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A man was lamenting to his mentor about his feelings of ineffectiveness in his specific prison ministry. This man went on to comment that though he has seen fruit in the lives of those he has ministered to in the past; currently he feels ineffective and unfruitful. Further he stated that he wonders whether the time away from his family and his church associates is worth the sacrifice for this seeming lack of success.
The mentor replied, ‘A man’s success in ministry need not be measured by fruit or effectiveness but rather by his obedience to the call. If a man is called to a specific ministry, he is obligated to obedience, regardless of successes, or lack of.’
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Many, many times as a parent I have felt ineffective and unfruitful! That doesn't mean I just check out...your mentor was spot on. We have to be faithful to what God has called us to and stop looking vertically for confirmation.
ReplyDeletedid you mean stop looking horizontally?
ReplyDeleteoops...major oops! yes, definitely horizontally!
ReplyDeleteYou are Da Man! : )
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to measure the success of a preaching ministry in any way other than decision cards?
supposedly, but i'm having a hard time convincing myself...............
ReplyDeleteGreat thought. Of course, I believe that a man's *primary* ministry is always to his family. Perhaps he hasn't seen fruit in his secondary mininstry because he is neglecting the primary one? Just something we all need to keep in perspecitive, I think.
ReplyDelete