Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 15, Section 1

Two responses of Christians to God’s salvation through Jesus Christ is faith and repentance.

Faith as we recall is belief and trust in the promise and work of Jesus Christ for salvation, Repentance is the turning away from sin and turning to God, it is the putting off sin and putting on righteousness.

Romans 2:4 says that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. We recognize that repentance is a grace given to us from God. It is not something we can boast in because apart from Christ we cannot truly repent, it is a gift of God.

Today’s confession calls it a Gospel grace.

As Christians, God has given us the grace to turn away from sin and to turn to God. Because of this we must do this often as well as call others to repentance. Our lives must be lives of continual repentance of confessing our sins and turning to God. This is how we work out our salvation. That is why we have the confession of sin during our worship service every week.

Let’s read today’s confession acknowledging that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.

Repentance unto life is a gospel grace, the doctrine of which is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, just as is the doctrine of faith in Christ.
Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 15, Section 1

40 Leadership Questions

Accountability questions from Acts 29 Network.

Leadership Accountability Questions
A Self Leadership

1 How are you unique? (calling, gifts, passions, personality, experiences, sin patterns)
2 How do you stay inspired? How often do you practice this?
3 How do you preach the gospel to yourself? (What’s the message in your mind?)
4 What are the rhythms of grace in your life? (scripture practices, worship, community, Sabbath)
5 What idols are calling for your worship?
6 How do you forsake each idol?
7 What are the lies that you believe in your head?
8 How is the gospel applied to those lies?

B Interpersonal Leadership

1 Who gets you and why? Who are your guys? (2 Timothy 2:2)
2 Who do you pray for? What are you praying for them?
3 Who are you considering to become one of your guys and what is your plan?
4 Are you telling the “truth in love” to your guys, consistently? When do you tend to “spin” something?
5 Are you “on time” and following through with promises?
6 Do you say “yes” and “no” with clarity? Who are the people you tend to “please” and why?
7 How are you discipling each of your children and your spouse?
8 Who KNOWS you?

C Organizational Leadership

1 What mission and vision has God entrusted to you?
2 Are you aligned to this mission and vision?
3 To what extent is your identity wrapped up in your position or your mission?
4 Where is there “sideways energy” in your life (schedule)?
5 Do people in your organization know with clarity what you expect of them?
6 What do you expect of others in your organization?
7 How do assure that each person under your charge connects expectations to mission?
8 In what ways do you personify vision and values?
9 What opportunities did you decline for the sake of mission, vision or values?
10 What are the stories that define the culture of your organization? How do you capture these stories? How are the stories being shared?

D Team Leadership

1 Who is your team? (Roles, Styles)
2 Who is going to replace you?
3 How do you demonstrate your love for each team member?
4 What dysfunctions on your team are you addressing?
5 With whom do you sense the most synergy? How can you maximize that?
6 With whom do you sense the least synergy? Why? How are you minimizing that?
7 Who do you struggle to trust? Why? Do you address issues of trust with them? Why or why not?
8 What inspires each team member? (Ask each one, “What aspect of your work brings you the most joy? What stories do you tend to tell most often?)
9 Do team members feel empowered to exercise their greatest gifts and talents on the team?

E Pastoral Leadership

1 What does faithfulness in your calling look like for you?
2 In what new areas are you learning to apply the gospel?
3 Describe your system for managing your availability and “interruptability.”
4 How do you develop men by involving them in ministry and making decisions?
5 What opportunities have you had / taken to herald the gospel in serving others?

Happy New Year 2010

Here are ten questions you should ask the new year… got these questions off the 9Marks blog.

One thing I like about the New Year is how reflective everyone is. This should be a constant thing, something that goes year round. I’m glad though, because I know how unreflective I can be at times and end up in some kind of slump. God is gracious by placing mirrors along the way so I can see…

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?