Needed Today: A Ministry of Encouragement
Be honest: when was the last time you said something or gave something or wrote something or did something with the single motive of encouraging someone else?
A successful industrialist once addressed a large body of executives. Speaking on the topic “Following the Leader,” he emphasized two difficulties leaders often struggle with. First, leaders struggle with getting people to think—to really think. Second, leaders struggle with getting people to establish and maintain priorities. We all wrestle with doing things in order of importance. One of the reasons for this struggle is that we often don’t know what deserves our immediate attention. For ministry our first priority is clear: prayer.
Be honest: when was the last time you said something or gave something or wrote something or did something with the single motive of encouraging someone else?
For as long as I have been in the ministry I have asked the Lord for a balance between a tender heart and a tough hide. It isn't an easy balance. In fact, the latter is more difficult to cultivate than the former.
Thanksgiving is a holiday with deep, biblical roots. It’s a day for those who belong to Christ Jesus to look up, around, and within as we use three magnificent words that can completely change our perspective: “Thank You, Lord!”
The Spirit-filled saint is a song-filled saint. And your melody is broadcast right into heaven—live—where God’s antenna is always receptive, where the soothing strains of your song are always appreciated.
Paul’s relationship with Timothy goes back to Paul’s earliest days as a missionary. Paul and Barnabas visited Timothy’s hometown of Lystra on Paul’s first journey around AD 47.
Give further thought to this. Ask God to open your lips and honour your words...but be careful! Once your missile hits the target, you’ll become totally dissatisfied with your former life as an earthbound, secret-service saint.
Slice it any way you wish, ignorance is not bliss. Dress it in whatever garb you please, ignorance is not attractive. Neither is it the mark of humility nor the path to spirituality. It certainly is not the companion of wisdom.
Today, as Canadian Christians struggle with increasingly secular pressures, Insight for Living remains a beacon of trustworthy interpretation and application of God’s Word.
We live in a time when theological foundations are being rocked. Both leaders and lay people have turned away from theology as an essential component of their personal faith in Christ.
One of the first things I learned as a pastor is that if a church is going to impact its community, the church leadership needs to understand the SHAPE of its people so ministry can be gift-based and passion-driven.