Shortly after launching the MinTools.com site in 1999, I decided to provide a few holiday links which was so well received, based on site statistics, that I knew it was a service MinTools.com needed to provide.  What started as one page is now up  to 12 pages filled with holidays and seasonal ministry resources.

As you plan for the upcoming holidays, perhaps these pages will be of benefit to you.  You will find resources for children, youth and adults on most of the pages.

Also look for the free monthly youth activity to provide you with one extra idea for your youth group in each given month celebrating a holiday or emphasis in that month.  I had developed these special monthly meetings for a youth group I led and the students really seemed to like them.  I pray they will be meaningful to your youth ministry as well. 

In an article on the MinTools.com site called How will studying the character of God help my ministry? you will find the following list of benefits with scriptural support.  Studying the character of God provides: 

• a base for decisions
• a standard to keep on course
• a compass for morality
• a means to a life worth living
• a means of bolstering confident living
• a source of comfort and hope in times of trouble
• a path to intimacy with God

To this end, a couple years ago I developed a devotional guide called The Ministry Worker’s Devotional: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God which is now available  in both book and downloadable formats.  It looks at different characteristics of God in light of how these attributes affect our ministry when we view them as ministry resources.  The intent is that we are spurred on to greater dependence on the One who has the power to give us “everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him” (2 Pet. 1:3).

Even searching the web through iSearchiGive.com means a penny or more toward our ministry.  While a penny doesn’t sound like much, it adds up as each person does their part.

Anything you can do to help keep this ministry online, equipping believers around the world, would be greatly appreciated.

If you are already on Twitter, we invite you to follow us.  If not, it is free and easy to create an account.  When you follow MinTools.com on Twitter, every time we post a new message it will appear on your Twitter home page.

These newsletters have multiple purposes:

1. They provide an update of new material on the site in both the online training and store.
2. They address a spiritual issue or ministry need relevant to believers in the Church.
3. They seek to encourage or challenge us to think about how well we are lining up with the character of God and principles from His Word, the Bible, in that area.

Please take time to read this month’s newsletter.  You can subscribe to it on that same page in the left navigation panel.  Please know that your e-mail address is used for no other purpose.

Generally you will find that  more recently published books will be a higher cost.  In that case, if the price seems close to the retail cost, I might buy a new book at Christianbook.com or Amazon.com and sometimes even Buy.com.  I do some comparison shopping, remembering to figure in shipping costs from the different sites.

Another way I save money is to sell used books on Amazon.com and Half.com and through the MinTools.com site.  When the book has served its purpose, rather than sit it on a shelf to collect dust I try to sell it.  God has also blessed this ministry with books donated by people I know to sell for extra ministry income.

So, that’s something I do to save money in today’s economy.  If we stop and think about what we do personally,  in our churches and ministries, there are undoubtedly many other ways to save.

Through all that investment into this book, the one idea that keeps coming back to me the most is “Watch to see where God is working and join Him” based on John 5:17, 19-20.

In an earlier post I wrote about how God used a 40 Day Challenge I developed to help a friend.  I’ve continued to see or learn of God working through that tool in the lives of many more people.

As the lesson from Experiencing God came to mind, I asked God what more He wanted me to do as it was obvious this was one of those situations where God was at work.  I soon knew that the next step for me was to prepare a discussion guide to go with the 40 Day Challenge.  I asked my prayer support team to be praying with me about its development and the result is that the Foundational Pillars of Truth for Maintaining a Healthy Perspective Discussion Guide is now available.

Having joined God in where He is working, I now look forward to seeing what He will do.  Your prayers would be appreciated.  Thanks.