CHURCH
... her primary purpose!
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Who can tell me the purpose of the church, and the ministry?
I have to ask this because recently I have become aware that in many denominations we have turned our churches away from "teaching and raising up the saints for ministry" and into more or less a "service center", or a "ministry of helps".
Our mission trips and our retreats have become "work farms" where we take our youth and go out and build, and clean up, and work in the community. While this is a worthy task, it is not at all the primary purpose of our churches! Have we so quickly forgotten the command of Jesus?
In Ephesians 4:11 Paul tells us of the 5-fold ministry offices and why they were put into place. He says they are "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." He goes on to tell us in verse 14 that we are to be "no more children" tossed to and fro by various teachings and doctrines, but we are to "grow up" into Him in all things!
He teaches here that the Body of Christ (the Church) is to become fitly joined together, working well together. He says we are to abandon the ways of the Gentiles (the non-Christians) and are to walk with a renewed spirit in the faith of God.
We often think that because Jesus fed the hungry, and healed the sick, that this was why He was sent. The fact is that healing the sick or feeding the hungry is a temporary fix, at best! Jesus used these to meet the needs of the people so that He could "get their attention"! If you heal a man, or feed him, or pay off his bills, YOU HAVE GOT HIS ATTENTION!
Somewhere in the process, we have become so focused on the feeding and the healing and the caring for others that we forgot the whole purpose of those was to "get their attention" so that we can "teach them"! In every event where you see Jesus healing the sick, He was also preaching and teaching to them! And I assure you "THAT" was His primary goal! For if you teach them and you get them saved, "they" can carry on the healing and the feeding and the caring for others ... so that they too can preach the word!
So, in your church plannings, and in your missions, don't get so focused on helping others that you forget your "primary purpose". We, the "Church", are here to prepare the saints for the work of the ministry! We are here to "preach the gospel ... to the World"!
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CampfireTALK is our weekly e-newsletter, speaking life into your heart, with stories, a word from our affiliate ministries, and a devotion from pastor Rich. It's a source for you to feed your spirit, to challenge your faith and to build you up!
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 WORD CHURCH is a church, a ministry, and a fellowship, even an outreach, where like in the days of the Apostles and Acts, the people joined together! Our vision and our goal, is to bring churches together in the unity of the faith, to help them to begin to bring together the gifts and talents of each separate church, and to share those gifts and talents with each other, that we may be better and more effective in teaching and training the Body of Christ, for the word of the ministry, to tell the World about Jesus! .... Learn More |
ARE YOU AN EXHORTER OF MEN?
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 In the hustle and bustle of business today, I am really surprised to find that many businesses do not at all "get it" when it comes to people management. With things like "Action Plans", "Career Path Planning", we often try and make people into something they're not, or push them along a path that they don't want to go. But my concern is more over the way we treat ... "people". For instance, in a Call Center environment, it's a busy environment. You need people where they need to be at the time they need to be there, and you need them working productively to accomplish the tasks that the call center is assigned ... to handle the calls and field the needs of the callers. But all too often, I see these very same call centers get so deep into "micro-management" of schedule adherence, and "writing people up" for each and every infraction, that we turn what could otherwise be a very happy and products environment into a literal "sweatbox"! The employees, instead of supporting one another and building a team spirit attitude, instead get together and talk about leaving, and other job opportunities, and how much they hate it! In fact, a great deal of those who do stay (in this environment) would leave but they can't find anything to move to ... to get out of the hard life that they find in their current workplace. I have observed 2 definite management skills among the many different ways one could manage, that seem to surface as the most widely used in managing people today. (1) One such method is the heavy-handed, micro-managing "fear factor" where termination and "writing you up" are commonplace terms that are all too frequently mentioned as the worker is constantly reminded that they could be terminated, or they could be "written up" ... a method where "score is kept" in an effort to (to put it bluntly) build a case to terminate someone. (2) The other is, in my opinion, the more effective and humane way to treat people ... you motivate from within, with encouragement, as you train, lead, and exhort ... you "build up" their inner image and their desire to work as a part of the team. This method, unlike the other, builds the workers image of "self-worth". It encourages them to "WANT" to be a team player, and to "WANT" to work at their very best ... from within - and NOT from a fear of termination or actions that would leave to that end result. Today, I want you to ask yourself this question ... whether you are a manager, a supervisor, a co-worker, a ministry leader, or just about "anybody" ... ask yourself, "Are you an exhorter?" Do you motivate those around you, with kindness, encouragement, and acceptance? These things are important to us a human beings! And in the average workplace, it is sad to say that we all too often do not see the importance of these values in the way we treat people. We are all too often caught up "in-the-numbers" ... analytically micro-organizing and dissecting each second of a workers day, trying to organize and manage their work hours, shifts, breaks, lunches, etc. as though they were machines? Well ... they are NOT machines! And this method of management only leads to a desire to leave! It can kill a business quickly. So remember this the next time you find yourself interacting with people, whether a chat with a co-worker or team partner, to a phone call, a conference, a meeting, or whatever we may find connecting us with others. There are people all around us who want ... no "NEED" for us to show ourselves friendly. They need encouragement. They need to feel like their product in this company is treasured and appreciated! And remember the tips from last week: We are to give folks the benefit-of-the-doubt... We are to look for the best, and not analyze them through a magnifying glass... Folks need someone to "believe" in them, to trust them and give them hope! Encourage them, love on them, and learn to be a "lifter of men"! Make me proud! -pastor rich-
Get ON-TRACK with HIS Plan ...
1. Be holy - the Bible calls us a "Holy Temple", where the Spirit of GOD lives. the Spirit of GOD lives in your heart! And to keep it holy, we must confess our sin when we sin (1 John 1:9). "
If we confess our sins, HE is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness." In order to remain holy and clean, before GOD, we must avoid sin, and when we do sin, we must confess those sins before GOD, so that we can be made clean again.2. Study the Word - Jesus said in John 8:31-32, "If you continue in My word, then are you truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Folks, rare is the time you will ever see someone skip eating for the day, let alone days upon end. But we do that all the time spiritually. The Word of GOD is food for our spiritual bodies! We need that spiritual food, for spiritual energy, and for the faith that we need ... to live the life that GOD has called us to live, here in the Earth. When we study and meditate the Word of God, our spirit man grows strong, in much the same way as a battery is charged! (Romans 10:17) But when we do NOT study the Word, our spiritual battery begins to run down, and the natural man begins to surface. We act more like our "old self" than like the renewed man that GOD created us to be. In other words, the "flesh" wins out. 3. Pray in the Holy Spirit - Paul teaches us that we are to pray in the Holy Spirit. "But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the spirit." [Jude 1:20 - AMP] Our supernatural energy, our faith, is charged and built up when we spend time in the presence of GOD, and when we "pray in the Holy Spirit". We are told in Ephesians 6 to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of HIS might", putting on the whole armor of GOD. We cannot be strong if we do not spend time in GOD's presence, and in supernatural prayer! ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS:
"This is YOUR day ... YOU control it, how it goes, how you deal with the obstacles that come, and how you finish it! Master it! And don't let the day, or the little bumps that come with it determine how "YOUR DAY" is going to be. This is "YOUR" day!" Master it! Conquer it! MAKE IT ... what your Father wants it to be!-pastor rich-
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