2018 has been a remarkable year for the ministry of Leadership Resources International. In teamwork with our international partners, we’ve trained over 12,000 pastors in almost 50 countries.

The LRI blog has also experienced fruit and growth. The following links give a Year in Review for our blog. We hope the posts encourage and challenge you to faithfully minister God’s Word in your life and ministry.

Articles

• How to Prepare to Preach When You Have No Time
• Felt-Needs Preaching vs. Consecutive Exposition: What’s Best for God’s People?
• Randy Alcorn on Fighting Sexual Immorality in Ministry
• How to Grow in Humility: Let Philippians Guide You
• Two Tools for Preachers on Applying Scripture
• Why Preach Overview Sermons of Bible Books
• Devoted to the Public Reading of Scripture: Ideas, Techniques, and Resources 
• The Costly Results of an Impaired Prayer Life

Audio Resources

• How to Shape Your Ministry Around Disciple-Making
• 2 Corinthians: The Supreme Pastoral Letter – Interview with Phil Smith

Video Resources

• One-to-One Bible Reading Video Seminar with David Helm
• ‘Every Member’ Conference with Tony Payne | Video from Nexus18

Stories from the Field

Central Asia: Preaching the Word with Clarity and Confidence

One preacher told Turstan that before this training “we got stuck in our own web. The harder we worked to make things clear, the more we confused even ourselves!” Now he preaches from the Word with both clarity and confidence.

Colombia: “Lord, please make this pastor go away!”

Costa Rica: “The pulpit now is no longer a burden, but a blessing”  [Video]

Cuba: Empowering Faithful Word Ministry

“TNT [Leadership Resources’ training for pastors] is really cool because students develop thoughts and sermons based on the principles we learn. This fuels us and also gives us feedback. At the same time, the student can be reproducing this training in home groups, Sunday School, and other places. . . . TNT has helped us greatly.”

Kenya: “His passion is channeled by the text itself. . .”

“His teaching has become more clear and to the point. He doesn’t just appeal to emotions. Paul is still a passionate preacher, but his passion is channeled by the text itself.”

Philippines: From Fear to a Passion to Preach God’s Word

“Everyone there had a far greater understanding of God’s Word. I thought I could never catch up.”

Security-sensitive Asian country: A Movement of the Word…Even Among Drug Addicts 

“A few years ago I was wondering, ‘Who will I train?’ A group of drug addicts at a local rehabilitation center were eager to learn, so I began with them. Soon they were changed by the power of God’s Word. Their hunger for the Word grew further still.

Security-sensitive Asian country: Transformed Pulpits Lead to Transformed Communities 

Chinh’s passion is to equip churches to shower the love of Christ on their communities by meeting social, physical, and spiritual needs . . . acts of love which “adorn” the gospel (Titus 2:10). These churches build schools, care for widows, dig toilets, and help farmers gather their crops when they are sick – they serve both Christians and non-Christians. When asked why, their reply is simple, “Because we love you! And because God loves you so much.” This outpouring of love has created a spiritual hunger among unbelievers to know this God of love. And as a result, many have come to know Christ.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you…”
– Zechariah 9:9 (ESV)

Dear Friends and Partners,

The beauty and the greatness of Zechariah’s proclamation rings in my ears at this time of year. This proclamation of hope causes me to rejoice at our Savior’s birth and deepens my desire that all might know Him.  

This same hope drives the ministry of Leadership Resources to equip pastors to teach God’s Word with God’s heart that they may share the Good News!

As we reflect on this past year, we rejoice that God has provided opportunities for LRI and our partners to work with key pastors in nearly 50 countries around the world, equipping over 12,000 pastors, transforming their ministries and churches through the power of God’s Spirit-backed Word.

We rejoice that those we continue to train gain confidence to preach God’s Word with God’s heart. We rejoice and pray that as they grow and mature, their ability to equip other pastors and church leaders will increase. By God’s grace, as they equip others, a movement of the Word will flourish.

We rejoice that our team is growing. God continues to bring men and women driven by a passion for God’s Word, a love for those we train, and a longing to see the Word of God flowing powerfully through every church to every nation.

We rejoice and thank God for you. Through your partnership, the nations are blessed with the written Word that points to the Living Word, our Lord Jesus Christ.

This Christmas, may you rejoice that the King has come – that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, fulfilling all of God’s good purposes in Christ.

Rejoicing with you in Christ,

Craig Parro

President

P.S. – As we come to the year end, would you prayerfully consider a special gift? By God’s grace, this ministry continues to grow. Your generous gift would help us finish the year strong and begin 2019 with great confidence!

Every Christian is called to pray. Every minister is called to pray. And yet many of us struggle to pray consistent and heartfelt prayers to the Lord. Norwegian preacher Ole Hallesby wrote in 1931 about the costly results of an impaired prayer life, and the wise will take his words to heart and ask for the Lord’s help in prayer.

Children of God can grieve Jesus in no worse way than to neglect prayer. For by so doing they sever the connection between themselves and the Savior, and their inner life is doomed to be withered and crippled, as is the case with most of us…

The result is that we go about at home and in the assembly of believers like spiritual cripples or dwarfs, spiritually starved and emaciated, with scarcely enough strength to stand on our own feet, not to speak of fighting against sin and serving the Lord… This neglect is the cause of my many other sins of commission as well as of commission…

The more of an effort prayer becomes, the more easily it is neglected. Results which are fatal to spiritual life follow, not immediately, but no less certainly. First, our minds become worldly, and we feel more and more alienated from God, and therefore have less and less about which to speak with Him. Then we develop an unwilling spirit, which always finds pretexts for not praying and excuses for having neglected prayer.

Our inner life begins to weaken. The pain of living in sin is not felt as keenly as before, because sin is no longer honestly confessed before God. As a result of this, again, our spiritual vision becomes blurred, and we can no longer distinguish clearly between that which is sin and that which is not. From now on we resist sin in essentially the same way as worldly people do. They struggle against those sins only which are exceedingly dangerous from the standpoint of their consequences.

But such people have no desire to lose their reputation as Christians. For this reason they try to hide the worldliness of their minds as long as possible. In conversation, as well as in the prayer meeting, they are tempted to use language which is not in harmony with their inner selves. Empty words and affectation now seek to strangle what little prayer life is left in their hearts.

All this and a great deal more is the result of an impaired prayer life. And this is just what has taken place in the lives of many believers.[1]

Maybe Hallesby’s words convict you as they do me. My gut reaction in receiving such conviction is to try harder—make up for time I’ve lost and do it in my own strength. This approach doesn’t lead to lasting change or deepen my joy in the Lord.

What does motivate me and deepen joy is taking the focus off of myself and putting it on God, His glory, and His gracious invitation to us in Christ. In Christ, we are His beloved children. In Christ, we have a Father who has an open ear and willing heart to hear our prayers and anxious thoughts (1 Peter 5:7). He knows our failures and weaknesses and wants to be our strength and Provider. Fix your eyes on Him.

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32 ESV)

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[1] Excerpts taken from pages 38–41 of Ole Hallesby’s Prayer.