• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

Getting things done

Posted on August 24, 2017 by wtdavid

It’s the title of a book I read several years ago that has some very helpful ideas for organising one’s day to day work to accomplish ministry tasks.  I have often recommended it to others.

getting things doneYet, how do we ‘get things done’ while depending wholly on God?  We could put the same question in other ways, such as ‘how might planning run counter to the Spirit’s work in our lives?’ or ‘where does the importance lie: with prayer or with planning?’

I believe we do ourselves, and the discussion, a disservice by putting prayer and planning in opposition to one another.  The biblical text calls us to pray about everything (Philippians 4:6) — our calling, our finances, our plans and all the other elements that make up our life.  At the same, the biblical text exhorts us to consider, plan well and act on the projects and plans we put together (Luke 14:28).

So which comes first?  Which is more important?  Both!

Prayer leads to good plans and planning leads to much more prayer.

Sometimes, it’s just good in the midst of a planning session to stop and turn the discussion over into God’s hands asking for His wisdom and insight.  Sometimes, after a time of prayer, it’s just good to start jotting down ideas of how a new ministry project that is forming in our hearts might get worked out in reality.

The World Team Global community is working on a new ‘three phased approach’ to launching new CP projects among the unreached that would include prayer, research and mobilisation. It’s our way of trying to put into practice this idea of prayer&planning.  More on this new project in the coming weeks.

Filed under: Planning, Prayer, Projects | Leave a comment »

Why can’t we try it?

Posted on February 14, 2017 by wtdavid

Have you ever been in the hunt for a new computer, electric generator, or some other item needed for ministry or home setup?  As cross cultural workers, we are pretty good at ferreting out the best possible price. It’s just our way of trying to use the Lord’s money wisely.  However, you know there have been times when all that work was for naught. Sometimes, taking too much time to think about the best option, caused you to miss the sale price which ended yesterday!

Sometimes the same process occurs when we launch a new ministry project or tool.  Someone comes up with a great idea. We’re excited about what might happen through this project or tool.  We begin to brainstorm how to make it happen.  Then we move to ‘launch’ and that’s when the questions start to come.too-many-questions

Now, there is nothing wrong with questions and analysis.  Yet, I’ve noticed two things about ‘over-questioning’.  First, at times ‘over-questioning’ is a smokescreen for our criticism, not our constructive, critical help.  We simply want to prove that we are right about the theological or missiological standing behind our comments, rather than help the brother or sister move a new idea forward.  Second, we underestimate the truth that we can learn an awful lot when things don’t go as we planned.  The Spirit of God has much to teach us from those moments of stepping out in ‘faith’ as well as those moments of stepping out in our own self sufficiency.

I don’t have an answer as to the best way to ‘work this process’, but I think it starts with a good deal of prayer, honesty with one another, and just plain old ‘give-it-a-try’ effort.

 

Filed under: Holy Spirit, Projects | 1 Comment »

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