How To Do Ministry

I have read an awful lot of how-to  ministry books over the years - some of them were flat out awful. 

I read them not because I am looking for the one secret answer to how to "evangelize your community" how "grow the church", how to "preach the best sermons", how to "disciple  new believers", or any other how to we could add on here. I read them to get new insight and opinions on how other churches and church leaders are doing all of these things and finding success in their geographical areas and ministry areas.

Yet, as I read many of these books, it occurs to me that many of the authors fully believe they have the secret for how ministry should be carried out. For some of these leaders it is as if they have the secret recipe that the rest of us have never considered, but if the rest of us would simply take on their approach we would see the lost won, the hurting cured, and The Church would be what Jesus had always desired it would be.

The bottom line is that we need to research and consider what other churches and ministry leaders are doing - considering what is working and what is failing in these churches, and considering what could work and what might fail in our geographic and ministry areas. And, we need to be reading The Scriptures, and praying for God's guidance in the ministry areas that He has called us to and praying for His guidance in His ministry through us.

Then, given all of this we need to do ministry in a way that is practical and reaches those that we are called to reach. Simple as that.

What are you called to speak? How are you called to speak it?

What are you called to do? How are you called to do it?