Monday, December 4, 2017

How Many Conversions?

Someone asked me once: "How many people have come to Christ through your ministry in the past year?" During that year, it was quite a lot, on the surface of it. I replied: "Not just a handful." The biggest reason was, I think, that I was making the need for conversion explicit, both in Church services and behind the scenes. And throughout my ministr(ies), there were conversions. Those which, for me, were the most memorable were people who were converted and went on to become officers in the Church, and people who were converted and returned to their home countries particularly in Asia. OBSERVATION: In an important sense, though, ministry is not about converting people, but simply about ministering. In Jesus’ parable of the sower, the sower simply sows. Ministry is not about what ministers are accomplishing, but about what God is accomplishing -- often in ways beyond our understanding. For this reason, even without conversions, we are ever hopeful.

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