Weekly Devotions - Sowing Seeds of Faith

Article about Sowing Seeds of Faith and Internet Ministry

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“Lord, Please...

No Meetings!"

I hate meetings!” I’m not kidding! One thing I didn’t anticipate when becoming a minister… were the absurd number of meetings that come with church life. Have you ever been to a board meeting with the main topic being whether to pay someone to cut the grass or use volunteers? Churches often have hundreds of committee meetings… each jam-packed with issues. For example:

Who left the lights on in the men’s bathroom last week? (Wasting money)
Did you hear what happened to Martha last night? (Gossip)
There’s a bunch of spoiled food in the refrigerator. (Clean-up)
Who’s cooking the hot dogs after church this Sunday? (Hey… I like that one!)

Do you see the picture? It’s not pretty! But after many years of ministry, I’ve learned an amazing truth! Are you ready? This will surprise you! The issue isn’t about meetings at all. Nope! The real problem is my leadership and my bad attitude. As pastor, I was the one who needed to mend my ways and fast.

“Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:23 - 25

In other words, we gather at a meeting in order to hold tightly to the hope God has promised us. Meetings should be used to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. The idea is not to stop meetings but rather to use meetings as a source of encouragement, an opportunity for teaching and especially a call to Godly action. Wow! I was missing the point… so I changed!

Before any meeting I have learned to ask four simple questions:

"Live the Light!

Five Weeks to a Life that Shines!"

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U Is God invited? This is about priorities. More than a perfunctory prayer or devotion, this question is a spiritual challenge: Are we vigorously seeking to follow Gods will?

U Do you know where you’re going? This is about organization. What will you accomplish? Is there a clear agenda to follow? Are you prepared to answer reasonable questions?

U Are the committee members with you? This is about communication. Does the committee have enough information? Is everyone participating in a healthy and creative discussion?

U Will the meeting end with smiles or frowns? This is about encouragement. Does the meeting end with the anticipation we are following God’s will for our church?

Do you want something more specific? Maybe these questions will help:

Do you begin seeking God’s direction?
Do you start and finish on time?
Is there a written agenda?
Are you providing adequate information?
Are you making reasonable decision-making progress?
Is there an atmosphere encouraging creative thinking?
Do you offer opportunities for friendly disagreement?
Is there reasonable consensus with the direction of the group?
Has the overall atmosphere been encouraging?
Do you end seeking God’s blessing for your action?

Oh, one more thing… we changed our church structure too. Several years ago, we reorganized our committees into four teams: Outreach, Witness, Nurture and Administration. Each team focuses on how we can best fulfill our mission statement: Picture a lighthouse and within the light: “A Light to Guide You Safely Home.” As a church we strive to be a lighthouse to our community and our world providing a steady and comforting light to guide the lost into the safety of God’s harbor.

Now, after carefully following all the lessons learned… I love meetings! (No I don’t.) We never argue! (Yes, we do.) Our discussions are always relevant! (No, they aren’t.) But we are making solid progress and God’s hand is gently guiding our ministry. Just one more thing: “Who is cooking the hot dogs?”

Larry...many of us might not let you know how much this prayer ministry means to us but let me tell you what a blessing it is. Many of us are not able to help financially but do join all the prayer partners that you have brought together to help so many people in need including me. God bless you and protect you always. Thank you so much. Blanca

May God Bless you and your ministry. Thank you for letting me be part of it. I actually stumbled upon your site by accident looking for information on "Prayer", as I myself was feeling very down and wondering what would happen next and how I was going to pay this or that. This was just 2 days ago, and it seems my worries have diminished as I started on a new path of life. Thank you. Carol

My friend Gerri has been awed by the number of prayers her friend received from members of the prayer team. Readers of my newspaper stop me every once in a while to talk about a particular column/devotion of yours they have taken personal strength from. Keep up the good work! God certainly knew what he was doing when he got you out of the used car business. Chris (from the Rabbit Creek Journal)

Thank you. Your emails are vivid reminders of what is really important about Sowing Seeds Ministry. If you have not signed up to receive our weekly “Prayer Needs from Around the World” you are missing a wonderful opportunity to be in ministry. Click here to for more information on how you can become a prayer partner: http://www.sowingseedsoffaith.com/sign-up.htm

I want to sincerely thank all of you who help our ministry financially by becoming Sowing Seeds Ministry Partners. But I want to emphasize that our ministry exists because lives have been changed by God through prayer and devotional Bible study. We value your comments and your prayers. You can find out how to support our ministry financially by clicking here: http://www.sowingseedsoffaith.com/ministry_partner.htm

Would you like to become a Sowing Seeds Ministry partner? Click here for more information.

Do you want to join us in prayer for others? Do you need prayer? Click Here.

Last modified February 28, 2003.

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