Five Ministries
Any Christian can Perform
By Dr. Ken Matto
 
(Prov 18:9 KJV) He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
 
One of the main scourges on Christianity today is the lazy Christian who claims that they do not know what their spiritual gift is or they are waiting for God to give them their ministry. These two excuses are nothing more than a Christian refusing to get involved when doing nothing seems easier. No Christian will ever find their ministry by sitting on their couch and watching sports. One needs to be involved so God may show them where they have been empowered to work.
 
There is another scourge on Christianity and it is called “Pastoral Phariseeism.” It is the belief by pastors that no one has the ability to understand the Bible unless they give the interpretation. It is these pastors who have discouraged Christians from getting heavily involved in the Lord’ work. The moment God saves a person, He indwells them through the Holy Spirit who empowers them to begin a life of service. Education has nothing to do with leading a person to Christ or understanding the Scriptures. (Mat 11:25 KJV) At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. It is the education cabal which has led the church down the pathway to great apostasy.  This short study is not about the churches and their apostasy but it seeks to remove the excuses that Christians have for not getting involved and I want to give five ministries that every Christian can be involved in so those who read this are without excuse.
 
1) Tract Passing
No one is going to tell me that a person cannot go into a Christian bookstore or go on line and be unable to buy a few hundred tracts and go out to the street in their town or in another town and hand them out. What degree do you need to do that? Back in the late 80’s I had a tract ministry in Perth Amboy, NJ, my hometown, but at that time I lived in Edison, NJ which was about 5 miles away. Since Edison was one big suburb, I drove to Perth Amboy on Friday nights and handed out maybe about 500 tracts. I also handed out tracts in Times Square in New York City and in New Brunswick, NJ which was the county seat. What really surprises me is that many times I had gone to NYC and have never seen any tract passing. Only once did I see a brother on 42nd Street handing them out. In a city of ten million people, you have an entire mission field at your doorsteps. Don’t wait to be called to go to Hawaii for your ministry because you have one right in your back yard. Tract passing is the most easiest ministry a person can do and hundreds can be reached every time a person goes out. As you do tract passing, you will connect with others who will want to join you and eventually it grows and more will be reached. Do you put tracts in with your bills? Do you get offers from credit cards and other things that have a pre-paid return envelope? I have been doing this since 1982 that when I receive an offer by mail with a prepaid return envelope which does not have my name printed on it, I throw a tract in it and drop it in the mail box. Now can you read this and tell me that you cannot do that easy ministry which has eternal results?
Here are some on-line sites to purchase tracts from:
 
http://www.mwtb.org/pages/home.php - Moments With the Book
http://www.trinitarianbiblesocietyusa.org/ - Trinitarian Bible Society
http://www.chick.com/default.asp - Chick Tracts
 
2) Giving
Another easy ministry is giving money. I am not endorsing the frauds which we see on TV such as Benny Hinn, Mike Murdock, Peter Popoff, Todd Bentley and that ilk. I am speaking about giving your money (actually it is the Lord’s - Psalm 24:1) to reputable ministries. Let us say you are of Russian background and would like to reach Russia with the Gospel. Then you would search out a ministry that has a Russian language broadcast of good bible teaching. A good ministry which was close to my home was Slavic Missionary Service. http://www.smsinternational.org/ You might want to make monthly donations to them and help them send forth the Gospel to Russia. If you just want to give to a general ministry and leave it to the Lord where the money is used you might consider a ministry like World Missionary Press. http://www.wmpress.org Giving tends to knock out any vestiges of being cheap from your Christian walk.
 
3) Bumper Stickers
This is basically for those who drive a car but one can use stickers almost anywhere. If you drive to work each day, you probably have the ability to reach hundreds who see the back of your car. Do they see a blank trunk? Or do they see “This car Climbed Mt. Washington” like who cares if it climbed Everest! You can purchase some good Bumper Stickers with a good message with a web site on them or a good Christian radio station. This means that you will be using your car as a rolling witness. Since you would have the Lord’s name on your car or you would be representing Him, it may stop you from driving like an idiot. When Jesus told us to occupy the time in Luke 19:13, factor in the amount of time you spend in your car? You would be surprised to find that you spend hundreds of hours per year in your car. This means that while you are driving, you are being a witness for Christ for those hundreds of hours. Now suppose you cannot find a good sticker, you can have them made up at: http://www.makestickers.com
 
4) Volunteer
There are always places to volunteer such as Churches, ministries, etc. I had mentioned Slavic Missionary Service because I had helped them send out a mailing. I also helped America’s Keswick by being on their Corporation Board and also helped them with some of their mailings. One time I was unemployed and they needed help so I drove 60 miles to help them for the day. Maybe the volunteer work may not be so spiritual such as raking leaves, or cleaning tombstones, cutting grass in a church cemetery, but it does not matter. Anytime you make yourself available to help in any aspect of the Lord’s work, it is helping to further the Kingdom even if it does not look like it, leave that to the Lord. Is there someone in your neighborhood who could use a hand? Is there a disabled person in your neighborhood who could use their garbage taken out or their recyclables? What about volunteering at a nursing home where the people are terminal and you have the message they need. You see volunteering has endless possibilities.
 
5) Bible Distribution
I am not speaking about purchasing hundreds of Bibles and then just giving them out to anyone. I am speaking about having a few Bibles in your home for one the Lord may send your way who needs a Bible. I keep two Bibles on hand in case the Lord leads someone to me who needs a Bible. Now do not give out the modern versions because they are all corrupt and counterfeit. If you were hungry, would you like it if someone gave you a bowl of dog food? Of course not, you would hope they would be giving you something nutritious and that is our responsibility before the Lord, to give out only spiritually nutritious Bibles. Purchase at least two or three nice leather bound King James Bibles and keep them home and give them to a person that needs one.
 
Final Thoughts
These five ministries can be done by any Christian without any special training. There should be no such thing in Christendom as an unengaged Christian. Every Christian has been saved and one of the requirements is that we bear fruit. (John 15:8 KJV) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. One cannot bear fruit if they are totally uninvolved and excusing that laziness. Do you honestly think God is going to give an important ministry to a Christian who shows no interest in any type of ministry? The answer is no He will not. He will give the ministry to another who shows promise and has involved themselves in ministry. These five basic ministries I have listed are easy but they are all life-changing ministries for both the doers and the recipients. It is time to get off the couch and realize you have a calling to fulfill. Going to church is not the fulfillment of Christian responsibility. It is a very minor part. God saved you by sending His Son to the cross, now what are you going to do with your Christian life, waste it or invest it?

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