Change…is a constant!
The one thing that I have learned over the years is that change is always part of my life. No matter what we try to do to create a “status quo”, it won’t last. Change can cause us to experience emotions like anger, fear, frustration and depression. WOW! I don’t like things to change, so I can identify with some of these emotions. Perhaps God put this element of constant change in our lives to allow us to see Him more clearly as the one who never changes. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” Hebrews 13:8 tells us. The time of change is a time to refocus on the face of Jesus!
I look around each day and see changes in Women’s Ministry and wonder what the future will be? I asked my friend what the “future of Women’s Ministries was?—after she finished giggling she felt like it wouldn’t be changing much in 1000 years. What I see is that women don’t really change much; they have the same sort of need for relationships with other women and for an intimate and growing relationship with Jesus. What changes the most is the method we use and the attitude we have toward the changes themselves. The basic truth we can stand firm on is that Jesus loves us unconditionally as His daughters, He will never change. Our calling is to share that hope with other women in the way that they understand and in environments that are safe for them. It is our responsibility to find the best way to minister to the women with which we are involved.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Mentoring Girls
One of the areas that is sadly overlooked in many of our churches is the intentional mentoring of middle and senior high school girls. The Youth and Student Ministries departments do not all find this to be an area where they can spend the time and energy and yet it is a vital aspect of a young girl's life. Women's Ministries can help fill the gap in this area. There are numerous resources and of course many women who are willing to work out an arrangement with the Youth/Student Ministry departments to develop a Girl's Ministry.
It is important and valuable to network within departments of a church and I would suggest that as a leader in ministry, this is a good area to begin the networking process. Approaching the youth leaders with the idea and just getting their thoughts is step number one.
Other ideas include:
*finding resources on line for girl's ministries
*talking with women who might be interested in organizing or mentoring
*research mentoring resources
*begin a program of mentor training
Some fantastic programs have been set up for girl's and if you know of one, please send a note about it. You can get information from Mallory at mrohach@southlandchristian.org on starting a ministry for girl's, setting up a mentoring ministry, finding resources, training sessions, and materials for Bible study.
Take this to your prayer team and see if God is leading you to work in this area with the girls of your church. We are called to mentor the younger women, should this not also be a call to mentor the girls who will be tomorrow's women.
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderes or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, tobe kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Titus 2:3-5
It is important and valuable to network within departments of a church and I would suggest that as a leader in ministry, this is a good area to begin the networking process. Approaching the youth leaders with the idea and just getting their thoughts is step number one.
Other ideas include:
*finding resources on line for girl's ministries
*talking with women who might be interested in organizing or mentoring
*research mentoring resources
*begin a program of mentor training
Some fantastic programs have been set up for girl's and if you know of one, please send a note about it. You can get information from Mallory at mrohach@southlandchristian.org on starting a ministry for girl's, setting up a mentoring ministry, finding resources, training sessions, and materials for Bible study.
Take this to your prayer team and see if God is leading you to work in this area with the girls of your church. We are called to mentor the younger women, should this not also be a call to mentor the girls who will be tomorrow's women.
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderes or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, tobe kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Titus 2:3-5
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Apathy
Apathy is a state of indifference — where an individual has an absence of interest or concern to certain aspects of emotional, social, or physical life.
Apathy is dangerous and detrimental to the individual and sometimes to the people around them. I look at the religions of our world that are building buildings and moving their beliefs into the lives of everyone they contact. There are strategies and plans to reach people and draw them into the same belief systems, even those that aren't necessarily healthy. Some of the strategy is loving and creating a welcoming environment like a big family; some use intimidation and force; some use false teaching or subltely incorrect teaching.
The reason we need to think about apathy as leaders of women is that our purpose should be to grow them spiritually. We need to have a purpose and a strategy to evangelize, teach, disciple and empower women to be strong in the Lord and able to follow His leading in their lives.
It is a great responsibility and we need to plan and strategize for the future, not just this spring we will have a fun event and maybe in the fall we will do a Bible study. What is the plan? We cannot be apathetic in this area of our leadership. As the world changes and more generations are being brought up without a biblical worldview, family values, or even knowledge of the Word of God, we must be more intentional than ever with ministy. Those of you in parachurch ministries have a purpose statement and if you are in a ministry in the church, you should have a purpose statement. However, this statement should not be on paper only, it is up to us as leaders to live it out and produce results of changed lives and grow disciples for the future.
Be energized, check yourself on the apathy scale and ask God to move you into the His army!
Apathy is dangerous and detrimental to the individual and sometimes to the people around them. I look at the religions of our world that are building buildings and moving their beliefs into the lives of everyone they contact. There are strategies and plans to reach people and draw them into the same belief systems, even those that aren't necessarily healthy. Some of the strategy is loving and creating a welcoming environment like a big family; some use intimidation and force; some use false teaching or subltely incorrect teaching.
The reason we need to think about apathy as leaders of women is that our purpose should be to grow them spiritually. We need to have a purpose and a strategy to evangelize, teach, disciple and empower women to be strong in the Lord and able to follow His leading in their lives.
It is a great responsibility and we need to plan and strategize for the future, not just this spring we will have a fun event and maybe in the fall we will do a Bible study. What is the plan? We cannot be apathetic in this area of our leadership. As the world changes and more generations are being brought up without a biblical worldview, family values, or even knowledge of the Word of God, we must be more intentional than ever with ministy. Those of you in parachurch ministries have a purpose statement and if you are in a ministry in the church, you should have a purpose statement. However, this statement should not be on paper only, it is up to us as leaders to live it out and produce results of changed lives and grow disciples for the future.
Be energized, check yourself on the apathy scale and ask God to move you into the His army!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Follow The Leader
It is often said that the people can only go as far as their leader has gone. That presents quite a challenge for women in ministry. Our responsibility is to lead women into spiritual growth and new adventures of faith and that is all limited by our personal spiritual position. Taking time to be alone with the Lord and develop our own relationship is vital to our leadership ability. As the year begins, it is a good time to evaluate where you were with the Lord this time a year ago and what you have learned about Him. This is a daily process of Bible reading, meditation and prayer. We should constantly be seeking His will for our lives and our ministry and calling on Him for wisdom. Leadership calls for a higher standard of living and that can only be accomplished through an understanding of Christ-likeness on our part. One of my favority tools is the Leadership Bible which has a study plan for leaders through the Scriptures. Also, journaling our prayers and the answers God gives us is helpful. Let's refuel so that we can be godly leaders.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Then There Was Covenant
Each year it is good to choose a theme for your Women's Ministries that will lead to spiritual growth. This year I have chosen Covenant and teaching the principles of the eternal and everlasting Covenant God has made with us.
In the beginning God created Adam and Eve and a paradise for them. He walked with them in the evening and had sweet fellowship. When sin entered the garden, man broke that fellowship. God who remains faithful yesterday, today and forever had a plan. In Genesis 3:15, He speaks of Jesus as the seed who will crush Satan. God then established covenant with Abraham, Noah, Moses, and David and in all those relationships we see the promise of the New Covenant that Jesus brings to us.
The only requirement for this present and eternal relationship with God is to believe who He is ane believe Jesus was His son sent for our salvation. Then we can become friends with God. WOW! That just thrills my heart.
To develop a friendship we must spend time together, talk together, listen to each other, study eac other's character. We can compare this to our dating before marriage. We couldn't wait to be together and to listen to every detail of each other's day, to sit together, talk together, walk together and plan together for our future. This is God's desire for us in relationshp with Him. We must get to know Him personally. He is not a faraway being who is distant from His creation. He has every emotion that we have and loves and grieves for us. He wants to be our Father, our Daddy.
The Covenant with Abraham is still alive for us today. It is important to study the basics of this Covenant and to realize that only we can break it, God will not break it, He is faithful to keep His promises. Kay Arthur has a precepts study on the Covenant, which would be a good place to begin to teach this vital concept.
In the beginning God created Adam and Eve and a paradise for them. He walked with them in the evening and had sweet fellowship. When sin entered the garden, man broke that fellowship. God who remains faithful yesterday, today and forever had a plan. In Genesis 3:15, He speaks of Jesus as the seed who will crush Satan. God then established covenant with Abraham, Noah, Moses, and David and in all those relationships we see the promise of the New Covenant that Jesus brings to us.
The only requirement for this present and eternal relationship with God is to believe who He is ane believe Jesus was His son sent for our salvation. Then we can become friends with God. WOW! That just thrills my heart.
To develop a friendship we must spend time together, talk together, listen to each other, study eac other's character. We can compare this to our dating before marriage. We couldn't wait to be together and to listen to every detail of each other's day, to sit together, talk together, walk together and plan together for our future. This is God's desire for us in relationshp with Him. We must get to know Him personally. He is not a faraway being who is distant from His creation. He has every emotion that we have and loves and grieves for us. He wants to be our Father, our Daddy.
The Covenant with Abraham is still alive for us today. It is important to study the basics of this Covenant and to realize that only we can break it, God will not break it, He is faithful to keep His promises. Kay Arthur has a precepts study on the Covenant, which would be a good place to begin to teach this vital concept.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Women's Minsitries Mission Trips
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Matthew 28:19 (NKJ)
Before I arrived in Lexington, Kentucky in 1997, I had never been on a mission trip. Furthermore, I was “not called to missions”! Oh, pride is a terrible thing. The Matthew passage doesn’t say I will call you when I need you, it simply says “Go”. It became apparent that God was pushing me to take short term mission trips to speak to the women in different countries and He was relentless. My first mission trip was to Northwest Haiti Mission where there were five days of women’s retreats in different churches, five nights of Bible study at the mission church and many service opportunities with women of all ages. Three months later I was off to Jamaica for the same type of activity with women there. The next year, it was Nigeria. These experiences were life-changing and I have had repeat visits.
The first and foremost fear for me was the culture; would it be dangerous, would I be sick, would they like me, would we be kidnapped? As you will notice, it was the typical “all about me” questions. So I said, “Ok God, I will do this” and began planning and packing. Curious what the women would be like and what the differences between us would be, I studied every book and web site I could find to gain knowledge. Lo and behold! We arrived and they were all just like me! That was the case in every area that I went. Developing countries have more hardships, hunger, and poverty, but their personal needs are the same. We are all striving to find the answers to our life situations and build a relationship with the Lord. It was a delight to study the Word together with these women and to exchange our personal life experiences and how God walked through them with us. I would like to challenge you to seek God about your involvement in mission trips with your Women's Ministries.
Jesus taught the disciples while He was on earth how to be the church and how to reach how to share the gospel with others. The focus was not just on making disciples out of the church attendees, but disciples of the unchurched on a global plane.
“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news” Romans 10:15b (NIV)
Before I arrived in Lexington, Kentucky in 1997, I had never been on a mission trip. Furthermore, I was “not called to missions”! Oh, pride is a terrible thing. The Matthew passage doesn’t say I will call you when I need you, it simply says “Go”. It became apparent that God was pushing me to take short term mission trips to speak to the women in different countries and He was relentless. My first mission trip was to Northwest Haiti Mission where there were five days of women’s retreats in different churches, five nights of Bible study at the mission church and many service opportunities with women of all ages. Three months later I was off to Jamaica for the same type of activity with women there. The next year, it was Nigeria. These experiences were life-changing and I have had repeat visits.
The first and foremost fear for me was the culture; would it be dangerous, would I be sick, would they like me, would we be kidnapped? As you will notice, it was the typical “all about me” questions. So I said, “Ok God, I will do this” and began planning and packing. Curious what the women would be like and what the differences between us would be, I studied every book and web site I could find to gain knowledge. Lo and behold! We arrived and they were all just like me! That was the case in every area that I went. Developing countries have more hardships, hunger, and poverty, but their personal needs are the same. We are all striving to find the answers to our life situations and build a relationship with the Lord. It was a delight to study the Word together with these women and to exchange our personal life experiences and how God walked through them with us. I would like to challenge you to seek God about your involvement in mission trips with your Women's Ministries.
Jesus taught the disciples while He was on earth how to be the church and how to reach how to share the gospel with others. The focus was not just on making disciples out of the church attendees, but disciples of the unchurched on a global plane.
“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news” Romans 10:15b (NIV)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Authentencity
Last week I was talking to a young woman, married and in her late 20's. She was talking about being a Christian woman in the church. Every week she has the same struggles we all have had, rushing to get ready, dress the kids, feed the family, get them to the car, trying not to scream and yell, but not always successful and occasionally angry with her husband. Arriving at the church, everyone is all smiles and gives the appearance of the "perfect" Christian family. We are in the age of competition and appearance of "perfect".
It most women come to church like that, what does it say for authentic Christianity? Not good things, that's for sure. What is the women's leader responsibility to help this situation disappear? The symptoms indicate that women in the church do not understand their value in the Lord and the freedom that comes in learning that identity as His child.
Teaching is the key to correct this problem of living a life of bondage to ideas of perfection. Mentoring is critical and the spiritually mature women should ask the Lord where they fit in this situation. Training of mentors and leaders about this problem is the first step. There are various resources for setting up a Mentoring Ministry and those can be helpful in building the one that suits the church you are in and the women of your church.
Secondly, evaluate the Bible Studies and themes that are used for Women's Ministries in the church. What will bring them into the understanding of their position in the Lord. Biblical principles and a knowledge of the Word and its personal application is most important. Planning the year ahead for a purpose is a possible solution for this thematic teaching.
Third, is to live by example, let women know that you as a leader are like them in everyway and that you struggle with the same issues. Share how you have overcome some of these things with the help of the Holy Spirit--write and speak your testimonies and incorporate the testimonies of other women.
We as women are created in God's image, we are His children, we are daughters of the King--Princessess. We should live in that confidence and know our value and identity in order to be able to live authentic and healthy Christian lives.
It most women come to church like that, what does it say for authentic Christianity? Not good things, that's for sure. What is the women's leader responsibility to help this situation disappear? The symptoms indicate that women in the church do not understand their value in the Lord and the freedom that comes in learning that identity as His child.
Teaching is the key to correct this problem of living a life of bondage to ideas of perfection. Mentoring is critical and the spiritually mature women should ask the Lord where they fit in this situation. Training of mentors and leaders about this problem is the first step. There are various resources for setting up a Mentoring Ministry and those can be helpful in building the one that suits the church you are in and the women of your church.
Secondly, evaluate the Bible Studies and themes that are used for Women's Ministries in the church. What will bring them into the understanding of their position in the Lord. Biblical principles and a knowledge of the Word and its personal application is most important. Planning the year ahead for a purpose is a possible solution for this thematic teaching.
Third, is to live by example, let women know that you as a leader are like them in everyway and that you struggle with the same issues. Share how you have overcome some of these things with the help of the Holy Spirit--write and speak your testimonies and incorporate the testimonies of other women.
We as women are created in God's image, we are His children, we are daughters of the King--Princessess. We should live in that confidence and know our value and identity in order to be able to live authentic and healthy Christian lives.
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