I was recently reading a blog post by Jenni Catron  who is actually right here in Nashville and will be on one of our web casts later this year and wanted to share her message with you. If you ever felt your passion for ministry waning this will be an encouragement to you.

 This was the comment I made on Jenni’s post:

"Jenni, this is so true. I remember the first time I lost my passion for leading women's ministry. I just thought God was done with me in that area of service. I even began making plans for the change, but in seeking God He never would let me leave where I was serving. But during that time of desperation for Him when nothing was making sense nor did anything seem to be getting accomplished, He brought me to a new level of trust with Him and dependence. I remember one older man who worked on the same floor I was on saying, "God doesn't always call us to be fulfilled but He calls us to be faithful." I went to talk to him about it and walked away understanding what you are saying here about obedience even if the passion is not there. I believe in time, when we are faithful and obedient, we will ultimately be fulfilled in the eternal scheme of things, and that God brings back the passion in one way or the other, assuring us He's not done with us yet, OR He will move us into another way of doing ministry He has called us to do."

Leaders, when you feel the passion diminishing and yet you know you are being obedient keep stayingin His Word and ask Him daily to allow you to know Him better than you did the day before, love Him better than you did and serve more obediently than you ever have. He will answer!

You can read more about Jenni here. Watch for details about the December 12 web cast with Jenni Catron, Executive Director of Cross Point Church, Nashville, TN and founder of Cultivate Her, and author and women's ministry leader at LifeChurch.tv - OKC Campus Cindy Beall

Debbie Stuart offers a great challenge as we think about the year ahead. Whether you make new years resolutions, and I don’t exactly either, you still need to consider how you will lead women this year. This is a great way for us to check what our “fire” is!

Recently I spent some time at our camp which affords me much needed time to rest, to THINK and sharpen my focus on the Lord and His desire for Women’s Ministry for 2012. And girl, did I get an unexpected lesson in leadership!

One of my favorite things about the camp is the campfire! I can create (keep those 3 words in mind) quite the campfire…and I love every minute of it and others enjoy it as well. For several months I have been studying through Isaiah, I was at Chapter 50 during my little camp retreat. And I read these words, in Isaiah 50:11- "But watch out you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires" (TNLT).  Uh, excuse me?

Read it again, give it some thought, what do you think the Lord means by that?

This is what I learned from it: As a leader among women it is absolutely imperative that I do not “create” my own thing that can draw a crowd. Never before has our need to rely on God (and not in our intelligence, ideas and creative thoughts and trends) become so essential to meaningful ministry. I can create…is extremely dangerous!  Vs. 11 goes on to say that if you do your own thing, “This is the reward you will receive from me: You will lie down in great torment”. Original Hebrew language defines torment as, a place of sorrow, great pain and grief.

So what’s a leader to do? The answer is found in verse 10…”If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God.” I love the KJV – “Let him trust in the name of the LORD (The Existing One) and stay upon his God”. In Hebrew, stay means lean on, support oneself upon. It indicates we are not able to do it on our own and we would be causing great sorrow, pain and grief to do so.

Caution: Don’t walk by the light of your own fire. Let’s remove any smoke screens of self sufficiency and flames of personal desire and give ourselves entirely to walking by the light of God’s Word, obeying Him and leaning on Him especially in the dark places of our life where there is no light. In the words of F.B. Meyer – “May we be used fully for Gods glory, with deep convictions, spiritual passion, individual holiness, active faith, complete devotion and absolute surrender”. And may I add: leaving no room for our own light.

Missionary Hudson Taylor said: “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”

Isaiah 66:9 says: “Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery? … Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” Don’t fear the unknown future. Receive new strength from the Lord as you step into this new year of leadership and directing/teaching women how to walk with the Lord, especially in the dark places. 

Stay Upon Your God!

Resources:

Just Enough Light for the Step I'm On by Stormie O'Martian

Women Reaching Women

Debbie Stuart is Women’s Ministry Director, Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX and a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier. She earned her Women's Ministry Advanced Certificate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary  and is a member of the Association of Women’s Ministry Professionals . In addition to being a conference and retreat speaker and Bible study teacher, she was the founder and director of Network Extravaganza in the Shreveport, Louisiana area. She is married and has two young adults.

Today’s guest blogger is my friend Margaret Kennedy, a Biblical retreat and conference speaker, who also has a call for mentoring young women on her life. Read her message to us to make sure we focus on the relationships God brings into our ministries and our lives. As we begin this year together, let’s evaluate how we might better  foster “togetherness”!

Remember the popular TV show “Cheers”?  It was a bar scene where regulars would come daily to sit and chat.  Ever wonder what drew them there?  The lyrics to the theme song tell us the drawing card: “Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same. You wanna be where everybody knows your name.”

Chuck Swindoll says: “The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give His Church.  It’s an imitation, dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality.  But it is a permissive, accepting, and inclusive fellowship. The bar flourishes not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love, and be loved, and so many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers.”

My burden is this: as women’s ministry leaders, are we aware of this lack of connection, though we are rooted and grounded in Christ? Over the last year, most of the churches in which I have spoken or done leadership consultation have asked me address this very issue.  How can we help the women in our church to connect with one another?

Through technology, busyness, and self-centeredness, we are losing personal touch with one another.  Our world, while offering opportunities for forming merely surface relationships, is leaving little time for cultivating deeper connections in Christ. 

God created us for community.  God has given us what I often call “The Gift of Togetherness” to meet this need.  Scripture teaches us that we are fellow workers, helpers, labourers, prisoners, sufferers, etc.  The word “fellow” means this: “together with, implying a nearer and closer connection, a more intimate relationship as Jesus Christ has with us. This is more than the word ”meta” which means “amid or among, merely in company with.”  This word for fellow, sun, is used 127 times in the NT, telling us how we are to be closely connected. I think of us as being “sun sisters”. 

So, I believe the need will be answered only when we as women’s leaders intentionally institute methods, programs, and plans that promote this “Gift of Togetherness”.   How can we do that in the coming year?

1. Recognize and address the need of our women to be accepted and connected as a women’s ministry team.  Make your women at large aware of this inborn need. 

2. Assess where your women are in your fellowship.  Which best describes the relationships of your women.  Are they “fellows” or merely “amid” one another.

3. Is the opportunity being afforded for them to truly connect with one another?   Or do they merely meet, greet, eat, and depart in the same manner they came. 

Intentionality will be the key to meeting this need in your women’s lives.

Because I teach a large ladies class that schedule only affords 1 hour a week for cultivating close connections, the leaders in my class formed 4 small groups, inviting them into my home for food and fellowship.  Our goal was to make each woman feel accepted and connected.  It worked well.  Used the same menu, same table talk questions, and centered our group discussion on Hebrews 10:24.

Our Women’s ministry team is piloting a program that will connect older women and younger women, by using Woman to Woman Mentoring and Apples of Gold resources.

Accountability opportunities are opening up for women to form small accountability groups, using Heart Friends resource.

A sister church is beginning a series of small gatherings in individual homes, entitling it “The Bridge”, for the purpose of connecting with each other in preparation for connecting with the world. I held a training session beforehand for the leaders on “Telling God’s Story Your Way”. Then a different leader was asked to begin each “Bridge” gathering by sharing her story.

Hebrews 10:24 encourages us to “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.” 

Until we are closely connected in the body of Christ, we will never bring those outside into the fold though their hearts experience the same need as ours:  to love and be loved, to be accepted and connected.

 Ladies, let us make sure that our assembling this next year includes appropriating our “Gift of Togetherness”! Tell us in the comments below what you are doing to create community for your women, a place where "everybody knows their name".

This was originally posted in May last year, but I thought it was such a helpful reminder as we head into this new year and our desire to grow spiritually!

As you read today’s post by guest blogger, Shirley Moses, consider asking God who you might team up with as a leader in an accountability relationship. It is such a vital part of continuing to grow deeper in our walk as we serve and lead women.
 

One thing I have found that can stimulate our spiritual growth as a leader like nothing else is genuine accountability.  So what does this look like in one’s life?  It starts with giving another person permission to challenge, counsel, and correct you when necessary. Scripture is full of examples where God's people were willing to learn from, lean on, and listen to others so their relationship could go deeper with the Lord.

2. Listens with her heart.  You want an accountability partner who can listen to you from the heart. Look for a woman who takes time to listen to those around her.

3. Gives godly wisdom based on Scripture.  This woman will make bible study and her personal time with the Lord – a priority in her life.

4.Confronts you when necessary.  This comes from a heart which has your best interests in mind.

5.  Encourages you.  Each of us needs a balcony person in our life…someone who stands ready to cheer us on in our spiritual walk.

How do I find an accountability partner?

1.  Seek God's heart in this matter.  God uses different people in our lives to help us grow in our relationship with him.

2.    Go beyond your normal spear of friends to find your accountability partner.

3.  You might even look to women who are in a town close to where you live. It is so easy these days to communicate through emails, Facebook, and texting.  Then there is always my favorite way – face-to-face communication when time permits.

4.  Take action! Contact those women who God has laid on your heart and discuss the possibility of starting a group whose focus is growing deeper in the Lord through accountability.
   
Finding women you can grow in the Lord with is not always easy, but it is well worth the hunt.  We have an enemy - the Devil - and he is always looking for an opportunity to destroy the lives of believers. No one is immune from temptations.  We need others to help us stay on track in our spiritual walk.

So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Romans 14:12

To gain greater insight into starting an accountability group, see the resource:

 Heart Friends- Beginning and Maintaining a Small Accountability Group

Shirley Moses is an author, Women’s Ministry Team Advisor at Hagerman Baptist Church in Sherman, Texas, and the Women's Ministry Consultant Women’s Ministry Consultant, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. She also serves currently as a .LifeWay Ministry Multiplier, helping us train women’s ministry leaders across the country. Shirley contributed to our leadership book, Transformed Lives: Taking Women's Ministry to the Next Level. She is also co-author of Heart Friends: Beginning and Maintaining a Small Accountability Group.

As the Christmas season is upon us, sometimes as leaders we feel so overwhelmed with family, church needs, personal feelings, that we fail to enjoy the beautiful season God has given us to celebrate the birth of His son.  Read guest blogger Deb Douglas’ insight to help us navigate it well this year.

One little fitting on a hot water tank failed and my house is in chaos for the holidays. Sheet rock ripped from the walls, floors torn out, dust on every surface, and furniture moved to safer locations. I am battling down the overwhelming sense of panic wondering how my granddaughter’s first Christmas is going to match my dream Christmas in the midst of this chaos. Christmas as a minister to women is a challenge but when personal challenges mount on top, Christmas becomes a looming deadline rather than a joyful season.

I know God will use this Christmas season of chaos to teach me something amazing, but the obsessive person within me screams, “Lord your timing does not work with my schedule!” Honestly, I do not want to learn this lesson right now but I have no choice but to submit to God. Not just because He is all-powerful but because I have no other choice. This is beyond my ability to cope. I need Him to cope. I need Him to make it through a normal Christmas in ministry, but this year I will have to learn a whole new level of depending on Him. Depending is how I will survive.

Walking that fine tightrope of balancing ministry and family is stressful during a normal season, add in Christmas celebrations and it's precarious. I constantly must leave my time management at His feet. When I submit to Him, living out my call works. I’m still busy, but I make it through knowing He is at work.

As I write, personal chaos is impacting the ministry. I cannot be in two places at one time; it’s either church or home. My pastor is being understanding but my heart is not. “There’s people to see and ministry to do,” it screams but instead I am waiting on the arrival of another contractor.

Ministry would be much easier if God gave us everything we needed when He called us, but we would miss the joy of knowing that He is at work in us. It’s that joy that gets us through chaos, the faith of knowing He has worked in past and He will work through this circumstance too. Job got through His continual trials by being stubborn in his faith; circumstances or others did not sway him. I need to be stubborn in faith this Christmas.

How to be stubborn in my faith at Christmas?

1.     Pray! Pray for my mind to be focused on Godly priorities. Pray for my heart to be in tune to the joy of celebrating Christ’s birth.

2.     Look for and submit to the lessons God is teaching in the midst of a chaotic season.

3.     Continually remind myself to let go on my expectations.

4.     Seek forgiveness for my impatience.

5.     Determine to be joyful!

May your Christmas be merry, bright, and stubborn!

Dr. Deb Douglas,  is the Minister to Women, First Baptist Church, Bossier City, LA   and also serves as one of our LifeWay Ministry Multipliers. Deb launched her first women's Bible study at the age of 20. Her passion is encouraging and equipping women to serve. She is the Minister to Women at FBC Bossier City and a conference/retreat speaker, strategic planning consultant, and freelance writer.  Deb graduated from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with a Masters of Arts in Christian Education/Women's Ministry and a Doctor of Education in Ministry degree from NOBTS. She is the wife of Paul,  mom of Jared and Katie, and mother-in-law to Emily.