THE FOUNDER SPEAKS
(Article follows Biography)
Dana A. Holmes, Sr. is the Founder and Pastor of Full Gospel Word &
Worship Center, a rapidly growing church in Columbia, South Carolina and Beaufort, South Carolina - one church in two locations. He is
also a teacher of God's Word who teaches boldly, enthusiastically and in a practical way, so that anyone can understand it.
Born and raised in the city of New York, Pastor Holmes entered the ministry in 1973 as an evangelist under the late
Rev. Arturo Skinner and began his pastoral ministry in 1976. God has given Pastor Holmes a
tangible anointing of healing power and a special ministry to the sick. Throughout his many years of ministry, he has traveled
to many parts of the United States and the world to minister the Word and healing power of God to thousands!
by Pastor Dana A. Holmes
Is Your Ministry On TARGET With God?
Revelation 3:14-1714 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
What a startling revelation we see in the above passage of scripture of the sometimes contrasting view of men and of God concerning man's condition and status. In chapters two and three of the book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus Christ sent messages to the seven churches in Asia Minor, wherein He took notice of their status and reprimanded, encouraged, warned, and directed them according to their condition. However, there was one underlying theme in all of the messages: “I know thy works.” You can rest assured that the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, knows our works! He knows it all. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
2 Corinthians 5:9-109 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Not only are we going to give an account for what we have done in our physical bodies, but also for what we have done in the body of Christ.
We've already established the fact that He knows our works, but do we know our own works? Do we know that our works are accepted of Him? In other words, are our ministries on target with Him? By “on target” with Him, I mean on target with His holy written Word, His will, and His plan! By “His plan,” I mean His overall plan spelled out in His Word and His individual plan for the ministry to which you are called! Do you ever take the time to do self-examinations of your ministry, or do you assume that everything is alright? What is the criteria upon which you make the determination that your ministry is on target with Him? I believe, based on observation that many ministers determine that their ministries are on target with God based on the “success” of their ministries. By “success,” I mean accomplishments! Don't get me wrong. I certainly believe that we should have accomplishments in the ministry. If not, we're simply wasting time. However, accomplishments in and of themselves are not an indication that we're on target with God. If your accomplishments were not according to His will for you, they have been done in vain. We may set ministerial goals for ourselves and accomplish them all, but that's not an indication that the goals themselves were in God's plan or will for our ministry. To illustrate this point, let's look at an example of this in Acts 16:6-7.
6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.
Let's pause here for a moment and examine these verses. First, we see that the Apostle Paul and his company were on a mission. While on this mission, they had plans to preach in Asia, but were forbidden by the Holy Ghost. Think about it for a moment. Generally speaking, God wanted both then and now for the gospel to be preached in all the world. Yet as for Paul's specific assignment, he would have been out of God's will to go preach in Asia at that time. Later they made an attempt to go to Bithynia (that was their goal). However, they were not permitted to go there either. Suppose Paul and his company had gone to those places contrary to God's will, preached the gospel, and got people saved? He would have been off target, and God would not have rewarded the works that he would have accomplished there. In fact, at the judgment seat of Christ, he would suffer loss of reward because that work would be burned (See 1Corinthians 3:10-15).
Second, he would have missed what God actually had planned for him. Let's pick up with Acts 16:8-10.
8 And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
You see, God wanted Paul in Macedonia. That was His will, but Paul would have missed God's will had he followed his own plan. It is scriptural and good to preach the gospel, as it may be good and scriptural to do other things in ministry. Yet, as we can see, you can do something good and even scriptural, and be off target. On the other hand, everything we do in ministry should be scriptural, or it can't be on target with God.
One thing that some ministers use to determine that they're on target with God is how large the crowds are that attend their services or churches. This seems especially true where some pastors are concerned. Some pastors size one another up and form opinions about one another based on how many members are in their churches. When you talk to some pastors, the first thing they want to know is how big your church is, or how big your congregation is, etc. In some cases, they're measuring you and themselves by you. 2 Corinthians 10:12 states, For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. You cannot determine whether or not you're on target with God by how you measure up to others. Further, if having a large crowd attending your services or your church means that you're on target with God, then some leaders of false religions are on target with God. In connection with the crowd issue, some ministers brag about how many services they have on Sunday as an indication of how well they're doing. If your church is growing to the degree that you have to have multiple services, praise God! I pray that God will help you and strengthen you. I also pray that He will help you get a larger facility so that you won't overwork yourself. The truth is, however, that some pastors don't want a larger facility because they enjoy bragging about how many services they “have to have.” Still others measure themselves by how much money they have or what possessions they have. None of these things are an indication, in and of themselves that your ministry is on target with God. Remember the Laodiceans? Their testimony was that:
- They were rich, so we know that they had no shortage of money.
- They were increased with good, so we know that they had no shortage of material things.
- They had need of nothing. There was nothing that they could think of that they needed.
This was their assessment of themselves. In their own minds and in the minds of others, they really had it going on. However, Jesus saw them quite differently than they saw themselves. In His view they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Jesus did not see them as wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked because they were rich, and increased with goods, and had need of nothing—but in spite of it. It seems that they may have been guilty of supposing that gain is godliness (1Timothy 6:5) or, perhaps, of trusting in uncertain riches, rather than the living God.
Again, when I say “on target” with Him, I mean on target with His holy written Word, His will, and His plan! In particular, His specific plan for the work that He has called you to do. A study of the messages Jesus sent to the seven churches in Asia Minor reveals areas that we need to examine ourselves in to help us be on target with Him. For instance, in spite of the work and all the wonderful things Jesus had to say about the Church to Ephesus, they were off target because they had left their first love (Jesus). (Revelation 2:1-4) Isn't that interesting? You can be so busy “doing ministry” that you can become sidetracked by it and your work become more important than the one you're suppose to be working with and for. We must always remember that the work we do is all about Him and not about us. Evidently, the Church of Ephesus was not even aware that their love for Jesus had waned. Has yours?
The Church at Pergamos had a few things wrong which caused them to be off target with God. They had doctrinal issues, which produced sinful behavior. (Revelation 2:14-15) The Church in Thyatira missed the mark by allowing someone not called of God to teach, and to seduce God's servants to commit fornication and to eat things offered to idols. The Church in Sardis had a reputation for being a live church, but in the sight of God, they were really dead, and their works were ready to die. Besides this, the work that they had done did not meet God's requirements or His approval! It behooves every one of us to examine ourselves in light of the Word of God and not to assume that all is well with our ministries, lest we be weighed in the balances, and be found wanting. (Daniel 5:27) I don't know about you, but I want to be on target with God. Imagine spending long years in ministry, only to find out at the judgment seat of Christ that much or all of it was in vain.
Maranatha!
The Late Rev. Arturo Skinner
