Watchout For WOLVES: Keys To Discerning Authentic Ministries & Evaluating Doctrinal Trends

• Servants of the New Covenant (2 Cor. 3:6).

• Servants of the people of God (1 Cor. 3:5; 9:19).

Most leaders start out with this understanding of ministry, but if we do not guard our hearts, it is easy to lose that perspective. There are a number of things that will cause us to lose a servant’s heart. It is easy to lose a servant’s heart. It is easy… ❖ When people murmur and complain even after you have given yourself sacrificially to them. ❖ When you begin to believe that you have paid your dues, you have sacrificed enough and now you owe it to yourself. ❖ When you are hurt by those who you are trying to help. ❖ When you focus on the material success of others who are serving their own interests…and seem to be getting away with it. ❖ When you start listening to the humanistic lie that the best thing you can do for others is to do what is good for you. Paul, the apostle, realized that all of our ministry life is an offering to God and that our mission is to serve others by lifting them up and releasing them into their place of function. With that understanding it was easy for him to die to himself daily, take up the towel and wash the feet of those given into his hands.

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all… 1 Corinthians 9:19a

Exalting the Word of God

A big part of keeping ourselves pure is placing a high priority on the Word of God in our lives and in our ministries. In other words, we place the word of God above prophecies,

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