Ultimately God’s call is on a person’s heart. He wants control of our complete heart. That’s true of every believer. For the one who is called to vocational ministry, however, God wants our dependence on Him for financial support.
Read More
Everything has changed. Now a person who senses a call to vocational ministry has a huge range of choices available.
That’s a tough question, but it is one I have actually faced that a few times in my life. Once in business where I knew, I didn’t have the energy or the expertise to carry the company to the next level. In my last two churches, I reached a point where knew it was time for another pastor if the church wanted to continue to grow.
We have such an awesome staff at Grace Community Church. God has blessed us with people who love Him and love others and each of them has a true heart’s desire to be found faithful in their Kingdom work. With the size of our church, by most standards we are under-staffed. We have a philosophy that everyone on our staff is a true minister. There are no strictly administrative people working for Grace. (I hope that’s always our philosophy.) I want to take this opportunity to honor each of them for their special contribution to all God has done at Grace in the last 3 ½ years.
I am in the midst of a life transition of sorts. It was subtle at first, but over the last couple years, as our church has grown in size and our ability to make an impact in the Kingdom has increased, it has become more recognizable. I am moving from more of a receiver to an investor into other people’s lives. I am honored to invest in younger men, many who are pastors also.
A seminary student who was doing a paper on church planting recently interviewed me. For those planters who follow this blog I thought you might want to hear some of my answers. If you have other questions for me, please ask.
I received an email from an Internet friend via my other ministry site (www.mustardseedministry.com) asking me how I determine if what I am doing is within the plans God has for me. Here’s my quick reply to him for knowing you are within God’s plans for your life:
There is a Biblical model for identifying potential leaders. It is found in Exodus 18:21. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, had advised Moses to recruit some leaders. Then he told him what type of people to look for.
I have been encouraging people to dream big dreams for years. I think part of the reason I want others to dream is so that I am justified in my own desire to dream. I believe dreaming encourages the heart and keeps a mind fresh. As we begin another year, I hope you have some big dreams. You will never have a dream for your life bigger than God’s dream for you.
Who are you as a leader? Determining the type leader you are is often as important as the leadership you provide. Every leader needs to understand his or her individual strengths and weaknesses, and the skills he or she has and does not have. It is also important to understand the style of leadership you aspire to and what you expect of followers and would think they expect of you.