How Can a G12 Leader Grows His 12 Like a Coach in a Soccer/Basketball Team?

Jesus was resolute to maintain an unconditional friendship and fellowship with His disciples…. where they shared the same viewpoints and feelings. Being united in thought, feeling, and commitment are the characteristics of a solid team. A soccer team’s victory is based on the cohesiveness of not only the players’ action and judgments, but the coach’s
as well. Jesus said: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5) In the cell Vision, similar to the soccer team, disciples can do nothing if they are not in contact with their leader. Neither can the leader achieve his goal without the help of his team. A leader must maintain an excellent relationship with his or her disciples. He or she must value them as individuals and supply their needs. This will motivate them to grow. The following factors are important to achieve this:

*Teach them how to Grow
Disciples grow in grace, knowledge, and spiritual maturity through teachings that are imparted by the leader. A leader should instruct his or her group in the same way a father instructs his children – by constantly motivating them to grow and be an example. To grow a child requires wisdom to know how to motivate them so that they want to grow. It is not to be assumed that children like to grow…. Mostly, children like to play and sometimes they may even not want to grow up. Hence, it is important that we learn to
motivate our children to grow…

*Form them into Exemplary Leaders
A leader must be committed and challenged to mould and polish the new believers, and to form them into useful instruments in God’s hands…. A leader needs to be willing to serve his disciples. He who is not willing to serve, will not be served. The key in the success of a Good G-12 leader is found in the Servanthood of that G-12 Leader. We need to learn how to serve our 12!!!

*Lead them to Success
A leader gives direction to the disciples and makes them aware of the fact that success is not automatic, but that it is attained through hard work. Leading your disciples to success consists of teaching them to work cooperatively with each other, avoiding envy and competition.

*Teach them to be Spiritually Disciplined
As the leader grows spiritually and is disciplined in new areas, he or she will need to share them with those who surround him or her. God’s discipline is not burdensome. It does not produce bondage, but rather freedom.

*Create and Attractive Atmosphere
The atmosphere a leader develops with his disciples must be full of motivation that encourages others to become involved in leadership as well. We will never be able to grow a strong team if our team is not attractive. If our leaders are not enjoying themselves in the leadership, we will never be able to attract others. No one would join us, and we will fail to win others to Christ. I am talking about growing the people in the Joy of the Lord. We must grow our team in such a way where the team is full of the Joy of the Lord.

*Challenge them to Grow Exceedingly
The cellular Vision and the model of twelve do not allow conformity. However, a leader should relate to his disciples’ great challenges and ambitious goals. This will bring out the immense potential of each person. The highest leadership is one that moves with great spiritual authority.

Conclusion
The cellular Vision and the group of twelve are based on the relationship between leaders and disciples. A successful leader in a group of twelve is one who can display solid fruit, which is reflected in how others have grown through their example, testimony and teachings. Remember this, we must build strong relationship with our 12 and grow them as Children of God.

Source of the above message: Message 7 (Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)
Teaching 7: Jesus and the Unity in the Team of Twelve
The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself…

The Success of Jesus’ ministry was rooted in two places. First, He was determined to remain in constant contact with the Father through prayer. Second, He was resolute to maintain an unconditional friendship and fellowship with His disciples…. Jesus and his disciples shared the same viewpoints and feelings. This unity became a testimony to the world (see John 17:21-23).

1. The Importance of Unity
Being united in thought, feeling, and commitment are the characteristics of a solid team. A soccer team’s victory is based on the cohesiveness of not only the players’ action and judgments, but the coach’s as well. Jesus said: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5) In the cell Vision, similar to the soccer team, disciples can do nothing if they are not in contact with their leader. Neither can the leader achieve his goal without the help of his team. Being united and sharing the same viewpoints is a sign of spiritual maturity (see Philippians 3:15,16)

2. Raising the Best: A Leader’s Responsibility
A leader must maintain an excellent relationship with his or her disciples. He or she must value them as individuals and supply their needs. This will motivate them to grow. The following factors are important to achieve this:

*Teach them how to Grow
Disciples grow in grace, knowledge, and spiritual maturity through teachings that are imparted by the leader. A leader should instruct his or her group in the same way a father instructs his children – by constantly motivating them to grow and be an example.

*Form them into Exemplary Leaders
A leader must be committed and challenged to mould and polish the new believers, and to form them into useful instruments in God’s hands…. A leader needs to be willing to serve his disciples. He who is not willing to serve, will not be served.

*Lead them to Success
A leader gives direction to the disciples and makes them aware of the fact that success is not automatic, but that it is attained through hard work. Leading your disciples to success consists of teaching them to work cooperatively with each other, avoiding envy and competition.

*Teach them to be Spiritually Disciplined
As the leader grows spiritually and is disciplined in new areas, he or she will need to share them with those who surround him or her. God’s discipline is not burdensome. It does not produce bondage, but rather freedom.

*Create and Attractive Atmosphere
The atmosphere a leader develops with his disciples must be full of motivation that encourages others to become involved in leadership as well.

*Challenge them to Grow Exceedingly
The cellular Vision and the model of twelve do not allow conformity. However, a leader should relate to his disciples’ great challenges and ambitious goals. This will bring out the immense potential of each person. The highest leadership is one that moves with great spiritual authority.

Conclusion
The cellular Vision and the group of twelve are based on the relationship between leaders and disciples. A successful leader in a group of twelve is one who can display solid fruit, which is reflected in how others have grown through their example, testimony and teachings.

Have a wonderful week ahead!
Pastor William

Successful Leadership

Success is the destiny for everyone, but only those who are willing to fight to attain it will enjoy it… In order to attain successful leadership, a leader must be characterized by a spirit of service (see Mark 9:35), a clear vision, and by his effort to achieve it. God have inspired you with some of His goals, and He will fulfill it if you believe in these goals and be committed to work hard towards it.
When we truly believe these goals are from God, then we will not zest until we see it to pass. Many failed because there is a lack of perseverance and they stopped believing when things do not seem to move. Only those who truly believe will push through until something happen… Especially as leaders, we need to believe and inspire others to believe! We need to be totally committed and motivate others to commit. Faith and
Commitment are two critical ingredients for a Successful Leader.

The following are the Qualities of a Good Leader:
* A correct self-image – One who has a correct self-image will know how to carry himself.

* An example to others – One who leads, leads by example.

* Lives in the Word – One who lives in God’s Word will guarantee prosperous and successful.

* Allow God’s guidance – One who is sensitive to God’s guidance, will receive Spiritual Insights.

* Instructs the family – One who knows how to instruct his family will know how to lead.

* Has the heart of a pastor – One needs the heart of a pastor to truly care for His sheep.

* Having your team of twelve – One who wants to succeed in the Vision MUST have his full team of Twelve.

Conclusion
Successful leadership is one where dreams, defined goals and total commitment exist. This is what causes the Vision to run.

Source of the above message: Message 6
(Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)
Teaching 6: Successful Leadership
The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself…

Success is the destiny for everyone, but only those who are willing to fight to attain it will enjoy it… In order to attain successful leadership, a leader must be characterized by a spirit of service (see Mark 9:35), a clear vision, and by his effort to achieve it. He must also exercise his faith like the men of God described in Hebrews 11.

1. A Successful Leader is One who Dreams and has Defined Goals
They must always live in the realm of faith, and not in the complicated world of logic… Logic is like the taxi that only takes a person to the airport to board a plane. Faith is like the plane which will take him or her to their eternal destiny. A person is either in the “plane of faith” or the “taxi of logic.” He or she cannot travel in both at the same time…
Continually declare the miracle as something real, as though it already belongs to you. Do not rest until you see it come to pass. Many leaders failed because they do not have defined goals in their personal or ministerial lives; they practically have no vision… A successful leader always knows where he is heading and where he is leading his people… The leader who has reached this dimension will obtain success through his short,
medium, and long-term goals.

2. A Successful Leader is Completely Committed & the Ideal Purpose of Leadership
Successful leadership is characterized by the total commitment of the people responsible for the task… success is the result of our relationship with God and our commitment to our neighbor… It is the duty of the leader to make sure that each member of his team properly understands the Vision so that they, in time, can do the same with those whom they are leading.

3. Qualities of a Good Leader
* A correct self-image
* An example to others
* Lives in the Word
* Allow God’s guidance
* Instructs the family
* Has the heart of a pastor
* Having your team of twelve

Conclusion
Successful leadership is one where dreams, defined goals and total commitment exist. This is what causes the Vision to run.

Have a blessed week ahead!
Pastor William

Teach Your Disciples to Grow in Faith

Here are William’s Personal Applications for Message 5:

Message 5: How can we grow in Faith?
Without Faith, we cannot please God. It is a must for us to grow in our Faith if we are serious in following Christ. It is also through Faith that we can achieve great things for God and see victory in our lives and in our ministry. If you want to succeed in the G-12 Vision, you must have Faith. So how can we grow in Faith?

1. We need to Believe
Simply put, faith is stepping out of a world of failure and defeat in order to walk on the solid streets of success and prosperity. It is transforming the
a) absurd into something logical,
b) the wicked into something useful, and
c) the despised into something worthwhile.

If we would only dare to believe, we would open heaven’s doors and cause the glory of God to fall upon us and everything around us. We need to learn to believe what God can do in our lives and not just look at the situation we are in. We need to believe that the Impossibilities in this world can be made Possible in the power of God. It is not just about having confidence… but believing IN THE LORD…

2. We need to go Deeper: from the mind, to the heart, & to the spirit
Many think they have faith, but the results prove the contrary. This is when faith has entered their minds without reaching their hearts… We need to go beyond our mind and our understanding if we want to truly move in Faith.

From the depths of our hearts, we need to move with great conviction in our hearts and not just breakthrough in the beliefs of our minds. We also need to reach a point in our Spirit where we become convinced that we will move out in Action to bring the things from the Spiritual Realm into the Physical Realm.

Confessing a promise from the Bible over and over does not mean one has faith, nor does it lead to obtaining the miracle. The Word of God must renew our way of thinking. Understanding the word is the first step in developing a life of faith. It must descend from the mind to the emotions, and then take control of our will…

In simple words, to grow in Faith, we CANNOT just grow in the beliefs of our minds. We need to go beyond our minds, and go deep into our emotions until we are very determined in our will to act out our beliefs. The faith has to grow into our will, where we are determined to act on our Faith and not just let the Faith to remain merely as a belief in our minds.

3. We need to Experience God’s Word in our Lives
The Key of Growing in Faith is to experience God’s Words becoming real in our lives. The Key for us to grow in Faith is for us to experience the Word of God in reality and in real life. There is no other way to make truth last unless we succeed in writing the Gospel on the hearts of believers… Unfortunately, by ignoring the power of faith, many leaders only fill the minds of their disciples with a lot of information, which produces an imbalance in their spiritual lives…How can we experience God’s word in our lives? Practice the Word!!! Practice it in our lives and see how the Lord’s promise coming to past in our lives… However, I also hear many ask me… but what if we do not experience God’s promise?

HEB 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see….” HEB 11:13 “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” This is how we can grow in Faith. We act on God’s word regardless of what we see… We just believe and that will help us to grow in Faith.

As we practice God’s word in our lives, sometimes we also face trials and we wonder if God’s promise will really come true? JAMES 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him”. We need to ask God for His wisdom to interpret what is God doing in our lives. What are those trials for and how in God’s divine wisdom is trying to help us grow in the Faith through such trials. When we breakthrough in seeking God and understand His wisdom, we will begin to grow in Perseverance and in Faith.

So Practice God’s Word and Grow in Faith; Believe God’s Word and Grow in Faith; Seek God’s Wisdom and Grow in Faith…

Source of the above message:
(Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)
Teaching 5: Teach your Disciples to Grow in Faith
The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself…

There are 3 Key issues mentioned in this teaching by Pastor Cesar, our great great great Grand Father. They are:

1. The Language of Faith
Simply put, faith is stepping out of a world of failure and defeat in order to walk on the solid streets of success and prosperity. It is transforming the absurd into something logical, the wicked into something useful, and the despised into something worthwhile. If we would only dare to believe, we would open heaven’s doors and cause the glory of God to fall upon us and everything around us.

2. Faith is very Close to Us
Many think they have faith, but the results prove the contrary. This is when faith has entered their minds without reaching their hearts. We should understand that faith is not logical, but spiritual, and it must be received in the spirit… Confessing a promise from the Bible over and over does not mean one has faith, nor does it lead to obtaining the miracle. The Word of God must renew our way of thinking. Understanding the word is the first step in developing a life of faith. It must descend from the mind to the emotions, and then take control of our will… The Bible is the only source that can produce faith in the heart of man… Faith is born when you have a direct and constant exposure to the Word. You will begin to hear the voice of God through the constant study of the Word. Moreover, when the Word of God enters your heart, faith is born.

3. Faith Edifies People’s Lives
There is no other way to make truth last unless we succeed in writing the Gospel on the hearts of believers… Unfortunately, by ignoring the power of faith, many leaders only fill the minds of their disciples with a lot of information, which produces an imbalance in their spiritual lives…  Speak words into the lives of your disciples that will build up their faith, their self-esteem, their goals and their dreams.

Conclusion
The Lord neither allows nor accepts anything other than faith in order to have intimate fellowship with Him…

Have a great week ahead!
Pastor William

How to Implement the Vision

In this week message, I shall change the format a bit… Start with my personal applications first instead…

My personal words to share with all of you… some new truths that I have learnt this week:

How to Implement the G-12 Vision?

1. Emphasize on the Teamwork among the 12
To implement the G-12 Vision, we need to mobilize all the people already with us and do it together…. If you have no one with you now, then you can start by winning a few first… Then with the few, all of you need to work as a team to understand that the first thing to do is to plant cells together. Plant as many cells as you can cope… As all of you work together as a team to form a small congregation together, you will soon have a community of believers with you to choose your 12 from.

John 17:20 – “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

It is through unity as a team, can the world believe that it is God who sent Jesus to die for them because God love them. Better still, if you can plant open cells with both ladies and guys together because greater will be the impact with the unity between the male and the female counter partners.

2. Emphasize on completing the 12
This Step of completing the 12 is most of the time not fully implemented because most of us have not fully entered the Vision. It is because we do not fully believe that to have 12 direct disciples in our G-12 Group is so critical, that many a times, we take it too lightly in completing our 12. There is no urgency and we are not seriously working towards the goal of completing our 12.

To find our 12 is about reconstructing God’s Altar with 12 Human Stones… Cannot use 11 stones, also cannot use 13 stones…. But we must use 12 Human Stones exactly because it is like building the Tabernacle. It has to follow God’s exact dimensions and direction!!! We need to truly obey this instruction with all our heart. It is about Obedience to what we may not fully understand but knowing that God in His infinite wisdom has instructed us to do so. And we follow because we believe in faith that when we obey God’s instruction, we would unlock what God has intended for us…. Let us be faithful in the little and make it our goal to fulfill this calling: To Complete our 12!!!

3. Insist on choosing only those who are Faithful, Moldable and those who Desire to Serve the Lord
In the search of our 12, we need to find people who are really connected to us… They have to be FAITHFUL, people who DESIRE TO SERVE THE LORD, and MODABLE people. It may not be a wise thing to force fit some into our 12 if they are not suitable…. It is good to only invite those are really ready to be your 12 before you invite them… If you do not find them ready, maybe it is better for you to wait till they are ready…

So this is how we can implement the Vision: Plant open cells… Plant many open cells… Do not rush to invite anyone into your 12…. Only invite those whom you really think that they are ready as described above… When you finally complete your 12, begin to form your 144 and help your 12 to find their 12…. Do not be confused, the G-12 Vision is all about reaching the world for Christ. It is about establishing God’s Kingdom among us. It is about Making Disciples of all nations… It is about making sure the crowd out there is no longer lost, like sheep without a shepherd.

So we need to win the lost and bring these lost sheep into God’s community. And then find them spiritual fathers when they are ready to be fathered. If they are not ready, we can be their open cell leaders… But before we take anyone as our 12 and father them, we need them to be ready, faithful and moldable, really interested to serve the Lord; before you can truly father them.

If they are not faithful, they may not recognize you as their father. If they are not moldable, they will not listen to you as their father. If they do not desire to serve the Lord, then they are not your children yet… because they would still belong to the world and not to Christ.

Source: The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself… Message 4 (Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)

Teaching 4: How to Implement the Vision

There are 3 Key issues mentioned in this teaching by Pastor Cesar, our great great great Grand Father. They are:

1. Teamwork is of Great Importance
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1 Cor 12:11-12). Where’s there is teamwork:
i. Work becomes distributed
ii. The continuity of the work is guaranteed
iii. Work never ceases
iv. There is continual motivation; everyone motivates each other
v. Multiplication is accelerated
vi. The Gifts and Talents of others are valued

2. Teamwork Gives Each Person Value
i. Constructing a Building with Human Stones
ii. Every Person is a Leader
iii. The Secret is in the Twelve: Restoring God’s altar begins when a team of 12 is formed.

3. Parameters in Choosing your Team of Twelve
In general, we should do what Jesus did:
i. Win them in Prayer
ii. Choose Faithful People
iii. Choose People who desire to serve the Lord
iv. Choose Moldable People

Conclusion
The Vision guarantees success because it offers the opportunity to work as a team.

May you be blessed with a fruitful week ahead!
Pastor William

How to Implement the Vision

In this week message, I shall change the format a bit… Start with my personal applications first instead…

My personal words to share with all of you… some new truths that I have learnt this week:

How to Implement the G-12 Vision?

1. Emphasize on the Teamwork among the 12
To implement the G-12 Vision, we need to mobilize all the people already with us and do it together…. If you have no one with you now, then you can start by winning a few first… Then with the few, all of you need to work as a team to understand that the first thing to do is to plant cells together. Plant as many cells as you can cope… As all of you work together as a team to form a small congregation together, you will soon have a
community of believers with you to choose your 12 from.

John 17:20 – “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

It is through unity as a team, can the world believe that it is God who sent Jesus to die for them because God love them. Better still, if you can plant open cells with both ladies and guys together because greater will be the impact with the unity between the male and the female counter partners.

2. Emphasize on completing the 12
This Step of completing the 12 is most of the time not fully implemented because most of us have not fully entered the Vision. It is because we do not fully believe that to have 12 direct disciples in our G-12 Group is so critical, that many a times, we take it too lightly in
completing our 12. There is no urgency and we are not seriously working towards the goal of completing our 12.

To find our 12 is about reconstructing God’s Altar with 12 Human Stones… Cannot use 11 stones, also cannot use 13 stones…. But we must use 12 Human Stones exactly because it is like building the Tabernacle. It has to follow God’s exact dimensions and direction!!! We need to truly obey this instruction with all our heart. It is about Obedience to what we may not fully understand but knowing that God in His infinite wisdom has instructed us to do so. And we follow because we believe in faith that when we obey God’s instruction, we would unlock what God has intended for us…. Let us be faithful in the little and make it our goal to fulfill this calling: To Complete our 12!!!

3. Insist on choosing only those who are Faithful, Moldable and those who Desire to Serve the Lord
In the search of our 12, we need to find people who are really connected to us… They have to be FAITHFUL, people who DESIRE TO SERVE THE LORD, and MODABLE people. It may not be a wise thing to force fit some into our 12 if they are not suitable…. It is good to only invite those are really ready to be your 12 before you invite them… If you do not find them ready, maybe it is better for you to wait till they are ready…

So this is how we can implement the Vision: Plant open cells… Plant many open cells… Do not rush to invite anyone into your 12…. Only invite those whom you really think that they are ready as described above… When you finally complete your 12, begin to form your 144 and help your 12 to find their 12…. Do not be confused, the G-12 Vision is all about reaching the world for Christ. It is about establishing God’s Kingdom among us. It is about Making Disciples of all nations… It is about making sure the crowd out there is no longer lost, like sheep without a shepherd.

So we need to win the lost and bring these lost sheep into God’s community. And then find them spiritual fathers when they are ready to be fathered. If they are not ready, we can be their open cell leaders… But before we take anyone as our 12 and father them, we need them to be ready, faithful and moldable, really interested to serve the Lord; before you can truly father them.

If they are not faithful, they may not recognize you as their father. If they are not moldable, they will not listen to you as their father. If they do not desire to serve the Lord, then they are not your children yet… because they would still belong to the world and not to Christ.

The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself… Message 4 (Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)

Teaching 4: How to Implement the Vision
There are 3 Key issues mentioned in this teaching by Pastor Cesar, our great great great Grand Father. They are:

1. Teamwork is of Great Importance
“But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1 Cor 12:11-12). Where’s there is teamwork:

i. Work becomes distributed
ii. The continuity of the work is guaranteed
iii. Work never ceases
iv. There is continual motivation; everyone motivates each other
v. Multiplication is accelerated
vi. The Gifts and Talents of others are valued

2. Teamwork Gives Each Person Value
i. Constructing a Building with Human Stones
ii. Every Person is a Leader
iii. The Secret is in the Twelve: Restoring God’s altar begins when a team of 12 is formed.

3. Parameters in Choosing your Team of Twelve
In general, we should do what Jesus did:
i. Win them in Prayer
ii. Choose Faithful People
iii. Choose People who desire to serve the Lord
iv. Choose Moldable People

Conclusion
The Vision guarantees success because it offers the opportunity to work as a team.

Pastor William