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Get Me Elvis on the Phone and I Want to See Me a Martian!
By chris | December 19, 2006
Imagine it has happened; you have all you need, everything you could wish for in your communication ministry. I have heard many times people say, “If we had more money, we could do a better job” or “If only we had a few more young couples, our church would take off”. It seems everyone is waiting for perfection to arrive before they really get going.
I remember once confiding to a friend before I moved back to Oklahoma, telling him, “I really wish I had a millionaire who could support my ministry and I could move back to Oklahoma and launch the ministry God has called me to start” He looked at me and said, “Why do you need a millionaire when you have God?” Good question. Why do I think I need someone other than God to help me do God’s will? That’s crazy!
It would be great to have no limitations on your ministry wouldn’t it? So, okay,—POOF—you have it all, the zillion dollar budget, all the resources, all people you need, Zuzu’s petals—everything! Now what are you going to do?
I have always thought if I were elected president, I would make my first two presidential orders “Get Me Elvis on the Phone and I Want to See Me a Martian!” I’d like to settle those two questions right off the bat. Area 51—here I come! Next, I would get me one of those automatic shoe polishers with the spinning fuzzies, you know like Elvis had, for my presidential limo! I would take him for a ride in my limo as we ride out to see the sound stage where the government conspirators faked the lunar landing. Ah, the life!
This really is going somewhere! Imagine you had all the resources you think you need, what would you do to use them to reach people? After you fool around a while, you would eventually have to realize you need more than money and resources. You would have to develop a plan to prioritize how you do things. You need a vision for what you are doing and a mission for how you are going to do it. You can’t throw money at vague statements like “Know Him and Make Him Known” and really have an impact. Make him known how? You need more than a slogan. If you are going to have impact telling people “Each One, Disciple One” won’t work. How will you find each one, how will they reach one to disciple. You need the picture of what life will look like in the future you are trying to create, you need a road map for what steps you will take to get there.
Billionaire Warren Buffet recently gave $40 billion dollars to Bill Gates’ philanthropy foundation because he saw Gates was not just throwing around money and slogans at problems. You don’t have to agree with everything these two men believe, to see they are trying to be responsible with how they give away money.
Money and Resources Might Not be Your Problem At All
It may be hard to take for some, but more money and more people are not what are holding back most ministries, even though they may believe that their problem is lack of these things. The reality is the lack of vision and an unclear mission are what holds people back. Many churches don’t know where they are going or how they will “get there”—they just hope marketing will somehow do something to solve what ails them.
What if Bill Gates and Warren Buffet gave a huge gift to your ministry? What would be the result? In many cases, it would be the most tragic thing that could happen. Sometimes the worst ideas get implemented simply because someone with the power to spend had a hair-brained idea. Don’t worry about resources. Find out what God is saying to your ministry. How is he calling you to reach people? What does he want you to do in your context. If you find that, you have 100% of what you need. God’s calling comes with God’s resources.
Unlimited Resources Are Yours Already
Rick Warren has a great quote I want to share with you below on this topic. Consider that God wants you to reach people more than you want to reach them. Stop trying to get God to bless your ministry plans; start planning your ministry around what he is blessing. Unlimted resources are yours when you are doing God’s will!
“Great people are ready to help me at the right time in the right way, people I don’t even know yet. I promise I will never give up because I don’t have the help. But I will trust God to provide. The Bible says in Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the Lord, trust Him to help you do it and He will.’”
On the back it says this, “God has the resources to help you that you have not even considered. There are multiplied thousands of persons with all sorts of talents and skills and concerns and contacts that God can bring into your life in order to fulfill His plans. So open your eyes and see the faces of people around you.
Open your ears to hear what they’re saying. Today, tomorrow, next week, you’ll meet someone – someone who’s just the right person and that right person that you need will come along at just the right time to fill just the right place and you will marvel knowing that God arranged it so wonderfully.” –Rick Warren
Topics: Define the Mission |
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