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| Frost on my car window (11/14/18) |
A) Decide what you are going to do, and then ask God to partner with you.
B) Discern what God is doing, and partner with him.
The correct answer is B. Discern, rather than decide. What a relief!
God is up to something. God is moving. What God is up to is far more effective than what we could figure out.
Stephen Seamands writes:
"All authentic Christian ministry participates in Christ's ongoing ministry. Ministry is essentially about our joining Christ in his ministry, not his joining us in ours." (Seamands, Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service, Kindle Locations 160-161)
To discern what God is up to, we must have an abiding life, to include a praying life. We must be in constant communication with God. If we don't do this we will burn out trying to figure things out.
"So much of our stress and burnout is the direct result of our failure to grasp this basic truth about ministry. We are carrying burdens that we were never designed to carry-burdens that Christ never intended tended for us to carry. Instead of following Christ the Leader, we wrongly assume the burden of leadership ourselves. No wonder we collapse under its weight." (Ib., Kindle Locations 162-163)
Seamands writes:
"Understanding whose ministry it is can be tremendously liberating. Jesus' words "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30) apply to ministry too!...
However, most of us find it difficult to live according to this truth. We are often tempted to take the burden of ministry on ourselves." (Ib., Kindle Locations 163-166)
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My two books are:
