Few days ago, I was at home trying to find something to watch on the Television. I flipped through the channels but I must admit that I was discouraged to see how many of today’s television program is openly displaying sex and violence. My natural inclination was not to cry out for censorship but to challenge the Body of Christ to come with better Television programs and counter what the secular world have to offer. But the more I think about it, the more it dawn on me that many of the giants in the Body of Christ are dead and gone. People like Jonathan Edwards, Pope Paul John II, Charles Spurgeon, Smith Wigglesworth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Kathryn Kuhlman, Kenneth Haggin, Oral Roberts, R.W. Schambach, Paul Crouch, just to name a few. These men and women confronted their generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ and they made significant impact. Now that they are gone to be with the Lord, who will step up as a light in a world of darkness? Well, the more I think about it, the more I realize that whoever is willing to say “Lord here I am send me” would have to deal with the following sacred truth about ministry.
When you are called by God to do the work of the ministry, you must make it a priority to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready to always give an answer to every person that ask you about a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15). People who are working in God’s ministry must always be ready to minister. Likewise, a person in ministry must first prepare for the ministry before building a ministry. (Proverb 24:27) One of the main challenge in our generation is that there more questions than answers. A man or woman in ministry must be ready and well prepared to communicate the love of God towards all men and to give solid Biblical answers to life’s questions. Frankly, you cannot build a reliable ministry without proper preparation and readiness. And the best way to prepare for ministry is to yield your spirit to God and to constantly feed your heart with the word of God.
There was a man named Jeremiah who was called to the ministry. God instructed him to go down to the potter’s house to hear God’s divine instruction about ministry by watching what the potter does. (Jeremiah 18:1-6) Amazingly, what the potter does to the clay in the natural is very similar to what God does in the spirit to those who are called to the ministry. Briefly, let me share with you what you should expect when you are called to the ministry.
Rev (Dr) Joshua Joy Dara, Pastor at Zion Hill Church, Pineville, LA
1 Comment
Great, informative, word-based, enlightening. Thanks,Pastor.