The Secret of a Successful Christian Ministry

© 2014 by Ferkah Ahenkorah. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/27/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-8833-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-8834-6 (e)

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Scripture quotations taken from the following versions of the Bible:

@ The Quest Study Bible, New International Version, Copyright © 1994 by the Zondervan Corporation. All rights reserved.

@ Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 2001 by AMG Publishers. All rights reserved.

Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Chapter One: The Calling

Chapter Two: Prayer

Chapter Three: Obedience

Chapter Four: Humility

Chapter Five: Faithfulness

Chapter Six: Marriage And Family

Chapter Seven: Handling People

Chapter Eight: Personal Character: And Leadership

Chapter Nine: The Dangers Of Success

Afterword

Bibliography

DEDICATION

—To The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose suffering and death on the cross at Calvary, whose resurrection and ascension to heaven constitute the victory flag of the Church, who has promised to build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matt. 16:18; Matt. 20:28; Col 2:13-15).

—To The Holy Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of truth, wisdom, knowledge and revelation, who inspired and directed the writing and publication of this discourse (2 Pet. 1:20).

—To all present and future Christian ministers and servants of God whose labours and endeavours in the Lord’s vineyard are not only a warranty for eternal rewards but also a test of their own salvation and eternal destiny (Matt 7:21-23; 1 Cor. 15:58; James 3:1).

—To all present and future readers of this book

—To all congregations of Christ, to all church presbyteries, boards and steering committees, and other governing bodies, who have a part to play in helping Christian ministers steer and keep on the right course the ship that carries on board the eternal destiny of countless multitudes of the blood-bought sons and daguthers of God (Acts 15:6-29, 17:10-11).

—To my faithful and steadfast wife, Felicia Adane Ahenkorah, whose enthusiaistic rejoicing over God and His mighty works often spills over to me and lighten the sombre moments of my life.

—To my children, Olympia, Samuel, Deborah, Theophilia and Malachi whose fraternal joys and hostilities, mutual complaints and recriminations, always ended before me at home as the family judge. Though this has slowed down the writing of this book, it has nevertheless schooled me in the joys and challenges of combining parenthood and family life with church work, bookwriting, spiritual growth and other responsibilities.

FOREWORD

Over the years I have observed the overwhelming importance of leadership in ensuring the growth and successful administration of churches as well as in ensuring the mass harvest of souls. I have come to the conclusion that God almost always follows the principle of dealing with the body through the head. When the head is sick the body is sick; when the head is healthy the body also is healthy. It is written: I will smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered ( Mark 14:27). This principle is demonstrated in the fact that the righteousness of Christ covers the whole body of Christ, ie. The Church. I have observed with sorrow and dismay that when a minister falls into sin, the whole congregation gets scattered. It usually takes a long time for the Lord to restore the minister to his former position and integrity; a long time to replace the fallen shepherd with a new one and for the new head to restore the church to the former spiritual position from which it has fallen; and a long time for the Lord to re-allocate the scattered and wandering sheep to new sheepfolds and new shepherds. In fact it seems to be a general pattern that it takes God a longer time to repair the consequences of sin than to create wholly new things. And what will happen to the salvation of those who backslide as a result of the fall of the minister and the consequent demoralization that it causes? The Scripture warns that not many people should desire to become teachers because teachers will receive a stricter judgment ( James 3:1). It has therefore been my concern that everyone who has been called into the ministry should be firmly established in the Lord and build his ministry on principles that prove unshakeable as the house upon the rock (Matt. 7:24-29). This book has been written in that spirit. If some ministers may find in this book some inspiration to guide their calling or improve their ministry work, then the book would have served its purpose.

I have referred consistently to the minister as he for the sake of convenience. The observations apply in most cases to all ministers irrespective of gender. Since there is no gender—free, neutral pronoun for the minister, this convention avoids the problem of encumbering the text with the repetitive use of he/she.

I would like to express my profound appreciation to Elder Nana Yaw Agyei-Dwarko of the Ammerud Assembly, Church of Pentecost International Norway, a Ph.D student at the University of Oslo. The work bears the imprint of his meticulous proof-reading and the care he took to check and correct Bible verses and references. To Dr. Ebenezer Paintsil and my eldest daughter Olympia Ahenkorah, LL.M, both members of the Church of Pentecost International Oslo, the work owes to a large extent its improved technical and formal quality, lexical accuracy and semantic clarity due to their painstaking proofreading and their probing eye. The final responsibility for all shortcomings however remain wholly mine. I thank also my wife Deaconness Felicia Ahenkorah, Leader of the Women’s Ministry of the Ammerud Assembly of Church of Pentecost International Norway, Oslo, for her encouragement in writing the book.

The profoundest gratitude however goes to the Administrator of the Church, the Holy Spirit, for inspiring the writing of this book in the first place and guiding its development to the conclusion. Whilst the Holy Spirit inspired and guided the writing of the whole book, I recall in particular a remarkable revelation a few weeks ago. When I thought I had finished writing the book, the Holy Spirit spoke to me in a dream. In the dream my wife and I visited a famous international Bible scholar and teacher who has published several books on the instructions of the Holy Spirit. He was receiving guests in the garden that adjoins his home. When he saw us arrive, he politely left the two female guests and attended to us. He had heard of this book which I was writing and inquired more about it. I told him the title. He showed great interest in me as a person and in the book as well. After he left to see to his guests, the Holy Spirit spoke to me regarding the content of the book: Handling people is also very important. That recommendation from the Holy Spirit constitutes chapter seven of this book.

I realised that the Lord intentionally showed me a scene in the home of one of His more successful servants where good reception, hospitality, and interest in people were central elements. The purpose was to impress upon me one more factor which makes ministers successful, including the one I saw in the dream. The Holy Spirit subsequently guided me to write the recommended chapter. Later He drew my attention to the additional need to include a chapter on Marriage and Family. He also brought to my attention the miscellaneous issues discussed briefly in the Afterword. Such guidance from the Spirit of the Lord is a treasure that I value most dearly.

The versions of the English Bible translation used in this study are the New International Version and the New King James Version (NKJV) (both electronic and paper editions).

To God alone be all the glory

Ferkah Ahenkorah

CHAPTER ONE

THE CALLING

Once a well-known international evangelist who was addressing a conference of pastors said in relation to the calling of ministers: Wait until God calls you or the devil will destroy you. He was drawing attention to one of the spiritual dangers which befall those who launch themselves into Christian ministry work before getting a clear call from God.

The beginning of everything is the most important aspect of it because it determines largely the later development of the whole process. The kingdom of God on earth is a vast organisation of ministries, activities and services and the children of God are called to perform specific assignments as the Lord Himself wills. The Lord Jesus Christ grants leadership or ministry gifts for the building of the church and for equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:7-13); the Holy Spirit grants spiritual gifts to different members of the congregation as He Himself wills for the benefit of all; and God the Father calls individuals to perform various kinds of activities in the church (1 Cor. 12:4-6). To some the Lord assigns less, to others He assigns more according to the measure of grace He has given to each. However, irrespective of the type and the scale of work a servant of the Lord is called to perform, success depends first and foremost on waiting for a clear call from the Lord and on accepting the calling for no other motive than to fulfil the pleasure of the Lord.

Methods of calling

In discussing the calling and the conditions for success in the ministry, I assume that the minister has already satisfied the usual minimum biblical qualifications for office and leadership in the church as specified by Apostle Paul (Acts 6:3; 1Tim.3:1-13; Tit. 1:5-9). This part of the discourse therefore will not focus on those criteria.

People who find themselves in the Christian ministry may have been called by one of several methods: self-calling, calling through superiors, calling by prophecy, and direct calling by the Lord Jesus Christ. Self-calling refers to people who make up their own mind to serve the Lord according to their own gifts even though the Lord has not specifically called them. Of these people, two groups may be identified. The first group consists of those who have a genuine love of God and who are serving God for honourable purposes. The Lord may tolerate them and not forbid them to serve Him even though He has not called them (Mark 9:38-41; John 6:37). The other group consists of self-seekers, those who call themselves to serve the Lord for selfish ends like monetary benefits, envy, recognition, fame and contention (Phil 1:15-18; Jude 1: 4, 16). For this latter group judgment is reserved or at least loss of reward, even though they preach Christ. For God judges not only our works but also the motive behind the works. Good works done out of wrong motives may be straw that may not stand the test of fire (1 Cor. 3:11-15).

The divine consideration of motives in the allocation of rewards may be the reason why God more often than not calls those who are not willing rather than those who are willing because they have nothing else to do. The unwilling ones are usually people who are sincerely busy with other things they consider more valuable than serving God and have demonstrated a habit of pursuing with commitment their worldly professions with a measure of success. When finally they turn to God they serve Him with the same commitment and zeal and even show better results since they are now moving in God’s power. The apostle Peter was an industrious fisherman who, despite the fact that the sea was reluctant to yield the harvest, spent the whole night in stubborn perseverance; this attitude was probably the basis for the Lord calling him to become fishers of men. The apostle Paul was a successful tent-maker and God called him to use his grace as architect to build the church of Christ, laying down in his letters the structure of leadership, order of service, and other administrative rules which make the church a well-ordered, well-governed and self-sustaining household. Elisha was busy ploughing with a yoke of oxen when Elijah cast his mantle on him; he received the revelation that Elijah was about to be taken away and he abandoned his farming to chase the anointing (I Kings 19:19-21).

But whether for selfless or selfish purposes, self-calling is a spiritual risk-taking accompanied by dangers. It is therefore not worth recommending. The one who has a burning passion to serve the Lord must not take the hazardous path of calling himself and defining and pursuing his own sets of tasks in God’s kingdom for fear that if he asks the Lord the Lord may not call him. He Himself has said explicitly that whoever comes to Him he will in no wise cast out (John 6:37). He has also said that the harvest is plenteous but the workers are few (Matt. 9:37-38 ). The kingdom of