Practicing Christian Leadership, Mentor's Guide, MG11

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P R A C T I C I N G C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

The case studies included in these modules are designed to enable your students to “win a battle on the blackboard,” so to speak, since many (if not most) of them are induced from actual experiences and situations in urban ministry. What is important for the students to be able to do (and you as well, as their facilitator) is to place themselves imaginatively within the situation, and then actually confront the issues as best they can, given their knowledge and experience. You can either engage these as a class, as small groups, or as individuals. Discuss the various strategies that are possible, and show the students that in many cases there may be more than one right answer to the nagging problem encountered in the case study. What is critical is that you allow the students to field test their ability to apply biblical principles and their ministry experience to solving a real life issue of Christian growth and maturity. The goal, of course, is not that the students find the one correct solution to the challenge, but that they incorporate in their solutions the insight and lessons that they have learned from Scripture and the interaction within your learning sessions together. It is hard to overestimate the strength of your example in helping your students understand the power of prayer in every phase of their lives and ministries. Even a few of the more categorical promises about the importance of prayer can underscore the significance of this claim: Phil. 4.6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Ps. 34.5 - Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. Ps. 34.7 - The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Ps. 55.17 - Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.

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Counseling and Prayer