Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
T.E.A.M. – Teaching, Encouraging, Admonishing, Ministering
I have never seen an American pastor, of any teams that have been down here, reprimand the praise and worship leader of a Nicaraguan church we have been at. I was dying. Afterwards everyone knew that it was the truth, and it was needed. He simply said to the praise and worship leader, God wants to use you, but He can’t because you are too prideful. He went on to say, ‘your group is great, but they don’t trust you because you don’t have their back.’
Did you realize that there is no ‘I’ in TEAM? As a team, everyone has to be concerned about every one else. One selfish person can destroy a beautiful work.
Without a TEAM behind them, there are very few people who can proudly point at their chests and say I did it. Businesses and churches fail because leaders are more interested in their own success than the welfare of others. No teamwork is possible without that concern.
If you are a believer, even God is part of your team:
Romans 8:28
For all things work together for the good for those who love the Lord!
Loners that aren’t part of any team miss out on life. People are social beings. I think that is why social media is so powerful in an age where it is becoming easier and easier to become a recluse. It is not natural nor healthy for people to be shut in from others.
We just had a team of 30 north Americans staying with Pure Heart here in Nicaragua. When you add in all the helpers, translators and staff we have a team of over 50 people cohabiting, teaching, encouraging, admonishing, and ministering to our 200 + Pure Heart children and their families on a daily basis. When you include their families in the count, we are serving around one thousand souls. On top of that we were at a different church every night doing the same thing. God is good. That was fun! It went seamlessly thanks to theteamwork (which is ultimately a result of good leadership).
Now we are about to be doing the same thing with another group that is trickling in as we speak.
Thank you Pastor Mike Continenza and all 28 of your members of theMiddlefield Abundant Life Church of God for coming down and teaching, encouraging, admonishing and ministering to us also in a much needed way.
Thank you, and GRACIAS!
This is amazing grace!
Dean
