Allen BinghamI was reminded recently of a 6 item checklist that Mike Breaux (@mikebreaux) walked our staff at Heartland Community Church through to determine whether or not we are in danger of some pitfalls that come with being in ministry.
Here are 6 things that will take you out of ministry (via Mike Breaux):
1. Life without boundaries
2. Calendars without Sabbath
3. Words without practice
4. Giftedness without humility
5. Relationships without discernment
6. Letting your identity get tied up in our titleThis list is posted in my office. It should be in yours too!
Relationships
John Townsend on Relationships (1 of 3)
Secrets of Great Relationships February 22, 2004 – by Dr. John Townsend
Welcome
to our series on GREAT RELATIONSHIPS and how you can have them! We all
desire the good things a thriving, healthy relationship provides-things
like love, tenderness, intimacy, companionship, security, protection,
help and more. God wants you to have all these things, and He provides
a way for you to experience these good things: through connection. God
created you for connection, both with Himself and other people, and He
has designed ways to help you grow into the relationships you need and
long for. We are excited about your own prospects to create great
relationships, whether you want to improve a struggling one, or make a
good one great.
In this first article of three, we wanted to start with the foundation and beginning of any great relationship. That foundation is grace. This
is a word that you often hear describing our spiritual relationship
with God, and that is the origin of it. Grace is, briefly defined, unmerited favor,
and is the basis of how God relates to us, by favoring us through love
and not through performance: "For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Eph.
2:8)." It is favors that God provides to us that we could never provide
for ourselves.
Rick Warren on Marriage
Six characteristics of a satisfying marriage by Rick Warren
When
my wife, Kay, was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, the doctors
hospitalized her about halfway through her 12-week chemo regimen
because of her serious reaction to the therapy. The effects of the
chemo plunged her into the misery of extreme nausea. Kay was wiped out,
and I was keeping visitors away so she could get some sleep.
I sat there, quietly thanking God for my wife and for his amazing
invention of marriage. With all its ups and downs, I'm certain marriage
is God's primary tool for teaching us unselfishness, sensitivity,
sacrifice, and mature love. As I looked at my wife, I saw that life is
a precious miracle, and that I’m privileged to care for her in sickness
and in health.
