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| An Apollos moment |
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3:5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
Who was Apollos? A faithful worker for the Lord, who may have rarely seen the end product of his efforts at ministry. But he worked faithfully, trusting that God would use his efforts to bring about fruit for the Kingdom.
Tonight our family went to a baptism service, actually the first time I've ever been to a church service devoted specifically to baptism. It was a beautiful experience, my expectations for a spiritually invigorating time were fully met, if not exceeded.
One of the three folks making their public confession and getting baptized is actually very special to me. Our pastor recounted how this fellow came to trust Jesus for his salvation. How he came to know our pastor through dropping off and picking up his daughter from youth group, how they had lunch together and he probed Christianity deeper, then how he began kicking the tires of Christianity by praying on his own and coming to church. In the end, largely as a result of our pastor's efforts, the man surrendered his life to Christ!
But before the lunches, before the youth group encounters, before even meeting our pastor, this man met me. I believe that I actually had the pleasure of being the first from our church to reach out to the man as he stood off by himself waiting for his daughter, after our "pre-youth group" meetings 2+ years ago. I don't know who planted the seed by inviting her to church, but I definitely watered the seed. I was Apollos!
There was no recognition tonight, probably not even any remembrance in his mind of anything significant taking place back then. But I remember. And now I have had the great joy of being present tonight to witness this life changing event. Apollos, and most like him, never get to see the fruit of their labor. But tonight God gave me an unimaginably great blessing! I hope that all of the Apollos' who read this will be so blessed, and encouraged to continue in your life changing labors! |
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| To add a comment to "An Apollos moment" |
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| September 30, 2007 |
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| Hey as someone who kicked the tires for a long time I apreciate all the waterers. and hope to be one soon. OK that's the second blog I read this weekend that made me tear up. I may have a heart afterall. |
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| September 30, 2007 |
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Oh you have a heart Dave. Trust me, you have a heart. ~mike |
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| September 30, 2007 |
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I stay up at night wondering what it was like for Paul and company.
Thanks |
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| September 30, 2007 |
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| nice post |
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| September 30, 2007 |
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| thanks Mandie!! |
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| September 30, 2007 |
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| Great blog mike. I mentioned on another blog a few days ago something I learned in a ministry training course called "Share Jesus Without Fear". There was a statistic in there that said the average person is witnessed to 7.5 times before they accept Christ. This blog made me think about that again. We dont' never know whether we are peson #1 (the planter of the seed) or persons 2 - 7 (waterers). What a priviledge though to see your harvest. God bless ya man. |
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| September 30, 2007 |
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| Thanks Mullet and Pastor Tim, you guys are awesome! Wow Mullet. What kind of ministry training was that? Sounds interesting. ~mike |
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| September 30, 2007 |
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| Thanks for sharing this blessing with us Mike. Sometimes it is tough to "keep on keeping on"....and not see the fruit but testimonies like this brings it all back into focus..... |
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| September 30, 2007 |
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"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow......"
Paul did appreciate and recognize the work of Apollos, his co-worker. What happens nowadays? A popular minister appearing on the Television or on the pulpit of a mega-church or on the dias of a big evangelical crusade does not appreciate and recognize the work of the numerous co-workers who work with the former. In fact, if these co-workers had not been there, the popular minister concerned would not have planted the seed. It is a team work. Though Paul claimed, I planted the seed", yet he did mention "Apollos watered it".
Under the New Covenant, the old testament levitical priesthood is no longer there. The priesthood has gone to the whole Body of Christ, and not to the select group of ministers like apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, etc. May the Lord raise up many Apollos who silently water the seeds in our churches by way of their tears. It is easy to plant a seed but to pray unceasingly with tears to water the seed planted is a difficult task indeed! |
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| October 01, 2007 |
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Mike,
I may not know where you are, but one thing I can say, I know who you are. You are truly a child of the Most High God. You were blessed with an "Apollos" moment. Let me say this, as long as you continue to write the way you do.... and share in the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I pray that the Lord will grant you many more precious "moments."
Pastor Aminata |
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| October 01, 2007 |
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melxjoe, hang in there and persevere in the hard work you do, I pray that joy and satisfaction will be your immediate reward from the Lord, as well as your own Apollos moments! Perhaps in such cases you'll be even more than just "the waterer". :-)
Job, wow, well put. And conclusion was poetic and beautiful. Thanks for posting here!
Pastor Aminata, thank you. Both you and Pastor Ken are the epitome of Apollos too, as you seek to establish your internet ministry. Thank you for your work! ...and for the lovely compliment! |
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| October 01, 2007 |
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Great post. May we all be of Apollos... at least in that way!
www.sharejesuswithoutfear.com/ http://www.prayingforyou.org/
The first link I think may be BillyRay's course.
The second link was a witnessing training course that I went through. It's a relational witnessing tool that boils down to asking people if you can pray for them. It's a great course. Check it out.
A lot of it is online.... May the Lord bless ya all real good! |
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| October 01, 2007 |
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| Thanks Hal!! |
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| October 01, 2007 |
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| Here's the website. It's a really good course for small groups. Click Here |
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| October 01, 2007 |
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Hi Mike,
It never ceases to amaze me how gracious our God is...He gives us each moments to spur us on to serve and follow Him. We don't always see the fruit of our labour but when we get that glimps, it spurs us to praise God all over again.
So I'll praise Him with you now!
peace
glenn |
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| October 02, 2007 |
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Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. I just read that this morning. Apollos ROX! What a hero to follow and model yourself after!
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| October 05, 2007 |
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Thanks for the link Mullet!!
Glenn, amen! our God is both infinitely HUGE, filling the entire heavens, and yet he's able to squeeze into the tiniest crannies of our lives, reaching into our most intimate moments. I love the personal gifts he gives, the ones, he knows I (and only I) will appreciate. He knows me so well!! Great is the Lord, and most worthy to be praised!!
For, those who don't know Eric (above), he clearly identifies with Apollos. Especially the part about "vigorously refuting in the public debate"! (lol) Love ya man! :-) |
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| October 06, 2007 |
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| hmmm..... wonder why you are still at the church, Mike |
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| October 07, 2007 |
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Hi Joey,
We can't all be Pauls. In the case written of above, I was just exercising one of my spiritual gifts (gab?) and God apparently used it to start a change of events leading to one's salvation. It was glorious to see the final outcome! I assume by your question you wonder why I wasn't recognized? |
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| October 07, 2007 |
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No my mind went back to your previous blog... and then to this one. Isn't God just grand? |
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| October 07, 2007 |
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Yes He is!
(in my previous post I meant "series of events" rather than "change of events") |
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