Leading a Local Church (Vol. 2): Leading God's people, #25

By Zacharias Tanee Fomum

This book is a heart surgery of the spiritual leader.

The leader's inner life—spiritual condition—is determinant. Without a deep and intimate knowledge of God, any leadership exercised would be from skill, talent, or natural endowment. It can never satisfy God's heart; neither can it lead God's people to their destiny.

In Critical Ingredients for Successful Spiritual Leadership, the author, Z.T. Fomum, will take you through the necessary heart cultivation required to build the leadership wealth that will set you apart and promote a mere seeker after God into a spiritual leader. He show-cases the spiritual dynamics that will empower anyone at any level of leadership with the capacity to move God to move and transform both men and situations.

And since the heart condition of a leader is most altered in the place of prayer—where the heart is welded to that of God, it is obvious that no spiritual leader can go beyond his performance in the closet—time spent alone with God.

From another angle, the author demonstrates that leadership is conditioned on a life sacrificed, spent, and sold out for others. He elaborates some critical aspects of spiritual leadership like strategic planning, the setting of goals, providing a model, etc., alongside practical strategies on how to successfully start and make consistent progress in leading a local church.

The normal member of the local church is not left out, since they play a key role in their leader's well-being. This book will be of great help in providing insight on how you can be a source of great encouragement and boost the spiritual progress of your leader.

If you are actively leading or aspiring to lead God's people and are determined to dive deep into God so as to take those under your leadership to God's heights and full approval, then this book is for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books4revival
• Release date: May 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224920471

Zacharias Tanee Fomum

For FREE books from Zacharias Tanee Fomum: https://books.bookfunnel.com/ztf-free-ebooks. Professor Zacharias Tanee FOMUM was a man of uncommon spirituality, a leading voice for revival, a workaholic, a prophet-teacher, and a world-shaping spiritual genius. He was a bestselling Christian author (with over 350 books, over 10 million copies in circulation in over 100 languages) and a professor of Organic Chemistry (with over 160 published scientific works of high distinction (earning him the award of a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Durham, Great Britain). His books and the millions of people he influenced in more than 40 years of Christian ministry continue to impact the world with the Gospel today. He founded Christian Missionary Fellowship International (CMFI), a missionary movement that has planted churches in more than 120 nations on all continents. He believed in a life of simplicity and with the support and dedication of his wife and their seven children, his all—time, money, heart, and soul— was dedicated to spreading the Gospel. He carried out exploits for God through the making of disciples for Christ, planting of churches, building spiritual leaders according to the model of the Bible, and serving the body of Christ, especially as a teacher on prayer. Learn more and read exclusive excerpts at: https://ztfomum.org

Book preview

Leading a Local Church (Volume 2)

LEADING A LOCAL CHURCH (VOLUME 2)

Critical Ingredients for Successful Spiritual Leadership

SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP

BOOK 24

ZACHARIAS TANEE FOMUM

Books4revival

Copyright © 2004 by Zacharias Tanee Fomum

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Published by

A division of the Book Ministry of Christian Missionary Fellowship International

[e-mail]

CONTENTS

Foreword

1. Leadership And Prayer

2. Leadership And The Shepherd’s Heart—1

3. Leadership And Brokenness

4. Leadership And The Love of Money

5. Leadership And The Love of The World

6. Leadership And The Shepherd’s Heart—2

7. Leadership And Strategic Praying

8. Leadership And Price Paid

9. Leadership and The Work

The Blueprint of Our Work

10. Leadership And Dealing With Sin

Some Practical Issues in Leading a Local Church

11. Leadership And Total Dependence on God

12. Leadership And Fasting

13. Leadership And Setting Goals

14. Leadership And Providing a Model

Back Matters

FOREWORD

The message in this book was delivered at a leadership course in France, by Professor Zacharias Tanee Fomum in November 2004. We offer it entirely to the body of Christ with very little editing.

The leader’s inner life—spiritual condition—is determinant. Without a deep and intimate knowledge of God, any leadership exercised would be from skill, talent, or natural endowment. It can never satisfy God's heart; neither can it lead God's people to their destiny.

In Critical Ingredients for Successful Spiritual Leadership, the author, Z.T. Fomum, will take you through the necessary heart cultivation required to build the leadership wealth that will set you apart and promote a mere seeker after God into a spiritual leader. He show-cases the spiritual dynamics that will empower anyone at any level of leadership with the capacity to move God to move and transform both men and situations.

And since the heart condition of a leader is most altered in the place of prayer—where the heart is welded to that of God, it is obvious that no spiritual leader can go beyond his performance in the closet—time spent alone with God.

From another angle, the author demonstrates that leadership is conditioned on a life sacrificed, spent, and sold out for others. He elaborates some critical aspects of spiritual leadership like strategic planning, the setting of goals, providing a model, etc., alongside practical strategies on how to successfully start and make consistent progress in leading a local church.

The normal member of the local church is not left out, since they play a key role in their leader's well-being. This book will be of great help in providing insight on how you can be a source of great encouragement and boost the spiritual progress of your leader.

If you are actively leading or aspiring to lead God's people and are determined to dive deep into God so as to take those under your leadership to God’s heights and full approval, then this book is for you.

1

LEADERSHIP AND PRAYER

There are things you raise to the Lord alone. But when you are with the saints and you raise those same things, the force of the presence of the saints who are there carries the things raised to God's throne of grace. This means that those things which you could not pray for alone, you can raise with the saints and the force of their presence will lift those things to the heights of God. I will teach one lesson on prayer so that in addition to leadership we might be more effective people to bring God down.

For the last 52 days I have not left Yaoundé (capital of Cameroon). I have been praying every day, an average of 12 hours a day. That is between 12 to 13 hours a day.

All programmes were cancelled except this one. When I get back, I will continue to pray until 28 December 2004. It will be the first time in 30 years that 100 days have been put aside just for praying. And we were not praying at random.

We wrote down 120,000 prayer topics in 16 volumes, praying through what will happen in our work between now and 2014. By Thursday next week, we would have finished 60 days of praying with the brethren. I will then pray the next 40 days alone and fast as well. After that we will move into Phase 2.

What do I mean?

Phase 1 was to take our work into at least each of the six continents. We now have at least a church in each of the six continents, in 49 nations. That is the extent of Christian Missionary Fellowship International now.

Phase 2 takes us to the year 2014. By then, we must be in 100 nations. So, it is these next ten years that are being prayed for. We are praying for leaders. Those leaders will be raised worldwide in our work. We are praying for marriages. In fact, we have prayed for 1000 marriages urgently. But we are going to pray for 10,000 marriages urgently. We are praying for people to be filled with Holy Spirit. We are praying for 10,000 people to be restored to their first love for the Lord. We are praying for funds to come in. Each night here, I will be praying. WHAT IS NOT DONE IN PRAYER IS NOT DONE AT ALL.

In prayer, you have transactions with God. It is like you have settled something with the president. It does not matter what people are saying. You know what will happen. You know what you have decided with the president. People may say No! No! No! but it will not bother you because you know a decree will come and all will be subject to that decree. So instead of discussing with men and asking what men think or even more quarrelling with men, go and decide the issue with the president. And when you have got the president's approval then you relax regardless of what people say. So, you settle the issue with God. That is what prayer is all about. PRAYER IS SETTLING ISSUES WITH GOD.

You do not bother about what men say: you know that the presidential decree will establish it. Of course, you could deal with a president who will die or one who will be voted out. But the Eternal King cannot die, nor can He be voted out. A president may be willing, but opposition may be too strong for him. But Our God cannot be opposed. So, when we settle things with God in prayer we can relax. You know, in one night 185,000 troops of Israel’s enemy nation were wiped out. If God wanted to wipe out Europe in one second, that would be the end. Man is only strong in talking and only for a short time. So, in prayer we plug into the One who holds the universe. And His power is great. So, we must learn how to deal with God in prayer. Because when we settle with Him in prayer it is done.

When it is settled with God it is settled.

No power can oppose Him.

He is stronger than all opposition.

His power is greater than B-52 bombers.

Our God! That is our God.

We rule over kings.

Behind our words is the power of the Almighty.

I want you to be strengthened in praying and to lay hold on God.

And after you have laid hold on God you relax!

There are consultants in all kinds of things. And there are consultants in prayer.

I hope you become a consultant in prayer. So that when people need someone to talk to God on their behalf, they will come to you. They come and ask you to pray to your God on their behalf.

All time is prayer time.

Let us begin by asking a question. What is the first prayer in the Bible? Who made that prayer? And what answer did the person who prayed receive? Looking from the Bible the first prayer was made by Cain. Cain said to the LORD,

"My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me (Genesis 4:13–14)

Before this God had cursed Cain. The LORD said,

What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth (Genesis 4:10–12).

He was a man sentenced to wandering. The first lesson we must learn is the greatness and generosity of God. It is the magnitude of God. God is so great and so generous. His greatness is beyond human understanding. Look at this. The first prayer ever made was made by a murderer. Could there be someone so unqualified to talk to God? One so unworthy even to pray from a distance! A cursed man! A man cursed by his sin.

So, God had cursed Cain. All was finished. It was total darkness.

Cain could have said I deserve this. I killed my brother. He could have said God is just in cursing me. He could have said that in God's court there is no appeal. He could have resigned to disappearing from God's presence. He deserved nothing and there was nothing left to be done. What was left? Nothing on his part!

But the glorious thing is something was left and that was God. God was there. Cain had squandered all he had. He had ruined everything. But God was there. Cain was not even at point zero, he was at minus zero.

But God the Almighty was still in power. God was there to fill the universe of a murderer, to fill the life of a murderer. Then the murderer spoke to God. Cain said to the LORD,

"My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land; and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me" (Genesis 4:13–14).

Cain was pleading his cause. He was spelling out to God what God had said. He was telling God, this is what you have made of me. God this is your verdict about me. He made a plea to God in response to what God had declared as a consequence of his sin. He made a plea against God's Judgement. Then God answered.

But the LORD said to him, Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over. Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went