Jesus is God: He is not the Father and by his own words submits to the Father, yet Jesus is Lord. He is fully God (of one mind, of one purpose and of one power with the Father and the Holy Spirit) He is the 2^nd person of the Trinity, a part of God that became less for a time in order to redeem mankind and all of creation for himself. Because of this he has been elevated to the highest place. (Col 1:15-20) Further, for us today, access to anything of God that might be important to mankind, including eternal life, protection, and blessings all come solely through the person of Jesus Christ . The Father has stated the condition for us to approach him, through Jesus. So in essence if we stand looking toward God and we look to the right or to left of Jesus what we will find is nothing. (1 Cor 8:6)

We are to keep ourselves devoted to Jesus first. As the song goes, "The main thing is to keep the main theing the main thing". It is easy to get caught up in ministry functions and let them become the main thing. Paul encourages us when he say's "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ." 2 Cor 11:3 (NIV)

The Bible is God's word and therefore true.
(1 Tim 3:16) I believe that God has a plan for his creation. One which includes mankind. He loves us and want us to know about Him. To this end He has sent us a message describing who He is, why He created us, and what He wants for us and from us. This message is wholly contained in the Bible, his word.

All salvation and true ministry is by the Holy Spirit.Were it not for the Holy Spirit, there would be no followers of Christ save those who met Him personally. (John 16:7-15). Were it not for the Holy Spirit, there would be no scripture, no gospel. (2 Tim 3:16) and were it not for the Holy Spirit, none would believe. There would be no faith. (John 6:65 and 6:44) And were it not for the holy spirit we would have no gifts or abilities to minister (1 Cor 12). Recognizing this our motives for ministry should be obedience to Christ's calling rather that ownership, pride or a sense of capability to save.

True Ministry seeks to help people find grace, healing and growth.Luke chapters 15 and 16 show us that God really values people and He wants them to be forgiven. He really wants them to come into (or back into) a right relationship with him that brings life abundant. Abundant not only in the eternal sense but also for us today. (John 10:10)

 God does not overwork his children (1 John 5:3). Ownership for ministry causes stress and pride and can generate an overworking servant. The Lord wants us to complete the good works he has predestined for us (Eph 2:10) that we might have a part in building up the body of Christ and that we might gain the rewards he has for us (1 Cor 3:10-15). Yet we are not to take ownership for John chapter 16 makes it clear that the Holy Spirit owns all true ministry. By learning from Jesus and using his Spirits strength we can find the work of ministry a light one (Matt 11:28-30)

Leadership in Ministry is Servant Leadership.(Mark 9:35) The scriptures often apply words like faithful, caring, just, quite, gentle, kind and selfless as a model for leaders. All of these point to a method of leadership that is not aimed at elevating ones self but rather of influencing others as an encourager. Our ability to do this is given by God as we become conscious of our position in Christ. (John 13:3) Conscious of our relationship to God, we are freed from worrying about ourselves (our needs and our rights) to place ourselves in service to others. This kind of ministry is unique in that it develops trust and respect in others and hence gives us the privilege of credibility. Then people will listen to what we teach.

My purpose in Ministry is to build up the body of Christ.(Eph 4:11-13). People have a purpose. In an eternal sense, I think God created people to love the Lord and be loved by him forever. I believe the highest privilege given us by God is the right to become his sons and daughters and live with him. (Gal 4:7) Yet while here on earth God wants people learn to love the Lord and come to the place of having complete faith in him (ie. be conformed to the image of Christ Eph 4:11-13). As a minister, my job is to help them do this. This work has three main fronts, bringing the lost to Christ nurturing the saints, and training new leaders .

Ministry is done in teams.The book of Acts clearly shows us that the apostles worked in teams. They did this not only only to better handle the tasks through the combined gifts of the team but also to continue to spawn and train new leaders for the future.

My wife is my God given ministry partner.God's calling for me in ministry is and will be consistent with my wife's calling. She has a sense of intimacy with the Holy Spirit as well gifts I do not have. Some years ago God called me into ministry and he told me he would give me a partner of same heart who would be very involved with me in ministry. I believe Him. He has done it.