ministry

Encouragement for your Daily Life

And God Said, “Let There Be Laundry”

Many years ago my church was pondering how to create a “third space” in our neighborhood. A third space is a place where people can mix on a regular basis, a place that is relaxed and non-threatening. A lot of people feel intimidated walking into a church. A third space, it was hoped, would be a non-religious place where relationships with neighbors could be formed.

A lot of churches have created third spaces by starting up a coffee shop. That’s a great idea, but coffee shops tend to be a part of affluent White culture. The working poor don’t hang out in coffee shops with their Mac laptops. Nor can they afford $4 specialty drinks.

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Encouragement for your Daily Life

Christians Are Addicted To Their Services

I think we all know what I mean by a church service. There was a lot of time devoted to singing and then the obligatory public speaking (preaching), etc. etc. All of this undoubtedly organized by a clearly planned schedule. Most Western Christians have been to many “services,” some of us thousands of times. While there may be slight denominational variations, they are pretty much all the same, and they are all variations on a theme based on the prototype of the Latin Mass.

Jesus healed. Jesus delivered people from demonic oppression. The apostles healed and delivered people from demonic oppression. And, the early Christians did exactly the same thing. But there was something missing when they did it…the service.

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Encouragement for your Daily Life

Doing Ministry Is One Thing, And Doing Life Is Another, Right? Wrong!

I’ve grown up in church my whole life, but if I’m being totally honest, I never really felt like I fit there. Don’t get me wrong. I’m good at making myself fit. I could show up every Sunday morning, help with setup and tear-down, come again on Wednesday night, sign up to volunteer for the different programs, etc.

But at the end of the day, I never really felt like myself when I was doing those things.

But when I got quiet with myself, when I settled down to fall asleep at the end of the day, I knew something was off. I wished I wanted to do the things I was doing. But the God-honest truth was: I was forcing it.

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Encouragement for your Daily Life

How To Detox From The Professional Paid Minister Mentality

This article is mostly written to those brothers and sisters who begin the journey towards total trust in God as your only financial source. The pull of gravity as you escape the gravity from the religious system can be quite overbearing at first. There is good news for the weary pioneer. There is purpose and fruit from all the difficulties we endure.

Since the religious system is fueled and sustained by money, your pocketbook will be the first to feel the price of your new convictions.

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Encouragement for your Daily Life

Look For Character Before Competence

Order matters. This is true for massive, complex projects like launching something into space, and it is also true for small, simple things like baking. Across the board, when you get things out of order there can be devastating consequences.

When the apostle Paul challenged Timothy to reproduce himself in others, to broaden the number of leaders, and to hand ministry over to more people, he too had an order. He emphasized character over competence. He didn’t diminish competence, but he started with character.

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Encouragement for your Daily Life

6 Things To Know About Walking In The Spirit

In my 43 years of ministry, 29 of those spent in the ministry of healing, I have taken more than 5,000 people all over the world, teaching and ministering healing, and I have seen this transformation happen over and over again. I have seen God take ordinary believers and transform them into ministers of the gospel who walk confidently in the power of the Spirit with miracles, signs and wonders following.

I want to share with you a few lessons I’ve learned on how this happens so you can experience this transformation too.

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Encouragement for your Daily Life

6 Ways To Jumpstart Disciple Making Movements

This article offers 6 insightful points about the beliefs and practices that lead to explosive and exponential growth of the Church in areas all around the world. When the goal is to make disciples who can reproduce and make more disciples who make disciples who make disciples and so on, these points make a lot of sense. Implementing these points might disrupt other methods that are out there, but maybe that’s a good thing.

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