God's Glory

God's glory is a major theme from the very first sentence of Genesis to the very last of Revelation. It is always present throughout the scriptures, and yet often easy to dismiss by His people throughout the generations.
God's glory is the “substance” of God; His love, His actions, His creation – His awesomeness; all of which are uniquely manifested in His presence (Exodus 33:17-19, Exodus 34:5-6).

Exodus 33:17-19 (NIV) And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Glory is the essence of our Creator, and at the center of His glory is His compassion for us. The glory of the Lord filled the temple 2 Chronicles 5:13-14. In the New Testament era, Jesus is the temple, God's glory personified (John 2:19-21, Heb. 1:3, John 1:14, 2:11), and as His body, we too ought to display God's glory (2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:4-6).

Click here for full paper.

Kosmos & Discipleship

In discipleship, it is important to focus on growth, means of growth, ministry, etc. But often we forget or minimize the negative impact of the kosmos. Or sometimes, we may even exaggerate them. Nevertheless, we should not minimize or disregard the effort of Satan to thwart our discipleship process and the disciple’s growth. Satan will do everything in his power to prevent people from growing and becoming radical followers of Christ.

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Commitment to the Way of The Cross

What is the way of the cross? When we say “Doing a Jesus driven ministry” or “to minister like Christ” or “in following Christ’s example of ministry”, what does it mean? Is it just a Christian jargon, something to validate our activities, categorizing our life as godly? Is it just a validation of our lifestyle as a Christian?

John White wrote about this as such:

“The way of the cross is a magnificent obsession with a heavenly pearl, beside which everything else in life has no value. If it were a case of buying it, we would gladly sell all we had to do so.”


In a sense, this is what commitment is – a determination to orient our lives in such a way that pursues a magnificent obsession. A commitment to follow Christ is just a manifestation of our orientation of life centered on Christ and His purpose. This is hard, requires a lot of sacrifice, risk, etc. But commitment also implies that the pursuit must be done with the same passion, intensity and rigor throughout – hence the “magnificent obsession”. It is easy to have a burning zeal during the beginning phase of our commitment, but then it usually tends to fizzles out. Is it then possible to maintain the zeal, rigor, passion throughout? It is indeed possible – only if we are obsessed throughout.

Click here for full paper.

Building Supportive Culture

What is ethos or culture? Ethos probably easier to be described as “character”. So when someone asks you about to describe some characters of your ICF, what would they be? To put in a definition form:

Ethos is intangible but yet very real set of values, convictions, priorities that a group of people hold

How do you assess the current ethos of ICF? The easiest way it to ask yourself this question, “Describe some of characters about your ICF?” It is also useful to ask this kind of question to non-ICF member or guests. A more complex way of assessing ethos in your ICF is by observing and watching carefully and constantly about the habits and trends of and in your ICF. A leader must be able to do this to be able to lead effectively. Some people may have an uncanny ability in doing this because they are gifted. But, regardless of gifted or not, a leader must learn this skill in leading their people.

For full paper, click here.

Key People in ICF

Sebagai leaders yang aktif bergelut di dalam ICF, kita tentu sering mendengar frase “key people” digunakan oleh teman-teman sesama leaders, elders, mentors, di dalam paper-paper yang kita baca, atau bahkan, entah disadari atau tidak, kita sendiri seringkali menggunakan frase tersebut dalam percakapan sehari-hari. Yang menjadi pertanyaan adalah: apakah kita sudah sungguh mengerti apa yang dimaksud dengan “key people?” Apa itu “key people?” Mengapa ICF saya membutuhkan “key people?” Apakah peranannya di dalam ICF? dst. Melalui paper ini, kami ingin mencoba mengangkat dan memberikan jawaban atas pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut.

Hal-hal yang akan kami bahas adalah :
1. Definisi dari “key people” di dalam ICF
2. Peranan key people ICF di dalam functional block
3. Urgency untuk memiliki key people yang kompeten dan berkualitas

For full paper, click here.

Team Development

More often that not, in our ministry we have to work in teams. So team work has tons of dynamics - which then can cause both good and bad things. So how can we build our team in a way that the dynamics of the team itself will benefit us? Or maybe we are about to form a team - then what are some issues we need to consider in forming a team so then we can build a solid team?

In LM 2001, ICF Madison presents "Team Development" - which a very broad and encapsulating aspects in team dynamic, especially in ICF ministry. Presentation can be found here.

ICF Functional Block

Salah satu komponen yang paling penting dalam suatu organisasi adalah program-program yang dijalankan oleh organisasi tersebut. Tidak jarang bahkan program yang dijalankan oleh organisasi tersebut mendefinisikan atau membentuk persepsi masyarakat tentang apa sebenarnya organisasi tersebut.

Tapi sayangnya, ada kecenderungan dalam suatu organisasi untuk mendefinisikan diri mereka hanya dengan program-program saja.

Pemahaman tentang organisasi seperti ini akan sangat-sangat berbahaya bagi kelangsungan hidup dan perkembangan organisasi tersebut. Akhirnya apa yang akan dilakukan adalah terus memperbaiki dan membentuk program-program yang baru tanpa tahu esensi dan fungsi dari program itu sendiri.

Masalah yang juga nyata dalam organisasi ICF adalah program-program yang selama ini dijalankan ICF ternyata tidak mampu menghasilkan manusia-manusia yang dicita-citakan dalam visi ICF. Melihat keberadaan masalah seperti ini, Kami coba berikan proposal pemetaan tenang proses apa saja yang sebaiknya dilewati oleh suatu organisasi (khususnya ICF) sebelum kita membuat program-program kita. Peta ini kami sebut dengan “ICF Functional Block.”

For full document & presentation, click here