Free The Inspired Leader: 101 Biblical Reflections for Becoming a Person of Influence by Richard Blackaby Page B

might you share that message with today?
    REFLECT FOR A MOMENT
List three of your colleagues whose lives could be dramatically changed for the better if they learned a truth about God. Begin praying (and looking) for an opportunity share those truths with them.
Have you lost your sense of wonder at the Good News of the Gospel? How faithful have you been to share it with your colleagues and clients?
Do you view the Gospel as a set of beliefs, a moral standard, or good news of great joy? How has the good news of Christ been bringing you joy?
God’s Method

    “MEN ARE GOD'S method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men” (E.M. Bounds, Power through Prayer). Throughout history, when society was in crisis, God called upon ordinary people through whom He would bring deliverance. When the Egyptians were oppressing the Israelites, God sent Moses. When the Midianites were abusing God’s people, God called Gideon. When the Philistines were bullying the Hebrews God raised up Samson, Samuel, and David to defend His people. When Haman plotted to massacre the Jewish people in Persia, God moved Esther to speak out on behalf of her countrymen. When the poor were being exploited, God summoned Amos to plead for justice. When God launched the greatest work of redemption in history, He entrusted the Savior to a teenage, peasant girl named Mary. God could have commissioned a legion of angels every time His people were in need, but He has generally chosen to work through ordinary people.
    In 1994, South Africa elected Nelson Mandela as its president. Everyone is familiar with how he promoted reconciliation in a country rife with alienation and successfully led a peaceful transition from minority to majority rule. In the years following his presidency however, South Africa experienced widespread turmoil as housing and job shortages increased. People from all over the continent began pouring in to South Africa, many of them having never heard the Gospel message. As unemployment skyrocketed, so did the crime rate. Clearly a political solution was not enough. The nation also needed to turn to God. In this turbulent time, God raised up an ordinary, unknown farmer named Angus Buchan.
    Buchan’s life had been challenging. He was a maize and cattle farmer in Zambia until political unrest forced him to relocate to Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He was an ambitious, hot-tempered man who occasionally neglected his wife and children in his desperate attempts to make his farm successful. Local residents nicknamed him “Nikosaan Italiaan” because they claimed he acted like a mad Italian. In 1979, Angus had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, and it completely changed his life. He began speaking to groups of men and challenging them to turn their focus away from political unrest and economic uncertainty. Instead, he urged them to trust Christ and to live for Him, regardless of what was happening in their country. Buchan eventually opened his farm to men from across South Africa, inviting them to spend a weekend. He spoke to those who came and challenged them to act and think like mighty men of God. In April 2009, over 200,000 men arrived at his farm. In 2010, over 300,000 came. Buchan took his message throughout the country. Gigantic soccer stadiums overflowed with over 60,000 men in attendance as Buchan challenged people to commit their lives to Christ. His story was told in a book and a later movie entitled Faith Like Potatoes . Buchan is an ordinary working man with a meager eighth grade education, yet he is drawing more people to hear him preach than world famous celebrities. Lives are being dramatically transformed at a time when his nation is longing for healing and change.
    When society desperately needs to be reformed, God typically raises up someone through whom He will work. Could it be that in these turbulent times in our country, God is calling you? What are the limits to what He could do through