Why Do YOU Want to be a Leader, Business Leader, Church Leaders, Team Leader, Ministry Leader, or any kind of Leader?

Why Do YOU Want to be a Five Fold Ministry Leader?

Okay guys (and gal). Let's talk for a minute. Why do we all want to be apostles or prophets or evangelists or whatever?

What's the REAL reason? Because we are "called" to do it? Or maybe because someone told us or prophesied over us that God has chosen us for this?

Really!?! Why? Look let's be real and talk for a minute. I don't know about you but I personally am sick and tired of what I hear or see or read in the news or on social media about a fallen ministry leader.

Do you know that the SEVENTH point on my Apostolic Mandate Statement literally says,

"WHY I DO WHAT I DO? [THE PURPOSE] – Because I do not want God's people to go through the pain of dealing with false/bad leadership. It's a passion for me to be a different kind of leader and to equip leaders to be different as light, salt, humble, loving wise servant leaders. The house of God is in great lack of spiritual parents. While serving as an elder is good and being a godly five fold equipping ministry leader is great, God wants us to take it a step further. He wants us to not only reach, lead, and feed; He wants us to parent His children with the same heart after His own!"

This is my WHY! This is WHY I do what I do. This is WHY I post on Facebook or Twitter or blog on ricardoequips.wordpress.com. This is WHY I formed this group. This is WHY I exist!

Did you know that God names things according to what they are, will be, or according to something they MUST overcome? And sometimes He even changes their names to reflect their future potential.

My name is Ricardo Butler. Ricardo means "Powerful or wealthy Ruler." Butler means "Cupbearer to the King or servant." My name literally means, "Servant Leader". Or is it? Ricardo means Leader and Butler means Servant. For a long time I thought God was calling me to be a "Servant Leader". Is this not what we preach and teach about Jesus' leadership style? Is this not what we in the church as leaders are called to model? Of course it is!

But the Lord corrected me on my own name. I mean, He named me right? So He can do that. It's not Servant Leader. That would mean my name is Butler Ricardo. My name is Leader Servant or better yet "Leader's Servant." This takes on a whole new definition!

I'm not a Servant Leader. I am a Leader's Servant! God has called me to serve and minister TO LEADERS! Totally different way to look at it. If you are a leader or called to be a leader or even if you are a false leader, God has called me to direct my ministry towards serving YOU!

Throughout the years in the global church, in politics, in sports, and even in my own trade (I am a chef/cook) I have seen bad leaders, good leaders, and leaders fall for one reason or another. Some of these failings include:

? Moral failure issues

? Dictator style leadership issues

? Marriage issues

? Children issues

? Pornography issues

? Integrity issues

? Financial and greed issues

? Lack of people skills issues

? Immaturity issues

I mean there is so much more that you can add to this list.

I'm not perfect. If you have followed me from MySpace to Facebook and even locally here in Orlando, Florida then you know I have exposed my self a few times of my own failings. I have no problem telling on myself. When I am off the strait and narrow I come forth and I tell other leaders. You can ask them. Ask Apostle Don Atkin. Ask Pastor Paul Valo. Ask the entire Kingdom Driven Entrepreneurs Community. I have a friend in Christ who calls me "brutally honest" because of how hard I am on myself when I do something totally contrary to the character of Christ. I hold myself to such a high standard. I have chosen to step down from church leadership in my local fellowship TWICE! They didn't even know what happened!

You can ask my wife! I will be the first to tell her I've done something stupid! She can list off all my sins. She's my best friend. Why would I hide it? I run to her sometimes before I even confess to the Lord of my erring ways.

I have taught in one of my ministry development courses to my students once as I gave my personal testimony. I said:

"A lot of what I learned about leadership came from The John Maxwell Leadership Bible. I personalized it to what I saw in the Scriptures or having actually been through it by personal experience.

Real quick let me tell you the story about how I came across this call to leadership.

Growing up in Christ was scary for me, because I always felt that the Lord was tugging on my heart to be a leader in His army. But I was like Jonah and ran the other way. Why? Because my greatest fear is leading God's people astray. Plus the judgment for leaders in Christ is a lot harsher because we affect more lives.

So all throughout life I had people saying things to me like, "You'll be a pastor of a church you'll see." Or, "Your ministry will be a great ministry of God." Or something close to that. And I always shrugged it off and took no thought of it. Not because I didn't believe in myself to do it with the Lord's help, but because I didn't want the responsibility for all the lives I would come in contact with.

One day, late 2006, while I was riding the city bus with the same people that ride the city bus every morning to their jobs. I was doing my daily devotional and/or Bible study on the bus. There was a lady who was not known to be on the bus on a regular basis who truthfully I'd never seen before in my life. She told me to take a look at her book. It was the John Maxwell Leadership Bible.

I skimmed through it (well, me and my other Christian buddy next to me skimmed through it). We both agreed that it was a very good book, along with the articles and notes, too. As I handed her back the book she rung the bell to get off the bus by the hospital, she gave the book back to me and said keep it. She got off the bus and I never saw her again. I looked at the price on the back of the book. It was brand new, about $34.99 brand new. I called my wife and she literally screamed with joy over the phone.

You see my wife has a high level of spiritual discernment so she catches God's work in people’s lives a lot easier than I can. And she was yelling, "I told you so! I told you so! God is confirming to you that you will be a leader in His army!" In my heart I had cried with an aching pain. Why? For several reasons.

? First, God had just spoken and there was no more running.

? Second, everybody spoke leadership over my life and there words came to pass.

? Third, I really didn't want the job, but I checked my heart and willingly took the job since God said He'd be with me.

So I started to put God's principles formulated by John Maxwell into life application and learned a lot about what a leader is and is not. And all through this training God was showing me in my past where He was already working on my leadership skills even when I was doing it for evil. I grew up in gangs and always came up in the ranks. In the US Army I came up through the ranks quickly. At every civilian job I ever worked at I started from the bottom, willingly, and moved up into leadership quicker than people who had been there for years.

As I am writing this the Holy Spirit just said to me,

"Ricardo the reason why you didn't want God's leadership job is because you know how untruthful and untrustworthy you were in the world, and you fear mixing it with what you know in Christ and deceiving others. Ricardo you don't have a fear of being a leader, you have a fear of lying because that's all ever you did in life to get ahead in your leadership positions."

Christ had shown me once again how wrong I was. The fact that I willingly took leadership positions in the world is proof that deep down in my heart I wanted to lead by serving God's people and pointing them into God's greatness.

I am sharing these lessons because I built everything God has given me on them from friends, to time, to talent, to treasure. They worked because I put them to practice and my ministry is flourishing and I praise God for that divine appointment." (Excerpt from "Leadership Styles of Moses, Jesus, and Paul" Lesson)

I didn't choose this. He chose me. My ministry call is to train five fold ministry leaders of apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and pastors with an EMPHASIS ON DEVELOPING YOUR LEADERSHIP! I do NOT focus on the gifts and functions of an apostle, prophet, teacher, evangelist, or pastor. While I DO teach and train ministers in their gifts, my primary focus is on helping them become BETTER LEADERS not better apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and pastors. There are hundreds of ministries that can teach and train or equip you on how to be the best apostle, prophet, teacher, evangelist, and pastor. But that is NOT my focus.

If you are wondering where this is coming from and you guessed that it is because of what is going on with Todd Bentley and Rick Joyner, then you are right. But not just them. MANY ministers who have fallen. This was just the straw that broke the camels back.

So before you consider being a teacher or prophet just for the "gift" then you are missing the point. God is training your for office or official leadership within the Body (for those who hate that word 'office'). You have influence. People are going to do what they see you doing because they want develop their gift instead of their leadership or character.

It's like a famous person who plays sports who doesn't want to be a role model though he/she is in public eye. Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Kids still want to grow up and be like Mike or Kobe or Shaq or whoever is the best basketball player at the moment (Sorry, I don't follow sports).

But I hope you get what I am saying and you are hearing my heart. Don't come to receive any ministry from me IF you want one of these five gifts with no plan on developing your CHARACTER or LEADERSHIP. I WILL turn you away. This is probably why Jesus turned many of His disciples away in John 6. They wanted the gifts and the power and the wealth and fame. They did not want the relationship or character or the sacrifice of leading people somewhere and facing the possibility of not receiving anything in return.

The Holy Spirit is done talking. I've got nothing else to say. When He stops, I stop. I want to be able to say, "I only do what I see the Father doing" so that one day He will say, "Well done My faithful servant" or better "This is My beloved son in whom I am well pleased!"

I hope this helps you see the weight and responsibility of the call to be an apostle or prophet or teacher or evangelist or pastor in today's church. Do NOT take it lightly. These are people's lives you are dealing with. These are God's precious children. He has purchased them in His own blood. Be careful how to deal with His flock. He is the revenger of such nonsense. And in these days exposure is how God is doing it. I want to be able to say like Paul,

"But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." (1 Corinthians 9:27).

All I'm saying is, if you KNOW that you are doing something stupid that can lead others astray then just step out of leadership. Do us all a favor. Seek healing. Seek deliverance. God forgives you. I forgive you. Maybe others won't. That's okay. You do not have to stand before them in judgment. They are not Jesus. You are doing the right thing and God WILL honor your obedience to submit to His correction. You will come back much stronger than if others find out and expose you.

May the blessings of the KINGDOM of the Father come upon you and your family through the Seed of the Word planted grow up 30fold, 60fold, 100fold, and even a double portion, which would be 200fold in Jesus’ name by the power of the Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ WHO IS THE SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE WORLD! Amen!

Love you and Christ bless!

Ricardo

Your Personal Feet Washer