Quotes Tagged "ministry"

Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it.

Let us practice the fine art of making every work a priestly ministration. Let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds and learn to find Him there.

One of the most amazing and perplexing features of mainstream Christianity is that seminarians who learn the historical-critical method in their Bible classes appear to forget all about it when it comes time for them to be pastors. They are taught critical approaches to Scripture, they learn about the discrepancies and contradictions, they discover all sorts of historical errors and mistakes, they come to realize that it is difficult to know whether Moses existed or what Jesus actually said and did, they find that there are other books that were at one time considered canonical but that ultimately did not become part of Scripture (for example, other Gospels and Apocalypses), they come to recognize that a good number of the books of the Bible are pseudonymous (for example, written in the name of an apostle by someone else), that in fact we don't have the original copies of any of the biblical books but only copies made centuries later, all of which have been altered. They learn all of this, and yet when they enter church ministry they appear to put it back on the shelf. For reasons I will explore in the conclusion, pastors are, as a rule, reluctant to teach what they learned about the Bible in seminary.

To fully communicate with people, you need to find tactics that would interest them

You need to use the instrument that the people desire to captivate them back to things that are right

Purpose without preparation is meaningless.

It’s when you humble yourself as a servant that people want to follow you as a leader.

A church for Monday fosters the creative streak placed in all of us from God and seeks sustainable ways to flourish the communities spiritually, socially, and economically. It translates the gospel for the postmodern world, develops whole-life disciples, and strategically embeds itself in the marketplace to grow the economy (Jer. 29:7).

As we know, the week has 168 hours. People spend on average only one hour at church on Sunday morning. What about the other 167 hours spent primarily at work, at home, and at play in a world quite intolerant of Christians, embracing other truths but opposing the truth of the Bible, enamored with narratives but rejecting the narrative of Jesus? What type of church prepares for that type of world? A Church for Monday!

Faithfulness to one's calling is ultimately the only true measure of success. By your faithfulness you will change people and creation according to God's plan.

Your success as a disciple of Christ is not something you do; it is someone you disciple to also become a disciple-maker.

Self-will can either destroy or catapult your ministry.

If you can't pick the fruit, don't bruise it.

You have to discover the needs of the people you want to minister to

Our goal in life is to bring the Kingdom of God to people and help change their lives

Teach the people the Word before converting and baptizing them

Reveal to the people and make them experience God first before you make them church members

You have to bring relevance to people before teaching them the ways of Christ

A divided heart can never bring complete satisfaction. The man of mingled interests will seldom make a success of anything. If he would succeed in business he must give the major portion of his time and the best of his thought to his business.... The very same is true of the man who would be used of God, only to a far greater degree. The work alone must claim his whole attention. He has no room for other things.

Go, labour on while it is day, The world's dark night is hastening on. Speed, speed thy work, cast sloth away-- It is not thus that souls are won.