AIMING FOR ROYAL PRIESTHOOD IN FULL ARMOR

Iglesia Evangelica Unida de CristoUNIDA! KAISA!
Aiming For
Royal Priesthood
In Full Armor

REV. GAMALIEL B. FILIO
General Evangelist

The Thesis
OUR age, times, and world demand of us to establish a church that is fully-equipped to meet the challenges brought about by the Great Commission in a world that is constantly being changed by Information and Communication Technology and the advances in science & modes of transportation that are changing the outlook and values of man. The world is continually being compressed into a GLOBAL VILLAGE. How should the Church respond?
Pastor-Shepherd-Leaders (PSL) must be fully equipped in areas of church administration and concerns not traditionally regarded as part of the work of a CHURCH. This will enable them to respond with confidence to what is happening around them. The future is definitely here already and is not something still to be yet anticipated. The PSLs must guard against finding themselves lacking in personal equipment and the whole church membership must likewise be fully equipped for royal priesthood.
The church and the workers in God’s Vineyard today cannot afford to be ONE DIMENSIONAL. They must strive to be MULTI-DIMENSIONAL.
It is our belief that Strategic Planning is Biblical and it is about time, if not yet late, for the Unida Church to do this. We must now AIM FOR ROYAL PRIESTHOOD IN FULL ARMOR. Royal Priesthood refers first to the Pastors, then the Laity-Professionals, the Organizations, and the whole membership of the Unida Church. But a National Church Development Plan must first be formulated, discussed, debated, approved, submitted to God and implemented.
For this purpose a NATIONAL LEADER’S WORKSHOP ON CHURCH DEVELOPMENT will be initiated in four levels before its eventual presentation in the Annual Assembly in May 2006 and ultimately its implementation by the new sets of officers in 2007.

IT’S TIME TO EQUIP
Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” KJV

FULLY-ARMORED
Eph 6:13-14 “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” NIV

FOR ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light

WITH THE POWER OF ONE
KAISA defines how ONE can acquire the power of a MULTITUDE! The Kaisa Spirit comes from the prayer of Jesus and this is where its power comes from.
John 17: 11b “Holy Father, protect them by the Power of Your Name – the Name you gave me – so that they may be ONE as we are ONE.”
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be ONE, Father, just as You are in me and I am in you.”

Definition
From the beginning, our definition of Pastoral Leadership has been “the capacity to move people to action.” For many years we tested our leadership using this yardstick. We pointed to a vision with a definite direction; and church people, thank God, followed.
We recently discovered the book of Henry Blackaby and attended his lectures at Cuneta Astrodome on “Spiritual Leadership” and he added the most important aspect to my definition, he said: “Move people on to God’s Agenda.”
This is leadership that is anchored on the agenda of God and one that is based only on the WILL of God and not of ourselves. We are then talking about a leadership that seeks to lead God’s people to follow His commandments and fulfill His Will.
We are talking about PASTORAL LEADERSHIP. And this is leadership that cannot be categorized with other types of leadership in other fields. And while general principles and laws of leadership may apply to pastoral leadership, it cannot succeed unless an Outside Power is applied and incorporated into it. The outside power? THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Pastoral Leadership
When we speak about Pastoral Leadership, we inevitably talk about a SHEPHERD. Simply because the Bible talks about God as the “Shepherd-Leader of Israel.” (Psalms 80:1) And so our Model for Pastoral Leadership is God Himself through the example of His only begotten Son when He became man like us.
The model of shepherding is, as sung by the Psalmist in verse 23:
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD, forever.

Compleat Shepherds
There must be a conscious and deliberate effort to develop a compleat shepherd of the flock of the church of Christ. In order to achieve this, the personal competencies of the Pastors must be enhanced.

PASTOR’S PERSONAL ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM
“Aiming For A Fully-Equipped Royal Priesthood”
When we talk about fully equipping the Pastor-Shepherd-Leaders we are in fact referring to their Innate qualities and the skills that they must acquire in order to transform them from being one-dimensional to be multi-dimensional.

INNATE QUALITIES - This refers to what all PSLs must possess. From the start or ab initio a pastor must have this. A determining factor of what they are and who they are.
1. God’s Call – This is a must. No one should be a pastor without a sure, manifest, and clear call to the ministry from God. The call, like in the case of the Prophet Samuel, is with you at birth and you will hear it in God’s time (not your own convenience).
2. Spiritual Resource – The PSL must have a vast supply, stock, assets of spiritual strength. Nurture comes in the reading and study of the Word of God. Not only daily Bible reading and meditation but to read and study the Bible from cover to cover on your own. A good and long experience in the ministries at the local church will be a good resource. And the PSL must have someone, ideally an older pastor who have mentored him and to whom he can run to for advice. And of course, a support prayer group.

Suffice it to say that this innate qualities vary from Pastor to Pastor but both must be present.

ACQUIRED SKILLS - This refers to skills and expertise that can be learned or acquired with basic intellectual capacity through formal and/or informal studying.
And when we talk about personal enhancement we are talking about the individual PSL’s efforts to improve themselves. I cannot forget what a Political Science Professor told us when we were freshmen at the University of the Philippines, “The more I know, the more I know that I do not know.”
Life is a continual learning and enhancing of one’s tools and equipment in order to be able to cope with the jobs that will continually challenge you.
But how do we start? By reckoning. •Reckoning means finding out where you are and finding out what you have done to insure where you are going. We must answer the questions: WHO ARE WE? WHERE ARE WE? WHERE ARE WE GOING?


Setting TheDirection
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF LEADERSHIP IS TO SET DIRECTIONS. It is the rudder that points to where and how fast the church should go. Their task is to make sure that the flock does not lose its SENSE OF DIRECTION. Because it is so easy to get lost in a world that is cluttered with so many ideas, theologies, technologies, media mind-conditioning, enticing seminars and books and so many charismatic but false prophets that mislead and make man lose sight of God and His Great Commission for the Church and its flock. If the leadership has no sense of purpose the flock will just flounder on. However, this sense of purpose should come from within like a geiger counter. From our identity, what and who we are, our heritage from our forefathers who bonded Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo following the tradition set by the original Apostolic Church.

THE UNIDA CHURCH’S REASON FOR BEING
•To develop the ability to forge the unity of the whole church towards expanding the borders of the work of the church. UNIDA IS KAISA!
Upang linangin ang kakayahang pandayin ang pagkakaisa ng buong iglesia patungo sa pagpapalawak ng hanggahan ng Gawain ng iglesia. ANG UNIDA AY KAISA!

We begun as ONE and must continue to act as a church that originated from the first Christian Apostolic Church that was founded by Christ in Caesaria Philippi. We must also value our Presbyterian roots as well as also be responsive to the changes around us. But we must act together and resist the tendency to go in different directions. We must value who we are and what we have that enabled a small and financially poor church called Unida to reach more than seven decades of fruitful existence.
It is right to have a vision and a definite mission. It is proper to have general objectives as well as specific objectives. But it is so hard to remember them after reams and reams of it have been written down and filed in the cabinet and in the Personal Computer (PC). So it must derive from ONE specific statement, a pledge, a solemn promise that is INNATE to the UNIDA CHURCH and derives from them who started the UNIDA CHURCH.

The UNIDA Pledge (Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo)
I am Unida and it is my solemn promise to secure AN EKKLESIA that is ONE and United in Christ in the Worship of ONE God in Spirit and in Truth and in Bringing the Message of the Saving Grace of the Lord to all creatures in every corner of the world and in the Hope that Jesus will be with them to the end of the ages at the coming of the Kingdom of God.
Ang Panatang UNIDA (Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo)
Ako ay Unida at ang aking banal na pangako ay makamit ang ISANG EKKLESIA na IISA at Nagkakaisa kay Kristo sa Pagsamba sa IISANG Dios sa Espiritu at Katotohanan at sa Pagdadala ng Mabuting Balita ng Kaligtasan sa lahat ng kinapal sa lahat ng sulok ng daigdig at sa Pag-asang si Jesus ay sasa-Kaniyang palagi hanggang sa katapusan ng mga panahon sa Pagdatal ng Kaharian ng Dios.

WHO ARE WE?
“An EKKLESIA that is One and United in the Worship of One God in Spirit and in Truth.”
From the beginning up to now, and yes, from our forefathers up to us today - WE ARE ONE. In 1932 our church founders (mga tagapangulong tagapaglingkod ng iglesia) wrote an open letter addressed to us and using a term that is so wonderful & poignant & apt: “sa inyong MGA KAPILAS NG AMING KALULUWA.” Wow, the term in English came to be used only in the 1980’s - SOULMATES. Unida members are all soulmates – ONE. Mula nuong una hanggasng ngayon, sila at tayo ay magkapilas ng kaluluwa. May kabuluhan ang ISA.
The essence of being ONE is as old our Church. It is embodied in that letter when they said: Ang kabuuan ng dakilang layon ng Dios sa ating paglalakip-lakip ay ang tayo na mga tingting na nakasabog sa ating kapuluan..... ay mabigkis ng matibay na TALI NG BANAL NA PAG-IISA sa pananampalataya, pag-asa at pag-big na lalong pinakadakila sa lahat. This is our heritage.

A UNIQUE AND DISTINCT CHURCH - We are the only church in the world that chooses their leaders the Apostolic Way. God chose the name of our church, IGLESIA EVANGELICA UNIDA DE CRISTO and since the inception of our church, God chose the leaders, the Generales who led our church for the last 73 years. By means of pelotilya or drawing of lots that was laid down in the Acts of the Apostles we avoided church politics. We should be proud of this and this should bind us together.
We are also a church that has a distinctive way of praying every time we break bread together – by singing the following:
Pagpalain Mo po, O aming Dios
Ang mga biyayang mong kaloob
Itulot mo nawa na magdulot
Ng kalakasang ipaglilingkod! Amen.
If it pleases everyone I suggest that we do this before every meal in this workshop.
Unida members knows each and greets each other and embrace and beso-beso each other everytime they meet. And during every occasion “hindi matapos-tapos ang kwentuhan at halos ayaw nang maghiwalay.”
And lastly, the Unida Church is indigenous. A Pilipino Church composed of Pilipinos and run by Pilipinos.

OUR WORK
“Bringing the Message of the Saving Grace of the Lord to all creatures in every corner of the world.”
There is ONE Work. To plant and establish churches. And to add to the church daily such as should be saved.
In 1901, an American, Rev . James Rogers, regarded as the first Protestant Evangelist started planting the gospel of the Saving Grace of the Lord in this Roman Catholic Nation. Rev. Tomas Filio picked it up and was followed later by his nephew Rev. Eugenio R. Filio who started what they called then “Propaganda” for the Evangelical Faith in towns and barrios, in the process establishing churches. In 1957 at Unida’s 25th Anniversary there were 25 strong churches namely Central, Matangtubig, Gagalangin, Sociego, Bagong-Ilog, Baclaran, Caloocan, Tipaz, Novaliches, Imus, Medicion, Caridad, Bacoor, Dasmarinas, General Trias, Anabu, Bacao, Salawag, Malabag, Marulas, Panginay, Sipat, Atlag, Mambog, Carolina.
They are still around and are performing quite well. Now, we are 85 churches and 50 mission points. These are products of the pastors and missionaries that followed one by one, planting churches. The legacy goes on.

OUR HOPE
RUNNING TOWARDS THE FINISH LINE
THE BINDING OF THE ONES INTO ONE DYNAMIC BODY
“The Hope that Jesus will be with them to the end of the ages at the coming of the Kingdom of God.”
We are binded together with this HOPE. And with this in us, we serve God. And there is nothing like a common endeavor that can unite us.

Our Aims for the Term:
•To fully equip ministers for royal priesthood by means of a PASTORS PERSONAL ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM. 2
Upang sangkapan ang mga manggagawa sa maharlikang pagpapastol sa pamamagitan ng PASTORS PERSONAL ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.
•To develop the ability to mobilize each and every member to a meaningful ministry in the local and national church. 3
Upang linangin ang kakayahang hamigin ang bawa’t isang kaanib upang magamit sa makabuluhang ministeryo sa iglesia lokal at nasyonal.
•To develop the ability to plant and establish local churches that are self-sustaining, self-governing, and self-propagating.
Upang linangin ang kakayahang magtanim at magtayo ng mga iglesiang may kakayahang suportahan ang sarili, may kakayahang pangunahan ang sarili, at may kakayahang paramihin ang sarili.

•To develop the ability to establish a Fully-Resourced Unida Church.
Upang linangin ang kakayahang magtatag ng isang iglesiang sapat sa pananalapi. 5
“Wealth is not what we have,
but what we are.” – Unknown

SHOULD WE GO MICRO OR MACRO?
Aiming is one thing, but achieving is another. Enumerating tasks is one thing, but particularizing is another. Taking care of a particular task requires accomplishing several, if not the whole job.

For example, General Evangelism is the whole job and mission is a particular task. But the latter can only be done if the office of general evangelism achieves the five main aims stated above. The sender is as important if not more important than the bringer of the message of the Saving Grace of God.
Thus Romans 10:13-15 says: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
But where am I coming from? From a single thesis. We must look at the Church as ONE WHOLE. And when we do, we will realize that where it is going and how fast it will go depends on the leaders of the church. The leaders of the church are the Pastor-Shepherd-Leaders. If we have good and dependable PSLs who are visionaries and doers the Unida Church will be able to do the Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us therefore be true to our calling as UNIDA and shout KAISA! Let the Kaisa Spirit bind us together as ONE and let us work as One. We may disagree on some points but let us thresh them out and agree at the end.
At the end of the day, we must have a UNIFIED CHURCH DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE UNIDA CHURCH. WE MUST TURN UP AN UNIDA CHURCH FULLY-EQUIPPED FOR ROYAL PRIESTHOOD.

BRIDGING THE GAP
There are present realities in our church today. Some of them are strengths and opportunities. But unfortunately some of them, if not most, are weaknesses and threats. Let us identify them and then let us formulate remedies, plans, programs and projects to bridge the gap between Reality and Goal.

God has carved our task on stone: Formulate, Discuss, Debate, Approve, Submit to God and IMPLEMENT. Let us Go! KAISA!