Tag Archives: ministry

August 13, 2015 · 5:30 AM

Recovering Lost Dreams

When I was in high school, I felt like God called me to write. I interpreted that calling as God calling me to write a book. For years I waited for an agent to call me and to give me the opportunity to write a book. I wrote down some great ideas for books and even wrote outlines for them. Those outlines sat in a drawer collecting dust through the years while I waited. Finally, when I was in my mid-thirties, I asked God why I hadn’t been given the opportunity to write a book yet. He responded, “Why haven’t you done anything to make that happen?”

God gives each of us great dreams. Most of us, like myself, sit and wait expecting the dream to fulfill itself. Sadly many people go to their graves with unfulfilled dreams because they never did anything to accomplish that dream. God is able to accomplish the dream He gave you if you’re willing to put in the work. Jesus said, “If you’re faithful in the little things, I will make you faithful over many things.” We have to show Him we are willing to do the groundwork necessary to fulfill the dreams He gives us.

In Joshua 18, the Israelites had subdued the Promised Land, but hadn’t taken possession of it. Generations before, God had given Abraham the dream of having a nation with their own special land. Even though they had defeated those living in the land, the dream was still unfulfilled. In verse 3, Joshua spoke to the Israelites and said, “How long will you put off going to take the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?” (ESV) He was saying, “Why aren’t you doing anything to fulfill the dream?” They then went through the land, mapping it out, and dividing it up into sections so each tribe would receive their promise and fulfill the dream. 

God required them to get off their hands and do something to fulfill their dream. They had to get courage to leave their prison of Egypt. They had to walk through walls of water and wander in a desert for a while. After all of that, they had to go in and fight for their dream. It wasn’t handed to them. After winning the battles, they still had to carve it out and allot it so that each person could receive the promise of the dream that had been given so long ago.

I can tell you that I still don’t have a book deal and that’s ok. I’m doing the work necessary for God to do His part. I’m closer than I was all of those years of doing nothing. I’m being faithful in the little things first while I wait for God to make me faithful over many. What about you? What dream has God given you that is sitting in a drawer somewhere collecting dust? It’s time to open the drawer, to dust it off and to start doing the little things necessary to bring it about. For me, it was starting this blog. For you, it might be taking a class, going to a seminar, emailing someone in that field about how they started or letting others know you’re interested in doing it. They’ll help to keep you accountable.

When you do your part, God will do His. It may not happen immediately, but it will happen. Get off your hands, as the Message Bible puts it, and take that first step.

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April 30, 2015 · 7:46 AM

Character Development

I’m always intrigued by the story of Joseph found in Genesis 37-45. No matter how many times I read it, I come away with a new respect for him. God gave him a dream as a young man that one day his family would bow down to him, including his own parents. His brothers were so outraged that they wanted to kill him. His own father was so disrespected that he rebuked him. Even through that, he still believed in the dream that God had given him. That wouldn’t be the end of it though. For the next several years, he would face one trial after the other without wavering in his belief of that dream. Psalm 105:19 says, “Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character. (NLT)”

When God gives you a dream, hard times are sure to come. There will be people who will openly resist you in your efforts to bring about your calling. It will not be an easy road. In fact, fulfilling your calling will be one of the hardest things you do. God does not choose the weak to carry out his plans. He calls the faithful ones who will endure anything to see it come to pass. He gives His assignments to those who will survive the pits of despair that they will be thrown in. He gives them to those who are willing to leave family and friends to travel to distant lands that are engulfed in spiritual famines so that others may find the spiritual food that God gives.

Joseph wasn’t the only one this happened to. Think of Peter and the early Church. Jesus told Peter that He would build His Church through him. When Peter was emboldened by the Holy Spirit, he was beaten repeatedly and thrown in jail. He was opposed by people he knew. He didn’t quit because there were hard times. He let that fuel the fire that God had placed in him. He used those hard times to grow his faith and endurance. Because he didn’t quit, the early Church grew and Christianity spread like wildfire in that region. He trusted the calling he was given over his external circumstances. 

Paul was another person who faced opposition. He went from being someone who killed Christians to one who was martyred for his faith. He was stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked, bitten by a poisonous snake and carried off to Rome because he would not keep quiet about the dream God gave him. Because he was willing to endure the hard times, God used him to write most of the New Testament. The Gospel didn’t just stay in one region, it began to cover the known world. His character was tested over and over and he proved to be the person God saw in him.

God tests those He trust His message to because He knows it develops character. Romans 5:3-4 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. (NLT)” When God calls you, He tests you in order to develop in you the characteristics necessary to fulfill that calling. He allows you to be moved around in order to create the relationships you need in your life and to put you into position. Don’t quit because hard times come. Let them do the work God intends them to do and continue to walk in your calling. 

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March 25, 2015 · 7:22 AM

Improving How You Live

One of the things I have to do often at work is self evaluation. After my boss observes me either working in the field or in presenting information, I know that afterwards they’re going to come to me with three questions. What did you do well? What was your biggest opportunity? What will you do differently next time? After answering these three questions, my boss then answers them  from their perspective. The goal is two fold: to get me to calibrate my perception with theirs and to keep me constantly questioning how I can be more effective at what I do.

They know that if they can instill in me a mental process that asks those three questions constantly, I will improve whether they are there over my shoulder or not. Paul understood this principle too. He was mentoring Timothy from a distance. He offered him advice and encouragement in leading a church. Clearly, Timothy was a younger man than those he was preaching to and had doubts. Paul gave him pointers in the books of I and II Timothy that are good for each of us as believers. 

In i Timothy 412-16, Paul offered encouragement first. He said, “Don’t let anyone think less of you…but be an example.” He encouraged him to do the right thing knowing that he was under more scrutiny because of his age in a leadership role. He simply encouraged him to do the right thing and show others how to live. In essence, Paul was saying, “Practice what you preach.” We should live the life that we are asking others to live. Each of us should be examples of Christ’s love to those who see us. When we do that, it’s hard for anyone to look down on us.

Next, he encouraged Timothy to focus on reading the scriptures and using the gifts God gave him. The more we read the Bible, the more we put it into our hearts. We know that what’s in the heart comes out the mouth. If we spend time reading God’s word (publicly and privately), we and those who hear it will know what God says and will know how to live. We won’t just rely on someone else telling us what God says. We will know because we have heard it ourselves. Psalm 1:2 and Joshua 1:8 encourage us to not just read God’s Word, but to meditate on it as well. Meditating on it pushes it deeper into our hearts and minds.

Finally in these verses, Paul tells Timothy what my boss tells me. He said, “Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. (NLT)” He wants Timothy to not just do things, but to pay attention to what he’s doing and how he’s doing them. He wants him to question those things so he can improve as a minister. Paul then gave the payoff of such improvement: “Because if you do, you will save both yourself and those who hear you. (GNT)” How we live affects how others receive the Gospel. We should constantly be questioning what we are doing well, what our opportunities are and what we can do differently in the future to improve. How you live matters whether you are a minister or not. Live in such a way that it points others to salvation. 

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March 24, 2015 · 6:48 AM

Do The Work

Most of us spend very little time reading in the Minor Prophets in the Bible. Those are the little books at the end of the Old Testament in case you’re wondering. The book of Haggai is almost to the end of those books and the Lord gave him a word for Israel, but it can apply to us as well. The people of Israel had returned from exile and rebuilt their homes, however, the Temple still laid in ruins. God was upset because the people were more concerned about their well being than His. He pointed out that all of their labor wasn’t producing what it should have. He tied that to their lack of interest in rebuilding the Temple.

When all we are concerned about is ourselves, God can’t bless it. We will work our tails off, but will never get ahead. It doesn’t matter what we do, it will never be enough unless we put God first. This was the message Haggai gave to Israel and it goes out to us as well. When the people heard the message, they decided to obey the Lord’s command. As soon as they began, the Lord sent another message in Haggai 1:13, “I will be with you – that is my promise. (GNT)” When you’re doing the work God gives, we have the promise that He will be with us in it. He will not leave us alone.

In Haggai 2:4, God sent another message through Haggai. He said, “But now, don’t be discouraged…(GNT)” When we do what God has called us to do, there will be long periods where you work in obscurity. It will seem like no one is noticing, not even God. It will appear that you aren’t making progress, but God is there in the obscurity with you. Every great leader you can think of in the Bible spent years in obscurity. Moses left the palace to tend sheep. David hid in caves while waiting to be king. Abraham was a man without a home. Joshua was a spy before he was a leader.  Whatever obscure position you’re in now, is preparation for the greater thing God has for you. Don’t get discouraged.

The next part of that verse says, “Do the work…(GNT)” We can’t quit doing what God has called us to. We have to continue the work. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will the work you do for God. There’s a scriptural principle that Jesus spoke of that we need to remember. It’s simply that if we are faithful with the little things, God will put us in charge of larger things. We have to be willing to do the small work before God can trust us with the greater work. He doesn’t just give that out. Whatever God has put in front of you, do the work and do it well. 

In the final part of that message in Haggai 2:4, God reminds the people, “I am with you. (GNT)” God is with you before you begin and during the process. He has promised to be there when no one else is. He has given you His word that no matter how hard things get, He will still be there with you. Don’t give up. Don’t look at the final outcome. Do the work one day at a time and God will bless it. When you’re doing what He called you to do, obscurity is a way of life because you’re doing things for His glory, not yours. Don’t despise small beginnings. There is much to learn, much to grow and much ministry to be don’t in those times. Don’t get discouraged, keep working. 

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March 18, 2015 · 5:07 AM

Don’t Stand Still

I was recently speaking with a high school student about their college plans. They said they didn’t know what they were going to study yet because they were waiting to hear from God. I encouraged them to at least enroll in the basics and begin the process of college. I explained that with the Great Commission each one of us have already been called to go into all the world. It honestly didn’t matter what degree they chose because God would use them in whatever field they went into. Plus God requires that we take the first step of faith before He moves. 

So many Christians sit around their whole lives and waste decades waiting to hear from God before they do anything for the Kingdom. The truth is that if you’re doing Kingdom work, God will bless it. He can’t give an increase unless you sow some seeds. In the parable of the sower, he was throwing seed everywhere hoping some would stick. The ones that fell in good soil produced a hundred times what was sown. Imagine if he had waited on God to tell him where to throw. Those seeds may have stayed in the bag forever.

Proverbs 16:3 says, “Ask the Lord to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out. (GNT)” You have to make plans before you can commit them to Him. You cannot sit and wait for God to give you plans. Make them, commit them to Him and then ask Him to bless them.  This is another example in scripture where we act first and then God moves. We make the plans and then the Lord blessed them. We carry out the plans and He makes them successful. The verse clearly says, “You will be successful in carrying them out.”

We can spend a lifetime planning and waiting, but God is looking for those who will carry out their plans. So much potential goes unrealized because we are waiting on God when He is waiting on us. He already gave us the command to go. Why do we then sit and wait for Him to tell us exactly where? You can pretty much go anywhere, spread the seeds of the Gospel by doing whatever for the Kingdom and God will bless it. All the world includes your job, where you live and the people you interact with. It doesn’t have to be to so where on the continent of Africa.

Not everyone is called to go to a foreign country, but all of us are called to go somewhere. Not all of us will be in full time ministry, but we are called to be ministers wherever we go. Not all of us can preach, but all of us can say something about what God has done. Don’t let waiting on God become an excuse that keeps you from doing something for God. Don’t sit around wasting your life waiting to hear from God for exact directions. Abraham was told to go and then he would be told where. It’s the same for you and I. If you step out, God will provide the direction. He can’t guide and direct you if you’re not moving though.

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July 9, 2014 · 7:42 AM

You Are Equipped To Do…

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the story of David and Goliath. It wasn’t long after David arrived to the battlefront that Goliath started yelling and scaring the Israelites. When he heard the taunts and the curses against God, David felt a stirring inside to do something about it. He started asking questions about what would be done for the man who killed him. It wasn’t long before he was standing in front of the king saying, “Don’t worry about this Philistine. I’ll go fight him!” After Saul was convinced, he tried to equip David for the job.

He gave him the king’s armor because it was the best. He knew that his country’s fate was now in the hands of a shepherd. If David failed, they would be killed and his people would be servants of the Philistines. Of course, the armor didn’t fit and David didn’t want it. Instead he went out and found five smooth stones out them in his bag, grabbed his sling and headed to the battlefield. Instead of letting someone else equip him for what God called him to do, he let God use what had already been placed in his hands.

So many times, we feel called to do something. We see a need and we also see everyone else around us just looking at it. People are so afraid they’ll fail if they try to meet it, that they never try. God then puts it in your heart to meet that need. He wants you to be the one to risk failure. He wants you to be the one to step out in faith and act in obedience. He put you in the right place at the right time so that you could be the answer to someone’s prayer. The problem is that either you don’t feel you’re properly equipped or trained to do it. You have a choice to make at that point. Do you join the others who merely look at the problem or do you believe that God will equip you to do it?

The writer of Hebrews wrote in chapter 13:21, “May He (God) equip you with all you need for doing His will.” It’s God who will use the skills He has already given you to accomplish what He has called you to do. You may need to pick up some stones to help you, but the tool to accomplish it is already in your hands. When God gives you a burden to do something for Him, He will equip you to do it. You just have to open your eyes to see how. David remembered that he had already killed a lion and a bear. He drew faith from those previous experiences that He could also kill a giant.

God will also use the Bible to build your faith and to help you accomplish what He called you to do. I I Timothy 3:17 says, “God uses it (scripture) to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.” If you’re facing the unknown in ministry then spend lots of time reading God’s Word. He will use that to prepare you. Reading it will build your faith as well. When David stepped onto the battlefield that day, he was equipped to do what God had called him to do and he was confident because he knew what God had done for His people in the past. He drew strength from God’s promises and you can to. Whatever God has put in your heart to do, He has equipped you to do it. Step out in faith today and trust Him to be true to his Word.

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February 11, 2014 · 7:25 AM

The Garment Still Fits

I was speaking with a friend who is a pastor a while back. We were talking about ministry, living the Christian life and the struggles faced by those who walk away from their faith for a period of time in their life. I shared with them my story and my calling. I talked about how in the past I couldn’t see how God could still use me since my calling came before my falling away. I felt like I needed to be perfect to fulfill the role God had designed just for me and I had wrecked it. For a long time that is what kept me up at night. I knew there was no way God could use me after how I had lived.

They shared with me the story of their child who has walked away after having been raised in church. They told me about the struggles they face, not just as a pastor, but as a parent who has a child not walking in the way they were taught. With tears in our eyes I began to share my journey back and how I’ve come to the point that I believe God can still use me despite my past and how He can actually use that to His advantage. They looked at me and said, “it was no surprise to God that you walked away or came back. He knew what paths you were going to take. He took that into consideration when He designed your robe of righteousness. And you know what? The garment still fits.”

When you look at Ephesians 2:10, you see that we are God’s masterpiece. He has created you and I with a purpose in mind. When a sculptor is creating a piece of art and they come to an imperfection in the stone, they don’t start over. They don’t even try to cut that part out of the stone. They take those blemishes, those imperfection and they incorporate it into the art work. The imperfections that threaten the future of the masterpiece are what make it unique and are what really sets it apart as a work of art. The sculptor starts each project knowing there’s no perfect stone and knows they will have to work with imperfections to make each piece work.

The second part of that verse says, “He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” He knew long ago the life each of us were going to live. He knew long ago each of us would mess up. He knew we would have imperfections, sins, disabilities and doubts. He designed all of that into the plan He made for each one of us. It doesn’t matter if you found out the plan He has for your life before you walked away, after you walked away or are seeking it out. He has built the plan for your life around the things that would happen to you and the paths that you would take. He took all that into consideration and the garment still fits you.

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July 10, 2013 · 8:42 AM

What Are You Building?

I was looking at some old photo albums at church last week when I came across one from 1993. It was pictures of my first mission trip where we went to a small village in the heart of Mexico to build a church. Not only was I 20 years younger, I was 20 years skinnier! As I flipped through the pictures, I got excited all over again. I remembered the fun I had, the blessings I received, the people we touched and the work we did. I spent more time on that trip building relationships than building the church building.

That trip not only got me excited for a lifetime of doing missions work, but also taught me the value in building relationships. I believe that the best way to grow the church is through relationships. When you look at the ministry of Jesus, that’s what He did. He went place to place building relationships with the people He came into contact with. He focused His ministry on building the kingdom not buildings.

Paul is another great example of someone who built their ministry on relationships. All the books in the New Testament that he wrote were to people and churches he had relationships with. You can’t speak to people the way he did without having first built a relationship with them. He not only spent time ministering in places he went, he spent time working beside fellow believers. He wasn’t just trying to preach to a large crowd, get an offering and leave. He was investing in the people he was ministering to.

If it was good enough for Jesus and Paul, shouldn’t it be good enough for us today? How many of us truly spend quality time getting to know others we’re ministering to or with? In I Corinthians 3, Paul said that some plant seeds, some water and some harvest. Planting, watering and harvesting are all done through relationships. The harvest doesn’t come unless someone has invested time in a relationship planting seeds and watering them.

If God’s desire is to have a relationship with you and me, shouldn’t we desire to have relationships with others? The underlying story of the Bible is God trying desperately to find ways to connect with us so we can have that relationship with Him. Ministry isn’t only done behind the pulpit. Ministry is done on the streets, in people’s homes, at your job and at dinner tables. Each of us have been called to go and make disciples. Discipleship is done through relationships.

Preachers, evangelists and missionaries aren’t the only ones called to ministry. If you bear the name “Christian”, you are called to ministry. You are called to build relationships. You are called to plant seeds. You are called to water seeds. You are called to harvest. You are called to disciple. You may not think of yourself as a minister, but you are. It is the responsibility of each of us to share what God has done in our lives with others.

What relationships do you have in your life that need work? What relationships in your life have you neglected? Who do you have a relationship with now that needs Jesus? You don’t win them by forcing Him down their throat. You win them through relationship. You win them because you’ve earned the right to share what God has done for you personally. Don’t spend more time building a ministry than you do building relationships. If you build relationships, the ministry opportunities will come.

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June 18, 2013 · 7:47 AM

Coach Jesus

I ran into my junior high basketball coach this weekend. We were talking about the good old days and how things change. He was mentioning how much coaching has changed in the past few years. One of the ways it has changed is that kids don’t ask to be put in. I was shocked. I can remember being pulled out of a game to rest and arguing with him. “Coach, I’m fine! Let me stay in a little longer,” I’d say. When I was on the bench for a few minutes, I’d look down the bench at him trying to catch his eye.

I wanted to be back in the action. I wasn’t content to sit on the side lines and watch. Not much has changed I guess. I’m not content to watch things happen. I want to be a part of things, especially good things. I want to help out in ministries. I want to go to other countries and be the hands and feet of Jesus. I want to stand in front of people and tell them what a difference Jesus made in my life.

I think Peter was a lot like that. He was the first to volunteer and the last one who wanted to be sat down. When Jesus asked, “Who do men say I am,” it was Peter who answered. When the guards came to take Jesus, it was Peter who grabbed his sword and swung it. When they were in a boat and the storm was raging, it was Peter who asked to walk on water. When the Holy Spirit came down and the people gathered around the upper room, it was Peter who stood up and preached.

Was he perfect? No. Did he often have to be corrected? Yes. He wasn’t afraid to go out and do something for Jesus, even if he made a mistake. He’d rather make a mistake in ministry than to make the mistake of sitting on the side lines. It was the other eleven who stayed in the boat sitting on the side lines. Every one of them had the opportunity to get out of the boat and join Peter. They could have known what it felt like to have water under their feet.

I don’t want to be one of the eleven who sat around a campfire asking Peter what it was like. I want to be the one telling the stories. I want to be the one experiencing the miraculous. It all starts with a desire to do something for Christ. It starts with not being content to sit in a pew Sunday after Sunday watching as others experience a move of God. It starts with me saying, “Put me in, Jesus.”

Where are you? Are you content to sit in a pew with the other eleven? Are you willing to step out of the boat and to walk on water? Are you looking at the other end of the bench, staring Jesus down, trying to get His attention? I am! I want nothing more than for Him to look down the row at the members of His team, give me a head nod and say, “Chris, go check in. I need you on the court.”

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June 6, 2013 · 8:29 AM

Ministering in Love Languages

At church last night, our group was discussing a church in Austin, Texas that had someone who ministers to the homeless in that area come in and speak. At the altar call, he didn’t ask anyone to come down and get saved. He didn’t ask anyone to come down for prayer. He asked that each person would pray and ask God if they should give their shoes to the homeless. If they felt they were, they were to come to the front, take off their shoes and leave them there.

I started thinking about that and the book “The 5 Love Languages” by Dr. Gary Chapman. In it, he describes five ways that people give and receive love: words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, physical touch and gifts. Then I started thinking, if those are the ways people receive love, shouldn’t we the Church be showing love to the lost in their love languages? The story in Austin was showing love through gifts. For a lot of believers, this is the easiest way to show love because we give out of our abundance and then move on with our lives. What if we continued to give gifts until it came from our necessity and not our abundance?

Words of affirmation are another one that doesn’t require much of us, but we hardly do it. I was having a rough day recently and had a lot on my mind. As I stopped to pump gas, my mind was working. A lady on the other side of the pump said, “Hey, you should smile every once in a while. It’ll do wonders!” I snapped out of my thought coma, looked at her and smiled. She said, “See. Doesn’t that feel better?” She got in her car and drove off. Her words of affirmation changed my mindset. It made my day better. We can do that too.

Where things start to get difficult are the remaining three. I once heard it said that many people spell “love”, T-I-M-E. Quality time is not something we usually want to do with “the least of these”. We’d rather give something that costs us less. The problem is that those who receive love this way are left out when we’d rather take the easier route. If we truly care about the lost, we need to find ways to spend quality time with them, invest in a relationship and share the love of Christ with them.

I like acts of service when reaching out to the lost. I call it “putting sweat equity in the Kingdom”. Give a day of your time, labor and talents to someone who needs it. This speaks volumes to those who receive love this way. Find a widow or elderly couple nearby who need yard or house work done and help them. Find a single mom who needs help and offer to help her. Find a ministry who is doing one of the other love languages and help them. It requires your time and effort, but is well worth it.

Finally, there is physical touch. Jesus was good at this. He laid His hands on people and touched them. He wasn’t afraid to go up to lepers and touch them. They were considered unclean and people were forbidden to touch them, but Jesus did it anyway. Who are today’s “lepers”? Who does society deem “unclean”? They need us to reach out to them, hug them and to share God’s love with them.

The book shows that we typically give love in ways we like to receive it. In a relationship, you have to learn someone else’s language to keep their “love tank” full. In ministry, I think that if you’re good at giving love in your language, that’s the area you need to show love to others in. Each church should have ministries that give love to others in these five ways. It will allow those in the church who give love those ways a place to plug in. It will also allow the church to share love in the ways that people in their community receive it. Think of the difference that could make for your church and God’s Kingdom.

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