You’ve heard it said: In life there are two groups of people—givers and takers. The titles are self explanatory: givers invest, and takers seek to be invested in. Every Christian should be a giver, but those in the ministry should especially be givers. We should be investing our lives in others.

If you serve on the support staff of your church, you play a critical role in the daily success of the ministry! Don’t forget as you are daily mired in details, questions, problems, lists and the needs of people, that you are helping your pastor do the work of the ministry.

William Ball was a constitutional lawyer in the early 70’s that stepped up to the plate for Christian schools in America. He fought cases all the way up to the U. S. Supreme Court. I was a “young buck” just coming out of college at the time, and somehow I ended up getting to have dinner with Mr. Ball. He said something rather profound.

The early life and ministry of Jesus Christ drew many followers. One might suppose that some of these were following because of His powerful miracles. Anyone who could turn water into wine by speaking a word (John 2) or cause a man to walk after thirty-eight years of being bed ridden (John 5) or feed five thousand with five loaves and two fish (John 6) was certainly worth a listen.

One of the most apparent truths about spiritual renewal is that it reorders our priorities. Simply put, God does not renew us to live for ourselves but to live for eternity.

Next to the Bible, the book that has helped me the most in my walk with the Lord is a book I wrote. Actually, it’s an eight-volume set. Before you think I’m boastful, let me give two clarifications.

I recently read a news article about former NFL player, Tom Holloway, who had his house vandalized while he was out of town. It’s hard to comprehend how the consciences of over 300 high school students would allow them to break in, get drunk, steal memorabilia, and graffiti the walls, but that’s exactly what occurred in Tom Holloway’s home. It was one big, bad, out of control party…nice kids, huh?

Building relationships is a lost virtue in our society today. Guys ask girls out on dates via text messages, we make friends by clicking a button on a website and hoping the other person reciprocates, and despite all of our technological advances, we are becoming more and more isolated.

Has God recently placed something new on your heart? Perhaps you’re feeling burdened to launch a new ministry or begin a new goal? There’s nothing that fuels my energy like dreaming for the future and planning action steps for a God-given vision! But before I begin something new, I always try to take a careful look at what foundation I am planning to build on.

If you are like me, you wake up one day and you’re thirty-five with five children, and you realize, “I am not young anymore.” I feel young. I may even look young. But I am not considered young anymore—at least not by the next generation.