The Biblical story of Exodus 32:1-10 where the Israelites were led in

to the worship of the Golden Calf while Moses was away to the Mount of God is always instructive to those who want to please God till the end of their lives and ministry. The people went into idolatry and God disowned them immediately. He told Moses, ‘Your People’ which you brought. By reason of their idolatry, they were no longer His people and the ministry then was that of Moses, no more that of God!

The same scenario is playing out across the landscape of Christianity today. Too many ministries have been disowned by God and many ministers are simply running their own ministries, no more that of God. It is time to examine our ministries, whether they are of God or they are our own! (2 Cor. 13:5).

A. Biblical Foundation – Acts 5:36-39; Exod. 32:1-10; Isaiah 56:10-11

It is very possible to run ministries that God doesn’t know. It is possible to gather crowds that God knows nothing about. Theudas and Judas of Galilee raised up big ministries that soon scattered because God was not in it.

 It is possible run without being sent.
 You can call yourself and even call God today.
 The motive of many ministries is not right with God.
 Blind leaders will lead blind people into the ditch.
 Unsaved, moral crusaders cannot do work for God.
 An NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) that doesn’t get people converted is nothing to heaven.
 Condoling, cajoling and sweeping sin under carpet is not work of God.
 Not lifting Jesus and His work up is without God’s approval in any ministry.

The fact that crowds, building and material success are evident in a ministry doesn’t mean God is involved. You can gather crowds through magic, marketing and material things.

B. Marks of Our Ministry and His Ministry

Almost everywhere you turn today, you hear ministers saying “My ministry”, “My ministry” without any tinge of caution. We have personalized His ministry to our own today. In my findings, I have seen the difference between our ministry and His ministry. Here are they:

C. Doing His Ministry Today – 2 Tim. 2:20-21

True ministry is not using God, but allowing God to use us to His glory. It is being a vessel in His hand to flow through
1. Have an encounter with the Lord – Truth, Power and Allegiance Encounters.
2. Receive His clear calling and commission to a particular ministry.
3. Go for solid scriptural training and preparation – no Bible illiteracy.
4. Build your ministry on Balanced Bible truth – not one side.
5. Jesus must be the Alpha and Omega of your ministry.
6. Reach souls, hearts and people for Him – not mind and physical things.
7. Seek the will of God and obey the Holy Spirit in all you do.
8. Jettison carnal, worldly pursuits and walk in the Spirit.
9. Your personal devotion, commitment to Jesus and glorifying Him is the key.
10. Abide by ministerial ethics, values and standards.

For our labour not to be in vain, we must do ministry according to His standard, not worldly systems. He must work in us and through us (Phil. 2:13). The foundation and operations of our ministry must be the undiluted word of God (Matt. 7:24-26). Any other foundation is sinking sand. Only ministry built on the undiluted word of God will endure storms and last.
Don’t start church because you lost your job
God may not be interested in abandoned vessels
Don’t start a ministry because you want to prove a point
Nothing to prove when it comes to ministry matters
Don’t start a church because people call you a Pastor
They only see outside, they don’t know who you are in private
Don’t start a ministry because others are pushing you
You may not survive satanic attacks
Don’t start a church because you are eloquent
Smooth talk without character may draw people but will not hold them
Don’t start a church because you don’t like your present church
It won’t be long that what you complained about will be happening in your new church
Don’t start a ministry because you think God is calling you to start one… thinking alone is not enough.
No matter the gift, no matter the anointing of God upon your life, if God has not clearly called and had covenant with you, don’t start. If you do, you may be courting trouble.
If you doubt it, learn a lesson from Uzzah – He got instant death for offering unsolicited help!

Being a ministration by Dr. Mike Oluniyi during the Networki

ng Ministers Conference on Wednesday 21st April 2021.

Look not upon me, because I am black,
because the sun hath looked upon me:
my mother’s children were angry with me;
they made me the keeper of the vineyards;
but mine own vineyard have I not kept.(SS.1:6)

Introduction.
Often in the quest for the growth of the ministry, we abandon our family to our detriment. The demands of the ministry in terms of time, your talent and resources are so great that many pastors fail to pay adequate attention to their family in the process of doing ministry.
In the scripture above, the writer was lamenting that he kept the general vineyard, but despite all efforts, people still complained about the vineyard. However in keeping the vineyards that they were complaining about, he abandoned his own vineyard without being kept.
It is the same story in the life of many ministers of God about their families. As a passionate minister of God who loves the work of God, you will discover that the work never ends. It is either you are raising money to buy land for the church, to build, to buy musical equipments, debt of the last convention or preparing for the next one etc. You may also either be raising money to print tracts, send people on mission, sponsoring the children of some missionaries etc. It may also be that a member is sick, need school fees for the child who had been sent away from school, some youth gained admission to higher institution or a member is in one problem or the other. In many growing ministries, when pastor visits, instead of giving gifts to the pastor, that is when they will inform the pastor that the landlord has given them the quit notice.
There is consequently no end to the demands of ministry. However, you need to take note of the following concerning your spouse and children;

YOUR SPOUSE.
* YOUR MARITAL RELATIONSHIP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT AFTER THAT OF GOD.
* WHEN THERE IS PROBLEM IN YOUR MARITAL RELATIONSHIP, THE ECHO IS LOUDER THAN ANY OTHER PROBLEM IN YOUR LIFE.
* THE JOURNEY OF MARRIAGE WILL BE YOUR LONGEST JOURNEY WITH ANY INDIVIDUAL IN YOUR LIFETIME.
* ONE OF THE GREATEST HARM YOU MAY DO YOUR LIFE AND MINISTRY IS TO LOSE THE TRUST OF YOUR SPOUSE.
* IN THE HAND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, YOUR SPOUSE IS THE GREATEST HELP FOR YOUR LIFE AND MINISTRY; ALSO IN THE HAND OF THE DEVIL, SHE MAY BE BECOME THE MOST POTENT INSTRUMENT THAT MAY BE USED TO DESTROY YOUR MINISTRY.
* THE MOST POTENT DESTROYER OF YOUR MARRIAGE IS ALTERNATIVE ATTRACTION.
* THERE IS NOTHING YOUR SPOUSE HAS DONE, WHICH SOMEONE ELSE’S SPOUSE HAS NOT DONE WORSE; THEREFORE, FORGIVE YOUR SPOUSE.
* IF YOU DISCOVER THAT YOUR SPOSE IS NO LONGER ATTRACTIVE TO YOU, YOU MAY NEED TO REALLY WATCH AND PRAY!

YOUR CHILDREN
You must be determined to give your children the best. Several of the needs of the ministry may wait and be done later, but once the education of the children either academically, religious or home training fails, you may live to regret it. This warning may sound selfish, but something happened some years back that made me to take this issue very serious. I attended the funeral ceremony of the general overseer of a big ministry in Nigeria. When it was time to read the scriptures during the service, the first son was asked to read the scriptures, but alas, he could barely read the English Bible. In fact, it was embarrassing to the ministry how he just muddled up the reading of the scripture and left the podium. You can’t blame the grown up young man. The time he was supposed to be getting the rudiments of his education, the man of God and probably mummy were busy with the Lord’s work. They probably forgot the scriptures in 1 Timothy 5:8;

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Often when we read this scripture, we usually conclude that it is all about money. Please be informed however that often, even money is not enough. Even if you have money to put them in a good hostel because you are too busy to take care of them at home, it means a lot to them when you come personally on visiting days and pick them personally rather than the driver when they go on holidays. Let us look at some of the dangers of not tending our vineyard concerning your children as you do ministry;
* THERE IS TIME AND PURPOSE FOR EVERYTHING.
* THE PLACE OF YOUR BIOLOGICAL CHILDREN IS DISTINCT AND CAN NEVER BE TAKEN OVER COMPLETELY BY OTHERS.
* THEY MAY BECOME REBELLIOUS TO YOUR GOD.
* WRONG TRAINING MAY BE GIVEN TO THEM AS A RESULT OF YOUR UNAVAILABILITY.
* THEY MAY ABANDON YOU DURING OLD AGE DUE TO LACK OF EMOTIONAL BONDING.
* YOU MAY BECOME A WRONG MODEL FOR YOUR MENTEES AND SPIRITUAL CHILDREN.
* THEY OFTEN LACK THE REQUISITE TRAINING TO BE ABLE TO TAKE OVER WHAT YOU HAVE LABORED FOR.

As a conclusion, if you fail to pay attention to your family, your chances of having the kind of fulfillment that led Paul to make the declaration that Apostle Paul made in 2Tim.4:7-8, will be absent towards the end of your life. Paul said;

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

For a minister of God that abandoned his vineyard, either not training the children or abandoning the wife, the testimony of Apostle Paul above can’t be replicated in such life. Someone that was careless about the family can not be said to have finished well in life and ministry.
May we all receive the grace to pay attention to our vineyard in Jesus name.

‘And the Lord answered me, and said,
Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables,
that he may run that readeth it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time,
but at the end it shall speak, and not lie:
though it tarry, wait for it;
because it will surely come, it will not tarry’ (Hab.2:2-3)

Ministry can’t be done alone. When a vision is given to you by God, there will be need for you to have those who will partner with you for the vision to become a reality, make impact and be unspotted to the end. The most important out of those that will be used to drive your vision is your spouse. Please take note of the following about your spouse:

* Any problem in your marital life speaks louder than any other problem in ministry.
* This marital journey will take about two thirds of your entire lifetime. Consequently, your spouse is the one that will make the greatest impact upon your life.
* If your spouse is a friend, you have got a lifelong friend but if she is and enemy, you have got the most potent lifelong enemy.
* Your spouse in the hand of the Holy Spirit is the greatest help that your ministry may receive; in the hand of the devil, your wife is the most potent instrument that may be used to destroy your ministry.
* Your wife will offend you but there is nothing she will do that no other person’s wife has done worse.
* Any alternative attraction to your spouse will make her less attractive to you, therefore it is deadly to your marriage.
* Your spouse is the is the only indispensable member of your ministry. Any other member may leave and be replaced without much harm, but it is not so with your spouse.

Since your spouse is so important to your life in ministry, there is need for her to cooperate and run with you in ministry.
Following are some of the principles that can help towards making your spouse to believe in and run with your vision.

1. The Principle Of Vision Sharing.
If you desire your spouse to run with your vision, he/ she must understand what your vision is all about. Does your wife know what God has called you to do? (Hab.2:2-3)

2. The principle of building according to the given pattern.
Building according to pattern is all about doing what God has shown you in the vision you were given (Heb.8:5b). Every diversion from your vision confuses your spouse and makes her to see inconsistency and reduces the trust she has in the vision.

3. The principle of goal-setting.
Goal-setting is vital for your spouse and others to know what to do next (1Cor.14:8). Your vision is so broad but you need to break it down into time-bound achievable goals. When it is in such state, it motivates everyone involved to achieve success.

4. The principle of role appreciation/ fault-blindness.
The principle of role appreciation and fault blindness propagates the appreciation of the contributions of your spouse to the ministry and the refusal to hammer on her faults. Many of us are guilty of condemning whatever our spouse does and emphasizing their faults.

5. The principle of acceptance of complementary vision.
This principle talks about accepting and co-owning the vision God has given your spouse.
Many ministers of God are at war with their spouse over the vision that God has given their spouse. There are also pastors who feel threatened about the gifts of their spouse.

6. The principle of spousal counsel and evaluation.
Spousal counsel and evaluation here is about being open enough to allow your spouse to evaluate what the ministry is doing and give a word of advice. When your wife has a say through counseling and evaluation, it gives her the feeling that you are in the ministry together. She might want to go the extra mile to ensure that things work out well for the ministry.

7. The principle of joint altar.
The principle of joint altar is such a powerful catalyst for your spouse to run with your vision. Anything you pray about, you will be on the lookout for it to come to pass.

Many ministers of God are not making maximum impact in ministry because they have failed to realize the significance of their spouse and thus are not able to carry them along in ministry.