ministry – Page 5 – John Markum

Challenge #5: Serve

Posted on February 28, 2011 by johnmarkum

Edgewood Challenge #5: Give time to serve in one ministry.

There’s this statistic that floats around many churches that says, “20% of the people do 80% of the service.” This stat gets called the 80/20 Stat most of the time and simply points out that only a fraction of most Christians ever give of their time and talent to be part of what the church is doing to impact their city for Christ.

It’s a shame, really. We would claim to believe in a God who saves souls, changes lives, and does the impossible – who is eager to capture us up into His mission to redeem the world to Himself – and we would pass. Because of this, one church leader, Ed Stetzer, began referring to this ratio of people who don’t volunteer themselves to the work of the church as the 80/20 Sin. When you and I make excuses for why we do not get connected in serving, we are trying to say that we believe in Jesus enough to save us, but not enough to give ourselves back to Him.

But what if we really lived it…? What would be the potential of our church – of the Quad Cities – if we lived as though our life was not our own, but we were bought with a price? What if the 80/20 statistic was flopped, and 80 % of the people each took a piece of the ownership in serving? The thought of what that would look like is absolutely breath-taking!

The Bible describes the church as the “body” of Christ. But when 80% of the body is not doing it’s function, the body is paralyzed… or dying. The whole body suffers when even a small part of it is out of order. But a body that is 100% operational is alive, healthy, and powerful. Let’s be that church!

Edgewood is such an amazing place because every week we get to see new people coming through our doors, and the potential to turn our world upside-down for the Gospel has never been greater, or more needed. And because our church has 3 weekend adult services, and a youth service, there are plenty of opportunities to use your time and talents to serve in one ministry. Let’s change our world by the way we serve one another!

Blessings,

John

Pastors: Why be a Pastor?

Posted on January 19, 2011 by johnmarkum

“If any man desires the office of an overseer, he desires a good thing.” 1 Timothy 3:1

I am blessed to lead a single’s ministry full of young adults who want to glorify God with there lives, many of them considering whether God wants to use them in full time ministry. And it is in that spirit that I want to share some thoughts on why someone might want to do that.

First of all if you’re even thinking about going into ministry, you need to know all the down sides. This is by no means a list of perdonal complaints about ministry, so don’t assume. I love my calling as you will see. On that note, this is a little depressing…

You will bear a stricter judgment before Christ. You will answer not only for your personal words, thoughts, and actions, but for the stewardship of your influence, creativity, and teaching.
Deciding to be a pastor is not a good “career” choice. It’s not lucrative. It’s not like you’ll work on commission… and chances are, as a pastor, you will live paycheck to paycheck most or all of your entire working life.
There’s little room for advancement… you don’t become a CEO Pastor, and if there was such a thing, it would only mean that you are responsible for serving more people.
The hours are terrible. You will (almost) never have a weekend off. And expect phone calls at any given hour of the night requiring you to leave the warmth of your bed in the middle of winter.
Marital strain. Ministry puts intense pressures on a marriage and family, that you would not experience otherwise.
People will hurt you. And not just “bad” people. Sometimes people you thought were “getting it” will turn on you though you’ve invested your time, heart, and energy into them.
Temptations are high. When you raise your hand and answer the call, Satan paints a bulls-eye on your back. Most of the pastors and church leaders who fall to immorality were good men and women at one point. Don’t think you’re any better than they once were.

Now after all of that, why would you want to go into ministry?!? Well, for one…

There is no other individual effort that could be more rewarding. Seeing people far from God awakened with life in Christ is satisfaction enough.
You get a front row seat to the power of God in people’s lives.
You get to work for the most understanding, competent, encouraging, equipping Boss ever! Period.
There is incredibly high accountability, spiritually, as dozens (or hundreds, or thousands) of people are looking to you as a spiritual example.
The retirement plan is insane! (John 14:1-3)
There will be people who circle around you, pray for you, encourage you, lift you up, and work with you. The joy that comes from these individuals is irreplaceable.
Your marriage can be strengthened by the ministry.
Your kids can get a first-hand account of what it means to see God move.
God promises reward and favor to those who serve Him. (Isaiah 52:7)

Ok, so that’s like, nine. But my point is that there is no higher human calling. I heard someone once suggest to Billy Graham back in the day, that he should run for president, to which he replied, “Sir, I would not dare step down from preaching the message of the Gospel to rule over any nation.” If you are considering ministry full time, there are many avenues you could take. More on that coming. But if you could possibly find fulfillment doing anything else, pursue that. But if it seems like God just won’t leave you alone about it, then you might be one that He has anointed to preach His word.

Blessings,

John

Your ministry has gas!

Posted on November 4, 2010 by johnmarkum

If you’ve ever ran out of gas while driving, you know how much it sucks! And being gas-less is indiscriminate. It does not matter if your car is an outdated, broke-down clunker or a brand new, fresh-off-the-line sports car… if you don’t have gas, your stuck.

Prayer is the gas in your ministry’s tank. Too many of us pastors get so busy in ministry that we neglect to fill it’s tank. It would be the equivalent of spending all your time under the hood, getting greasy working on the engine, changing the plugs, adding a booming stereo, or giving it chrome rims but forgetting to fill the tank. It doesn’t matter how good your ministry looks, or how mechanically sound it is, if you don’t have prayer your ministry won’t run far.

Of course you could push the car. But nobody willingly does this. It would be insane to exert the energy of pushing your car past the gas station, insisting that you’ve got everything under control. But doing ministry without consistent prayer is equally insane. Sure you can do it for a while, but why? It’s stupid, exhausting, and short-lived at best. Your ministry was never intended to run without prayer just like your car was never meant to run without fuel. Your strength to push a car is irrelevant compared to the power of gas. And your power to maintain ministry apart from a consistent prayer life is irrelevant and insulting to the God who called you.

If you’re getting burned-out because you’ve been bearing the responsibility of ministry without the resource of prayer, imagine how much faster, and how much farther you’ll get when you stop trying to “push” your ministry in your own strength, and pray for Jesus to do what He promised He would do – build His church. When we commit our ministries to the power of prayer, God rewards us with supernatural resources to deliver our message compellingly, gain influence, lead people, and overcome obstacles. It’s sounds so basic… it is. So is filling up your car. Don’t neglect the critical just because it’s basic. The growth of your youth ministry, small group, church plant, etc. depends more on your prayer than it does your next slick illustration or cool activity.

And this principle is true regardless of whether God has called you to preach or run a business. The fulfillment of your calling depends on prayer.

John Markum