It took researching and writing a book about the moral decay of our family and society and how to prevent it from happening and correct it if it has, to realize how the world is falling away from Our Savior more quickly  than we can create solutions. We’re in big trouble;  and it’s time to wake up and realize that if we don’t act quickly,  we’re going to find ourselves in even more trouble.  Family is the cornerstone of EVERYTHING else in life. As I say repeatedly in our book. IT ALL STARTS AT HOME!

I’m not talking about the unsaved souls as much as I am talking about those who claim to be saved and children of the Most Holy and Living God.  I’m talking about walking, talking, breathing, Bible believing Christians and Christian leaders. Now, some of you might think I’m a little bit overboard and maybe I am; but someone has to speak up. If the government isn’t going to do it and the “believers” aren’t going to do it and the leaders of the church aren’t going to do it…I might as well!

Let me take this a step further, you can’t call yourself a Christian if you’re not outraged by the hypocrisy and lack of action of other “Christians” - especially Christian women! Women are sacrificing both their children and themselves in their quest for true love; which in so many cases is mislabeled. They’re leaving their children and responsibilities to follow their love interests into sinful relationships with no thought of how it affects those children. Come on girls! You are the modern day Deborahs; and you were blessed with those children.  The men aren’t leading the family in a lot of cases; so it’s your Christian duty as a daughter of Our Heavenly Father to stand up and lead. Are you leading your family or are you just going with the flow? Be still and let God work in and through you and I PROMISE you won’t have to search for true love…it’ will find you!

This is a stand I am ready and willing to take! Are you? Or is it more comfortable and more politically correct for you to avoid offending others by not standing up for the standards of Our Savior?

Some of my friends tell me I can’t fix it.  They say I should leave the preaching to the pastors.  Well,  I would except most of the pastors I’ve been meeting are “preaching to the choir” as Pastor Tom frequently says.

Oh, they make a big deal about their Sunday morning service and they really show out for the special events; but then they find their way back to their comfort zone until the next “pot luck supper”. You go into their churches and see the same members listening to the same sermons year after year after year. That’s my definition of stagnant and boring.

I’ve approached pastors and asked them to let me teach “A Course In Heartbreak” in their church, free of charge; and the response I get is “We’ve got a divorce support group, we don’t need marriage restoration.”  – SAY WHAT? I always give it an extra push and ask them why they choose divorce support over marriage restoration; and the most common response I get is “These people don’t like change”.  Oh Dear Lord; this is coming from the mouth of the pastor! This is the church leader and the shepherd of God’s flock? 

Do you have any idea how much work it takes to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with just one person?

If you think it consists of kicking out some good salvation scriptures and a few promises for good behavior, you’re wrong. In my case, it takes an entire testimony to help lead a soul to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.   It takes years of doing things wrong then changing tracks and surrendering your soul to Jesus; and allowing Him to transform you. It takes a daily, consistent walk through the blessings and the trials and experiencing the joy that bursts through your heart when you sincerely realize HE IS THERE with you! It is experiencing His glory through the miracles He blesses you with; KNOWING you don’t deserve any of it.

And that’s not all! It takes recognizing a lost and struggling soul through your eyes that were once lost and struggling, but have come through the cleansing process and never forgotten  the lessons along the way. It’s hanging on to the memory of how it felt to reach every new level of faith and the spiritual, physical and emotional components that came with it. That’s the easy part!  The hard part comes when you really want to go and pour a glass of milk and eat one of those doughnuts in the kitchen; but stay at the computer, or on the phone, or even in the center isle at the Wal-Mart talking that fragile and precious soul through what you KNOW is an attack and an attempt by the enemy to make this precious new child of God give up.

Let me sidetrack and say that I have the utmost respect and admiration for Christians who have never experienced the ugly sinful side of life that the majority of us chose to experience before we came to Jesus Christ.   I think their biblical knowledge and dedication to church, home and community is to be commended. Most of them that I have met are truly living their faith and each has a special gift they share with the rest of the world; however,  I have found that in many cases they don’t do well with people who are newly saved. They are GREAT for post salvation mature guidance; but more often than not, a person coming in from the storm cannot relate to a person who has never really seen the dark side of life like divorce, adultery, infidelity, pornography, abuse or addiction - to name a few.  The most common complaint I get is that they are quick to judge and then they immediately go into a heavy biblical description of how they need to get their life on track. This is the BEST way to scare a new believer away. It’s not my theory; it’s a fact. I deal with it every day.

These folks are wonderful with Christians who are STABLE in their faith.  We are all ministers; but some of us choose not to be practicing ministers.

 Sharing the gospel is more than reading what Jesus said. It is truly living to see the unsaved come to Christ from the same pitfalls you yourself were saved from while bringing His gospel to life through your actions and testimony! YOU ARE GOD’S NEW ARMY! He is using former “wretches” to relate to those who are on the brink; and it is a twenty-four hour a day job. No holidays and no vacations! It is ministry in its rawest form and defines the word “sacrifice” very well - His and yours; and it truly brings His Sacrifice to life for the person stepping into their “new life”...  

I’ve never been a pastor!  After seeing what my pastor goes through, I’ll pass; but I am a minister of God’s gift, guidance and teaching of how to experience His miracles. I minister to those who feel they are too marked by sin to ask Him into their lives. I don’t know what it’s like to lead a church; but I do know what it’s like to lead a ministry; and I know that many of our church leaders and fellow Christians just aren’t cutting it; but they think they are.

A Christian should be curious; someone who can think outside the structured religious or denominational box, and look into their heart where God dwells and guides. When a Christian closes his ears, eyes and mind to new ideas and suggestions, he grows stale. How often have you heard fellow Christians or even a pastor or priest say that they don’t like change so they leave things as they are so as not to upset the rest of the group? If you never put your beliefs or God’s inspiration in your heart to the test or to work; how will you ever know if you’re living up to HIS full potential? Showing up on Sunday and maybe Wednesday is really great for attendance but what ministering are YOU doing the other 604,680 seconds of your week?  If you’re not feeling any inspiration in your heart to do more; then you may want to rethink your walk. God ALWAYS inspires. You need to listen for it.

A Christian has to be creative and willing to go out on a limb to reveal Jesus to people who aren’t impressed with much these days. Many of these people feel the church is stagnant and boring. Sound familiar? The world is spinning out of control around us!  How are you going to jump into that spin and share Jesus with people who are so easily swayed by even the tiniest temptation?  Or how will you help the ones who fall for that temptation as a way of life? You need to be creative and full of the Holy Spirit, Who is full of creativity!  The bottom line is, things are changing and you have to be creative and adapt in order to be affective for His kingdom. 

Communication is the key to success. I have over 125,000 members; and on any given day, I receive over 500 e-mails. It’s impossible for me to answer every single one of them and not all of them need to be answered; but I read each and every one, and when God moves my heart to respond, you better believe I respond, usually until the early morning hours and against my will.

I have been ready to climb into bed when my phone has rung and even though my flesh was telling me to let the machine answer, my heart was telling me someone needed help and God chose me to be there. On several occasions, I have stayed on the phone until daylight talking to someone who just felt there was no reason to go on. Preventing someone from taking their own life is the most incredible feeling in the world. Knowing they are stepping away from that abyss which the enemy has convinced them is the only way, back into the light is worth the lack of sleep. What would have happened to those poor souls had I not answered? I shudder to think about it.  I shudder to think of what I would have had to say to my Heavenly Father at the Judgment Seat of Christ  when I had to answer  for all I did and DIDN’T do!

I have worked alongside other ministries and churches over the past eight years; and have met many  pastors and ministry leaders who lack communication skills. If you’re going to be a good Christian you have to communicate. Even a short reply with a promise for more detail at a later time is better than silence. How would you feel if you called on God and He didn’t respond? This is especially important for those of you involved in interactive intercessory prayer. Your response to an e-mail could be the very inspiration that person needs.   There’s really no excuse for a ministry leader who doesn’t respond to communication that requires response. If someone calls you or mails you with a question, answer them. One word responses are tacky and lack class. You are a servant of God, act like it! Give the person requesting information about your ministry or church the benefit of at least one sentence. God knows you’re busy; but how you communicate says a lot about how serious you take your ministry.

A Christian has to be a person of good character. That means sometimes doing the right thing when you know many might not agree with you. If they have a problem with your decision, let them deal with it; and explain to them the reasons why you have made the decision you’ve made. Anything less is acting in the flesh and is akin to the “Good ‘ole boy” system. Real friends won’t walk away from you doing the right thing, but when a precious soul is in the balance, you might want to stop and ask yourself who you serve; God or your friends? Having character means you have to have a lot of courage. I’m not talking about a swagger and a loud voice; I am talking about the courage to always do the right thing, make the right decisions, and sometimes travel the path alone. Politicians with courage know that taking a stand for the right thing often costs them votes. Ministers with courage often means taking a stand will cost them friends and in the case of church leaders, members. Remember who you serve.

And finally, a Christian has to have conviction which leads to a fire that burns in your  belly to do the will of God and a drive that keeps you going through those long hours, with passion. It’s that feeling like you can’t wait to do the job God has given you to do. You wake up and look forward to serving the Lord and there is no dread like you feel with an ordinary job. It’s always there; and sometimes you might get tired but you still long to serve God.  It’s a driving desire to want to get things done and change things.

Being a ministering Christian doesn’t make you any better than any of your brethren. Leave the ego and the arrogance behind. You’re still human. You can’t take credit for anyone’s salvation; and your job is to lead them towards the only One Who can save them. As Christians, it is our duty to do that. The extra effort you put into in by following up on the one God has blessed you with to guide is insurance that they are going to stay the course. I believe this is exactly what God wants from each and every one of us.  

So, how many of you are ministering to the world which we are here to witness to in Jesus name? How many of you are longing to make a difference in this out of control world; and then doing something to actually make a difference?

 If you’re not sure what you should be doing to minister to the lost souls of this world, take this issue into your prayer closet. Don’t be surprised if God gives you an assignment which  is the total opposite of what you THINK you should be doing. He’ll equip you with everything you need to minister. Don’t believe me? Just go and read Moses’ story. 

You can e-mail me at shell@just4ladies.com or mail Pastor Tom at TomMooty@webaptist.org if you have questions about how to start ministering for The Lord. We’re happy to help you get started!

Until we meet again…Simply believe!