CONNECTING WITH BIBLE

MENTORS:
LEARNING TO REFLECT ON
BIBLE CHARACTERS FOR
SPIRITUAL & MINISTERIAL
GROWTH

Frank D. Hankins
March, 2002
frankruthie@yahoo.com

CONNECTING WITH BIBLE MENTORS

With my Bible open I live with
prophets, priests, and kings. I
walk and hold communion with
apostles, saints, and martyrs,
and with Jesus

The word mentor is heard everywhere today. Most likely someone has
served as a mentor in your life at some point. Perhaps you have a
mentor in your life today. My definition of a mentor is a person God
uses to give us a push toward becoming all God wants us to be. But
what is a Bible mentor? Consider the box below.
Bible mentors are certain biographical persons in the Bible
that God uses to push us and nudge us toward our kingdom
purpose.

TIME TRAVEL GODS WAY

If you could travel back in a time machine to spend a week with any
person in Bible times, who would it be? What would you do with this
person? What kind of things would you ask him or her? The truth is
that there are ways to connect with these former Bible people through
purposeful reflection and personal application. In a sense they can
become our mentors. Lets call it time travel Gods way!
Throughout the centuries Christians have found strength and
encouragement through studying the lives of leaders like Moses, Joshua,
Samuel, David, Daniel, Paul, and Peter. One of the greatest leaders in
the Salvation Army, Samuel Brengle, said, With my Bible open I live
with prophets, priests, and kings. I walk and hold communion with
apostles, saints, and martyrs, and with Jesus 1 Brengle learned to
connect with Bible personalities through Scripture.
With an open Bible we can learn from David how to have a heart after
God. We can learn from Joshua about having a brave heart for God.
Jacob can show us a thing or two about how God works with broken
people. Samuel can show us some things about hearing the voice of
God. Daniel can show us some things about being firm in faith and
doing Gods exploits in our generation. Jonah can show us our need to
1

move beyond our limitations on God or our need for paradigm shifts.
Peter can show us some things about our need for repeated renewal
times. And the list goes on! The Bible itself encourages us to learn to
reflect on Bible characters.
Studying Bible characters provides us with a source of
inspiration, challenge and push toward greater development.
Light from the Book of Hebrews
Two passages in the book of Hebrews throw some light on our topic.
The first one is Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11 is a chapter about Old Testament characters who by faith
seize what God had for them and hung on until God came through for
them in some powerful ways. We may think of them as some amazing
people with a faith way out of our league. Arent they Gods heroes?
Arent they in another league? Didnt they have something we that we
dont have? After all, arent they in the Bible?
Actually the Bible tells us that these people were human just like us
(James 5:17). They were just as flaky and fragile as we are, but Gods
power was made perfect in their weakness. In the midst of that chapter
there is an encouraging little phrase. Check it out below.
Hebrews 11:32

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell

about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the
prophets,
33
who through faith conquered kingdoms,
administered justice,
and gained what was promised;
who shut the mouths of lions,
34
quenched the fury of the flames,
and escaped the edge of the sword;
whose weakness was turned to strength;
and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
The key to all the powerful things that God did through their lives
conquering kingdoms (Joshua), administering justice, gaining the God
promises, shutting the mouths of lions (Daniel), quenching the fury of
flames (Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego), escaping certain death by the
sword, and routing foreign armiesis in the phrase whose weakness
was turned to strength.
All these leaders were powerful in their generation through faith in God.
Hebrews 11:4 says that by faith the testimony of Abel still speaks,
although he is dead.

Author Gail MacDonald understands this principle. It sound humorous

but she said, Most of my mentors are dead. MacDonald is an avid
reader of biography. The truth is that we can find mentors among our
contemporaries as well as among the study of biographical characters
in Scripture or even biographies of Christian leaders.
The second helpful passage in Hebrews is Hebrews 13:7-8. Connecting
with these Bible mentors involves a couple of principles. The first
principle that I find helpful is from Hebrews 13:7-8. It says, Remember
your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome
of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever. The leaders that Hebrews 13:7-8
refers to are the former leaders, now probably with the Lord, who had
impacted the lives of the readers. The believers were to remember
their former leaders by reflecting on their way of life, then to imitate
their faith. Verse eight is saying that the same Jesus Christ who enabled
these former leaders to become men and women of God is the same
Jesus who will equip us today and in any generation. True, we cannot
dialogue personally with Bible characters, but through personal
reflection, God can use them to nudge us on toward all He has for us.
We can step into the powerful flow of the same Holy Spirit that touched
their lives. Reflecting on the lives of Bible characters is not a mere
historical reflection, it is a spiritual discipline that invites us to take the
hand of the same Jesus who turned their weakness to strength.
The principle of Spirit-led reflection is learning from modeling
by a Bible leader. It is a way of reflecting on the life of some
Bible character and finding principles to apply to our own
lives as the Holy Spirit leads us.

HOW WE CONNECT WITH BIBLE MENTORS

Over the past ten years I have been intentionally making connections
with Bible mentors and I have found three principles very helpful.
Bible Mentors Will Not Come Looking for You!
It is just a simple fact that the Bible mentors will not come looking for
you! Connecting with a Bible mentor does not just happen. This first
principle involves a level of personal discipline. The mentors we have
today are accessiblethey seek us out or we seek them out. It is a two
way street. With the Bible mentors it only goes as far as we press in to
make it happen. We must take the initiative to engage these Bible
mentors through personal reflection, creative imagination, and the

leading of the Holy Spirit. 2 Remember what Samuel Brengle said: With
my Bible open I live with prophets, priests, and kings. I walk and hold
communion with apostles, saints, and martyrs, and with Jesus
The Principle of Like Attracts Like
The second helpful principle is that with some Bible mentors we are
easily drawn in. We sense a kind of relational chemistry or attraction to
something about them. Bobby Clinton calls this the like attracts like
principle. In mentoring we tend to be attracted to certain leaders
because we innately sense a similar giftedness or passion.3 You may
have noticed that you are drawn toward one or two Bible leaders. You
may find that their stories really engage you, pull you in, and God has a
way of speaking to you through their lives.
Take a minute to write down one or two that engage you.
1. _____________________
2. _____________________
The principle of like attracts like is simple: recognize the Bible
mentors that God may have already given you!
The like attracts like principle involves finding mentors who have a
similar passion or similar temperament or similar ministry to the one we
have or would like to have, and doing a purposeful reflection on their
lives.
The attraction may come from a number of things:
the way they pressed into intimacy with God (David, Moses, Paul)
the way God helped them move past fears (Abraham, Timothy,
Esther)
the way God helped them overcome past hurts (Joseph, Jephthah)
the way they learned to communicate the Word of God (Ezra,
Nehemiah, Paul)
the way they learned to mentor others (Barnabas),
the uncompromising nature of their commitment to God (Daniel),
the way they fulfilled Gods call on their lives (Paul),
the way God broke into their lives (Jacob, Peter, Jonah),
the way God took them through a paradigm shift (Jonah, Peter),
the way they were passionate about reaching the lost (Jeremiah,
Paul),
their relational skills (Ruth, Barnabas, Paul),
If you are a more analytical type, you will enjoy digging in and analyzing the life of a
Bible leader. If you are a more imaginative type, you may not enjoy analyzing as
much as visualizing, story development, and meditation on the life of the leader.
Either way the Holy Spirit wants to lead us into connecting with these mentors.
3
See The Mentor Handbook, p. 14-23.
2

 their ministry values (Paul, Moses)

and their strong finish (Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Paul).

The Principle of Shoring Up a Weaker Area of Our Lives

The third principle calls for some honesty about our weaknesses and a
desire to change. It is based on learning from a Bible mentor who is
strong in some area that we know we need to shore up or strengthen. It
may be that the Bible character is very different from us. For example, I
am not naturally drawn into a reflection on Joshua. His temperament
and ministry are very different than mine. I am naturally drawn to the
ministry and giftedness of Timothy. The like attracts like principle draws
me to this more timid apostolic leader (can timid go with apostolic?).
However, in recent years Joshua has mentored me in becoming more
courageous in leadership. To further illustrate, I am naturally drawn to
the more analytical bent in Ezra, but I have learned from David how to
be more passionate and creative in my approach to God.
The principle of shoring up is simple: seek out a Bible mentor
who is strong in some area we are weaker in, so we can
strengthen that area of our lives.
We can use the strengthening an area principle:
if we open to learn from a Bible character who is strong in people
skills and we know we are not,
if we are open to learn from a Bible leader who is strong in Bible
study and we know we lack discipline,
if we are open to learn from a Bible leader who is strong in prayer
and we know our own prayer life is faltering,
if we are open to learn from a Bible character who has a heart to
respond quickly to God and we know we are a bit rigid and inflexible,
if we are open to learn from a Bible leader who is quick to forgive and
we are slow to do so,
if we are open to learn from a Bible character who is more
spontaneous before God and we know we tend to plan everything in
our lives.
Which Principle Do I Use?
If you are new at this Bible mentor idea, it may not help you much to
try and decide between using the like attract like and the shoring up an
area of your life principles. Perhaps you havent studied Bible
characters much, and you only have a vague idea of who a few of them
are. Thats fine. Later on page 9 the main thrust of 30 Bible characters
is summed up in one line. You may find that some of them engage you
just through scanning that page. Later on pages 13 through 20 you will
find a little more information on the 30 personalities through the brief
profiles. Both beginners and the more experienced will find help in the
profiles.

If you have been studying Bible characters for a number of years, the
two principles (like attracts like and shoring up) should make more
sense. I have found that I did the like attracts like ones and later
learned to do the strengthening an area or shoring up mentors. Now I
use both approaches. The profiles that begin on page eleven can help
you find new mentors or help you advance your study of your Bible
mentors.
If you are a leader in some ministry, it is good to find biblical and
historical models that encourage you and challenge your ministry. I
have found the like attracts like principle is viable for finding Bible
mentors with a similar ministry vision or focus:
Pastors may want to select Timothy or Titus (though strictly speaking
they were not pastors but apostolic workers),
Evangelists may want to select someone like Peter, Jeremiah, or even
Jonah,
Teachers may want to select Ezra, Titus, Timothy, Paul, and Jesus.
Apostolic leaders may want to select Nehemiah, Paul, Peter, Joshua,
Deborah, Caleb.
Mentor types and disciplers may want to select Barnabas, Paul,
Moses with Joshua, Timothy, and Jesus,
Worship leaders may want to select David, Paul, John, etc.
Prophetic types may want to select Jeremiah, Daniel, Samuel, Elijah,
Elisha, Isaiah, Malachi, etc.,
Intercessors may want to select Samuel, Moses, Abraham, Paul and
Jesus.
Counselors may want to select John and Barnabas.

WHAT WEVE SAID SO FAR

1. We can find mentoring through Bible characters.
2. Learning from Bible characters calls for initiating on our part.
3. We can find the mentoring either through a more analytical approach
or a more imaginative approach depending on our learning style.
4. It is helpful to use the like attracts like principle to select a mentor.
5. At times it is helpful to use the strengthening an area principle to
select a mentor.
6. Beginners may not find the two principles that helpful. What works
best is doing a quick scan of the profiles and selecting one.
7. Those who are more advanced in connecting with Bible mentors can
advance what they do or find new mentors using both the like
attracts like and the shoring up principles.

STEPS FOR SELECTING A BIBLE MENTOR

The following steps may prove helpful. Use what works for you.
1. Ask the Lord to show you what Bible character He wants to use to
bless you and encourage you.
2. Look back over your life and consider the Bible characters God has
been using to speak into your life. Try to write down up to five
names:
___________, __________, ___________, ____________, _________.
3. Evaluate whether one of the two selecting principles help you:
The like attracts like principle (similar passion, calling,
temperament, ministry, giftedness, values, etc.).
The strengthening a weaker area principle.
4. Consider that the amount of information on any given character may
be very abundant to very minimal. For instance the amount of
biblical information on Moses, Joseph, Jacob, Abraham, Peter, and
Paul is considerable whereas the information on Titus, Barnabas,
Deborah, Esther, Priscilla, Gideon is a lot less. The information on
some characters such as Dorcas will be just a few verses.
5. Scan the quick glances at the 30 Bible characters on the next page to
get an idea of the ones that engage you. Later in pages 13 to 20 you
will find more on these 30 characters a profile of each of these 30
characters. As you scan down the list on page 9, place a checkmark
alongside the ones that engage you. The names of a two or three
that pulled you in when you scanned down the list on page 9 are:
___________, ____________, _________.
6. Ask a friend or mentor to glance down the list for you and make a
suggestion for who is good fit for you at this point in your life. The
names my friend or mentor suggests are: ___________, ____________,
_________.
7. Select one from either your list from number five or your friend or
mentors suggestion from number six. ______________

QUICK GLANCE AT THIRTY BIBLE CHARACTERS

1. Abraham a leader who held onto the promise of God in the face of the
impossible.
2. Jacob a very self-centered person who was transformed into a man of God.
3. Joseph a leader who was formed in the crucible of affliction without growing
bitter.
4. Moses a leader who would not lead without the manifest Presence of God.
5. Joshua a leader who led courageously by a way he had not been before.
6. Miriam a woman of God whose failure was met with discipline and grace.
7. Samuel a man of integrity whose influence was expanded powerfully.
8. Deborah a woman who exercised godly, catalytic leadership in a very maleoriented society.
9. David Gods most thirsty leader.
10. Jeremiah a servant of God whose ministry flowed out of a broken heart for the
lost.
11. Ruth a pagan woman who found refuge in God and modeled covenant
faithfulness.
12. Ester a beautiful and intelligent woman who risked all to intervene on behalf of
her people.
13. Nehemiah a leader who mobilized the rebuilding of a shattered city and the
restoration of Gods people.
14. Ezra a Bible teacher with a powerful renewal impact.
15. Jepthah a born leader who overcame a dysfunctional upbringing to serve God.
16. Isaiah the prophet with a high view of God.
17. Daniel the prophet who received Gods strategy for ministering in a very anti-God
society.
18. Jonah the sidetracked prophet who had to be broken to be used again.
19. Elijah the powerful prophet who learned to extend his legacy through a
successor.
20. Elisha the prophet who hungered for the fullness of God in his ministry.
21. Paul the unstoppable apostle who finished his race well.
22. Peter the impulsive apostle who was used extraordinarily by God.
23. Mary, mother of Jesus a woman of God who had to learn to release her Son to His
Kingdom mission.
24. John the apostle of intimacy with God and a high view of Jesus Christ.
25. Barnabas the mentor of some of the best leaders in the New Testament.
26. Stephen a leader who ministered on the dangerous cutting edge of the Kingdom.
27. Priscilla a married woman who exercised an apostolic ministry.
28. Luke a medical doctor who was committed to a supportive apostolic ministry.
29. Timothy Pauls closest mentoree and an apostolic teacher-trainer.
30. Titus Pauls mentoree and best apostolic troubleshooter.

STEPS FOR STUDYING A BIBLE MENTOR

The following steps are guidelines not handcuffs. Use what helps you
and dont worry about those that dont. You dont have to follow each
step in order either.
Step 1 Use a Bible Concordance or Bible Program on a
Computer. You will need to know where to find information on your
Bible mentor. A Bible Concordance or a Bible program on your
computer will help you do this. If you are an imaginative type, instead
of going to the concordance first, try a more creative approach through
some art form (drawings, sketches, poems, songs, write a mentoring
dialogue with you and the mentor, etc.) that expresses what God has
already shown you about the character. If you take the imaginative
approach, you will need to move into Scripture study at some point.
Step 2 Consider the Scope of the Study: Decide on the scope of
your reflection. If you are studying a major personality of the Bible, you
may want to limit your scope. For instance, if you are studying Moses
you may want to just study him in Exodus instead of going after
everything Numbers, Deuteronomy, and all the other mentions in
Psalms and the New Testament. On the other hand, passages from
outside the historical time of a Bible leader are a rich resource for
discovering the lessons from their lives. Hebrews 11 draws out lessons
from the lives of fifteen Old Testament leaders, for instance.
Step 3 Use a Bible Dictionary: Look in a Bible Dictionary for a
summary of the life of your mentor. If you are less analytical in your
approach, get together with a couple of people who have studied the
biblical mentor and ask them to paint you some pictures (not literal
pictures) or give you some impressions of the Bible leader.
Step 4 Take Notes or Journal Your Impressions: As you read the
passages about the biblical mentor either take notes or journal your
impressions. You can do this in a notebook or do it on your computer.
You can also take a more creative approach with some art form (poetry,
sketches, write a song, etc.).
Step 5 Write a Summary of What You Learn: Try to write a
summary of the life and ministry of the mentor. You can take a more
analytical approach with something like 10 Observations on Moses.
On the other hand, you may take a more creative approach as
mentioned above.
Step 6 Use Good Questions: Good questions help us probe and gain
insight. Below are some optional questions that help you reflect. Not
all of them will help. Use the ones that do. You can also write your own
questions. Pretend you are a journalist and interview the mentor. Some

of the questions assume that you have some familiarity with the
leadership emergence theory developed by J. Robert Clinton. If you are
not familiar with this theory of lifelong development, just ignore those
questions.
1. What do you like about his/her way of responding to God?
2. How well did he/she relate to other people?
3. What were his/her strengths (strong points) as well as his/her
weaknesses?
4. What was his/her temperament type (if you know some
temperament theory such as the DISC, Myers-Briggs, Taylor-Johnson,
or LaHayes 4 typesSanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, and
Phlegmatic)?
5. What seems to be his/her kingdom purpose or sense of destiny?
6. To what extent did he/she fulfill that calling?
7. What were his/her passions?
8. What was his/her vision? How well did he/she fulfill that vision?
9. What were his/her skills, talents, and spiritual gifts?
10.
What were his/her weaknesses? To what extent did he/she
overcome these weaknesses? How did he/she overcome them?
11. How well did he/she deal with failure, frustration, and crisis?
12.
Did he/she finish well, so-so, or poorly? If he/she finished well
explain what you mean.
13.
How did his/her life match up to the five enhancements to a
good finish developed by J. Robert Clinton? Which ones was he/she
strong in? The five are: (1) having a lifelong perspective on ones
development, (2) enjoying repeated times of renewal, (3) exercising
spiritual disciplines, (4) maintaining a learning posture throughout
life, and (5) having several important mentors over a lifetime.
14.
Which of Clintons seven barriers to a good finish did he/she
confront and how did he/she fare with the barriers? The seven
barriers are: (1) illicit sex, (2) finances, (3) abuse of power, (4) pride
or arrogance, (5) family conflicts, (6) plateaued development, and (7)
emotional scars.
15.
Which of the character traits of the Bible character do you
identify with (see your answers to 1-4, 10, 11)?
16.
Which of the ministry traits of the Bible character do you identify
with (see your answers to 5-9)?
17.
In what ways do you sense God encouraging or challenging or
nudging you as a result of your study?
18.
What specific change do you need to make as a result of your
reflection?

Step 7 -- Let the Holy Spirit Speak to You: Take all your reflection before the
Lord. Ask Him to confirm the applications and strengthen you to carry them out.
Look for how the Holy Spirit is seeking to land on some area of your life through
the model of the Bible mentor. He may be trying to give you hope and
encouragement. The Holy Spirit is the Other Counselor and He wants to refresh
us. On the other hand, the Lord may impress you about a change of attitude, a
shift in thinking, an adjustment in your life, a change in how you relate to others,
etc.
Step 8 Share What You Have Learned or Plan to Do with Someone: Share
with someone else (friend, mentor) what you have learned. If you took a more
creative approach, show them what you have created.

PROFILES OF BIBLE CHARACTERS

ABRAHAM (father of many), Abram (exalted

JACOB (he grasps the heel, schemer), Israel (he

father) -- The amount of information on Abraham is fairly

abundant. See Genesis 12-25 and other references
throughout the Bible. See especially Hebrews 11:8-19;
Romans 4:1-23; James 2:21-23.

struggles with God) -- The amount of information on

Jacob is fairly abundant. See Genesis 25:19-35:15. See
also other references throughout the Bible.

Some things to look for:

He learned to trust God in the face of the impossible
(Gen 15:1-6; Rom 4:18-21).
God repeatedly gives him affirmation -- I will bless
you, I am your shield (Gen 12, 15, 17).
He has a more timid and introverted temperament.
God calls him his friend (Gen 18:17; James 2:22). He
is intimate with God.
Intimacy with God pressed him into powerful
intercession (Gen 18).
He exercised the ministry of blessing others.
He is capable of taking gigantic steps of faith, yet he
battled with fear (see chapters 12, 20, 22 of Genesis).
Defining Moments: Taking hold of Gods promise out
under the stars (Gen 15:1-6) and willingness to
sacrifice his own son (Gen 22).
Life lesson: leaders need to take hold of the vision God
gives them.
JOSEPH - The amount of information on Joseph is fairly
abundant. See Genesis 37-50.
Some things to look for:
He has to deal with dysfunctional issues in his family.
There is a lot of competition with his brothers.
God gives him a lot insight about his future plans for
him through dreams; he is a visionary type.
He illustrates Bill Gothards concept of birth of a vision
(he would rule over his brothers), death of a vision
(sold into slavery), and resurrection of a vision (2nd in
command in Egypt.
He goes through a lot of suffering and isolation and
comes through a better person rather than a bitter
person.
Integrity is very strong in his life as seen in how he
overcame the temptation from Potiphars wife.
God comes through powerfully for him in the crisis
times of slavery and later imprisonment.
He powerfully models forgiveness.
He has great skills in administration.
Defining Moments: Turning down the temptation of
Potiphars wife (Gen 39) and forgiving his brothers for
selling him into slavery (Gen 45:7-8; 50:15-21).
Life lesson: crisis experiences in life either make or
break us.

JOSHUA (the LORD is my salvation). There is an

abundance of information in the book of Joshua.
Some things to look for:

Some things to look for:

God is called the God of Jacob in the Bible more
than the God of Abraham! Jacobs life is a story of
Gods grace.
He overcomes his dysfunctional family background
his mom loved him and his dad loved his brother
Esau. There was also strife with Esau.
He was named heel grabber because he was
gripping his twins heel as he emerged second from
the womb. He was a manipulator of people and
things, until he has his brokenness experience before
God.
His renewal and brokenness experience at Peniel is
the pivotal point of his life. The saying goes, All
leaders walk with a limp comes from Jacobs Peniel
experience (Clinton, 1993).
Defining Moment: His brokenness experience at
Peniel (Gen 32).
Life lesson: Brokenness is the way to usefulness.

MOSES (I drew him out of the water) -- The amount

of information on Moses is very abundant in Exodus
through Deuteronomy. References to him can be found
throughout the Bible.
He is saved from death as a baby (Ex. 2:1-10).
He learns the hard way about running ahead of Gods
plan (timing) for his life (Ex. 2:11-25).
God forms him in the School of the Desert.
He is reluctant to accept the call to lead the people
out of bondage (Ex. 3-4).
He has workaholic tendencies and is a candidate for
burnout. He learns to keep the balance between
giving out and finding rest and renewal. He learns to
delegate ministries to others (Ex. 18:13-27).
He battles with frustration and anger. It was an angry
outburst that waylaid his entry into the Promised Land
(Ex. 32:19-24; Num. 20:1-13).
He is very passionate about pressing in to experience
intimacy with God (Ex. 33:12-23).
He is not content with a routine ministry. He had to
know Gods powerful Presence was on him (Ex.
33:14-15).
He is a powerful intercessor (Ex. 32:30-32).
He has to face a lot of opposition to his leadership
(Num 12-16).
He mentors Joshua and gets him set to lead the next
generation.
Defining Moments: Pressing in to know more intimacy
with God and interceding for Gods people
Life Lesson: leaders need to press in to experience
intimacy with God and His powerful Presence on their
lives.
MIRIAM - Miriam is Moses sister. Information on her is
a little slim, but see Exodus 2:1-10; 15:20-21; Num 12:116; 20:1; 26:59; Deut 24:9; and Micah 6:4.

He has the privilege of having a great mentor in Moses.

He has a good learning posture. He is a good
apprentice eager to learn all he could from his mentor.
He and Caleb stand together in faith in God when the
other 10 leaders are shaking in fear and unbelief (Nu
13:1-14:9).
He is Gods most courageous leader (see Deut 31:7-8;
Jos 1:6,7,9,18; 2:11; 10:25; 23:6).
He has to learn to lead and invest in the next
generation, the conquest generation.
He has a strong temperament.
The strength of his ministry results from how he takes
hold of the promises of God (I will give you every
place where you set your foot, No one will be able to
stand up against you, I will be with you, I will never
leave you).
He is catalytic type leader (stirs people up to do what
God wants them to do).
He is decisive and determined. As for me and my
house we will serve the LORD (Jos 24:15).
He learns to hear from God for his strategies.
Defining Moments: Standing in faith with Caleb while
the other 10 were unbelieving (Nu 13-14) and leading
the people across the Jordan river (Jos 3-4).
Life Lesson: Leaders must take hold of Gods promises
in order to lead courageously in tough times.
SAMUEL (heard of God) There is a fair amount of
information on Samuel in the book of 1 Samuel.
Some things to look for:
He is a very strong intercessor (1 Sa 7:8-9; 12:18, 24).
He is very sensitive to hearing the voice of the Lord
and obeying Him (3:1-18; 16:7).
He comes into leadership at a time when the word of
the LORD is rare (3:1), but by the time his ministry
gets going the word of the Lord through came to all
Israel (4:1).
He keeps fresh in the Word of God (3:21).
He avoids the bad models of leadership around him
and maintains his integrity and pursuit of God (2:1126) (Bjoraker, 1993: 32).
He leads the nation into a time of revival (7:2-13).
He knows how to seize a God moment (7:12).
His weakness is in failing to lead his own sons (8:1-5).
His integrity in life and ministry are unquestioned by
his followers (12:1-5).
He transitions Israel from the time of the judges to the
time of the kings.
He anoints David as king (16:1-13) and protects David
from Saul (19:18-24). Really God neutralized Saul!
He forms an informal training network of emerging
prophets and leads them (19:18-20).

Defining Moment: Keeping his relationship with God

strong in a time of bad models, leading a revival, and
developing emerging leaders.
Life Lesson: God will expand the influence of leaders
who maintain their integrity.
DAVID Apart from Jesus, David is the most mentioned
leader in the Bible. His life is narrated in 1 Sa 16-31; 2 Sa
1-24; 2 Ki 1-2. The book of Psalms offers an approach to
his life from the heart and from a creative edge.
Some things to look for:

Some things to look for:

Miriam is very resourceful (Exodus 2:1-15). She finds
a way to get things done.
She is strong leader.
She is a worship leader (Exodus 15:20-21).
She has a prophetic ministry.
She has a very strong temperament (choleric or high
D on DISC profile).
In one instance she unwisely tries to usurp spiritual
authority beyond the measure God has allotted to her
as a prophetic leader (Numbers 12:1-16).
God disciplines her for this tendency.
Although Moses uses her failure as an example to
avoid, centuries after her death, the prophet Micah
remembers her as one of the three God used to lead
Israel in the desert (Moses, Aaron, and Miriam). God
remembers her for how He was able to use her and
not for her flaw. Sounds like grace, huh?
Defining Moment: There is no strong defining
moment apart from leading a worship dance after the
Red Sea crossing (Ex 15:20-21).
Life Lesson: God uses worship leaders and prophetic
leaders to focus on the works and wonders of God.

DEBORAH - The story of Deborah is found in Judges 4

and 5. A study could be done on Miriam, Deborah ,
Huldah (2 Ki 22:14), Noadiah in (Neh 6:14); Isaiah's wife
(Isa 8:3), Anna (Luke 2:36), and Philips seven daughters
(Acts 21:8-9). All are prophetic leaders. Deborah is called
a mother in Israel, something that means she delivered
Israel from bondage.
Some things to look for:
She is a prophetess.
She is a strong leader. Judges 4:4 says, Deborah, a
prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel
at that time.
She has a much stronger leadership and ministry
than her husband. Even in a very male oriented
society this couple shows that a wife may have a
more prominent ministry than her husband.
She is the only woman to be a judge in Israel. As a
judge she oriented all of Israel in Gods ways.
She has a strong temperament (choleric or high D).
She awakens herself and others to the kingdom
assignments (Judges 5:12).
She serves as mentor when she speaks confidence
into the life of Barak.
She is a worship leader. She composes a prophetic
song (Judges 5).
Defining Moment: Leading Israel to victory.
Life Lesson: Leaders need to find ways to motivate
others to take up their kingdom assignments.

JEREMIAH (the LORD exalts or the LORD

establishes). There are biographical pieces on his life in
the book of Jeremiah (see 1:4-10; 4:19; 6:27; 9:1; 10:1920; 11:18-23; 12:1-4; 15:10-21; 17:12-18; 18:18-23; 20:718). Daniel mentions him in Daniel 9:1-2.

David is Gods most thirsty leader (Psa 63:1-3). His

heart after God is what God most loved (Acts 13:22).
He is a musician, song writer and a worship leader.
Some of his best songs (psalms) are composed in
times of great pain and loneliness as his was fleeing
from Saul.
He learns lessons of spiritual authority as he respects
even as bad a king as Saul and never grabs authority
until God gives it to him. God uses Saul to break him
and mold him (Edwards, 1992).
He is daring, bold in fulfilling Gods purposes.
At the pinnacle of success he plateaus as a leader.
Combining this with his passionate and impulsive
nature he opts for sexual sin with Bathsheba and
abusing political power by having her husband killed.
He responds well to correction and does not succumb
to defending himself (2 Sa 12).
He has a peer mentor in Jonathan (1 Sa 18:1).
His family falls apart (2 Sa. 12-18).
Despite all his weaknesses, God remembers David for
not only his heart after Him (Acts 13:22), but also for
how he served his generation in the purposes of God
(Acts 13:36).

Defining Moments: Taking up the challenge to defeat

Goliath, not killing Saul when he had the chance,
hungering for God in times of isolation.
Life Lesson: Leaders who are thirsty for God will have
a powerful impact on others.
RUTH (friend) The story of Ruth is the story of woman
of tremendous faithfulness to God. She stands out in relief
from a very dark time in Israels history, the time of the
Judges. The interesting thing is that she is from Moab, a
very pagan nation. She had married a man who was the
son of Naomi. When Ruths husband dies, she opts to stay
with her mother-in-law and continue serving the Lord. Ruth
ends up in the genealogical line all the way down to Jesus
(Matthew 1:5).

Some things to look for:

Jeremiah is one of five people in Scripture with an
intense passion and heart for the lostMoses (Ex.
32:31-32), Jeremiah (Jer. 9:1); Hosea (Hos. 3:1-5;
11:1-4), Jesus (Luke 19:41), and Paul (Rom. 9:1-3).
He is mistakenly called the weeping prophet as if he
were a cry baby. A better understanding of him is that
he weeps from the heart of God (Jer. 9:1).
He has a very difficult assignment of preaching to an
apathetic, indifferent generation and he suffers for it
(Jer. 20:7-10).
His calling was so powerful in him that it was like a
fire in his bones (Jer. 20:9).
He is one of the most transparent leaders in the Bible.
He lets out all of his feelings before God. He gets his
depression up and out; something that is very
healthy. David and Paul are as transparent as
Jeremiah. See the Psalms for David and 2
Corinthians for Paul.
He tends to be a little too introspective about his own
inadequacies and God has to remind him that it is not
about him but about God (see verses up at top).
Defining Moment: Never compromising his message
even when he was physically persecuted.
Life Lesson: Ministry and leadership need to flow
from identification with the heart of God for people.

ESTHER (Star) Esthers story occurs at a time when

all the Jews were in exile in Persia. Esther is a Jewess
who is chosen to marry the Persian king. When a threat
comes to annihilate all the Jews, Esther has to risk her life
to save her people. It is an engaging story with great
drama.

Defining Moment: Making the decision to serve the

Lord and stay with her mother-in-law even after her
husband dies.
Life Lesson: Faithfulness in a life is rewarded by God.

Some things to look for:

She grows up bicultural and bilingual, a kind of third
culture kid.
She has beauty that is more than skin deep. Her
inner beauty matches her beauty queen face.
She comes to a very strategic and weighty role in
Gods kingdom. Her influence will either save or
annihilate the people of God.
She is valiant. She is a risk taker and she puts her
own life on the line for what she believes in.
She understands the strategic role of fasting.
She discovers her destiny under the guidance of a
good mentor, her Uncle Mordecai.
She is very wise in how she works through a crisis.
Defining Moment: Standing up for her people before a
pagan king and risking her life.
Life Lesson: Discovering ones destiny is not half as
important as taking the risk of fulfilling that destiny.

NEHEMIAH (the Lord comforts) Nehemiah is only

EZRA (possibly means the Lord helps) Ezras

found in the book by the same name. His life offers enough
information to do a good reflection. Jerusalems city walls
are piles of rubble and the lives of Gods people are as
broken as the walls. He leads the rebuilding of the walls
and the peoples lives.

ministry is prior to as well as contemporary with

Nehemiahs. He comes to Jerusalem after the temple was
rebuilt. He is a Bible teacher that leads the people into
revival. Later he teams up with Nehemiah in leading the
people into a second renewal time. His life is recounted in
Ezra 7-10 and Nehemiah 8, 9 and 12.

Some things to look for:

She illustrates the work of Gods grace in the Old
Testament.
She breaks free from the idolatry of her own family and
presses in to find refuge in the Lord.
She is a model of faithfulness in relationship to God, to
family and other people. She illustrates that a
relationship with God in the Old Testament is not
legalism but love, mercy, faithfulness, and walking with
God (Micah 6:8).

Some things to look for:

Nehemiah is a model of a powerful spiritual leader who

works from a secular profession. He is not in full time
ministry. He is a kings cupbearer (tests the wine for
the king to be sure it is not poisoned!) and he becomes
an urban civil engineer and renewal leader.
Nehemiah is similar to Jesus: he sees a need and that
need deeply moves his heart into prayer and action
(Neh. 1:1-11).
His role in Gods kingdom is born of intercessory
prayer.
He is a model of a leader that knows how to mobilize
people into action (Neh. 2:11-18).
He is a visionary leader.
He is also a great administrator.
He teams up with Ezra to lead the people in a powerful
renewal time (Neh. 8-9). He is a renewal leader.

Defining Moment: His response to the news of the

broken walls in Jerusalem was to break before the Lord
and intercede.
Life Lesson: The focus of certain leaders is in
rebuilding the lives of people.

Some things to look for:

Ezra is a disciplined student of the Bible (Ezra 7:6).
He has a very analytical nature that is God-led.
The phrase the hand of our God or a similar phrase
is used of Ezra more than for any other Bible leader
(Ezra 7:6, 9, 28; 8:18, 22, 31).
The reason Gods hand is on him is because of the
7:10 principle he studies the Word, allows the
Word to shape his life, then communicates it to
others. He understands the risk of power short
circuits--moving from mere study to telling others.
Personal application is the bridge to public
communication.
His communication skills were recognized by even
secular leaders (Ezra 7:12).
The brokenness he experiences spills over into the
lives of his disciples. The spillover wave gathers
steam and produces a revival (Ezra 9:1-10:17). Jack
Hayford said: Breakthrough happened around me
when break up happened within me.
He knows how to do team ministry with other leaders
including Nehemiah (Neh. 8:1-12).
Defining Moment: His practice of the 7:10 principle.
Life Lesson: An anointed Bible teacher can lead Gods
people into revival.

JEPHTHAH Jephthah is not a very well known Bible

ISAIAH (the Lord saves) It is harder to piece together

leader, but his is mentioned in Judges 11-12; 1 Samuel

12:11; and Hebrews 11:32. He was one of the judges God
used to deliver Israel from slavery.

the life of Isaiah. There are some details like his call to be
a prophet (Isaiah 6) and the fact that he had disciples
around him (8:16).

Some things to look for:

He is born in a very dysfunctional situation. His
mother was a prostitute. His brothers rose up and
drove him from the family and his inheritance (Judges
11:1-2).
He was a natural born leader so that wherever he went
people gathered around him (Judges 11:3).
By Gods grace he overcomes the pain of the past and
becomes an effective leader for Gods purposes.
He knew Word of God well enough to draw lessons
from it for the present crisis (11:11-27).
His weakness was a hasty vow that ended up in the
death of his daughter (Judges 12:29-40).
He is remembered in Hebrews 11 for his faith (Hebrews
11:32).

Some things to look for:

He has a very high view of God. He sees the glory,
splendor, magnificence of God. For Isaiah everything
begins with the image we have of God (Isaiah 40).
His high view of God is rooted in the powerful
experience of brokenness and a call to prophetic
ministry (Isaiah 6:1-8).
He is a hope giver. God gives him words of
judgment, but also of comfort and hope. His
message of restoration is strong.
Unlike most prophets of his age, he is less
individualistic. He gathers a group of disciples around
himself to train them (Gordon, 1986: 165).
He is strong on intercession (Isaiah 62:6-7).

Defining Moment: Overcoming his pain and serving

God.
Life Lesson: God can heal an emerging leaders
dysfunctional past and use him or her powerfully.

Defining Moment: Responding so well to the vision of

the glory of God (Isaiah 6).
Life Lesson: God will raise up leaders who help keep
our focus on the glory and magnificence of God.

DANIEL (God is my judge) Daniels life is told in the

JONAH (dove) The life and ministry of Jonah is

book of Daniel. The first six chapters of the book are

biographical and the last six consist of his prophetic
experiences and prophecies. When Judah (Southern
Kingdom) falls, Daniel and all the young nobility is taken off
to Babylon to be trained to serve in the Babylonian kings
court. Daniel is probably 12 to 15 when he goes to Babylon.

narrated in the book of Jonah. Jesus also mentions him

(Matthew 12:38-45). The way to learn from him is to
reflect on how God has to break him and change his
paradigms in order to use him. We need God to do the
same work in us.

Some things to look for:

Daniel is a model of an adolescent who is powerfully

Some things to look for:

Jonah had actually done well before the Nineveh
assignment (see 2 Kings 14:23-25).

used by God. He does not compromise his

commitment to God (Daniel 1:1-21). Years later he
has another test but does not compromise again
(Daniel 6).
He knows how to team up with three other youths of
like passion for God (Daniel 1:6-7).
He is a model of integrity.
The source of his lifelong strength is knowing God
(Daniel 11:32b).
He is a strategic leader in his generation.
He has a great learning posture. At about 80 years old
he is still studying the Word (Daniel 9:1-3). He also
journals his prophetic experiences (Daniel 7:1).
He finishes well.
He practices strategic fasts for seeking God (Daniel
10:2-3).
Defining Moment: Not compromising his faith with the
kings diet (Daniel 1:6-21).
Life Lesson: Leaders who know God will have a very
strategic role in Gods kingdom.
ELIJAH (the Lord is my God) Elijah brings the
stronghold of idolatry (worship of Baal) down and leads a
revival in Israel during the reign of Ahab (1 Kings 17-19).
He is found in 2 Kings 1-2 and other places in the Bible.
Some things to look for:
His very powerful ministry brings spiritual bondage
down (1 Kings 18:1-46).
He tends to be a loner, but he practices a lot of solitude
and silence in order to hear from God.
He stands boldly to confront the powers that be (1
Kings 17:1-6; 18:1-19).
After the mountain top victory, he reaches a point of
spiritual and emotional exhaustion that ends in a
profound depression and he wants to end his life (1
Kings 19:1-5). His temperament is given to highs and
lows.
The gentleness and patience of God is seen in how he
restores Elijah at this point (1 Kings 19:5-18).
Justo Gonzalez may be right that Elijahs best moment
was mentoring Elisha (1 Kings 19:19-21; 2 Kings 2:118).
He builds up a number of schools of emerging young
prophets (2 Kings 2:1-18).
Defining Moments: Bringing down the worship of Baal
and mentoring Elisha.
Life Lesson: It is not enough to have a powerful
ministry. We must think about leaving a legacy in
someone else.

He shows how God needs to take His servants

through paradigm shifts at times. Jonah was dealing
with pent up hatred and prejudice toward the people
of Nineveh.
God has to break him before He can use him.
He shows how God uses leaders that struggle with
their assignments.
Gods discipline of His servants is to teach them to
respond well.
A restored leader will later be able to tell the story of
his/her own failure without shame (Danny Wallen in
an e-mail dated 12/19/2002).

Defining Moment: He decided to run from the call

rather than confront his own hatred of the people he
was called to preach to.
Life Lesson: God will use various means to shape His
servants so that they serve His kingdom purpose.

ELISHA (God is salvation or God saves) Elisha is

Elijahs apprentice (mentoree) and successor. He has a
different slant to ministry than his mentor. I am indebted
to Justo Gonzalez for some of these observations. His
story begins in 1 Kings 19 and goes to 2 Kings 13.
Some things to look for:
He was a good apprentice. He knew how to learn
from a rugged guy like Elijah.
He was hungry for all he could get from his mentor
and asked for the double portion of the Spirit (2
Kings 2:9).
Like his mentor he carries on the schools of the
prophets.
He is not a loner like his mentor. He has a house in a
city and is more people oriented. He was a family
man with a business.
There are twice as many miracles in his ministry than
in his mentors.
He is called a man of God more than any other
leader in the Bible (36 times). It is a designation for a
prophet but has a sense of being Gods man also.
Defining Moments: Making the break with his family
and business in order to follow his mentor.
Life Lessons: Good mentoring can jump start and
launch an emerging leader to heights well beyond the
mentor. A leader who is hungry for all God has for
him or her will see God work powerfully.

PAUL (little) There is an abundance of information on

PETER (rock) Peter is the most outspoken leader

Pauls life in the book of Acts and his thirteen letters. Peter
also mentions him in 2 Peter 3:15-16. Paul is an apostle,
missionary, cross-cultural church planter, and a teacher.

among the Twelve disciples. His life is found in all four

Gospels, Acts, 1 & 2 Peter, and in Galatians 2. He is an
apostle, missionary to the Jews, and an evangelist.

Some things to look for:

His life passion is know Jesus Christ in His sufferings
as well as in the resurrection power (Philippians 3:711).
He is unstoppable in his determination to fulfill his life
purpose (Acts 20:24; 26:19; Philippians 3:12-14).

Some things to look for:

Peter has his ups and downs but he always moves
forward after Jesus.
Jesus makes him as firm as a rock, but when he
starts out with Jesus he is impulsive, impetuous, and
does not know himself well.

He has a choleric temperament or a high D on the

DISC profile (if you know the DISC). The D is a
dominant, driven, determined type.
Although he is very task driven, he is a model of a
relationally-driven leader. He mentions about 80 to 90
people in his letters in very warm terms and calls his
key apprentices sons.
He is able to see past his sinful past to how Gods
grace was shaping him from his mothers womb
(Galatians 1:15-16).
Out of his isolation in prison for Jesus comes 5 of his
letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon,
and 2 Timothy).
He works with all the strength God gives him to bring
the church into full maturity (Colossians 1:28-29;
Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 4:13-16).
He mentors and develops other leaders through
ministry teams. There are about 15 to 20 key
mentorees and he writes letters to two of them
(Timothy and Titus).
He finishes well (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Defining Moment: Accepting the call of Jesus when

God broke into his life.
Life Lesson: God will powerfully use a leader who
values Gods call even more than his or her own life.
MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS Marys life is told in
Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2. She is seen in other parts of
the Gospels and in Acts 1.
Some things to look for:
She is a woman of God.
At a young age she responds well to her kingdom
assignment of giving birth to Jesus.
She has to struggle and learn to allow Jesus to move
into His assignment like any good mom. This struggle
pierces her heart like a sword (Luke 2:35).
As she struggles she even comes to the point of
stepping in to halt Jesus ministry (Mark 3:31-35).
She finally works this out and is among the 120
seeking God when the Holy Spirit comes on them (Acts
1:12-2:4).
Defining Moment: Accepting her assignment to give
birth to the Messiah.
Life Lesson: Mothers (parents) may struggle to allow
their children to move out when God calls them to their
kingdom role.

BARNABAS (son of exhortation) His real name is

Joseph but he was nicknamed Barnabas. He is the uncle
of John Mark and mentor for Paul. The references to him
are in Acts (4:36-37; 9:26-28; 11:19-15:41) and other
places in Pauls letters. I am indebted to Raab and Clintons
study on Barnabas (1997).
Some things to look for:
He is called Barnabas because he was always doingencouraging, motivating, exhorting and consoling
others (Acts 4:36).
He gave away his piece of land so it could be sold and
the money given to help the poor (Acts 4:37).

He is an extreme extrovert. The difference is that

before Pentecost he never stops speaking (foot in
mouth), after Pentecost he never stops speaking of
Jesus.
He is a model for how failure is the backdoor to
success. His experiences of blurting out senseless
things always ends in learning profound lessons
(Matthew 16:21-28; 17:1-8; Luke 22:31-34; John
13:1-11, and Acts 10:9-23).
He is bold, aggressive, and somewhat fearless. No
one else even thinks of stepping out of the boat to
walk on the water except Peter (Matthew 14:25-31)!
He is a model of repeated renewal experiences in the
life of leader. I count up to eight renewal experiences,
but the most noteworthy is how Jesus restores him
after his fall (John 21:1-25).
He is good at establishing new works and opening
new doors of ministry (Acts 2:14-47; 10:23-11:18).
He finishes well (2 Peter illustrates this).

Defining Moments: Recognizing that Jesus was the

Son of God (Matthew 16:13-20) and taking a stand at
Pentecost (Acts 2:14-47).
Life Lesson: Leaders will not finish well without
experiencing renewal at various points in their lives
(J. Robert Clinton).
JOHN Johns life is found in the four Gospels, Acts, his
three letters, and in Revelation.
Some things to look for:
John considers himself the disciple whom Jesus
loved. He is given to intimacy with Jesus. His uses
the term love more than any other New Testament
writer.
His intimacy with God opens him to the experiences
of revelation in the book of Revelation.
He is known as the Apostle of love but he had a very
rough nature. This is seen in asking Jesus if He
wanted them (he and James) to call fire down from
heaven on a group that was rejecting Jesus.
Watchman Nee says John had a ministry of
restoration or restoring the foundations while Paul
had one of building the foundations.
He helps Peter develop his ministry and connect with
Jesus (Acts 3-4; John 21:1-9).
Defining Moment: Standing for Jesus to the point of
being exiled on Island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9-17).
Life Lesson: Leaders who press in to know intimacy
with God will be used to bring Gods Word to others.
STEPHEN - Stephen is one of the seven chosen to serve
the poor widows in Acts 6:1-7. He becomes the churchs
first martyr.
Some things to look for:
Stephen is recognized in the Early Church as being a
man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5).
He is characterized as being on the daring edge of
Gods kingdom advance. He does not back down for
anything (Acts 6:12-7:56).
Stephens ministry takes him way beyond serving the
needs of poor widows. He has a powerful ministry of
signs and wonders (healings) and a prophetic

He was trusted by the apostles and a great help to

them (Acts 9:26-27; 11:19-22).
He is a relational bridge builder. Barnabas discerns
that Saul is genuine, then sponsors him (backs Saul)
by taking him to the apostles and convincing them that
Saul was really saved (Acts 9:26-28).
Barnabas is not only good at discerning people, but
discerning whether a work or movement was of God
(Acts 11:22-23).
He is a good man, full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:24).
As a mentor he is able to see past the rough edges of
Saul, help Saul find a ministry alongside him, and
coaches him in ministry skills, and allow Saul to
gradually take the lead in the mission team (Acts 13:114:28). This is the sign of a good mentor.
He stands up for John Mark at the cost of parting ways
with Paul (Acts 15:36-41).
He probably lacked assertiveness since he allowed
Peter and some others to lead him off on a tangent in
Galatia (Galatians 2:11-13).
Defining Moment: Helping the Apostle Paul find his
ministry niche and coaching him as a missionary.
Life Lesson: The measure of ministry is in empowering
others to minister.
PRISCILLA Priscilla is the wife of Aquila. They were
tentmakers by trade and were used to traveling throughout
the Roman world. Today they would be international
business people.

Some things to look for:

Priscilla and Aquila served the Lord as a couple.
Their international business gave them a platform for
serving the Lord in a number of cities including Corinth
(Acts 18:1-4), Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19), and Rome
(Romans 16:3).
They were members of Pauls apostolic team.
Priscillas name comes first in five of the seven times
they are mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 18:2,
18, 19, 26; Rom. 16:3; 1 Cor. 16:19; 2 Tim. 4:19).
Most likely her ministry outshines her husbands!
She and her husband had tact in dealing with another
leaders error (Acts 18:24-26).
They led a house church in Rome (Rom. 16:3).
Defining Moment: Serving alongside Paul.
Life Lessons: In some ministry couples the wife will
have a more notable ministry than her husband.

preaching ministry (Acts 6:8).

His preaching convicted deeply and he has wisdom
beyond his years (Acts 6:9-10).
Even unsaved people could sense that he had Gods
hand powerfully on his life (Acts 6:15).
In his defense before the religious leaders, he
demonstrates how he knows the Word of God by
pulling from Old Testament history (Acts 7:1-53).
He has his eyes on Jesus all the way up to the
moment they stoned him to death (Acts 7:54-60).
In similar to fashion to Jesus, he forgives his killers
as they are stoning him (Acts 7:59-60).
Saul of Tarsus is there approving of his execution
(Acts 7:58-8:1). Did Stephens forgiveness lodge in
Sauls heart and later bear fruit?

Defining Moment: Forgiving his killers.

Life Lesson: Leaders on the edge (martyrs) will value
obedience more than their own security.

LUKE Paul calls him our dear friend Luke, the doctor
(Colossians 4:14). He was a member of Pauls apostolic
church planting team. He also wrote the Gospel of Luke
and Acts.
Some things to look for:
He sticks with Paul as a faithful friend for about 17 or
18 years.
He endured prison with Paul. Philemon is written
from prison (Philemon 1:24).
He is with Paul down to the last moment before Paul
is executed (2 Timothy 4:6-11).
He is good researcher type. The Holy Spirit leads
him, but the Spirit takes pleasure in working through
Lukes very well-thought out layouts of the Gospel of
Luke and Acts. God can use the researcher types.

a Greek man. He becomes Pauls son and most trusted

apostolic leader (Philippians 2:19-22). He is one a few who
were apostles in the wider circle beyond the Twelve.

Defining Moment: Sticking with Paul in prison and

down to the end.
Life Lessons: Apostolic leaders or strong leaders
need faithful, a supportive leaders alongside them to
help them do all God calls them to do. God delights
in using a variety of people, from the more passionate
to the more cerebral, to do His work.
TITUS Titus is a Greek convert of Pauls. Through his
new birth and mentoring relationship to Paul, he becomes
Pauls son (Titus 1:4) and a trusted apostolic leader. I
am helped by Dr. J. Robert Clinton some for Titus.

Some things to look for:

Timothys mom and grandma passed on a spiritual
heritage of a sincere faith to him (2 Timothy 1:5). His
dad may have not been a believer.
He is a cross-cultural missionary.
Timothy is a timid leader (2 Timothy 1:6-7). Timidity
does not limit God. He uses Timothy in all kinds of
ministry contexts, even the difficult one in Ephesus
where he had to confront false teachers (1 Timothy
1:3-7)

Some things to look for:

Titus is Pauls best apostolic troubleshooter. Paul
sends him into some very tough assignments to deal
with struggling churches. He always comes through
for Paul.
He is a cross-cultural missionary.
Titus is a strong leader by temperament. He is more
assertive and aggressive than Timothy.
Paul trusts him to bring the new apostolic works that
Paul began to maturity or completion (2 Cor. 8:6;

TIMOTHY Timothy is born of a marriage of a Jewess to

Paul had invested a lot in Timothy and Timothy was

able to represent Paul in his life and teachings very
well (2 Timothy 3:10-11).
Timothy knew the Scripture very well and could use it
well in his ministry (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
Paul calls him a man of God (1 Timothy 6:11) both
for his faithfulness to God and his role of proclaiming
the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Timothy has to face the disdain of people who look
down on him for being a young leader (1 Timothy
4:12).
Timothy has a tendency to suffer stress. The symptom
is a stomach problem (1 Timothy 5:23).
Timothy has the task of selecting and developing
others to be teachers and preachers of the Word (2
Timothy 2:2). He is an equipper and mentor.
He is the one Paul passes the baton to when Paul is
about to be executed for his faith (whole letter of 2
Timothy).

Defining Moments: Faithfully carrying out the

assignments Paul gave him in various places.
Life Lessons: God takes a faithful leader beyond his or
her natural abilities. The measure of ministry is in
empowering others to minister.

Titus 1:5).
His knows how to spot and develop leaders. His
assignment in Crete is to select and develop elders or
pastors in all the churches in each city (Titus 1:5).
He is an apostolic leader who pastors the pastors.
Titus helps Paul deal with the problematic Corinthian
church in terms of finances and helping to restore
Pauls apostolic authority (2 Cor. 2:13; 7:6, 13, 14;
8:6, 16, 17; 12:18).
He has to help bring order to a very chaotic church
situation in Crete (Titus 1:5-16).
Paul likes the way Titus initiates ministry on his own
and does not just wait for Paul to give him
assignments (2 Cor. 8:16-17).

Defining Moment: Faithfully carrying out the tough

troubleshooting assignments Paul gave him in
various places.
Life Lessons: Certain leaders will be apt in helping to
complete or bring a work to completion. The ongoing work of God depends on leaders who are
willing to select and develop emerging leaders.

References Cited:
Bjoraker, Bill
1993

Samuel. Last of the Judges & First of the Prophets: A Model Leader for
Transitional Times. Altadena, California: Barnabas Publishers.

Clinton, Bobby and Raab, Laura

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BarnabasEncouraging Exhorter: A Study in Mentoring. Altadena, California:
Barnabas Publishers.
Clinton, J. Robert
1993
Leadership Values. Altadena, California: Barnabas Publishers.
2001

Titus: Apostolic Leadership. Altadena, California: Barnabas Publishers.

Clinton, J. Robert and Clinton, Richard W.

1991
The Mentor Handbook: Detailed Guidelines and Helps for Christian Mentors
and Mentorees. Altadena, California: Barnabas Publishers.
Edwards, Gene
1992
A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness, Authority and Submission.
Gonzalez, Justo L.
1990
Mentors as Instruments of Gods Call. Nashville: United Methodist Church.
Gordon, Robert P.
1986
I & II Samuel. Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library.
Hayford, Jack
1986

Interview in Leadership Journal.