"Unfortunately, some of you are bound for early success..."

"...in ministry," says Pastor Chuck Swindoll in the video embedded here.

The insights he offers here are good for everyone who experiences success in any sphere of life, not just ministry. Success can be dangerous to one's character, relationship with God, and relationship with others. Learning to be successful as a human being and at one's calling may be the hardest lesson of all.

The Christian's Ministry is in the World

Just this past Monday night, a group of us at Saint Matthew were talking about how the Church is too institutionalized and how Christians, especially pastors, believe that church members are "in ministry" only when they're engaged with some church activity.

But being a Christian doesn't mean being a "prop" (whether by that you mean an instrument that holds an object up or an object on a stage) of the institutional Church. The Church exists, in part, to empower and encourage believers in Jesus to go into the world to do their ministries at their jobs, their homes, and the places where they encounter people socially.

John Schroeder talks about this topic convincingly here.

Look here.