Glad Tithings

Family newsletter of Christian Stewardship Ministries

"Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy." (1 Cor. 4:2)
* March 2000 * Vol 19 No 1

Principle In Practice

Ministry News

Prayer Corner

Joyful Dividends

About CSM

Spring LMS Classes Begin in April

If your Year 2000 resolutions are already down the tubes, you’ve got another chance to reassess your priorities and get your life and your finances on track. Don’t let overcommitment, procrastination or maxed-out credit cards continue to plague you. Find out God’s plan for your life and begin to follow it to break free from bad habits and debt.

How? Sign up today for CSM’s Life Management Study class. Spring classes start in April, and you can use the enclosed registration form to put your name on the list for sessions in the Washington area.

LMS participants spend two hours every week with a trained leader for about three months. They also should plan on 20 to 30 minutes of homework each day. The $95 registration fee covers the student manual, workbook and a copy of Ken Smith’s book It’s About Time. Partial scholarships are also available. Call 703-591-5000 to find out about a class near you.

Or if you’re across the country–or across the world–you can take LMS via the Internet–for only $75, a 50 percent savings off the regular price of $150. Currently 19 students are participating in this way. Just check out http://www.csmin.org for details.

Many thanks to fall LMS leaders Rick Groux, Deborah Demery, Joan LeFever, Josephine Price Ken Smith and Paul Reeves as well as winter term leaders Paula Wilson, Sandy Walker, John Guernsey, Lenora Woods and Ken Smith. These volunteers have been faithful in sharing with others the wisdom they’ve gained from the course.

Principles in Practice

FINDING YOUR MINISTRY

What is ministry? Simply put, it’s what you do to serve others in response to God’s love for you. More formally, it is "non-income-producing activity that benefits others not in your immediate family." For pastors, that means service above and beyond the work they do in their churches. Perhaps umpiring in Little League, or volunteer work in the community or for a parachurch organization. For everyone else, ministry might be almost anything we do to help those outside our families or beyond our jobs.

My ministry used to be counseling Christians in the use of their money and time. Today that is my vocation, so it has ceased to be ministry. While I continue to serve God and others through CSM as part of my job, other activities are now my ministry.

Ministering Within the Church

Some friends of mine are involved in evangelizing the unsaved business community through the Christian Business Men’s Committee (CBMC). They invite men and women to attend business luncheons to hear a prominent businessman describe how Christ became real to him. Then they follow up with the guests who want to know more about Jesus.

Others are active in teaching and counseling in applying biblical principles to the management of individual and family finances. There are those who evangelize, those who equip and disciple, and those who just help others get through the next day and the day after that. I even have a friend with a young family and a full time job who became ordained in order to serve as a volunteer priest. Now that’s commitment.

One area of ministry is service within the local church. Pat and I both help with communion and serve on the hospitality ministry at our church. Pat also serves on the Altar Guild, helping prepare the church for Sunday services and for weddings and funerals, and I count the money from the collections.

Reaching Out to the Needy

We also believe our ministry includes reaching out to those in need. Ever since I became a "born again" Christian in 1976 and began organizing Christian singles ministries, I have been concerned for single moms and their kids. Over the years, Pat and I have helped a number of single parent families.

Christmas a year ago, Pat and I "adopted" a homeless family, our second. Through that family I met a young man I’ll call Paul. Paul was on the run at the time and was captured in March 1999. I am a volunteer in the local jail (which houses over 1000 inmates), and Paul knew of me through his relatives. When he was arrested, he asked me to visit him. He soon committed his life to Jesus, and began a discipleship program in the jail under the auspices of the Good News Jail and Prison Ministry Chaplain’s Office. When Paul’s turn came for sentencing on drug-related charges, his lawyer asked me to testify for him.

After drafting a "Personal Accountability Contract" for Paul to consider, I took it to him in jail. He agreed to its terms, I testified, and the judge agreed to suspend his sentence conditioned on his complying with the terms of the "Contract." Paul, age 24, has since been released, and we are working together to help him learn how to become "a new creature in Christ." This involves daily telephone contact, attending church, meeting with a "Personal Board of Accountability" monthly and weekly with me.

Identifying Your Ministry

We Christians have many, many opportunities for ministry. Every church needs lots of volunteers–to usher during church, sing in the choir, teach Sunday school, visit the elderly, pray for the sick, help with office work. Plus, there are hundreds of parachurch organizations that welcome volunteers. There are many very worthwhile secular charities where one can volunteer as well. And there are an unlimited number of individuals less fortunate than yourself who could use a word of encouragement or a helping hand. Feeding the poor, helping the homeless, ministering to prisoners and ex-offenders are all Biblical examples of ministry. Your gifts and talents can be employed in many different settings.

If you have time on your hands, but are unsure what your "ministry" is, think about what you like to do and what you are good at doing. If necessary, ask those around you what those things are. And then just look around, to see what you can do to contribute those "motivated abilities" to assisting the needs of others. If you’re still at a loss for direction, ask God to show you where He wants to use you. He has a place–perhaps more than one–where you can contribute to his kingdom by helping those around you.

Avoiding Overcommitment

Some of us find an almost irresistible temptation to spend time helping others, even when our own house (or life) is not in order. Many of the people counseled through CSM are terribly overcommitted and spend their time focusing on the wrong things. They’ve misplaced their priorities, often thinking because they are doing good things that benefit others that they are doing what God wants them to do. Usually, it is not a matter of "what" but "when."

Ministry, while important, should actually be your lowest priority. If you are regularly spending the amount of quiet time with God that He wants you to spend, AND if you are spending the amount of quality time with your family that God wants you to spend, AND if your job-related time is in balance, THEN you have time to devote to ministry. Unless and until those higher priorities are in order, resist the temptation to spend significant time on others. Get your other priorities in order, and then watch God bless your ministry.

Parents of young children will generally have very little, if any, time for ministry. Established singles, parents of older children and seniors will have more. The older and more financially independent you become, the more likely you will have lots of time to devote to ministry.

If you are interested in discovering more about God’s plan for your ministry, don’t hesitate to call CSM or send an email. We would love to help you expand God’s kingdom on earth.