People are ministry

It's tempting sometimes to recoil from contact with people. After all, more times than not interaction with other folks just creates additional problems for me to deal with, especially in ministry. Oh yeah, ministry...

There are only two things that will last forever - God's Word and the souls of men. I received a phone call today that reminded me of this. A gentleman called into the ministry, desperate for help in overcoming his addiction to lustful thoughts and behaviors. His phone call caught me right in the middle of a pretty important task concerning our website. I found my attention divided. We spoke for about 20 minutes, and then he leveled me with a very simple request:

"Would you pray for me right now?"

I almost dropped the phone. Here I was, a "minister" of the Good News, being reminded of my whole purpose for being in ministry - it's about reaching people at the point of their need and offering them the wonderful news of Jesus Christ. How quickly I am prone to forget the essentials.

I did pray for this man. Silently, I was praying for myself as well. We both needed it. He needed encouragement for realizing new hope for freedom from his sexual dependency. I needed his phone call to give me renewed focus on the true meaning of ministry. I'm truly thankful for God's gentle, yet clear, reminder that ministry really is about people.

Refocused,

jonathan