CHOSEN BY GRACE CONFERENCE 2009
“Doing God’s work, God’s way in a fractured world”
Rationale
The Community Outreach Ministries is proud to host the “Chosen By Grace Conference 2009″. It gives me immense pleasure to take this opportunity to explain the reason for this conference and what the intended objective is. It is clear that there are so many conferences and conventions organized by church groups every year. Sometimes one has probably wondered what the reason or objective of the conference is. It goes therefore without saying that there is a plethora of “me too” conferences, which are not necessary. Having such a view will cause one to say “not another one” and thus creating an attitude that says “why bother, it is same old, same old, been replicated”.
A Conference with a difference
I can assure you, this is a conference with a difference and I hope that the Holy Spirit will convince you as you pray for clarity of understanding in this matter. I can understand your feelings, because at one time or the other I have said the same thing and upheld the same views. One will also say “he will say that, wouldn’t he, after all it is his church hosting it”. I also understand this because sometimes behind all the enthusiasm and the claim that God is the one leading us, lays our burning desire to fulfil an ambition we have, which might not be His vision. I pray that as I try to use mere words to articulate the spirit behind this vision, you will come to agree with me that there is no human ambition or personal empire being constructed here but a yearning desire for the manifestation of the children of God (Romans 8:19), in this broken society. So pray that the Lord will give me the ability to write clearly as He has put it in my spirit.
As a church, we have been running since December, 1997. This is the first time we are actually inviting the body of Christ to such a gathering since our inception. We have celebrated our anniversaries and held ordination services or the “Moving Forward” weekend, Friendship Sundays, Southwark Stakeholder’s Forum, but nothing like the “Chosen by Grace Conference” had ever taken place in our ministry.
The Mandate
As a church, when the Lord called us, it was absolutely clear to us what the Lord wanted us to do. I believe that every church or ministry has been called specifically with a clear cut mandate. If this is true, then it means that the earth is not crowded with churches. It is rather a world with ministries and individuals with clear assignments, who should be busy doing what they were raised to fulfil in the whole economy of God. At Community Outreach Ministries, we believe that our calling was clear; to rebuild the spiritual broken walls of our communities and cities (Nehemiah 2:17-20). We were called as agents of change to transform, enrich and empower the individual and communities to be the best they can be despite societal limitations. This vision was so clear that our mantra became “Building a Community of Faith” which later became C.O.M. “Here for you at the heart of the Community”. There is no significant difference between the first and the latter except that as a church we began to see ourselves attempting to work more for those who are outside of us, i.e. the marginalized and the disenfranchised with diversities of dysfunctionalities. We thought we were actually doing exactly what we have been called and mandated to do.
Ground Shifting
However, recently, I began to reflect on what we have been doing in the last few years and it became so clear to me that somehow, we have shifted emphasis from the original calling. We got our original inspiration from Nehemiah’s calling to leave the Kings chamber to go back to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem. Reflecting on our activities, we realized that somewhere down the line, there has been a deviation. I tried to explore the reasons for such a detour in our unique and specific calling. The result was obvious. What we were trying to achieve was not materializing as expected and we had become somewhat frustrated and therefore started using human criteria to measure success. The more we did this the more we drifted from the original template handed to us.
Frustration in ministry or church life is not akin to Community Outreach Ministries but global especially to all who want to do the work in accordance with God’s paradigm for ministry. In ministry, you are always swimming against the tide, facing challenges which emanate from a society which has dethroned God from the helm of their affairs and have embraced humanistic ideologies.
Unbiblical Methodologies
Such frustrations may cause one to look for alternative methodologies which at times are questionable and adrift with sound biblical principles. Frustrated ministries sometimes will start practicing principles which are contrary and tantamount to syncretism. Inculcating marketing methodologies to enhance image and financial position or recruiting people into church at the expense of sound biblical doctrine and teaching is not only ungodly but an anathema and a sign of adulatory as well as apostasy. This is not to frown at those who would like to use modern ways to reach the unsaved or employ modern technology to do the work of ministry. We thank God for technology and the opportunity to minister to a wider world. The point I am making is that the bible should not be sidelined and the presence of the Holy Spirit ignored for modernity. I do believe however, that the gospel can be packaged to make it attractive to the modern world but not at the expense of depending solely on the God who has called us and ordained us as ministers in a fractured and crooked world with a different world view.
The Elijah Complex
So despite the frustrations and challenges associated with ministry in the twenty first century, fractured society, expectations and dreams can still be achieved. After all we have been chosen by Grace (Romans 11:5-6). We are the Elects of God, His remnants in a world where many have made shipwreck of their faiths and ministerial calling. We are chosen to do the work of God according to His own well defined blue print. In his response to Elijah, who thought all have backslidden and abandoned the call and the faith, He replied that “there were 7000 prophets who have not bowed to the cares and pressures of a pluralistic society with its man-made gods. These were true Israelites who still bear the mark of Jehovah in a fractured world full of idolatry and quick fixes to accelerate ministerial expectations. These are the ones to finish the race with marks of war inflicted on them by violent spirits who wage war against the mandate of God upon their lives and ministries. They have refused to jump into bed with modernity and its superfluous promises. They have resigned to doing God’s work, God’s way in this fractured world. These are the true prophets who hear the real “Thus says the Lord” rather than what is based on human caprices and hollow philosophies shrouded in political correctness and lousy inclusivism.
Chosen By Grace
It is the company of the remnants that, this Chosen By Grace Conference is inviting you to be a part of. You are invited to come to rekindle the flame that should keep your ministerial calling and desire burning and not shrivelling into irrelevance. Come and hear seasoned ministers who have concluded that no other way will suffice but God’s way. The fire of the Holy will be invoked upon your life first and that zeal will catapult you to a new dimension of ministry. It is a conference to eradicate all elements which have frustrated and nearly crippling your God given ministry to a dying world. It is a conference to restart your ministry as you reflect and seek a new direction from the Holy Spirit. This is a conference to redirect you to the presence of your master, who has called you into a ministry.
Doing it His Way
I have now come to the understanding that the ministry that will be fruitful and satisfying and brings glory to God is the one which has vowed that only God’s way is the best way to do ministry in a fractured world. Human wisdom and methods will not survive the test of time. Human wisdom is shrouded in ambition but Godly wisdom births His revelation and vision for the work He has called us to do. When ministry is anchored in God’s vision, every challenge becomes an opportunity for Him to manifest Himself strong and to carry all our burdens and frustrations. All cares and ministerial burnouts become the things of the past. Doing ministry God’s way means that we fully understand that we did not call ourselves, it means that we understand that the one who called us has a plan and purpose and a blue print from which we cannot deviate from, it means that we have come to understand our ministry is only successful if it is His ministry. If we do ministry His way, we will not operate in the realms of human talents, skills, qualification and abilities. Measurements of success are no longer viewed from the lens of human perspectives but His perspectives. No human agent has the right to declare you a success or failure. We no longer seek praises or accolades from our beneficiaries or members of the congregation. We soldier on regardless of whether people commend us or not, we pride ourselves in the job regardless of whether we see quantitative growth or the lack of it. If it is His ministry done in His way, then mere privileged mortals have no business worrying about outcomes and success criteria.
But How?
We cannot do ministry His way unless we draw closer to Him. Many ministers are very busy doing God’s work but God has been factored out of the equation. He is not consulted, He is not briefed and He is not orchestrating and directing the ministry, we are not allowing Him, because we believe we know best what is required. This is wrong and will result in failure, struggles, frustration, sweat and maybe ministerial attrition. It was only when Prophet Isaiah saw the Lord did he realize that He was toiling in vain doing the ministry his own way. He took his frustration on the people not realizing that was contrary to God’s way of doing ministry (Isaiah 6). We need to seek the Lord’s face, draw closer to Him in deeper relationship before our ministry will reflect His ministry. Moses understood this when he asked God to him His glory (Exodus 33:12-23). He understood that the glory of God (His Presence) made the difference. His presence was the distinguishing factor. It distinguished his ministry from that of the Canaanites prophets or worshipers of false gods. That is why He said that if the presence of God did not go with him the he would not continue with the ministry he was undertaking. We need a closer walk with our God, communing with God daily and spending time in His presence is a better choice and a means of alleviating stress, struggles and sweat in ministry. Mary was said by Jesus to have chosen the better thing, which no one could take away from her (Luke 10:38-42).
On the contrary Martha allowed the mundane daily chores to clutter her life which manifested itself in strains and sweat and frustration. Mary stayed at the feet of the master receiving insights and spiritual guidance. These are the essentials for successful Christian ministry. Starting your ministry daily with a briefing from the architect and designer of the ministry will ensure that you follow the blue print which is His way. Jesus in His earthly ministry realized the power of staying in the presence of the Father. This is why he can say that He only did what the father had told Him. He did nothing of His own ability as the son of man in flesh, but totally relied on His Father. Before He chose His disciples He spent all night praying (Luke 6:12-16). What was He praying about? I believe He was asking the Father to choose for Him those He has purposed for Him, in order to have a fruitful ministry here on earth. This is why he said that they were yours, you gave them to me. So Jesus acknowledged here that with all his divinity and being God Himself, He still relied on the one who sent Him to select for Him those who would work with Him and continue to perpetuate the ministry when He is no longer on this earth.
This assurance that the Father was with Him all the way, because He communed with Him daily, made Him settled in His mind that His ministry will be successful. He could sleep in the boat even though the storm was raging; He challenged the ungodly religious mindset of the Pharisees, the Sadducees without fear or the need to compromise. He knew very well that the Father was with Him. This is the critical assurance we need in ministry in today’s world, especially when those who said, “yes start the ministry, we are with you all the way” later on desert you for another.
Which Ministry?
You must now decide. Do you want to do it your way or do you want to do it the Lord’s way? When Jesus comes, two types of ministries will stand before Him. There will be those who will say but we did this and did that. We organized great crusades, we fed many poor people in the developing nations, we travelled to dangerous lands for the sake of this gospel and built magnificent places of worship for your name sake, we ministered to many on the world wide web, but the Lord will say to them “depart from me because I know you not”. What a sad end. This could have been avoided had they followed the master’s plan rather than their own. So yon see it is perfectly possible to labour and labour for God but not earn His reward because you did not do it His way. Do not be too busy doing what the Lord has not directed you to do, even though you might be meeting an important need in the lives of people. Our ministries should not be like the Levites, who served in the outer court rather than the inner court. In the outer court their interactions were purely with men who had needs. They were obligated to meet these needs as they work tirelessly slaughtering animals for sacrifices. Theirs was a busy life all the way, sweating in the heat and using their well acquired skills in slaughtering and preparing animals for sacrifice. The service in the outer court made them popular and they received the praise of men daily.
There are also those who have resolved with great determination not to go the way of popularity, depend on human talents, skills, money and wisdom of this world. Even though you might not have heard their names, the ministries they represented, not able to buy their own jets to fly across the globe and appear on all cable networks, but totally and absolutely relied on God and His direction. They will earn the “Well done faithful servant”. They chose to know God than to be known by men. They chose to walk with God than to work for God. The company of the “well done” ministries are like the sons of Zadok who were solely dependent on God and stood still daily before Him in the inner court, ministering to the Lord in the Holy of Holies, which was their pride and joy. They never looked for human appreciation. They did not struggle nor sweat but ministered according to the plan and purpose of God. Ministering in the inner court is God driven but ministering in the outer court in human and duty driven. Outer court ministering is a ministry driven by need. We need a balance.
There is nothing wrong meeting needs in society. Jesus met a lot of needs. We however need a balance. After Jesus had ministered, He would withdraw from the crowd for a quite communion with His Father. Do not allow ministerial needs draw you away from the source of your survival. You will continue in sweating and struggling. God does not want us to struggle or sweat. This is why those who ministered in the inner court were not made to wear any clothes made of wool, because they will sweat (Ezekiel 44:17-18). Sweating is a sign of human effort void of God’s divine providence and help. We must not carry any extra baggage in ministry. The Lord commanded us to cast our burdens upon Him. Extra baggages have the capacity to weigh us down and make us snuggle unnecessarily.
Adam was told when He and his wife went out of the presence of God that they will sweat before they can eat. They have to struggle by themselves without help from God. But you are no longer outside the presence of God because Jesus has removed the middle wall of partition that separated us from God. We can now like the sons of Zadok (Ezekiel 44:15) come into the holy of holies to minister unto our God not carrying heavy burdens that will cause us to sweat, not wearing wool but linen which is lighter, because Jesus Christ is a burden lifter and we do not have to carry them anymore. Cast all your ministerial cares upon Him and He will lead you to do this ministry, God’s way. Make up your mind to do ministry only God’s way.
By Pastor Leonard Amechi
Senior Pastor
Community Outreach Ministries
