Some Details about My Ministry (Conclusion)

Friends:

It is such a privilege to know the Lord (by His grace) and to be serving Him. I thought it might be useful to take a few posts to share with you some of the ways the Lord is using me.

I’m a bit overwhelmed in looking at the list of ministries I’ve posted over the last few weeks. I’m so grateful for each and every opportunity to serve the Lord.

What are some ways that you are involved in ministry? How would fill in the following chart about your ministries?

Thank you for going on this journey with me. And, yes, I would definitely appreciate your prayers for me in any of the areas that you choose!

 

Some Details about My Ministry (Part 20)

Friends:

It is such a privilege to know the Lord (by His grace) and to be serving Him. I thought it might be useful to take a few posts to share with you some of the ways the Lord is using me.

What are some ways that you are involved in ministry? This last way that I will share is something I’m both proud of and ashamed of. This last way of ministry (that I can think of) is that of PRAYING WITH MY WIFE.

I’m ashamed that I did not lead us spiritually over our 50 years of marriage in praying everyday together. I’m proud of our starting to pray (almost) everyday together beginning about two years ago.

Please don’t get me wrong. We’ve certainly prayed when crises have hit our family. We’ve earnestly prayed when loved ones have turned away from the faith. And we’ve seriously dropped to our knees when raising our children. But I’m talking about a daily discipline of sitting together on the couch, after our morning coffee, and praying together about a whole list of things.

If I had my life and our marriage to do over again, I would have established this habit. And we would have guarded it carefully and pursued it diligently. It would have been a daily illustration to our two children that we believe in the power of prayer and the absolute necessity of bringing our needs to the Lord. But we didn’t do that.

My best advice for young and older couples is start today! Take 5-10 minutes to sit together in the same place and pray about the needs of your family and the needs of others.

Please pray for Linda and me that we would continue our daily praying together. And that we could inspire other couples to do the same. Thank you!

[I have one more short post which will appear in a couple of days on this issue of ministry].

 

Some Details about My Ministry (Part 19)

Friends:

It is such a privilege to know the Lord (by His grace) and to be serving Him. I thought it might be useful to take a few posts to share with you some of the ways the Lord is using me.

One of the ways that Linda and I seek to be a witness is through our small AMAZON/EBAY BUSINESS. We sell about 10-15 books per day on Amazon. We scour thrift shops and garage sales for bargains and ship from our front porch. We print our own postage through Stamps.com and our postal carrier picks up our books from our front porch.

We try very hard to satisfy our customers — and mostly succeed in doing so. There is, however, a 20% crazy factor with some customers, so we have to be gracious in responding to an occasional complaint.

When we first began our Amazon business, I included a free cd of a John Piper sermon (“Don’t Waste Your Life!”) with every purchase. Some customers complained to Amazon and they made us cease and desist including the cd. But God can give us other ways to communicate our faith!

Please pray for Linda and me that we would continue to be diligent in providing good books at reasonable prices — and that we would clearly represent the Lord in doing so!

 

Some Details about My Ministry (Part 18)

Friends:

It is such a privilege to know the Lord (by His grace) and to be serving Him. I thought it might be useful to take a few posts to share with you some of the ways the Lord is using me.

I have the privilege of DISCIPLING several men and it is a real privilege to pour my life into them.

Even though my formal teaching position at Columbia International University was downsized in 2016, I am still able to serve students as a PhD MENTOR. My task is to guide the doctoral student in his or her studies, provide feedback on research issues, and, in general, encourage him or her as they begin writing their dissertation.

These PhD students have an enormous amount of work to do — from completing several research classes, to passing competency exams in a couple of languages, to researching and writing their dissertation, to successfully defending their dissertation before several professors. Tax day — April 15 (which many people dread) — was when I defended my PhD dissertation (back in 1985) and I know how challenging the whole program can be!

Please pray for me — that I would give good guidance and wise counsel to the PhD students assigned to me.  Thank you!

 

Some Details about My Ministry (Part 17)

Friends:

It is such a privilege to know the Lord (by His grace) and to be serving Him. I thought it might be useful to take a few posts to share with you some of the ways the Lord is using me.

This next “ministry” is going to sound strange, but it is a real way we can serve others. A couple of years ago Linda and I purchased A BEACH CONDO in Hilton Head, South Carolina, primarily to provide an inexpensive vacation for poor seminary couples.

And the Lord has blessed this new “ministry.” We named our condo “The Blessing” and we have some subtle witness-type sayings around. We rent to regular vacationers who find us on the internet (you can find us at: https://www.vacasa.com/unit/53759) as well as to Christian families that hear about us.

Please pray for us — that we would use our condo for the Lord and for blessing others!  Thank you!

 

Some Details about My Ministry (Part 16)

Friends:

It is such a privilege to know the Lord (by His grace) and to be serving Him. I thought it might be useful to take a few posts to share with you some of the ways the Lord is using me.

I just got a phone call. From a telemarketer! Ugh. But I made a promise to the Lord a while back that I would try to WITNESS TO ANY TELEMARKETER who called me. Rather than hang up on them or push “delete” when your phone tells you “Possible Spam!”, why not share a bit of the gospel with them? Here’s how the conversation went a couple of minutes ago:

Me: “Hello?”

Telemarketer: “Mr. Dixon? My name’s Brian and I’m from the Auto Warranty Center. How are you?”

Me: “I’m fine, Brian. You?”

Telemarketer: “I’m fine. But it’s awfully hot here in California.”

Me: “We’re getting a lot of rain here in South Carolina. Say, Brian, this could be your most important phone call of the day.”

Telemarketer: “Really? Uh, why?”

Me: “Well, I understand how hard it is to do telemarketing. But I’m not really interested in what you’re selling. Can I tell you about a promise I made to the Lord a while back?”

Telemarketer: (moment of awkward silence) “Uh, sure.”

Me: “Brian, I promised the Lord I would ask any telemarketer that called me if they knew what the gospel is. Do you know what the gospel is?”

Telemarketer: “I WORSHIP SATAN!”

Me: “Really? Why?”

Telemarketer: “Why do YOU worship God?”

Brian then hung up. On me.

Please pray for me — that I would be wise in speaking with telemarketers and that the Lord would work in the hearts of those who call us. Thank you!

 

Some Details about My Ministry (Part 15)

Friends:

It is such a privilege to know the Lord (by His grace) and to be serving Him. I thought it might be useful to take a few posts to share with you some of the ways the Lord is using me.

I think a great — and needed — ministry in today’s world is A GODLY MARRIAGE! Linda and I have been married over 50 years and long for other couples to experience the Lord’s grace in life together.

Whenever someone asks me, “What’s the secret of such a long marriage?”, I say, “It takes three!” “Three?!”, they ask, perhaps thinking that we are Mormons. “Yes, three! The Lord right in the middle!” Our marriages ought to be ministries! Our world desperately needs to see the difference Christ makes in this most fundamental human relationship ordained by God. Linda and I celebrated our 50th last year by visiting the Grand Canyon. We had a blast. You need to know that I didn’t stand too close to the edge. There may be some things I’ve not properly apologized for!

Please pray for us — that we would reflect the love of Christ for His church in our marriage. Thank you!

 

Some Details about My Ministry (Part 14)

Friends:

It is such a privilege to know the Lord (by His grace) and to be serving Him. I thought it might be useful to take a few posts to share with you some of the ways the Lord is using me.

I have thoroughly enjoyed WRITING THIS BLOG for the last ten years or so! I’ve published over 3000 posts on this blog and have found it to be such a great outlet for my thinking about theology and the Scriptures and . . . . life! I encourage aspiring writers to start a WordPress blog (you can do it for free!) and to start posting their work!

I’ve received a lot of positive comments from my readers. But I’ve also engaged with a few people who hate Christianity and everything I stand for! You can read some of their comments (if you wish).

I really want the Lord to use the posts that I write. I want the reader to be encouraged and challenged by God’s Word, to become a more contagious, joyful follower of Jesus, and to grow in biblical theology.

Please pray for me — for guidance in what I post, for grace with those who might challenge my thoughts, for being a positive influence for the gospel. Thank you!

 

Some Details about My Ministry (Part 13)

Friends:

It is such a privilege to know the Lord (by His grace) and to be serving Him. I thought it might be useful to take a few posts to share with you some of the ways the Lord is using me.

One ministry that I find at times joyful and at other times grievous is CHECKING UP ON FRIENDS. I’m sure you do this as well, but it takes time and thought to send that email or text and ask, “How are you doing in the Lord?”

Occasionally there is good news. But I’ve found recently that there’s a lot of bad news out there too. And, before you know it, you are having to “speak the truth in love.” And some will unfriend you on Facebook or not return your calls.

I’m made the mistake of assuming things were going well with two couples — and one church. And I was wrong on all three. The two couples have divorced and the church is in serious decline. Should have I touched base with those friends a lot earlier than I did? Absolutely! But we get busy, don’t we? To whom should you send an email or a text to ask about their walk with the Lord? Don’t put it off. Do it now.

Please pray for me — for wisdom in following up those who haven’t unfriended me. And for prayerful intercession for those who have. Thank you!

 

Some Details about My Ministry (Part 12)

Friends:

It is such a privilege to know the Lord (by His grace) and to be serving Him. I thought it might be useful to take a few posts to share with you some of the ways the Lord is using me.

I pray you understand my motive in sharing these “ministries” I’m involved in. I praise the Lord for using me — and I’d love to hear about the work He’s doing in your life!

Sometimes I get to do some CONFERENCE MINISTRY. I had a great time preaching on “Family Values” last May at Camp Elim in Colorado. I’ll be speaking on the topic “Who Sez? Authority and the Believer in Jesus” for Northgate Bible Chapel in Rochester, New York. This will be their annual church retreat at Camp Li-Lo-Li.

Just so you know, friends: I would love to come to your church or chapel to do a weekend seminar on the topic of friendship evangelism, using my book Unlike Jesus: Let’s Stop Unfriending the World. Please pray for my conference ministry — and for new opportunities to serve God’s people. Thanks!