By Dr. Francis Akin-John

Your ministry must be pro-ductive, proven, pure and positive. Your ministry must lead to trans-formations. Tranformations of lives, homes, destinies, communi-ties and cities are the hallmark of effective ministries. Make sure you receive your mandate from God, not from men, circumstances and wrong motives.

4. Message of the Effective Minister (Ephesians 4:15; II Timothy 4:2; II Corinthians 13:8.)

There can be no message without a messenger. Every good messen-ger must have a clear message from the Lord. II Samuel 18:19-30. Don’t run without a clear message from the Lord. Every able minister must run with the true message of the gospel. No matter what we preach, it must revolve around the truth of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts. 1:1

Live the truth of the gospel

Stand in truth of the gospel

Stand for truth of the gospel

Defend the truth of the gospel

Preach a balanced, scriptural, doctrinally sound and relevant gospel of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Don’t preach only one-line-of truth, but a whole-some gospel. You may start on one line of truth, but grow to preach the whole truth of God’s word. You may start with faith, finances and grace, but balanced it with godliness, faithfulness and purity as time goes by. Ministers with only one line of truth don’t usually last long. It’s either they move into error or they are ruined by scandals. II TImothy 2:15-19. God will confirm His word, not your theories. Mark 16:20.

5. The Magnet of the Effective Minister Ecc.9:8; Acts.10:38; Ps. 92:10; Joshua 3:7.

Every effective minister must have magnet in their lives. This speaks of the presence and power of the Lord in your life. The anointing of the Holy Spirit that draws people into your life and ministry. The Charisma of God that produce results. The work-ings of the Lord in you and through you that produce un-mistakable and undeniable results. Acts. 2:22. This magnet will be the seal of God’s approval over your life and ministry.

Check the following:

The supernatural power of God must flow through you.

It is the working of God in you that will attract men and money

It is the results you produce that will hasten your credibility.

An effective minister must key into God’s power through fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit, fast-ings, prayers, holy living and de-dication to God, so as to be true channel of His unlimited power. Matthew 17:21; Romans 8:26.

6. Mentality of the Effective Minister Hebrew 11:6; Luke 1:37; Romans 4:17-21.

Effective ministers must be men and women of possibility thinking faith. They must have positive outlook. They must possess the mentality that nothing is imposs-ible with God. They must reject negative mindset of doubt, fear, worry, anxiety and unbelief.

Acts 27:22-25.

Positive mentality and mindset results in strong faith that:

1. Sees the invisible
2. Rejects the contrary words of men
3. Refuses to walk by sight
4. Hopes in the love and faithfulness of God
5. Believes that today’s problem will lead to future praise
6. Confess his victory over satan and circumstances
7. Sees God as greater than his situations.

An effective minister maintain positive outlook in a negative world. To an effective minister, faith must drive out fear, lest fear drive out faith from the heart. Faith in God, the word of God, faithfulness, goodness and love of God is strong in the heart of an effective minister.

7. The Maturity of the Effective Minister. James 3:17; I Corinth-ians 13; Galatians 5:22-26

No one can truly be an effective minister without displaying high degree of maturity in his life and ministry. Maturity doesn’t answer to age, experience, class, status or position. It answer only to person-al growth and development.

Maturity is the ability to do what is right, irrespective of how you feel. It is having the right attitude, mature in human relations and displaying heavenly wisdom. It manifests as fruits of the Spirit, Christ-like character, being de-pendable, steadfast, responsible and consistency. Heb. 14; I Cor. 14:20.

Maturity means:You are free from childishness and babyhood

Freedom from pettiness and narrowmindedness

Carnality, frivolity and unserious-ness are gone

Having the ability to face and solve problems

Possessing a large heart and deep understanding

Self-control,emotionally stable and trustworthy

Knowledgeable, broadminded and accomodating.

Maturing effective ministers do not have ‘destination disease’- the feeling of having ‘arrived’ and no more, rather, they keep learning, improving, preparing and build-ing strong character everyday. Maturing ministers embark on life-long journey of personal growth and development. Your maturity and depth will be that of your ministry.

8. The Morality of the Effective Minister I Corinthians 6:9-18; Matthew 5:28; Proverbs 6:25.