As we cruised along at 30,000 feet, I relaxed and read my Bible. The man next to me commented, “You must be a minister.” I told him that I was, but I didn’t pastor a church, but explained that every Christian should be in the ministry, proclaiming the Gospel, starting with where they work.
We are called to minister where we are planted and for most of us that is the marketplace where we work and earn our living. My friend, Dan Shock, is not a pastor, but very much a minister as he leads Florida Marketplace Ministries (FloridaMarketplaceMinistry.com), where many have come to Christ under his leadership and ministry.
Do you work the way you worship?
Your work matters. The first person said to be “filled with the Spirit” in the Bible was not a pastor, but a craftsman and artist of wood & stone in Exodus 31:2-5.
Don’t minimize your daily work in the marketplace – it is nothing less than a Holy Calling. Your work… your position is your platform.
In the New Testament…
▪ Of the 132 public appearances that Jesus made – 122 were in the marketplace
▪ Of the 52 parables that Jesus told – 45 had a workplace context
▪ Of the 40 miracles in the Book of Acts – 39 were in the marketplace
▪ Work, in its different forms, is mentioned more than 800 times in the Bible – more than all the words used to express worship, music, praise and singing combined.
No matter where or what it is, your work is a holy calling. Your desk is your pulpit.
Treat it as such…
SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
CNN reports that “the world’s most premature baby has celebrated his first birthday after beating 0 percent odds of surviving.” Richard Scott William Hutchison was born five months prematurely and weighed 11.9 ounces at birth. His parents could hold him in a single palm of their hands. He spent six months in the hospital before going home. On June 5, Richard celebrated his first birthday.
One of the results of being made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) is that we instinctively share our Creator’s passion for life (cf. John 10:10). Even media platforms such as CNN that consistently advocate for abortion (they call it “reproductive freedom”) know that their readers want to hear stories celebrating life in all its dimensions.
— o —
Our planet’s atmosphere extends 6,214 miles into space. Our moon is 238,900 miles from us; our sun is 94,499,000 miles away. The next nearest star is 24,984,092,897,479 miles from our planet. The edge of our Milky Way galaxy is estimated to be 25,000 light-years away. The edge of our universe is thought to be 46,500,000,000 light-years away.
Jesus made all of that (Colossians 1:16), and his Father measures it with the palm of his hand (Isaiah 40:12).
— o —
A recent study reported that only 42 percent of Americans (and only 31 percent of adults under the age of thirty) believe God is the basis of truth. According to Gallup, only 24 percent of Americans consider the Bible to be the literal word of God. This is the lowest percentage in Gallup’s forty-year trend on this issue.
— o —
In 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. A current iPhone has seven million times more memory than the guidance computer on his spaceship and over one hundred thousand times its processing power.
QUOTES YOU CAN USE
Ask yourself what you are doing today that gets you closer to where you want to be tomorrow. Anonymous
God doesn’t want you to worship or serve Him out of pressure or emotional frenzy. Dan Shock
Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice and is never the result of selfishness.” NAPOLEON HILL
In this world dominated by cyber space, is it possible that God knows us even better than all the “cookies” in the cloud? Dwight Short
Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
What has God put in my keeping that He will someday require an accounting for? Dan Shock
Never underestimate the ability of a small group of dedicated people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” MARGARET MEAD
It’s never too late to let Jesus into your life. John Wayne
Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.” CHARLES F. KETTERING
Fear is a sign that we don’t trust God’s ability to take care of our situation. Florida Marketplace Ministries, Dan Shock