The David Guinn

For several years in my ministry, I often said: ” I have enough faith in God, and my abilities, to see me through tough times. I have several skills that are in demand in the business, as well as, the church world, so I am not worried.”  That, dear friends, is a foolish statement.  I have learned in the past two years, that faith in myself is ill placed.  The only faith, is faith in God.   He has seen me through financial hardships and decisions I am absolutely not able to handle alone. I have listed some things that will see me through to the end. (notice I am not one of them)

These are the things I hold dear and truly believe:

1.  I am completely, absolutely, unashamedly, sold out to an abundant prayer life.  During the hard times, I found myself seeking advise from many well known church leaders, business leaders, and friends, but not going to the source of all knowledge and wisdom – God! So, instead of moving forward, I found myself moving backward.  However, as I look back, I see the hand of God moving in my season of trails and mistakes.  His faith in me was much stronger than my faith in Him.

2.       Having experienced a brokenness, that very nearly cost me my home and family, after living a charmed life where it seemed everything came easily to me, it has become painfully aware, that most churches and ministries do not have an advance plan to restore the fallen. This is not just true for church leaders – most churches have no plan in place to reclaim that guy who used to be on the board or in the choir who has an affair or that woman who comes clean about her embezzlement. The vast majority of those people leave the church without any resources, help or encouragement to find help. As I struggled through what seemed like season after season of financial hardships with no employment,I felt ashamed, and found it more and more difficult to seek help.  I had spent most of my  life helping others, and now that I needed help, my embarrassment and pride would not allow me to ask. The feelings of aloneness, anxiety and uselessness can be overwhelming.  I can help with resources, networking, documentation, and experience. I know from experience what works and what doesn’t.  Talk to me before you need it on this one. I promise you it will be easier that way. Jesus came to heal and restore. In this season of uncertainty, It should be a part of the ministry in every local church.

3.  There is nothing to compare to the joy of seeing the Kingdom of God advanced through the collaborative effort of His people. There is no doubt that Christian leadership and influence are the most important tools we have to use in the attack on the enemy. The lack of leadership in crucial ministry areas is a result of living in the urgent instead of the important. There is much talk and much great teaching on leadership these days but little practical coaching on building leadership development and capacity building into your day-to-day schedule. If you or someone on your staff has need in that area, I would love to explore how I can help you.

4.  The Church of the New Testament is at WAR!  We need look no farther than Daniel 10:13 to see how powerful the minions of Satan are.  That they are able to hold back a messenger from God shows us how much power they have.  That is why the Apostle Paul warned the Ephesian church to put on the whole armor of God, because “our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against… the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.”  The same demon that withheld God’s angel is still in power in Persia (Iran) and that part of the world.  Our battle is not against Governments or Leaders, our battle is against Satan, and our weapon is Prayer. We spend too much energy on fighting people, many times our own, and not enough on the true enemy.