And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
1 Chronicles 29:13 ESV
We must always – ALWAYS – remember to thank God and give Him praise for all He has done and is doing and will do.
In fact, get in the habit of thanking God before asking God.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
If only we better understood God’s grace and power, we would be unstoppable in changing this world.
Live a weak life. Good will move through you better.
But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:24 ESV
Our fullest calling in and greatest meaning to life is to glorify the Father by sharing the gospel of His Son with our fallen world.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
1 John 3:1, ESV
Through Christ we are adopted into the family of God, for the Father sees His Son when He looks at believers. We know Him through the Holy Spirit who shows us the Son.
Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
3 John 1:2, ESV
We should encourage each other and lift each other up.
Especially, we should encourage each other to strengthen our souls through reading Scripture, prayer, and communal worship.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1, ESV
We do not have a blind faith. We have the historical, prophetic, and biblical evidence, with the ultimate proof of our faith being the real and physical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Are you an Introvert or an Extrovert, and which is better when it comes to church and church leadership?
This is a topic that, at first glance, may appear trivial, but there are some interesting points to help you better know yourself and the congregation with whom you interact. I actually prefer the words “Withdrawaler” and “Socializer,” and will be utilizing these words for the duration of this article.
Socializers go to church for the community and fellowship, Withdrawalers go to church to loose themselves in order to better connect with Jesus. Socializers tend to like smaller churches better because it is generally viewed as a more conducive venue for connecting with people. Withdrawalers tend to prefer bigger churches because they can loose themselves in the crowd and nobody will talk about, or wonder why they’re not sitting or standing with everyone else. No one will probe as to why they are crying during a worship song, and no one will ask that dredded question, “how are you doing?” because generally speaking, withdrawalers aren’t doing well unless they’re with Jesus. Socializers get recharged by being around others who can build their faith, Withdrawalers get recharged by being alone and awaiting Gods voice.
Having made a distinction between these two personality types, most people aren’t completely one or the other, we are complex and unique. But I would like to caution the pastors who are looking for people to fill ministry and leadership roles: the Socializer is the typical choice for the position because of how they connect with people, but the Withdrawaler should be given equal, if not more consideration because of how they connect with God. One is not better than another, we simply have different functions.
Speaking as someone who is ordained, and is admittedly more of a Withdrawaler, I have felt very misunderstood by Socializer pastors, or pastors who thought I should be a Socializer since I’m called to ministry. We need to understand who we are because we can best serve Jesus in the giftings He’s given us.
