Dave Earley - Ministry Is . . .

Ministry Is...

2010 by Dave Earley and Ben Gutierrez

All Rights Reserved.

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

ISBN: 978-1-4336-7058-9

Dewey Decimal Classification: 259

Subject Heading: CHURCH WORK \ MINISTRY \ LAY MINISTRY

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are from The Amplified Bible, copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation.

Scripture quotations marked The Message are from The Message, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, the Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977; used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

Scripture quotations marked CEV are from the Contemporary English Version, American Bible Society 1991, 1992; used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

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Introduction

We love ministry!

After God and our families, there is nothing we cherish more than the privilege of serving the Lord in ministry. We rejoice in ministering to people through evangelism, teaching, disciple making, praying, preaching, administrating, and leading. We also find great fulfillment in helping prepare others for ministry. We have served for many years in church ministry as church planters, pastors, professors, administrators, and authors; and we would not trade it for the world. Therefore, we jumped at the opportunity to create this practical guide to church ministry.

We dont claim to be special.

We assume that Paul was speaking to us when he wrote that God called us in spite of the fact that we are nothings and nobodies apart from Jesus Christ (1 Cor 1:2631). As missionary hero C. T. Studd would say, we are Christs insignificants and etceteras. Our only boast is in God.

We do have some experience.

We have given our adult lives to church ministry. In our journeys we have tried anything we thought might help. We have made plenty of mistakes and have won many victories. We have read the books and attended the conferences. We have trained thousands of students, laypersons, and pastors across America and in many foreign nations. As a result, we have culled our combined 50 years of hard-earned church ministry experience to give you what we believe are the 31 most important lessons to grasp in order to serve Jesus with passion and confidence.

We are incredibly proud of you.

Anybody who has the courage to read a book with the word ministry in the title is our kind of person. Effective church ministry can be one of the hardest yet most fulfilling challenges you can accept. Often it demands immense patience and perseverance. At times it feels like the enemy is fighting you every step of the way. You need encouragement in strong doses. Thats why we wrote this book.

We deeply desire to help you.

We want you to be the type of minister whose heart is on fire for God and who will give headaches to the Devil. So we have crafted 31 chapters of high-octane equipment, empowerment, and encouragement for any potential difference maker. In it we cover church ministry from just about every angle possible. Great for beginners, it also offers practical guidance for the most seasoned veteran. Each of the 31 chapters is written as a stand-alone article, yet they tie together to train, teach, and encourage any potential world changer.

We think this is more than just another book.

This book is your guide to the great adventure of doing your part to change the world for Jesus Christ. We believe these 31 chapters are positively potent. They will transform your life so you can be used of the Lord to revolutionize the lives of many others.

You wont get it all at once.

Learning to serve Jesus with passion and confidence can seem a little like eating an elephant. You dont get it all down in one bite. You have to eat it one bite at a time, learning a little more each week.

Chew it slowly.

This book was not designed to be rapidly read and quickly forgotten. It was prayerfully put together with the goal of changing your life. It will explain the what, why, and how of church ministry. Read it with a pen in hand to mark it up and make notes in the margin. Personalize it. Let it mark your life by making it your book.

At the end of every chapter you will find What Now? challenges to help you apply what you have just read. There also will be a summary about the nature of ministry and some good quotes to encourage and motivate you.

Read it all.

We want to encourage you to read all 31 chapters. We saved some of our best ideas for the final section. If you are reading this book outside of the classroom, you may want to read one a day for the next month. You will want to make it a regular appointment in your schedule.

Get a cup of coffee, grab a pen for note-taking, and dive in.

We pray that this little book will become a big book in your life. May it become your coach, equipping encourager, and idea catalyst for a lifetime of making an eternal difference for the glory of God in the lives of others.

Dave Earley and Ben Gutierrez

Part 1

The Meaning of Ministry

Ministry Is...

Leaving a Trail of Dust

Dave Earley

True greatness, true leadership is achieved not by reducing men to ones service, but in giving oneself in selfless service to them.

J. OSWALD SANDERS

When I (Dave) was a little kid, I loved to read the cartoons in the Sunday paper. One of my favorites was Peanuts. First printed in 1950, Peanuts is one of the most popular syndicated cartoons of all time and is still in Sunday papers today. One reason it is so well loved is because it has such a fascinating collection of characters. This cast of characters includes Charlie Brown, the ever-unfortunate boy; Snoopy, his beagle dog; Linus, the boy with his blankie; Linuss mean sister, Lucy; the piano playing boy named Schroder; and Pig Pen, my favorite. The thing I especially loved about Pig Pen was that wherever he went he was followed by a cloud of dust.

Real ministry is not about being so dirty that a cloud of dust follows us. But it is about being so busy getting our hands dirty serving God that we leave a trail of dust in our wake.

Leaving a Trail of Dust

The most common Greek term used in the New Testament for the verb to minister is (22 times, plus 10 times it is rendered as to serve). Diakonos is the most common Greek term used in the New Testament for the noun minister (20 times as minister, plus eight times as servant, and three times as deacon). In Phil 1:1 and 1 Tim 3:813 it denotes an office in the church. But almost everywhere else the word is used in a more general sense.

It indicates not just work in general but primarily work that benefits someone else. Paul used the word