opinions and musings

Continuing my thoughts on equipping believers for serving in the marketplace: So you may say, "Well this is all great Bill, doing good for people and helping them succeed in business, education, government, etc., but where does the societal transformation come in?" I'm glad you asked that question!  I will say two things: 1. The agent of transformation is the Holy Spirit. 2. The power of transformation is God's love. If we are surrendering to Jesus daily, then the life and power of the Holy Spirit is naturally flowing through us wherever we are and the love of God is also flowing through us. We trust God that His love is impacting those around us and that He is leading them to open their hearts to His love and His very real Presence and activity. Here is a secret: He has already been working in their lives since before they were born and He loves them more than we ever will. Our task is to love and serve people in the power of the Holy Spirit, energize...

Continuing my thoughts on equipping believers for serving in the marketplace: Let's look at the 7 spiritual gifts that Paul the Apostle listed in his letter to the Roman community, chapter 12: "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." Here are 7 spiritual gifts for the marketplace: 1. Prophecy - not telling the future, but speaking the mind of God 2. Serving - meeting the needs of others in practical ways. 3. Teaching - helping people understand and apply concepts 4. Exhorting - en...

Continuing my thoughts on equipping people for marketplace ministry, I mentioned in an earlier post that many traditional pastors are ill-suited for this task because they don't have much experience operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the marketplace. However, if we read Ephesians 4:11-16 carefully, we find out that there are four other equipping ministries listed: 1. apostles 2. prophets 3. evangelists 4. teachers These are not governmental offices in the church, these are leaders who can train people to minister (serve) effectively in the marketplace. Along with this let us consider the ministry of the Holy Spirit in and through the members of the church. This is a mystery, but when we surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, God himself comes to live in us through what the Bible calls his Holy Spirit. Paul the Apostle writes to the community of believers in Jesus in Rome in the 1st century: "All who are led by the Spirit of God are son...