ministry

Personal Preparation for Worship Leaders

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A constant enemy of worship leaders is busyness, for it takes them away from the all-important time spent with God. Other aspects of personal preparation for worship leading include knowing the needs of the congregation one serves; beginning preparations for services early in the week, if not weeks ahead of time (by choosing sermon themes far in advance); and seeking input from others.

Exactly how does a worship leader prepare to lead the congregation each week in worship? If my experience is typical, many leaders spend most of their time preparing the various elements of worship—such as the sermon or congregational prayer—and give little attention to preparing themselves for that majestic privilege of ushering people into the presence of God.

What strange creatures we are! We meticulously groom ourselves to meet some human dignitary but will waltz unthinkingly into the presence of the Almighty.

The Busy-Servant Syndrome. For me, the first step in personal preparation for worship is recognizing that worship is the highest and most important activity to which God calls me. More times than I care to admit, I have slid into my study, surveyed the piles of work on my desk, and thought about all the people I should visit that week and about the sermons I have to prepare for Sunday. In the press of all this busyness, I quickly open my Bible to skim a few verses and bow my head in a brief prayer so that as soon as possible I can get to the “real business” at hand.

When I find myself falling into that pattern, I remind myself of something that happened a few years ago—a homely incident with my son that helped me to realize that I was often neglecting the “real business.” I was reading the paper one evening when our four-year-old son wriggled onto my lap. I looked down and asked, “What do you want, Jim?” “Nothing,” he said, but then he snuggled closer to me. I realized then—in a rush of parental joy—that he just wanted to be with me.

Personal worship is simply “lap time” with God. God rejoices when I come to him daily to enjoy his presence. How awesome to realize that you and I are ingredients in divine happiness—that our daily fellowship brings God real pleasure!

So quiet time with God must be a top priority each day. I know this with my head but not always with my heart. I have had to learn and relearn this lesson repeatedly. As a pastor, I must read the Bible not just professionally but devotionally. When I am caught up in the “busy servant syndrome,” it is much too easy to overlook my daily walk with the Lord in favor of doing things for him.

Doing versus Being. Living in the tension between doing and being, I am tempted to fall prey to artistic urges, forgetting that God calls me to be someone in relationship to him before I attempt to do anything for him. I cannot effectively lead people into the presence of God in corporate worship on Sunday unless I have been in God’s presence during the week in private worship. So my first and basic preparation for worship is remembering that unless I am quiet before God, my outward journey to help the world will prove only to be frantic action without the proper spiritual undergirding.

My life is most meaningful when I deliberately center it in God, observing the daily disciplines of Bible-reading, prayer, and meditation. Only then can I face my task in God’s strength rather than my own. Lap time with God is crucial.

Knowing My Congregation. Another part of personal preparation involves knowing the people I minister to. I can hardly expect to lead the members of my congregation effectively before God’s throne of grace if I don’t know what their experiences of God are. Where are they hurting? Are they seeking God’s help in their suffering? What are their anxieties and their expectations? I must be in touch with people’s needs. Surely my pastoral prayers and sermons will not be helpful if I am oblivious to what is troubling individuals. Though I am a senior pastor with primary responsibility in preaching and leadership/administration, I am assigned hospital and pastoral calls each week by our pastor of visitation. In a sense, every contact with members of the congregation during the week helps prepare me personally to lead them in worship on the Lord’s Day. If I am worship leader as well as preacher for that day, I make a list during the week of special needs that should be included in the pastoral prayer.

Beginning Early. My strategy is to plan sermon titles and themes at least three months in advance, allowing room for change as special needs arise in the life of the worshiping community. However, I do most of my intense studying the week preceding the Lord’s Day so that my preaching will be fresh and contemporary.

To avoid disaster on the weekend, I must get started in serious study early in the week. Usually, I try to spend either Tuesday or Wednesday in the library, where I devote my time strictly to sermon preparation, uninterrupted by telephone calls or visitors.

I’ve discovered that disciplined time management is important; without it, other tasks and concerns quickly cut into study time. Of course, sometimes those can’t be prevented. All ministers have weeks when unexpected emergencies consume time they intended to spend on worship preparation. When that happens, I just try to do my best with the hours I have left and leave the results to God.

During my earlier years of ministry, I frequently allowed legitimate but nonessential matters to rob me of precious hours of study time. But I soon discovered that panic praying on Sunday morning does not make up for the lack of careful preparation during the week. Such prayers are similar to that of the young boy who knelt by his bed asking, “Dear God, if I get an ‘F’ on my science test tomorrow, please make it stand for ‘fantastic’!” Can we actually expect God to be impressed with emergency prayers offered against the backdrop of poor time management?

Allowing for Input. I meet regularly to plan worship with a committee composed of an associate pastor, the choir director, the chairperson of our worship council, and a congregational member-at-large. Together, we carefully coordinate the sermon theme with music and Scripture, plan innovations within the liturgy of the day, and ensure that the service will allow appropriate congregational participation and response. The result is a more unified and interesting worship experience.

Of course, there will always be a degree of tension between structure and spirit. How can we balance form and freedom? Is it possible to follow a liturgy without stifling spontaneity? I believe it is, but I also admit to praying, “Lord, let something happen today that’s not in the bulletin.”

Final Preparations. My Saturday usually includes giving the completed sermon, or at least the essence and flow of it, to my wife, who is my most loving and exacting critic. She has saved me from many a pitfall by reminding me of how a sermon sounds to the person in the pew.

The importance I attach to Sunday worship determines how I spend Saturday night. My rule of thumb is that I take part in only those Saturday evening activities that permit me to awaken refreshed and ready to meet God in worship on Sunday morning. I arise early each Sunday to have time for devotions and for fine-tuning the sermon.

No matter how carefully I prepare, however, I know there will be times when I fail when worship seems like an empty exercise. In this earthly arena, we can at best attempt to worship. Thanks be to God that he meets us more than halfway. Jesus promised, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him” (John 4:23, RSV).

Worship is the loftiest activity of which humans are capable. God is pleased when we prepare as adequately as possible for worship, for by our actions we are saying that meeting him is important—and it is!

Ordination in the New Testament

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The specific terminology of ordination is not found in the New Testament, although several occasions are described on which people were set aside for special tasks of ministry. A fuller development of the theory of ordination took place in the post-New Testament church.

Ministry Differentiation in the New Testament

The present state of scholarship demands great caution in speaking about ordination, its meaning, or its rites in the New Testament. The words ordain and ordination are not found there, and there is considerable disagreement about the extent to which this later Christian use may coincide with the categories of the New Testament and with its pattern, or varied patterns, of understanding, vocabulary, and practice.

Evidence suggests that the church had both unity and differentiation from the beginning. There is equality based on baptism, equality that nevertheless requires authority, leadership, that is structured and maintained as a unity through special ministers. Ministry rather than order or status is the predominant emphasis: a mission to be accomplished, a task to be done, rather than a class to be entered or status to be attained. These differences should not be exaggerated; ministry may well involve position, and a mission may carry with it or may require a certain personal status, and ministers may be grouped together because of the nature of their function.

Ministry does not arise merely out of sociological pressure; its necessity is found at a deeper level in the person and mission of Jesus Christ. The entire ministry is ultimately the work of God (1 Cor. 12:6), the gift of Christ (Eph. 4:7–12), and of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4–11; cf. Acts 20:28) in and through and for the church, the body of Christ. The most important forms of ministry can be characterized as those of leadership: preaching the gospel and founding new churches, supervising and nurturing the growth of the young churches, leading the communities as they become established. This ministry of leadership manifests itself in a variety of activities: instruction, encouragement, reproof, visitation, appointment, and supervision of some ministries, and so on—all that is demanded by the task of building up the body of Christ.

Procedures for Designation of Leadership

Scholars are not agreed about the manner in which Christian positions of leadership came into being in the early church. The recent trend has been toward the view that leaders emerged or were appointed in different ways in different communities with different church orders. Is there any evidence of a rite associated with this? Rather than discuss the question simply as a New Testament issue, it is best to look at it with an eye to subsequent developments.

The New Testament mentions the laying on of hands on four main occasions that could be important for consideration of the sacrament of orders (Acts 6:6; 13:3; 1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6; cf. 1 Tim. 5:22). Scholars do not agree on the background of this Christian action, whether it was borrowed from a supposed Jewish rite of ordination or was derived from more general Old Testament influences or was primarily a Christian introduction. Nor is there agreement that in these instances the function and the meaning of the gesture are the same.

In Acts 6:6 the seven are chosen in Jerusalem by the whole body of disciples for appointment by the apostles, who pray and lay their hands on them. In Acts 13:1–3, Barnabas and Saul are set apart in the church at Antioch for a mission in obedience to a command of the Holy Spirit. After fasting and prayer they (the prophets and teachers? others?) lay hands on Barnabas and Saul and send them on their mission. They are understood to be sent out by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:4). In neither of these cases do scholars agree about the function or the meaning of this imposition of hands. The second especially may have been no more than a blessing or the acknowledgment of a mandate (cf. Acts 14:26, which may interpret this rite in saying that they were commended to the grace of God for this work). One other text from Acts makes an interesting parallel. According to Acts 14:23, Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in every church with prayer and fasting. The mention of prayer and fasting and the absence of reference to the laying on of hands are worth noting, though it could well be that the latter is assumed.

Although there is also disagreement as to the meaning of the imposition of hands in the two instances from the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6), perhaps there is a firmer consensus that it is part of what may be called with greater confidence an ordination rite. The choice of Timothy may have been made by prophetic utterance (1 Tim. 1:18; 4:14; cf. Acts 13:2), and the core of the rite by which he was commissioned is presented as the laying on of hands done by the body of presbyters and by Paul (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6). Probably this was done in public (cf. 2 Tim. 2:2 “in the presence of many witnesses”). In or through this rite a spiritual gift, a gift of God has been conferred. This gift is at the service of the Word, strengthening Timothy to bear public witness to the gospel (2 Tim. 1:8–14). He is warned “do not neglect” (1 Tim. 4:14); he is to “rekindle” this gift of God that he has received, and in fact, the last two chapters of 1 Timothy envisage a broad range of responsibility for the apostolate and the community. It is a power that enables him to carry out his ministry, a charisma for the office that he has received. Here we have the makings of a later, explicitly “sacramental,” understanding of such a rite.

No doubt these texts, partial as they are, represent different situations of time and place. They may not simply be collated in the expectation that the ensemble will provide the ordination rite of the early church or of Paul. Scholars maintain that the pattern of ministry, its understanding, and its mode of appointment or recognition, may be more varied than has been acknowledged in the past. In addition, as has been pointed out, the precise influences that led to the Christian use of the laying on of hands are unclear, and so the meaning of this action, and in some cases, its role, are also unclear. It is not evident that some such form was always and everywhere used during the New Testament period or indeed for some time after it, nor is there any probability that all these elements were present on all occasions. But neither can it be proved from the evidence of the New Testament that such a form was exceptional. Elements do undoubtedly emerge from the church of the New Testament that will influence all later generations and that will in fact endure.

Subject to all the qualifications that have been made, the following may serve as a summary of some of the points from the New Testament that will be prominent also in the subsequent tradition. In the appointment of ministers to positions of leadership, the whole local body of the church, and yet also particular ministers or groups of ministers, have an important role. The context of worship, of prayer and fasting, is mentioned, suggesting a liturgical setting and referring the ministry and appointment to it by God. Hands are laid on the candidate by a group within the church and/or by such individuals as Paul and Timothy. What the church does through its corporate action or through its leaders is regarded as inspired by the Holy Spirit, and through the church’s choice and the liturgical action, God provides for the church and gives a spiritual gift that in some way endures. This interworking of God-church-special ministers is to be noted, as is the religious form of the prayer-fasting-liturgical rite that is part of it.

Post-New Testament Developments

During the second century, episcopacy, presbyterate, and diaconate emerge almost everywhere as the most important ministries and form what will be the universal pattern. From the letter of Clement onward, correspondences are noted between the Jewish structure of authority and the Christian. Ignatius of Antioch already presents the bishop as an image of the Father, and here and elsewhere bishop, presbyter, and deacon are related in a variety of ways to God and to Jesus Christ. These comparisons manifest the conviction that the existence and the pattern of this ministry in the church are willed by God and mediate the authority and the power of God. Between God and the church is Jesus Christ, who came from God and from whom the power and the authority of the church originated historically. In the second and third centuries, a consensus may not yet have emerged as to the way the church commissions these ministers. Tertullian is the first that we know to use the Latin words ordo-ordinare-ordinatio as part of the Christian terminology.

Ministry and Imagination

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No one can believe anything they can’t imagine. This reality makes artists and evangelism intimately go together.

“But what about the importance of the content of evangelism?” one might ask. Most of you reading this blog agree with me about the content of evangelism: it IS—the objective, existing reality of God, the loving work of Christ through which we access the gospel, and the energizing of His Spirit empowering the gospel.

The reality of the content of the gospel (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, God’s Son, the righteousness of God whose death paid the penalty for my and your sin—1 Cor. 15; Rom. 3) does no good without connection with the giver of the gospel. And artists are specialists at creating environments wherein human creatures can connect with their creator.

Therefore, the dynamics of evangelism must build on the reality (the objective truth) of the content of the gospel by moving beyond a narrow focus ON the content of the gospel itself and into creating at least three kinds of contexts wherein evangelism can happen:

  • Contexts for RELATIONSHIPS—believers (the church community) with nonbelievers
  • Contexts for ENCOUNTER—God with non-believers
  • Contexts for ILLUMINATION—God in non-believers

In creating these contexts wherein these relationships, encounters, and illuminations occur, artistic specialists play a strategic role in at least two ways.

  1. God created artistic people unusually wise at imaginative design and expression—the Hebrew definition of craftsman (cf. Exod. 31 or Exod. 35). Some people simply have more “imaginative” capacity than others. They have an unusual amount of imaginative skill, ability, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (in the Hebrew language all these terms are wisdom words: compound words with the term “wisdom” built into them). Artistic people are specialized strategist whom church and mission leadership should deeply involve as they pray, plan, and implement ministry and missions.
  2. God purposed artistic people with the assignment to create environments wherein people touch the transcendent realities of life, and especially God. Artists lead people into touching the transcendent realities of life—including the reality of God Himself. Therefore, it’s clear that God intends artistic people to serve as more than “entertainers” or “decorators.” The Bible clearly reveals they are not optional. He intends them to be deeply involved in strategy development—for worship, community life, outreach, compassion, education—in every part of the Christian community (and the general community as well).

Note in the Bible the many places where artistic expression and specialists appear they are creating environments in which they help normal people interact with worship (true and false worship), understanding (or not—cf. the parables of Jesus, the dramatizations of Jeremiah or Ezekiel), or appreciation (cf. the woman washing Jesus’ feet with perfume).

Evangelism is not simply creating contexts (personal and public) for declaration. Evangelism strategies must also look towards creating contexts for relationships, encounter, and illumination. And those contexts too must be effective, beautiful, and dynamic; and therefore, need artistic specialists to imagine, curate, and lead them. Leave artists out at your own risk.

And here’s a last word . . . for those of you artistic folks who might be bothered by the thought I’ve been focusing too strongly on a utilitarian use of artistic expression; relax.

Lean into what you know to be true. Whenever and wherever artistic believers participate in the mysteries resident in imaginatively rearranging human metaphors, symbols, and expressions (the imaginative art-making process itself)—and are growing in a legitimate, delight-filled, lived-out worship walk with God in Christ—they will manifest experiences of beauty, goodness, and reality that will declare the glory of God (Psalm 19) and provide environments wherein He will touch others.

How do I know this? Because that’s how He created us—in His image. All people work that way. The Bible tells us so.

Why Cooperate In Christian Arts Ministry

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Many years ago, on a flight from Southern California to Nashville, I stumbled upon an airline magazine article entitled “Co-op Ventures Key to Innovation” (by Stephen Booth). The article described something amazing to me: Sony Corporation—the electronic giant—was actively pursuing a cooperative project agreement with Intel Corp. Qualcomm and Tektronics in order to develop and market computer products.

I asked myself the same question the article author asked: “Why would such a giant corporation want to partner with apparent key competitors?” Carl J. Yankowski, Sony Electronics president and chief operating officer, surprised me with such a Biblical answer: “Basically we want to work together in whatever ways make sense to bring our (the various participating companies) core competitors, skills, and strengths together to enhance the convergence of (new product development).”[1]

I was shocked. That aspiration—to work together—sounded almost like the Apostle Paul’s appeal to the church: “. . .make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Each of you should look not only to your own interest but also to the interests of others.”[2]

The article went on to lay out three key reasons why “cooperation” is essential:

  1. For technological innovation.
  2. To bring together core competencies of those various agencies necessary to maximize that technological innovation for the benefit of the market.
  3. To overcome the complexities of developing effective and cost-efficient deployment of technology. (Italics and underlining are mine)

It was like the Lord Himself saying directly to me, “Why aren’t Christians doing the same thing? This is the sort of cooperation I want for my Church for my purposes in spreading the good news of My Kingdom, especially related to worship and arts-related ministries!”

Powerful ministry through worship & the arts requires more than any one of us possess. But together, the cooperative coalition of our resources and efforts will always become more powerful than the sum of our individual parts.

In ministry, there’s no question this reality is true. In ministry through the arts it’s especially true because, relatively speaking, so few stand clearly aware of the central importance of the arts in ministry.

Each Christian artist and arts-oriented ministry holds a critical part of what’s needed to accomplish God’s purposes (Rom 12, I Cor 12, Eph 1, I Pet 3). But alone each critical part is incomplete and less than effective.

For the sake of ministry innovation critical to meet the rapid changes of our communities and cultures—to be effective—we Christians must bring together each of our core competencies in order to overcome the complexities of developing effective and cost-efficient deployment of relevant Gospel communication, worship ministry, Christian community formation and general ministry that impacts our cultures.

No community will ever be reached for Christ through one church or one organization or one Christian, or one ministry style, or one specific strategy. Rather we know, almost automatically, that though the diversity of style and strategy are essential, without intentional focus on ‘oneness of purpose’ (a good definition of unity), and without intentionally developed relationships for the purpose of partnering, we will not experience broader-based ministry that will powerfully impact in our communities.

For example: Nashville, my current home, may presently be experiencing a Kairos moment. It seems as never before, believers from many different orbits of the arts are converging in some special way on Nashville. You may be seeing the same sort of happening in your area.

The Lord Jesus calls all of us to lay our various art ministry competencies at the foot of His Cross. If we will do that, I believe He will then pick them up and sculpt them into a more powerful coalition of arts ministry than any of us alone.

The real question is, “Are you willing to trust God enough to cooperate with others for the sake of His Kingdom Advance?”

You will not, should not, and could not cooperate with everyone. But there are those with whom you should cooperate. And in cooperation with those partners, you will do more for Christ.

Here are some key questions to help determine with whom you should cooperate:

What is the bottom line assignment you know the Lord has given you? The question is NOT what, in particular, you like to do; e.g. play music, write songs, make videos. BUT, why is it important you need to bring those skills and abilities into play for His Kingdom?

  • To accomplish your assignment, what are the core or central vision and values you see as critical?
  • To accomplish your assignment, what are the core or central vision and values you see as critical?
  • To accomplish your assignment, what are the core or central vision and values you see as critical?
  • Which of these competencies do you have?
  • Which competencies do you lack?
  • Who are those you know who possess the competencies you lack?
  • Which like-minded believers should you directly link with to carry out your assignment?

How do you get started? Bring a few wise Christian mentors and advisors together to help you work out your answers. Second, write the answer down as clearly as possible.

Now to get this whole process moving ahead . . .

  1.  Approach, one-on-one, the people you’ve listed to determine their own interest in the ministry objective you sense God is beginning to reveal; the core concerns the Lord seems to be revealing as critical to meet through achieving these objectives; and the critical shared values needed to move forward to achieve these objectives.
  2. Gather together those willing for what I call a leaders prayer and strategy summit. When together take time to share visions; express values; pray; list shared vision, values, and concerns; list key issues where your visions do meet; determine partnership initiatives your schedules will allow; and take action.
  3. Do something, even if small, rather than being overwhelmed and doing nothing.
  4. Look at least towards the following cooperative ventures.
    • Other ‘leaders prayer & strategy summits’;
    • Celebration worship and prayer events;
    • Training events;
    • Partnership ministry events-either, ones you initiate, or ones with which you can tie into.

Cooperation in ministry is essential if we care to position ourselves before the Lord in such a way where He might choose to use us to impact our communities, our region, or our nation for Christ.

[1] In Sony’s case they want “. . . the convergence of audio, video, computers and communications.”

[2] Philippians 2:2-4

What Is Ministry?

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The Christian Arts community is often clearly confused about what ministry IS. I’m clearly convinced of it!

Not that other parts of the Christian community aren’t confused—they are. But Christians out of music and arts backgrounds oftentimes certainly face confusion when it comes to ministry. Let me see if I can help clear up some of that confusion by simply asking a few questions, then answering them biblically.

First Question: What is Ministry?

Answer: Simply defined, it’s . . . serving God and serving His purposes and others on His behalf.

Or even more simply stated, ministry is . . .

Dealing with God about people and people about God.

That’s it. Anything else beyond that, and it gets too complicated.

Second Question: What makes Ministry?

Answer: Five (5) simple things: 1) assuming God works supernaturally (in and through the fullness of His triune Self). (Humans can’t initiate the supernatural work of salvation, or the miraculous working of God for conviction, enlightenment, forgiveness, healing, change, etc.; the supernatural part of ministry is only and always effected by God Himself. We, the humans, are simply pots. He’s the Potter and the Water, so to speak); 2) praying for and with people; 3) caring for people in the Name and power of Jesus (not just ‘doing good’ in some abstract way—but intentionally doing the good because of your life from, in and through Jesus’ work in you!); 4) guiding people for help into God’s Word, the Bible; 5) sharing your faith simply when the time is right. That’s it. No matter what, if you do these things you are ministering. If you do NOT do these things—no matter what your title or education is or is not, you are not doing ministry.

Third Question: What do you charge for Ministry?

Answer: Nothing! Ministry is always FREE!! Just think about it: Would you ever say to someone, “Pay me, and then I’ll tell you about Jesus?” Of course not !! Payment related to ministry . . . has either to do with “charity” (loving sacrificial gifts given by other believers who see your effectiveness in doing ministry and want you to be freed up to do more of it), or “support” (e.g. 1 Cor. 9:11, 12) [“a living” (1 Cor. 9:14)] [“aid” (Phil. 4:14-16)] [“supply” (Phil 4:18)]. The doing of ministry is technically NOT occupation or business. It’s Not in itself ever done for money. It’s simply serving God. Business is something else; even occupation is technically something else. So don’t get confused. The ministry, itself, is always FREE.

Fourth Question: When am I in ministry?

Answer: Because you are a believer priest (1 Peter 2: 9-10) no matter what your occupation is or isn’t, you ARE in ministry all the time. Everyone is in full time ministry !! If your business furthers ministry, praise God; but if it doesn’t, you are still in ministry, and you are still responsible for ministering in whatever context you find yourself.

Fifth Question: When does ministry happen?

Answer: When three intentions actually occur:

1) when you intend to engage people about the person and purposes of God;

2) when you are consciously faithing that God is at work (where there is no faithing going on, generally speaking, no supernaturally initiated transaction goes on); and

3) when you actually are making contact with God about people, or with people about God and His purposes. That means for example that, at a Christian concert where none or few of these things are intentionally going on, even though it’s a concert of “Christian songs” there will generally be no or little actual ministry effected (. . . or affected).

Summary: A) Do not define ministry as occupation. If you do you are Biblically incorrect!!

Ministry is NOT occupation. Occupation is categorically and simply something different than ministry. Ministry though, I hope, may often happen in the context of occupation.

B) Do not define ministry as business. If you do you are Biblically incorrect!! Ministry is NOT business; it is clearly something else. Certainly, and may it be often, that the income from business is used to support ministry—the mature believer often very generously invests into ministry—via donations, offerings and tithes. And don’t think that your ministry is over . . . if for what ever reasons you do poorly or fail in business. Ministry is dealing with God about people, and people about God even in the midst of unfortunate business circumstance.

C) Also, do not buy into the strategy that advocates funding ministry through business income. Only a few have done this, and it’s only worked because they have not let the business-tail . . . wag the ministry-dog; and, they are still somewhat confused about what business is, and about what ministry isn’t. The Lord will often supply your financial needs out of your doing ministry. But the moment you start doing ministry for money at that moment you have stopped doing ministry and begun doing business. And that’s a very dangerous thing to do.

If you keep the simple definitions in mind I’ve suggested; while continuing to do ministry (which is always free), you’ll be certain to see God honor your faithfulness—whether or not the Lord releases you for ministry as an occupation.

May God give you the grace to see the distinctions between, business, occupation, and ministry—so you might wrap them all together in ways that keep your focus on Him and His purposes. And, in the process, may the Christian arts community see confusion about ministry clear—with the result that Jesus . . . and His accessibility . . . are even more imaginatively declared and embraced.