How Do You Fit In?

A woman's leadership ministry is not where you would expect to find me. I am not a woman (nor have I ever played one on TV). But I have been privileged through the world of social media to meet some of the women starting a new ministry, LeadHer, and I am hoping to support them as I can. We are  hopeful at the ministry I work at, EvanTell, to be able to provide really good evangelism training and teaching materials. To come alongside these women in ministry to partner and provide their evangelism training needs. That is what we do, that is what we like to do. And we try to do it as well as possible. Thrilled to be able to develop a partnership between EvanTell and LeadHer.

But I wanted to offer support as a Christian man to as group of Christian women starting off on following hard after the Lord and working in His harvest. As I thought about blogging in support I decided to talk to the men who support the women who are getting this off the ground.

Encourage. Applaud. Support.

New ministry can be scary, because while God knows the path, we are just learning it.So be there for the women you love and support them. Proverbs 27:17 talks about iron sharpening iron. In this case, be the steel in their lives to support them as they throw in with total trust in the Lord. They believe, but help them in their unbelief. (Mark 9:24)

Because they are fallible. They are sinful in their nature. They are human.

Just like you. Just like me.

And they need our help. Just like we need theirs.

And they deserve our help.

Probably more than we do.

They have to depend completely on the Lord, just like us.

So men, get behind them, get on board.

Let her LeadHer.

Limit Yourself

"Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing...He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God...The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas."

Oswald Chambers - My Utmost For His Highest: March 5 Devotional

Limit yourself to the work, the ministry God has called you to do, and know that all of us are called to a ministry, it is just that not all are to do it in a setting we traditionally consider to be a ministry. Yes, your workplace, your school, your community, your family can be the setting of your ministry. You can share Jesus in any of these settings, you can be faithful to the Lord anywhere.

Limit yourself to the work, the ministry God has called you to do, and you will find you have just the strength and time to do it. Limit yourself to the work, the ministry God has called you to do, and you will find that it is more than you could ever have thought up to do on your own. And you will know it is He who placed the task before you.


Technorati Tags: God, Lord, Jesus, Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, ministry, calling

Busy in Prayer

I have not been blogging much of late, but I have been quite busy the past month. Visiting family for Thanksgiving, trying to wrap up the semester at seminary. I have also stepped into a full time ministry position at EvanTell, joining the team there in the past week as Chief Operating Officer. I am excited about my role there, and what the future holds for the ministry and me.

I have also been in prayer, for my role within kingdom work, for on going support for the ministry I am now joining, for the planning of new year at my church. As I have watched my schedule grow fuller and activities escalate, I have come to realize I need to be in prayer more often.

The busier life is, the more to need to stop and come before the Lord. It is clear that there may never be enough time to do all I want, but there is never too much to do that I cannot stop, thank Him for His blessings, ask Him for His strength and acknowledge that His will, not mine, be done. The danger of a busy, productive life is in thinking that one is the prime mover in it, not God.

So I look to Him in prayer and thanks. For giving me opportunities, for filling my day with reasons for joy, for giving me what i need to do what he wants. A new role awaits me in 2010, one I would not have thought of as I entered 2009. But the comfort I have is the fact that He may have surprised me, but I am doing just what He planned.

Technorati Tags: EvanTell, prayer, 121 Community Church, God, Lord, Jesus, ministry

Looking Forward to the New Normal

I am looking forward to developing a new routine for the summer, or maybe it is reestablishing an old one.

Reading books I want to read at my own pace. Following and commenting on blogs a lot more closely than I have been been doing. Sitting at the table for two with God a lot more than I have been doing. More prayer, deeper prayer.

More time in ministering to others as opposed to tending to self.

I think the greatest growth comes not only when we stretch ourselves, but when when we also stretch for others. Investing in others is so much more valuable than just investing in self.

I am looking forward to a valuable summer. I will try to keep you posted, but I may be too busy.

But I am out of school for the summer. I almost feel like a teenager. I said almost, I am too much of a realist to leave that word off.

Making Tracks to Breakfast

As I look at the upcoming week, I have 3 breakfast meetings. Here I am, in part-time retirement/in part-time study/in part-time volunteer ministry, acting like I was still a business executive. Seems strange that I am getting back into the habit of a career, one that combines my meager ability to advise and consult with my monstrous ability to consume food. The other two days of the week are no can do meeting wise since I have a 7:45am class at seminary to get to. Believe me, that still seems strange as well. Not all that many 50+ seminary freshman running around the place.

I guess what I am learning is that unlearning is not all that easy. After a period of really slowing things down in my life in late 2007/early 2008, things are ramping up again in 2009. And that's OK.

Because I am doing stuff I want to do, meeting with people I want to meet with, discussing things I want to talk about.

And because it is about serving in His kingdom that I am seeking out and striving for.

And because I want to.

And that feels so right.

But now a brief confession. I really do not eat like the top picture. I eat much more like this one down here.

Can you blame me?

How Much Is Too Much?

I have a question for those of you out doing ministry and service in the name of the Lord.

How do you decide when enough is enough? I am assuming that there is a thing as too much, I mean we have family responsibilities, job responsibilities, personal needs. How do you decide when you need to say no to the next volunteer project or service opportunity? How do you deal with the potential disappointment you may generate when you say no when you have been counted on in the past for saying yes?

I find my dance card filling rapidly as i make myself available and explain to people what I feel I have a heart to serve in.

Is it OK to say no to an opportunity you can handle today leaving room for one you may be more suited to tomorrow? Is it OK to say no even if the one you are saving room for is currently undefined or unknown?

I know I should listen closely for God's voice, but do you sometimes find that hard when the curtrent needs are beginning to clamor?

Please do not get the wrong impression, I am not at the end of my rope, not out on a ledge somewhere. Just thinking thin gs through and trying to plan a little ahead.

Is that so bad?

Sometimes It Works

And sometimes it does not. I am talking about my IntenseDebate comment system. Sometimes the comments come through on it, sometimes the come in the old Blogger system and once in a very rare while I get an email notification, read the comment, but see it nowhere connected to the blog post.

I am done trying to figure it out. I am getting comments somehow and am able to respond to most as necessary. I installed IntenseDebate using their widget process, so it was pretty basic. But I did something wrong.

The Social Mediot strikes again.

But I am done worrying about. Hey, classes start Wednesday, I got reading to do and paper topics to reflect upon. I am involved in a few ministries and that is more productive and satisfying than sitting here trying not to blow up mt Blogger template.

Someday I will sit down with someone who actually knows how to do all this stuff and clean up anything that needs cleaning. Some day the courage of man will fail him. But today is not that day. (OK, I got that from LOTR-Return of the King, the movie not the book.)

Until then, the Social Mediot rides high. And that height is matched by the depth of his obliviousness.

Be Social

I hope you and I are more open than this. Not a good ministry slogan.

From the Heart

I got to give a short, semi-public talk last night about my going to seminary, how I go there and where I see it leading.

My view of public speaking is similar to Jerry Seinfeld's routine stating public speaking is the number one fear of Americans, death is number two; so at the average funeral the average American would rather be in the box than give the eulogy. (After I speak I think most of the audience feels I should be in the box too)

I was told it was very effective because it came form the heart, and that was what they wanted, a heart speaker, not a public speaker.

That made me feel good and I was glad I could contribute to the ministry that went on yesterday evening. It also underscored a very important point for me; when working in my ministry, I need to make sure what I do and what I say comes from the heart. People will accept your ministry if it comes from the heart.

And since I have given my heart to the Lord, I know if it comes from my heart, He will be part of what comes out of me. So the heartbeat of any ministry I do, any missional activity I engage in has to be my heartbeat.

Otherwise it will not seem genuine and I am not that good an actor.

It was a good evening on several fronts.

Honor God By Honoring Your Word

I was at a party last night speaking to someone from my church about a ministry we have both supported in the past. This ministry recently held a dinner to introduce some of those helped to some of those who had provided funds that allowed for the help to be given. It was a warm, emotional night, with lots of praise given to Jesus for the work he does in us all. My wife and I enjoyed it greatly.

The time came in the evening when people were asked to search their hearts and see if they felt the call to commit to financially supporting the ministry. Commitment cards were available. Many people did turn them in. We did and are now supporting this ministry in our small way.

What I heard last night was that a majority of the cards have not been honored. It is sad. A Christian crowd coming together to support a Christian ministry for an evening and then ignoring the pledges made that night. What a witness to our Lord we made that evening.

I am not saying everyone should have committed. I am not saying we ourselves gave enough. But if you give your word, follow through. There are so many ministries that need our assistance no one can support them all. But support the ones that your heart calls you to. Honor God by honoring your commitments.

Do not make a show of filling out a card at a banquet and turning it in and forgetting about any follow through. There are plenty of times I have not answered the call for financial support. I am OK with that.

But if that is how you feel, just leave the envelope on the table. An unfulfilled pledge is more crushing to those in ministry than no pledge at all.

The Tower and The Trench

One thing is becoming very apparent to me as I move through seminary this semester and I seek out what ministry opportunities God is putting in my path. I am looking to live the next few years in two worlds: the ivory tower of academe; and the trenches of the world seeking out the lost (or possibly misguided).

I do no think I want one of those worlds without the other, but I know I will not stay in both for all that long a season of life. Although from the study end, it sure seems long enough as you are going through it. There are opportunities to serve that God is already putting in front of me and I can see that being a full time student does not make sense in the context of what else I will be doing in the present or near future.

But I see now that I need time in both worlds to be effective in either. My study without real world service becomes an academic exercise (no pun intended) and service without study will not be as deeply engrossed nor boldly approached. The tower and the trench need each other; I need both of them.

Compared to how I used to live life, this seems so much richer, so much more multi-dimensional. So much more worthwhile. And there are clearly nuggets of gold to be mined out in each world to the glory of my Lord's name. So dig in both I must and I will.

The knowledge of God in a biblical perspective knows no limits; therefore learning can be as unending as it can be enriching. While I pray one day to get out of seminary, I pray never to get out of God's school.While I may end classroom learning, I want to remain in teachable moments before His throne.

I pray to scale the tower and span the trench, drawing strength from one to deal with my weakness in the other. What a journey this narrow road has me one. I would have no other in my life.