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The Greatest Threat to Your Ministry
An excerpt from the brand new book, Grow, Minister and Lead—Book
2: The Next Level
by Bill Allison with Dave Garda
 We
don’t have to be involved in church very long before we realize
that the biggest threat to our ministry is… our ministry! We can
get so busy doing church and ministry that we forget Christianity, in
its purest essence, is about loving God—and then letting that love
overflow into service for him. And the more gifted you are, the greater
your tendency to rely and operate your life and ministry on your giftedness—rather
than on a full heart of love for God.
In the preface to the 2003 edition of Ordering Your Private World,
Gordon MacDonald put it this way:
Sadly, we do not have a Christian culture today that easily discrimintates
between a person of spiritual depth and a person of raw talent. The
result is that more than a few people can be fooled into thinking they
are being influenced by a spiritual giant when in fact they are being
manipulated by a dwarf. We must always be aware that there are great
leaders who can build great organizations (including churches) on natural
gifts. Say the right words, be smart enough to do the right things,
be insightful enough to connect with the right people, and one can go
a long way before anyone ever discovers that the inner life is close
to empty."
Is your “inner life” close to empty these days? Many of us
tend to allow the busyness of serving God to squeeze out relationship
with God (Luke 10:38-42). It’s so much easier to
- do ministry rather than be a disciple
- attend church rather than be the church
- pour out rather than overflow
- go through the motions of volunteering rather than serving out of
a heart full of love for God.
Thus, way too many of us live and serve on an inner life that is often
dangerously close to empty. (Sound familiar?) I believe this is the number
one problem for a majority of us who are actively serving God in a local
church.
The Best and First Step to Highly Effective Service
The best thing that you can do for your church and the ministry in which
you volunteer is to cultivate an intimate life of personal discipleship
with Jesus Christ. Why? Because if you want to measure the spiritual temperature
of the ministry in which you are involved, then put a thermometer in your
own mouth.
What is the temperature of your relationship with God these days?
 Tell
your friends about this issue!
 GML2-4-1
It’s here and it’s brand new! Ten MORE training sessions—great
for personal study or for use in small groups—that can help you
take your growth, ministry, and leadership to the next level. Each of
the ten chapters end with caffeinated discussion questions designed to
help you apply what you’re learning to your life and volunteer ministry.
And—if you read the next few sentences very carefully—you’ll
find out how to get two books for the price of one.
For Cadre Connection Readers Only:
Purchase one Grow, Minister & Lead—Book 2: The Next Level—and
get the second one for FREE! It’s a one time 2-4-1 offer only available
until April 15, 2007.
Use this SPECIAL LINK to get 2 for the price of 1: SPECIAL PRICING
To get this limited time 2-4-1 offer, go HERE
Product
Details (Store)
Training Trainers!
The mission of Cadre is to equip churches to make
their volunteers wildly successful. Perhaps the best way we accomplish
our mission is by training trainers to take training back to their local
churches and spheres of influence. Below, twenty-three youth workers in
the Forest Lake District of the Evangelical Free Church of Wisconsin get
certified to do Cadre’s Ministry Is Relationships training.
For more information about trainer certification, contact info@cadreministries.com.
Just for Fun…
Parenting Teenagers:
A Strategy NOT Endorsed By James Dobson
To learn about the parenting strategy, go HERE.
Yes, We Know the Real Meaning of Easter, But We
Still Think This Is Funny:
Cadre: Equipping Local Churches to Make Volunteers
WILDLY Successful!
Cadre is a not-for-profit ministry [501(c)(3)] that exists to assist
local churches in becoming the greatest volunteer training organizations
in the world. We're asking God to give us 5,000 non-staff trainers who
are obsessed with Ephesians 4:11-12! To pursue certification to take Cadre
training to your church, contact info@cadreministries.com
Cadre staff serve as support-based, God-dependent missionaries to
come alongside volunteers and those who care for volunteers in the church
to help accomplish their God-given mission.
We provide FREE monthly online training for volunteers in the church
(Cadre Connection), for volunteer Jr. High Youthworkers (Batteries Included),
and for Student Leaders (Spiritual Caffeine). Visit www.cadreministries.com
to preview our recent free training or to sign up to receive training
in your email-box monthly.
For more information about bringing a certified Cadre trainer to
coach and train the volunteer teachers, leaders, and youth workers in
your church, contact info@cadreministries.com
For Cadre training resources visit http://www.cadreministries.com/store
All other tax deductible donations can be sent to:
Cadre Ministries
PO Box 278
Sycamore, IL 60178
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