Reflections From a Life of Ministry

Jerry M. Paul, a graduate of Great Lakes Bible College, is the son of a preacher and has spent more than 68 years in the ministry. He and his partner in life and ministry, Patricia, have one son, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. His ministries and church plants in Michigan and Indiana have all been characterized by significant numerical growth and life impact. 

During his decades of faithful ministry, Jerry has also led many seminars on leadership, time management, change, church conflict, and prayer. He is the author of The Path to Productive Christian Living (as taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount) and has published numerous articles. He continues to lead seminars on prayer, as well as guiding preachers through ministry challenges. He teaches at Summit Theological Seminary and Summit School of Preaching, is a board member for White Fields World Missions (India), and supplies and does interim preaching. He served as President of Great Lakes Christian College from 1994 to 1999. He has been honored with special awards by his alma mater and is a 2012 recipient of the CRA Sword and Trowel award. 

Restoration Herald — Who are two or three people who significantly impacted your life spiritually? 

Jerry Paul — Lyle and Christina Paff. I spent many hours with this elderly couple in my first full-time ministry, sitting on a swing in their flower garden, receiving encouragement, guidance, and sometimes correction out of their life experience. When asked how she was, Christina always replied, “Can’t complain,” because she explained, “No matter what happens, God is always good and blesses me.” I never heard Lyle call Jesus anything other than “the Master,” and his life showed what it truly meant to make Jesus the Lord in one’s life. The Paffs helped me understand that people in the pew can be as great a blessing to your life personally and spiritually as any college professor or well-known preacher in the brotherhood. 

What is something you wish you had known about preaching/ministry when you began? 

How easy it is to get caught up in ‘American-style’ ministry/church activity that devours time and energy, often misdirecting the minister’s focus from truly foundational matters that are more important and outlive whatever the current church trend may be. 

What is the best ministry advice you ever received? 

It wasn’t direct advice to me personally, but I have remembered and been impacted greatly by a preacher’s statement made on his church’s weekly radio program. As I listened, I knew immediately his words would help guide me throughout my ministry. That preacher declared, “When I stand before the Lord, I do not want to hear Him ask, ‘Why did your church members and people of the world put more effort into making money and getting promotions than you did at serving Me and doing My will?’”  

Which description best fits your strength(s) in ministry? 

Self-evaluation of one’s own ministry is a humbling activity. So, based on comments made by church members and friends, my strengths appear to be preaching/teaching, evangelism, and administration … which may explain why I am drawn to, and enjoy participating in, each of these ministry activities.  

What makes you smile in ministry? 

After 68 years in ministry, I see and hear from people the evidence that God does work through your ministry to make a difference in people’s lives and for the good of the Kingdom. The real blessing does not come from the way your ministry shapes a congregation’s life and programming, because by the time two or three preachers follow your ministry, most of the things you think you accomplished in that church will be altered, ignored, or deliberately dropped. However, the testimonies coming from individuals, often many years later, about your impact on their lives always bring a thankful smile to my soul. 

What is your greatest regret as you look back over your ministry? 

Not following in a better way the example of the Apostles in their commitment to prayer and the Word (Acts 6:2-4). I would spend less time on ministry/church programing activities and more time in prayer and studying the Word of God; reading fewer man-written books about ministry and church life, and instead using that time with the Word to be focused more on my personal relationship with the great and holy God and less time on church programming and ‘preacher-task’ study for sermon/lesson preparation. 

Who are two or three preachers who have inspired or impressed you? 

Reggie Thomas: At a personal breakfast he shared with me when I was a 24-year-old preacher during a North American Christian Convention. Reggie challenged and helped me see the importance of deliberately and intentionally reaching out into the community to win people to the Lord. I was already a bit discouraged from the lack of interest in evangelism that I saw in churches and even among preachers. He helped me refocus on my own evangelistic efforts, reminding me that I was not responsible or accountable for the attitudes of other people about reaching the lost for Christ. 

Louis Detro: Upon accepting the presidency of Great Lakes Bible College, Louis summed up his entire approach to ministry in one sentence, which he put at the close of a letter to me as the GLBC Director of Public Relations: “With God as my partner, I pledge you my best.” In just nine months working with Louis before his tragic death in an auto accident, I saw that spirit at work in him in everything he did, and I experienced having that seed planted in my heart. 

What would you say is the most memorable and/or impactful sermon you have heard? 

“You Can Win Souls” by Reggie Thomas. I never heard him preach this message in person, but listened to it (and the flipside of the vinyl record, “How to Win Souls”) many times in my early ministry years. 

What would you say is a favorite Old Testament passage? 

Psalm 1, because it gives a complete description of the elements that produce a life blessed by God and pictures very well the results of both living by and living contrary to that description. 

How about a favorite New Testament passage? 

James 1:5, a 3x5 card with this text laid on my desk for years as a constant reminder that God promised He would equip me to deal wisely with whatever situation/issue/personality I was facing … if I trusted Him completely without wavering. Often, sometimes in an obvious way, God showed me that I could count on Him to keep that promise and guide me, my thinking, and my conversation in ways beyond what I considered possible. 

What do you love about the Restoration Movement? 

Its fundamental principles are based on basing everything on God’s Word and seeking to be the church described and pictured in the New Testament. 

In your opinion, what can be done to make the Restoration Movement stronger? 

Two steps would strengthen the impact of the RM:  

a) Address the divisions and divisive attitudes still present in our own brotherhood, giving meaning to our appeal for unity in the body of Christ. 

b) Go beyond the basic issues and practices we claim to have restored and restore three significant activities demonstrated in the New Testament church: intensive, deliberate, outreach evangelism; the predominance of prayer saturating all church life; and the generous and sacrificial benevolence shown to people in need. 

Who is a specific preacher/leader from church history whom you admire? 

George Müller, more than any person in post-New Testament history, demonstrated both the true meaning of complete acceptance of the promises and principles found in God’s Word and total personal trust in and dependence on God for everything needed in his ministry. Muller proved through his own life and ministry experience that God still worked very actively in the world of his day.  

What were three helpful books you read earlier in your ministry? 

Decision Making and the Will of God by Gary Freisen 

Like Christ (and) With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray 

Understanding How Others Misunderstand You by Ken Voges & Ron Braund

How about three helpful books you have read in the past 5 years? 

Seeking the Face of God by Gary L. Thomas … Excellent and inspiring insights regarding experiencing a more intimate relationship with God. 

Strange Religion by Nijay K Gupta … An exceptional reminder of how totally unlike and separated from their culture the immediate post-New Testament Christians were, in contrast to the almost complete adaptation of today’s church to the practice of fitting in with its twenty-first-century cultural environment. 

Brothers, We are Not Professionals by John Piper … This author helps me remember the need to turn away from the professionalism of ministry and refocus on the spiritual leadership God wants from His servant. 

What would you say is a Scripture the American church needs to revisit right now? 

First Peter 2:9-12 … Peter’s description of the church as a unique kind of people addresses the modern church’s tendency to fit into our twenty-first-century culture to be liked well enough that people would want to join us. On the contrary, both Scripture and history have demonstrated that the uniquely different church described by Peter and other New Testament writers is more effective in its outreach to the lost. 

Similarly, what would you say is a Scripture American culture needs to hear right now? 

John 14:6 … Jesus’s simple, plain, and yet deeply meaningful description of Himself remains the primary message that addresses every issue in our modern American culture. 

What is an interesting personal fact readers may not know about you? 

I enjoyed practicing the art of ventriloquism for nearly forty years, limiting public conversations with my professional ’dummy’, Snort McGort, to small groups and special events. 

Complete the sentence: I wish … 

I could return to the early years of my ministry, taking along the lessons, insights, understanding, and knowledge of ministry, Bible texts/applications, church life, and people relationships that I have gained in the last twenty years, sharing it all with young preachers both then and now.