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If you stopped by the Neighborhood Cafe after receiving the “Tip of the Week” newsletter from womensministry.net, then welcome! Do you have any tips for making technology work for you, not against you? Please visit womensministry.net to share them!

As a special gift to my “Tip of the Week” friends, please enter Promo Code “wm10″ at checkout to receive 10% off any order through May 31!

Click here to subscribe to the free, weekly e-newsletter from womensministry.net! I pray you’ll be blessed by the fantastic team at womensministry.net and the resources they provide.

If you stopped by the Neighborhood Cafe after receiving the “Tip of the Week” newsletter from womensministry.net, then welcome! I hope Part 2 of this series, ” God of this City,” equips and enables you to transform your city streets.

Click here to subscribe to the free, weekly e-newsletter from womensministry.net! I pray you’ll be blessed by the fantastic team at womensministry.net and the resources they provide, including God of This City (Part 1).

BONUS FOR womensministry.net readers: Enter the Promo Code wmnet at checkout to receive $10.00 off a Café Kit, which contains everything you need to share “Coffee, Conversation & Christ” with your neighbors in your home.

This article was originally published in the February 2, 2011 “Tip of the Week” newsletter from womensministry.net, a publication of Jennifer Rothschild Ministries.

I pondered a recent survey question on a Christian website: “Do you work in ministry?” Why, yes, I do – but perhaps not the way they meant. My paycheck comes from consulting with business owners. We apply Biblical principles to our relationships with employees and customers, and we work as if for the Lord (Col. 3:23). We pray with believing customers and we pray for nonbelievers. God has granted amazing opportunities for us to proclaim the name of Christ in our consulting company.

Monday Morning Ministry

And it seems we’re pretty typical. The women in your ministry spend 50 percent of their time at work, 45 percent at home and only 5 percent at church or church-related activities. The good news is that God’s design is completely, entirely, and wholly sacred—with no parts secular or separate.

The Hebrews used the same word “abad” for “work” and for “worship.” When our work becomes worship, we impact our communities for Christ, no matter who signs our paycheck or where we spend our time. Entire cities will be transformed when we apply this understanding to the seven areas of culture that shape the way a community thinks and behaves:

1. Arts & Entertainment
2. Business
3. Education
4. Family
5. Government
6. Media
7. Religion

Powerful Ministry

As a women’s ministry leader, you can speak a powerful blessing over the women you serve:

• Teach them how to be excellent in their area of interest.
• Release them into your city with a charge to take Christ with them wherever they go.
• Empower your women to take back your city by identifying the area where they have experience, expertise, opportunity or passion.
• Based on their first-hand knowledge and experience, identify the specific needs and opportunities for each area in your community.
• Form small group Bible studies, prayer circles, email chains, bulletin boards or Facebook groups for each area.
• Weave Biblical principles and powerful prayers into public policy and practical living, knowing the kingdom mindset will have social, economic, political and religious impact in the homes that line your streets.

We all work in ministry, regardless of our occupation. We aren’t ashamed of the Gospel when we clock in at work, and we shouldn’t be ashamed of our success in the so-called secular world when we walk into church. It’s all sacred.

BONUS: The DOWNLOAD: If God is For Us helps women identify specific prayer needs for each of the seven areas in their community. Consider forming prayer task forces for each area with women who share the same passion. As women pray for these needs, they should also consider sending encouraging notes to community leaders in those areas.

BONUS FOR womensministry.net readers: Enter the Promo Code wmnet at checkout to receive $10.00 off a Café Kit, which contains everything you need to share “Coffee, Conversation & Christ” with your neighbors in your home.

Click here to subscribe to the free, weekly e-newsletter from womensministry.net!

If you stopped by the Neighborhood Cafe after receiving the “Tip of the Week” newsletter from womensministry.net, then welcome! I hope today’s article, “God of this City,” gets you fired up to do something exciting in your community.

My relationship with Karen True, Executive Editor at womensministry.net, has been a God-thing from the start. Technology initially connected us as we used sterile contact forms and stilted emails to make introductions. A good old fashioned telephone conversation helped us discover common interests, and a friendship developed around our professional relationship. I am blessed to know her.

I pray that you, too, will be blessed by the fantastic team at womensministry.net and the resources they provide, including these additional articles:

Neighborhood Cafe: The Appointed Season by Amy Lively
February 6 started out as any other day. I sat on the yellow loveseat beside a picture window having my morning devotions. I’m sure it was a typical wintery day in central Ohio. While I don’t remember the exact weather, I will never forget . . . keep reading

Neighborhood Cafe: At your Table, In your House by Amy Lively
The women in your neighborhood are likely to spend five hours and 24 minutes each month following their Facebook friends. Facebook has replaced face-to-face, heart-to-heart conversations. We tweet instead of talk. Our electronic disconnect . . . keep reading

Titus 2 Style: Women’s Ministry that Works by Amy Lively
I recently invested in a new health and wellness plan that my friends had been raving over. I did pretty well the first couple of weeks, but when it became apparent I wasn’t going to drop a dress size before an upcoming dinner date, I let up . . . keep reading

Titus 2 Style: 10 Qualifications for Women in Ministry, Part 2 by Amy Lively
In the first article in this series, Amy Lively introduced us to the first ever women’s ministry and the apostle Paul’s guidelines for the making of a woman in leadership. This week, Amy continues with a list of qualities . . . keep reading

Titus 2 Style: 10 Qualifications for Women in Ministry, Part 1 by Amy Lively
“Girlfriend!” How many times have you made this desperate call? From the store fitting room or the hospital waiting room, a good, godly girlfriend is often the first one we call in a crisis–or in happier times, like when the last pair of clearance shoes is our . . . keep reading

Taking it to the Streets by Amy Lively
Have you ever taken dirty laundry to a Bible study? No, not the kind we air to our girlfriends when we’re having a bad day — the real ring-around-the-collar kind. The Women’s Ministry team at Chase Oaks Church in Plano, Texas is as likely . . . keep reading

Neighborhood Cafe: A Time for Everything by Amy Lively
In this series, I will share with you everything I learned about creating a home-based Bible study in my neighborhood. The Lord’s exciting successes and my utter failures will be laid open for you to copy or avoid. You will be able to print invitations to pass out in your own neighborhood . . . keep reading

Neighborhood Cafe: Fill your House by Amy Lively
You gotta love Lydia. A wife, mother, businesswoman and “worshipper of God,” she was hanging out with some girlfriends at the park when the Lord opened her heart. She responded, and became the first Christian on her street, in her city and even in all of Europe! Lydia’s faith impacted her entire . . . keep reading

Neighborhood Cafe: Who is Your Neighbor? by Amy Lively
I had lived on the corner of Rosewood and Longwood Drive for over seven years, yet many of the women who lived nearby were complete strangers to me. I didn’t know their joys or their pains, I had no one to call to borrow a cup of sugar . . . keep reading

This article was originally published in the January 19, 2011 “Tip of the Week” newsletter from womensministry.net, a publication of Jennifer Rothschild Ministries.

This week in my beloved little city, we buried a veteran and father of two young children who took his own life. In other news, the newspaper reported the arrest of a restaurant owner for selling drugs on the premises, an historic government building was condemned, schools discussed why heroin addiction in local teens is three times higher than the national average, and two high school football teams lost exciting state play-off games.  Not reported was a painful split at a local church.

Your city probably has its share of problems, too. So did Corinth and Ephesus. When the apostle Paul visited these bustling cities around AD 54, they were well known for extensive commerce, established government, elaborate theaters, pagan temples… and rampant immorality.

Paul didn’t hide out in the local church and invite people to come. In just two chapters in Acts, Paul proclaimed the kingdom of God in seven areas of culture that even today, influence and shape the way a community thinks and behaves:

1. Family Paul stayed with a family fleeing Roman persecution (18:2)
2. Business Paul worked a trade (18:3); there was uproar in the marketplace (19:24-27)
3. Religion Paul spoke in the synagogues (18:4-8, 19:1-8)
4. Government Paul was tried for crimes (18:12-17, 19:35-41)
5. Education He taught in the school (19:9)
6. Media Widespread reporting of miracles (19:17); a riot spread by word-of-mouth (19:32)
7. Arts and entertainment Magicians became believers (19:19)

A New Measure of Success

What would it look like if you measured the success of your ministry by the health of your community in these seven areas? Instead of counting heads at your spring luncheon, count how many women visit abortion clinics. Take a look at pornography sales, suicide rates, drug use, teen pregnancy, divorce, prison population, graduation rate, poverty level and unemployment – what difference is your ministry making in those areas?

If that seems overwhelming, dear friend, please take heart. These red-letter words of our Savoir jump out from the black text in the midst of our early church history:

“Keep it up, and don’t let anyone intimidate or silence you. No matter what happens, I’m with you and no one is going to be able to hurt you. You have no idea how many people I have on my side in this city.”

Acts 18:9-10 (MSG)

Let’s expand the definition of “kingdom” beyond our church walls and reclaim our cities for Christ. Jesus is still the “God of this City,” and He is on our side!

BONUS: We’ve provided a download, On Your Side, to help your women identify cultural areas where they have influence, experience, expertise, opportunity or passion.

Click here to subscribe to the free, weekly e-newsletter from womensministry.net and receive Part 2 of “God of this City” next week!