By Ronnie Floyd • November 22, 2016
Ronnie Floyd:
“May these things bring encouragement and remind us we are all in this ministry
life together.”
Speaking
at some conventions and spending time with other ministers recently has
reminded me of how much church leaders need encouragement. Also, hanging out
with some of our Cross Church School of Ministry residents has reminded me of
some basic things it is important for all ministers to practice from the
beginning of our ministry.
Therefore,
from my heart to your heart, I share these things with you. May they bring
encouragement and remind us we are all in this ministry life together.
1. Put Jesus first in your day.
Start
your day early with God. If early is not your deal, at least start your day
with God first. Yes, first things first. If we do not begin our day with Jesus,
then we forfeit the privilege to lead his people. Please begin your day with God;
otherwise, defeat in life and ministry will become normal for you. Minister of
the gospel, remember this: Deepen your walk and God will expand your influence.
Renew your belief in the power of
God.
The
same God that saves you by grace through being born again by his supernatural
power is the same God who is alive today in your ministry and life. Embrace the
power of God! He can do anything, anytime, anywhere, with anyone. He can do
this with you and through your church. Refuse to dissect what he can and cannot
do. Receive what he is able to do with you and through you. Begin to teach and
preach about the power of God to your church. They need to begin to believe
again.
3. Bring prayer back into the worship
services of your church.
Get
beyond the “Bless me” prayers and into calling out to the God of heaven to
manifest his presence to the people of God. Weekly, call out to God before your
people. Pray for the sick. Pray for the hurting. Your entire church needs to
hear you pray with both confidence and conviction. At times, move your people
to pray together in groups around the room. At other times, call them to their
knees in humility. Pray for revival to come to the people of God and for the
next Great Awakening to occur in America. Prayer always precedes great works of
God.
4. Prioritize evangelism in the
life of your church.
Refuse
to succumb to persuasions and practices that do not aggressively reach others
for Christ. Celebrate the reaching of the lost and the baptizing of new
followers of Christ. Discover places in your community where the gospel has
never been shared and resolve to take the gospel there. Study the demographics
of your city. Strategize how to win your city to Jesus Christ. Then, do not
cease evangelizing.
5. Call your people to support
God’s work financially.
Do
not minimize the local church’s financial needs. This is not simply about the
church being blessed, but it is incumbent on you as a pastor to raise up and
develop people to practice financial stewardship. Unashamedly model and teach
God’s people about giving the first 10 percent of their entire income to their
local church. Call them to give beyond this and challenge them to live life in
the lane of generosity. Then, as a church, give sacrificially and generously to
advance the gospel across the world exponentially by planting gospel churches
and supporting missionaries.
6. Stand upon the Word of God
courageously.
Our
biblical Christian worldview is in constant conflict with the culture. Do not
cower down to our culture nor cuddle with it. Stand strongly and courageously
upon the Word of God. Always communicate God’s Word in Jesus’ love. Stand
strong.
7. Value each and every person in
the world.
Give
respect to every person in the world. Stop letting things divide you with the
people of God and with fellow ministers. We are family! Stand for the dignity
of each person and for the sanctity of life. Reject racism in any form.
Renounce abortion in every way. Stand for the dignity and the sanctity of human
life from the womb all the way to the tomb.
8. Learn from criticism.
Criticism
will come. Count on it. Determine to outlive it. Refuse to become bitter toward
any person who is critical of you. Do not let anyone outside of your circle of
love.
9. Lead cross-generationally.
Do
not be influential with just your generation; develop relationships with the
generation before you and the generation behind you. Otherwise, your leadership
will be limited and any potential legacy you may have will become short-lived.
Invest in all generations. This is biblical. Give respect and love to all
generations. We are family.
10. Be humble.
When
you are humble, God will raise you up. The way up is down. When you humble
yourself before God, you can more easily humble yourself before others. God is
not attracted to pride, but he is to humility. He lifts up those who are humble
before him.
Fellow
minister, thank you for living for Jesus and standing upon his Word. Fulfill
the calling God has given to you.
Sources: Dr.
Ronnie Floyd is the senior pastor of Cross Church in Springdale, Arkansas,
immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention and founder of the
Cross Church School of Ministry. This article was originally published on
Floyd’s blog at RonnieFloyd.com.
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