What To Look For In A Leader
Acts 27:1-44
We are only 19 days from Christmas, which is exciting. But did you know we are only 11 months from the presidential election? How exciting (NOT!) That means 11 months of political ads, debates, polling data, and pundits pontificating about potential possibilities.
As the United States electorate considers each candidate, no doubt there are many things that influence someone's decision to vote for a particular person. Some are influenced by substantive things like a candidate's position on important issues, others are influenced by other things that are perhaps less substantive - like how a person looks, or their tone of voice, or even their hair style.
55 years ago presidential politics changed forever when Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy participated in the very first televised presidential debate. Observers at the time noted that if you listened to the debate on the radio, Nixon was the clear winner because of his command of the issues. But if you watched it on TV, Kennedy was the clear winner because of his command of the camera. As we all know, Kennedy went on to win.
The title of my message this morning is, "What To Look For In A Leader." Certainly, one of the qualities we would hope for in a president would be the ability to lead. This is fundamental to any organization no matter how large and no matter how small. From political positions, to corporations, civic groups and obviously Christ's organization (and the only one that will last for eternity) - the church. Even in the most basic and fundamental organization in society - the family - the ability to lead well is an invaluable commodity. Would you agree that there is a dire need for effective leaders?
Leadership is the topic of much conversation, seminars, books, websites conferences and training opportunities. This is true in the secular world as well in the Christian world. I've got a whole section in my personal library on the subject. And new books with intriguing titles are released ever year.
But if you were to pull together all of the typical patterns of leadership that the world offers, their definition of a leader would include someone being a strong, natural, dominating kind of personality. The world would say a true leader is one who is a visionary, risk-taker, action oriented, courageous, energetic, and in some ways, egocentric. They believe so much in themselves that they know they alone have the answers and therefore they alone know how to solve problems.
This is the world's picture of a leader. It's very different from what the Scripture says and yet there are some similarities. And if you were to look in the Scripture to try to find a pattern for leadership, where would You go? I can find a pattern for a leader who is an elder in the church and there are clear qualifications delineated there in 1 Timothy and Titus. But who are some examples of leaders we could look to?
Well, in the Old Testament you could go back to Moses. Moses was definitely a leader. He led the people of Israel out of captivity with some very courageous actions. He also took some great advice from his father-in-law and learned how to delegate and lead the whole of the nation of Israel - literally 2 million people - around the wilderness for 40 years - no easy job.
If you were to look in the New Testament for someone who demonstrated leadership capability, obviously you would look to the Lord Jesus Christ who is perfect in everything He did and was for certain the perfect leader.
But if you want a human model I don't think anybody is better than Paul. Paul is my hero as a leader. He is a true leader of people. Now his ability to lead had nothing to do with titles because he really didn't have any title. He wasn't a king, he wasn't a governor, he wasn't a statesman. He wasn't a nobleman of any kind. He was, however, a leader. And I don't know if there's another passage that portrays Paul's leadership ability quite as strikingly as the passage before us today, Acts 27.
This is sermon #45 in our series through the 28 chapters of Acts. We'll conclude this series next week (DV). The first 12 chapters primarily focus on Peter and his ministry, but by the time you get to the end of chapter 12 and then into chapter 13, the rest of the book almost exclusively focuses on the apostle Paul. Now no doubt, his leadership ability and acumen has been on display as we've seen him undertake and lead three different missionary journey's throughout Judea, Asia minor and into Europe. The last several weeks we've seen his leadership on display as he has testified before a Jewish mob, the high council of Israel, Roman officials, Governor Felix, Governor Festus, and last week King Agrippa and his wife Bernice.
But the time when a true leader is clearly identified is during a time of crisis. When crisis strikes, a leader will rise to the top. And that's exactly what happens here in this next to the last chapter of the book. If you'll remember, Paul has been imprisoned for over 2 years - accused by the Jews of crimes he didn't commit. Paul finally says, you can't keep me incarcerated as a Roman citizen without a fair trial; without due process.
As such, Paul appealed his case to Caesar in Rome. And governor Festus and King Agrippa oblige by saying:, "To Caesar you have appealed, to Caesar you shall go." As Chapter 27 begins he's in Caesarea on the west coast of Palestine. He has to sail across the Mediterranean to the west to Rome, Italy to have a trial before Caesar.
We're going to kind of go through the entire chapter this morning, following the narrative flow. As this passage unfolds we will see Paul's leadership ability emerge. Now when the trip starts out, Paul is the low man on the totem pole. He has no authority. He has not title. He has no responsibility, no position of leadership. He is a prisoner, likely shackled in chains.
If you've ever had the occasion to go to a prison, it is something of a sobering experience. Essentially all freedoms are removed. You're told exactly what to do and when you will do it. Everyone is dressed in the same outfit, everyone resides in the same size cell, everyone eats the same meals, and so all of the societal constructs that exist in the culture that differentiate the lower class from the middle class and the upper class are gone. In prison, it doesn't matter if you were a mover and shaker on Wall Street, or a beggar on 23rd street.
Prisoners have no authority at all and that was Paul. He had no stature. He had no station. He had nothing. He was the prisoner who was being taken to Italy with some other prisoners. That's where we pick the story up in verse 1. 1And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 2And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.
I would point out a couple things in these two verses. First, you notice the personal pronoun switches to "we." We've seen this on other occasions and events through the book of Acts. It indicates that Luke, the inspired author of Acts, actually accompanied Paul on this journey, along with Aristarchus, another disciple.
Now the plan was to take this vessel along the coast. This indicates that this was probably not a very large ship. Some ships were not large enough to handle a voyage through the rough waters of the middle of the sea, and so these boats stayed right along the coast where the seas were much calmer. If you look on the map on the back you'll see the city of Adramyttium on the east coast of the Aegean Sea. This vessel's port of call was Adramyttium.
So the plan was for the Roman Centurion - who was overseeing Paul and the other prisoners being transported - to take this vessel north and then at a subsequent port, transition to a much larger vessel that could make the voyage across the Mediterranean to Rome.
Now as I mentioned, Paul's the low man on the totem pole on the ship. The text will tell us there's a pilot/captain of the ship, and the owner. There's probably a first mate & other crew members. We know there's a centurion, a commander of 100 soldiers named Julius. He certainly has other soldiers with him. Now if you look at the map, you'll notice their first stop on the journey was the port of Sidon. That would have been about a day's journey from Caesarea. Notice what verse 3 says: 3The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.
Now this is really pretty shocking. You don't take a hot potato political prisoner like Paul, a prisoner who has stood before the governor Felix, the governor Festus and King Agrippa, a prisoner who has been a serious threat to the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace, a prisoner who literally generated riots in the city of Jerusalem; you don't take a prisoner like that who is on his way to a trial before Caesar, you just don't give that kind of prisoner liberty; you don't give him the freedom to go away from your custody. And that leads to the first quality of Leadership we see from Paul.
A Godly Leader...
I. Cultivates TRUST From Others
Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends
There is an underlying reality that makes Julius' actions so incredible. You see, if a Roman soldier due to his own negligence lost his prisoner, there was a very high price he paid. He paid for the life of the lost prisoner with his own life. It is astonishing, frankly, that a Roman centurion, a highly trained soldier would let a prisoner have liberty and leave just one day into the journey.
Somehow in maybe the brief days before the ship left Caesarea, somehow in that day trip to Sidon, Paul's manner, Paul's demeanor, Paul's character had convinced this hardened Roman Centurion that Paul would never do anything that could cost him personally - his life or anything else. In other words, that man believed that Paul would not take that liberty and try to escape. And that's what a leader does. A godly leader cultivates tremendous trust from others. A godly leader cultivates such trust in others that they know he would never maliciously or intentionally do something that could cause harm to you.
The Scottish novelist and poet George MacDonald, whose works influenced the likes of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien put it this way - "To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved." George MacDonald, 1877
A godly, influential leader is one who cultivates trust from others. When people are convinced that you will do everything in your power for their good and nothing for their harm, they'll trust you. When this centurion was convinced that Paul honestly had his best interests in his heart, he let him go. Why? Because he knew he'd come back. Paul had gained his trust. This is where all leadership starts. All leadership begins here.
Anybody in any position of leadership will succeed insofar as people trust them with their lives...with their futures...with their money...with whatever. Nothing can take the place of this, nothing. That's why in this country it's so sad to have leaders you can't trust; who are dishonest, who are deceptive; who are subversive. That's not leadership at all. Someone who is consumed with his own interests, his own desires, his own personal ambitions, driving everything is no leader at all.
Now again, at this point in the passage, Paul is not the leader of anything on this ship. But by the time we get to the end, he is the supreme leader calling the shots; he will be in charge of everything because leadership always rises in a crisis. And that leads to the second principle I want us to see from the passage... A godly leader...
II. Confronts PROBLEMS With Action
A leader is someone who sees a problem, who interprets a situation, and doesn't sit back and watch things deteriorate, but rather a leader takes initiative; a leader gets involved; a leader confronts problems with action.
You know, it's not hard to recognize a leader just on this quality alone. I've been around long enough to know this. When somebody comes to me and says, "You know, we've got a problem over here, Pastor, we've got a real problem over here. What are YOU going to do about that?" Well I try to be as gracious as I can but in my mind I file the thought...well, he's not a leader, leaders take the initiative. A leader comes and says, "By the way we had a problem over there, here's how we solved it." That's what you're looking for.
Let's see how Paul does this beginning at verse 4:
4And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.
6There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea. You can follow along on the map and see the slow progress that was made on the voyage. In Myra they left the small boat and boarded a much larger vessel, a grain-hauling ship headed to Italy.
This was a cargo ship. It was carrying a cargo that woudl satisfy the appetites of the people who lived in the capital of the Empire, Rome. It carried grain to satisfy their physical appetites, and it carried now a large company of prisoners to satisfy their appetite for human sport. You see this was the time of Nero, this was the time of the Coliseum, this was the time of throwing the Christians to the lions. And where did they get the prisoners from to satisfy this bloodthirst and appetite for human sport in Rome but from the outlying regions of the Roman Empire.
This large ship would have been much better equipped to handle the open seas of the Mediterranean. However, because of the prevailing winds they were not able to go very far and the time of the year was approaching where even the largest of ships dared not sail through the middle of the Sea. 9Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over,
The Fast referred to here is the Jewish Fast known as the Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement occurs at a very crucial time in the sailing calendar – the end of September to the first of October. If you're sailing in the Mediterranean mid-September to November is a very dangerous time. There are strong northeastern winds that come down off the mountains that sweep down into the Mediterranean, it can be very difficult. The Fast was over, so they’re entering into a time of great danger because of the winds, the winter winds that are going to come.
Notice what happens here: Paul advised them, Now who is Paul? Paul’s just a prisoner; Paul is not a professional sailor; Paul doesn’t have any position of authority on this boat. He’s just a prisoner. But this is a mark of a true leader – he confronts problems with action. Apparently no one was making the decision, they were vacillating back and forth, what to do, how to do it, and Paul takes the initiative and speaks up.
That is characteristic of leaders, they take the initiative. He had no rank. He had no particular right. He had no title. He had no bearing. He just realized there was a problem and he just took the initiative.
Leaders rise in times that are crucial and take the initiative. Let’s keep reading verse 10: Paul advised them, 10saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
Now we’ll see in a bit that Paul actually receives a message from an angel of the Lord that somewhat contradicts his prediction here in verse 10. Here he says there will be much loss of the cargo, the ship, and their own lives. Well, he was 66% accurate in his prediction.
So what did he base his personal prediction upon here in verse 10? Remember, Paul had been on 3 missionary journeys. He’s very familiar with sailing the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. He’s a preacher, not a sailor, but he knows a thing or two about sailing. But greater than his cursory knowledge of sailing is his decisiveness, and the fact that he was willing to take initiative and enter into the solution-seeking process of their current problem - something that apparently no one else had stepped forward to do. 11But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
So what does Paul know, right? He's just a preacher. So the centurion listens to the pilot of the ship and the owner of the ship. They're the professionals. 12And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, Now I know a lot of people spend their winters in Phoenix, but that's Phoenix, AZ, this Phoenix the text says is... a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.
13Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. Well verse 13 makes it look like initially, they made the right decision. But this is the proverbial calm before the storm: 14But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. That word translated "tempestuous" is the Greek work typhonikos, from which we get typhoon. This is an extremely violent storm, a typhoon has kicked up.
15And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. Because of the force of the headwind the ship could not stay alongside the coast of the island of Crete. So as you look at your map, this is a northeaster coming over the island of Crete, so from the upper right-hand corner the winds are being blown across the island and driving the ship into open seas.
16Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat.
The ship's boat would be a much smalerl vessel used to go ashore when the ship is anchored off the coast. It also served as a life boat. It would be attached to the stern & being pulled along behind the ship. 17After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.
Undergirding the ship was a process where the took large ropes and wrapped them under the hull of the ship, and then wenched them tightly to keep the hull - which was constructed of tongue and groove planks and covered in pitch - it would keep them from breaking apart. The gear lowered would drag along the bottom of the sea and create drag. They were hoping to avoid Syrtis on the northern coast of Africa, a large sand bar where ships went to die.
18Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19And on the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. Anytime you put something in a boat, it lowers it into the water. The more weight in a boat, the lower it sits in the water. Because the storm was so great, they're hurling everything overboard to get the boat up higher in the water. 20When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
Everybody had resigned themselves to the fact they were going to die.
Now who is the one guy who told them this would happen? Paul told them exactly this. Now you know who's in charge, right?, the one man who was right. And this is an affirmation to everyone on the ship of Paul's insight, his wisdom, his good judgment. Good leaders have good judgment; good, thoughtful, common-sense wisdom. They look at things honestly and objectively, they take the initiative and confront problems with action.
So here they are in this crisis. Paul's been proven right, and that leads to the third characteristic of a godly leader we see here; a godly leader...
III. Communicates AUTHORITY In His Tone
Paul is now going to speak again. I would think this time, they are going to be listening a little more clearly to his words: 21Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. I love that, he has to give them a little, "I told you so."
22Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
Paul's initial prediction was based on human observation, this prediction is based on divine revelation - and that trumps everything. 25So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26But we must run aground on some island.”
Paul speaks to them, and he communicates with tremendous authority. This is a crucial element of leadership. Unless you can speak clearly and with authority and boldness and confidence and courage because you know whereof you speak, you can't really lead people. You can't lead them by saying, "Well, maybe we could go this way, or maybe we could go that way, let's take a poll, let's draw straws, let's put our finger to the wind and see." Leaders don't do that. Leaders confidently and authoritatively say, "This is the way to go, and they lead the charge in that direction. You see this in the business world, you see it in the athletic world. There's no doubt about it when Peyton Manning is in the huddle, who everyone's listening to. He speaks with authority and with confidence.
A leader can speak with authority because he knows whereof he speaks. He understands what's at hand, he understands his capabilities. And in the case of the apostle Paul he had a word from God. That's what distinctly sets spiritual leadership apart from everything else. We can speak with authority because we have a word from God. Which leads right into the next point. Because a godly leader can communicate with authority, and from the basis of divine authority, he also...
IV. Creates CONFIDENCE For The Future
27When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.28So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. To take a sounding is to drop a rope with a weight on it down to the ocean floor. When the weight hits the floor, you mark the rope, pull it up and see how deep the water is. The closer you get to shore the shallower the water will be. A fathom is a man's wingspan, or roughly 6 ft. So first it's 20 fathoms, then 15, so they are getting closer to land...
29And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship's boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, So some of the sailors thought, "Now is the time to get out of this destiny of destruction." So they were pretending to let some more anchors down on the front, the bow of the ship when really they were trying to get the life boat into the water so they could escape. Look at verse 31 to see who's calling the shots on board now:
31Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go.
Paul speaks, people listen. He started at the bottom of the ladder when this began, now because of his impressive leadership ability he's in charge.
And there's a fascinating interplay of human responsibility and divine sovereignty. Paul had received a clear word from God - a divine revelation - that none of the people on the ship would be lost. But here he says, "Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved." God said not one person would be lost. Now Paul is saying, if these sailors leave, you cannot be saved - you'll die. So which is it? It's both. It's human responsibility and divine sovereignty working hand in hand.
I don't think it's any secret that I believe strongly in the sovereignty of God. Why? Because that's what the Bible teaches. But I also strongly believe in human responsibility. Why? Because that's what the Bible teaches. Divine sovereignty does not negate human responsibility. We are not deterministic or even fatalistic because God is sovereign. God works sovereignly through our human choices. Paul believed in divine sovereignty, but also human responsibility - you can't let these sailors make the choice to leave.
But let's keep reading and see how Paul created confidence for the future:
33As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”
Here's the thing we see in Paul's leadership ability. He's not just focused on the primary objective - getting to Rome - he's focused on people. So often secular leaders focus on the objectives. We have to accomplish this task, complete this project, or meet this deadline. No doubt, Paul wanted to get to Rome. He knew if that was going to happen he was going to need to step forward and take charge. But a godly leader doesn't just see people as a means to fulfill the objective, he sees people AS the objective.
So Paul speaks life into this crew and these soldiers and fellow prisoners who had been working for 14 days straight trying to just stay alive. And in so doing he creates confidence in them for the future. A good leader believes in triumph. A good leader believes in victory. And that driving belief will force him to move and adjust until he gets there. And that leads to the final principle of leadership I want us to consider. A Godly leader...
V. Commends An EXAMPLE To Follow
35And when he had said these things, HE took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all HE broke it and HE began to eat. 36Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. Do you see that? Paul had already established himself as the de facto leader of this cruise. Now, after creating confidence for the future, he demonstrates his absolute confidence by taking time to eat. This communicated his assurance in what was ahead. And did you notice the affect his confident example had on them - "they were all encouraged." Good leadership does that - it encourages everyone else in the organization. And they all followed his example and ate some food as well.
They were going to need the energy from this meal because, as Paul predicted, all the cargo and the ship itself was going to be lost, but they would be saved. 37(We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) 38And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
One might think the owner of the ship would say, "Ok, the storm has lessened, we at least still have the valuable commodity on board - the wheat - let's see if we can salvage something out of this trip. But Paul, being fully established as the confident leader had already spoken that all would be lost except their lives, and so they acted on that word and threw bags and bags of wheat into the sea.
39Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore.
40So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 42The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. We have already seen this, if a soldier lost a prisoner for which he was responsible, he would pay with his own life. So instead of losing their lives if the prisoners escaped, they were just going to kill them all.
Ill. Telling this story to Carson at bedtime and leaving the cliffhanger here!
43But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. Let me interject a thought here - how many pagans have been saved from catastrophe because a child of God has been in their company. That's what happens here. The soldiers wanted to kill all the prisoners. But God has plans for Paul, so the prisoners lives were spared for the sake of one life, Paul. I've had this exchange more than once when I've been on a plane. As I converse with the passenger sitting beside me and he learns I'm a pastor, he'll say something to the effect, "That makes me a little more at ease about this flight."
What does that mean? Because there's some sort of "holy man" on the flight, surely God won't let the plane crash. Now I don't know about that, but it's certainly a principle in Scripture. Think of the evil twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and God told Abraham, "For the sake of 50 righteous, I will not destroy the city." Abraham then says, "For the sake of 40, how about 30, what about 20 - what if there are 10 righteous people in the city God?" "For the sake of 10 righteous I will not destroy the city.
Because Paul was on that ship, all 276 people were saved because God had purposes for Paul. The end of 43: He (the centurion) ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.
Look at the map one more time. They swam and floated on pieces of the ship to the island of Malta. That little island in that big sea - what are the chances they would just happen to land on that island? Pretty slim, I would say. That is, unless God is guiding that storm and guiding that ship, and blowing it right where he wanted.
Now as we have considered Paul's leadership ability here, we can be tempted to think that Paul was some kind of superman, some kind of superhuman. He was a human just like you and me. In fact, I'd like to point out one more thing from the text that's not on your outline, but it is a vital and an imperative component of true, godly, spiritual leadership. Look again at verse 3: The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.
Paul was a human, and he had human needs. He was no lone ranger Christian. He had a need for friends, and he had a need to be cared for. At the church in Sidon, there are some nameless, faceless disciples of Jesus. We'll get to meet them in heaven. They were friends to Paul, the text says they cared for Paul. No doubt Paul encouraged them, but they encouraged Paul. I'm sure he told them where he was going, the trip would likely be treacherous - and certainly they prayed for him. This is an indispensible component of godly, spiritual leadership. Friends behind the scenes praying and caring for the leader.
Why was Paul able to exhibit such compelling leadership qualities in the midst of such a formidable crisis? I submit to you, he was living for a purpose greater than himself. He was living for the purpose to which he had been called so many years earlier on the Road to Damascus. He was living to proclaim the gospel of Jesus to those who had never heard.
And to that end he purposed in his heart to step forward and take the leadership helm of that seemingly doomed voyage. Not because he wanted to inflate his ego; not because he had some kind of Napoleon complex and just had to be in charge. His leadership ability was driven by a purpose. A purpose that was confirmed by the clear call on his life - to go to Rome and preach the gospel. And that leads to my last thought:
Last Thought: The most effective leaders are compelled by a PURPOSE that is GREATER than themselves.
And as we close I would ask you, what purpose is driving your life; what vision is compelling you to move forward in confidence. I submit to you there is no greater purpose than the glory of God being manifest in the souls of people. And for that purpose may we commit our lives!
