Quotes About Ministry

I don't find pastors and professors, for the most part, very interested in matters of formation in holiness. They have higher profile things to tend to.

The vocation of pastor(s) has been replaced by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans.

I'm a religious broadcaster.

The home ministry's role should be focused. There are so many items under it today; it has to look after even official languages. There should be a minister looking after internal security, and the remaining things should go under another ministry. Things like official languages can be looked after by the human resources development ministry.

Times have changed since George Herbert... but the principle and spirit in which he ministered as a priest remains an inspiration and model for all priests.

To me, the heart of the ministry lies in being able to help deeply distressed people, not because of your own qualities but because you represent Christ.

No Evangelical whose reading habits are a disgrace to the seriousness of the Christian ministry, or who spends more time before a television set than he does in serious reading in his study has the right to damn Nietzsche from the pulpit to some gruesome place in the Inferno.

The Six-Fold Definition of Being Conformed to Christ's Image 130 1. Transformed Mind: Believe What Jesus Believed 130 2. Transformed Character: Live the Way Jesus Lived 135 3. Transformed Relationships: Love as Jesus Loved 139 4. Transformed Habits: Train as Jesus Trained 142 5. Transformed Service: Minister as Jesus Ministered 144 6. Transformed Influence: Lead the Way Jesus Led

We are too easily satisfied with conventional success: bodies, bucks, and buildings. The average Christian resides in the comfort zone of "I pay the pastor to preach, administrate, and counsel. I pay him, he ministers to me. . . . I am the consumer, he is the retailer. . . . I have the needs, he meets them. . . . That's what I pay for.

So why don't we automatically place discipleship at the center of every ministry? Perhaps certain words put people off: influence, vision, submission, accountability, vulnerability, confession, study, sacrifice, and discipline.

The fear of making mistakes and not doing a particular ministry well has paralyzed many believers, and that is a tragedy. They fail to see that perfectionism is religion (form without power). Excellence is Kingdom. Saying yes to the King is the first step in discipleship. And being driven by love makes it impossible to remain stationary.

We need all five of them, working together. In short, apostles govern, prophets guide, evangelists gather, pastors guard, and teachers ground.

Once, while teaching a group of students about the importance of signs and wonders in the ministry of the gospel, a young man spoke up, saying, "I'll pursue signs and wonders when I know I have more of the character of Christ in me." As good as that may sound, it comes from a religious mind-set, not a heart that is abandoned to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As we give ourselves to serving our city for the sake of the city—not for the sake of our ministry, our church attendance or even the church attendance across the city—we find greater open doors of influence.

The job description is fairly simple: heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, and cleanse lepers.4 If you say you are not gifted in such things, then I say, "Find out why.

There is a great difference between the way Jesus did ministry and the way it typically is done today. He was completely dependent on what the Father was doing and saying. He illustrated this lifestyle after His Holy Spirit baptism. He followed the Holy Spirit's leading, even when it seemed unreasonable, which it often did.

Jesus gave people the right to disbelieve it all if there was no demonstration of power upon His ministry. I hunger for the day when the Church will make the same statement to the world. If we're not doing the miracles that Jesus did, you don't have to believe us.

Only what is true on the inside can be released to the outside. Jesus conquered a storm with peace. It was the storm He slept in. The peace that kept Him in rest was the peace that delivered Him from the storm itself. Internal realities become our external realities. That is the nature of ministry: living from the inside out. Without

Unfortunately, pulpit ministry has long been seen as the measure of true devotion to Christ, or worse yet, it has been seen as the measure of spiritual maturity.

The people who are most vulnerable to overextending themselves on behalf of ministry relationships are people who struggle with intimacy—both with God and others. Ministry can be a great place for them to feel connected and loved, but the truth is, without the accountability that only comes from covenant friendships, they are just being set up for burnout or compromise.

minister to ourselves is a vital skill that we must learn if we are going to develop the character to fulfill our potential as kings and priests. It is impossible for anyone to reach his ultimate destiny in life without learning to minister to himself.

Those who restrict themselves to mere words limit their gift, and may unintentionally lead believers to pride by increasing knowledge without an increased awareness of God's presence and power. It's in the trenches of Christlike ministry that we learn to become totally dependent upon God. Moving in the impossible through relying on God short-circuits the development of pride.

He was saying that when our minds are renewed, we will see the Kingdom displayed and proven as He did in His earthly ministry. That's what it means to "see" the Kingdom of Heaven. Our souls long to see such things. We have inside of us an unrelenting hunger to watch the Kingdom break into this realm—and not just to watch but to participate, to become the connecting point and gateway for God's power.

FATHERS WITH POWER VS. TEACHERS WITH ONLY WORDS Fathers Teachers (not after Jesus' example) Lifestyle Imitate fathers Gather around ideas (divisive) Attitude Humility Pride (puffed up) Ministry Power Many words Focus The Kingdom Teachings