The Leader’s Battle with Fear

Jimmy Evans is the Senior Pastor at Trinity Fellowship Church in Amarillo.  He serves as the Senior Apostolic Elder of Gateway Church.  Gateway, in fact, had it’s origins in Trinity Fellowship because they sent out Gateway Church.  Pastor Jimmy speaks often at Gateway and always comes with a relevant and transformational word.  These are my notes I took during his session on Tuesday night, February 22, 2011 at the Gateway Church Connect Conference.

Brian Houston – Session 1
Brian Houston – Session 2
Robert Morris – Session 1
Robert Morris – Session 2
Jimmy Evans – (this post…)

FAITH BASED LEADERSHIP

• One of the things that set Jesus apart was confidence.
• Confidence is one of the most important things we have as leaders.
• Leaders don’t have the luxury of indifference, indecision, incompetence, or insecurity.
• Fear is the greatest threat and the greatest regret to ministry.
• Decisions made out of fear are an accusation against God.

Four truths about fear in Leadership

1. Leading multiplies our natural fear many-fold.

• Leaders are exposed.
• Whatever fears you have naturally are multiplied as leadership exposure increases.
• Leaders face constant criticism.
• The ability to push past the criticism will determine the leader’s durability.

2. Ministry causes us to be a target of our spiritual enemy.

• Fear is a faux prophet spirit that lies about your future, discourages you, and tries to get you to quit.
• Godly prophecy is the Spirit of God speaking to you about your real future and giving you a good report.
• Prophecy is the number one gift to pursue, and is opposite the spirit of fear.
• Having a prophetic word from God equips leaders to fight against the enemy.
• Lives and ministries are saved by prophecy.

3. Our worst fears always flow from unhealed hurts in our past.

• Father pain causes mistrust of God.
• Rejection causes fear of vulnerability and intimacy.
• Leaders with unhealed hurts aren’t leading. They are using those around them as their support group.

4.We can always act above our fears.

• Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the mastery of them.
• Faith is a decision that we make
• The devil never gives up ground unless it’s by force
• Whatever your territory is, the devil will attack it and that’s how you know its your promised land.
• Whatever territory god has promised you, a demon spirit will tell you you’ll never have it.
• But leaders in Christ are destined for victory.