{"id":8665,"date":"2011-09-24T18:33:01","date_gmt":"2011-09-24T22:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"\/news_blogs\/john\/?p=8665"},"modified":"2024-06-28T15:41:41","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T19:41:41","slug":"strategic-planning-and-the-holy-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2011\/09\/24\/strategic-planning-and-the-holy-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"Divine Leadership: Strategic Planning and the Holy Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 3 of 18 in the series Faithful Strategy Development<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
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For we are God\u2019s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.<\/p>\nEphesians 2:10<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Could the way our ministries do strategic planning<\/strong> quench<\/strong> the Holy Spirit<\/strong>? Should a Christian ministry make plans at all if it wants to be Spirit-led? A brief study of Paul’s second missionary trip will provide the answer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul’s Example<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Paul’s first missionary trip, which was initiated by the Holy Spirit, was very fruitful due to the many churches he planted in Asia. Good leadership and good strategic planning would dictate a return trip to ensure the churches were growing as they should, to further strengthen them, and then to build on the evangelism success of the first missionary trip by going deeper into Asia. This is what Paul intended to do (Acts 15:36<\/a>). He left Antioch after his church commended him to God with this mission in mind (v. 40<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Significantly, although the Holy Spirit gave specific instructions for the first trip, Luke makes no mention that Paul received any direction from the Holy Spirit for this trip. While not wanting to read too much into the omission, we must recognize that Luke chose to tell the story of Paul’s second missionary journey in a way that leads readers to think that Paul’s plans were simply the result of good planning. But the omission need not be taken as a negative assessment of Paul’s plan. There is no foreshadowing of trouble at all. Luke could have written, “But he failed to consult the Lord”<\/em> to alert his readers to what was to come (e.g., see Joshua 9:14<\/a>), but he didn’t. It seems Paul was going about his business, using his intellect, and doing what he should be doing in the normal course of ministry. It’s quite apparent that Luke wanted us to experience the Holy Spirit pretty much as Paul did so the lesson would be all the more forceful for us today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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