Continuing on from Monday and Tuesday…

5. Ministry without passion is just you going through the motions

• Seriously, if you are not passionate about what you are doing, you are not really doing anything!
• God has gifted each and every one of us to do something that only we can do for Him… that comes with a passion.  If you do not feel that passion, maybe you are not doing what God has gifted you to do!
• I am not talking about waking up in the morning and wanting to stay under the covers… or even just wanting to call in sick for a day.  I am talking about when you wake up in the night, your first thoughts go to what you do, and how it excites you!  I am talking about you standing in line in a store, and you hear someone talking about church or Jesus, and you light up, knowing that what you do for Him fires you up!
• As servants of the most High God, how can we be more passionate about trips we will take, games we will play and sports teams we follow than we are about the God we are called to serve that changes lives and does things that only He can do?

Ok, again, think about it… God has called us to serve Him… how cool is that… how humbling is that?!!?

With all of that in mind…

6. If you are not passionate about what you are doing, you are cheating yourself, God, and the people you serve.

• God deserves better than a half-hearted attempt to serve Him.  Jesus went ALL THE WAY to the cross, the least we can do is go all out in our service to God.
• You need to be totally sold out to what God has called you to do.  People can tell the difference between someone who is passionate about serving God and others and someone who is just doing something because it is either their job or because it is a religious exercise.
• How can we expect others to be passionate about serving God if we are not?  If God has placed us to lead or serve beside people, we need to exhibit a passion and fire what God has called and gifted us for.  The passion is contagious!

7. It does not matter if you are traditional or contemporary as long as you are following what God wants you to do for your church

• I get so ticked off when I hear stories about guys that spend hours preparing articles and writing papers like, “Why such-and-such church is an abomination to God,” or “Why this version of the Bible is of the devil,” or “Why this music is wrong because if you play it backwards is says, ‘Read the NIV'” or something like that.
• I seriously think when God sees this stuff He shakes His head and just says, “I said you should redeem the time because the days are evil, this is not redeeming the time, it is wasting it!”
• I am glad there are all kinds of churches because there are all kinds of people.  If someone down the street wants to wear a suit, have services 6 times a week and sing nothing but hymns, that is fine.  I hope they reach people for Jesus.  I am not in competition with them, and it is certainly not my job to judge or critique them.  What they do is between them and God.  Again, I am not competing, they are trying to reach people for Jesus, so I am grateful for them.
• Seriously, we should spend more time reading our Bible (whatever version it may be), praying, and building relationships with people so we can lead them to Jesus.  All that other stuff is junk, and does not do anyone, any good.

We will finish the top ten up tomorrow.  Man, writing all this stuff fires me up!