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Difficult People (Part 1)

Posted by Debby on July 10, 2010

Have you ever considered the parable of the tares and the wheat in relation to the difficult people in your life and within your women’s ministry? The parable found in Matthew 13:24-30 talks about how the enemy sows tares in the wheat field. Satan plants counterfeit Christians (tares) in the world. This passage teaches that in the midst of God’s people, there are those that are not genuine Christians. “Tares have the same color, shape and fragrance as wheat, but no heads of grain form. …Tares soak up the nutrients, they take up space, but they produce nothing in return and are unidentifiable until harvest time.” (Jon Courson)

Most of the time, we don’t really know who is truly a part of God’s kingdom and who is not. There are those who, from all appearances, seem to be true believers. They are involved, they carry their Bible and even use Christian “lingo” and join us in prayer. But they are tares. Satan has planted them within the kingdom to cause confusion and problems. But unless we get specific discernment from the Lord, we have no idea whether the difficult people we encounter were “planted” by the enemy to cause problems and division, or whether God put them there to be ministered to by us.

It could be that both are true–the enemy wants to use them, but God wants us to minister to them. And our godly response to these difficult people should be the same–we are to love people, whether friend or enemy. No matter how difficult the person, it is our job to love (through the power of the Holy Spirit), and God’s job to judge.

Posted in: Realities of Ministry

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Retreat Planning Calendar I

Posted by Debby on July 5, 2010

In addition to the Organizational Chart, we have a Retreat Planning Calendar. This calendar is developed after the retreat date is set and the location booked. Our calendar for this year’s retreat (in November) was handed out in May to all of the leaders of various areas of retreat planning. All retreat deadlines are noted on this calendar. For our November 12-14 retreat, we have deadlines beginning in August, approximately four months prior to the retreat. The calendar notes the date that registration will begin (and deadlines for all registration materials to be ready) and deadlines from the hotel for the final rooming list and BEO’s (Banquet Event Orders) to be turned in. Even the dates when announcements for the retreat are to be made, either in the bulletin or in the pulpit, are noted, because these need to be scheduled and prepared ahead of time. Deadlines for anything to be added to the retreat booklet (handed out to all attendees at the retreat) and any retreat meetings, including retreat prayer meetings are noted.

A week prior to the retreat, EVERYTHING pertaining to the retreat is due. All retreat supplies (booklets, name tags, skit props, decorations, book table books and supplies, remembrances, skit props–EVERYTHING–should be ready in one place and ready to be transported to the retreat. By forcing everything to be done before the last minute, we try to avoid panic attacks.

See more at Retreat Planning Calendar II.

Posted in: Retreat and Event Planning, Starting Points in Retreat Planning

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Busy-ness

Posted by Debby on June 30, 2010

Ruth Bell Graham gave us all something to ponder when she said “Beware the barrenness of busy-ness.” The thesaurus lists some synonyms of barrenness: unfruitfulness, unproductiveness, ineffectualness, and wasteland. There is definitely a barrenness that comes from being busy and over-committed, when our priorities get out of whack and the “cares of this world” choke the life out of us. Busyness, even in ministry, can cause us to neglect “abiding in the vine” — that relationship with Jesus that is life-producing and life-sustaining. We have probably all experienced it. We neglect our quiet time in God’s Word and in fellowship with Him, and then even those good things that we are doing become works of the flesh instead of works of the Spirit. That’s when the stress of doing it in our own strength makes us susceptible to “burn-out”, defined as a state of exhaustion and discouragement. I Cor. 15:58 makes it clear that God never intended us to burn out — in fact, He says “Be ye steadfast, immovable, ALWAYS ABOUNDING in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Posted in: Inspirations

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Distractions

Posted by Debby on June 28, 2010

We had an “interesting” experience one year at a retreat. We were in our assigned meeting room in the hotel. A large wedding was also being hosted in another banquet room. Unfortunately, the liquor cabinet was located in our meeting room, and hotel personnel were coming in during the evening to get more liquor. Apparently, they had seriously miscalculated the amount of wine/liquor that the wedding would require. Talk about a distraction! Obviously, our enemy at work. Lesson learned: Before and during the retreat, be praying against distractions of the enemy! He can use just about anything or anyone to distract women from hearing God’s message.

Posted in: Lessons Learned

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The Lord Waits

Posted by Debby on June 23, 2010

Occasionally, I want to take the opportunity this blog affords me to share some inspirational and devotional thoughts that apply to ministry.

“Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you” (Isaiah30:18a)

A.W. Pink comments on this verse in his book Elijah: “So often (God) allows things to get worse before there is any improvement. He “waits to be gracious.” Why? To bring us to the end of ourselves and of our resources, till all seems lost and we are in despair: that we may more clearly discern His delivering hand.”

I was just wondering how often God “waits to be gracious” to us because we are so busy exhausting our own resources, instead of looking for His deliverance?

Posted in: Inspirations

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