Failure is an important topic because so many of us are driven to succeed more from a fear of failure than by the call of God on our lives. This is partly because in this nation we have a “black and white” view of success and failure that makes failure unacceptable. The following are points each of us need to understand to enlighten us with the biblical view of failure. The Biblical View of Failure
Failure is an important topic because so many of us are driven to succeed more from a fear of failure than by the call of God on our lives. This is partly because in this nation we have a “black and white” view of success and failure that makes failure unacceptable. The following are points each of us need to understand to enlighten us with the biblical view of failure.
I believe the best way to make a difference and leave a lasting legacy is to be a champion, serving others and helping them achieve their purpose. A champion is someone who uses their time, talent and treasure to serve others, bettering their lives so they may encounter God and achieve their purpose. Champions make a difference for good, they make a difference for God by serving others.
When I carefully observed, the old charismatic leaders have already faded away. It was young pastors and leaders, who were not known beyond their town or areas who had girded their loins and hit the streets. These youngsters do not believe in consultations, discussions, (which they believe as lot of talks and not work) but plunge into action in their own way and style. Only through network, they get connected to share and get encouraged.
There is so much to tell about the person of who I am and the formation factors that shape the story of my soul. There are some parts too dark, too painful and too vulnerable to be written in print. These portions I have confessed to God in intimate conversations and received healing from God the Healer. This is an assignment paper I wrote in Bible School in 2000.
I’ve been involved in pastoral ministry for over 30 years, and I have a desire to help everyone. But, I have learned the hard way that I cannot help every person who attends our church or who comes to me for input. The following are ten kinds of people I have identified that are so entrenched in certain habit patterns that I cannot help them advance to the next level unless they make the necessary shift in their attitude or behavior.
Congregations wish their pastor would preach messages relevant to their daily needs and struggles. Congregations wish their pastor understood the high demands of their schedules. Congregations wish their pastor would be transparent and sincere instead of only relating to them when under the anointing from the pulpit. Congregations wish their pastor would develop and release ministries that meet the felt needs of the congregation.
As a pastor for more than 30 years I have seen many people serving in ministry burned out in the name of Christ, then fall away from their purpose. This is even very common among senior leaders, but it can be avoided. In the past several years, I have personally experienced my mind being tired, requiring me to pull back for several months lest I burn out!
Christ followers are not to fear what the world fears (see Jeremiah 10:2) and are not to be conformed to this world system (Romans 12:1,2). Whenever a global crisis breaks out the church is called to discern the times, know what to do, and function as the salt of the earth and light of the world.
God Will Make A Way, Where There Seems To Be No Way, He Works In Ways We Cannot See, He Will Make A Way For Me, He Will Be My Guide, Hold Me Closely To His Side, With Love And Strength
Research and surveys show that many atheists, agnostics, and
spiritual-seekers who lack religious affiliation are former Christians.
But there was no research-based book that explained in depth why people
were leaving, until Generation Ex-Christian. The recently
released book by Drew Dyck, editorial manager of the ministry team at
Christianity Today International, breaks down “leavers” into six
categories: Post Modern Leavers, Recoilers, Modern Leavers, Neo-Pagans, Rebels, and Drifters.
Water baptism technically is when a believer is immersed in water in a public confession of his/her faith in Jesus Christ. Water baptism is an act of obedience to His commands. Water
baptism is a physical show of what spiritually happens in a person’s
life when he or she believes in Jesus. The Bible states: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” II Corinthians 5:17. Water Baptism is an act of obedience and an outward symbol of the internal change after accepting Jesus.
Families are in need everywhere. Broken relationships, hurting
individuals and families, painful pasts, irreconcilable difference,
breakdown in communication, absence of intimacy, and marital conflicts
and violence are destroying families all around us. Families are in
crisis! There has been a sharp surge of family breakdown in our
community in recent years. Divorce is growing at an alarming rate in our
community and marital disharmony is common across cities and faith
backgrounds. The lack of moral and spiritual values, changing gender
roles, absence of adequate support systems in the adopted land, cultural
differences, and poorer relational skills may be some of the causes of
the fundamental breakdown of families in the Indian community.
Since this is the season for Valentine’s Day, I have been thinking about
the state of the institution of marriage in our nation and pondering
why there are so many divorces. Several decades ago the divorce
rate hovered around 10%. Now it is almost at 60%! Even the Body of
Christ is not exempt from the staggering amount of marital failures! I
truly believe there are several unique challenges married couples now
face that previous generation did not. The following are some of the many reasons for these increasing challenges to marriage today.
There is a growing tendency in the Body of Christ among practitioners in
kingdom societal transformation to bypass the local church in order for
the reformation of society to take place. This is due to the
frustration of many marketplace leaders with the slow pace, bureaucracy,
myopic local view, and lack of high-level leadership found in many of
this nation’s congregations. As more of us receive greater light
regarding the kingdom, and we rightly go from a church mindset to a
kingdom mindset, I am afraid some will have a tendency to go too far and
jettison the local church altogether!
There are certain seasons in my life when ministry and other responsibilities are so difficult and my schedule so demanding that I feel like I am doing violence to my soul. (It’s as if I were taking a knife and intentionally sticking it into my body.) As I analyze what I do and how I feel during these seasons, I have come up with several ways I have done violence to my soul. (Whether or not these seasons can always be avoided is not the point of this article.) The following are ten ways I do violence to my soul. (By “soul” I am referring primarily to my emotions.)
One Way - Jesus - You're The Only One That I Could Live For - One Way - Jesus - You're The Only One That I Could Live For - You Are Always, Always There - Every How And Everywhere - Your Grace Abounds So Deeply Within Me - You Will Never Ever Change - Yesterday Today The Same - Forever Till Forever Meets No End - You Are The Way The Truth And The Life - We Live By Faith And Not By Sight For You - We're Living All For You
We need to educate our congregations to be effectively relational in our
“global neighborhood.” We need to try the new Somalian restaurant (for
example) and then invite our friends there to expose them to the
culture of our new neighbours. It is important for Christians to build
cultural awareness that will result to authentic relationships making
them credible witnesses for Jesus Christ . . . . We now have an unprecedented opportunity to introduce the Diasporas to
Jesus Christ and invite them to become part of His Church. With
Lausanne Diasporas, we are proactively responding to this major global
trend of Diasporas and the Diaspora issue will be addressed at Cape Town
2010. Pray that Diaspora Missions will be embraced by the Whole
Church.
Pastor Terry Jones went from obscure pastor to a worldwide phenomenon
last week because of his foolish plan to burn copies of the Quran.
During this fiasco he kept hiding behind God, saying God was speaking to
him and giving him guidance throughout the entire drama. Pastor Jones
came off ignorant when admitting he has never read the Quran and
revealed gross naiveté by announcing that Imam Rauf agreed to move the
proposed Ground Zero mosque in return for Dove International agreeing
not to burn Qurans. This is in spite of never even speaking once to
Imam Rauf!
The following is based on numerous personal conversations with Muslims,
personal study, and intensive training I received from a missions
organization in preparation for one month of outreach in a Muslim nation
in 1979.