The document outlines eight organizing principles for leading a local church according to the Bible alone: 1) Christ alone leads the church, 2) the Great Commission is the organizing principle, 3) actions must make disciples not maintain the church, 4) discipleship builds godly character, 5) leadership cares for and equips believers, 6) teaches truth with spiritual power, 7) equips believers to serve, 8) brings all believers to maturity to serve. It also lists six decisions the Romanian church must make to impact its culture, including renewing its mindset to Biblical thinking and entering culture rather than defending from it.

1. Common Ways Pastors See Their
Role in Leading the Local Church
1. Preaching/teaching
2. Evangelism
3. Care giving
4. Administration
5. Missions
6. Community
Mostly depends on the pastor’s
primary gifts and interests

2. Eight Organizing Principles for
Leading Your Local Church
The controlling principle:
the Bible and the Bible alone
determines the way we lead
Not culture
Not what we learned in seminary
Not the sheep

3. Eight Organizing Principles for
Leading Your Local Church
Not our preferences
Not our drive for power or
recognition or success
The Bible and the Bible alone
Everything must change to conform to
the Bible—gradual but inevitable
through teaching, modeling, and
training

4. Eight Organizing Principles for
Leading Your Local Church
1. Your church is NOT your church, but
Christ’s church, and He alone can lead the
church through us Mt. 16:18

6. Eight Organizing Principles for
Leading Your Local Church
2. The Great Commission properly
understood is THE organizing principle of
all local churches because it includes all
that the church does

7. Eight Organizing Principles for
Leading Your Local Church
3. All church actions must be built around
making disciples, not maintaining the
church

8. Eight Organizing Principles for
Leading Your Local Church
4. All disciple making must result in high
level character that lives and acts
biblically, meaning that we disciple for
competence through godly character at the
heart level

9. Eight Organizing Principles for
Leading Your Local Church
5. The core of all leadership must be
compassionate care for the sheep that
--feeds them spiritually and physically
--enables such feeding to happen
--holds them accountable for life and
ministry
--trains them to enter the world for Christ

10. Eight Organizing Principles for
Leading Your Local Church
6. All must be taught the truth of God’s
word as knowledge in action through
spiritual power; knowledge alone is not
adequate

11. Eight Organizing Principles for
Leading Your Local Church
7. All must be equipped at their maturity
level to use their gifts to serve Christ and to
equip others to do the same

12. Eight Organizing Principles for
Leading Your Local Church
8. All who are not yet mature enough to
serve must be brought to a basic level of
maturity so they can be equipped to serve
and eventually to equip others to serve

13. Model
(John 13:12-17;
I Cor. 11:1)
Equip
(Eph. 4:11-12)
Teach
(I Tim. 4:13)
Shepherd
(I Peter 5:1-4)
Elder
(I Tim. 3:1-
7)
Overseer
(I Tim. 3:1; I Peter
5:2; Acts 20:28)
Make Disciple-Makers
(Matt. 28: 18-20)
THE PASTOR’S JOB DESCRIPTION

14. Six Decisions the Romanian Church
Must Make to be Difference Makers
in the World
1. The Romanian church must decide to
renew its mind to think biblically rather
than culturally (Rom. 12:1-2)
The mind is renewed through an
understanding of the fullness of God’s
grace that brings deliverance from the
flesh (Rom 12:1; Gal. 5:16; 19-21)

15. Six Decisions the Romanian Church
Must Make to be Difference Makers
in the World
2. The Romanian church must decide to
renew its mind to enter its culture rather
than defend itself from its culture
Age and economic emigration is
shrinking the church with fewer
coming in than exiting

16. Six Decisions the Romanian Church
Must Make to be Difference Makers
in the World
3. The Romanian church must decide to
renew its mind to become a church focused
on penetrating its culture while
maintaining a lifestyle of purity
It must treat unbelievers for what they
are, unbelievers, and not expect them
to live like believers until they
become believers: Jonah

17. Six Decisions the Romanian Church
Must Make to be Difference Makers
in the World
4. The Romanian church must decide to
renew its mind from an inward driven
vision to an outward focused vision to
relate the Gospel to the needs of society
It must work to understand where its
culture is going and seek to meet it
with trust and truth, not fear, a step
only the Romanian church can take

18. Six Decisions the Romanian Church
Must Make to be Difference Makers
in the World
5. The Romanian church must decide to
renew its mind from being a fleshly driven
church to a Spirit empowered church
It must work to recognize the flesh
within it, to accept this reality, and to
turn from it.

19. Six Decisions the Romanian Church
Must Make to be Difference Makers
in the World
6. The Romanian church must decide to
renew its mind concerning the honor and
respect it gives to its pastors to attract the
best men it can for this role
To get the best the church must treat
its pastors—and their wives—with
loving accountability