IMPART MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2011

Longevity takes time!

How To Ensure That

Continues
PAUL CHASE | GEMS FOR MINISTERS

What You Build

believe that any kind of success or longevity is based on foundation. Whether youre talking about marriage, friendships, or vocations and callings, the key to longterm success is having a great foundation. Even in the world of construction, having the right kind of foundation is crucial to a buildings longevity or endurability its capacity to weather storms and remain standing strong. My wife and I have served God in ministry for more than 30 years in the Philippines. And as weve stayed on our course and built the ministry He called us to through child-raising, lifethreatening sicknesses, and the challenges of ministry and life that inevitably come there have been a few simple questions weve regularly asked ourselves along the way. We keep these five questions before us as a ministry mainstay to help us evaluate not only the effectiveness of our ministry, but also the quality of our lives and the lives of our family.

a wonderful person. If we would be real honest, wed realize and admit that in and of ourselves, were just not that nice! We may have some wonderful traits, but when it comes to giving our lives away, our motivation comes back to who Jesus is in our lives.

Question #1:

Why Am I Doing This?

We must each ask the question: Why am I really doing this, and who am I doing it for? To leave your own nation, culture, comfort, family, and all things familiar to go to the other side of the world for the benefit of others is not something you do because youre such

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are Gods. 1 Corinthians 6:19,20

Paul and Shoddy Chase have lived and ministered in the Philippines for 31 years, their ministry taking them all over the nation with the Good News of Jesus Christ. During the first 11 years, they conducted evangelistic campaigns, oversaw two orphanages, and operated a Bible school from which hundreds of graduates have launched into ministry across the country. Their elementary Christian school for street kids fed and educated 175 children per year, and their pastors meetings ministered to more than 5,000 pastors nationwide. In 1991 the Chases moved with their three children to Manila and began a Bible study with three local people. That small beginning developed into New Life Christian Center, which 20 years later has a membership of more than 5,000. Since the churchs inception, more than 35 additional New Life churches have been established nationwide. The Chases work with a network of pastors and leaders from 700 churches in the Philippines to maintain ongoing outreaches that are touching their generation. Two such collaborative efforts include an outreach with Metro Ministries that ministers to 20,000 street kids every week and an outreach that distributes aid to the needy and also provides medical and dental clinics. The Chases New Life School of Ministry continues to train ministers from across the nation. In addition, Paul travels throughout Asia, evangelizing and teaching pastors and ministers how to demonstrate compassion in action in their cities, towns, and villages.

IMPART MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2011

Question #2:
Am I Willing To Pay the Price?
Faithfulness is a major key to longevity in ministry or any worthwhile endeavor. What does that mean? It means being faithful in the little, the unglamorous, the hard, and the inconvenient. It means remaining faithful at your God-given post when it seems at times to cost more than you see coming back. Our value system should not be based on the applause or approval of man but on that of Heaven. The decisions we make need to be born out of our hearts, not our heads out of a true God-given desire, not just a good idea. But to do something that will last and speak not only to your generation, but also to the next will cost you. Theres a price youll have to be willing to pay, because opposition will come: against you, your family, your marriage, your finances, your health, your vision, and your friends. But out of it all, God will deliver you if you remain faithful and teachable. These two characteristics must work together if you want to endure and grow stronger instead of weakening under the pressure because youre simply trying to hold on.

I believe this passage is about more than just keeping ourselves sexually pure. We are not our own, and the fact is that who we are in Him and what we do for Him is all by the grace of God. That constant realization must be the bedrock of a believers life, especially a ministers life.

Building Your Ministry or Changing Your World?

The books of the Bible we read were written by those who gave their lives for who they loved and what they believed in. They werent trying to build their ministries they were trying to change their world. Being known was not the goal; making Him known was.

Question #3:
Am I Teachable and Yielded?
Of course we know but it bears repeating often that to last, and to do it with joy, we must constantly feed on Gods Word and pray.

IMPART MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2011

And with that, we must be teachable and open to the leading of the Holy Spirit learning to be dependent on Him. Without this discipline and mindset, you could perhaps accomplish some wonderful things. But over time, youll find yourself out of place and position, unprepared for all thats to come. Understand this: Every endeavor you begin will not be finished or be realized in its fullness in your generation. What were doing is not really about us but about generations to come. Yet our faithfulness and yieldedness are crucial. We must run our race and finish our course, because our steadfast obedience allows the coming generation to move even faster upon solid ground without having to restore, replace, or renew what we neglected.

know it didnt get there by itself! Similarly, where we go in life and what we achieve has much to do with our relationships and friendships with those who can speak into our lives and those we can be real with. These are the ones who know the truth about us and still like us! They are people were not expending all of our energy on to try to impress.

Get a Life and Esteem the Lives of Others

We all need help at times, and we all need people around us we can trust and feel safe with. Actually, the entire Body of Christ should be safe and trustworthy, but not everyone has arrived at this place of character development. So when you have trustworthy people that you get to share life with, be sure to honor and esteem that. Laugh and have fun together. Refuse to be boring. Get a life! I dont believe theres anything more valuable than knowing youre in the right place, doing the right things at the right time with the right heart. Having this assurance gives you freedom and peace. I encourage you to look at your life and check out how you relate to people. Are you: honoring those who have gone before you? celebrating those around you? encouraging those who are coming behind you? If youre not doing these things consistently, youre missing a great key to fruitfulness and longevity. And if youre married and youve not yet begun to honor, celebrate, and encourage the gift in your spouse, youre cutting yourself off from one of the greatest assets you have going for you.

Question #4:
Am I Attending to Family and Other Relationships?

Its vital to your enduring success that you as a minister maintain the balance between wanting to touch the world and keeping in touch with your family! You cannot give everything away to others and have nothing left for those in your home. Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his household, not the saving of the world. Many today are trying to save the world and are neglecting their household. Longevity in ministry is broken and shattered by weakness and instability in the home. In the Body of Christ today, there are too many wounded wives and neglected children in the shadow of well-known husbands and dads. You may be well-known, but without healthy and intimate relationships in the home, that kind of superficial success never lasts. The strength of a ministry thats imbalanced in this way will continue to fade as the joy to do what is needful eventually subsides. Approving crowds will never substitute for a broken heart. The strength of pretending crumbles quickly, and hiding private pain usually turns to public destruction. If were honest with ourselves, well admit that we enjoy the success we have today because of our relationships. Think about it: If you see a turtle sitting on the top of a fencepost, you

Question #5:
Am I Living Life Well?
To walk in passion for what we do consistently, over the long haul takes absolutely knowing our call and purpose. Life is short. We need to live it well on purpose and with purpose. When you know what God has called you to do and youre committed to fulfilling it to His

IMPART MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2011

I like to paraphrase this verse and make it my personal declaration: I will fight a good fight. I will finish my course. I will keep the faith because one day I want to hear, Well done, good and FAITHFUL servant, not, Well, youre done!

Setting Worthier Goals

Faithfulness not success must be our goal as ministers and believers. We should be careful not to trade the long-term plan of God for what appears as short-term success. It takes time to see the will of God come to pass in a nation. It takes time to plow, to plant, to protect, and to harvest. I realize Im stating the obvious, but longevity takes time! And those who are willing to give their all to the plan of God for their lives are the ones who will achieve longevity and fruitfulness in ministry. I commend the Renner family on 20 years of living and giving their lives away in the former Soviet Union. We dont see missionaries or apostolic gifts going permanently to the nations as much as we have in the past. The convenience of travel now allows people to fly in, stay awhile, and then fly out. But when you move to a nation and settle there, you allow the people and the nation into your heart. You come to love them and they know it. Then you can really give yourself to them. And its a joy, not a burden. When people receive you, they receive what you bring to touch their lives. Its more than just the message its the blending of the messenger with the message. Then year by year goes by, and before you know it, half your life has been spent in another part of the world. The Renners have crossed over into the one-percent group of those who have gone to the nations of the world and stayed to pour out their lives. What a blessing Rick and Denise Renner are and how blessed are the people there to be loved by them and their family!

glory, youre willing to do whatever it takes to see it through His way. And you know its not in your own strength or mental ability but by His grace. So you give yourself to His calling and you remove from yourself the option of giving up. You continue your present course until that grace lifts and direction comes for a new direction. But until then, you reach forward in your current station, doing all you know to do to succeed in God and to honor Him with your life.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

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q REACHING q LONGEVITY q TAKING HO q HAVE YOU q YOU CAN FORWARD | TAKES TIME! ANDRELL COR LD OF LIFE | | PAUL CHASE GRACE?| GU BIN 3 5

HEARD OF MY

GLORIA COP

ELAND 9 Y DUININCK 14

PERSEVERE

| RICK RENNE

R 18

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#51

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A Service Network for Pastors and Ministers

Reaching Were Closer Today Than Yesterday Forward

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q REACHING FORWARD | ANDRELL CORBIN 3 q LONGEVITY TAKES TIME! | PAUL CHASE 5 q TAKING HOLD OF LIFE | GLORIA COPELAND 9 q HAVE YOU HEARD OF MY GRACE?| GUY DUININCK 14 q YOU CAN PERSEVERE | RICK RENNER 18

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IMPART MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2011

October Issue 2011

5 Longevity Takes Time!

PAUL CHASE This article contains five questions every leader should answer periodically to keep him and his ministry or organization stable and on course. These five ministry mainstays will ensure longevity and fruitfulness as your fulfill your lifes work.

9 Taking Hold of Life

GLORIA COPELAND God desires that our longevity consist of living strong full of health and vitality and possessing the wisdom of God and His direction for our life so that our course is clear and our victory sure. In this article, Gloria Copeland shows you how to eat from the tree of life and take home the victors crown of a long, productive, and happy life!

None of these things move me (Acts 20:24).

14 Have You Heard of My Grace?

GUY DUININCK Paul magnified Gods ministry grace that helped him successfully accomplish what God had called him to do. In this article, Guy distinguishes between saving grace and ministry grace one grace sets you in place; the other sets you in motion!

18 You Can Persevere!

RICK RENNER What was it about the apostle Paul that caused him to rise up after every hardship and challenge? It was more than positive thinking. Paul possessed an unstoppable spirit and a fierce determination to walk out Gods revealed plan by Gods bestowed grace and he set an example that we can follow too.

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