RSS

Category Archives: Ministry

Elders – A Walk of Maturity

Elders – A Walk of Maturity

As you know, I just took two weeks off from posting. Now I’m back in 1 Peter and we’re starting chapter 5.

Peter’s letter up until this point has been about spiritual growth. Now he’ll talk about the end result of that growth.

As I said when we first started looking at this letter, Peter is actually writing to Christian leadership. It is to leadership that the Lord wants all believers to be headed.

In context, Peter has just talked about going through suffering and trials. That’s where our growth is tested.

James tells us the same thing.

This is the goal of our faith. To be mature and complete, not lacking anything. That’s not the description of a new-born believer. It should be the life of an elder in the church.

This is who Peter is writing to. This is a special note to elders – an invitation to those who are mature in the Lord.

Peter describes himself as a co-elder and witness of the suffering of Christ. But more than that, he’s also a partner in the glory to be revealed in the future. This begs the question; what is an elder?

The Bible talks about elders who preach, teach, pray, and lead. In the modern church, it’s a title of leadership. These are people who are recognized for their maturity and experience.

The Apostle Paul showed his spiritual son, Titus, what to look for in an elder. Titus was to establish elders in all the churches under his oversight.

These are the things a mature believer cannot be accused of. But there are also some positive characteristics that should be evident.

An elder must be mature enough to encourage other believers and refute those who oppose the truth. In my next post, I’ll continue this line of teaching.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 20, 2025 in Leadership, Ministry, Spiritual Walk

 

Tags: , , , ,

What is Spiritual Power? (Repost)

What is Spiritual Power? (Repost)

I’m taking a couple of weeks off from writing, so I’m reposting some of my most popular articles.

At one point I started praying about walking in the power of God. Why does the church seem so powerless? How do you walk in God’s power? All of these and more were going around inside of me as the Holy Spirit started to work on me.

At one point the Lord spoke to my heart and I realized that because of my background in Electrical Engineering, I already had an understanding of the natural concepts of power. This revelation started a whole new string of questions in me.

Is spiritual power the same as electrical power? Are the laws that govern them the same? Are there parallels between spiritual and natural power? I began from that point and dove into the Word of God.

I realized right from the beginning that most people, ministers included, have no idea what true power is. We have no concept of the nature and function of power.

Paul’s words to us are very clear. When it comes to power in the kingdom of God, we had better do more than just talk. The problem is that most of what we call power in the kingdom today is just that – talk. The first step toward walking in the power of God is to understand what true power is all about.

Let’s start by looking at things from a natural perspective. When we talk about “power” it’s usually in the context of electrical power. We use phrases like power lines, power plant, and power outages. We think of electricity as being a form of power. How can this help us to understand what power is?

Very simply put, the definition of power is the same whether you’re talking about electricity coming into your house, or the power of God to heal the sick. The International Edition of the Webster Comprehensive Dictionary defines it in the following way:

“Power is the ability to act. It is the property of a thing that is manifested in effort or action, by virtue of which that thing produces change.”

Let me boil it down for you. True power is the ability to produce change. Change is the key word in that sentence.

It takes power to transform water at room temperature into hot water for a cup of tea. It takes power to get a one-ton car to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour. It takes power to transform a body from sickness to health. It takes power to change a liar into a saint. It takes power to replace guilt with innocence.

If we understand this correctly, then the verse above should bring new understanding. It’s the assignment of the Kingdom of God to produce change. It’s not about how well you can speak about it. Change is the priority.

© 2025 Nicolas Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 17, 2025 in Ministry, Power of God, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

Tags: ,

The Unseen Battle (Repost)

The Unseen Battle (Repost)

I’m taking a couple of weeks off from writing, so I’m reposting some of my most popular articles.

Paul often writes about the spiritual battle we’re in. I think that the church gets in trouble when it loses sight of this. If we don’t understand the battle, then we’ll never walk in victory.

The Scripture is clear. The battle takes place in the unseen world. My fight isn’t against people or even the issues that I can see with my eyes.

It would be so much easier if I could see my enemy. The fact is that there’s no group you can point to and say, “They’re the enemy.” People and organizations are not the enemy.

We want to blame someone. “It’s their fault.” That’s not the attitude we should have. It’s clear from Scripture that the enemy is unseen. There’s a whole spiritual world that’s just out of reach to our five senses. It cannot be felt or touched, yet it’s just as real.

The people around me are the casualties – prisoners of war held captive in unseen detention centers. Sometimes they don’t even want to be set free because the deception feels so good at the moment. My job is not to try and convince them to join with me.

The role of the church is to fight the unseen enemy. Tear down the invisible walls. Then turn the light on in the prison cells so that the captives can see the truth of their situation. Only then will they run to Christ the Savior.

But this seems to be the hardest thing to get believers to understand. Our struggle is not in the physical world, but the spiritual. It’s not us vs. the world. I’m not trying to get them to change sides. That will never bring about the desired results.

I want the same mindset that Jesus had when He walked the earth.

We need to know that there’s a spiritual world, and that’s where our battle is being fought right now. But how many of us really understand what that means? While many believers can quote 2 Corinthians 2:4the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world – we don’t get the whole picture.

We don’t use physical weapons, but does that mean that the war itself is any different than a natural war? The enemy’s kingdom is very organized. The verse I started with talks about many levels of authority in their ranks. It’s time that the church gets organized for battle as well.

We also need to realize that this unseen world is organized. Actually, it’s more organized than the church. The enemy knows that the battle for souls goes on 24/7. We like to take breaks and holidays from the struggle. We think that because we did something special for God today, we can take the next few days off – “let our hair down” for a while. I believe that’s why the church in America seems to be so ineffective for the most part.

Do you realize that Satan has never personally attacked you? He has probably never even planned anything to come against you. We only face the lower levels of the dark forces; the rulers and authorities.

That’s why when you step up in ministry there’s a shift to a more intense battle. You find yourself moving up the ranks and facing tougher opponents in the spirit.

It’s time for God’s people to take this unseen battle seriously. We need to begin living our faith the way God intended us to. We need to lift up the Word of God as an offensive weapon against the darkness of this age. It’s time for the light of Christ to shine through us to set the captives free.

Be a part of God’s victorious church. Arm yourself for the unseen battle through prayer and the Word. It’s time to strike fear into the heart of the true enemy – the unseen kingdom of darkness.

We need a revival.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 15, 2025 in Ministry, Spiritual Warfare

 

Tags: , , ,

Truth – Protecting Your Seed (Repost)

Truth – Protecting Your Seed (Repost)

I’m taking a couple of weeks off from writing, so I’m reposting some of my most popular articles.

In the spiritual battles that we face, we need to know how to prepare. To do this, the Lord has given us access to His personal set of armor.

The first piece of armor that we’re given is the Belt of Truth. We’re told that it needs to be buckled around our waist. Literally, the belt is buckled around our loins.

In Scripture, our loins speak about our seed. Not to be too graphic, but that’s where our reproductive organs reside. Our seed needs to be protected.

We’re told throughout the Bible that we need to be bearing fruit. That’s not going to happen without a good supply of seed.

First, I want to deal with some misconceptions concerning our seed. Some think that a few bad seeds mixed in don’t matter. That’s not true. Weeds grow and spread without any help at all.

Another wrong thought is that anything that we plant will grow. That’s not true either. Galatians 6:7-9 explains that you reap what you sow IF you don’t give up. It also matters where you sow your seed. They need to be planted in good soil.

With that understanding, we can talk about the seed that we want to see grow in our lives. How do we protect our precious, spiritual seed?

Peter understood this concept. In this verse, the phrase, prepare your minds for action literally reads, gird the loins of your mind. Spiritually speaking, your loins, the storehouse of your seed, is your mind.

The reason for this is because your mind should be where you’re placing the truth. Every time you memorize Scripture, you’re placing good seeds in your storehouse.

The real question then becomes; how well do you protect your seed? It’s really easy to complain when nothing seems to be growing. We need to keep our seed from being nullified.

Jesus communicated this in His prayer to the Father. He wanted the disciples, and us, to bear much fruit.

We’re talking about the truth of God’s Word, not man’s word. The only way to protect your seed is to walk in the truth of God.

When we walk in doubt, fear, presumption, hearsay, or our own habits, we nullify God’s Word in us. We need to operate in the truth – “This is what the Lord says.” Our goal should be, “I’m doing this because God said…”

We get into trouble because many times we plant a lot of unprotected seed. We need to learn the lesson from airport security. “Has your suitcase been away from your control?”

Please understand that this is not just a prayer you make in the morning. You can’t just confess the Belt of Truth when you get up and then feed your seed to the spiritual pigeons the rest of the day.

We have to protect our seed if we want to see them grow. That means allowing the truth of God’s Word to saturate all that we do.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 

Tags: , ,

Calling and Anointing (Repost)

Calling and Anointing (Repost)

I need to take a couple of weeks off from writing, so I’ll be reposting some of my most popular articles. Today I want to take a post where I got into some details about calling and anointing. If I can find the key to the anointing, then the rest will fall into place.

It’s interesting to note that anointing is only mentioned 13 times in the New Testament. Of those, it’s only referred to as a spiritual anointing for us 6 times.

There’s a reason for so little mention in the N.T. It comes from an ancient practice in the Old Testament. If we can understand that usage, then we’ll have a good foundation for understanding the anointing in us.

Anointing was a ceremony of pouring oil on something or somebody. It was used for a lot of things. Personally, I don’t care about how to anoint cooking pots. What relates to us is the usage with prophets, priests, and kings. I want to know how anointing brings power.

God told Samuel to go and anoint a new king over Israel. He gave Samuel a Word – “Go to Bethlehem.” He told Samuel that He would show him what to do when he got there.

Once in Bethlehem, Samuel went to the house of Jesse as instructed.

According to the Word of the Lord he was given, Samuel invited – called them – to come to the sacrifice. In actuality, he was calling them to come to the anointing of the new king of Israel.

It should be clear from this passage that anointing involves calling. The two go hand in hand. To reject your calling is to reject the anointing God has for you.

God has called you to do a great work for Him. The anointing is what enables you to walk in the power to fulfill that calling. The anointing is not a license to do whatever you want with God’s power. It equips you to fulfill God’s plan in your life.

That’s what the approval of God is all about. We have the spiritual weapons at our disposal. God wants to see them used against the enemy’s kingdom. We’re the ones who need to be prepared for the spiritual battle.

You may be called to bring about God’s plan, but have you submitted to how God wants to accomplish this?

I dealt with these issues when I originally posted this. To see that series, click here.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 6, 2025 in Anointing, Ministry, Spiritual Walk

 

Tags: ,

Saved Through Difficulty

Saved Through Difficulty

We’re continuing our walk through the epistle of 1 Peter. I’ve been sharing about trials and difficulties. In my last post I talked about how our right choices can bring glory to God.

Today we’ll look at another frequently misunderstood Scripture.

Some people look at this verse and use it as an excuse for their legalism. They have a list of rules that if any of them are broken, you’ll lose your salvation.

Jesus Christ went to the cross and gave His life to save us. I hardly think that it would then be God’s will for us to lose that salvation and end up in hell on a legal technicality.

Yes, this verse does say that the righteous are saved with difficult toil. This is the part that many use to teach that it’s harder to stay saved than it was to get saved. But it all comes down to the fact that they don’t understand what “saved” means. Scripturally, to be saved means to be delivered and protected. Understand this; because of Christ’s work on the cross, we’re not just saved from hell. We’re also saved form sickness, poverty, sin, depression, and all that would harm us.

The simple truth is that it’s difficult toil to bring salvation into my finances, my home, my mind, and my workplace. In saying this, Peter asks an interesting question.

It’s a very complicated question in the Greek language. But it all comes down to this: If we consider it painful toil to bring this salvation into our lives – how will non-worshippers and sinners become enlightened?

So, I will make the tough choices – in order for the world to see His light and glory. I base that upon the Scriptural context. This life is not all about me. The world needs me to be strong in the Lord so that they can see and understand this Good News.

As long as we have the attitude, “I’m not going to go to hell as long as I…” we’ll never be effective. The real question is “How many others around me will go to hell if I don’t live up to my salvation?”

I need to make sure that if I suffer, it’s according to His will. That means it’s God’s choice, purpose, and determination for my life. If that’s the case then I am presenting my soul in well-doing before my Faithful Creator.

When I make the choice to follow the Lord’s plan, I put myself on the altar. Paul says the same thing in his writings.

That word, granted, means given to you as a favor. God has done us a favor by letting us participate in His sufferings. It’s time to stop thinking all about myself and embrace the trials.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Time for Right Choices

The Time for Right Choices

As we go through 1 Peter, I’ve been talking about suffering for doing right. We’ve seen that the suffering is knowing that you could take the easy way out but choose to do right anyway.

Peter continues with this thought.

There are wrong choices that carry severe consequences if you get caught. However, that’s not the suffering he wants us to focus on.

The right choice is to live as a Christian. That word means you’re a follower or representative of Christ. It may be a modern cliché, but the truth is we should always ask; what would Jesus do? Or, even better, what would Jesus say? The world will always judge Christianity by what we do.

This is a verse that’s frequently misunderstood. It’s all about understanding the season we’re living in. We’re in the last days before the Lord’s return.

According to this verse, it’s the set time for judgment to begin. That word, judgment, simply means decisions; specifically, the decisions made by God. In context, these decisions God makes are based upon our choices.

God sets up trials (faith experiments) for us. When we make the right choices, our faith is proved genuine, and God gets the glory. It becomes clear what we believe and is a witness to the world.

Now, those we share Christ with have to make the choice. Will they choose for or against the Lord? What will the outcome be? Hopefully, they’ll choose to obey the Good News they’ve seen and heard.

That’s the season we’re in right now. More and more, God is going to place us in the spotlight. Will we bring glory to God, or push our own political agenda?

We are not on this earth to promote a man-made philosophy, no matter how good we think it is. We’re here to lift up Christ and share His work of salvation with the world.

With the rise of social media, we have an unprecedented ability to share this Good News with masses of people. Yet what many believers get involved in is hatred, division, and blatant disrespect. God cannot and will not bless that kind of behavior.

It’s time for God’s people to make right choices. We need to be proclaiming Christ. That’s the season we live in. Choose to live as a representative of Christ.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Suffering with Christ

Suffering with Christ

We’re continuing through the epistle of 1 Peter. In my last post, I started talking about trials and tests. According to Peter, trials should cause us to rejoice.

I concluded by saying that we must first understand the sufferings of Christ in order to know if we are participating in them. Now I want to continue this line of teaching.

In talking about why Christ is qualified to be our High Priest, Hebrews says…

We have to understand that both tempt and test are the same word in the Greek language. The question is, how did Christ suffer.

I believe that it was more than just the physical pain of crucifixion. Most of His suffering was in the choosing. He could have turned His back on the cross, but He chose to do it.

The Lord could see in the Spirit that there was an army of angels waiting for His command to get Him off the cross. But He chose to ignore them.

How could Jesus choose rightly all the time? The writer of Hebrews goes on and explains it to us.

We’re told that Christ chose the suffering because He saw the joy that was before Him. We sometimes lose sight of the promise given to us in the verse from 1 Peter.

When it says we will be overjoyed, the literal translation is that we will jump for joy when we see His glory revealed in us. Peter goes on to say…

If you are defamed because of Christ, then you are supremely blessed, fortunate, well-off. That’s because the Spirit of glory and of God rests superimposed upon you.

This tells me that trials are a glorious thing. The glory of the Holy Spirit is superimposed upon us. That’s when others truly see Christ in us. Of course, they may either love or hate the Christ they see. But we will continue to glorify the Lord.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 29, 2025 in Ministry, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

God as Choreographer

God as Choreographer

We’re currently going through the epistle of 1 Peter. In my last post, I talked about making sure the glory goes to God. Today I’ll continue with that thought.

In this verse Peter is telling us that when we speak, we should speak as God Himself speaking. He literally tells us that when we serve, our words are originating from the force of which God is the dance-leader.

Peter actually uses the Greek word for choreographer, in speaking about God. Think about it. God is the great universal Choreographer.

I encourage you, then you pray for sick, when they’re healed, they go and evangelize the lost. It’s like one great dance.

We all need to be involved in God’s choreography. Instead, we sit back and wait for others to do the work of the Lord. Think about what the Nutcracker Suite would be like with only three dancers. Then we complain, “God isn’t blessing this church.”

God gives grace and choreographs His will to be accomplished on earth. We do the performance, and God gets the glory in everything through Christ. The Lord receives glory, dominion, power, and strength forever and ever.

If you remember from a previous post, we are the administrators of God’s grace. Allowing God to use us in His choreography is a big part of this.

Paul understood the truth of this teaching.

Do you hear what the apostle is saying here? It’s in the administration of God’s grace that He gives me His grace. But, more importantly, the grace He gives me is actually for you.

I would be doing a grave disservice to God if I failed to pass on that grace. Unfortunately, we do that all the time. We either don’t follow through with what God is doing in us, or we ignore His calling altogether.

Much of the grace God gives to us is for someone else. I heard a great preacher once say, “God always blesses you with someone else in mind!” We need to live with that truth before us.

Always remember that God is the great Choreographer. It’s up to us to be a part of what He’s doing in this generation. Don’t be left out of the blessing; join the dance!!!

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 24, 2025 in Ministry, Power of God, Spiritual Walk

 

Tags: , , , ,

For God’s Glory

For God’s Glory

As we continue through the book of 1 Peter, he is exhorting us about the characteristics of Christian leaders. Actually, I believe that all Christians are called to some form of leadership. Now, Peter gets into a subject that’s important for us to hear.

We sometimes get the impression that it doesn’t matter what people think about us. After all, “I’ll live the way I want. I don’t care what you think about me.” As Christian leaders, we have to be careful about that attitude.

Whatever we say or do should be praiseworthy. Of course, that in itself can bring on another set of problems.

We all like to be praised. When we accomplish something worthwhile, we expect people to notice and appreciate us. It makes us feel good about ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with accepting praise for a job well done.

The problem we get into, is wanting to keep it ALL for ourselves. If we live independent of God, then we don’t have to give Him any praise. The fact is that my wisdom isn’t good enough. My strength will never overcome all the obstacles before me. I need to rely upon God.

So, there are the two ditches on the side of our path. Not caring at all about how we affect people or living for praise. Either way, we miss out on God’s best. I need to learn to live with the knowledge that my life and my words represent someone other than myself.

I belong to Christ. I’m a citizen of the Kingdom of God. I’m an ambassador for a realm that’s beyond this world. As such, I can’t allow myself to pick up the attitudes of this world.

When I spend time in the presence of the Lord, I begin to live on a higher level. Then, when someone is touched by my words, I can’t take the credit for it. God gets the glory.

When I do something sacrificial that my flesh would have never agreed to apart from God’s prompting, He gets the praise for it.

We should seek to live our lives in such a way that God receives continual praise. This requires us to spend time with Him, meditating on His Word, and listening to His Spirit.

Yes, there will still be things that we’re praised for, but our goal should be for the Lord to receive most of the glory for how we live. In that way our lives will be a continual testimony to the greatness of our God.

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 22, 2025 in Leadership, Ministry, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

Tags: , , ,