Writing as a Ministry

Writing as a Ministry

-         Greg Goebel  

I personally got into new media when I built my first church website in 1997. Using HTML and a dial­up connection, I inserted a ton of hyperlinks and made tables to frame it all up. It had some killer clipart. When blogging came around I tried my hand at that in 2002 through a blog called “Bull Street.” I was hooked.

I have a background and a degree in English and communications and I love words. So writing for ministry just made intuitive sense to me. But over the years, as I’ve delved into it more deeply, I’ve had to think about the reasons why we write for ministry.

At one level it is obvious why priests would write. After all, the Gospel writers wrote down what Jesus said, and St. Paul wrote to the churches. The New Testament is full of written letters. And all of the New Testament writers were reading the Hebrew Bible, with its written history, prophecy, and poetry. The written word is a constituent part of our Faith.

Down through the centuries, the written word has been used to communicate, to teach, and to evangelize. And Christians have always been inventive and adaptive in the media they used. Starting with parchment scrolls, and quickly moving to bound books (some believe that early Christians actually invented Western bookbinding or codex form), Christians wrote. They creatively invented new forms of media, and also new paradigms for exploration. 

Augustine’s Confessions is considered to be the first book that examined the inner, psychological experience of a person. He wrote this book to do what we would today call “sharing his testimony.” As soon as the printing press was invented in the West, a Bible was printed on it. It was used by both Catholics and Protestants to print sermons, tracts, and of course books, during the Reform period. The age of print was (is?) an age of evangelism for Christians. Printing presses and publishing houses published Bibles, along with the writings of pastors and lay people.

New Media

Of course, unless you’ve printed this out on paper, you are reading this on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. We Christians got in on new media publishing early on as well, using the internet to communicate across the world.

It’s True Because I Read it On the Internet

But, alas, everything out there that goes under the banner “Christian” is not good. In fact, much of it is downright harmful. Abuse and manipulation of words are part of the reason we have to be reflective about new media and print media. There are millions of religion books out there, and hundreds of thousands of religion webpages. “Of writing many books there is no end,” wrote the writer of Ecclesiastes. So many books and websites are full of messages about getting rich through faith, or are abusive and manipulative, or are part of a cult of personality. Sometimes we get the feeling that many Christian websites or blogs are really just trying to get readers or grow a platform for personal success. But this has been going on forever. New media doesn’t cause human ego, it only channels it, but it channels it more broadly and more accessibly than ever before.

Why Write?

So, knowing that media can do harm, why write for ministry? Because we must. Not every ordained or lay minister is called to be a writer. But some of us must write. We must use all available means to write and publish. We must write for the same reason John wrote down his Gospel, “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John didn’t write because he wanted a personal platform, or to copyright his personal sayings about Jesus, but because he wanted people to believe in Jesus. He was pointing to him. Writing is a part of Christian ministry. It isn’t the only part, but it is a part. Those who can write, should. And we should master the medium and craft, as best we can. In a massive sea of words, words about Jesus and the Gospel will still be visible, because he said if we lift him up, he will draw all people to himself.

Seven Ways to Write for Ministry

1. Love it, do it

If you love to write, then you should write. If you hate it, then you should probably not write. That’s not to say that people who don’t like the process of writing shouldn’t publish anything. On the contrary, some of the best books were transcriptions of speeches or sermons or were written with the aid of editors. But if you are someone who just has no interest in writing, then that’s a sign to apply yourself elsewhere. But if you love to write, love words, and enjoy learning how to communicate, you should begin today.

2. Start small

Write a journal or personal blog. Write for the church newsletter. Write articles and reflections that will help and inspire people. Listen to feedback.

3. Focus on what you are passionate about.

I’m passionate about how worship connects to everyday life. You can’t get me to shut up about how worship is not just some unreal coping mechanism but is the very center of the reality of our lives (here I go again!). Because I’m passionate about that, I write about it with passion. I also obviously love the Anglican tradition, and I love seeing other priests share their pastoral perspective. Again, because I’m excited about these things, its natural for me to write about them, and foster writing about them.

4. Write as yourself

Write from your perspective and your own voice. Always ask yourself if you are writing “as yourself.” Non­fiction writing demands that we be who we are. We shouldn’t use our writing as a place to hide, or to posture, or to present a false image. Of course, as fallen humans, we will do that. It is inevitable. But by ruthlessly repenting of our falsehoods, something of our own soul will show through, as it did when Augustine wrote the Confessions.  

5. Listen to your supporters

Haters will always hate, and anytime you publish anything (even a handwritten note!), you become vulnerable. Leave analyzing or responding to the psychology of “trolling” to someone else. Instead, focus on the feedback of your supporters. These are people that believe in what you’re doing, and often their encouraging words will point you in a direction. Their criticisms will be constructive as well.

6. Pay attention to the medium and the audience.

Write for a website, write for a book, write for a magazine. And think about your audiences. Write to them, for them, because of them. Write in a positive way that keeps doors open. Write in an inviting way, even when writing about unpopular or tough topics. Keep thinking about the audience.

7. It is finished

Last, and most important, it's about the Gospel. Writing for ministry is writing for Jesus. Weigh that out. Ask yourself if you are merely putting forward a personal political viewpoint, or are condemning a class of people, or are ostracizing someone Jesus loves. I would suggest putting a crucifix up above your computer. Whenever you start to question whether something you are writing is merely personal or self-promoting, look up at Jesus on the cross. He won’t be there condemning you, he’ll be saying “It is finished.” Yes, it is finished, we can leave our pride and our self-centeredness there at the foot of his cross.

So there you have it. If you love to write, then start today. Write down a paragraph or two. Put it in the church newsletter. Start a blog. See what happens!

The Danger of Fanning the Flames of Prophetic Hysteria

The Danger of Fanning the Flames of Prophetic Hysteria

Osamwonyi Omozuwa

If you are a curious observer of trends, you may have noticed that there is an emerging prophetic tradition in Nigeria that is fairly unwholesome. It is a departure from prophetic advocacy for socioeconomic justice and national transformation. In times of sociopolitical turmoil, when prophetic warnings, directions, or consolations are needed, many self-acclaimed prophets hibernate. They fail to speak truth to power. But in the first few days of every year, they become hyperactive and inundate the public square with prophecies. `

More often than not, the content of their vatic messages are shallow, speculative, and sensational. Also, they are often the simplistic rehash of episodic news items. Or insipid attempts to put the divine stamp of authentication on a journalistic forecast.  Some act as if they do not know that prophetic revelation springs from fellowship with the Holy Spirit, not from observation. 

Prophets in scriptures are not trend-watchers. They do not study emerging fashions with the aim of predicting future trends. By the aid of the Spirit, they explore the depths of God.  Reveal what cannot be discovered by human faculties and scrutiny: God’s action plan. 

The timeliness and timelessness of prophetic messages are bound to be compromised when prophets are tyrannized by clock and calendar. There are no seasons of prophecies or seasonal prophets in scriptures. That, in part, is why I am disinclined to prophets who hear God at predictable moments.  For, they unwittingly create the impression that there is a season when God plays mute, and there is a season when God speaks volumes. The God of the bible is not governed by time. He is beyond time. He speaks to seekers always.  There is no such thing as divine downtime.

The eternal Spirit, the very energizer of prophetic ministries, is time-sensitive, but not time regulated. Those He has commissioned to function in the office of prophets are not slaves of time.  He does not have a particular time when He unveils God’s mind to them. He can prompt a prophet at any time, and show him unseen realities, cause him to hear the inaudible, or feel the immaterial.   

A true prophet is not inhibited by time-space barriers. He sees beyond spatiotemporal realities. Taintless vatic telescope captures the eternal now, that is, the past, the present, and the future.  Finitude is transcended whenever the prophetic unction is activated. It ushers man to the infinite, albeit, momentarily.  

Authentic prophets do not downplay divine intelligence. They make men wonder at the prescience of God. In other words, they demonstrate that God knows “the end from the beginning.” He does not simulate probabilistic scenarios. He does not work by guesswork. For, He is omniscient. Therefore, exactitude is a hallmark of a prophet that knows the mind of God about a season, situation, or people. Stated differently, pinpoint precision is a characteristic of the prophetic, not probabilistic predictions.  Recall, Elisha declared “by this time tomorrow” (2 Kings 7:1).

Prophetic protocol disallows sensationalizing the sacred.  Authentic prophetic ministries do not draw inspiration from the tabloid. They do not blur the line between divine revelation and human speculation. The prophetic is not sensationalistic, even though prophets do dramatize “Thus saith the Lord”. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Hosea understood that potent tones and brilliant tableaux have the power to ignite the spiritual imagination of society. So, they dramatized their messages. Recall, Ezekiel slept on his left-hand side for 390 days to call attention to impending 390 years captivity of northern Israel. Hosea married an impetuous prostitute. One mark of a genuine prophet is that he is a “sum and substance of his message.” He embodies what he proclaims. He carries a burden. He speaks from the place of burden, not from the realm of imagination, or for sensationalism.  

Authentic prophets do not ignite firestorms of delusion. They are not agents of confusion or givers of false hope. They give direction, exhortation, comfort, and edification. Even when they are not positive they do not essentially induce fear. God reveals negatives to stir people to cancel it. Certain things are revealed to be canceled, not to fuel delusion and manipulation.  

The way some Nigerian prophets patronize the elite raises a question about the validity of their prophetic credentials.  The devil is the paymaster of an elitist prophet, particularly, those that manipulate by “Thus saith the Lord.”  Nathan was sent to the elite of his day.  But, he did not become elitist.

It is difficult for me to know the spiritual or social functionality of prophetic gravediggers. I mean those who craft obituaries of highly successful people in opaque terms. For example, “One top politician from the southwest is going to die this year”, “Two Nollywood stars will be disgraced this year.” 

Today, the cacophony of prophetic voices muffles the voice of truth, deadens the conscience of society, and animates the unprincipled quest for power and materiality.   Is it not worrisome that prophetic voices do not decry economic exploitations any longer? 

We need prophets like Amos, the fine ironist. His diatribe against the sense of entitlement that was like “narcotic for the elite of eighth-century Israel” was culture changing.  We need savvy court prophets like Nathan who will tell the denizens of Aso Rock that if they do not address the senseless killings of Fulani herdsmen the wrath of God will consume them.  Not prophets predicting the outcome of the 2019 elections. Genuine prophets are not cowards. They are not luxury-seekers or social butterflies. There is something clandestine about their ministry; hence, they often stay away from the front of the camera. 

We need apostolic radicals who will strengthen the church. So, the floodgate of mercantile prophesies will be shut. We need apostolic radicals that will articulate “pedagogies of engagement”. Thereby, guide the training of “the sons of prophets”; so, that they would not replicate the errors of their fathers. That they may know it is not in the place of prophets to fan the flames of mass hysteria, or make the spiritual climate of a nation hazy, so that religious manipulators can thrive financially.  We need a new breed of prophets that will lighten the public space, make it free of prophetic debris, instruct kings, provide succor for the vulnerable, and whittle down the influences of skeptics.

A Higher View of the Quest for New Heights

Leviticus 26:1-2; Philippians 3:14-15

In our quest to attain new heights we need to be cognizant of what is imperative and the implication of our disposition to that imperative.

Essentially, we should acknowledge that God has the roadmap for new heights and as such He sets the standards and the goal of attainment. Therefore it’s only in Him and through Him that we can attain new heights.

As we can reckon from our Leviticus text, worship is at the core of the quest of attaining new heights. Worship defines what preoccupies our whole lives. It designates what we accord value or worth to above all else. Worship espouses what takes pre-eminence in the list of our priorities in life.

In the quest to reach new heights, we may become drawn into exploring other means to accomplish our personal goals and agenda. Characterised by anxiety and desperation, the inclination to become, the yearning to make meaningful and significant progress and be successful in life, become the centre of our focus.

However, our interpretation of the quest for new heights may be faulty if we think it’s about our personal desires, goals or agenda for success. But like Paul said, if your notions are faulty, “God will reveal to you the error of your ways” (Phil 3:15).

The quest for new heights, in Paul’s words, has to do with our “high calling” in God (Phil 3:14). We have been called to become like Christ. He is the Ultimate, the centre of our high calling. In Him, all things consist. He is the fullness and fulfilment of all aspirations.

Therefore, our inclinations, aspirations, and desires must be channelled towards becoming like Him (Heb. 3:1), in view of the #prize, which is the Crown of righteousness. This is a higher view of reaching new heights and it takes maturity to understand and embrace it (Phil 3:15b). When our inclination, aspirations, and desires to become, surpasses the high calling, we would be liable of setting up idols in our hearts (Lev. 26-1) that deflects our focus on the high calling and derails us from attaining the #prize.

The quest for new heights is a race. However, it is not a rat-race, it is a race of righteousness. When we become engulfed in the rat-race for success, we get sucked in to embrace wrong views of attaining new heights, we make alliances with the wrong relationships and adopt a way of life that may jeopardize our destiny in Christ. When our aspirations to advance in life align with the standards of our high calling, we make righteous choices that glorify God and attract God's blessings upon our lives and endeavours.

Like I said earlier, worship is at the core of the quest of attaining new heights. God has called us to make Him the priority in this quest. The key index of worship is obedience. We must obey the high calling. We must cease from the schemes and struggles of the rat-race and keep the Sabbath of God (Lev 26:2), that is, we enter the rest of God.

We enter the rest of God when we cease from trying to get accomplished solely through our efforts, schemes, and dependence on our networks, at the detriment of our focus and faith in Christ who is the centre of our high calling and in whom the promise of our inheritance resides (Heb 4:1). There remains, then, a Sabbath — rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their (Israel's) example of #disobedience (Heb 4:9-11).

Tithing in the New Testament by Rev. Dr. Clifford Anumaka

A tithe is a mathematical expression referring to one part of every ten parts of the blessings God gives us. It is not specifically commanded in the New Testament neither is it condemned nor contemned. The New Testament does not record Jesus practice of the tithe, but then, not everything Jesus did is recorded (John 21:25).

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices mint, dill and cummin. But you neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former (Mathew 23:23) see also (Luke 11:42; 18:12; Hebrews 7:1-10).

According to the above text, tithe should be paid, but it does not replace living justly, being merciful and faithful to God. The phrase “you should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former” suggests that tithing should be paid alongside justice, mercy and faithfulness”

        The summary is “practise the latter” (justice, mercy and faithfulness), “without neglecting the former” (tithing). This text clearly shows that Jesus taught tithing in a New Covenant post-law context. If Jesus had neglected His tithe, the Pharisees would have pointed it out.

      To the early Christians, tithing was not a new doctrine. The only Bible they used was the Old Testament. The New Testament did not begin to exist until over thirty years after the ascension of Christ. It took long before the followers of Jesus wrote because they were busy doing evangelism and were expecting His imminent return. Also, there was the oral tradition that was considered authoritative and reliable particularly when the eyewitnesses were still alive.

       Those who limit tithing to those under the law of the Old Testament should realise that the bible is not divided rather it comprises of both the Old and New Testaments as the singular word of God (II Tim.3:16).

        The moral restraints of the Old Testament did not lose their effect when the New Testament was produced. From earliest times, all Christians have accepted both testaments as canonical and normative for faith and life.

         The tithe was not introduced under the law, it was merely regulated under it. Some persons that paid tithe in the Bible were not coerced to pay it. They simply but voluntarily paid it out of gratitude to God for His blessings. Such persons include Abraham (Genesis 14:20) and Jacob (Genesis 28: 20-22).

    In conclusion, tithing is not a condition for salvation. There is no direct command to pay tithe in the New Testament, but then, it is not a licence for careless giving, nor advocation for its cessation. Deductively then, tithe must not be a legalistic requirement and whether to tithe from one’s net or gross income is not answered in the Bible.

         If you do not want to pay tithe, leave it, but if you have made up your mind then pay because nothing is wrong in giving ten percent unless you do not have the grace to give. Many Christians are willing to pay their tithes but a good number of them are jobless and poor. May God help you to do legitimate things that will bring you money.

           Practically, every church helps its members. Few churches that have aircrafts use them for evangelism. Pastors must not use their sermons to flog their church members and make them guilty over tithe matters. Every pastor should have something doing that brings him money, in addition to preaching.  This has become necessary so that when the tithes cease, the life and ministry of the pastor will not come to an end.

       Please, all forms of innuendoes, sarcasm, invectives and insults on this issue should cease. If you are a child of God, listen to His voice and do whatever He tells you.

Rev. Dr. Clifford Anumaka is a lecturer at LIFE Theological Seminary Ikorodu.

Email: okputunne@yahoo.com