BOOK REVIEW
🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🎤🔥🔊
TESTIMONY DIRECTORATE
BOOK REVIEW
REVIEWER: GCM MRS. FLORENCE AYENI
BOOK TITLE: LOYALTY AND DISLOYALTY
AUTHOR: DAG HEWARD MILLS*
This book has Scripture quotations from King James Version of the Bible.
It has twelve chapters in all.
Chapter 1
Why Loyalty
This chapter looks at the seven important reasons for loyalty.
The most faithful and loyal people in church are the ones who qualify to be leaders and not the good speakers, not the flashy or friendly ones as the disloyalty are always from within.
Once you discover them, the best you can do is to get rid of them, no matter how close thay are to you.
It is better to work alone than with a group of people who are not loyal as they can bring down your ministry. To have a large church, the best system is to have Pastors who are loyal firstly to God, then to the vision carrier and to the Vision itself. It is important to build a team of loyal successors who can carry on the ministry when the founder goes to be with the Lord. Above all, there’s a special reward for people who are loyal. Revelation 21:14
Chapter 2
Stages of Disloyalty: Becoming Disloyal is a Process
This is an interesting Chapter as it looks as the eight stages of disloyalty. It helps one to identify the stages the people who disloyal are at so that one is abke to make a decison before the worse becomes worst.
Stage 1
Independent Spirit
⬇️
Stage 2
Offence
⬇️
Stage 3
Passivity
⬇️
*Stage 4
The Critical Stage
⬇️
Stage 5*
The Political Stage
⬇️
Stage 6
Deception
⬇️
Stage 7
Open Rebellion
⬇️
Stage 8
Execution
What scared me the most is the stage will talks about Execution for being disloyal to a ministry. The punishment for being disloyal is really death.
Chapter 3
A Culture of Allegiance
Every church has a way of doing thing or has a set standard.
A church which has a disloyalty culture is one wher assistant pastors find it easy to pass sarcastic comments on their senior pastor without a shed of guilty.
In church where there is a loyalty culture, no one dares to speak against the pastor and even members know that.
If one doesn't want to to have a disloyalty culture, right the way to go, you shouldn't tolerate anyone who gossips or talks behind anyone's back.
Another way is that if one wants to leave the church freely let them go, because holding them back usually causes greater harm.
Try to put one assistant pastor in a position he does like and you will see if that person is loyal or not..
The book encourages to teach on disloyalty and loyalty in church as someone a disloyal member may not know that he is disloyal.
Always make a way for people to leave when they want and work only with people who are willing to work with you.
Chapter 4
Lessons On Loyalty
This Chapter has lessons for one to learnt.
One of them is that one has to fully convinced that the ministry he is in, is where he ought to be, as it is essential for development of true loyalty.
The Pastors also have to be ready disclose their personal details, and be ready to withstand unfound accusations about them.
Pastors need to be open about their financial stand, vision and also explain any unpleasant issues in full to the members.
Another lesson is to follow the higher authority when there's a dispute, but as long as the higher authority follows Christ.
One has to choose who to follow as one can't serve two masters at any given time. You can't please one church at the expense of another, you have to let go of one of them.
Have people you can easily flow with in the same passion and will stand for you no matter what.
Remember to analyze the people who surround you and get to know them personally. This is to assist you not to easily judge them when an accusation arises.
Further, analyze too what they say and preach so that you know who is for you.
Chapter 5
Signs of Disloyalty
This chapter deals with signs one needs to be on the lookout for.
Leaders who are not around either when the church is in good standing or they are going through a crisis. Leaders who are morally, financially or worldly.
Leaders who are disrespect or underrate your authority or have not got over the time they were hurt.
Leaders who don't want to be retrained, criticized, corrected, do menial jobs but vying for higher positions etc.
Leaders full of excuses, can't keep promises, don't appreciate your preaching but think they know it all, dont care about your ministry, unfaithful and so forth.
Chapter 6
From The Lips Of Treacherous Men
This covers pastors who feel that;
1. They are better than their senior pastors.
2. Telling lies which get people to sympathize with them.
3. They can't accept the new teaching in church thus spread malicious words.
4. They can't be transferred
5. They can question authority's decisions.
6. They know what people are saying - disloyalty at the political stage.
7. Their leader's firmness and strength as stubbornness and pride.
8. They can challenge their pastor.
9. They an easily state that pastor is unbearable.
10. The senior pastor and associate pastors relationship is more a form of slavery.
11. Rebellion is okay.
12. Sarcastic comments best describes their senior pastor.
13. The senior pastor is not popular in church.
14. Free to express dissatisfaction or openly exposes deficiencies in the home church.
Chapter 7
A Loyal Assistant
What is covered in the chapter are good attributes of an assistant pastor. Remember that assistant pastor can make or break a church.
An assistant pastor is purposed to be a good ambassador , responsible and always available.
The good associate pastor will;
1. Mentions, quotes, praises the senior pastor as much as possible.
2. Pass postive comments about what the senior pastor preaches, announces his arrival or visit with excitement and is genuinely happy with his promotion.
3. Support and cover your senior pastor and always remind the congregation that you are not the head pastor and that there are times you stand in for him.
4. Acknowledge what you have learnt from you senior pastor and learn from him too. Catch his anointing too.
5. Acknowledge and ensure that your senior pastor has proper seat at any function.
6. Acknowledge the pastor's wife too.
7. Use your senior pastor as a good example when preaching.
8. Be submissive to your leader and don't establish private fellowship without the approval of your pastor.
9. Organise surprise gifts for senior pastor and be available to see him off or welcome him back.
10. During counseling sessions, back up the senior pastor. Don't be passive.
11. During meetings or preaching, take notes.
12. Defend your senior pastor even though he has made mistakes.
13. Always pray for your head pastor
14. Give your head pastor wise counsel.
15. Be content with your position as associate pastor.
Chapter 8
A Disloyal Assistant
How to know a disloyal assistant pastor
1. Never supports the senior pastor's ideas, happy when things go wrong and feel that he could do better if he was the head.
2. Doesn't like to be a subordinate and feels he is his own boss.
3. Always want to take the senior pastor's seat at any given opportunity.
4. Always sees faults in th head pastor.
5. Never appreciates his senior pastor but external pastors and listens only their messages.
6. Always feel that things should be done in a different way.
7. Readily supports those who complain about the head pastor.
8. Never acknowledge the senior pastor's preaching and wears the "know-it-all* attitude.
9. Is not in support of the congregational praise of the senior pastor.
10. Is jealous of the progress of the senior pastor and doesn’t appreciate the privilege and honor upon the senior pastor.
11. Openly disagrees with the head pastor.
12. Always wants to leave the church
13. Doesn't put in any effort in the assignment given.
14. Mostly listens to the wife who is spiritually not standing.
Chapter 9
Why Judas Betrayed Jesus
First and foremost, Judas came from Kerioth while the rest of the disciples were from Galilee.
He was probably not pleased with the ministry work as he had thought he would personally gain from it.
Chapter 10
Avoiding Disloyalty
1. Resign - either the Jacob way (Just disappear Jacob was almost cursed by his father-in-law) or the Moses way (bid farewell this carries blessings. Moses was blessed by his father-in-law)
2. Can rebels repent? Yes but not all the time after true repentance.
All the 10 disciples deserted Jesus but all they came back except for Judas Iscariot.
True repentance involves :
Admit to yourself and to God that you have been a rebel.
Ask God for his mercy and forgiveness
Confess your rebellion to those against whom your rebelled
Tell your group and explain to them to repent too.
Confess your rebellion and sins to the church and others against which you rebelled.
You will be forgiven and realsed in God's blessing .
Chapter 11
The North Wind
If you don't along with your team ask them to leave peacefully.
Church has the right to exclude people whose presence is not desirable. (Jude 12)
Read Jude 10 - 12
Who to Exclude
1. Backbiting tongue
2. Slanderous person
3. Double-tongued person
4. Murmurer
5. Evil critics
6. Tale-bearers
7. Accusers
8. Liars
9. People who cause divisions
10. Quarrelsome people
Chapter 12
The Good Fruit Of Loyalty
Read Matthew 25:21
Loyal people receive an increase from the LORD. Always remember that your prayer for growth for the church and ministry, loyalty is key for expansion. The blessing of being large is reserved for the faithful and loyal people.
The second blessing of faithfulness is entering the joy of the LORD. And I quote 'This means experiencing the favour of God. When the favor of God is upon you, your enemies will not flourish'
Read Psalm 41:11
Be loyal person so that you can have God's in all that you do
Let these words be to your hearing and applicable to to Well done, good and faithful servant
🔚🔚🔚🔚🔚🔚🔚🔚🔚🔚
Dare to Testify
Such a blessing
ReplyDeleteI really bless God for Christian library,it's such a blessing.
ReplyDeleteThank you founders and all serving.