Labor Day Reading

Today I'm spending much of my Labor Day reading The Trellis And The Vine. It is a pretty popular book written by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne. It is popular among pastors today and comes highly recommended, so my aim is to finish the book sometime this evening.

It's been both a challenge as well as an encouragement to read thus far.

The challenge comes b/c the aim is basically a very simple approach to ministry through speaking, teaching, and praying the Word of Christ into people (to non-Christians & Christians). The challenge is that there's nothing fancy about this approach to ministry. Another challenge is that it takes time to see the fruit from this kind of ministry. I'm not very patient, so it is a challenge for me to wait on God to bear fruit and set apart others to Himself.

Encouragement comes in reading this book b/c God has pretty much allowed me to be ministered to like this. As I was growing up spiritually, I was discipled/mentored in the faith for a couple of years by an older brother in Christ. He imparted his life to me and demonstrated both discipline and godliness in His walk for Jesus. He gave me something godly to imitate as I watched him live.

The fruit of his ministry in my life is being lived out in New Life Church. We too have placed a high premium on ministering in this way. We value this 'one anothering' for the Christian life. By God's grace we preach the Word of Christ to one another, we speak the Word of Christ to one another, and we pray the Word of Christ for one another. Our aim is to do ministry like this in the fullness of His Spirit and with much conviction.

There are a plethora of ministry truths, quotes, and strategies in this book, but Marshall and Payne have a pretty good statement on what discipleship is all about in Chapter 7 that really resonated with where I am in life right now...

"Christian discipleship is about sound doctrine and a godly life, and so to train or equip someone to minister to others means training and equipping them with godliness and right thinking, not just with a set of skills--because that in turn is how they will need to minister to others."

Well it's not fancy, but it is biblical. To impart, demonstrate, and reproduce ourselves into others with the gospel, the Word of Christ, is the biblical way. So far a really good word on what us pastors are to be doing in ministry today.

We're praying for God to bear fruit from the Word of Christ and for the Word of Christ to increase!