I received an email the other day from a ministry providing some affirmations for the new year. I believe these affirmations can also be applied to your ministry. Here are a few I would like to share with you.

I encourage you to print this post out and place it on your refrigerator, office wall or some  place you will see it often.

• It is not about me! This vision was God-ordained and He has entrusted me with this call as He wants to do is work in and through me to accomplish His purposes throughout the earth.
• I boldly declare that the year 2012 is the year of EXECUTION! I will not procrastinate but I will listen for God’s voice for direction of my ministry and will act according to His leading.
• I will have to challenge myself this year to see with the eyes of my heart and not my flesh because I walk by faith.
• This year I will have to “assassinate” some things like bad relationships, unproductive habits and negative thinking. These are all distractions that block the blessings of God in my life and in my ministry.
• I will have to “acclaim” something; I cannot be silent.
• I will have to “accomplish” something; God desires to use me.
• I will also have to learn to “accept” some things.  God desires to bless me and I walk in favor, therefore I will be open to the divine movement of God in my life.
• I must remember that this is a leap year and I have to steward the gift of time that God has given me. I will not rob God of my time, talent, and treasure. It all belongs to Him anyway.
• God has called me to a kingdom assignment, so I must remain focused and complete that which God desires.
• Because twelve is the number of divine government and rulership, I realize that God has called me to be a leader.
• I am a leader in my home, and the marketplace, because I represent the Kingdom of God.
• I will have to challenge my thinking daily in order to walk in all that God has prepared for me.
• I must meditate daily on my future because as a man thinketh so is he.
• I am being blessed daily in order to be a blessing to those around me and understand my responsibility as a kingdom steward.
• Because of who I am, I must always remember that I have kingdom influence. Others watch me, and pattern themselves after me; I set standards and establish paradigms.
• I call forth and declare that potential within me is released this year. This year I will make a mark  for the kingdom that cannot be erased.
• Finally, I declare I am blessed with health, blessed with peace, and blessed with fortitude. I always win because God has promised to defend me as His child. Because my mouth produces blessings and curses, I declare my family to be blessed, my church to be blessed, and my spiritual leadership to be blessed. I will live to display the handiwork of God and to assist in manifesting the Kingdom of God on Earth, in Jesus name.

Amen!

Everything. We need God for everything. When I decided to launch this website and call it Social Rave: Ministry, Media & the Kingdom, my sole purpose was to advance the kingdom of God through media. At the time, I didn’t realize the huge responsibility I accepted in this call.

I just finished the book Wild at Heart by John Elderedge. Several friends have been encouraging me for years to read it. While on my way to Charlotte a couple of weeks ago, I decided to listen to the book on CD. The interesting thing that happened was the reasons that lead me to finally listen to this book were not God’s ultimate purpose for getting me to actually read it.  While listening to the last CD in the case, John makes a profound statement that continues to echo in my heart for the vision I have for Social Rave. He states,

Science has given us many wonderful advances in sanitation, medicine, and transportation. But we’ve tried to use those methods to tame the wildness of the spiritual frontier.  We take the latest marketing methods the newest business management fad, and we apply it to ministry. The problem with modern Christianity’s obsession with principles is that it removes any real conversation with God. Find the principle, apply the principle – what do you need God for? So Oswald Chambers warn us, “Never make a principle out of your experience let God be as original with other people as he is with you.”

While I am obsessed with ministry and media and even more obsessed with order, the Father constantly reminds me that having a kingdom mindset is vital for any ministry attempting to impact culture with its God-given vision. Without a kingdom mindset, we will choke the life out our mission, edge God out, and leave the ministry orphaned.

One of my favorite ministers, John Bevere, preached that he is confident we as believers will not be judged on what we’ve done but what we were called to do. Often times, we are so focused on applying the latest marketing fade to our ministry’s communication strategy that we negate the true call of our ministries and limit the power of the Holy Spirit.

Each of you has a call on your life and is gifted in a specific area of ministry God designed for you before you were even born. As you launch into your area of ministry, never forsake the works of the Holy Spirit.  Marketing’s best practices have nothing on the power of the living God. So, in everything, seek the Father’s guidance.

I feel extremely blessed to be academically and professional trained in ministry and media, but I also get excited about those God moments. These are the times where I know my skills, gifts, and talents had nothing to do with my successes. This happens when I take the principle out of my experience and allow God’s creativity to emerge.