Internet Pastor Online | Ministry of Encouragement

An Update to the Encouragement Equation

stephenlawes — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:00:05 +0000

Four or five weeks ago I developed a new science I called Encourageomics. As the basis for this new study I came up with what I called the Encouragement Equation which was U + 2PE = 3PE. This equation stated that when U (you) encourage two people (2PE) that three people are encouraged (3PE) because when you encourage others, God will encourage you. While God was certainly implied in this equation, He was not specifically stated and so I have decided that the original Encouragement Equation needs to be amended. You see, it is extremely important that you always keep God in the equation. Adding God appropriately into the encouragement equation took some thought. You just can’t add God in on the same level with U or PE. After much thought, I determined to adjust the equation to look like this:

In this equation, when U (you) with the power of God, (demonstrated as G in exponential form, because God’s power is exponential) encourage two people (2PE) then three people are encouraged (3PE). This equation seems to demonstrate the Ministry of Encouragement very well and I encourage you to incorporate it into your life.

An Encouragement Equation Update from Steve Lawes on Vimeo.

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Have You Encouraged Two People Today

stephenlawes — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:29:58 +0000

The series on The Ministry of Encouragement continues on the Preaching in Shorts site. We want to encourage you to go and check out the series so that you can Become a minister of Encouragement. We also want to remind you of the foundational things that you need to be dong every day to get your own ministry of encouragement established. The first of these foundations that you need to establish in your life is being thankful. You will not be able to be an effective encourager unless you are a grateful person. To help you do this, we encourage you to start every day by being thankful for at least five things. This is an important habit to develop in your life as it will have a significant impact on your perspective throughout the day. As with any new habit, it takes time to develop. To help develop this habit, we suggest you tape an index card to your bathroom mirror that reminds you to be thankful. Here is a little video that might also help:

Once you get being thankful established you can do everything good. With that in mind, the next foundation to get established in the ministry of Encouragement is to encourage at least two people a day. You may want to put another note on the bathroom mirror that says, “Have you encouraged two people to day”? If the answer is no, then you better go get on Facebook or do a little Tweeting and get those people encouraged. Remember that when you encourage two people, three people are encouraged. Our hope and prayer is that people all over the world will see and recognize the importance of being a minister of encouragement and that we can establish a powerful ministry of encouragement around the world to advance the Kingdom of God.

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The Encouragement Equation

stephenlawes — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:52:29 +0000

As the Ministry of Encouragement teaching continues on the Preaching in Shorts website, a new encouragement equation has been developed. This equation “U + 2PE = 3PE” is the foundation for a new science called encourageomics. The equation states that if you(U) encourage two people every day (2PE) then three people end up being encouraged (3PE). How does it work? The underlying Biblical principal for this equation is found in Luke 6:38:

Luke 6:38 (NIV)
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

When you encourage people, God will encourage you! If you haven’t been watching or listening to the Ministry of Encouragement series on Preaching in Shorts, then we encourage you to go and watch or listen to them today. And remember, start every day by thinking about five things you are thankful for, and encourage at least two people a day!

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By Encouraging Two People, Three People are Encouraged

stephenlawes — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:04:56 +0000

The Ministry of Encouragement teaching series is now underway on the Preaching in Shorts website. You can watch or listen to the series by going to the Preaching in Shorts site and clicking on the Preaching in Shorts Sermons tab at the the top right of the home page. This will bring up the links for the messages. The goal behind this series is to get people actively involved in the ministry of encouragement.

How about you? Are you ready to become a minister of encouragement? Are you ready to impact the world for the Kingdom of God? Are you willing to be salt and light to a world filled with fear? If you are ready, willing, and able then get started today. Check out the teaching series on the ministry of encouragement and then look for two people to encourage every day. Not only will they be encouraged, you will be as well. So by encouraging two people, three people are encouraged.

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The Ministry of Encouragement Series has Started

stephenlawes — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:06:48 +0000

The Ministry of Encouragement preaching/teaching series has started and we invite you to check it out. Our hope here is that everyone who desires to become a minister of encouragement will take some time to watch or listen to the series. You can find the messages on the Preaching in Shorts site (www.preachinginshorts.com) or you can click on this link: Ministry of Encouragement Part 1. Part 1 is an introduction to the series and deals with the question, “why is the Ministry of Encouragement important”?. During the message you are asked to do two things. One of them is to begin to memorize Hebrews 10:19-25:

Hebrews 10:19-25 (New International Version)
19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The suggestion is to learn these verses by memorizing one verse at a time during the course of the series. For this first week you should memorize Hebrews 10:19:

Hebrews 10:19 (New International Version)
19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,

The other thing is to take a quiz to see how prepared you are for the Ministry of Encouragement. We will reproduce the quiz for you here but encourage you to go and watch or listen to the message as well.

How Prepared are You for the Ministry of Encouragement?

1. Do I speak more words of encouragement than I do of criticism, complaint or correction? Y / N

Be honest with yourself. What is the ratio?

2. Are people more cheerful when they are around me? Y / N

Do people like to be around you or do you actually draw all the air out of the room?

3. Would my family consider me to be an encouraging person? Y / N

This is where you would go to see if your answer to number one is correct.

4. Do I apologize to people after I have been negative or discouraging or complaining? Y / N

When you realize you have fallen into the grumpy trap, do you go and make it right?

5. Have I been diligent in encouraging people I am regularly in contact with? Y / N

People at work, people in church, Winn Dixie cashiers.

6. Do I pass along good news and let gossip stop with me? Y / N

Or do you do the opposite? Good News stops with you, but gossip flows like a river.

7. Is my conversation with friends generally building up other people? Y / N

Are you bonding illegitimately by judging other people with other people?

8. Have I recognized how encouraging God is to others as well as to me? Y / N

Or am I in the trap of the grumpy 24 hour a day bad news cycle?

9. Does my impatience/anger/selfishness get in the way of encouraging other people? Y / N

Is it all about me and what I want?

10. Am I patient in spending time with and listening to God so He can encourage my heart? Y / N

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Encouragement is a Ministry for Everyone

stephenlawes — Tue, 25 May 2010 00:09:49 +0000

One of the things that makes The Ministry of Encouragement so exciting is that everyone can be involved. Unlike some ministries that require a certain set of gifts and talents, everyone can be a minister of encouragement. These verses clearly lay out your qualifications for the Ministry of Encouragement:

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (My Paraphrase)
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all encouragement, 4who encourages us in all our troubles, so that we can encourage those in any trouble with the encouragement we ourselves have received from God.

God has encouraged us so that we can encourage others. Since we have all been encouraged by Him, we can all be Ministers of Encouragement. Start today by thinking about five things you are thankful for (this will help you to get the right perspective), and then ask God to help you think of two people who you can encourage. Then go and do it. If you are still stuck, maybe a little humor will help you get started. Check out the video below:

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An Encouraging Video

stephenlawes — Thu, 13 May 2010 23:45:30 +0000

This video was taken during our Easter baptism at Bahia Honda in April, 2010. I would encourage you to watch it because I believe you will find it extremely encouraging. Twenty three people are baptized, some by themselves, some as couples, a mother and daughter, a father and son. Each time I watch it I am blessed and reminded of the goodness of God in our lives. Take the four minutes and give the video a viewing.

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Laying the Foundation for the Ministry of Encouragement

stephenlawes — Tue, 11 May 2010 20:25:03 +0000

For the the last month I have been talking about the importance of the Ministry of Encouragement. To get the ministry started I have been encouraging everyone to do two things;

Start every day off by thinking of five things you are thankful for

Encourage at least two people a day

These are two foundational pieces of getting involved in and having an impact in the ministry of encouragement. I am now working on putting together a teaching series that will set out the scriptural foundation and importance of the encouragement ministry. This ministry is vital to the health of the church and yet I believe it has been widely ignored and needs to restored as one of the most prominent ministries that the church can undertake. Everyone, regardless of their gifts and talents, can be involved in the ministry of encouragement. Read these verses from the book of Hebrews:

The writer of Hebrews puts the ministry of encouragement alongside our acceptance in Christ and the promise of eternal life with Him! My prayer is that we would all become ministers of encouragement to let people know the Good News of God’s amazing love for them.

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If You Don’t Have Something Good to Say

stephenlawes — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:12:43 +0000

If you don’t have something good to say, chances are you won’t have much impact in the Ministry of Encouragement. There is a short post and video on A Jesus Moment called Telling it Like it Could Be that you might want to read and watch. The article suggests that there is something better than just telling it like it is, which is telling it like it could be. This is important in The Ministry of Encouragement. We need to be speaking words that build people up, that encourage them to persevere and to press on. So often, we have used our words for negative reasons and hurt people rather than bless them. We have used sarcasm to say things that really don’t need to be said. We have offered criticism where none was requested. There is so much power in our words. Let’s make the decision to speak words of life and blessing and not words of death and destruction. Always speak the truth, but speak it in love.

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Living in a Grumpy World

stephenlawes — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:06:43 +0000

Being discouraged is paralyzing. It causes us to be consumed with worry and become completely self-focused. There is no life in discouragement. Discouragement is a life-draining force that makes us want to give up or give in to the things that we turn to for comfort.

Rather than giving in to our normal comfort places when we are discouraged, which never work anyway, we need to turn to God. Tell Him how you are feeling and then, ask Him to help you change your perspective. Start by making yourself think of some things that you are thankful for and then, in order to get the focus off of you, go and encourage someone else. This will help you as much as it blesses the person you encourage and the world will seem like a less grumpy place.

We pray that you will join with us in “The Ministry of Encouragement” and that you would get started today! Sign up below for the free email subscription so that we know you are partnering with us on Internet Pastor Online to encourage the world for the glory of God!

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