"I was amazed by the transformation!"
The Connection | April 2026
Welcome to The Connection, a round-up of fresh stories of transformation and resources for spiritual growth and healthy leader development. Visit our website to learn more about our work at LeaderSource. Thanks for reading!
A Word from Malcolm
“By offering glimpses of Himself to our mind’s comprehension, God intends to inspire in us a seeking after the experience of the same things we understand. The knowledge is meant to be a doorway, not a destination. It is meant to provoke us, to goad us, to drive us out of a purely theoretical Christianity and into a real one.
But here is the danger. When we receive the knowledge without also yielding to the Divine impulse to seek — when we substitute the intellectual theory for the life-experience — our knowledge turns on us and harms us. It robs us of the very experience it was given to lead us into. Because we mistakenly believe we already possess the reality, we find in our hearts no inspiration to seek for it. We become lovers of doctrines more than lovers of God, all under the guise of “Truth.”
The Word of God was given to bring us to Jesus — to bring us to know Jesus — to bring us to a fellowship of love with Jesus. We think we are “staying with the Word,” but we are not staying with the Word, because the Word points us to God — to the reality of Christian experience of God.”
How to Build a Healthy Church
“Even when I didn’t fully understand everything, I found that as long as I was willing to love God and serve others, He would open doors for me. When I devoted myself to building up others, I experienced great joy, freedom and release. It was truly a process of continuous renewal and transformation. I feel immensely blessed and in awe. I am deeply grateful that God brought me back to the simple, original heart of serving Him.”
More Stories
Building Healthy Churches in East Asia: “In the midst of changing times, God’s house needs healthy leaders and a healthy church. When I started with myself, seeking to align my life point-by-point and changing to become healthier, I found it realistic and achievable!”
Transforming a Large Church Planting Network: “God moved in such a deep and beautiful way that every single one of the leaders, from the oldest and most respected ones to the least, voluntarily repented with tears in public, confessing their sins and forsaking of first love of God, their offenses toward fellow co-workers, taking responsibility for conflicts and difficult relationships. Everybody felt as if the veil that had been on their eyes was removed. They began to see each other with new eyes, recognizing that all along the problem had been with themselves, not with others. And then together they embraced the vision of healthy church with such unity, joy and excitement!”
Portrait of a Healthy Church: An Exposition of 1 Thessalonians
The Thessalonian church was a healthy church.
“... you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the Word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.” (1 Thess. 1:7-8)
Moreover, it was healthy a short time after being planted.
How did this happen? What were the key elements that went into this?
A Portrait of a Healthy Church is a practical roadmap for church leaders and planters, focusing not on techniques but on the life of the leaders and the churches they lead.
If we can get the life right, then, by God’s grace, the right structure will follow and the Church will be the beautiful Bride, the glorious Temple and the mature Body that Jesus died for and will soon return for!
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