About this time we are really seeing just how important family is, in carrying out ministry to others. How badly do I want to be used of God to minister to others? How badly do I want to share the gospel of Jesus and the love of God with others who don't know Him?
Really really bad. I want to share with women, mothers, wives, young ladies, older ladies who I can provide an answer or hope to, marriages to-be, homeschool families, those seeking to homeschool, mothers seeking to stay home with their chidren, unreached people groups in far away countries, unbelievers in my neighborhood, youth, and more.
But:
1) I don't wait until I'm in an official position to do that. I do some now, and I think about it at various times throughout my day and night. I (we) am (are) passionate about sharing and ministering to others. And we will continue to do it.
2) I don't want the percentage of outside ministry to outweigh inside ministry. Ministry inside my home. Four things have stood out regarding this. a) I have heard Pastor Hayes mention several times about one prominent Pastor in another country who has a church of hundreds of thousands of people (one of the largest in the world) but his children do not serve the Lord. b) I also heard recently, an author on the radio, who read the following quote from Nelson Mandela. "To be the father of a nation is a great honor, but to be the father of family is a greater joy." - Nelson Mandela, Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. In his autobiography, Nelson Mandela shared that his children believed that, when he was released from prison, they would get their father back. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The majority of his time was still spent in running the affairs of the country and leading the nation. c) a friend recently sent me an article by Audrey Broggi, where she spoke of the importance of women understanding that we should view what we do at home as ministry (rocking, changing diapers, first-aid, discipline, molding, nurturing, hugging, cleaning, teaching them the word of God, how to live in Christ, how to exhibit the fruit of the spirit, etc.), instead of saying that once we get through that stage of motherhood, and lastly d) An audio message from Harvey Bluedorn regarding the importance of Fathers leading worship at home, and the qualification of an Elder which include mangaging his own household.
These all have helped us as we solidy our family foundation!
I talked to some of the students in CORE today and received their feedback on this, the importance of family, as they read the words of the songs they wrote, and thought of someone in their own family that they could minister that message to. I shared with them, our personal story of how we have had to balance our family life with our ministry work through these last two years and how, in this final year, we have been convinced that, while we will minister in the areas of evangelism, marriage, music, and more --- ministry will start at home first.then we can do real ministry. and lastly d) We heard in an audio message from Harvey Bluedorn regarding the importance of Fathers leading worship at home, and the Biblical qualifications of an Elder which include mangaging his own household, by carrying out the duties that God has outlined for Fathers in the home.
These all have helped us as we solidify our family foundation!
I talked to some of the students in CORE today and received their feedback on this, the importance of family, as they read the words of the songs they wrote, and thought of someone in their own family that they could minister that message to. I shared with them, our personal story of how we have had to balance our family life with our ministry work through these last two years and how, in this final year, we have been convinced that, while we will minister in the areas of evangelism, marriage, music, and more --- ministry will start at home first.
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