One hot button issue that never grows old in or out of the church is tithing. Leaders encouraging Church Members to give often support the message of giving with Scripture. Without even quoting any one thing in particular from any religious book, I recall hearing this quite a few times in my life. Thus, I can recall it by memory. "If you are free to give, you are free to receive."

Gregory A. Burns in his book entitled: Restoring Honor To Leaders and Servants takes a more traditional approach, using phrases like "leadership must be sustained and supported", urging a need to talk proportions and percentages.

At first thought before reading any of the many excerpts from the book, the name immediately grabbed my attention. So much so, I read it before going to the next page, as I reviewed the material. Capturing the readers attention early is more important when using written material because there is a greater risk of abandonment.



Without finding out to much right off, I could tell that the book is made more personal with the inclusion of testimonial sharing.

Burns seems to recognize that leaders in the church face a mounting level of scrutiny all the time. With their character challenged and often torn down, Burns took on the role of sort of a religious ombudsman by giving voice to issues facing leaders and their congregation which threaten the churches very existence.

"All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose" will likely seem parallel to the writers call for a Fivefold Ministry before you are done reading the book. Being that the outcome desired is that which Burns believes will strengthen the Corporate Objectives of the Church.

Dr. Burns uses a clever approach to indirectly say, we all are leaders, in his aim to inform the readers of the need to heed his message of restoring honor to leaders and servants of the church. Although his strategy is not easily detected, as he stresses the fact that he believes the word of God can only be given or communicated through Church Leaders, he gives away the gold by calling his penning effort a teaching tool. After all, who does a leader teach? Students, Congregation Members, the flock? A leaders mission is to teach everyone to be just that in the end. Would it then just be necessary to only teach leaders? The idea that Dr. Burns sees everyone as a leader is further supported when he elaborates on weariness and how unappreciation can create barriers that could eventually cause leaders to part ways with the church. Believers are aware that weariness can happen to anyone.

The book attempts to make you question weather being weary is a sign of unappreciation or just a natural human response , during the Spiritual Walk. To me there is no right or wrong answer here. There is, however a need to understand the importance of not getting stuck in that state of existence or state of mind. It is about bouncing back, being resilient. The very thing that Burns apparently wants to happen to avoid a parting of schism from the church.

As the writing continues, one thing becomes clear. Everyone needs to be acknowledged in some way. Dr. Burns appears to support the idea that acknowledgement will help to prevent weariness and also motivate leaders/servants to continue their Spiritual Walk with God. Edification is what Burns highlighted when talking about honor and service, mentioning fear as something realistically affecting leaders too. That set the stage for a lesson in itself, but the text left me wanting to read more on the subject. That alone was a trigger for a book purchase. Gregory A. Burns did share his own fear of delivering a message that required exalting leaders, saying he did not want to be misunderstood by believers and labeled as someone who was trying to put himself before God. By talking about his own fear as something that was discouraging, he brought unappreciation to the forefront. Retrogressing to an earlier statement that unappreciation could be discouraging to leaders, it became clear that encouragement should be something practiced all the time. I'll admit, I started to think about saying nice things to people more, complimenting more, and just letting my light shine. That was good! All of that is just a tip of the iceberg. If you want to know why Burns says "obedience is the price of success or why Burns approach really means he is talking to you, then you will have to purchase your own copy.

Finally, keep in mind that Leadership is necessary, encouragement is a must, service is never wrong, giving is a requirement, fear can serve as a motivator, and there is always something new for all believers to learn!