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The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places: The Joy of Serving God in the Ordinary
What does real Christian service look like?
Working in a church or teaching Sunday school?
Serving the poor in the neediest parts of the world?
Studying the Bible in a quiet place?
Traveling around the globe to evangelize?
Maybe. But what if it looks a lot more like everyday life?
Here is good news for everyone who feels unexceptional and overlooked. God sees every act of service, no matter how dull and insignificant it may seem. His view of success is drastically different from the world's. It is often in ordinary situations and places -- not extraordinary ones -- that God teaches us lessons with eternal consequences.
With humor and honesty, teacher Ken Barnes takes us on his journey from tending chickens to assisting in a kitchen to sweating in a steel mill and more. Stories of frustration, joy, and every emotion in between reveal the true direction of being a disciple of the way up is always down. Joy in serving comes not from excitement or recognition. It comes from following the example of Christ, the ultimate servant.
Working in a church or teaching Sunday school?
Serving the poor in the neediest parts of the world?
Studying the Bible in a quiet place?
Traveling around the globe to evangelize?
Maybe. But what if it looks a lot more like everyday life?
Here is good news for everyone who feels unexceptional and overlooked. God sees every act of service, no matter how dull and insignificant it may seem. His view of success is drastically different from the world's. It is often in ordinary situations and places -- not extraordinary ones -- that God teaches us lessons with eternal consequences.
With humor and honesty, teacher Ken Barnes takes us on his journey from tending chickens to assisting in a kitchen to sweating in a steel mill and more. Stories of frustration, joy, and every emotion in between reveal the true direction of being a disciple of the way up is always down. Joy in serving comes not from excitement or recognition. It comes from following the example of Christ, the ultimate servant.
- GenresChristianity
134 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2010
About the author
Ken Barnes
57 books6 followersKen Barnes is a former member of the UTC Writers Guild and currently lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
April 4, 2012
When young believers feel the call the ministry or missions, they often fill their heads with grand visions of the work they’ll be doing for God.
Ken Barnes started out with some of those ideas and found his first assignment working on a chicken farm. Hardly glamorous and hardly doing the work of the Lord. Or was it?
Using a great talent for humor, Barnes takes us through the process of learning the lesson that sometimes God may call us to the simple, mundane chores of everyday life. And, as Barnes learned, sometimes we have to learn that lesson more than once.
The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places is the book for you if you’re ever found yourself wondering about your own personal ministry or calling. Do you feel like you haven’t attained what God has for you? Or that the work you’re doing doesn’t match up to God’s high calling?
Barnes takes us through is personal experiences to remind us that whatever we do, when we’re doing it for God, is God’s best for us.
Our world, particular for Americans, is obsessed with the rich, the famous, the glamorous. But in the Kingdom of God things often seem upside down by the world’s standards. Behind the scenes, seemingly thankless tasks can be God’s perfect calling for our lives.
If you’re considering the ministry or the mission field, this book is a great place to start. It will help you gain a perspective and an understanding that God is often in the ordinary. And it will help you see that it’s not the task, it’s how we approach it that matters to God. He sees, and remembers, everything we do for Him.
“This book recalls a pioneer’s journey. It will make you laugh and see how God works in one person’s life as they commit everything to Him.”
Darlene Cunningham, cofounder, Youth With A Mission
Ken Barnes worked for seventeen years as a missionary with Youth With A Mission. His work has taken him to Mexico, Canada, Spain, the Ukraine and South America. Ken currently lives with his wife Sharon in Richmond, Virginia.
Ken Barnes started out with some of those ideas and found his first assignment working on a chicken farm. Hardly glamorous and hardly doing the work of the Lord. Or was it?
Using a great talent for humor, Barnes takes us through the process of learning the lesson that sometimes God may call us to the simple, mundane chores of everyday life. And, as Barnes learned, sometimes we have to learn that lesson more than once.
The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places is the book for you if you’re ever found yourself wondering about your own personal ministry or calling. Do you feel like you haven’t attained what God has for you? Or that the work you’re doing doesn’t match up to God’s high calling?
Barnes takes us through is personal experiences to remind us that whatever we do, when we’re doing it for God, is God’s best for us.
Our world, particular for Americans, is obsessed with the rich, the famous, the glamorous. But in the Kingdom of God things often seem upside down by the world’s standards. Behind the scenes, seemingly thankless tasks can be God’s perfect calling for our lives.
If you’re considering the ministry or the mission field, this book is a great place to start. It will help you gain a perspective and an understanding that God is often in the ordinary. And it will help you see that it’s not the task, it’s how we approach it that matters to God. He sees, and remembers, everything we do for Him.
“This book recalls a pioneer’s journey. It will make you laugh and see how God works in one person’s life as they commit everything to Him.”
Darlene Cunningham, cofounder, Youth With A Mission
Ken Barnes worked for seventeen years as a missionary with Youth With A Mission. His work has taken him to Mexico, Canada, Spain, the Ukraine and South America. Ken currently lives with his wife Sharon in Richmond, Virginia.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review