Reading: Renew, Restore and Revive

Genesis 4:26 b - Then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

We read in Genesis 1; God created the heavens and the earth.

We read in Genesis 2; God made a garden for Adam and Eve. They lived in a garden where God walked and talked with them. They were given the option of the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life offered them and all humans connection to God and eternal life.  The tree of the knowledge of good and evil offered autonomy from God. Satan convinced them that if they knew good and evil, they would be like God. They would become gods themselves.

They ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve chose to turn their backs on God. They separated themselves from God, and God gave them over to their choice and removed them from eating from the tree of life.

Adam and Eve died to God. God promised He would make all things new to bring humans back to God. Even as Adam and Eve heard about the consequences of their sin (Gen 3), God promised that the human race would be revived, restored, renewed back to God. God would make a way back to himself.

We read in the Old Testament how moments of renewal came and went. Sometimes restoration looked promising. There were even brief revivals. God made covenants. But, humans continued to separate themselves from God.

We read the longing of Psalm 80:17-19:

Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself. Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name.  Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. 

Renew, Restore, and Revive

These are three important values at Christian Leaders

Renew

Renew means to make like new: to restore freshness, and vigor, or toward perfection. We believe a key part of renewal has the spiritual aspect. God made this beautiful creation, and he has created humans to bring creation back to a more beautiful place. Christians are agents of renewal. We want all God's creatures cared for in their physical and spiritual needs. As great as the fall affected all creation, also so great is the grace and power of God in Christ to make all things new.

Isaiah 42:7 says that God acts "to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness."

I like how this word can be applied to every area of life. I can be a business person called to the ministry of renewal. I can bring vigorous blessings to my community to provide products and services as well as jobs to help people feed their families. I see how the Apostle Paul was a tent maker and a ministry leader. I wish I could have purchased one of his tents. At CLI, we offer enterprise classes so that our students, like the Apostle Paul, will bring blessings to their communities!

Restore

Restore means to give back or return. It means to bring back into existence. When Adam and Eve rebelled from God, they broke the connection with God that brought life to humanity. Jesus Christ came to restore a new and lasting connection to God and the tree of life.

1 Peter 5:10 says,  "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

So much of our world needs to be restored to how God intended it to be. I think of how Christian Leaders Institute helps those who have been recently released from prison or those on probation. Because CLI is free, this training raises up leaders who are being restored to their communities. Our goal is that they will bring restoration!

Revive

Revival is the spiritual reconnecting with God in a pronounced way. Individual revival is the restoration of a person's spiritual life. Corporate revival is when groups together experience individual revival to God. After the time of Pentecost, this type of revival is very evangelistic in that the Holy Spirit is poured out powerfully (Acts 2).

Revival leaders of the Old Testament were people like:

Enoch (Genesis 5:21): Enoch walked closely with God to the point that he was directly transported to heaven; he did not experience death.

Noah (Genesis 6): Noah was the last righteous man in his time on the earth. He is counted in the line of revival leaders who walked with God. He preached "righteousness” when few listened. God restarted humanity through Noah and revived faith on the earth.

Abraham (Genesis 12): After the flood, civilization was leaving God again. Abraham walked with God and revival was brought back to the earth, and a new nation was formed.

Moses (Exodus 2): Israel was in bondage in Egypt. A revival was needed. God used Moses, a Hebrew who was raised in the household of Egypt's ruler. After murdering an Egyptian man, Moses fled to the desert. At the age of 80, God called him to free his people and reintroduce God to humanity, specifically to the nation of Israel. God was going to use this nation as his stage to bring redemption to the whole world and bring revival to people everywhere.

David (1 Samuel 16): The Spirit of God dwelt strongly in a shepherd boy named David. David eventually became king of Israel. He was a man after God's own heart. He brought revival to God's people Israel. He wrote many of the psalms in the Book of Psalms. Even in some of his worst moments, he modeled what it is like to walk with God (see Psalm 51).

Daniel (Daniel 1): The nation of Israel fell from being close to God under King David to a people who were just like the nations around them. God used a captured boy named Daniel to bring revival back to God's people. Daniel spoke before wicked Kings of Babylon and Assyria. Through Daniel's influence, the nation of Israel was recreated. Soon the Savior of the world would be born in this nation.

The Revival that Grounds Every Revival

In the fullness of time, God sent his own Son to bring humanity back to God. The entirety of the life that Jesus lived, his death and resurrection, and his ascension back to His Father is the seed for every revival until the world ends. After Jesus ascended into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to bring revival to God, not just to a nation, but to all people.

Jesus had trained leaders for revival whom he called disciples. They were ordinary fishermen. I have learned that God often chooses unexpected lowly leaders for a great revival. Or he brings the high low; once God makes them low, he uses them. Jesus met Saul (Paul) en route to persecute Christian leaders. On the way to Damascus, Jesus showed up. Paul "fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'" - Acts 9:4.

God began a new church where humans could be revived to God. God was going to use revival leaders beginning with the disciples and apostles. These revival leaders were going to be used to proclaim the gospel and revive people's hearts back to God.

Throughout the history of the church, God raised up revival leaders even when it looked like the church had lost the flame. While the early church thrived even under persecution, eventually corruption entered the church.  While multitudes were connected to the institution of the church, many people were not revived toward God.

God brought revival at the time of the Reformation. Martin Luther brought revival to the church. Many Protestant churches began. God raised up leaders who were not professionals. Revival leaders increased when the doctrine of "the priesthood of all believers" was stressed. The church revived. People revived toward God. God raised up revival in the Catholic church in what was called the counter-reformation. Many of the revival strands in the Catholic church come from this movement of God.

God has been raising up revival leaders everywhere in every generation. It is not a secret that institutional churches have been at times hot in pursuing God, and at other times cold in pursuing God. But revival toward God has happened in every generation often through unlikely leaders.

Every Person on Earth Needs Revival

Traditionally, revival is a term that is used to describe the revival of the church at a specific time or location. I will use the word revival about revival back to God. I believe that a "seed” of religion is embedded deeply in every human being. I also believe that our goal is to raise up an army of revival leaders whose passion is to reintroduce people to God, the Creator and Redeemer, and to keep people close to God.

For those who are already Christians, we want the spirit of revival to live strongly in them. We want those Christians to lead others to revival. For those who are not Christians, we will preach the gospel and disciple them into a living relationship where their dead spirits will be revived.

The Traditional Characteristics of Revival of the Church

Elmer L. Towns and Douglas Porter wrote a book, The Ten Greatest Revivals Ever: From Pentecost to the Present, that chronicles the many revivals from Pentecost to the present. This is a standard book that is a core textbook in our revival class at CLI.  Elmer Towns wrote another book with Neal Anderson called Rivers of Revival.

Another textbook of the "Missions and Revival" class is Ordinary People, Extraordinary Things, written by Dr. Bruce Ballast. Two out of these three books are textbooks in the "Missions and Revival" course at CLI. All three of these books are great resources for seeing the characteristics of revival since the early church.  A study of church history chronicles one revival after another. The "Church History" course at CLI includes this history from the early church to today.

The Verbs of Revival

As I study about church history and the revivals back to God, I have come up with my top verbal expressions that have characterized revivals: Repenting, evangelizing, worshiping, believing God (Faith), holding firm to scriptural truth, experiencing a deeper indwelling of the Holy Spirit, fighting spiritual warfare, filling by the Holy Spirit, reconciling races, the rebirth of a Kingdom of God focus, praying for revival, and raising up leaders.

Raising Up Bi-Vocational and Vocational Leaders

I found in studying revivals that the revival of the Reformation centered on a shift in leadership. The existing church at that time recruited church clergy in a hierarchy that usually did not include lay leaders. The reformers saw that the clergy/lay separation was hurting the health of the church. So, instead of the rare priests knowing the Bible and giving leadership in the faith, everyone is included in this calling.

The "Priesthood of all Believers" is a doctrine of the Protestant Christian Church: every individual has direct access to God without ecclesiastical mediation and each shares the responsibility of ministering to the other members of the community of believers.

(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/priesthood%20of%20all%20believers)

Essentially, the point of the Reformation was that everyone is called to be a leader in the faith and everyone is responsible for making a difference in the world for Christ. The counter-reformation of the Catholic church also stressed many of these themes.

As I think about the list of world-changing verbs, "Renew, restore, and revive," I see a role for Christian Leaders Institute to raise up more leaders. Our Christian leaders will use their education and training to minister where ever God calls them.  We want to build a culture of raising up revival leaders that include the forming of mentor relationships everywhere.

There is a world to reach. I believe that God is calling for a special force of Christian leaders!

Christian Leaders Mission

Christian Leaders beams training via the Internet to raise called Christian leaders everywhere. God created a wonderful world. That world is frustrated by the fall of humanity into sin. In Christ, there is redemption. Christians share Christ's redemption, the good news. Christian Leaders Institute is training Christian leaders armed with that narrative.

God has compelled "called" believers from every place on earth to seek advanced ministry training using the Internet. This is only the beginning. God is raising up revival leaders. At the beginning of a student's training, they are asked to find a local mentor to help process their Christian Leaders training.

For the last few centuries, missionary leaders proclaiming the gospel have reached people in various countries and regions on earth. This has created millions of indigenous Christians everywhere. Out of these indigenous Christians, leaders will be raised up.

The indigenous Christian capital is in a place where Christian mentors can provide a local context for students that enroll at Christian Leaders.

Christian Leaders raise Christians to serve their communities. Some of these leaders will lead small groups. This might be in the form of providing courses for active Christians interested in serving at their local churches. 

Some of these leaders will become licensed or ordained for formal ministry. Some as volunteers, part-time or full-time. Christian Leaders Alliance is a grassroots religious society in strategic partnership with Christian Leaders. If you are called to pursue minister credentials such as licensing or ordination, Christian Leaders Alliance may be a fit for you! Christian Leaders Alliance also maintains Soul Centers for local ministry registration.

Christian Leaders brings biblical academic training that would normally be very expensive to every place the Internet is connected. This training goes beyond content posted on a website; students are trained interactively using methods like quizzes and input from our knowledgeable staff of leaders.

Internet technology represents an opportunity for supporting, encouraging, and becoming involved in a great open door to ministry training.

Local Mentor-based Training

How does a local mentor-based philosophy work? The Christian movement has been spreading throughout the globe for about 2,000 years. In many places on earth, there are Christian leaders. New students at Christian Leaders will recruit more experienced Christian leaders to be their mentors. Let me give you a historical example.

Adoniram Judson was a called revival leader. Adoniram Judson was a difference-maker. Adoniram Judson was the first American missionary, at age 25, who was sent to bring people back to God in Burma (Myanmar) in the early part of the nineteenth century. Judson spread Christianity.

Judson had to learn the Burmese language, translate the Bible into Burmese, and translate his person into the customs of this new land. After six years, he welcomed his first convert to Christianity. It took 12 years for Judson to welcome 18 converts. He experienced war, imprisonment, and the deaths of his first wife, Ann, second wife, Sarah, and several children. Judson's convictions, bravery, and vision have inspired thousands of missionaries who have left the land of their birth and relocated to proclaim the gospel in a new land.

Thousands of missionaries and their families have been sent to foreign missions, to large cities and remote local villages. Many died en route, and many died on the field proclaiming the gospel, but their labor has been rewarded. In every populated center on earth, converts to Christianity are found, and churches have been formed. Despite this progress, there are billions still to be revived back to God everywhere in the world.

There is so much to do, and opportunities to open new doors are at hand. The faithfulness of these missionaries has planted seeds for the next wave of leaders, who are being raised up and sent to do, in our time, a mission work that will change the globe.

These converts form a core of evangelistic capital which is ready to be identified, trained, and mobilized to reach deeper into regions of the earth not yet reached back to God.

When Judson arrived in Burma in 1820, there was no Christian culture, no Christian church, no pastor. There was no Christian "capital." Judson and his wife, Ann, were the only Christians in the nation. Judson's calling to evangelize the world was the only "currency" he brought to Burma.

This calling currency has always been used by God to build the kingdom of God. Jesus called the twelve disciples, ordinary men whose calling would change the world. Paul and Barnabas were called, and with that currency, the early church began building ministry capital in the Roman empire.

Today in Myanmar, formerly Burma, there are churches and leaders who reach the lost and disciple those in their congregations. The investments made almost two hundred years ago by Judson are now bringing tens of thousands back to God. All over the world, there is missionary capital that can be built upon to increase its effectiveness.

At Christian Leaders, newly called leaders register to begin studies at CLI. Many of them trace their spiritual family tree to some mission movement. This Christian capital exists in most areas of the world.

Our goal at Christian Leaders is to invest in building on the ministry capital that already exists within the local church. We position our training to support the pastors, leaders, and mentors of individual churches, and they rise as leaders to reach people in their local areas. The academic ministry content is effectively delivered to students who stay with their local leaders. This is the type of investment that enhances and builds more Christian culture. Our currency is calling. If a leader is called to serve Christ, we want to make sure that currency is placed into the service of building the kingdom of God.

Who Are the Called Revival Leaders Who Attend Christian Leaders?

Christian Leaders includes students from every continent, representing over 150 countries. The nations with the largest representation include the USA, Ghana, Nigeria, Canada, Uganda, the Philippines, Pakistan, India, South Africa, and Kenya. The presence of Christian Leaders is also growing larger in the islands of the world.

Characteristics of Christian Leaders Revival Leaders Taking Classes

1. Indigenous Leaders

Christian Leaders Institute students are very committed to staying in their countries. They sign up because they have access to high-quality ministry training in their local context. They have not been asking if CLI training will help them move to another country. They want to stay and minister where they are placed by the Lord. Fikre Fikadu of Ethiopia is an example.

"I live in Ethiopia. I was born in a partially Christian family. And I grew up in church hearing the word of God through Sunday school. When I had been reached at seventeen; my walk with God was completely corrupted by the peer pressure, and I was lost in the worst addictions; like hard drinking, cigarettes, gambling, and all bad experiences.

"At that time many pastors and my Christian youth friends were trying hard to reach me back to the Lord, but I first rejected them. I was sinking into the deep of worldly things, and I have connected all my styles with the technological developments now available here.

"However, I am always marveling at in my life, even in my worst conditions, God would never let me down!

"Radical changes occurred in my life after my Lord God visited me with his merciful eyes. I received grace before him and all men. Today even if there are some challenges in my life; my joy is now in the Lord!

"My major ministry dream is to reach the lost and those who are under the devil's captivity bringing them to the Lord.

"God is good! I hope that as God raised Christian Leaders Institute, so many servants of the Gospel like me will benefit and be used.

"To tell you the truth at this time I could not afford payment for learning. So, CLI is very important for the realization of my childhood dreams by having the chance of acquiring a good knowledge about the Lord and scripture with the help of the Holy Spirit.”

2. Any Rank Leaders

Christian Leaders students and graduates are often without economic means but have enough resources and social capital to have received an education and to have access to the Internet. We will even receive phone calls from cell phones in Africa concerning a question. We invite students to donate to Christian Leaders, and though they do not have large amounts to give, they still give generously.

In America, the demographic includes urban and rural poor who have little else than an Internet connection, leaders with disabilities, leaders in the many different backgrounds, Pentecostal, Reformed, Ancient Faiths, Mainline Denominations, Independent, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Non-Denominational, Mega Churches, and many more church situations.

3. Volunteer, Part-time Christian Leaders

Christian Leaders is supporting those leaders who really want to explore a bi-vocational vision. CL students generally expect they will be working bi-vocationally in their country of residence. While the allure of an invitation to study in western countries will entice some of the brightest and most academically wired students into western programs, our students will be passed over for these expensive programs and ordinarily will stay in their own country to become pastors, whether they receive quality ministry training or not.

These leaders will become Christian leaders in their communities, many of them will be bi-vocational. They will work to support their families; they will volunteer their time with their talents.

For example, Tony Wetmore of Crestline, California, USA, is taking the Christian Leaders Training so that he can more effectively start a ministry. Listen to his story.

"My name is Tony, and I live in a small town called Crestline, in California, USA. Within an hour drive is the Los Angeles basin, where millions and millions of people live, most in darkness, many in addiction, in jail, on the streets, and lost, hurting, without hope. I believe my country has become mostly post-Christian. I believe it's time to shred the darkness and turn up the LIGHT!

"I'm a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. I came to the Lord at YMCA camp when I was 12 and participated in youth groups through high school. I fell away from the Lord shortly after graduating, and spent 10 years in the "world." I then reconnected with the Lord and became born again. I'm married to a wonderful wife for 25+ years and have 3 incredible children. I have always been a ministry leader in my church - Youth, Homeless, Prison, and Worship Leader to name a few. I am a First Responder/Emergency Medical Technician on a 911 ambulance in Riverside County, where I am able to pray over, and with, my patients in times of crisis and need.

"My ministry dreams are to become a non-profit 501(c) 3 and create a ministry, church, and program that serve all of "the least of these" (Matthew 25:31-40). To tell people, lost people, hurting people, abused people, and young people, about the love and saving grace that can only come from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To help make the change from bread and water of this world to the bread of life and living water of Jesus Christ!

"A scholarship with CLI will work around my tough work schedule and ministry life, and will give me the much-needed ability and knowledge to minister and pastor better, more completely, and more intelligently, to this hurting world.”

4. Technologically Savvy Leaders

We have noticed that our students are technologically savvy even if they live in the remotest parts of the world. Internet access is more common than sewer lines in some countries. In places like America, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and other western nations, the students who apply, though poorer by the standards of their mainline culture, navigate the web very well and ordinarily know what to do to succeed at Christian Leaders. We have also seen that many retired called ministry leaders will get their children to explain how to interact better through the technology of the Internet.

When we started offering online classes in 2006 at the Christian Leaders Institute website, many remote places of the world were not ready for online training. Today, especially after the pandemic, the use of online tools and online education has spread everywhere. 

5. Existing Credentialled Ministers Lacking Respected Ministry Training

There is a large group of Christian Leaders enrollees that already have been ordained as pastors or church planters. Many of them have been desperately seeking advanced training but are sadly unable to acquire it. In many places in the world, targeted mission money supporting specific mission goals has supplied only certain needs for training, neglecting to meet other important needs of pastors and church leaders.

This is especially true when training leaders for church planting. Large western ministries have invested in helping bi-vocational leaders to plant a church, but these same leaders do not receive training in other areas that western pastors are trained in at seminary. This causes sustainability issues. It is difficult for the development of a full sphere of Christian culture to be cultivated by these leaders.

These leaders have expressed great disappointment over this situation. They communicate that they feel like second-class pastors because the pastors that do receive the western-supported training are considered more qualified and are given more opportunities, not based on the quality of their walk, their ministry effectiveness, or the specifics of their calling and gifts, but simply on their connection to the western-prescribed training path.

The training opportunities that are funded for these leaders are dumbed down or specialized in such a way that it leaves most indigenous pastors lacking the standing they need to really thrive in their country.

Christian Leaders is committed to giving ministry training that allows graduates the standing to thrive even in relationship to pastors that have attended traditional residential seminaries.

6. Educated Leaders

Christian Leaders students are smart. They know how to communicate. They are often bi-lingual, with English being their second language. Large percentages of them would thrive at residential seminaries, but would never have the opportunity to enroll, because they are too poor or their situation in life prohibits residential ministry training.

7. Respected Leaders

In countries that are not hostile to Christianity, our students are highly respected. Even clergy in their countries who had residential training from western sources are mentoring students from CLI and encouraging them to get their diplomas.

8. Generally Older and Already Tested Leaders

Four out of every five students are 35 and older. Because of where they are in life, these older students are not in a position to go to a residential program, and distance-learning programs are difficult and still too expensive. This group of leaders is not going to move anywhere.

9. Leaders in Difficult Countries

Christian Leaders can offer training to places that Christianity is having difficulty penetrating. We have trained students in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Libya, and these are just a few places our students get the training to create Christian culture, despite the resistance of their countries. Sadly, we suspect that some of our students have been persecuted for their Christian witness. In light of this, we do everything we can to keep their identities secret.

10. Remote Leaders

We are training students in remote islands where western missions money would never be able to support quality ministry training. These students are being trained in places like Samoa, Martinique, and St. Kitts.

11. Leaders with Disabilities

We are training students with disabilities. Christian Leaders has taken the training to their homes where they can access this training in an environment that provides for their specific challenges. I am moved to praise God when I hear some of the stories of those who face such challenges.

What about digital chaplains? Chaplains who can "chat” with people who need ministry?  Christian Leaders Institute bought the domain names, "chatplain.com -.org. Notice the spelling, "chatplain” similar to "chaplain.”  I would love to start a ministry where we mobilize Christian leaders to "chat” and minister to people in need interacting on the Internet. It is exciting to consider all the different ways that God can use his people to minister to others.

Mark writes,

"Hello, my name is Mark Ziegelhoefer. I'm 53 years old and blessed to be born into an Orthodox Jewish family. Temporarily, I'm paraplegic due to a spinal injury, which is drug-related, consequences of my past sins. Also, I have been diagnosed with Hepatitis C, drug-related as well.

"Now, I am awaiting the Lord's perfect timing for my physical healing. In August 2001, the Lord brought me a beautiful woman, who is now my wife, Kerrie. She has been a Christian since her childhood. In 2004, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Since I have past experience of 32 years in drug abuse, my dream is to help others that are still struggling with chemical addictions. Knowing Jesus was the only way that I was able to overcome drugs, I want to help lead others to Jesus. I tried all the other ways to freedom from drugs, and I know for a fact that Jesus is the only way.”

12. Immigrant and Refugee Leaders

Many students have emigrated to new countries looking for new opportunities; countries like Great Britain, Spain, and Canada. These students come with fresh enthusiasm combining a love for their new country with a passion to share Christ.

For the refugee, CL is perfect. We do not require any papers or documents for admission.

Take Rosette Singson, who emigrated to Canada.

"I live in Alberta, Canada - our Promised Land. For the past few years that I've been here, I noticed that every single moment of the day, lots and lots of people need Christ in order to cope with life's challenges. Because of the lies and darkness that the enemy is inflicting on every human being, I felt the desire to do something for Christ's Kingdom.

"It is in the midst of my troubles, my pain, and suffering that I encountered Christ. So, I thought, it is just right to share Him with others whose only hope is Christ. It is my dream to see the lost restored and find the Way, The Truth and The Life - Jesus - through my ministry.

"I continue to believe in God's guidance and intervention towards the ministry and the calling He has for me. He is the Alpha and the Omega.”

13. Vision Partner Leaders

Christian Leaders is a generosity supported school. Thousands of students and graduates have been giving forward to become vision partners. These vision partners are making it possible to keep CL free for new students. Many students are doing what they can to donate back to Christian Leaders. We are praying that as our students graduate and plant and pastor churches, they will be able to contribute more and become mentors for future students, making better and better training available to church leaders.

One vision partner student wrote,

"I would like to first thank you for following the Lord's calling on your heart to create CLI. I have been studying at CLI only since the end of June, but it has already blessed me tremendously in my walk with Christ. I am also blessed by having the opportunity to donate to this great mission and help my brothers and sisters around the world who otherwise could not afford such high-quality teaching. I thank you and the entire CL staff for allowing God to use you in this ministry.”

Is this "Free" Opportunity a Good Idea?

Christian Leaders offers free tuition. Why? Many have asked this. Some have wondered whether it will be valued if it is free. Some have said that we have so many students, let them pay for it themselves. Others have said that you will never be a sustainable ministry unless the student pays for the education and outside funding is not needed.

I have reflected on this a long time. I have prayed about this much. I have researched business models and consulted with traditional institutions.

I read the Bible and do not see a charge for training people to be leaders. I just can't see that Peter and John gave tuition to Jesus in the form of currency. The only currency that was given was the currency of calling. "Come, follow me." That was it!  When they followed Jesus, He trained them to be the first leaders in the new church. Jesus had his supporters who paid for the training culture. First, there was God, the Father and the power of the God-head. When they needed to pay taxes, they had the option of getting currency out of a fish. I love how Jesus funded a tax they had to pay, "But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours" (Matthew 17:27).

Jesus also had financial supporters such as Joseph of Arimathea. We don't know whether he contributed to Jesus while Jesus was training his disciples, but we do know that his funding of Jesus's ministry at his death illustrated the faithful involvement of a truly "board level" supporter.

"Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid" (Luke 23:50-53).

After Pentecost, we see the outpouring of support for the early church by people like Barnabas. "Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet" (Acts 4:36-37). Barnabas was an ideal "board level" supporter and sponsor. He not only contributed to the funding of the church, he also helped expand the number of leaders by sponsoring Paul and connecting him to the apostles. Barnabas had credibility with the apostles. He was an encourager, supporter, and networker for the development of leadership capital.

It appears that Barnabas offered his mentorship to Paul free of charge. Paul supported himself as a tentmaker while he was being trained and made ready. Barnabas was so committed to ministry training that it even created a disagreement between himself and Paul. Barnabas, being Barnabas, wanted to give a younger leader, Mark, a second opportunity. Paul did not want to drag the mission march down with someone that might not work out. Barnabas and Paul separated. Later Mark and Paul worked closely together. Mark hung out with Peter, who helped him write the gospel of Mark.

Paul went on to do ministry training with other leaders like Titus and Timothy. Most of these early leader recruits were bi-vocational and we have good reason to believe that their ministry training was free.

I believe that there are leaders like Joseph of Arimathea and Barnabas who provide the leadership capital for the development of Christian leaders.

No One Missed

Christian Leaders desire to make ministry training tuition-free so no viable, called revival leaders are missed. This mission is mobilizing a large number of trained ministry leaders. As you go through this course you get a better idea of why it is possible to be ambitiously training thousands of revival leaders. The leaders are out there waiting to be trained.

"It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up" (Ephesians 4: 11-12).

The Profile of the Intrinsically Motivated

Finally, free tuition is a test. Those that do well with free tuition are motivated internally at a deeper level. Charging tuition does bring a form of ownership, to the point that the ministry training is given a monetary value which helps in motivating students to complete their studies. When something labor-intensive like ministry training is free, the prime force the student has is his/her God-motivated call into the ministry. Students lose nothing if they stop their training. They greatly gain if they finish their training.

The profiles of the students who complete classes at Christian Leaders are profiles of "called” leaders who complete goals and challenges because they need to and want to!