Ministry Passion

All of life as worship.

Everyone knows how to worship. We all worship something or someone; we demonstrate who/what we worship by what we talk about, think about, wish for, spend money on, or spend time doing. We worship what we value—what we delight in. As Christians, we must value and treasure Jesus Christ above all things. However, many Christians attempt to live divided lives, “worshiping” at church on Sundays and setting their minds on earthly things the rest of the week. We must see all of life as worship. “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

My desire is to worship God with an undivided heart, and to urge others to do the same. We cannot share our loyalty to Christ with anything else. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). We must do all to the glory of God. I pray with the psalmist, “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name” (Psalm 86:11).

Disciple-making isn’t optional

Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ is costly, but not optional. Jesus called us to take up our cross and follow Him. He commissioned His followers to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. . .” (Matthew 28:19-21). Making disciples is not a suggestion, or a command only given to special “super-Christians”. God has left a simple plan for His followers—become a disciple, then make disciples. All Christians should be characterized by believing, learning, and obeying, and then evangelizing, teaching, and exhorting others. This is God’s plan for building the church. As an elder at Seeking Him Bible Church, I am called to equip the saints to live out this command.

The importance of community

Christ did not simply die for individuals, He died for the church. He also did not call us to simply have a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” but rather to become a vital member of the body of Christ. From the beginning of time, God has emphasized the importance of community through the creation of the family and the community of faith. Our relationships at home, church, and with the larger body of Christ are part of God’s means for our salvation, sanctification, and perseverance in the faith. Though there are examples of God redeeming someone where there is no visible church, God’s plan is for that person to be a part of planting a church, not living in isolation from other believers. God knows that this is vital for our faith. God has given us the church to nurture us in the faith, protect us from wrong doctrine, and to discipline us for holiness.

Hebrews 3:12-13 (NKJV) Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV) And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

About John

Raised in a Christian home and with a Southern Baptist heritage, I grew up in south Georgia knowing about the Lord. Though baptized as an eight-year-old child (because that was the “right” thing to do), I was brought to salvation through the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Word when I was fifteen years old. I thank the Lord for changing me on the inside and giving me forgiveness and new life in Christ. The Lord soon brought a “Paul” into my life to help mold me into a disciple, and my college days as a music-major in Jacksonville, Alabama brought me many opportunities to disciple others.

Over the last decade, God has continually blessed my wife, Stacey, and I with a growing family. We are excited about the children that God has brought into our lives. We thank the Lord for Andrew, Josh, Abbie, Bethany, Caleb, Anna, and Katie. May God help us raise them up to shoot them out as arrows into the world to make an impact for King Jesus.

I have been influenced by many friends, teachers, pastors, and books over the years. Here are some authors who have greatly influenced my thinking over the years:

• John Piper (Desiring God, Future Grace, A Hunger for God, Brothers We Are Not Professionals)
• John MacArthur (The Gospel According to Jesus, Faith Works, The Ultimate Priority)
• Harold Best (Music Through the Eyes of Faith, Unceasing Worship)
• Jerry Bridges (The Pursuit of Holiness, The Discipline of Grace)
• Donald Whitney (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health)
• Bill Gothard and the Institute for Basic Life Principles
• C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, The Weight of Glory, The Chronicles of Narnia)
• Paul and Ted Tripp (Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Age of Opportunity)
• Michael Pearl (To Train Up a Child, No Greater Joy)
• Other favorite authors: D.A. Carson, David Black, Jay Adams, J.R.R. Tolkien

One of my favorite hymns:

The Solid Rock
Edward Mote / William Batchelder Bradbury

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' name

On Christ the solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

When darkness veils His lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil

His oath His covenant His blood
Support me in the whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay

When He shall come with trumpet sound
O may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne

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