The field of religion and spirituality incorporates several areas of service. These areas are generally referred to as a ministry. A service from a ministry is practiced with a faith-based root and not necessarily limited to a temple nor its congregation; it may be an extension thereof or be an independent entity within society. One such ministry is a personal ministry.

During the fall and winter holidays, there was an increase in the number of people meeting at diverse places, such as a coffee shop, book shop, fast food place, or small restaurant to fellowship with friends, people of similar faith, or study and read.  Yet, for some people, it was not enough to have these places available.  These people wanted something more exclusive to their faith.  Such has been the case of some of the people with whom I have encountered through my work.

Last week, as I sat down over a meal with a friend, we talked about God and the diverse roles He had called me to fulfill over the coarse of my Christian lifespan. One of the roles was that of music, in particular playing the trumpet within a church congregation(s). His statement was, "I don't understand, why didn't you continue to play the trumpet, and become a better player; you were doing it for God?".  My reply to him was brief and with little detail. However, the summary of it was that God had a different plan for my life that laid beyond being a trumpet player within the confines of a congregation(s). He had so much more for me to do.

Not long after I had written in my “Dear God” journal, “1 Samuel 18“ came to mind:

In this chapter, we begin to witness Saul’s perception of loosing the royal authority that had been attributed to him by Samuel the Prophet, over being the first man-king over the People of Israel.  Saul was both witnessing and experiencing the slow departure of God’s Spirit from his presence and instead being manifested upon another person, David. Saul also witnessed the love of the people increase towards David, especially after his return with military victories.  Such things worked themselves as fuel for the anger that was raging within the heart of Saul; to the point that Saul tried to kill David on more than one occasion.

Interesting thing happened at work this afternoon.
A young lady came in looking for a Bible ... or was she. She went on to ask me about how people got the Bible, origin of translations (why are they so many and different?), and slowly moved on to share that she wonders if God hears her or her prayers. She shared that she has not been able to find a job, has all her degrees, and yet others, with no God, no degrees, and unrighteous, still have jobs ... what is that? So I shared a little about my experience and the lessons God taught me in the process ... and continues to do so. I challenged her a bit as well, but with the intent to get her to let God do His thing, according to His timing ... "Keep On Believing" and "Keep Trusting Me". I asked her name and if it would be o.k. for me to pray for her and a job ... she said yes. Although her tone of voice was still a bit on the bitter side, there was a glimmer of hope with which she took with her ... I also told her she was welcomed to stop by and share scripture and/or anything she wanted to vent out or figure out.

Just because I have an "army" of people praying for me to find a job, does not mean I can not pray for others to find one too. In one buck-shot, everything I have studied, learned, and experienced, came into play to help encourage someone in their faith ... Thanks God, I could not do it without Your help.

Today I worked some, in the afternoon. Afterwards, I wanted to go somewhere and wind-down and nurture my spirit a little with Oswald Chambers.

This world is full of people who perform diverse tasks.  Each one attends to their tasks in a special way, in particular if they hold several talents to assist them in completing their tasks.  Furthermore, such talents may be enhanced into spiritual gifts by means of the Holy Spirit.

There are moments in time when things are presented before us and we desire to learn a little bit more about them.  Then, with nothing more than making an inquiry, someone steps in and begins to inform us as well as lead us into what could possibly be a commitment.  However, some us step back and put it off for a later time.  Are some of us not as bold to follow through a commitment, or perhaps seeking some form of confirmation before making a major decision?