Tag Archives: ministry

Can You Really _______ for Jesus?

Posted on by

This is a promotional video for the Light of the World Ballet Company.  I’ve watched two performances today, and didn’t take a single picture or video.

These are professional performers who tour the world, entering places like India and China that perhaps wouldn’t be open to missionaries (preachers) and share the Gospel while they are there.  Perhaps only Baptists would even second guess ballet as ministry.  Are other denominations as critical of dancing?  “A praying knee and a dancing foot don’t grow on the same leg,” I was told by one preacher’s wife.  Very Baptist.

I told our students (private Christian school) that whatever God has gifted them to do, do that for the glory and honor of God.  How many country music singers learned to sing in church, or got their start in the church choir?  But let me open this box: Can you really do anything for the glory and honor of God? David danced before the Lord; Psalm 150 mentions dancing, blowing horns and crashing symbols.  But where is the line?  Can you skateboard for Jesus?  Bowl for Jesus?  Play in a Christian rock band?  Are there things “done for Jesus” that are really just whatever we wanted to do in the first place?  Can you really (fill in the blank) for Jesus?  Or maybe answer this question: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever witnessed supposedly done for the glory of God?  I could easily link “preaching baby” again.

Jesus’ Example: Ministry

Posted on by

Jesus-healing-blindI have written many posts under the heading of Jesus’ Example.  So much of what Jesus did during his earthly ministry was to give us the examples to follow.  After washing the disciples feet, he actually told them it was an example and they were to do the same.  It was a dramatic demonstration of humility and service to one another.  We are commanded to imitate Christ by doing the things he did.  It should go without saying that must study his words and actions so that we can model our actions after his. Continue reading →

Parents’ Night Out

Posted on by

Let me tell you about a little thing we do twice a year called Parents’ Night Out.  My wife and I are the sponsors of an organization called Baptist Campus Ministry (BCM, formerly known as Baptist Student Union).  We were looking for a ministry opportunity that teenage youth could be a part of.  Since we are a school, not a church, some of the construction projects and work days that youth groups normally do are not a good idea.  We needed something that 9-12 graders could do to benefit the community, develop leadership, and nurture a servant like heart.  Enter my wife Teresa. Continue reading →

Sowing Gospel seeds

Posted on by

I’ve written before about gardening, and I’m getting excited because it’s almost that time. I enjoyed the hours last summer I put in, but reaping the harvest was also nice. Ministry is not always like that. There are times we see immediate results, or perhaps see results of our efforts at length, but not always. I teach at a Christian school, and some of our students will leave us soon and never return. Many will graduate, and keep in touch for a while. After a year or two of college they get busy with new friends and activities, and that’s the normal way it should be. Some of our students will simply not return to us next year, either enrolling in public school or in some cases, a different private school. At any rate, in most cases we will not see the end result of our work in ministry. I am definately not the same person I was in high school, and realize that our students today are not the mature adults that (we hope) they will grow into. Paul said that he plants, another waters, but it is God who gives the increase. Our job is to sow the seeds of the Gospel, then let nature take it’s course. Sometimes we will see immediate fruit from our labor. Other times the “fruit” doesn’t come about until years later. We’ve all heard stories of an adult, perhaps with children of their own, introducing themselves as Sunday school or youth group members from decades past. In Jesus’s parable of the sower, he talks a lot about the type of soil, but seems to automatically assume that good seed is being sown. In his example, good seed is a given. When we sow good seeds of the Gospel message (and live the life that bears witness of the Gospel) it is not up to us to make the seeds grow. We can’t artificially speed up the maturation process. In my garden, I know the number of days each fruit or vegetable is expected to take to reach maturity. God’s time table often does not follow our guidelines, so instead of making demands, we really need to just move on planting seeds. The Bible teaches that the Word will not return void. We sow in the faith that the one who created seeds, soil, sun and rain knows what he’s doing.