Question:
I need some advice as to what the priorities would be if I am convinced that God calls me to start a fresh ministry? In fact, we are at this stage two families that share the same conviction. We are not currently part of an established Fellowship and for the past eight months we pondered and prayed through the entire venture.
Answer:
To try to answer your question, I would first state the obvious, that it is Christ who builds His church. Thus, we are trying to determining if, in fact, He is leading you and this other family to begin a new work. I would think that the first choice is to work with the established church. But often we find that many of the local churches have departed from the truth. I would evaluate the churches in your area, to see if any have leadership that are "part of the solution." You see, it is a common process for a church to drift away from the truth, because the church does not live in a vacuum--the evil one is always working against the true church (and Christian) that is trying to honor Christ. When we find a church that no longer abides in the truth then we need to ask a question:
Is the leadership a part of the problem or a part of the solution?
If they are part of the problem, that is, they are the leading the church away from the truth and into false doctrine or traditions that nullify the Word, then there is little hope as long as they are in power. One could stay, and pray and fast, that God would change the leadership or replace them. Careful prayer for wisdom whether to stay or go would be in order. Most likely, they won't change, indicating that the Lord has removed their light. If on the other hand, the church leadership is part of the solution, that is, they see the problems and are trying to revive the church, bringing it back to the truth of Christ, then stay and be part of the process.
If after all this, you feel that the Lord is still leading you to start a new work, then you will need to find other Christians who love and long for the truth of God's Word and have hearts that want to live it out in their daily lives, no matter the cost. Then start meeting together and studying the Word to define the basic doctrines of this new ministry. All the time be praying and fasting for a leader, a man of God to lead this new work. Because you are attempting to glorify Christ with a body of believers committed to truth, then you can expect that the evil one will be there to try to cripple the work.
If God is truly leading this new ministry, then the evidence will be that it will start to grow, and noticeably so.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Tony Capoccia's Questions and Answers" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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Email: tony@biblebb.com
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