THE RCCG CHRIST REDEEMER’S MINISTRIES (CRM) LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM (LTP) 2024 @ OLD AUDITORIUM REDEMPTION CITY, OGUN STATE.
THEME: THE ART OF LEADERSHIP
MINISTERING (DAY 2 EVENING): PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE
DATE: 31ST OCTOBER, 2024.
BIBLE TEXT: MARK 9:35
SONG
We give You all the Glory
We give You Honour
We give You all the Glory
We give You Honour
OPENING PRAYER
Father, we give You all the Glory, we give You all the Honour, we give You all the Adoration.
Please, accept our Worship in Jesus Name.
Tonight, I’m committing all these Your Children into Your Hands, in every areas of their lives; show Yourself Mighty.
Anything at all that is not allowing their Joy to be Full, destroy it tonight.
Every Obstacles that may be in their Paths, this very Night Lord; turn it to a Stepping Stone to Glory.
Let it be well with them all Lord and let them serve You to the very End.
In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!
Well, let Someone shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah!
Shake hands with one (1) or two (2) People and say: God Evening; God will bless you.
And then, you may Please be seated!
I’m sure that you must have discovered by now that God is never late – He is always on time.
When He was going to Jairus’ house to heal the daughter; a woman with the Issue of Blood came from behind and stole a Miracle.
By the time He finished with that woman, Messengers came from Jairus’ house and said: Don’t bother Him any longer, your daughter is dead.
But you know the Story – At the end of the Day, the Miracle that Jairus was expecting was Healing; but the Miracle he got was Restoration.
And I’m sure that you know that Restoration is far, far bigger than Healing!
Tonight, a Miracle far, far beyond what you are expecting is what God will give you – Amen!
Mark 9: 35 – And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any Man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and Servant of all .
I have been asked to speak briefly on: “THE ART OF LEADERSHIP”.
And since you are all from the Academics Community, I Prefer to look at this Topic more or less Academically by defining Terms.
The word Leadership of course you know is a Noun from the word Leader.
The Question then is: “Who is a Leader?
A Leader is not always the one who is the fastest in a race.
I mean occasionally, the Pastors come together here and I will say that I want all of us to go out on a Prayer Walk.
I remembered a time when we had to go from here (DMC NOTES: Old Auditorium) to the Youth Center and back.
Automatically because there are some of us who are Young and there are some who are Old; some People arrived at the Youth Center first.
So, the fact that you arrived at the Youth Center first does not mean that you are the Leader – It only means that you are the fastest of us.
A Leader is Someone who has a Fellowship or Followership.
So, if you say that you are a Leader and there is no one following you; you are just going for a walk.
So, a Leader therefore is a Builder of a Followership.
Probably, the work of a Leader is building a Group of People that are following him.
That is why you call People who are following a Leader by the name Fellowship or Followership – People following a Leader!
Now, why will you follow a Leader?
- You know that a Leader is going to a Place where you want to go:
☆ And somehow, you have a feeling that he is most likely going to arrive at that Place where you want to go.
☆ And you have a feeling that following him will ultimately get you to your Goal.
In 1 Corinthians 11:1; Paul said: “Be ye therefore Followers of me as I am of Christ”.
What is Paul saying?
☆ I am headed for Heaven and there is Somebody who is already in Heaven who is my Leader.
☆ As long as I am following Him, I know that one day, I will make it to Heaven.
☆ Now, you can’t see Him, but if you follow me; you will be going in the right direction.
☆ And one day, you will make it to Heaven.
So, when he was about to leave this world, he said: “I have finished my Assignment here, very soon I am going to be Crowned – There is a Crown waiting for me.”
And then he added: “Not for me alone, but for all my Followers.”
DMC NOTES: 2 Timothy 4: 7-8
So, don’t call yourself a Leader if you have no Followers – That is very important!
You must be a Builder of a Fellowship or Followership.
1 Samuel 22: 1-2; the Bible tells us that David went to a Cave called Cave of Adullam and all those People who are in debt, who are distressed, who has one Problem or the other; gathered themselves together to him and he became Captain over them.
He became a Captain or Leader only when he had a body of People who are determined to follow him.
Now, you could ask: Why did they follow him into the Cave?
They had Problems, David has his own Problems too but they gathered themselves together including Debtors because they knew that if anybody said that he wants to come and collect his debt (The Money they owed); and wants to use force, if he can defeat the Man who defeated Goliath, then he can come and collect his Money.
They followed him because his Track Record shows that he can be a Good Defender!
- A Leader leads from the front.
So, anybody who is sitting behind and telling you to do this and that and he is not doing it himself is a Pusher not a Leader.
A Leader leads from the front by Example!
For Example, in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG); it is almost Automatic now that from 11th of January of any New Year; the Mission will Fast. Many times for fifty (50) days, breaking everyday in the Evening.
And then, we will say that if you decide to Fast without breaking, you can do it for twenty one (21) days and you are free.
How do I handle that as a Leader leading from the front?
Because I have a lot of travelling to do in January – Visiting this University and that University, going to Port Harcourt et cetera et cetera.
I start the Fasting with you – I Fast from the first day (11th January) to the 31st January breaking everyday.
Beginning from 1st of February, I began my own Marathon Fasting – Many People who had Marathon Fasting break at twenty one (21) day but I don’t stop after twenty one (21) days.
So, I do the Daily, I do the Marathon and I don’t stop at twenty one (21) day.
Why? The Leader must be ahead of those who are following him.
He must be so ahead that those who are following him will be able to see him that he is ahead.
If you want to be a Leader, you must be infront – You lead from the front and not from behind!
- A Leader therefore must be Someone who is ready to make Self Sacrifices.
In Matthew 20: 27-28; the Lord Jesus Christ made it clear: “He has not come to be Ministered unto but to Minister and to give His Life as a ransom for many”.
You want to be a Leader, then you must be willing to make Sacrifices for the sake of those who are following you.
Years ago when we used to have what we called “Christ The Redeemer’s Congress” which one way or the other had Metamorphosed to “The Holy Ghost Congress” now – But they are not exactly the same thing.
Because in Christ Redeemer’s Congress, we take the Congress from one Town to another Town.
And when we get there, we gathered together from all over the Nation – And People will come, we will Study the Word of God, we will Pray, we will hold Crusade in the Evening and so on.
Then we have a Group of People that we called “Bible Study Leaders”.
Because during the Christ Redeemer’s Congress, we will break to bits like in Sunday Scholl Classes and we get these People that has been Specially Prepared to lead Bible Study.
Before the Program, these People would have come aside, spend time with me in a Place called Youth Camp – Where the Foursquare Gospel Church now has their Camp.
And we will spend the Weekend together – We will teach them what they will teach the People and teach them also a little more.
Teach them a little more about Self Disciplines, Self Sacrifices et cetera et cetera.
During the Weekend when they will be with me at the Youth Camp, there is a Rule.
Rule No 1 is Busher Rule.
Throughout that Weekend – They moved in on Friday and leave on Sunday Afternoon.
From the moment we greeted ourselves Welcome on Friday; you must not open your mouth to say a word to anybody until we finished on Sunday Afternoon – You can’t even greet your wife.
You said: What kind of Discipline is that and why?
Simple, you have come to spend time with God and therefore, you are to spend time Studying and Praying.
And you know what? You Pray harder if that is the only thing you can speak.
If you had been Silent since Morning, and allowed only to talk while Praying at Night; it will be like a Dam bursting.
Now, in the Training that we gave them; we let them realised that during the Congress, they are the ones who will wash the Plates of everybody who had come from all over to eat and to attend.
And it is only after they had washed the Plates of all who came that they can eat – They eat last. And that eating is at the end of the Day’s Program.
When there are enough beds, they sleep last on beds. And when there are not enough beds, they sleep on the field.
You say: Are you serious?
You don’t believe me, ask Pastor E.A Odeyemi, ask Pastor J.F Odesola – We want to be a Leader, we must show Example of Self Sacrifices.
You ask me: Where then do you Sleep?
Most of the time if I sleep at all, I sleep in my car – At least, you don’t have to worry about a bed for me as I don’t need it.
Ask them – They will tell you that while even everybody had slept, I still come round to check that all is well.
And occasionally, I have seen People sleeping on the field in the Harmattan of December and their Covering Cloth will be a Plank of wood.
The People that you see today – Who are my Right-Hand Men, had been through Fire!
Daddy, why are you not giving us that kind of Training now?
Are you sure that you can take it? Many of you are “Bread and Butter” Children and so I have to handle you with care.
But these are the People who can go anywhere in the world and tell the devil that you want to attack me? Come and I will show you that I have been trained through the Furnace of the Holy Spirit.
That’s why when the Church was Young, we are Followers of Christ.
And then of course by the Grace of God, I became the General Overseer – I already had these People around me; then we came here and started a Camp.
The Camp wasn’t like this then – We were living among Serpents and Pythons and all manners of Snakes.
And the same Discipline that we had became very useful – The crowd is larger and so had to feed bigger People.
But we still waited till they had all eaten, and till we have washed their Plates before we even think of food.
Incidentally, I never eat during the Congresses.
It may Surprise you that even though you eat thousands of cows during the RCCG National Conventions every Year, I still don’t eat during the Convention.
Because at least, there must be Somebody who will be able to Stand before the Almighty God and say: Hey, you say that you are looking for a Man; I am here!
So, I remembered one occasion during the Convention – People have eaten, its Night time and we need to wash their Plates. And I have become General Overseer.
And so, I went to join the People to wash Plates – And one of them said: No sir, you can’t be washing Plates anymore.
I said who told you?
You Probably had been thought in the School of Disciples (SOD) that: Any hand that cannot Perform Manual Labour can’t heal the Sick.
☆ You want Anointing? And you think that Precious Things are Cheap?
☆ You want to wave your hands and get Handkerchiefs Saturated with Power and you don’t want that hand to be rough?
Let me ask you a Simple Question now?
How many of you still want to be a Leader? Yes, for the DMC Family Members!
It is Costly to be a Leader
Leadership is not defined by the way you look at it:
☆ Somebody University Daddy.
☆ University Mummy.
It is because many of you has not been through the Fire required to become a Leader, that is why you come out of the University and you say: They didn’t give me a Leadership Position in the Church, therefore I’m going somewhere else.
Fine! May God be with you.
To lead is to Serve – If you can’t Serve, forget Leadership as recognised by God!
- Apart from Self Sacrifice; you really want to be a Leader? Then you must learn to be Humble.
1 Peter 5: 5-6 – He gives Grace to the Humble
It says: Humble yourself under the Mighty Hand of God so that He can raise you up at the Appropriate Time.
And I think that I mentioned it recently when I was talking about Humility.
DMC NOTES: This is during The RCCG IYC 2024, Day 4 Evening, Plenary Session 10 (A Session With Daddy) – Read the Full Text on this Link:
When God was taking me through the School of Humility, He told me that the word “Humility” and “Humus” has the same root.
Humus means “Black Soil” – The same thing with Humility.
You want to be Humble (Real Humble); then you must be willing to be like the Soil.
What is so Special about the Soil?
☆ Everybody will March on it – It won’t quarrel.
☆ You smash it with axes and cutlasses – It won’t complain.
Why? Because it knows that long after you have gone, it will still be here.
Sooner or later, all those who are urinating on the head of the soil will be swallowed by the soil.
When He was taking me through the School of Humility, He told me what happened when there is a Storm:
☆ The Big Trees want to resist the Storm – They want to show the Storm that we are Big, our roots are deep and so blow if you can.
Before you know it, many Big Trees are flat on their faces.
☆ But the Grass – The ordinary little, little Plants.
As soon as the Wind is blowing, they bend.
And after the Wind had stopped blowing, they come back to their Position.
Do you know that there is this saying that: The Customer is always right?
You can put it in another way and say: The Followers must be treated as if they are always right.
You cannot afford to offend the Followers because if they scatter, as long as they are no more Followers, you cease to be a Leader!
You can’t be a Shepherd without a Sheep.
That is why Jesus Christ said: I lay down my Life for the Sheep (DMC NOTES: John 10:15).
You need the Sheep.
He said that I am the Vine, ye are the Branches – Hey, remove the Branches, then there is Nothing left of the Vine (DMC NOTES: John 15: 5-6).
You must learn Humility!
When I tell some People that I am a fool and they are glad because that is what they think I am – And that is what I am.
It is just that occasionally, when we have the opportunity to talk to some of them, I say: Well, I am a fool but you know a very Special kind of fool – Because it is not every fool that gets PhD in Mathematics.
But for Christ sake, you must be a Fool because it is only fools that He will choose.
- And you need something very, very crucial to be a Leader – You need Wisdom.
Proverbs 4:7 says: Wisdom is the Principal Thing, get Wisdom.
Proverbs 24:3 says: It is through Wisdom that a House is built – Remember that a Leader is a Builder.
Ecclesiastes 7:12 says: Wisdom is a Defence – Just as Money is a Defence.
But it went on to say something Excellent about Wisdom – “It gives you Life”.
Ecclesiastes 9: 14-16 tells us that Wisdom is better than Strength.
That’s another way of telling you that: You are Young now, one day you will be Old and you will be Weaker. And when you get weaker, unless Wisdom is there; you will fail.
Ecclesiastes 8:1 tells you that it is Wisdom that will make your face Shine.
… You want to Shine? Be Wise!
Ecclesiastes 9:14 tells us that Wisdom is better than Weapons of war.
Ecclesiastes 10:10 tells you that Wisdom is Profitable to direct.
You are a Leader and you want to be directing People; then you need Wisdom!
When God asked Solomon to ask for something, what did he asked for? Wisdom!
He said that I have a “Big Followership” – How am I going to direct them? Give me Wisdom!
You see, Proverbs 17:2 made it clear – That a Wise Servant shall have rule over a Stupid son.
You need Wisdom!
☆ Wisdom get Joseph who was a Slave, then Prisoner to becoming a Prime Minister.
☆ Daniel a Slave became a Leader – One of the three (3) leading People in the Land of Captivity because of Wisdom.
The Bible says that the Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom.
- You want to be a Successful Leader, then fear God!
Because when you get to a certain Level of Leadership, if you don’t fear God, you are so far above those you are leading, then you will become almost untouchable and they can’t even correct you.
I use to say:
☆ If a Pastor makes a mistake and it gets to the General Overseer, he can then disciplines.
☆ And who disciplines the General Overseer? The Governing Council?
The Governing Council of the Mission can send the General Overseer Packing.
But I said: Ha, you can manipulate that.
If you have done something wrong (God forbids) and the Governing Council decides that they want to sack you; they have to meet to take that Decision.
And when you hear that they want to meet to decide on you; hey you can announce that you heard from God that the Governing Council be dismissed and that a New Set will be appointed at God’s Given Time.
And if they say that we don’t believe you, then you say that you are already dismissed.
If they insisted on holding the Meeting, you ask them to go but whatever Decision you reach is Invalid because you are dismissed.
But can the General Overseer dismissed God? – Fear God!
God is Love – Yes sir; but He is also the Consuming Fire.
The Book of Revelation made it clear – You are in the Hollow of His Hands.
If He needs to deal with you, He doesn’t have to look for you, all He has to do is to close His Hands and you will be Choke to Death.
- Another definition of Wisdom according to the Lord Jesus Christ, has to do with Building!
He says that if you are Wise, you are like Somebody who builds his house on the Rock.
And who is the Fellow who has built his house on the Rock? He is the one who hears the Word of God and will do them.
DMC NOTES: Matthew 7: 24-25
If you do Contrary to His Words, then you are a fool.
- If you want to be a Leader, then you must remain Connected to the Almighty God.
Why? Because He is the Promoter.
Promotion comes from Him – Psalms 75: 5-7.
And 1 Samuel 2: 7-9 – He kills, He makes alive; He raises up, He brings down. He can Pick Somebody from the dunghill and raise him up until he begins to dine with Princes.
And then it added – By Strength shall no Man Prevails.
☆ You don’t become a Leader because you are Strong.
☆ You don’t become a Leader because you are a Great Orator.
Everything is by the Grace of God!
But if you remain Connected to the Great Promoter; it simply means you will never want to do anything that will annoy Him.
☆ You remain Connected because you are constantly Praying and asking Him for Direction – What do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go? How do I do it?
☆ You keep on seeking His face constantly – Knowing fully well that without Him, you can do Nothing (DMC NOTES: John 15:1).
Not only will He Promote you and make you a Leader:
☆ He will sustain you.
☆ He will keep you a Step ahead of your Followers.
☆ He will give you the Grace to become the kind of Leader you want to be.
Like I was telling some of your Leaders – I mean the Church Leaders now; whatever you become in Life is by the Grace of God.
Never forget that!
And things that you think that you can’t do; He can make it easy for you by Supplying the Grace – He gives Grace to the Humble.
- Make up your Mind that whatever happens, I don’t want to offend God!
If you don’t offend God, He will Supply the Grace!
All those things that I mentioned about my Old Bible Study Leaders – And they are all over the world now and I see them everywhere; it may be easy for you too to do.
☆ Being able to Pray.
☆ Being able to Fast
☆ Being able to Humble yourself.
☆ Being able to Serve.
I remember: One day, Somebody saw a Man infront of the Toilet.
Because that is one of the things that we do – We clean Toilets when we want to hold Programs.
Before the People will arrive – We usually use Schools; we go there and clean their Toilets so that our People who are comimg will find the Place clean.
I still remembered one of the Schools that we used – The Toilet was so dirty.
I arrived before anybody of course and I visited their Toilet – Oh Lord, I mean the faeces was right to the door. And I know that if I asked my boys to go and clean that they will go but I felt that this may be too much for them.
But I was ready with all the Cleaning Items – I told them that the Toilet here requires Volunteers and that I will be leading the way.
When they got there themselves, they were shocked.
But I led the way – That time, I was already a Lecturer at the University of Lagos.
By the time we finished with the Toilet, you could do Buble Study inside there.
Maybe I am telling all these Stories because Congress is coming:
☆ And God is expecting some Leaders among you to be the ones who will take care of my Toilets and keep them Spotlessly Clean!
☆ It will take some of you – And you will spend good time washing Plates at the Kitchen, fetching firewood et cetera et cetera.
In any case, there was one of my boys who washed one Toilet and one of the Visitors looked at him and say: Hey, why are you so slow cleaning the Toilet?
He smiled.
Do you know who was he talking to? He was talkimg to a Man, the Company Chairman who has one hundred and seventy five (175) People in his Employment.
But he happened to be my Disciple:
☆ He knows the meaning of Humility.
☆ He knows the meaning of Self Sacrifice
☆ He knows the meaning of Serving the Followers.
So he just smiled and say: Sorry sir, I will be faster next time.
Do you want to lead? And are you willing to Pay the Price? – Yes, for the DMC Family Members!
You are going to Pray tonight – And you know that the kind of Prayer that you are going to Pray will not be a Wishy-Washy Prayer that you Pray with your hands in your Pocket as if you are doing “Yanga’.
You are going to be crying to the Almighty God and tell Him that: I don’t want to be an “Ordinary Leader”; I want to be a Divine one.
The kind of Leader that the Almighty God will looked down from Heaven and say: Alright, I have found a “Real Vessel Unto Honour”.
But I’m going to Pray for you first that God will grant you the Grace.
- Because you know what: Wisdom is a Spirit and it takes God to give you Wisdom!
Deuteronomy 34:9 – And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of Wisdom because Moses laid his hands on him.
I can’t lay my hands on all of you but by His Grace I am Sufficiently Close to Him (God) – Just to wave my hands and things will happen.
And I believe that things will happen today!
Please lift your hands to the Almighty God:
FINAL CLOSING PRAYER
My Father and my God, I want to Thank You once again for another Session with Your Very Special Children.
Today Lord God Almighty, I have explained in my own little way what it takes to be a Leader.
But I am asking You to Please Lord; much more than I can do, explain it all to them.
And then the Grace they need Lord to be Good Leaders from now on, release unto them.
And even as I wave my hands my Father and my God, I Pray that the Spirit of Wisdom will come upon these Your Children in Jesus Name.
I Pray that everything that they need to be Successful Leaders, you will release tonight for them in Jesus Name.
I Pray that very, very soon; the kind of Miracles, Signs and Wonders that only those who are Connected to You can Perform, will become Commonplace in their lives.
As they cry out to You tonight or as they read now on the Label of DMC, my Father and my God; answer them by Fire.
And let them remain Steadfast with You till the very end.
In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!
Your Prayer should be Simple:
Almighty God, everything that I need to be a “Real Leader”; release them unto me tonight!
God Bless You!!!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
STOP PRESS: Out and ready for Pick Up – Our Year 2023 RCCG Programs covering all Programs, Inclusive Weekly Messages of Pastor Mensah Otabil, Apostle Joshua Selman, Bro Gbile, Pastor Paul Enenche and Pastor Poju on a 16GB Flash from our Stable. Call/Text/WhatsApp 08023604721/08066497178/08059821748
To Support DMC: https://discoverymediacrew.com/donate/
To read other Messages on the Coverage of DMC MediaCrew so far this Year and beyond; kindly visit our Website: http://discoverymediacrew.com.
Follow us on Twitter: @discoverymediac
Follow the DISCOVERY MEDIA CREW (DMC) Channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VabDEA9HFxP0xpAB1z25
Send a Friend Request on Facebook to DMC MediaCrew.
Like our FB Page: Discovery Media
Join us on Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/NzzPckuGazKYFxZZFkt9fg
Follow Us on Instagram: Discoverymediacrew
Watch and Follow Us on YouTube: Discovery Media Crew
For Enquiries, email Us on: info@discoverymediacrew.com
Discovery Media Crew … Reaching out to the World through the Power of the Gospel!!!
COMPILATIONS BY:
MOSES DURODOLA, TITILAYOMI AJAYI AND TOPE BABALOLA
© DISCOVERY MEDIA CREW (DMC) 2024
![AUDIO: THE LION’S CUB – PASTOR [MRS] DAYO BENJAMIN-LANIYI, CRM LEADERSHIP TRAINING 2022 DAY 3](https://discoverymediacrew.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CRM-Day-3-Pastor-DB-Laniyi.png)
