The Week in Review

Assignment #9 – Personal Character

The American Heritage College Dictionary defines character as, “the combination of qualities or features that distinguishes one person, group, or thing from another… a description of a person’s attributes, as of an individual, group or category” (242). Believers involved in ministry must show attributes that are suitable to one called by God for the mission. Who decides what are acceptable characteristics in the believer? God’s word gives the directive on what individuals should work on in their nature. Even though each believer is uniquely different, there should still be distinguishing traits becoming to all that call on the name of Christ.

To understand building character from a biblical perspective, one must understand the need for God’s power. Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom, the authors of Seeking Him: Experiencing The Joy of Personal Revival writes, “Christian maturity cannot be attained by trying harder or doing more. God has not dangled the prospect of an abundant life before us then set us loose in a maze to try to find our way through. The Holy Spirit acts as our guide and our companion – the One sent from heaven to lead us home. He enables us to obey God, empowers us to become like Jesus, and fills us with supernatural power for work and for witness. We should therefore, learn how to listen to Him, how to follow Him, how to rely on His power and how to walk in His fullness” (215). Our character is developed as we study God’s word and change our actions to line up with what God calls for his people to look like. When one’s character is becoming of a believer, then one’s witness is not hindered.

John MacArthur, the author of Pastoral Ministry: How to Shepherd Biblically states, “Merely proclaiming the Word is not enough, however; the pastor must live out its truth in his life” (19). Showing distinctiveness such as being humble or even-tempered, show others you are living out what you say you believe in. If your character does not match up with what you say, others will not believe your words, and your witness is of no effect.

As one that believes in Christ, I must insure my actions match up with the word of God. One area that God is working on me is in my ability to forgive those that have injured my reputation or said hurtful words to me. I had to glean from God’s word what the requirements for forgiveness were. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). God’s word speaks of forgiving others even if they do not deserve it, simply because Christ forgave me first. He forgave me much more than what any person could do to me. Once I understood this, I had to allow God’s spirit to equip me to make the change in my heart. God’s spirit first reveals the area of growth needed in my life, and then once I accept the truth, His Spirit equips me to carry out the change.

“Forgiveness. The gift everyone wants to receive but finds hard to give. It’s not easy to forgive…When we release our offenders through forgiveness, we discover the key that unlocks the prison doors of our own hearts and sets us free to experience greater peace and joy than we ever dreamed possible” (DeMoss & Grissom, 169). This statement is a truthful one. When I am able to forgive those that hurt me, I find that I have God’s joy.

It is important to have a character that shows your life is in line with what you say you believe. It is important because we are witnesses to the world about the power of God. If we live up to the calling then we show the world we are a “peculiar people”. Our character then shows us as individuals first, then as a group of believers that look like Jesus. It is also important to know that what needs to be changed within us is not possible simply because we will it to, but as a result of God’s spirit working within us.

Work Cited

DeMoss, Nancy Leigh and Grissom, Tim. Seeking Him Experiencing The Joy of Personal Revival. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2004.


Gildea, Spike, Ph.D., et al. The American Heritage College Dictionary. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.


MacArthur, John, et. al. Pastoral Ministry: How to Shepherd Biblically. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005.


Thompson, Frank Charles, D.D., PH.D. The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible, 5th ed. Indianapolis, IN: B. B. Kirkbridge Bible Co., Inc., 1988.

The Week in Review

Assignment #4 – Philosophy of Ministry

Alex D. Montoya, a contributing author of the book, Pastoral Ministry: How to Shepherd Biblically, states “Every profession needs a mission statement that answers the questions: ‘Why am I in this role?’ ‘What am I supposed to be doing?’ and, ‘How am I to accomplish this task?’” (48). One needs to have a philosophy of Ministry or statement of purpose to ensure they are effective in their calling. My philosophy of Ministry will be examined.


The first thing one must do to understand their purpose is to understand their relationship, first to Christ and then the church. Montoya states it this way, “For the pastor, a philosophy of ministry must come from the mandates addressed to Christ’s church” (48). Without Christ, there is no mission or purpose for ministry. As a minister my purpose comes because of what God first started when he set in motion the plan of salvation. Gailyn Van Rheenen, the author of Biblical Foundations & Contemporary Strategies: Missions, states in a diagram, “God originated the mission, Jesus Christ enacted the mission, the Holy Spirit gives power to the mission, the church carries the mission and the world receives the mission” (18).


This is the place to originate a philosophy of ministry. Montoya agrees when he states, “The purpose – That we may present every man complete in Christ” (55). My purpose or statement I have developed for myself is “Give God’s message to save the lost and equip the save”. This is my purpose for being a minister of Christ. Understanding my purpose, I must then form a plan to accomplish this.


“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). When I accepted my call to preach, I wanted to do all that I could to make sure I was giving the truth and not my opinions or thoughts. One way of accomplishing this goal was to begin taking classes. I wanted to make sure I was “rightly dividing the word of truth. “Paul preached Christ and Christ alone! His goal was to present Christ to every man, exhorting men to repent from their sins and to understand the totality of what a believer has in Christ” (Montoya, 55).

Montoya calls for ministers to examine the cost of accepting the call to preach. He calls it “the pain”. When I accepted my call to preach God’s spirit took me on a journey for eight months through the book of Jeremiah and some of Ezekiel. This was for the purpose of showing me both the sacrifices and where the power for the mission would come from. “But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 1:7-8). “And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious” (Ezekiel 2:5-7). Both of these scriptures helped me to understand the call I was being given. God knew of those fears that had hindered me from speaking for him and he was giving me the encouragement through the word that he would be with me. He would be the strength that would keep me. I must not venture to the left of the right. I must not change God’s word so that it will be easy to the ears but it must be true.


“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked ways, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou has delievered thy soul” (Ezekiel 3:18-19). This is the sobering message that reminds me of the importance of understanding God’s purpose for ones life. God does not send ministers for personal gain or wealth but for the fulfilling of his mission he set in place, salvation for the lost. I do not get to change the message to make me well liked, or sought after. I have committed myself to preaching the word for the purpose of saving the lost and equipping the saved.

Work Cited

MacArthur, John, et. al. Pastoral Ministry: How to Shepherd Biblically. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005.


Rheenen, Gailyn Van. Biblical Foundations & Contemporary Strategies: Missions. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996.


Thompson, Frank Charles, D.D., PH.D. The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible, 5th ed. Indianapolis, IN: B. B. Kirkbridge Bible Co., Inc., 1988.