Post by Zac Loh on Feb 7, 2007 22:09:43 GMT -5
1. Person
Ministry must be from your person. It is who you are. It is your personality. It is your inclination. It is your passion. And, most of all, it is the life of God flowing out of you.
2. Purpose
Everyone has a ministry purpose. Everyone has a ministry calling. It is our sacrifice that the purpose can happen. It is our obedience. It is our willingness to set aside that which is not His will. Everyone has a different ministry purpose, a different ministry calling. And we all make the whole. Each of us makes the whole body of Christ.
Are you willing to set aside that which is not His specific ministry purpose for you? And to wait upon Him for His tailor-made ministry purpose FOR YOU?
We will all be tempted to jump into the next bandwagon. We are all tempted to do what everyone else is doing. We all want to be recognized. Are we settling for what will work, rather than God’s special purpose for us?
It is said that the enemy of the best, is the good. It is good to do what works. But it is the best to obey God regardless if people think it will work, or whether it will actually work-out at all. What is done for eternal results might be unseen in this lifetime. When we clearly heard God’s voice, then we must OBEY.
3. Process
We all go through a process. Most of us want immediate results. Many things in life have instants responses. These we are used to – in our fast-paced high-tech modern living. But there are many other things which require a process. The Bible says `faith and patience’ (2 Thessalonians 1:4; Hebrews 6:12).
4. Programs
We have many programs today. Are we mimicking others? Are we allowing the herd mentality to take over? Is this program of the Lord? We need a divine unity: our unity with the Lord and with one another. We don’t need a Tower of Babel unity. We don’t go for unity for the sake of unity. We all need to come together to have God’s will. It is imperative and critical.
One of the very first lessons we need to teach Christians is to how to discern God, how to discern His will, how to hear His voice and how to led by the Holy Spirit. I like the fact that the DTS (Discipleship Training School) of YWAM (Youth With A Mission), one of the largest missionary organizations, is teaching participants to hear God’s voice.
5. People
Look at the long stretch of history and writings in the Bible. God is concern about people. After God, the main topic is people.
In the real estate industry, the slogan rings: Location! Location! Location! It is a proven reality. In ministry, it’s People! People! People! Even if we’re the task oriented type, let’s remember that the main factor is people. Let’s remember that we’re dealing with people who are never always the same with us. Everyone has his/her own background. Everyone is unique.
6. Prayer
Prayer births forth the reality of God’s purpose. God’s purpose is established in our life, ministry and church – through prayer.
7. Patience and Persistence
Because we’re dealing with people, patience and persistence is required. We must realize this aspect of ministry. Each has hi/he own need, desire, perspective, passion, inclination and gifting. We need to respect these facts; and be patient with each person, and be persistent with each person.
We have program-oriented churches. We have churches with high percentage of people serving. We have seeker sensitive churches (very conducive for newcomers). But have you heard of patient-and-persistent churches?
The patient-and-persistent churches are faithful to God’s specific calling for them. They continue in God’s special purpose for them. Even though they see many activities in other churches, they are patient and persistent. They are not inclined to act so as to get some activities going. Even though they see increasing numbers in other churches, they are faithful to God’s purpose and plan – as revealed to them. They are not after numbers.
We are prone to do the numbers game. The early church in the book of Acts grew, and they counted the people with them. After a while, they grew so much, and they grew-out of the childish counting game. They were persecuted, and they were scattered. But the Word of God spread. They realize that counting is not that important after all. They knew that they had a tremendous impact. In the Book of Revelation, it was mentioned `ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands’ (Revelation 5:11). That’s all that matters… ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands!
Can spiritual growth be measured by the numbering scale? Can you separate and number the genuine believers who will pass the test of persecution, trial and temptation?