Hello Christian Leaders Community, I had a weekly scheduled meet-n-greet on Zoom call a while back, but I took it down. How would you like to restore it and just have a time to chat?

We changed our community name from CrownForge Christian Academy to the one you see here: Forging Christian Leaders, because Dr. Woods felt that the new name clarified the intent and expectations for the kind of content people can expect. We are forging new Christian leadership, and while that involves the 5 Crowns of Reward model of Ministry, our attempt to laser-beam focus on the end goal hopefully works better for newcomers. What are your thoughts on the name? Any suggestions?

The New Testament outlines many ways to serve the Church: Offices, gifts, Gender roles, and households. The Church has been acting like the world to deny these critical roles, male and female. Firstly, it affirms Jesus's statement about the intentions of God's design for the world: God made them male and female. The most complete compilation of instructions to men and women in the Church is in the appendix to the book, Crowns of Valor--Bold Leaders, Arise! The sheer quantity of instructions to men and women separately will shock any reader who has attended church without reading their Bible. The appendix is three full pages!

This is a book that will give you a firm sense of the 5 Crowns of Reward from the perspective of an anecdotal experience of a pastor's relationship with the parishioners. The book runs through a particular fictional experience where they are on a field trip together, and the subject of the 5 Crowns of Reward pops up and dominates the conversation for the sake of the book. The book focuses on the practical application of the Crowns in the life of the believer, and what they gained out of the experience. The narrator pops in for some useful insights, and the pastoral personality in the narrative supplies some biblical connections. This book is a good way to dip your toes into the waters of the 5 Crowns of Reward for beginners who are a little intimidated by the broader biblical connections, and the ministry usage of the activities these Crowns demand from Christians. Heroe's Welcome

This is a solid question I frequently get from parishioners who are trying to find any hole in the armor of the 5 Crowns of Reward. The problem is that the assumption this question is built upon is that the person asking has not read the Bible on the issue of prayer. Three dimensions to it: FIRSTLY, the Bible tells us that everyone prays, both faithful and wicked alike (Prov 15:8). So, unlike the 5 Crowns of Reward: loving Jesus at His coming, serving the church, suffering for the gospel, sharing the Word of God to win souls, and mentoring believers in these crowns, prayer is not unique to believers. For God to reward believers, they need to obey Christ in activities believers are commissioned to perform. Prayer is our relationship with God, and when we are in obedient relations with Christ, we abide in His word, as Jesus told us. When we obey Christ in our 5 Crowns of Reward, our prayers facilitate that obedience, building our relationship with Christ. Therefore, it cannot be commanded activity alone, because the situations to pray for will only arise as we step out in obedience. But the 5 Crowns of Reward will demand prayer for "all situations" (Philippians 4:6-7). SECONDLY, God expects our prayers to support a "Cross-'n-Crowns" ministry. Prayer by itself is not an activity God rewards because if all we do is pray, we aren't stepping out to do the activities God commanded us to work in this life. James 2:16 relays this very principle: "If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?" That simple answer is it does no good. LASTLY, prayer is the setup for those obedient works; we pray as we perform those works, and prayer thanks God for making all situations work for good for those who love God (Rom 8:28). God's love in believers is practical, engaging the 5 Crowns of Reward. Paul is very consistent to always associate the perfect work of Christ, the Cross, which saves us, next to the good works that God created us to walk in as believers: Ephesians 2:8-10: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."