Elías Rodríguez | CBL Instructor
Paul addressed his spiritual son Timothy with the following words, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:1, 2 NKJV).
The teaching ministry of the Church is of utmost importance. It has to do with passing sound biblical and practical knowledge from one generation to another. Paul passed on to Timothy the lessons he had learned, not only with Gamaliel, but also from his personal encounter with Jesus. He then told Timothy to commit what he had heard from him to many others. Timothy was to share with these men and women what he had received. They, in turn, would train others. So, we see a cycle of continual training that will continue until Jesus returns.
The Church of God of Prophecy has a strong commitment to the development of its leaders. In fact, it is one of our core values, as stated in Vision 2020: “The pattern of training faithful leaders is an integral part to the success of fulfilling the Great Commission. As each generation passes the mantle of leadership to the next, it is imperative that these leaders receive the best preparation to bring the mission to completion. With this understanding, this Church is committed to training succeeding generations in the most holy faith, using every means available” (White Wing Mesenger, August 2010, Vol. 87, Number 1, p. 10).
This commitment has taken me to different parts of the world, training our leaders. During the past six months, CBL intensives have focused on these courses: Biblical Preaching, Church and Community, and Pentecostal Distincitives of the COGOP. Biblical Preaching exposes the participant to the art of expository preaching, stressing the importance of sound, uncompromised, well-researched, and prayer-saturated preaching. Church and Community encourages pastors and ministry leaders to assess needs of the communities they serve and offer an integral ministry to them. The course is designed to highlight the social responsibility of the church, also exposing the student to the prophetic role of the church in the community, serving as an agent of Shalom. Pentecostal Distinctives of the COGOP focuses on our Pentecostal identity. The course provides a comparison between the three main waves of the Pentecostal Movement: Classical Pentecostalism, Charismatic Movement, and Neo-Pentecostalism, stressing our identity as Classical Pentecostals, and our belief and practice of the Fivefold Gospel (Jesus as Savior, Sanctifier, Spirit-baptizer, Healer, and soon-coming King).
Below are testimonials from participants in each of these intensives.
Biblical Preaching
“This has been a transformational week for me. This was so refreshing and mind expanding for us. The time was very short and compact, but we were able to grasp the concept, and we are running with this new and informed ideas.”
“This course is for such a time as this (21st century).”
Church and Community
“The instructor not only taught us about what we can do as a church, but also gave suggestions of various programs that we can use to impact our community. Since then, our church has started an afternoon program once a month that befriends women of the community. We have intentionally met our neighbors, letting them know of our availability to help them in whatever need. As a result, some of the members of our community are already visiting the church.”
“It is possible to forget the social mission of the Church that is contained in the Gospel. Thanks to this intensive, our church feels enlightened and motivated to pursue the ideal of integral ministry as modeled by our Savior.”
Pentecostal Distinctives
“This was a class in which we were confronted by and motivated to go back to our Pentecostal roots. This is a conference that I would recommend to the whole Church of God of Prophecy (Bishop Ramón David Ceballos, National Overseer of Colombia).”
“The content of this intensive is designed to help us recognize the value our origins, and thus reinforce our identity.”
“A fire is kindled within me, a burning desire to see everyone in the congregation sanctified and baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Biblical Preaching class:
Church and Community class:
COGOP Pentecostal Distinctives:
