Video Transcript: Spiritual Growth

So the agenda here really focuses first on being equally yoked and go through the agenda. It here says a couple of things is, know that your client, he or she may themselves not be that walking with God. So you may be in a position where, as a minister, you are going to lead them in a more biblical mindset. 

And they may be a work in progress. For instance, as a minister, we would want people to wait for sexuality until they're married hot monogamy. But it may be that you're ministering to someone, and they're not there yet, well, spiritually, this is the place they can go get to that place. So the spiritual piece of a minister is crucial here, a matchmaking minister is to have a great discussion and get a pulse of where your client is. 

Now, this is really important, because you could take someone who's on the margin, even walking with the Lord, and you think to yourself, you know, this person, definitely would not wait until they're married to have sex. And but then you are giving them all of the tools to look like this dedicated Christian, who then finds a pure man or woman, and because they're with a minister, and there's all that edification, and and then what they really do is bring frustration to the person they're meeting. 

That is not right. In my opinion, as a minister, you're not only ministering to the person, who is your client, you're ministering to the person, they might find, they might connect, to they might date or they might court. This is not in ministry. We don't like attorneys represent clients in the same way. We don't say to ourselves, I am going to help my client, find a great Christian man or woman, come what may know, we're going to serve our client in a Christian worldview, to help them grow in their discipleship in their walk with God. 

And that's very important, and they want to find a spouse, and we want to help them and we will help them they're going to try to find a spouse, without us if we reject them, we won't reject them. But what we will do is, be honest, we're going to see things from a biblical perspective, honest perspective, and an equally yoked perspective. It may be that things are not going to be so perfect in terms of some of the worldview issues. 

And matchmaking and ministry is like that. I mean, it's a lot of people want to be just so perfect. And sometimes there's a discipleship path. Now, as a minister, if someone is just total phony baloney, and they are not Christian at all. I say go find a matchmaker somewhere else. But if they are sincere Christian, me with a growing I will look at where they're at, and then see who they're looking for. And I care about who they're looking for. I want God to be glorified in God, they have a plan, and maybe through your work as a minister, God will bring two people who are sort of at the same place together so you can help them. 

Now notice in this discussion, is feel feels a little awkward. It feels a little bit like a gray area. I'm comfortable with that. Because I'm most comfortable about serving people to walk with the Lord. And to nudge even in some of your clients who are sort of not sure who they are yet, but they're definitely moving to Jesus Christ to, to say, have you thought about 100%? Monogamy, questions like that, based upon a spiritual growth, a spiritual journey. So that's why you'll do a little Bible study, I mean, equally yoked. 

There's a prayer, you'll explore, explore spiritual beliefs, you know, do you believe in God? What do you believe about God? What do you believe about? Love? What do you believe about marriage? What do you believe about sex? How important is a relationship with God? Do any future relationship?Is there a specific denomination or fellowship required are their beliefs such as things as infant or believer baptism? That is like a some deal stopper to you. 

These are all spiritual issues. But in the end, what you're looking for is someone who will surrender. So in this session, go through the liturgy, go through the suggested agenda, in my opinion, and talk about why these issues, and then come at it, though, from a minister perspective, how can you encourage your client to glorify God in this process? I would love to just say to you all, that here are the five principles here. And if someone doesn't adhere to as black and white, but know that every one is on a discipleship journey. And when someone comes to you, as a minister, you find where they are, can bring them where God has them, as you set seeds of the kingdom.

Now, I will tell you that I have worked with people who are not serving the Lord name in a whiteness or Lord and just want to get in bed with a pretty girl, who's a Christian. I stopped that, in my opinion, than I am there to say, You know what, you're with a matchmaking minister here. And I will not help you find a way I'm not going to give you credibility for the Christian market. But on the other hand, if I see a sincere, honest person that God is changing, and things are growing, I will help while encouraging them to glorify God in this journey of courtship.