 Good morning, everyone. Praise the Lord. Welcome to class. Thank you all for joining class this morning. We'll begin. Can I ask one of you to please lead us in prayer? Anyone can unmute your mics and lead us in prayer, please? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for this time. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for being with us throughout this week. Lord Jesus Father, thank you for this morning. Lord, whatever we read, a Father, whatever we hear, a Father help us to practice it in our lives. I pray for ma'am, pray for pastor also, Lord Jesus Father, whatever she teaches, Lord Jesus Father, help us to understand it, Father. Holy Spirit, you are the best teacher. You are the best counselor. Please teach us, lead us and guide us, Father. God, please teach us all as something new, Father. Rest of the day, we commit in your hands. In Jesus mighty name we ask and pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. So we began looking at chapter 3 in this APC publication, Code of Honor. We were talking about people. This book is basically more practical. It talks about various practical aspects about about a minister of God, how a minister of God should conduct his life and ministry. So we looked at the personal life of a minister of God and how he needs to handle his family in chapter 2 and chapter 3 is about people. We know that Christian ministry is all about people. It's ministering to people. It's building lives of people because people are the ones who make up the church, constitute the church and the kingdom of God. So we began looking at various aspects of how as Christian ministers or as those in ministry, not just in ministry, even if you're leading a Bible study group or you're an elder in the church or you're a leader in the church, you know, what are the various aspects we need to keep in mind even as we deal with people even as we minister to people. So we are looking at this point where it says what is shared in confidence must stay in confidence. So, you know, as people in the ministry or if you're leading a prayer group or Bible study group or you're a leader of some area in the church, you know, people in your team or people in the church will share their problems, their difficulties and we need to learn to keep that in confidence because people are trusting us and they're sharing their lives with us. So we need to keep it in confidence. Don't use that as a subject for gossip or for, you know, just talking about them with other people. Sometimes we can do it very spiritually under the spiritual cover saying that, hey, you know, so-and-so is going through this and this problem. So let's, you know, please pray for them. I'm sharing this with you because, you know, I want you to pray for them, but don't go and tell it to anybody else, okay? So I think that's not even the right way to go about it. If somebody's trusting you with their and sharing things in confidence, you know, you can pray about it. That's enough. They can pray about it. We don't have to go and make it as a prayer point and share it with others. When we do that, it actually becomes a gossip and we also need to be very careful, you know, when we use these life examples as sermon illustrations because sometimes we can be so tempted to use these various scenarios that people go through in life as examples for our sermon illustration and we need to be very, very careful. We should be also mindful because they might be there in the congregation and sometimes even if they're not there and we use people's you know, examples, life examples in the situation that they've gone through and they've come and shared with you, people who listen to you will say, hey, if I go and share my problems with so-and-so, this person who's preaching, they might also use my problem as an example, so might as well not use it. So it's good to just be very general about the illustrations that you use. Don't be too in-depth, even if you're using some of these scenarios, case scenarios that people come and share with you about their lives. The next thing is we need to correct people lovingly. You know, that's correcting people is something very difficult that we find not only in the area of ministry, but also in the family, in our personal relationships that we have, but you know, when we correct people, we need to keep some things in mind. We can follow a two-step approach. First thing is warning and then second approach is correcting. So the first step is warning. You know, just when things are not going right, when things need to change, things are not going the certain way that you want it to go and it's expected of that person, then as a leader, you need to step in and take that corrective action. Let the person know what they're doing is wrong, how they can correct themselves, you know, and give them sufficient, communicate with them what needs to be done, how they need to do it, and also, give them sufficient time and space to attempt to make the corrections that they are required to do and follow up with them, keep up with them, and if they are not doing or following the steps that you are bringing in the corrective measures in terms of warning them, then it's important that, you know, you go ahead with the second approach with this correction. So, you know, when things, you've given them sufficient time, space, you've made known to them what they need to do and they have not changed, then you have to bring correction and even when you bring correction, you need to bring it in a very loving way and of course, we need godly wisdom, which means we need to pray about it. Now, when we bring about correction, correction will depend on two aspects. One is cause, the other is effect. Now, the cause is what is the reason why in spite of warning the person and helping the person, why is the person not being able to meet the requirements? So, if it has to do with the cause can be, you know, lack of skill or lack of training, lack of proper time management, then we can help that individual, you know, develop those skills, but if the problem is, you know, the person is lazy, stubborn, rebellious, doesn't want to work hard, you know, have bad heart attitudes, their motives are not right, they have selfish agendas, they are, you know, acting very super spiritual, that which means they know everything, they can do everything, you didn't have to tell them, they will just only do as a spirit leads them or high-mindedness, then the correction can be quite severe. So, it's important to look at what is the cause and then, you know, based on the cause, you know, you can bring in the effective measures, okay? So, what is the impact or effect of the individual's failure or wrongdoing? If the impact of the individual's failure or wrongdoing is on a small scale and can be controlled, it's not affecting the larger body of Christ, the local church or the rest of the team members or it's not bringing in strife and division and problems, then it's on a small scale, things can be controlled, so the person can be given more time and space and more correction and more training on how to be more effective in their specific roles and responsibilities. But if, you know, the effect is, you know, on a larger scale going to impact a wider scale impacting the church and, you know, more people, then, you know, and they're setting a bad example and it's affecting many people, then the correction is, you know, going to be more strict or more severe where the person can be released from that area of ministry or, you know, taken, the responsibility can be taken away. And but we need to remember that when we are correcting people and we're bringing in this correction, it is always to bless them, okay? It is for the well-being of the person and, you know, we are trying to safeguard also the other people who are involved in the church or in the team, so try not to, when you're bringing in correction, try not to destroy your relationship with that person, you know, and also it's important to protect your heart, which means it's important that when you are correcting the person to know that you are doing what is right before God. And if you have any feeling against that person, you know, it's important that you ask God to deal with you and also, you know, maintain a good relationship with that person, bring in unity and try to, you know, be united with that person, try to keep that bond of relationships strong and also remain open as ministers of God or team leaders or people in leadership position, you know, to relate to, to give, to receive from that individual as well. Not that because they have not been able to fulfill a specific responsibility, doesn't mean they're worthless and useless. We can receive from them, we can relate to them, and also when you relate to them, we can also mentor them and nurture them, okay. Now, when you're addressing, you know, this is what we're talking about here in this context of correcting people, it's not about when you're having personal conflicts with somebody. This is what I just mentioned is when we're talking about, you know, when we are in leadership position or managing teams, you know, how when people fail in their roles and responsibilities, what we need to do because that is going to affect the larger congregation of the local church or the rest of the team members. And this is not about addressing personal issues or personal conflicts, okay. Now, when we are correcting people, we need to correct them in private. But when we, when we praise people, you know, we need to praise them, applaud them in public, give them the credit for what they have done, applaud them in public. But when we correct people, we need to be careful that we don't talk about what they have done wrong to others in terms of gossip or even as a prayer point, you know, just saying that because when you're saying that it's a prayer point is also one way is gossip. So we, you know, when people do something wrong, they don't are not able to fulfill their roles and the responsibilities, they fall away. We need to be very sensitive. But when it comes to things where somebody is in, you know, a leadership position and they have done something wrong, and the rest of the team needs to know why you've taken that corrective action, why the person had to step aside from his role, why the person had to leave the team, why the person was removed from his ministry office or his role in the church, then this needs to be communicated in public to the church members or to the team. But when we do that, we need to also be mindful that we are not destroying the character, the integrity, or bringing harm to the individual, but you know, just addressing the issue what was not done and how it's going to, you know, affect the larger team or the church as a whole. And hence, we've asked that person to step aside. So we need to be very careful and we need godly wisdom and we need to pray about things when we bring about correction to people, even as we are in the ministry or in the leadership position. Again, now, we need to be mindful, even as we deal with people that we have a personal strategy for handling difficult situations. So, you know, we learn when we correct people, when we journey with people, when we work with people, there are so many things that we learn. And so it's important that, you know, you put as you learn, you bring about or you have your own strategy in how to handle difficult situations. So Pastor is written, because he's written this book, he's talking about how he has brought about personal strategies to handle difficult situations. So he basically says that, you know, when he wants to communicate things to the team, to the leadership team, the pastor, the rest of the pastors or the church or the staff, he sends an email. Okay, so that way things are clearer, what needs to be done. But when things need to be discussed, he brings it out in the staff meeting or in the pastor team meeting. And then he gets a collective input. And then, you know, the team decides what best needs to be done. But, you know, when it comes to difficult situations, when handling things with people, he says it's best not to send an email or a WhatsApp message or, you know, speak over the phone. Because when we do that, people are reading or perceiving things from their own emotions, their own mindsets, they are putting their thoughts, their emotions into what they are reading or what they are hearing. So that can be very, very dangerous and it can, you know, worsen the matters even more. So, you know, it's good when you are correcting people that you sit face to face and you speak to them. So they're able to see your body language, your tone of voice, they're able to understand, you can share your emotions, what you are feeling, what you're going through as a leader, why you're doing what you're doing. And then it becomes much more easier to talk things out with the person. But even as you're bringing in correction, handling difficult situations is important to listen. So pastor says, you know, he does a lot of listening. He listens and listens and listens to the person. And also he's listening to what God is trying to tell him through what the person is saying. And then he, once he's listening is done, he's listening from God, you know, he makes a decision and then he communicates it to the person. Okay. So that is some of the strategies that we can follow or use when we deal with people, especially when we are correcting them. But it's good to we learn from our own experience or good to put, you know, have your own personal strategy. Okay. What we are saying in this book is basically what is, you know, has been the experience of pastors. So he's writing his experience, which is sharing it. But, you know, you can also come up with your own strategies as the Spirit of the Lord leads you. The next one is don't be a boss over God's people. Look at what first Peter chapter five versus one to four says can somebody read that, please. First Peter chapter five versus one to four. The elders who are among you, I exclude I who am I if fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed, shepherd the flock of God who is among you serving as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly, nor as being lots over those interested to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Amen. Thank you. So here we see that, you know, even as we are given leadership position or God entrusts sheep to us and we are shepherds, you know, whether we have a Bible study group or prayer group or, you know, prayer sale meeting in our house or you're a pastor, or you lead a team in church, it's important that we don't, you know, you know, first of all, that we are serving buildingly and not out of compulsion. We're doing things not for dishonest gain, but you know, just wanting to, having a serving heart, wanting to serve God. And we are not lording over people, lording over those God has entrusted to us. But what we need to do here, it says, is we need to be examples of the flock. So we need to lead by example. And we need to be like the chief shepherd, you know, who led by example and not being lords or bossing over people. Sometimes, you know, in the name of honor, a spiritual leader can misuse and often abuse people who serve them, you know, get them to carry their Bibles or their bags or their, you know, follow them like, you know, like a security guard, you know, respect them because they're highly anointed and all of those things that is abusing people. And that is not what God wants us to do. But we need to, you know, lead by example and not lord over people. Okay. The same way we should not control people and we should not manipulate them. Sometimes, you know, as leaders, as pastors, we think we are like spiritual fathers, spiritual mentors, spiritual mothers, you know, to those God has entrusted to us. And even as we try to protect them, you know, we come to a place where we begin not protecting them, but we try to control them. Okay. So we need to be mindful of this fact that we are here to serve people in terms of nurturing them in their faith and not dominating their life of faith. We're here to help them nurture them and help them grow in their faith work with God and not dominate their life of faith and not control them. So we see that in, you know, some of the leaders, you know, they have a control over every area of the people's life that they are ministering to, you know, they control their jobs, who they marry, where they go, what they're doing, you know, even if, you know, if they visit other churches or they go for other prayer meetings or, you know, go to listen to some other pastors or men and women of God or some crusades or they give, you know, their tides or they want to contribute to some other mission organizations, you know, the leader or the pastor is not happy. And, you know, they begin to control and manipulate people, you know, and the issue threats and, you know, they direct people what they should do, what they shouldn't be doing. And I've heard some people tell me that, you know, if we don't go to church that Sunday, Monday morning, the pastor will be in their house asking them why they did not attend church. So that is like really controlling them. And, you know, it is not, not protecting people, but they're controlling people. And when they're getting people, you know, where they should, you know, give their tides, what they should do, how they should live is, you know, it's all actually spiritual witchcraft. So it's important that as leaders, as pastors, as ministers, you know, the people of God is entrusted to us that we teach them, we counsel them. We teach them from the word of God, we give them the meat from the word of God, the revelations of truth from the word of God, but we let them control their own lives. We let them make their own decisions and take their own, and take responsibility for their own life. We don't tell them who they marry, which job they need to, you know, where they need to go and work, where they have to live, whether, you know, even there's children with school, they have to go and all of those things, you know, we've had people who've shared this, that how people have controlled their lives and it's very, very sad. So we need to give people complete freedom, whether they want to go and attend other churches or attend other Bible study groups or prayer groups or attend crusades that come in the city or give financially and support other ministries, it is their responsibility, and it's not as us as leaders and pastors to control their lives. And we need to know that, you know, if people belong to us, belong to our church or belong to a prayer group or a cell group or a Bible study group, if they have a sense of belonging, they will come back because, you know, this is where they feel home. This is where they feel loved. This is where they feel accepted. This is where they feel their heart belongs. So, you know, they will just come back. You don't have to control them or manipulate them. Okay. And the other thing we need to keep in mind is, as we relate to people, is that we need to overcome our own personal insecurities. Look at what second Corinthians 3, chapter one, chapter three versus one, five and six says, can somebody read that please? Second Corinthians, chapter three, one, five and six. Do we begin again to command ourselves or do we need as some other epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as minister of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter skills, but the spirit gives life. Amen. So, here Paul is saying that, you know, he's saying that, you know, we don't need any recommendation from man because he says that he knows that his completeness in ministry comes from God. He's called by God and God is the one who makes him complete. So, we remember, we learned that, you know, when we are called to a specific function, God gives us the grace, you know, he enables us with the gifts and the grace that we need to fulfill that function. So, he's writing here and saying, you know, it's not that we feel that we are sufficient in ourselves. Paul is saying, hey, I might be, you know, I might know the Old Testament well. I might have studied under the best of the best teachers, including Gamaliel. You know, he was well thought, well trained scholar in the Old Testament law, the Apostle Paul. And he says, you know, it's not that I feel I'm sufficient by myself, but he says my sufficiency comes from God. And he says we have been made sufficient as ministers of the new covenant. Okay. So, you know, that should kind of bring us to a place where it, you know, we can get rid of all our insecurities. So, sometimes as ministers of God, we carry a lot of personal insecurities, you know, and because of that, we, you know, we operate or do ministry out of these insecurities. And our insecurities can be seen in various ways. So, for example, you know, if you're somebody who is very insecure, and you see other ministers getting all the attention and people, you know, following them, then you try to make yourself as someone great as someone big. So, in your sermons or in your you know, Bible study groups and your prayer groups, you try to, you know, say how anointed you are, how powerful you are, and you can give examples of how God is rightly using you and how you're flowing in the gifts, how many miracles you did, you know, so that people would see you as someone really great and they will not follow other ministers of God. But sometimes, you know, we can, when we are insecure and we feel that someone else is preaching better than us, you know, we stop people from hearing them. So, we say, hey, don't listen to that man of God. Don't listen to, you know, this famous preacher, you know, his lifestyle is not like good. He has done this, he's done that. His teachings are all wrong. It's not in accordance with God's word. Why do we do that? Because we're insecure and we want to stop people from listening to their sermons and we want them to listen to our sermons. So, sometimes, you know, when people may leave our church or our Bible study group or our prayer group and go to another church, then, you know, we tell them, you know, that they should not be visiting that church or that Bible study group or prayer group. And, you know, we instead of preaching from the pulpit from the word of God, we use the pulpit time to put down men and women of God, put down other ministries, tell them how they're living, their lifestyle is wrong and that is a abuse of the pulpit time, God given time of preaching and teaching from God's word and we are accountable to God. Firstly, because we're talking about another anointed man of God, a man or woman who's called by God, we have no right to talk about them, you know, and we also have no right to use the pulpit time, God given time to teach from his word, teach people from his word, you know, use that to put down other ministries or to control, manipulate and tell people what they should be doing and what they should not be doing. But all this stems from our own insecurity because we don't feel secure that people love us, people want to come to our church and, you know, people think that we are, you know, not as good compared to other men and women of God. And sometimes also, you know, if you're not given the front seat, if you're not given the place of honor, if you're not applauded, if you're not welcomed, if we are, you know, if our names are not addressed in the right way, for example, if we are, you know, doctors so and so, you know, and we miss telling Reverend Doctor, you know, Selena Macquana, you know, then I can get upset, you know, how come the person just said Reverend Selena Macquana, why didn't they use Reverend Doctor Selena Macquana? So we get, you know, very, very upset, we get irritated, offended, and, you know, we're not given the seat in the front or on the stage, we're not called up, we're not recognized. All that anger that stems up is because of deep seated insecurity. And also, you know, sometimes in our ministry, there can be other people in our team who can pray better than us, preach better than us, teach better than us, and we, you know, we get a little insecure because they might take our position, people might love them, people might see them as better leaders or better people than us. And so we don't give them, you know, time to preach or teach or play, and we try to put them down, and we don't want them to progress. And that is also stemming from deep insecurity. Also, sometimes when we are insecure, you know, we talk about the number of places we've gone and preached, the number of people who invited us, you know, the miracles that we have done, how God is using us powerfully, or sometimes we can also talk about how we are associated with other great ministers, other great ministries, just to portray that, hey, you know, I'm also a great man of God, I'm also connected with people in high places, rich and the famous, okay? So all this is stemming up from our insecurities, and we need to guard this, we need to watch over this, because this can also bring about a downfall in our own ministry, this can also bring about division in the team. So we need to be very, very careful, you know, and we need to ask God to give us a grace to get rid of all of these insecurities in our own life and know that our competence comes, our completeness comes from God, even as he has made us able ministers of the new covenant, we are not able in ourselves, but God has made us able, okay? The next thing is don't provide a platform for people with the personal agendas. Now, sometimes people can join your team, your church, and they want leadership positions or responsibilities, and we need to be very careful who we put in and what responsibilities we give them, we need to watch over people, whether their motives are pure, their heart is pure before God, you know, give them small responsibilities and see whether, you know, their heart is right, their motives are pure, whether, you know, they are willing to interact with others, they're keeping the bond of unity, they're willing to serve on the people, they're willing to work as a team in unity and oneness, and they're comfortable, even if they work hard, they're not recognized, they're not applauded, it's okay, they are willing to serve, also see if they're, you know, they're aligned themselves to the vision and the direction of the leadership, they're not just doing whatever they want, they're not doing what they think is right, what they feel is right, they're not doing their own things, so it's important before we give people or put people into leadership roles and responsibilities that, you know, we give them small roles without giving them any titles and watch them and if they fit in and they're doing things right, you know, it's important then we can give them responsibilities and roles and then maybe follow that with titles, okay, look at what Paul tells Timothy in 1st Timothy chapter 3 verse 10, he tells Paul has left Timothy, young Timothy, in Titus, and he's telling Timothy to appoint leaders and even as he's telling him to appoint leaders, he's telling, you know, in 1st Timothy chapter 3 verse 10, he says, but let these also first be tested, then let them serve as deacons being found blameless, so, you know, he says 1st test people and who do we need to test, he's not talking about leaders, he's talking about deacons, deacons are just those who serve, maybe those who set up the, you know, set up team, pack up team, those who are laying the chairs, who those who are serving coffee, those who are welcoming people, he's saying even such kind of people test them first and if they are found blameless, then you give them, you know, responsibilities and then titles as well, so when it's just for deacons, which who do administrative roles, how much more careful we need to be careful, you know, vigilant when we think about assigning roles in response to these for those in leadership teams, you know, sometimes people will come to us and they want to be part of our team, our church, you know, we need to be very careful because some of them will be promoting their own, you know, they will just want to come and serve, but later on they would want to promote their own personal ministries or their own business, so it's first important to test people, it's biblical, that's what Paul tells Timothy, ensure their hearts are right with God and right in serving before you give them leadership roles and responsibilities. Okay, the next one is to not fight what you do not understand, you know, we can't just put God in a box, you know, so we just can't, when we see a move of God, we can't say, hey, this is not what is in the Bible, this is not biblical, so this is not a move of God, yes, God will never do anything that will violate his word, that will go against what he's spoken in his word or what is a part of his nature, but he's also not confined to his word, so for example, we see in Acts that, you know, that even Peter's shadow healed people, so they brought sick people and laid them in the part where Peter walked so that even Peter's shadow would heal them, but we don't see this happening anywhere else in the Old Testament, so when it happened, we can't say, hey, I don't think this is right, this is not the move of God, this is something demonic, this has not happened, but we see that, you know, even as Peter's shadow fell on those who sick, the sick were healed, so, you know, we need to look at the fruit, the outcome of, you know, what is happening, so, you know, God can do new things in new ways which can surprise us all, and sometimes we also, you know, expect God to use certain kind of people in certain ways, but he can use, you know, different people in different ways to manifest his gifts, his healing, his deliverance, his work, his kingdom, purposes and plans through people, so we shouldn't fight it and we should not say that it is wrong, it's wrong to react in such a way, of course, you know, how do we know when it is the right move of God, even if it's an unusual move of God, it's not anywhere else we see in the Bible, how do we know that it is right even though it doesn't fit our logic, our reasoning, it doesn't fit the way we think and we want to do things, so God has been doing things, we need to look at the fruit, okay, if people are acting out of carnal nature and fleshly nature, you know, then we know that it's not of God and also you need to see the fruit, the fruit is that people's lives are being transformed, people are coming to know Jesus as a Lord and Savior, we can see their lives being transformed, people are healed, restored, from demonic afflictions, you know, strongholds are broken, you know, we know that it is the work of God, so it's important that we see the fruit and then we are able to judge, so if it's of the carnal nature, it's of the fleshly nature, then we see that there is basically no fruit, people's lives are not transformed, change, there's no healing and deliverance that has happening, but people are more bound to things, okay, so we need to stand back, watch, you know, and look at the fruit and the fruit will tell us, you know, whether this unusual working of God is from God or is from Satan or just the fleshly carnal nature, but you know, don't fight it, don't think, react in the wrong way, don't say it's wrong, look at the fruit and then decide, okay, some things that people say are not worth your time, look at what Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verses 21 and 22 says, can somebody read that please? Justice 7, 21 and 22, also do not take to heart everything people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you, for many times also your own heart has known that even you have cursed others. Amen, thank you. So here, you know, you know, there are people who are part of our team, you know, who we have mentored, we have invested in, we have invested in their lives, we have taught them, trained them, and you know, they have a good relationship with us, they support us, they encourage us, but suddenly all of a sudden, you know, they criticize us and they point out, you know, our faults and our shortcomings and we see that, you know, they're kind of retaliating, they're kind of bringing in division, they're criticizing you and you're wondering, hey, what happened? This person was so supportive, so encouraging, what happened? Suddenly, I was beginning to retaliate, everything what I'm saying is retaliating, is criticizing, people forget the good that we do for them, but you know, we should not take that to heart just as we read in Ecclesiastes, you know, we need to be strong on the inside, we need to focus on what God has called us to do, even when such things happen, we need to continue strong, don't, you know, take time to fight against people because it's going to drain you of your time, your energy, you know, you can't fight them, it's going to affect you, don't retaliate, don't quarrel, you know, all we can do is, you know, just learn to pray, release our feelings, our hurt, our pain to God and keep moving forward in doing what God has called us to do, you know, I've been working with the handling teams the last, the last, say, 15 plus years of my life and yes, people are difficult to work with, you know, so I've had people who've joined the team and they're very supportive, very helpful, you know, but suddenly they, you know, they change, they begin to retaliate, they try to bring in division, they try to, you know, talk behind your back and try to make life difficult and I'm sensing that, I'm seeing that, I'm knowing that, but I, you know, what I have done is I have not fought them, you know, because I said, God, I don't have the time, first of all, because I do so many, I handle so many ministry areas, I don't have the time, I don't have that kind of energy and I'm not somebody who's, who can really fight people, I can't, you know, you know, I'm not good at winning arguments or getting through in pointing out to people what they have done, what they have said, you know, so I said, God, you have to fight my battles and I have seen God fight my battles, I've just stepped aside, I've seen God fight my battles, God either pulls them out and the main leader notices, it's brought to their notice without even me saying it and yes, you know, they either leave the team, they sent out and so it's important that we don't waste our time and energy because, you know, we are here to do what God has called us to do, there's so much more useful things that we can do and I'm saying, God, I don't have the time to fight them because it's going to bring about division in the team, it's going to waste my time and energy and my peace of mind, it's going to, you know, divert my focus and I'm going to get distracted, I'm just going to do what you have called me to do God and you just take care of them and I have seen God fight my battles and because he has promised he will fight our battles and he does it and I've just seen that so beautifully and wonderfully, he just fights it and I just have to sit back and actually just watch, okay? So, when people give you feedback, yes, you need to take feedback, it's not that we are perfect that, you know, that all is well with us because we are in leadership positions so, you know, if they bring constructive useful feedback, you know, take it, if it is not constructive useful feedback, just criticism, just let it go, don't hold that against people because they might see things in their own lenses, their colored glasses that they are wearing, they might have misjudged you, misunderstood your motives and the way of doing things but, you know, don't get easily moved by what people say and do, if you get easily moved by what people say and do, you cannot last long in the ministry, you can't serve God, you can't, you know, fulfill your calling and also as a leader in any field, you will not be able to move ahead so, you know, be very, very mindful of that, look at what Paul says to the, you know, what we need to do is we need to leave our offenses behind, it's not worth carrying them with you, okay? Look at what Paul says to the church believers in Galatia, you know, he's labored with them in the faith and they're, even as he's labored and bringing them to the faith, you know, they are easily swayed by some other people who insist that some of the Old Testament practices of the laws still have to be observed, okay? They still have to keep those Old Testament rituals and laws and it seems that, you know, Paul feels that his, what he has labored with the church in Galatia has gone in vain, but however, he, what does he say? He says, hey, people have not injured me at all. That's what he says in Galatians chapter four, verse 12. He says, you know, I'm afraid for you less I've labored for you in vain, but look at what he says, you have not injured me at all. So Paul is not offended with what the Galatians have done even though it's caused him hurt and pain, but he says, you know, you've not injured me at all. So we need to leave aside offenses not worth carrying because that is going to eat you up like acid and destroy your peace of mind, your ministry, and, you know, it's going to be a hindrance from you stepping forward and fulfilling what God has called you to do. Sometimes we need to also correct ourselves. Another example from Paul's life and Paul went for his first missionary journey. He went along with Barnabas and Barnabas brought his cousin John Mark and, you know, somewhere during that first missionary journey, John Mark decides that he doesn't want to continue with Barnabas and Paul and he doesn't go along with them and Paul is very, very angry. So when they want to go on their second missionary journey, Barnabas says, hey, let's take John Mark as well and Paul disagrees and they have such a sharp disagreement that, you know, Paul and Barnabas part ways and they go their separate ways with different people. Okay. But we see that, you know, John Mark grows in his faith, he becomes mature and Paul begins to see that and when Paul begins to see that he corrects himself and he realizes that he has made a mistake in how he has judged John Mark and we see that he welcomes John Mark back into his ministry as a fellow minister and he promotes him in the ministry. So here we learn a valuable lesson that we don't carry any form of grudge or offenses and we leave the past behind and we move ahead and, you know, as ministers of God, we must learn not to let people's actions offend us and, you know, even if it offends us, we must learn to leave it behind and walk into the things that God has for us. Okay. The next one is even as people grow, people change so be ready to let them go. So people will come into your team, your church, you know, part of your ministry for a certain period of time, their journey along with you for a few months, some of them few years, some of them will stay longer and you have sewn into their lives, you have fed them, you have mentored them, you have, you know, got them to, you know, move ahead in life. But, you know, they want to move ahead, they want to go and start their own ministry, go to another new place or start another church or, you know, they want to move out of your team. At that time, we should not be angry with them. We should not say, hey, you know, I've invested so many years into your life. I've taught you, you came so immature as a child, blah, blah, you know, how can you leave me? How can you, you know, go away? That is being very immature on our parts. What we need to do is just as we readily and lovingly accepted them and welcome them, you know, we must also be ready and willing to bless them and let them go into what God has in store for them because maybe God is leading them elsewhere and they had come in for a time in a season into your life, into your ministry and you have blessed them and you need to be excited that, hey, somebody who I have mentored, you know, have brought them into faith and matured them is going out, stepping out. You should be proud, not controlling them and not manipulating them. You know, even as I work with teams, there are people who step in and they step out and they want to leave and I'm just as welcoming and as loving as when they join in and even as when they leave, I just let them and send them away because, hey, this is not my kingdom. This is not my business. I'm in the business of serving the Lord. It is his kingdom, his business, his ministry and he knows if a person is stepping out, he will bring the right person in. So I don't have to get agitated or irritated or, you know, feel insecure. I just let go. So let go of people. I just bless them with joy, with happiness and, you know, wherever God leads them, pray for them and if they want to come back and join the team later on, you know, welcome them back. Don't hold things against them. Okay. We'll stop here. We'll continue after the break. Thank you all for your patience and I'll see you after the break.