Questions I'm Asking Myself These Days?

Where do I want my ministry to be when I'm 30...40...50...60?

I heard an interview with Rick Warren on the Catalyst podcast this past week. I don't even recall what he said, but it caused me to realize that I've got all sorts of ideas for where I want to be professionally. But I haven't spent much time thinking about what I want God to do in the people I'm ministering to.

It's causing me to think a lot.

"What would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail?" - Perry Nobles

I'm currently in the process of writing my ministry plans for next year. So my mind is in brain storm mode. This question from Perry Nobles really got me thinking about the things I'm scared to attempt.

Really, if I'm moving in a God-ward direction, then God has my back.

What can I contribute to the Kingdom as a whole? - Craig Groeschel

I probably should adjust this question to read more like this...

"What can I contribute to the Kingdom as a whole...which doesn't make me look awesome?"

I'm great at finding ways to manipulate the godly things I do into thinly veiled vanity projects. The tricky part about contributing to the whole kingdom is that then the whole kingdom can look at me and make much of me. My ego likes that idea, but the Holy Spirit in me is telling me to fight that.

So how can I make significant contributions to the Kingdom in ways which bring no praise to me?

Who is no one reaching in my city? What would it take to reach them?

I'm frequently confronted with the thought that there are unreached people at the Taco Bell I eat at multiple times each week. The city I work in only has one high school, and it only has 900 students. I could literally print off a list of their names and go down the list asking, "What would it take to reach (fill in the blank)?"

I currently have 40-65 students showing up to my weekly worship gathering. If I partner with the Baptist church down the road our joint group would be around 100 students. That's over 10% of the people at the high school. If they were living on a mission reaching the high school would be entirely tangible.