Category: Faith & life

Ministry to your family

August 10, 2023

To many in ministry save their best for strangers in whose lives they have almost no influence while the family gets the leftovers. Nothing is more important than giving your best ministry to your family first.

John Wimber

I saw John Wimber preach and minister once when I was a new Christian. It was the first time I had been in an evangelistic event where miracles and salvations took place. It was amazing and to be honest I did not understand a lot that was happening. I just watched in awe!

Over the years I have read a lot of his quotes. The one above hit home the most for me. To paraphrase… We cannot give so much to others that we have none left over for our families.

For me this is a great test to show if I am giving too much to ministering to others. If I come home and I just sit on the couch with no energy to pray for or serve a family member in need, then I am giving too much to others.

All of us are called by God to serve others. But I believe this cannot be at the expense of family ministry. Our ministry to our most loved ones needs to come first.

After all, on our death beds, who will we be most concerned about?

Health and well-being?

August 3, 2023

What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?

This is an interesting question as the WordPress prompt today. I have a health and well-being routine that I have followed for many years.

1. Devotions – I start my days, or at least in the first hour, with prayer, Bible reading and a devotional like Our Daily Bread. This keeps me in tune with God.

2. Exercise – I exercise six days a week in a combination of weights and cycling. This helps me to keep trim and fit and also gives me a lot of enjoyment and relaxation.

3. Work – I make sure I work less days than I have days off. I work three days a week now and have four days off. I find as I get older this helps me to feel well and more rested.

4. Family – I find spending time at home with my family helps me to relax and wind down. My wife and I talk a lot and I really enjoy time with our kids and their partners too.

5. Alone – As someone who is quite introverted I need my alone time too. I talk and listen a lot as a part of my job, so I get full easily and time alone helps me to order my thoughts and chill out.

These are my current things that help my health and well-being. They have remained fairly constant over the years with some slight changes. I guess for me it is a case of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Three ways to get wisdom

July 29, 2023

The Book of Proverbs is full of practical wisdom. Proverbs 2:1-9 says…

1 My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. 2 Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. 3 Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. 4 Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. 5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. 8 He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him. 9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.

This passage lists three ways to get wisdom.

1. Tune your ears (v2) – this means to tune your ears in to wisdom like we tune a radio to the station. I enjoy listening to the Bible, Christian audio books or sermons as I drive to and from work.

2. Ask for understanding (v3) – we can cry out to God and ask for understanding. James 1:5 tells us that if we lack wisdom we can ask God who gives generally.

3. Search for them (v4) – this verse encourages us to search for wisdom with the intensity of looking for treasure. Wisdom is very valuable so it is worth it.

The results of getting wisdom is gaining knowledge of God, having common sense, understanding what is right and finding the right way to go.

These benefits of getting wisdom sound pretty good. Definitely worth the hard work of tuning, asking and searching for it.

Every tear gone

July 25, 2023

Here is a snippet from Our Daily Bread. For me it was too good not to share…

The book of Revelation describes Jesus, our Savior, as a “Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” (5:6; see v. 12), His wounds still visible. Wounds earned through taking upon Himself the sin and despair of His people (1 Peter 2:24–25), so that they might have new life and hope.

And Revelation describes a future day when the Savior will “wipe every tear” from each of His children’s eyes (21:4). Jesus won’t minimize their pain, but truly see and care for each person’s unique grief—while inviting them into the new, healing realities of life in His kingdom, where there is “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (v. 4). Where healing water will flow “without cost from the spring of the water of life” (v. 6; see 22:2).

Because our Savior has carried our every grief, we can find rest and healing in His kingdom.