Maranatha Grace Church

Brothers and Sisters,

Nelson Mandela said about courage, "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."  One of the top qualities of a good leader is to act courageously.  Esther was one who by leaning on her faith learned how to act courageously in face of possible death. Forced to reveal her nationality under a dangerous situation, she answered to her uncle: “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish"  (Esther 4:16)" 

The leadership based on Biblical principles will always triumph because it looks beyond this present life, it looks to God. Esther was a very wise woman, a true leader who knew the power of timely disclosure and the importance of acting patiently and deliberately. She would not rush into making any decision. Because all her decisions were made thoughtfully and prayerful, God was able to use her to save a whole nation.

Esther 3 - 5. 

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

It seems that the Bible is obsessed with counting, There are so many counting episodes in the Book of Nehemiah that the reading of the book gets tedious. Why so much counting? Counting promotes transparency and accountability, two key elements in the fight against fraud, waste, and abuse. "Regleman pa gate zanmi, -  Giving an account doesn't destroy friendship (loose translation)." At least this is the way it should be.

Leaders need to adopt agreed accounting principles. The story of  the feeding of the multitude in Mark 6:41 is an example of transparency and accountability. Everything is accounted for, no fraud, no waste, no discrimination.

Mark 6:39-44,  "³⁹ Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³ and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴ The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand."

Nehemiah 11- Esther 2

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

People cannot take a vacation on leadership just as they cannot take a vacation on prayer. Pray without ceasing, the Bible tells us. In the same, way we must lead without ceasing, we must lead consistently and constantly. We must start to lead ourselves, long before we can hope to lead others. In Colossians 3:17, we read, " And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." This is a twenty four hour job. 

Nehemiah and Ezra became true leaders of the people by being themselves true followers of the Law. The people followed their leadership because these leaders were accountable to something greater than themselves. They followed the Law, and they were wholly submitted to God.

Nehemiah 8 -10

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

In Acts 6 when a problem arose in the new church regarding the distribution of food to the widows, the Apostles delegated the task of distribution to seven selected men by the congregation. The criteria of selection was simple but profound. The   people had to choose seven men from among themselves who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.

Great leaders in the Bible are always people full of the Spirit and wisdom. In Nehemiah 7:2, Nehemiah said, " I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do." Should we ask less from our leaders? Administrative tasks can always be delegated, but integrity and fear of God cannot be delegated. .

Nehemiah 5 -7

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters, 

Haiti is one of the most Christian countries of the world, 96% of Haitians are Christians. We should expect that a country with such a high number of Christians to  be "La Perle des Antilles," as it used to be called in the past. But the reality is very different. What is wrong? 

Leadership is a process, it can be developed. To progress, a country needs good leadership and good governance, just as we see them implemented in Nehemiah administration of Jerusalem. He was a man passionate about his God, fiercely devoted to the betterment of his people, and with high competency and integrity. Since the majority of Haitians are Christians, the church should intentionally step up to train true leaders to lead the country.

I propose to you the acronym LDRSHIP used by the US Army for its seven basic values: 

1. Loyalty - Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other soldiers.
2. Duty - Fulfill your obligations.
3. Respect - Treat people as they should be treated.
4. Selfless Service - Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own.
5. Honor - Live up to all the Army values.
6. Integrity - Do what’s right, legally and morally.
7. Personal Courage - Face fear, danger, or adversity [physical or moral].

Nehemiah 2 - 4

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

I'd like to return once more to the definition of leadership articulated by the US Army,  "Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization."

Leaders such as Ezra and Nehemiah understood clearly what the mission was.  Single-mindedly, they pursued the mission even when they had to take drastic measures such as asking the men of Israel to turn away their foreign wives. Leaders must clearly understand their chain of command. Their actions should not derive from their whims, rather  from direct orders supporting the mission. 

Biblical leaders pray and receive their orders directly from God himself, from his word. 

Ezra 9 - Nehemiah 1

May the Lord richly bless you!

God can change a leader’s attitude. 

6:22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

7:6 this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

7: 28 and who has extended his good favor to me before the king and his advisers and all the king’s powerful officials. Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

8: 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.”

Ezra 6 - 8

May the Lord bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

To hear the news coming from Haiti, it seems that the country has lost its way. Everyday the lawlessness seems to be getting worst. I was at the barbershop this afternoon, one of the barbers there challenged me with this question: " Pastor, should we continue to pray for Haiti to get better or try something else?" I answered that we should do both. We should  pray more than ever for the leadership of the country and we should open ourselves to learn from others who had been successful in directing their countries to a better future. 

There are a lot to learn from the story of the rebuilders of Jerusalem in the book of Ezra. Today as we read Ezra 3-5 I encourage you to think about what every Haitian can do at a personal leadership level to help their country. True and lasting changes must start first within. Most crises are spiritual ones. 

Ezra 3 - 5.

May the Lord richly bless you! 

Brothers and Sisters,

The title of one of the main sections of 2 Chronicles 34 is "The Book of the Law Found." After Hilkiah the priest had found the Book of the Law of the Lord,  the King and the people earnestly started to read it and to listen to it. They applied the truth of the Word of God to their personal lives, and consequently the whole nation changed. The discovery or the rediscovery of the Word of God will always bring great blessings to an individual, to a family, to a church, and even to a nation. We must encourage the daily reading of the Bible if we want to see real positive changes in our lives, in our community, and in our country.

2 Chronicles 34 - Ezra 2

May the Lord richly bless you!

Consider the leadership of King Hezekiah and  of his son Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 31-33.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Hello Brothers and Sisters and Friends of Maranatha Grace Church. 

C'est le premier pas qui compte.

Today, I invite you to join with me in starting a "One Year Bible Reading" challenge. We can expect to receive great blessings by going through this project together as a church. The Bible makes it clear  there are great blessings when God's people get together in unity; and reading the Bible together is one of the greatest works that we can accomplish together.

The last time we engaged on a daily Bible reading challenge the Lord poured out great blessings on our church and our families. We can be confident that greater blessings are in reserve for us this time. As we learn from 2 Chronicles 28-30, we should not forget the source of our blessings, and we can always go back to the Lord. So let's occupy ourselves in the reading of the Word of God.