What Money Means to Ministry

"Money follows the ministry." - Timothy J. Winters

Money is a means for ministry.  We make things happen in ministry with the aid of money.  It can happen in the form of charitable donations, offerings, tithes and other ways that people give to the ministry.  Money helps the ministry.

Wise Words from Winters

When Pastor Timothy J. Winters shared his insights on money following the ministry with me, he was speaking on preparation for a minister to discover his own personal calling.  He stated that some wanted to wait on the money to begin their ministry, an approach that did not signify a high level of faith.  We are to build the ministry, and the money and other resources needed will follow the ministry's work being initiated.

What Money Means to Ministry

We do not need money to operate ministry.  

That's a fact.

There is no doubt that money helps churches, parachurches, faith-based nonprofits and countless coalitions and associations doing good works.  However, money is not the main resource for ministry.  There are other resources incorporated in the anatomy of ministry that keep it going beyond money.

Money helps ministry.

Money helps us help others beyond what we are already doing for people.

Expanding the Ministry

We can expand the ministry from what it has been or who it has been helping, even where it has been operating.  Imagine the vision it took for Robert Schuller to see the possibilities of an empty drive-in movie theatre in Orange County.  It took vision, but it also took money to build the Crystal Cathedral, to produce the longstanding Sunday TV broadcast The Hour of Power, and publish a wide array of books.  With financial support, along with patience and dedication, the ministry was able to expand beyond its origin to world-renowned standing.

Life Path Gear & Accessories

The money did not make the ministry.  The money only served the purpose of helping to expand the ministry.

Money can help us serve more people.  It can help us produce and sell more products like gear and accessories.  It can help us provide more goods and services to the poor and needy.  It can help us take our ministry further than the current borders of our service.

Money can help with expanding the ministry.

Enhancing the Ministry

Money is a means for enhancing the ministry.

In other words, the ministry can grow in a different way and to a different level with the help of money.  You can enhance the ministry with additional elements.  You might change the selection of available items at your food pantry.  You might be able to provide your volunteers t-shirts or buttons to wear while serving.  You could enhance your ministry with more money.

You just have to be careful with sponsorships and donations.  These should help you do what you do, not direct and determine what you do.  You do not want money to inhibit or limit the ministry's ability to do good for others.

Money can help enhance the ministry.

Just keep it all in mind.  Money has a place in ministry, but money only follows the ministry.  Follow your heart first.  Find your calling.  Focus on that calling and its work.  You will be overwhelmed and amazed at the world of supporters out there, especially those who have more to offer than money- a willingness to pitch in and do some of the work with you.

Read more from Rev. Bruce on the Calling to Serve:

• Called Out and Counted On
• Shepherding is Serving
• Serving as Ministers

@Prayer is designed to stir up inspiration
by Lifepath08

Ministered by the Master

 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.  When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. - Mark 3:7-8 (NIV)

Jesus was oftentimes called the Master.  The Master healed people.  The Master helped people.  He was the Master.

For he had healed many,
so that those with diseases
were pushing forward to touch him.
- Mark 3:10 (NIV)

He ministered as the Master.  He taught and touched people.  He drew a crowd even when He was trying to withdraw.

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. - Mark 5:21 (NIV)

A Brotherhood of Burdens

Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfil the law of Christ.
-Galatians 6:2 (KJV)

Christians are to bear one another's burdens.  It is the way of Christ.  That's what He did, right? Remember WWJD? Was that just a fad? Or, did you really take that to heart?

Bear ye one another's burdens. . .

Wow! That's heavy.  Literally, it is heavy due to what it really means.  We are to carry the burdens of our brothers and sisters.  We are to feel their pain.  That means that we should empathize with others.  We are not called to simply stand off to the side and sympathize with them, feeling bad for them and going on. 

God wants us to live with the burdens of others as if they are our own.  If your brother suffers from addiction, you should live with it.  Even if you have never indulged, you are to suffer with your brother and sister as well as seek a remedy as if it were your own life in a shambles.  The same goes for homelessness, adultery, selfishness, greed and other things.  We need to share with our brothers and sisters.

Let's be Christlike about it.  He went out of His way for us.  He suffered for our sakes.

Analyzing the Church's Commitment to the Its Calling

“Don’t ask what the world needs.

Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

- Howard Thurman (Christian clergyman, author, and activist)

Analyze where the Christian church stands today.  Take an honest look at the standing of one of the most treasured institutions of society.  Make an earnest appraisal of the modern church.  See where the church stands today.

For far too long, in the eyes of many, the church has remained in isolation.  In the opinion of some, the church has appeared inactive, almost docile, dormant and dulled, if not deadened.  Others have said that the church has simply dwindled into a state of sheer ineffectiveness.

George Barna has studied and evaluated the church for years.  Henry Blackaby has shared some insights and findings as well.  John Maxwell has offered multiple volumes on Christian leadership.  Rick Warren weighed in with The Purpose Driven Church.  There is no shortage of Christian perspectives of what the church is not and where the church has fallen short.

Don't disregard the Reformation or the Great Awakening.  Don't toss aside the Progressives or the Abolitionists.  Do not forsake the social activism of Prohibition and the Salvation Army, YMCA, and YWCA.  Don't forget how Christians fought Darwinism and the teaching of evolutionism in the U.S. school system.  Forget not Azusa Street and the likes of Oral Roberts or Billy Graham.  Do not frown upon the church's role in the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-war protests, and the pro-life debates.  Consider all of the church's storied past.

Recall that the church has been called to be more than a building.  The church has a calling as the body of Christ.  Look at Luis Palau, Chuck Colson and Prison Fellowship, and the countless missionaries and ministries that exist today.  See how many are fed, clothed, sheltered and ministered to through street ministries and storefronts alike.  See the church playing an active role in society.

Do not grapple with public opinion.  Do not spend hour upon hour debating with the church's critics.  Stand proudly and boldly to be counted among the many who diligently serve the Lord by doing all that they can with what little they have for "the least of these."



Get People Back into Church

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? - Luke 5:4 (NKJV)

Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?. . .  - Luke 5:8 (NKJV)

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’” - Luke 15:31-32 (NKJV)


It's hard getting people back into church.  It is certainly no easy work. 

You can lose things along the way.  You can lose focus.  You can even lose some degree of faith.  Unfortunately, you can also lose people.

There is a way to get some people back into church.  You can get them back with some effort. 

Recover those who you lost.  Get men back into church.  Keep youth engaged in service and Sunday school.  Turn those hangers-on into holly rollers.

If you fail to make the effort, you can hardly expect them to return.  Make the effort.  Get people back into church.

 

Here are some simple starting points for getting them back into church:

• Develop a Hit List:
• Identify those who signed up and have never shown up
• Identify those who no longer show up
• Identify those who show up every now and then
• Make Contact
• E-mail the group with an appeal to return to church
• Phone those who no longer show up or who show up every now and then
• Schedule a home visit for those who signed up and never showed up
• Measure Your Progress
• Measure your contacts
• Who
• When
• What resulted from the contact. . . message, conversation, etc.
• Make connections
• See who shows up (measure over a month or two)
• Follow up with those who said they would but never did

Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence

of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

- Luke 15:10 (NKJV)

Develop Difference Makers

 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen. - Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV)

The Great Commission gives us the disciple-making formula.  We have been referencing it for years.  We have used it for our mantra in evangelizing the entire world, putting much of our focus on the going and baptizing with regards to all nations and unto the end of the world. 

What about the teaching part?

. . . and teach all nations. . .
. . . Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. . .

Our discipleship process should make a difference.  It should make a difference in the people who are discipled by us.  It should make a difference in them as they become fishers of men.  It should make a difference in them to the point where they make a difference in the world around them.  We, as the body of Christ, are to develop difference makers.

Get ideas and insights on how to develop difference makers:

• Outreach Magazine
• Urban Ministry
• Life Church
• Relevant  Magazine

We need today's Christian to be able to sort through the muck and the mire.  We need Christians who will know what is truth and what is false, calling out the false prophets and standing for the truth.  We need Christians who are not blinded by the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, MTV and other fantasies.  We need people who will stand upright as the world goes astray, working in this ministry of reconciliation.  We need Christians to serve as Christ's army.

Read the likes of J.C. Ryle, Francis Chan, Oswald Chambers, Watchman Nee, William Wilberforce, and William Carey.  Try to get a hold of the works of Hudson Taylor, Richard Allen, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Al Sharpton.  Look into men like William Tyndale, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and John Bunyan.  Let the words of these men sink into your heart, mind and soul.  See how they made a difference.  See how others taught and trained them.  See how you can develop others to make a difference.

8But you must defend

those who are helpless

and have no hope.

9Be fair and give justice

to the poor and homeless

- Proverbs 31:8-9 (CEV)

We all should question ourselves.  We must answer for what we do and we fail to do.

I love the opening chapter of The Street Lawyer by John Grisham, I love the line of questioning by one of D.C.'s homeless brothers to a room of high-priced attorneys whom he has taken hostage of in their office:

1. How much money did you make last year?
2. How much money did you give to charity (to the poor and the needy) last year?

Doesn't that make sense to you? Do the math.  #1 may outweigh #2, but there needs to be some actual figures for each one of those.  For instance, if #1 for you is $100,000 and #2 is $10,000, then you have given 10% of your income to charity.  No matter if you gave to the animal shelter, the rescue mission or the youth ceneter, that money went towards people doing good works.
 

It reminds me of an old school Hollywood flick called Boys Town.  I saw it before Ted Turner started touching up the old black and white movies, but even after it has been remastered, it still has an old school flavor to it.  Spencer Tracy plays an inner city priest who watches over a flock of unwanted urban youth, offering them compassion and hope despite poverty and the dire conditions of the city life.  It reminds me of Sleepers.  The one where Dinero plays the priest who is smoking either Pall Malls or Lucky Strikes.  He plays the part where he offers an alibi for the kids-turned-adults who murder an abusive juvenile detention center guard.  That was "Sleepers," not "Boys Town."  They're not the same movie or even the same type of movie, but they have similar characters.  They have the guy- whether he's a priest or not- who looks out for the youth of the community beyond their spiritual needs and offers a role model or father figure for them to look up to and see working within the community. 

Every community needs both groups of people.  Each community needs someone who will give some part of what they have to help others and those who serve to help others.  It's philanthropy.  We need more people giving towards good causes.  We need people to offer a helping hand by being a role model or a father figure, even a big brother or big sister.  Plenty of kids desire to have someone show them some love and appreciation.  The elderly want that, too.  The disabled want it just like everyone else does.

Be a voice for others.  Be a helping hand for others.  Make a difference with what God has given to you.

Leave a Legacy Behind

“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We lead people.  We do it in church.  We do it in community.  We lead people.

What do we leave behind?

We work tirelessly.  We leave a trail of blood, sweat and tears behind.  We put in long hours and endless days.  We end up doing much more than we ever make out of any of what we are given.  We do a lot and end up with little to show for it.

You need to leave a legacy behind.  You need to be sure to train your replacement and take him or her under your wing.  Make an impact in your community.  Make a difference in this world.  Take the opportunity to leave a legacy behind.  Plant seeds today that will lead to a bountiful harvest in the future.

The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways. - Proverbs 14:14 (ESV)

Size Matters in Ministry

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. - Acts 11:25-26 (NIV)

Paul (Saul) and Barnabas went to Antioch on a mission.  Earlier, in verses 20-21, men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and shared the "good news" and "a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord." Word of this reached Jerusalem and Barnabas, who was "a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith", was sent to Antioch where he encouraged the believers (vv. 22-24).  That's when he went for reinforcements, seeking out Paul (Saul) in Tarsus.

The Book of Acts gives the Bible reader an account of the missionary journeys of Paul.  Barnabas, also known as "Son of Encouragement," went to Tarsus and brought his partner to Antioch.  They spent a year there, teaching and discipling a diverse population of believers.  Obviously, they did some good works because the people were called "Christians," followers of Christ.  At some point, their teaching and fellowship must have hit home with those with whom they shared the Word of God.

Think it through.  There were those who brought the Good News that sparked the movement among the people.  Barnabas stepped in and offered some support to the new converts.  After that experience, Paul (Saul) was brought in to assist Barnabas in discipling the people at Antioch.  That was teamwork.  The teamwork occurred in phases or stages.

We need to examine the example of these men further.  Our ministries need to do something similar.  There needs to be a team who can go into uncharted territory and break new ground with the Gospel.  They need to be able to share the Good News with fervor, winning hearts and souls along the way.  They need to return to the house of God, sharing what they discovered as fertile ground, so that others like Barnabas can come in and edify the new believers with words of comfort, gladness and encouragement.  From there, those encouragers can leverage their relationship with the believers and other evangelists and workers who can support and strengthen the believers.  That's teamwork.

We need prayer warriors who can intercede on behalf of lost souls and those evangelists and missionaries.  We need workers within the ministry who are taught and trained, equipped to do good works beyond the confines of the house of God.  We need those who have the spiritual gift of exhortation, comfort, and other special gifts to serve in a variety of capacities in order to reach a dying world.

It takes a team who can work together to bring a community together in the name of Jesus.

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
- 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (NKJV)



Develpment and Destiny

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” - Matthew 4:19

You should expect some development on your way to your destiny.  That should be a given.

Jesus offered something unique to His disciples.  He invited them to follow Him, to leave their nets for fishing men and to become "fishers of men." Jesus had something to offer these fishermen.

Jesus has something to offer every single Christian beyond a divine destination.  Jesus offers each and every one of us some development on the way to our destination.  He wants to make more out of us than we could ever imagine.

Let Jesus work on you.  Let Him develop you on your way to your destination.

Do Some Good

"Do good with what you have or it will do you no good." - William Penn

You need to be able to do some good for others.  That should be a given.  The believer is to serve as a blessing.

Who was the last person whom you blessed?

I am talking about folks beyond you immediately family or even your extended family.  I mean people who do not go to your church or work on the same floor as you.  Who? I am talking about people who could not pay back the blessing.  I am talking about people who are in no position to even think about giving you anything except a kind word like "Thank you" or "god bless you."

Do some good.  Hook up with some others and do some good.  Show the world your faith by doing some good works.  Don't let this summer go by without reaching out and helping out someone else who is in need.  Start right where you are today.

In Your Own Words

 Meeting people where they are does not mean leaving them there

It is plastered on nearly everything that Life Path puts out there.  It is a mantra that is designed to keep us operating on a mission rather than remaining meaningless.  It is our vow to remain meaningful and missional while making a difference.  It is at the core of Life Path's mission and existence.

I was recently forced to revisit my whole venture into ministry and social services.  I question the notion that the two are not the same.  If we are engaged in true ministry, we will perform some sort of social service to assist those around us get what they need to go further and grow to become more and more of who God has destined them to become in this life.  I truly have a problem seeing a difference from where I stand today.

Nevertheless, after searching my soul and looking deeper and deeper into what I have been called to do, I realize that I have to work further to maintain this mantra as a check-in to start and end my day.

• Have I met people where they are?
• Have left people where I met them?
• Could I do more or better?

In ministry, I must ask these questions.  At work, I must ask these questions.  I must ask these questions of every faith-based effort that I engage in daily.  I must ask these same questions of every community-based venture that I am involved in daily.  I have to ask it of myself as work in a nonprofit setting.  I must ask these same questions of myself as I work on for-profit models that will support the youth work that I plan to offer the youth within my community.

It is reflected in my work.  It is reflected in my writing.  It is reflected in the ministry and service that I aim to offer beyond anything that I have done so far.  Join me in the journey.

Don't forget to help us help youth! http://200club.chipin.com/200-club-youth-sponsors

Encircle New People

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. - Acts 2:42-47 (KJV)

The people of God are called to serve God by living out their new faith in a new way.  Each believer is called to live as a "new creation" according to 2 Corinthians 5:17. The early church was full of the Holy Spirit fresh from the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost.  These believers gathered and shared with one another in all sorts of ways.  They had fellowship and prayed together, enjoying worship and fellowship with one another.

And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

As new converts come into the church today, we need to encircle them.  As we encircle them,  let us embrace them with the love of Christ.  We should encourage new believers to learn all that they can about Christ as He appears in the Scriptures.  We must do our best to support these new believers in growing in Christ.

If we offer our love and support to the new people who come into our midst, we must trust God to strengthen us further to handle more people coming into the church.  The more people who come in will require the people of the church to do more, too.  We will need to be able to handle people coming out of prison and recovery programs just like people returning from college and those coming off of welfare and unemployment.  Let us learn to be useful and fruitful, "maintaining good works" as we do so.

Praying with Purpose

We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;
because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;

as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,  who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

- Colossians 1:3-14 (NKJV)

Paul opens his letter to the believers at Colosse (Colossae) with an prayerful appeal.  In verses 3 through 6, he offers prayerful thanksgiving for the believers themselves and their faith and "love for all saints." He shares that he is thankful for what God has done with these believers and through them in the form of "bringing forth fruit." In verses 9-14, he shares that he and Timothy (Timotheus) have prayed for the Colossians to continue living by faith by "being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." He shares his thankfulness to the Lord for what He has done among these believers and his trust in the Lord for what He will continue to do among and through these same believers.

He asserts his authority of "an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God" within the very first words of the letter.  As a missionary, he educated these believers and some like Epaphras, his "dear fellow servant" educated Paul and Timothy of the people and their "love in the Spirit."  As a minister, Paul sought to soak the Colossians down in prayer for the sake of the gospel so that they could live on as testimonies of God's tremendous work.  He was purposeful in his prayer for these believers, sharing that he truly hoped that the Lord would help them to grow stronger in faith and their knowledge of Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior.

What if we prayed with more purpose regarding our fellow believers? What if we thanked God for what He had already done for them? What if we offered God our prayers, fully trusting Him to supply and strengthen our fellow believers? Imagine how much more unity we would experience if we expressed that prayerfulness for our brothers and sisters in Christ openly and publicly, standing together as one body, the Body of Christ.

It is my belief that we would experience more power if we would become both prayerful and purposeful.  We need to become more prayerful, praying for one another.  We need to become more purposeful, recognizing our God-given purpose to serve the Lord and support one another.  That would help us to live a little more like Paul, Timothy, Epaphras and the believers in Christ in Colosse.

From Eden to Egypt- Day 10

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"-Genesis 4:9 (NASB)

Am I my brother's keeper?

 

It is an age-old question.  Ever since this early sibling rivalry, the question has loomed among mankind. Some have only asked it.  Others have crafted sermons based upon it.  Many have built ministries based on it, too.  It has at least crossed our minds at one time or another, possibly pricking our hearts in some cases.

We ask it without truly seeking out the revealed answer that occurs in the very same verse where it initially appears.  We ask it without recognizing that the question that prompts us asking such a question provides the very rationale that we need to truly understand the Lord's desire for us.

"Where is Abel your brother?" 

 

It is the Lord who asks this of Cain.   It is not Adam or Eve seeking to find out what has happened to Abel.  It is the Lord who asks about Cain's brother.  The Lord's question about Abel, Cain's brother, supersedes and precedes Cain asking if he is his brother's keeper.  The question that comes from the Most High is over greater importance.

Let us seek to uphold our Christian responsibility by answering the Lord's inquiry about our brother or sister.  Let it never be the case that we are resistant or reluctant to help our brother or sister in need when we have the means to help him or her.  How pleasing are we to the Lord when we cannot even answer about our care and concern for our own brother or sister? May we never shame the very name of Christ by our negligence for the calling to live up to His name as Christians.

Presented before Perfection

"Presenting myself to God implies a recognition that I am altogether His."- Watchman Nee

The Bible speaks of the believer progressing towards presentation before the One who is perfect.  We are to be taught and trained to do the "work of the ministry," fully equipped to be presented before Christ for His approval at the Bema Seat.  We need to see that our ministry and church "work" are to be done for the perfecting of the saints and the presentation before the Savior.

I think many of us have a poor understanding of judgment for believers.  There is no condemnation for believer because of sins.  His believe has him covered in the righteous blood of the Lamb of God.  Jesus assured Nicodemus that He came to give life, not to condemn the world.  We, too, live under that same promise made by the Master to His late-night visitor who crept in under the cover of darkness.  What Jesus shared with Nicodemus is carried over to all who believe.

But there is more to it than to "only believe." The believer has a responsibility.  Take up your cross.  Forsake all others.  Follow Jesus.  Serve the Lord.

In all that we do for the Lord, we will be called on what we have done and what we have not done in His name and with His Word (Rev. 3:8).  One day the dead in Christ will be called up to meet Him in the air at His judgment seat.  It is there whre the Lord will call our works into judgment, not our sins.  He will call us on what we did in His name and how we served others with love, honor and integrity.  He will seek an answer and an account for all that we have done with our faith.

Just coming to church regularly won't do.  Simply wearing a cross around your neck or sporting a Not of This World t-shirt won't cut it.

I think the brother of the Lord, James, said it best: "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do" (James 2:18, NIV).

Watchman Nee is sharing something similar with the believer in The Normal Christian Life.  He uses Romans chapter 6 as a focus, but he hones in on Romans 6:19.  He shares that the believer should have already presented himself entirely over to God.  This is what makes the believer holy.  This what sanctifies the believer, total submision of one's entire being given over to God.  He wants to be His "very own" people (Titus 2:14).  As Peter said, He wants to make us into His "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9).

Be changed today.  Live differently today.  There is freeedom in Christ.  Live for Him, and then you will not be ashamed on the day when the trumpet sounds.  You will be prepared for your presentation before perfection.

Giving More or Giving Up

But if I say, "I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name," Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.

- Jeremiah 20:9 (NASB)

Few seek to quietly endure the pain and agony that comes with being chosen by God for a special task.  Moses sought for the Lord to give it to someone else.  Elijah was at the brink of breaking down.  Peter had gone so far as to deny knowing the very Christ who he had confessed as the son of the living God.  Jonah had done it in both a physical and spiritual sense, running away from God.  Yet, when we look at Jeremiah, we see the weeping prophet ready to call it quits on God.

Jeremiah felt that he had been given a raw deal.  He felt he had been swindled or tricked.  He was not feeling it, especially after all of the ridicule and his calling becoming like a "reproach" for him.  He was done.  He had it.  He was ready to quit.

However, in the same breath of his resignation, Jeremiah found resolve.  In the midst of his departure, he discovered a new devotion to the Divine.  Right when he was ready to give in, he emerged with a way and a means by which to give more.  He could give more because of all that had been taken away from him and all that God was still willing to see him through.  Jeremiah found a way to give even more than what he cried out about losing.  He decided that he had enough within him for him to give more and more.

When you are ready to quit, dig deep. Take a moment and search the very depths of your soul for a little bit more to give.  Scrape the bottom of your well and see if you do not come up with something more to offer.  Don't just get back in the race.  Get back in the running.
Give another sermon.  Teach another Sunday school class.  Stay on as ministry leader.  Train someone else to serve in your capacity. Give more. Don't give up. Just give a little more.