Authentic Ministry Quotes

“The story of the church is tragically littered with cautionary tales of fantastically gifted leaders who have crashed because of their lack of character. These leaders started out with a blazing love for Christ and were therefore given opportunity, praise, and power. But eventually it was proven that they didn’t have the character to handle it…When this does happen, will you have developed the Christ-like servant-heartedness to handle however much you are given. And the more you are given, the more humility you will need if you are not to become a power abuser…The path that you follow will depend on whose mind you have. Will you follow your own mind or do you have the mind of Christ Jesus? Put pride to death before disaster happens.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“Do not settle for small prayers to a small God. Our Father is not a village god. The greater your view of God, the more you will expect from Him. The more you expect from Him, the more you are likely to receive.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“Prayer is the first and main way true faith expresses itself. For in true prayer, we actually depend upon God and trust Him. That is exercising faith. In prayer, we show how much we really want communion with God, how much we really depend on him. Payerlessness is practical atheism.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“Finding your identity in the wrong place is perhaps one of the most common and invisible traps for the Christian leader.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“The source of our identity affects more than just our own personal sanity. When Christians define themselves by something other than Christ, they poison the air all around. When they crave power and popularity and then get it, they become pompous, patronizing, or simply bullies. When they don’t get it, they become bitter, apathetic, or prickly. Defining themselves by something other than Christ, they become something other than Christ.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“We were made to enjoy the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). That is the only light in which we can have life. It is the only light in which we can have full hearts. It is the only light in which we can minister to others. If you try to minister without constantly refilling your eyes and heart with this light then in the power of your own adrenaline and wisdom, you will go out and you will burn out.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“Even the demons know their Bible and can explain it accurately. What distinguishes them from saints is not their knowledge it is that where saints delight in God, demons dread Him.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“Our ministry must flow out of an enjoyment of God. It cannot move on from an enjoyment of Him. If it does, it becomes dully hollow and hypocritical. That is if you live and grow in your knowledge about God, but do not grow in your delight about God you are only hardening in your sin and hypocrisy.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“Let’s consider the leader who forgets that he is a sinner saved by grace and not his own efforts, the leader who finds his identity not in Christ but in his pastoring: how will his ministry play out? If he slips into thinking he is justified by his works—and the most orthodox Christian can make this error—he will be driven by his works. If he forgets he is a sinner saved by grace, he may try to fake his own perfection in front of his people. This is surprisingly common! If he forgets the cross and his justification before God and seeks to find his worth instead in the approval of others, he will never lead, but will merely pander to whatever makes him popular.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“To learn Christian theology is to clear out the junk that has accumulated in our minds through years of listening to the world around us, and to replace it with truth. It is to put on the mind of Christ and so sift out the lies in our culture that otherwise would drive us. It is refusing to drift with the assumptions of our society.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“Let’s consider the leader who forgets that he is a sinner saved by grace and not his own efforts, the leader who finds his identity not in Christ but in his pastoring: how will his ministry play out? If he slips into thinking he is justified by his works—and the most orthodox Christian can make this error—he will be driven by his works. If he forgets he is a sinner saved by grace, he may try to fake his own perfection in front of his people. This is surprisingly common! If he forgets the cross and his justification before God and seeks to find his worth instead in the approval of others, he will never lead, but will merely pander to whatever makes him popular. In other words, for the leader to have strength of purpose, integrity, and the ability not to be driven (and burned out) by his ministry, he must maintain a solid grasp on the cross and so on his justification.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“We breathe in Scripture, and we breathe out prayer. Breathe in, breathe out: that’s the Christian life. Prayer is the breath of heavenly life: where that life is, there must be some prayer; where that life flourishes, there will be much prayer, and much pleasure in prayer. And friends, let us be clear: the life-breath of Christianity, of healthy churches, is not our talent, or even our hard work. It is prayer: active dependence upon God.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart

“Our delight in God is so essential because it 1) distinguishes us from demons, 2) is the heartbeat of the saints, 3) is part of entering the true life of God, and 4) is what we were made for.”
― Michael Reeves, Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart