Discipling Men, Inc.

I attended an outstanding seminar yesterday morning at the Christian Psychological Center in Memphis for those who run Christian ministries. One of the assignments was to write a letter to a younger protégé about advice that one would give to one in ministry. We had a time limit so it was a short assignment in a short time frame. The mental challenge caused a short in my hippocampus which is not a school for sub-Sahara African river horse mammals.

My pigmy thoughts.

It is a great opportunity to reflect on ministry. These past few years have me continually coming back to the basic and foundational core values necessary for spiritual growth in life and ministry.

One of the main ingredients of my Christian life and ministry is the daily dependence and need for prayer. Why pray when you can worry one wag intoned?

I know that the most important part of a person’s life is the part that only God sees. For if that part that only God sees is what it is supposed to be, than that part that others see will be what it is supposed to be. Prayer is a major component of that. It is instructive to me that of all of the things that the Lord could have been requested by his disciples for Him to teach them was how to pray.

Prayer is hard work. We rationalize not doing it at our own peril.

So pray when you feel like it, pray when you don’t feel like it, pray until you do feel like it.

Set aside time in your schedule to pray.

The next thing to do is to read the Bible daily. It is the best source book and manual for wisdom, life and for all of our answers. It is easy in ministry to teach it, and study it without really treasuring it as God speaking to us personally.

The third thing I encourage you to do is to get in a small group with a bunch of guys that will be there for you to encourage you, pray for you and build you up.

The fourth thing I encourage you to do is to read. Read widely and broadly. Read for illustrations, for insight, and for the wisdom of the ages. Read between the lines to gain a perspective on the world and life view of the author. John Wesley, while often riding fifty miles a day read science and history books propped on the pommel of his saddle.

Read to stretch your cerebral cortex until you have a mental Charlie horse.

The fifth thing I encourage you to do is do something physically to reduce the stress of life and ministry. Walk, hike, run, and swim, mountain bike, kayak, and climb or play a sport in the great out of doors that would cause you to sweat.

Finally be encouraged to encourage and love one another. We are all under construction, in process and “on the grow”. Everyone, yes everyone needs encouragement. Jesus said that all will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another.

This was a short response to my assignment about challenging disciplines which may be daunting but remember God enables us to do tall things and all things by His unlimited power of His presence in us.