I like to raise a question. Imagine you have a very successful ministry (or church), which you have built up over the many years by tirelessly working for it with all your energy. You have gained a huge population of ‘followers’ through your books, websites, sermons, blogs, radio and television ministries. You literally have a cutting edge theology, doctrines, principles, worldviews and biblical frameworks. You have used some great sounding illustrations to explain your positions on theological matters and you believe with all your heart what you teach/preach/write is faultless. From the financial contributions of your ‘partners’, listeners and followers you built a world-class head quarters in one of the metro cities in U.S. You even have international coverage, and gained access to some of the highly unreachable areas around the world. You make a good living out of your ministry; your spouse resigned from his/her job and joined you to help you out in the work of the Lord. You have many of your relatives in the ministry’s payroll. There are multitudes out there sending money to your ministry accounts every month by partnering with you as ‘members’. Let’s say your ministry is now 5, 10 or 20 years old and you slowly began to understand the theology you embraced for years is not really standing against the scrutiny of the truth of the New Testament. Your understanding is challenged and shaken by some of the things God started to reveal to you from His Word (It all started from the darkest moment of your life where you wondered why some of your principles didn't really work in real life). You are in utter confusion, but God is not stopping there, he is continually, without apology, challenging your heart. You really started feeling the ‘double-edged sword’ going deep into your soul, God is removing the veil over your eyes, things becoming clearer and clearer every day in a fresh perspective. You are even wondering how you missed the obvious. You struggled with God and His Word, but can’t win, finally reaching a point where you either ignore the truths mindlessly and continue with the work of the ministry as if nothing happened OR you admit everything you have ever learned/taught was utterly wrong and make a 180 degree turn. You are standing on fire that without tearing off major parts of the Bible (Pauline Epistles, for example) you can't win.
What would you do?
On one side shame, ego, money, fame, people, buildings, books, CDs and on the other side truth...
I am not particularly asking YOU to answer the question but I was just thinking out loud what would people do in such situations. Can someone knowingly teach error? Can someone teach some 'principles' which don't even work in their own life, again and again? How much people can illogically double talk? How strong the 'tradition' can become, over the truth?
Showing posts with label Ministry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ministry. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
GoodSearch and GoodShop
I just received the following news letter from People to People Ministries, introducing GoodSearch.com and GoodShop.com. Through these sites, as we do a web search or online shopping, there is money contributed to our selected ministry. It doesn't have to be People to People since any ministry (Non Profit) can be added to their database. Hey, if our favorite ministry gets a donation for just using that website for online search or shopping, why not use it?
News Letter:
What if you could help People to People every time you search the Internet or shop online? Well, now you can!
GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to organizations its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!
GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates a percentage of each purchase to your favorite organization! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you'll be supporting People to People.
Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter People to People Ministries (Carrollton, TX) as the organization you want to support. You will only have to do this one time; after that, every time you use GoodSearch to search the internet or GoodShop to shop your favorite online merchants, People to People will receive a donation!
Please be sure to spread the word by sharing this email with friends and family! Thank you for using this new opportunity to raise funds to continue broadcasting the message of God's love and grace!
News Letter:
What if you could help People to People every time you search the Internet or shop online? Well, now you can!
GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to organizations its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!
GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates a percentage of each purchase to your favorite organization! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you'll be supporting People to People.
Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter People to People Ministries (Carrollton, TX) as the organization you want to support. You will only have to do this one time; after that, every time you use GoodSearch to search the internet or GoodShop to shop your favorite online merchants, People to People will receive a donation!
Please be sure to spread the word by sharing this email with friends and family! Thank you for using this new opportunity to raise funds to continue broadcasting the message of God's love and grace!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Rethinking 'Ministry'
In this day and age of so many ‘ministries’ in different sizes, shapes and styles such as small, big, mega, over-sized, contemporary, traditional etc, It would be fair enough to start a discussion of 'ministry' by looking at what Jesus Himself said about it while He was on the earth.
Disciples asked, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)
What?
No way! How can that be true? It is so simple to be true! We don't believe that. We believe that we have a "calling" to 'do', 'go', 'preach' and make disciples. We know about the 'great commission'. What if ‘just believing’ leads to passivity? Don't we know that the 'harvest is plenty but workers are few'? We believe that we have to ‘initiate’ things and start everything with 'prayer' and we ask god to 'help' us to do it. God, this is ‘your’ ministry, bless this!
Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing".
What?
No.... it can't be true. My seminary can't be that wrong! My professor can't be wrong that he taught me to develop my 'leadership skills". Among many of my skills rated, my "leadership skill" came to 10 out 10. I am capable of ‘controlling’ any big congregations. I am really worth doing something. I know Greek. I know Hebrews. I am a scholar. I was taught that we can 'achieve' many things by implementing a "five fold" ministry plan with a ‘5 year vision’ and a ‘mission statement’. I have marketing skills, if not I will hire highly educated marketing executives. I will emphasize the many programs what we have such as childcare, counseling, prayer club, indoor gym, free coffee etc. If I still can’t attract people I will advertise my ministry in ‘Christianity Today’. At any cost I will build, build and build. I will spend sleepless nights thinking how to raise money. I will work 12-16 hours a day and I don’t care if I can’t spend time with my family because I am in an important work called ‘God work’. I am trained to be a ‘Christian professional’. I have been instructed to use the verse from Malachi to put people under the pressure of guilt to bring money to the offering plates. I can do a lot of things ‘apart from Him’ and I am pretty sure that verse doesn’t mean that way in Greek.
Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you".
What?
That is a foreign idea. I thought kingdom of God is a ‘field’ where there are many big buildings, auditoriums and usually a big tall building with a cross on top of it. People working diligently to build it and God shows up their on Sunday mornings sometimes even on Wednesdays. The ‘success’ of such kingdom is determined by the headcount of people and the 'quality' of the congregates.
Jesus said, "I will build my church".
What?
No, we don't believe that. He will build His church? Then, what am I here for? I know He said that while He was on the earth; now that He is not here so I have to do the ‘building’. I need a handful of highly educated outstanding professional ministers who can help me doing this. I will start collecting their resumes, offering ‘industry standard’ salaries, medical benefits, yearly performance reviews and promotions.
But I will still ‘own’ the ministry so that my son can 'inherit' all the ‘assets’ in the future when he is old enough and ready.
My thoughts:
I think the word "believe" is so commonly used by so many people to mean so many things, that now we don't even believe in "believing". We have come to a point that we don't like the simplicity of Jesus's statement, 'the work of the ministry is believing in me'.
Why are we so boastful in the fact that we have the so called so many skills? Jesus said, "for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” Are we ready to put down our education, degrees etc and may be learn something about little children? Children believe in the word "believe". One of the way my daughter used to play with me when she was about 3 years old is that she would jump into my hands from the kitchen counter-top. She enjoyed it so much that she would just keep giggling all the time. Sometimes she would jump even before I get ready to hold her. She had a lot of fun. Though sometimes my hands hurt, I enjoyed it because of the trust she put in me. She trusted the strength of my hands. She didn't have so many "What if" questions such as, "what if I hit the floor?", "what if I slips out my Dad's hands?", "what if my Dad is not ready?". She lived the 'present moment'; she didn't complicate it and her motivation was trust. Can we learn the basic principle of trusting by looking at the little kids?
Many people get into Christian ministry when they are faced with a question posed by many preachers, "What if I will stand in front of God with empty hands"? What if I don't have any rewards?
I personally believe the greatest reward we could ever get is the righteousness of Christ which we already have. I wouldn't imagine someone standing in front of Jesus and brag about the things they did for Him. The life we live is His life. The love we have in our heart is His love. The fruits we bear is produced by Him. So what is there to boast about?
Is it time to put our religious masks down and live a real life in the essence of the New Covenant message (walking by faith)? Are we ready to join Apostle Paul, 'It is no longer I..."?
I don't feel like pledging money to the building fund or the church planting. My heart is somewhere else. I am no more moved by the big crowds, mega churches or even the wide spreading of Christianity. I am interested only in a genuine, real, brutally honest, authentic, practical life of faith people live.
What if the way the gospel to be proclaimed is not by planting churches or by starting ministries?
What if we are not in need of problem solving Christian professionals but people who trust God and simply walk by faith?
What if walking by faith is breaking the norm of all the existing concepts of Christian ministry?
What if the "step of faith" is not about planting a church? But it is simply leaping into the hands of Father where I am going to be safely held and if necessary used by Him? What if I don't have to be a professional in the church industry to do the 'works of God'? How about resting in the fact that , if God wants to accomplish anything through me, he would initiate it in due time and all I need to do is respond. What if the concept of ministry is nothing but living in an attitude that the members of my body is available to God for His purposes. How about taking all the presumptions away and jump into the 'risk' of all sufficiency of Christ?
Disciples asked, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)
What?
No way! How can that be true? It is so simple to be true! We don't believe that. We believe that we have a "calling" to 'do', 'go', 'preach' and make disciples. We know about the 'great commission'. What if ‘just believing’ leads to passivity? Don't we know that the 'harvest is plenty but workers are few'? We believe that we have to ‘initiate’ things and start everything with 'prayer' and we ask god to 'help' us to do it. God, this is ‘your’ ministry, bless this!
Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing".
What?
No.... it can't be true. My seminary can't be that wrong! My professor can't be wrong that he taught me to develop my 'leadership skills". Among many of my skills rated, my "leadership skill" came to 10 out 10. I am capable of ‘controlling’ any big congregations. I am really worth doing something. I know Greek. I know Hebrews. I am a scholar. I was taught that we can 'achieve' many things by implementing a "five fold" ministry plan with a ‘5 year vision’ and a ‘mission statement’. I have marketing skills, if not I will hire highly educated marketing executives. I will emphasize the many programs what we have such as childcare, counseling, prayer club, indoor gym, free coffee etc. If I still can’t attract people I will advertise my ministry in ‘Christianity Today’. At any cost I will build, build and build. I will spend sleepless nights thinking how to raise money. I will work 12-16 hours a day and I don’t care if I can’t spend time with my family because I am in an important work called ‘God work’. I am trained to be a ‘Christian professional’. I have been instructed to use the verse from Malachi to put people under the pressure of guilt to bring money to the offering plates. I can do a lot of things ‘apart from Him’ and I am pretty sure that verse doesn’t mean that way in Greek.
Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you".
What?
That is a foreign idea. I thought kingdom of God is a ‘field’ where there are many big buildings, auditoriums and usually a big tall building with a cross on top of it. People working diligently to build it and God shows up their on Sunday mornings sometimes even on Wednesdays. The ‘success’ of such kingdom is determined by the headcount of people and the 'quality' of the congregates.
Jesus said, "I will build my church".
What?
No, we don't believe that. He will build His church? Then, what am I here for? I know He said that while He was on the earth; now that He is not here so I have to do the ‘building’. I need a handful of highly educated outstanding professional ministers who can help me doing this. I will start collecting their resumes, offering ‘industry standard’ salaries, medical benefits, yearly performance reviews and promotions.
But I will still ‘own’ the ministry so that my son can 'inherit' all the ‘assets’ in the future when he is old enough and ready.
My thoughts:
I think the word "believe" is so commonly used by so many people to mean so many things, that now we don't even believe in "believing". We have come to a point that we don't like the simplicity of Jesus's statement, 'the work of the ministry is believing in me'.
Why are we so boastful in the fact that we have the so called so many skills? Jesus said, "for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” Are we ready to put down our education, degrees etc and may be learn something about little children? Children believe in the word "believe". One of the way my daughter used to play with me when she was about 3 years old is that she would jump into my hands from the kitchen counter-top. She enjoyed it so much that she would just keep giggling all the time. Sometimes she would jump even before I get ready to hold her. She had a lot of fun. Though sometimes my hands hurt, I enjoyed it because of the trust she put in me. She trusted the strength of my hands. She didn't have so many "What if" questions such as, "what if I hit the floor?", "what if I slips out my Dad's hands?", "what if my Dad is not ready?". She lived the 'present moment'; she didn't complicate it and her motivation was trust. Can we learn the basic principle of trusting by looking at the little kids?
Many people get into Christian ministry when they are faced with a question posed by many preachers, "What if I will stand in front of God with empty hands"? What if I don't have any rewards?
I personally believe the greatest reward we could ever get is the righteousness of Christ which we already have. I wouldn't imagine someone standing in front of Jesus and brag about the things they did for Him. The life we live is His life. The love we have in our heart is His love. The fruits we bear is produced by Him. So what is there to boast about?
Is it time to put our religious masks down and live a real life in the essence of the New Covenant message (walking by faith)? Are we ready to join Apostle Paul, 'It is no longer I..."?
I don't feel like pledging money to the building fund or the church planting. My heart is somewhere else. I am no more moved by the big crowds, mega churches or even the wide spreading of Christianity. I am interested only in a genuine, real, brutally honest, authentic, practical life of faith people live.
What if the way the gospel to be proclaimed is not by planting churches or by starting ministries?
What if we are not in need of problem solving Christian professionals but people who trust God and simply walk by faith?
What if walking by faith is breaking the norm of all the existing concepts of Christian ministry?
What if the "step of faith" is not about planting a church? But it is simply leaping into the hands of Father where I am going to be safely held and if necessary used by Him? What if I don't have to be a professional in the church industry to do the 'works of God'? How about resting in the fact that , if God wants to accomplish anything through me, he would initiate it in due time and all I need to do is respond. What if the concept of ministry is nothing but living in an attitude that the members of my body is available to God for His purposes. How about taking all the presumptions away and jump into the 'risk' of all sufficiency of Christ?
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