Friday, May 22, 2015

'Private Ministry' vs. 'Public Ministry', a brief overview.

#GospelMinistry:

We are all called into "private ministry". And it is important to note that NOT EVERYONE is called into "public ministry". If indeed you are among the few that are called into public ministry, you should know this, deep down, on your inside. Many times, it will cost you a lot more, to wholeheartedly commit to the call to public ministry. This is a key reason why a very strong and reliable support base is needed. (Of course the celestials support but you need human beings to support you.)

For His public ministry, Jesus had a strong support base - His inner circle of Apostles and Evangelists. He also had some disciples, well wishers, etc. There were people who gave him moral support and prayed for Him and made donations to assist the work.
Our work of presenting the message of the Kingdom (Gospel Message) and the Fifth Epochal Revelation would gain greater traction when many more readers understand and appreciate these things.

4 comments:

  1. A major issue for UB readers to understand and resolve is the very clear difference between "Private Ministry" and "Public Ministry". Jesus engaged in both. NOT EVERYONE is called to do likewise. However, some of us are. For example, the Apostle Peter embarked on a public ministry after the Master ascended. The Alpheus twins did not - they focused primarily on private ministry, sharing the gospel to people as they went about their daily routine activities - "as they passed by".

    In a very powerful way, we would bring love, joy, salvation, truth, beauty, goodness and great spiritual victories to many, many hungry souls if those who are called to "Public Ministry" get adequate support from those who may not be so called. Support comes in different ways: spiritual (prayers), moral, financial, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "This thing" is so simple. Yet some of us just allow it all to get complicated. We think we know too much or what? Please, watch out, lest you fall into the same pit that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees fell into.
    (1) Public Ministry - as a team, proactively reaching out to the masses in a well thought out, planned and organized manner. #TeamWork
    (2) Private Ministry - reaching out to single individuals as we go about our daily activities or business; "living out the revelation"; "sowing seeds as we pass by", etc. #IndividualEffort

    Both have their place. Yes, some of us are entrenched in different evolutionary religions, working to bring changes. Some are in Christian churches, Mosques, Buddhist Temples, etc. But a very important and crucial aspect is this: How many of us are willing to STEP OUT and STEP UP to the microphone to PUBLICLY ESTABLISH "The Religion of Jesus"? Can our Study Groups not evolve? We all don't have to work within existing man-made religions. JESUS stepped out. PAUL stepped out. ABNER stepped out. Some people just allow themselves to be confused and be all 'philosophical' and 'intellectual' about it all and do little.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sadly, some of us are just like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' day - maybe not in all totality but at least in some areas of our mentality or approach. UB 99:6.2 is just one of many UB scriptures that point to the need of "church". What is "church"? Study groups can be regarded as "church". 2 or more people gather together at specific days and time to study, pray, sing, worship, plan/organize outreach, socialize, etc, etc

    To have a very effective study group, church or whatnot, you need a decent level of "structure" or "organization". "Leaders", "Ministers", "Pastors", "Secretaries", "Treasurers", "Fund-raisers", etc are needed. We see this clearly in Jesus' Public Ministry. This is also evident in Machiventa Melchizedek's Headquarters at Salem. Machiventa even had a physical, structural location - building (or maybe buildings?) where people would "go to", "gather", "meet". If members of a group or a "church" is convinced that a public building is needed for their activities, so be it. It's not written in stone that they must meet in homes.

    Call it, "a religion", "an organized religion" or whatnot, i don't care. We just have to do what we have to do. Simple.

    Personal, private ministry is never enough. It must be augmented by public ministry. Both work hand-in-hand. Let's be practical and realistic folks. We have a great treasure, the Urantia Book [UB] and we are not doing enough. The examples of Jesus, Paul and Abner stare us in the face. Sadly, some of us love their comfort zones and would interpret the good book to suit. No one is talking about shelving the entire book down the throat of the masses here. We are talking about presenting teachings, as Jesus did - "Who is God?" "What is the Will of God?" "What is the Kingdom of Heaven?", "How can I walk in love?", etc.

    No one is saying EVERYBODY must be public ministers. No! We are all private ministers but some of us have to step up to the microphone just as Jesus did. Peter did. Abner did. It is what it is.

    UB 195:9:4 - "Religion does need new leaders, spiritual men and women who will dare to depend solely on Jesus and his incomparable teachings. If Christianity persists in neglecting its spiritual mission while it continues to busy itself with social and material problems, the spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new teachers of Jesus’ religion who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social, moral, economic, and political reorganization of the world."

    "...the spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new teachers of Jesus' religion who will be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social, moral, economic, and political reorganization of the world." - PUBLIC MINISTERS in an "organized" gospel environment, with a strong support base are needed to fully and adequately actualize this. The support base would come, largely from "members", "those solely engaged in personal private ministry".

    Can you "be exclusively devoted to the spiritual regeneration of men" while keeping a secular 9-5 job? Maybe Yes! But would it not be far better if your 9-5 job is that of a public minister or a worker in a church or study group? Which would be far much better? Which would yield a greater result? Let's be honest folks. #OneLove

    ReplyDelete
  4. Why are people reluctant to support UB-based Churches? Could it be some of us are ashamed to be publicly identified as part of a 'cult'? We don't want to be seen as 'different'? We don't want to be ridiculed by family, friends, neighbors, colleagues? We are afraid of persecution? We are selfish with our money? We don't want to set money aside, monthly for the smooth running of a Church? We are discouraged by those Christian Public Ministers who abuse power, authority and gospel funds? We are anti-authority? We don't like to be under the authority or leadership of a man or woman? We hold onto the shortcomings of Public Churches or Mosques or Temples and close our eyes to their positive contributions to all aspects of human life? We love our comfort zones and don't want to be bothered? We misunderstand the slow-growth admonition, forgetting that Jesus clearly said the harvest is plenteous and more laborers are needed in the Father's vineyard? When will more readers wake up?

    Passages of scripture to study: Papers -
    87:7.1; 87:7.6
    97:10.7
    98:6.1
    195:9.4; 195:9.7

    ReplyDelete