Today within the Body of Christ we see lots of leaders who are ineffective in their ministry assignments and many who are falling under pressure to all kinds of failure.  As I began to think about what characteristics are necessary to make it as a Christian leader for the long haul, I began to make a list of the things that God is or has been showing us.  Many are lessons we have learned through the school of the Holy Spirit over the years of what we want or do not want to do here at Places In the Father’s Heart.  Others are areas of sin we have walked in over the 30+ years we have been in ministry and have had to learn from the school of hard knocks.  Father is faithful to correct hearts that are open to Him and teachable by Him.  Whether we are currently leaders or followers, we all need to be aware of these points.  My prayer is that they will inspire thought and where necessary, repentance and correction.  Here’s to a healthy Body of Christ with Christian leaders who know how to lead, guide and mentor with Father, Son and Holy Spirit as our role models.

Christian leaders that last:

  1. Know Father, Son and Holy spirit intimately by experiencing their love not just conceptually believing in their love.
  2. Are pursuing their own personal healing – spirit, soul and body.
  3. Will have first learned how to follow, often by serving in another person’s ministry.
  4. Have learned what not to do as well as what to do.
  5. Are humble servants, never seeking position from ministry or needing titles such as pastor, bishop, apostle, prophet, deacon, or elder so-in-so for their legitimacy.
  6. Have developed strong foundations of character and integrity both personally and within their ministries.
  7. Are breaking all religious boxes and seeking true intimacy in relationships with God and man, especially as it relates to the new Mercy Season the church has entered.
  8. Are neither scapegoats nor walking in a victim mentality but have their legitimacy in Father and have learned how to effectively deal with a predator spirit.
  9. Are not co-dependent with any people or their churches/ministries .
  10. Are not performance oriented slaves for God but rest in who they are in Him not what they do for Him.
  11. Know how to walk in Kingdom loyalty to all, never being loyal to one at the expense of another.
  12. Have learned how to rightfully and honorably enjoy the servants around them, never using them to shield or hide their own strongholds and inadequacies.
  13. Have learned how to celebrate their problems.
  14. Never use accountability as a means of keeping another from sin; rather they use accountability as a means of helping another find their destiny in Father.
  15. Do not label ministry as what they do well, rather they know that true ministry is giving away the Father’s love by sharing the good news, releasing the captives, healing the sick, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the bruised, the crushed and those broken down by calamity.
  16. Have learned how to focus on Father, to feed on what He is doing and the love gifts He is delivering.
  17. Are not self-serving or self-centered trying to get their needs met at someone else’s expense.
  18. Are like Jesus – in every way they RE-PRESENT the Father to a dying world.
  19. Have as their primary goal to build the Kingdom of God not their own ministries.
  20. Have learned how to stop planning, organizing, strategizing, and evaluating long enough to rest in Him so that He can bring forth miraculous direction.
  21. Understand the difference between purpose and destiny.  You can have a purpose and still miss your Father’s destiny for you.
  22.  Have learned how to receive and give away the Father’s love to the next person they meet.