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In this episode of The Defender Bible Study, we're taking a break from our study on the book of John to dive into what it means to embody a "heroic archetype" in ministry, beginning with a powerful message from our friend Ken Norwood, CEO of Kenergy Coaching, LLC. Drawing from Acts 11:19-26, Ken shares insights on how ministries can embrace a heroic posture, using the example of Barnabas to illustrate three foundational elements: understanding our mission, living with discipline, and remaining determined despite challenges. This episode calls us to step boldly into our unique mission, rooted in Christ, while making impactful, intentional choices that shape a courageous ministry culture.
LIFELINE CHILDREN'S SERVICES
The mission of Lifeline Children’s Services is to equip the Body of Christ to manifest the gospel to vulnerable children. Our vision is for vulnerable children and their communities to be transformed by the gospel and to make disciples.
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Creators & Guests
Guest
Ken Norwood
Ken Norwood, CEO of Kenergy Coaching, LLC, has over 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, specializing in coaching cause-driven leaders to maximize their impact. His background includes roles as COO at Safe Families for Children and Chief of Staff at The Navigators, where he excelled in strategic planning, team building, and community-focused initiatives. Ken's expertise in nonprofit consulting and executive coaching empowers leaders to craft clear, actionable roadmaps for success. Based in Gaffney, South Carolina, Ken holds a degree from Clemson University and leads Kenergy Coaching to support leaders in achieving meaningful results.
What is The Defender Bible Study?
The Defender Bible Study is a weekly study of God’s Word as we seek to equip the Body of Christ to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children's Services.
Welcome to the defender bible study, a weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.
Ken Norwood:Hi. This is Ken Norwood, and I am excited to share with you today what it means to have an heroic archetype. An archetype is just a fancy way for describing how you live as an organization, the ministry that God has given you. And at Lifeline, we're unpacking that over the next several weeks beginning today with a passage in Acts 9 oh, excuse me. Acts 11 19 through 26.
Ken Norwood:Acts 11 19 through 26. And as a ministry, we've been learning lately what it means to be heroic, heroic in our mission, heroic in our call, and how do we live that out in a beautiful and dynamic way as we lead the mission of Lifeline to serve vulnerable children and make them disciple makers across the nation and indeed around the world. As we unpack what it means to be heroic, there's 3 primary frames that we're looking at this unique picture of a ministry culture through. Number 1, understanding our mission. Understanding what Lifeline is truly here to do.
Ken Norwood:Number 2, being disciplined. Heroic ministries, heroic changers of culture are very disciplined. You understand the role that you have and the mission that God has given you, and nothing can distract you from that. You're very focused in what you're looking to accomplish. And number 3, you're determined.
Ken Norwood:As a heroic ministry, heroic work in the culture that we serve, we have to be determined. It means sometimes not being popular, standing against the prevailing headwinds in our culture, and saying yes to life, saying yes to families, saying yes to making a difference for the vulnerable. Heroic ministries make action based decisions that empower yourself as an individual as well as those around you to maximize their gifts and to do so consistently for others. Wow. What an exciting beginning here.
Ken Norwood:And let's look at this and how it applies itself in the story of Barnabas in Acts chapter 11 verses 19 through 26. If you'll allow me, I'll read that with you now. Now those who had been scattered as a result of the persecution that started because of Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.
Ken Norwood:News about them reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to travel as far as Antioch. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged all of them to remain true to the Lord with devoted hearts, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and large numbers of people were added to the Lord. Then he went to Tarsus to search for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year, they met with the church and taught large numbers. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.
Ken Norwood:So what do we take from this passage as it relates to the story of having a heroic posture, a heroic culture? And we're gonna look at the life of Barnabas here. First of all, here's the context. And can you imagine living in a culture that literally just stoned Stephen, one of the preeminent voices for Christ after his resurrection has literally just been killed by a man named Saul, and throughout the region and throughout the Israel country as well as the surrounding areas, those who knew of Christ knew that Saul would imprison and or kill you for your faith. That's the context that we're looking at here.
Ken Norwood:The context is the word is still spreading. The word is ultimately still going out into the countryside and across cities throughout the region, and now we see someone named Barnabas stepping up by the by the leaders within Jerusalem to work and to serve the growing church in Antioch. As it relates to mission, there are some important things that it allows us to see about the life of Barnabas. Number 1, Barnabas did understand his mission. In chapter 11 verse 22, when the news reached the church in Jerusalem, they sent out one of their leaders, Barnabas.
Ken Norwood:Now Barnabas, who is this guy? Well, many of you may know him. His name literally means son of encouragement. But in acts 436, we're first introduced to him as Joseph. He, when he heard the gospel, sold all his property and gave it and literally laid it at the feet of the disciples so that that generosity of spirit and action could help fund the needs of the early church.
Ken Norwood:So we see here as it relates to mission that Barnabas was a leader in the church, and as a leader, he was appointed. He was called on to go. And we see in scripture here, there was not a committee formed. There was not a lot of conversation here. They just knew that Barnabas was a leader, and so they selected him.
Ken Norwood:As his name implies, I'm sure they selected him for a number of reasons. Recognizing that Antioch was a center of both Jews and Greeks who were coming to faith, they needed someone who was wise, discerning, and as the scripture tells us, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And in that faith, he encouraged not only the church in Jerusalem with his gift mentioned earlier in Acts 4, but he also encouraged those in Antioch. You can see that in verse 20 3 of chapter 11, it says when he arrived and saw the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged all of them to remain true to the Lord. As it relates to heroic mission, when Barnabas got there, his agenda was not his own.
Ken Norwood:His agenda was Christ. His agenda was what is God doing here? His agenda was promoting the work of believers in the church. So many times as leaders, we may think heroically that we have all the answers and that our agenda needs to be the leading agenda for that particular situation. We learn here from Barnabas not the case at all.
Ken Norwood:When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he encouraged that. So as a leader on mission, his role, his identity was to encourage not only the church in Jerusalem, but also the church in Antioch. We also see that he was an encourager because in Acts 9, remember, this is when Saul, who had recently seen on the Damascus Road Christ and had changed his name to Paul, he comes to Jerusalem in Acts chapter 9, and no one wants to talk to him. You can imagine how horrible that would be to have faith in the Lord and then to be shunned and ostracized by all those around you. Well, what makes this incredibly powerful is in Acts 9, we read and learn that in chapter 926 through 28, that Barnabas himself took Saul in and introduced him to the disciples.
Ken Norwood:So this is a man on a mission. He knows that he's an encourager. He encourages his local church. He encourages the work of missions beyond the walls of Jerusalem and Antioch, and he has the primary mission of encouraging people, primarily someone that you and I would probably be afraid of. Secondly, to be heroic, we learned that it's disciplined.
Ken Norwood:Right? We've got to be focused. We've got to be strong. And here we also see how Barnabas, through this passage, lived this out so well. He clearly understood his role.
Ken Norwood:Because Barnabas knew his role, he operated heroically by simply being obedient. He was disciplined in that obedience. He knew that as an encourager, he would need to encourage the faithful in Antioch. As they grew and desired to send others into the mission field, he was there. His heroic heart allowed him to understand that to approach Jerusalem or to, excuse me, leave Jerusalem, he needed to understand that his work was to be disciplined, called to go back to the home that he originally came from.
Ken Norwood:If you read earlier, you recognize that indeed Cyprus was where Barnabas was from. In today's language, that would be about a 170 in today's measurements, excuse me, that's about a 170 mile journey from Cyprus, the island, to Antioch, which is in present day Turkey. He had to be disciplined to go back to his home. I don't know about you, but in this passage, Barnabas encourages me because sometimes going home is the hardest mission field of all. So Barnabas had to know that by being selected by the leaders within Jerusalem, he was going somewhere very special to perform a very sacred task.
Ken Norwood:He was disciplined also to mentor Saul for 1 year. You notice in verse 26, he does something beautiful. When he he went to Tarsus to search for Saul, he cared enough for Saul. He was disciplined enough in his ministry to know where he was, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So, again, his passion and mission was met married to his discipline to understand, to grow Saul, Paul.
Ken Norwood:He needed time to mentor and love on him, and that's exactly what he did. It says for a whole year, and that's a beautiful way that Saul slash Paul began his understanding of what the church and his ultimate role in reaching the Gentiles was all about. Lastly, we see in this passage the mission component heroically of living determined. Living determined. Determined leaders take action.
Ken Norwood:Determined leaders also stand in their faith for what they know is right. In Acts 15:36 through 40, we recognize that in Paul and, Barnabas' 2nd missionary journey, there was conflict. There was the ability to take a disciple named Mark who chose on the 1st missionary journey to not attend. He basically bailed at the last minute. On this 2nd journey, Barnabas wanted to take Mark along with them, but Paul said no, and so much was the the consternation in not allowing Mark to attend that they split ways.
Ken Norwood:They literally no longer worked together in that fashion. We later learn at the great restoration that Mark had with Paul, but in this case, Barnabas did the right thing. He was determined to take steps to empower others in order to maximize their gifts and service to the kingdom. That takes a determined heroic leader. In summary, we understand through the life of Barnabas and in this passage of Acts 1119-twenty 6 that he understood his identity and mission.
Ken Norwood:He was disciplined to to fulfill it in the ways God had provided for his unique gifts. And lastly, he was determined that his primary mission would remain his true north. Even in showing great kindness and compassion to Mark, he allowed himself to know that this was his ultimate call, even if it met splitting ways with his dear mentee, Paul. In closing, heroes are in the process of taking decisive, determined action every day. Their mission is often to do this behind the scenes because ultimately heroes promote Christ alone.
Ken Norwood:It's not so that we get the limelight. It's not so that our focus or our agenda is seen. It's so that the gospel of Christ is evident in everything we do, and his Word living through us, his power and spirit living through us ultimately accomplishes the heroic work that Christ has called us to do. I hope this has been an encouragement to you. I hope that you can use it in your daily walk, and I hope that somewhere today you can take the time to live heroically.
Ken Norwood:Ask yourself the following questions as a hero. Do you fully understand your mission in your life? Not only at Lifeline with our mission, but in your personal mission. Do you understand that and are you living it heroically? Number 2.
Ken Norwood:Do you clearly live out your role, living from your unique expectations, not falling into comparison, not looking at what others do, but living from your true identity to be the best that you can be? And lastly, are you consistently making heroic decisions that allow you to impact the culture? Do people around you know that you are here to make a difference? Are you living like Barnabas? Are you living on mission?
Ken Norwood:Are you living disciplined? And are you living determined to make Christ known?
Herbie Newell:Thanks again for joining us for the defender bible study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the defender bible study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifeline child dot org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info at lifeline child.org.
Herbie Newell:We look forward to seeing you again next week for the defender bible study.