Your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts.

I'm not looking for peace on earth through a political solution. I'm a pastor. The Bible talks about three kinds of peace. There is peace with God. There's the peace of God. And there's peace with each other.

Since God intends to make you like Jesus, he will take you through the same experiences Jesus went through. That includes loneliness, temptation, stress, criticism, rejection, and many other problems.

Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life.

Whenever you serve others in any way, you are actually serving God.

The fact is, ministry is too unpredictable to be motivated by security. It’s too unprofitable to be motivated by money. It’s too demanding to be motivated by pleasure, and it’s too criticized to be motivated by fame. Our ministry should be motivated by the pleasure of God, and God is pleased when we have a ministry powered by faith.

This drive to always want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will make me more happy, more important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. Possessions only provide temporary happiness. Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want newer, bigger, better versions.