Training with the BLW President in 2013

Nuggets For Lights of the World

Pastor Don Okhuofu

October 2019
Agenda

Introduction
Environment and global trend
Vision and focus
Mediocrity
Capacity building
Ministering the word
Instruction for would be pastors
Conclusions
Agenda

Introduction
Environment and global trend
Vision and focus
Mediocrity
Capacity building
Ministering the word
Instruction for would be pastors
Conclusions
Introduction

•With informal training, we have achieved quite a lot in ministry.

This training was introduced by the President as a process to give
the formal element to our cumulative learnings to date in
ministry.

•The training was designed to position us for greater and more

specific success in responsibilities given. Taking us from where we
are further to where we should be going.

•Many of us have already been successful and have already

achieved so much in ministry. The training was necessary to make
us sharper and better positioned for what more we have to do in
ministry

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Introduction

•Pastor stated that it is important to always recognize the successes

we have made already and let them inspire us to do more.

•Pastor defined success again as the achievement of a

predetermined goal. We therefore need to know the various
milestones of successes and celebrate them as we journey. We are
not to shoot in every direction, but to work with focus.

•As leaders who have been in the ministry for fairly long periods
of time, we already have the basic requirements. We will,
therefore, accomplish so much more within a short time
following this program.

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Agenda

Introduction
Environment and global trend
Vision and focus
Mediocrity
Capacity building
Ministering the word
Instruction for would be pastors
Conclusions
Environment and global trend

•The world is not going to get friendlier! In the last days it will
difficult to be a Christian

•The liberals have an agenda to deceive and intimidate the church.

There is an agenda and there is a mission behind the networks,
the likes of CNN, gay rights. The church will be under scrutiny

•The time is short, so we have to move fast.

•We are never to look at our lives with the limitation of our
environment. We should always think differently.

•Introduce excellence into everything. This excellence comes by

the wisdom of God (discovering God's purpose and fulfilling it).
Our reasoning by God’s Spirit is different, we should be different. 7
Environment and global trend

•With the quantum of talent in Nigeria one wonders why not as

much progress. So many with so much, but used for evil. While a
large majority of others just sit still.

•That same spirit could creep into the church. This is because the
environment we live in could affect us except we are on the
offensive in changing the environment.

•When you are on the offensive, you bring the change otherwise
you could be recipient of the negativity in the environment.

•That was the key difference between Abraham and Lot. Abraham
was proactive in changing the environment. He had the mentality
of a king and was full of faith.
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Environment and global trend (Copy Abraham, not Lot!)

•Abraham acted without sense evidence and did not look for the
advantage of the environment. He knew the blessing was in him
and not in the place he went.

•His nephew Lot on the other hand, thought the environment

would provide the success. Lot needed the environment to make
him, but Abraham made the environment.

• We as ministers are not after Lot but after Abraham. We should

therefore think like Abraham. Think of what impact to make,
think of what change to bring and not what we can get.

•No nation has something to give us, we are the ones with so
much to give them. Continually think of what to do for people
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Environment and global trend

•Three basic problems with Nigeria:

–Unbelief: Unpersuadeableness. They talk the talk but don’t walk

the walk.
– Indiscipline. Acute and chronic indiscipline. Inconsistency
between what they said and how they act.
–Peculiar lack of wisdom that reveals itself in a systematic
deafness. ….seeing they see not…… They receive little.

•These lead to several cycles of failure. Needing to restart all the

time. Always beginning again. No continuous progress

•Anyone who would address these three things would find

unending success!
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Agenda

Introduction
Environment and global trend
Vision and focus
Mediocrity
Capacity building
Ministering the word
Instruction for would be pastors
Conclusions
Visions and focus

•Focus is another way of saying direction. There's got to be focus

in everything.

•Everything we do should be focused and in the direction of our

journey in life and call in ministry!

•Once you can see the vision, everything changes!

•Carnality, mundanity and mediocrity impair sound visions.

•But, the imaginative power is the creative ability. Use visions,

because there is so much power in visions and dreams.

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Visions and focus

•There are three different types of vision as mentioned during the

Pastoral Refresher Course, namely:

– Vision of the optical sight

– Visions of the soul/mind
– Visions of the spirit

•Visions of the mind are the creative visions which are within our
control. We need to give it a lot of focus and attention.

•Thoughts help us create imaginations. When we take a hold of

thoughts and pictures in the mind to create a pattern we have
imaginations.
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Visions and focus

•These thoughts and imaginations come from meditation.

•We should learn to sit and create the images we want and as
inspired by the Spirit.

•In architecture, a building is first in a man before it comes out to

the physical for others to see. It's got to be built on the inside first
before it comes on the outside.

•Several times dreams and ideas formed in the heart of men do

not happened either because they are forgotten or discarded.

•God didn't put us here to speculate. We are His trophies. He likes

to show to the world what we are and what we can accomplish.
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Visions and focus

•Visions can only be sustained by passion, otherwise they fly away.

•Passion must be fueled. If not, they gradually extinguish.

•Ways to fuel passion:

– Pray continually about it
–Pray with passion
– Pray your passion
– Talk and act your passion.
•Pray and study the word and meditate. You will have a dream.

•Saturate the vision with passion, fuel the vision.

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Agenda

Introduction
Environment and global trend
Vision and focus
Mediocrity
Capacity building
Ministering the word
Instruction for would be pastors
Conclusions
Mediocrity

•In the house of God there are those whose ways are after the
way of Cain and not of Abel, after Saul and not of David, after
Esau and not of Jacob, after Lot and not after Abraham.

•We know these people by their results. Not by their worship or

even their preaching.

•There are groups of people in church who don't fail, but they just
don't excel. They are idle and lukewarm. These are those who
constantly see the truth of God in the future. They never arrive.
They are always hopeful, but they are just happy with hope.

•They are nice. They talk hope but they never win. They never try.
They hope. They look forward but they don't do anything. Their
hope never turns to faith! They are dangerous! 17
Mediocrity

•Paul argued with these kind of people and their thinking in

Galatians 3 and 4.

•The cure for unbelief is teaching of the word. Faith comes by

hearing. When people are unbelieving, they may not have heard
or may not have heard right!

•Our work is to calm them down and teach them over and over
again. We need to be sympathetic towards them.

•We need to listen to messages and study the scriptures to mold

our lives and not just because of preaching. For example, it is
amazing the amount of knowledge you'd gain by reading the
Rhapsody.
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Mediocrity

•Ensure your brethren have the Rhapsody.

•When there's no growth, it is most likely that the leader does not
study his Rhapsody and/or does not encourage his members to.

•This could also affect the leader's finances. His finances won't
grow as well as that of his church.

•Believe in progress. Leaders must cultivate a dislike for anything

mundane or stagnant or mediocre in their lives and around them.

•If you're going to have the good life and be successful, we need
to work hard. The hard work is discipline in studying the word
and the diligent application of knowledge. The hard work is the
doing and applying the word. 19
Agenda

Introduction
Environment and global trend
Vision and focus
Mediocrity
Capacity building
Ministering the word
Instruction for would be pastors
Conclusions
Capacity building

•Always be mindful of need to increase membership thereby

increasing capacity.

•Always think ‘what else can I do’?

•Do ministry exactly how Jesus did it. Jesus had twelve disciples;
He trained them; He empowered them

•Jesus knew he needed capacity. He developed and deployed

capacity and it produced tremendous results.

•We do not have to go to all places to make impact. Our ministry

vision is a global vision and we make the impact from where we
are. we should multiply capacity from where we are
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Capacity building

•Jesus made disciples. He taught them and made champions out of

them.

•Identify the people who are listening and who are committed.
Pull them close, give them responsibilities. Give them oversight.
Create leaders out of them.

•The result may not happen overnight, but it will surely come.

•As the work expands, create more leaders. Create cells of leaders.

•Organizations are built by relationships. The most important asset

is human assets. Therefore build people!
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Capacity building

•Have different groups of leaders. Create leaders and work with

them. Choose them carefully and work with them. They may not
get it all at once, but be patient with them.

•Form these into cells, have relationships with them. Bring them
into the inner circle. Pray for them, pray with them.

•Be extremely patient when you're raising people. They are the
greatest asset but the are also the most challenging to manage

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Agenda

Introduction
Environment and global trend
Vision and focus
Mediocrity
Capacity building
Ministering the word
Instruction for would be pastors
Conclusions
Ministering the word

•Ministering to people is an art and the result of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit. It can be built up and developed.

• The way we communicate matters a lot. If we do not say it right

the brethren may not believe right. We therefore need to be
accurate.

•We however need to start from somewhere and then get better
as we are guided by the Spirit.

•If we could get the people to come and, we communicate

properly, the Lord Himself will manifest His great glory! But we
have the responsibility to make them come and to be vessels to
properly bring the message to them.
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Ministering the word

•We therefore have to learn to communicate better. To say it well.

•It is better to say it slowly than to rush.

•If the people have not learnt, you have not taught.

•Later services are more difficult than those earlier as the people
are usually more tired leaving the pastor with the tough job of
keeping them awake.

•We must be careful how we lead the people. We have a

responsibility for people to want to come to hear us. Whatever
we have to say therefore must count and be worth hearing.
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Ministering the word

•The message must change lives! The message must be part of the
soul winning process.

•This is not just about what we say, but about how we say it.

•Make sure there are no dissonance and things that easily take
their attention away. Therefore appear properly. Dress properly.
Select the dressing colors properly knowing that not every shirt or
color goes with suits.

•When communicating therefore, we should do so in a way that

could be understood. The conduct of your delivery is as
important as the content.

•Say what you have to say right, so that no one misunderstands it 27

Ministering the word

How do we address the people?

•We must always address them as the rich. Address them as the
strong. Address them as people who are already on the journey
of success. Don't talk to them as though they don't know
anything.

•Rebuke an action without taking away the character they've

already attained. Honor whoever needs to be honored.

•Never characterize or generalize the entire congregation with the

misdeeds of a few. Don't preach to the whole congregation with
one person in mind.

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Ministering the word

Rules for scriptural interpretation: The basics on which to build the

rest:

•Primarily accept literal interpretation before observing allegories,

similes or metaphors.
•The contextual relationship.
•These would be immediate context: characters involved, verses
before that may qualify the statement or verses after that my
clarify the statement.
•The environment of the subject at that time.
•General context: the whole chapter and the whole book.
Relationship with the whole body of revelation.
•The events and culture at the time of writing, historical
consideration.
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Ministering the word (Doctrine)

•Work on yourself and the doctrine. Review yourself and review

the doctrine so that you are continually right.

•Don't teach what you don't know! You're dealing with people's
lives. Study it well; and know it well before you make it public.

•Patiently look through and study. People who don't know are
usually the very vocal and argumentative. They usually will get
hooked in their own web.

•Don't assume that everyone is going to like you because you are a
good pastor and preach well. Also don't think people like you or
don’t like you because of something you did. Remember, it is not
about you, but it is about Christ.
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Ministering the word (Christ is the essence of the message)

•Everything must be around Christ, must point to Christ and must

be consistent with Christ.

•Recognize the unity and harmony of scripture. While accepting

the presence of progressive revelation, referencing of subjects
then matters. Reference through scriptures i.e. checking what
other passages of scriptures say on the same subject is vital.

•All the books of the Bible and all the messages have a theme.
That theme is Christ. If it is not to do with Christ, then it has no
place in the message.

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Ministering the word

•Recognize the magnitude of standing on the stage to minister; it is

an extra ordinary responsibility. It means a whole lot and must
not be taken lightly. Therefore pray about it. There is so much
value in praying ahead of any ministration. Get yourself soaked in
His thoughts.

•Be so ready that at the slightest prompt of the Spirit you will be
ready so as to be confident after the ministration that you did
exactly what God wanted you to do.

•Be so ready in prayers!

•When it seems that the contact with the anointing doesn’t seem
to be coming when you're preparing, you should fast!
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Ministering the word

•Prayerful preparation is key! As the Archbishop Benson Idahosa

said; prayerful preparation prevents poor performance. Prepare
like it is your first meeting.

•Resist the temptation to be sensational. A message is not better

simply because the people shouted all through the service. All you
need to be concerned about is if you pleased the Lord.

•After the service, be concerned only about whether you did what
the Spirit wanted you to do; did you say the right things; did you
do the right things as God wanted you to?

•The people may not know, but the Holy Ghost knows. Did you
grieve Him?
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Ministering the word (Length of messages and services)

•Control the length of the message. Make the message short; 45

minutes maximum. This is usually achievable from the planning.

•Change the structure of the message if it will take time. Say the
most important things at the shortest possible time.

•Be careful of too many activities in a service.

•Don’t start services late because people come late.

•Let the message be when the people are still very fresh. Put the
message in the right place during the service.

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Ministering the word (Length of messages and services)

•On Partnership Days: Videos etc may come in the plan, special
offerings, etc. Review the videos in advance and allocate
appropriate time so as to ensure time is effectively managed.

•It is important that services are finished within reasonable times

particularly evening services so that everyone gets home on time.

•Do not make a profession of the message; instead let it be your

life. Believe the message. Know the message. Understand the
message, and Live the message.

•Messages are to empower the people not to get them to do

things.

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Ministering the word (What do you want; applause or presence?)

•When you work on the message, write out your details so you
can review it. Meditate on the outline so it goes into your spirit.

•Allow the Holy Spirit to give you more while you preach. He
gives additional information as you preach. But prepare a
detailed outline ahead.

•As a minister, speak in a language that the people can understand.

•1 Corinthians 14:7-9
And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a
distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? 8 For if the
trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 9 So likewise
ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known
what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.
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Ministering the word (Preparing for services)

•Be involved in the preparation for the service. Make the changes
when it is still possible.

•The pattern is usually given to the pastor. The design for the
tabernacle was given to Moses and that of the temple to David
and not the architects; not to the venue managers!
•It is the pastor that God gives the instructions to. Therefore move
round and see that things are according to the set pattern.

•Don't assign the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Lead and as led!

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Ministering the word (Presentation)

•Ensure you have the right volume; not too loud and not too low.

•Volume can be disturbing or distracting. Take the audience and

the size of the room into consideration.

•Also consider the age distribution of the listening congregation.

•Listen to yourself so you know your peach. Is it stable or rising?

•This does not mean you should change your personality, but you
should improve it. Have the consciousness of making an
improvement.

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Ministering the word (Presentation)

•Improve even your pronunciation and your accent. Be concerned

about being understood. Say things right and ensure the meanings
are clear.

•Also check the rate of speaking; the speed of emission of words.

Don't speak too many words at the same time.

•One way to improve pronunciation is to read out passages into a

recorder and play it back to yourself.

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Ministering the word (Presentation)

Appearance

•Dress a little more formally than the audience.

•The dressing says something about the meeting.

•The dressing and your message must go together. You are raising
people, not just speaking to an audience.

•Don't be too flashy. Don't attract undue attention. Be nice and

smart.

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Ministering the word (Presentation)

Body language

•This is your non verbal communication. Are you sensitive enough

to recognize what your body language communicates?

•You need some self consciousness, after all others are conscious of
you.

•Don't be a negative distraction. What does your body language

say?

•Don't move to one area of the platform more than the other.

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Ministering the word (Presentation)

•Get them to focus on the message and it's meaning rather than
some other distractions.

•Watch out for distracting habits.

•Try to make eye contact. Don't over focus on certain individuals.

Let it be about ‘us’ and not about ‘me’.

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Agenda

Introduction
Environment and global trend
Vision and focus
Mediocrity
Capacity building
Ministering the word
Instruction for would be pastors
Conclusions
Instructions for those who would be pastors

1 Timothy 3:1-7
•1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good
work.
•2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of
good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
•3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a
brawler, not covetous;
•4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all
gravity;
•5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of
the church of God?)
•6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of
the devil.
•7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he
fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

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Instructions for those who would be pastors

•Pastor is a shepherd while the Bishop is an overseer.

•Pastor is not a title. Those appointed over congregations are

bishops.

•Read these over and over again for your personal edification.

•1 Timothy 3:14-15
14 These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:
15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave
thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth.

•There is a way to behave in the house of God.

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Instructions for those who would be pastors

•Don't express anger unduly.

•There is a way to carry yourself.

•Your language of your daily life matters. Let no corrupt

communication come out. Let the words edify.

•You're a leader, therefore distinguish yourself. Carry yourself with

importance. Control the tongue and don't let little things offend
you.

•An unhappy pastor will have an unhappy congregation. And they

will in turn frustrate each other.
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Instructions for those who would be pastors

1 Timothy 4:6
6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good
minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine,
whereunto thou hast attained.

•Paul addressed Timothy recognizing what Timothy had already

attained so much in ministry.

1 Timothy 4:7
7 But refuse profane and old wives 'fables, and exercise thyself rather unto
godliness.

•Godliness => outward piety. Godly demeanor. Eusebiea.

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Instructions for those who would be pastors

•There are things that ministers do for example, they pray with
and for the members.

•There is a behavior of a minister of God. He is humble. He uses

the language of God.

•Train yourself to do these. Ministers need to be trained. Spiritual

children learn as natural children do.

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Instructions for those who would be pastors

1 Timothy 4:6-8
6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good
minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine,
whereunto thou hast attained. 7 But refuse profane and old wives 'fables, and
exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but
godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and
of that which is to come.

•Always rise above critics and haters. Leave them talking. They are
critics, we are creators.

1 Timothy 4:15-16
15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting
may appear to all. 16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in
them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

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Instructions for those who would be pastors

•If you walk in these you will be bold. Not false boldness.

•Titus 3:8-9 NIV

8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that
those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing
what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels
about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

2 Timothy 2:14-15
14 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against
quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do
your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does
not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

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Instructions for those who would be pastors

•Don't joke carelessly. Not in an ungodly manner.

1 Timothy 6:20
20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and
vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called

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Questions

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