Leadership

²⁵ Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”~Matthew 20 NIV

Leadership -  a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. ~Northouse

To be an effective leader, you must be able to look behind/below you as well as in front of/above you and extend yourself either way.  A true leader exercises strength and humility...and always remains teachable (even by the least "educated" of teachers).

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.~John Quincy Adams

Role of Women - Defined

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”~Gen.2:18

Many a person has gotten too caught up in the English translation of "helper" in this verse, suggesting that women were designed to be subservient right from the beginning of creation...this is a fallacy...

The Hebrew words used in the original text are "ezer kenegdo."

ezer - "to rescue, to save," "to be strong."


"Blessed are you, Israel!
Who is like you,
a people saved by the LORD?
He is your shield and helper
and your glorious sword.
Your enemies will cower before you,
and you will tread on their heights.” Deut.33:29


"ezer"

“I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2

This word "ezer" refers to God in every other instance in the Bible.

kenegdo - "corresponding to, counterpart to, equal to, matching," "face-to-face."

Combining the two words, "ezer kenegdo", the meaning could better be understood in the English language as "equal and complementary."

Women, in their true design, are mighty warriors, strong, helpful...

...made in the image of God

It is our heritage...
Don't ever forget it!

Change

Change - The act or instance of making or becoming different.

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.~Matthew 18:3

Grateful...Eucharist

grateful: "pleasing to the mind", also "full of gratitude", from obsolete adjective grate "agreeable, thankful", from Latin gratus "pleasing"

Eucharist: "sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the Communion", from Greek eukharistia "thanksgiving, gratitude", from eukharistos "grateful", from eu "well" + stem of kharizesthai "show favour", from kharis "favour, grace". Eukharisteo is the usual verb for "to thank, to be thankful".

Matthew 26:17-30 (NIV)

The Last Supper

¹⁷ On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸ He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” ¹⁹ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
²⁰ When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. ²¹ And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
²² They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
²³ Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
²⁵ Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the^[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
³⁰ When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Ponder: What hymn did they sing? What hymn would you sing?