Posts with the tag: minister

Why It’s Not Good to OVER-PRAISE Your Spiritual Mentor

There’s a place for honoring your spiritual mentors in light of this passage: 12Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each […]

Who Should You Receive from—Official Ministers or Independent Ones?

I remember an occasion where I went to the hospital to visit someone. It was in the heat of the summer and so I naturally wore shorts, sandals and a t-shirt (with cut-off sleeves). By happenstance, the woman in the elevator with me was clearly a member of some religious sect in light of […]

Should Ministers Officiate Weddings and Funerals?

Interestingly, there are no references in the Bible to ministers officiating weddings or funerals, including pastors. I point this out because some people seem to think that ministry is mostly about performing one or the other. Evidently God didn’t get the memo. This is not to say that ministers shouldn’t preside over weddings and funerals. […]

Should Ministers Be Paid?

The Bible plainly instructs that ministers must not pursue dishonest gain because that has to do with greed (1 Peter 5:1-4). Christian ministers cannot simultaneously be lovers of money, aka lucre-worshipers (Matthew 6:24, 1 Timothy 3:3 & Titus 1:7). Why? Because people obsessed with money and materialism will naturally take advantage of their position to manipulate […]

When You Should ASK and When You Should SPEAK IN FAITH, aka DEMAND

Christ spoke of both speaking in faith and asking for things in prayer in the same breath: So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those […]

What Is CESSATIONISM and Is It Biblical?

Cessationism (seh-SAY-shun-izm) is the erroneous belief that gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) ceased by the end of the 1st Century when the last of the original apostles passed away and the biblical canon was completed. While most adherents of cessationism believe God still performs miracles, they don’t believe that the LORD works miracles […]

The Fivefold Ministry Gifts — Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher

When people hear the term ‘minister’ they naturally think of a pastor, a minister who oversees a local assembly, but pastoring is only one of the five ministerial gifts in the body of Christ. This can be observed in this passage: So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and […]

ACCOUNTABILITY — the Good, the Bad and the Eye-Rolling

Accountability refers to the fact or condition of being accountable. All believers are ultimately accountable to God and will thus stand before Christ at the Judgment Seat to give an account of what we did in the body, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). Even unbelievers are accountable to their Creator and will thus […]

OFFICIAL Prophets (Ministers) and INDEPENDENT Prophets (Ministers)

Both types are good and necessary but — as with anything — each can be corrupted. When corruption enters the picture, abuse is always nearby (abuse is the misuse of power).

What Does “Do Not Go Beyond What is Written” Mean in 1 Corinthians 4:6?

Consider the set-up of 1 Corinthians 4:1-6: In chapter 3 Paul addresses the issue of the various teachers at the Corinth fellowship and how some believers were picking favorite minsters, which was causing division as believers were developing little sects based around their favorite teachers.