Training Leaders International - Serving In The Philippines

An update from Josh Montague, SGC Pastoral Candidate at Cross of Grace Church, Chaska, USA, and Director of Expository Training at Training Leaders International…

In early September, Greg Dirnberger (Sioux Falls, SD) and I, traveled with five other instructors to a conference center southeast of Manila to train 30 Filipino pastors and pastors-to-be in understanding and communicating Scripture.

Half of this group is affiliated with Sovereign Grace and thus shares a central value of expository preaching, meaning that the message of the sermon should be the message of the biblical text. As SG continues to expand in the Philippines, the need for pastors who faithfully preach the gospel of Jesus Christ from any part of the Scriptures also grows. Dave York (Roseburg, OR), Dave Taylor (Director of Global Missions), and others have invested hundreds of hours in training these pastors theologically and many have now been ordained as elders. Yet further training in biblical interpretation and communication is necessary as these men seek to faithfully lead the church in the Philippines.

The first of nine courses taught in partnership with Training Leaders International, where I serve as the Director of Expository Training, is entitled ‘Knowing God, Scripture, and Ourselves.’ Three of the highly interactive lessons in this course cover the nature of the Scriptures: (a) their trustworthiness and authority, (b) their diversity (different styles of writing, different time periods, different authors, etc.), and (c) their unity in pointing to the reconciling work of Jesus from Genesis through Revelation.

One pastor is scheduled to preach Exodus 30 in his church later this year. Early in the week, discussion began regarding how this passage full of taxation codes and rules about tabernacle furnishings for Israel’s worship could possibly point to Jesus. It’s not obvious or simple, but as we discussed Israel’s worship, the holiness of God, and the surprising access granted to his people through the sacrificial worship in the tabernacle, some themes and ideas began to emerge. Jesus (God-in-flesh) also displays God’s holiness. Jesus also shows God’s desire for relationship with his wayward people. Jesus ultimately provides the sacrifice necessary for that reconciled relationship through his death. Israel’s relationship with God was a foreshadowing of a better, permanent, once-for-all sacrifice. This pastor will now be joyfully and confidently preaching Christ from Exodus 30 in a few weeks!

That’s just the start of this training. Eight more courses will continue this December and every 2-3 months for the next two and a half years. I will be joined in each of these trips by a pastor in the Midwest-Northwest region. And Lord willing, the effects will spread even further! These Filipino pastors, many of whom flew in from other islands like Mindanao, Cebu, and Negros, will take what they’ve learned and train other church leaders in their areas.

Please keep this expository training in your prayers. Pray that the skills learned will enable them to faithfully preach Christ from all of Scripture. Pray also that the transformative power of God’s word shapes their lives, their familles, and their churches. Finally, pray that a rich culture of biblical preaching and teaching will continue developing among Filipino (and American) pastors as these men train and study together over the next few years.

Thanks to the generosity of the Sovereign Grace Asia-Pacific Development Fund and the Midwest-Northwest region for making this training possible.

Dr. Joshua Montague (D.I.S., Western Seminary) has served with Training Leaders International for the last ten years and lives in Carver, MN where his family is part of Cross of Grace Church. To read more about Josh’s work in training global pastors, you can subscribe to his newsletter at https://joshmontague.epistle.org/subscribe or email him at josh.montague@trainingleadersinternational.org