okay. >> Yes. So, yes. So, I do lead a department at work and in church. Um, so yes. >> Okay. John Michael are you good for us or okay maybe let's just skip him for now um we will go back so I'm going to share PowerPoint presentation with you that's how we're going to do it but also secondly the um in terms of the book that we are using pastor Tanya is going to send you a link of that book we are not going to have any assignments for marking but we are going going to have exercises that you will do for yourself to try to determine

1:05:16 what type of a leader you are the leadership skills and so on but we will be sharing those you know uh um during the sessions so we will not be having any assignments we don't have any test that we are writing on this because you know leadership is kind of practical but also at the same time the biggest thing is to look at Jesus as a role model the first that we all know that Jesus said we are here not to be served but to serve so the biggest role model of them all is Jesus. And then we're talking servant leadership. So in terms of uh who I am, I think I I joined um Revival Christian Church in 2018 2018 in a different walk of life at the

1:06:01 time. I think I would say it was just a transition from a leadership position as a CEO into working for myself. But there was so much leadership pain. There was so much um the pain that nobody talks about. You know, as as Danila said, we talk so easy about leadership, but nobody talks about the leadership pain. The world will always tell you that the higher you go, the colder it becomes. But as children of God, that is not what we need to believe because we do have a role model of all time, which is Jesus. And there is a whole lot of other lessons that I'm going to share with you from the biblical perspective. And the reason why this is important for me, it offered me a time to heal from a very painful leadership experience

1:06:46 over years. But I would say on reflection, I think is because whilst I was a leader, I didn't know what type of a leader I am. And on on on reflection, I think that the corporate sector as it is now, it does not really have a place for servant leaders. But one big leadership lesson that I've also learned is um I remember one day having an engagement with a then CEO of McDonald Craig. So I asked him like how do you lead like such diverse and multiple and many people what is your secret to leadership? Then [snorts] he said to me which made sense and and and it was such a revelation. He said to me,

1:07:33 "The leadership strategy without changing who you are, but the leadership strategy that you use to lead five people is not going to be the same when they are 10. It's not going to be the same when they are 30, not when they are 50." And for me it was such a big revelation because I think that is what happened when I reflected because when I started at this organization it was like five people I think with a turnover of about 3.9 million. By the time I left there they were 42 with a turnover of 69 million. It took a lot out of me as a person but I never changed the the the the leadership strategy that I was using. I

1:08:19 ended up thinking that is a shortcoming on my side but at that time I didn't have a mentor because we tend to think that for example uh uh as you would say um you are a director you would think that ah maybe you don't need a mentor because you are the leader but I think that is where we go wrong and and and there's nothing wrong in having a mentor because even the word of God says seek wise counsel but is what type of mentor are you going to look at are you going to look at one that is aligned to the very same values that you share meaning being a Christian but at the same time you would know that as a leader or even you the people that you mentor it's not possible to just have one one mentor because there are various areas and also as you transition in life you know

1:09:05 sometimes you you you you you outgrow the stage of somebody that was mentoring you. So somebody that was mentoring me between 2015 and 2019 is no longer relevant now because I've transitioned and I'm move to a different area. So as long as you are able to realize that then I'm telling you then you can get far. John Michael has still not joined us but with that said it's going to be easy. Let me just quickly share let me share screen because I think it's going to be very is going to be easier when I go through the presentations. You are going to get the slides. Uh you don't need to be taking much notes. Are you able to see the screen?

1:09:56 Sorry, I can't see you because I've now opened it on full presentation mode. You can just unmute and tell me if you are able to see the screen. We can see it. >> Yes, we can see the screen. >> Okay. Thanks. And please note uh I've put it on full PowerPoint presentation. I'm not very good friends with team. So if you are raising your hand, I will not be able to see you. So feel please feel free to just give me that indication and then I would stop so that if you have any questions to ask. Okay. So as we start the book that we are going to use where you are going to get the lead is uh the link is the art of leadership. um as you as you see it there. And then one of the other things that we have done the reason why I started with that question is that when it comes to

1:10:41 leadership, we are either leaders because of our roles in the corporate environment or within our various uh uh uh uh uh uh settings. There is someone that answered to say I don't think I'm a leader but I'm a leader in one to three. I think we had such a question. So one of the first big thing is that you decide to become one of the few good leaders in this world because we do not have a lot of examples. We do not have a lot of role models that we can refer to. I know definitely sure within the township sector it's very few leaders. So I looked up to very few. There was not a whole lot of role models in the

1:11:27 township that I grew in. So but one of the biggest thing is that when you are a leader decide to become one of the few good leaders in this world and what will make you one of the few good leaders. Number one we have our own role model. Now let us start with the first in in in 1 Timothy 4:6 to say why do I say you must decide to become one of the very few leaders in the world. Paul wrote to Timothy and told him to do certain things to make him a good leader. So already number one if you ask yourself from a biblical point of view what are the characteristics of a good leader you already have it there 1 Timothy 4:6 but if you read you know the whole verse so there are good ministers and there are

1:12:16 bad ones so you must decide to be a good one and people usually talk about the problems that we are having now in terms of corruption I said you decide that you know what you are going to be corrupt corruptible because they say there's usually a somebody that corrupts you, a corruptor and a corrupt. So you decide. So it's just like becoming a good one. And and and the reason why I'm starting with this is because we know that in our leadership positions, leadership positions are not easy. I think Danila mentioned it. Hey, they will squeeze the last ounce of patience and everything in you and sometimes you would act out of character. But in terms of being a leader, you decide. So it's a conscious decision. It's a everyday decision to

1:13:01 say irrespective of what happens I continually decide to be a good leader. So when we discuss there are five reasons amongst many of course five reasons why people avoid leadership responsibilities. One, many people do not know that they are leaders. And the reason why they do not know is because they haven't embraced themselves and knowing their own strengths because they either looking at saying I can never be like that leader. I can never be like that person. Just take it in the church situation. You can ask somebody to pray and then people do not want to pray because they think I cannot

1:13:47 pray like that person. Now all of a sudden they start to feel small themselves not understanding that we have different uh uh uh uh what is this now different strengths and when it comes to prayer there's no universal standard. So unfortunately we end up imprisoning ourselves by saying by putting a bar that nobody has put you put this bar for yourself and then you decide to say no no no no you know what I don't even think that I'm a leader but against what are you comparing yourself what what criteria have you used to assess that to say that you are not a good leader number two people fear that they will be accused and hated and mostly the people that fear that they will be accused and hated is people that are afraid to make decisions. I

1:14:34 think I did have an input to say I am a leader. I make it I make the decisions. I I dictate you know how things should go and dictate not used in um in a in a in a in in the negative sense but to say you know you kind of determine the route that people should go and and and and by influencing them well by being a good example and I don't know if you would agree with me I don't know whether you've been in organization whereby you would see that a certain organization starts to take the personality of the leader and and you know you would hear people saying, "Yo, during the time of Danila, there was 1 2 3 4 5 6, but now during the time of naughty, we no longer have one two three." It only talks about

1:15:20 how we in terms of our own personalities tend to change the environment. And with us being children of God, we have that ability and the help from the Holy Spirit to change any environment that we enter into because the word of God says wherever we will put our feet there, we will take territory. Number three, people do not want to end up disgraced and hated as many prominent leaders have been. [snorts] Now if you're going to be afraid because of this reason remember there are different reasons why those people are hated but at the same time it doesn't mean that as a leader everyone is going to love you. In fact they say

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