The following is a list of lessons that I have learned in ministry over the last 22 years. Although I wished I would have done some things differently, I know that some of these lessons had to be learned in a difficult way. The most important lessons cannot be taught; they must be experienced. Here are twenty-two lessons (in no particular order of importance) that I wished I would have known twenty-two years ago.

Israel was called out of Egypt and freed from slavery to be God’s people. God had chosen them based on His covenant with Abraham. As His people, they were to represent God to the world as a “kingdom of priests.” (Exodus 30:6) They were to show the world who God was as His representatives. In order to do this, a new covenant would need to be ratified with Israel. This covenant would be different from the one that God had made with Abraham. Abraham’s covenant was “unconditional.” This meant that there was nothing required of Abraham to bring these promises to completion. God was the covenant maker, and He would be the covenant keeper. However, with this new covenant with Moses, it would be conditional based on their obedience.

Have you ever had the “naked dream?” You know that dream in which you find yourself in a public place, and you discover that you have no clothes on!? You might not be surprised to discover that many people have had that dream. You may experience some very strong emotions in that dream such as fear, shame, and exposure. Why is that a common fear among so many people? Perhaps it is because we share the root cause of that dream deep in our soul — sin.

The Meaning of Marriage was written by Timothy Keller with his wife Kathy contributing. Timothy Keller served as the pastor for Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City for twenty-eight years. He is an influential pastor, author, and sought-after conference speaker. The Kellers have been married for forty-five years and therefore have the ability to write from the experience of a time-tested marriage.

Every Christian is to belong in “membership” to a local church. It is impossible to obey the New Testament commands without such a commitment. Unfortunately, we live in a society that abuses the very idea of commitment. The last several decades has shown just how much consumerism has ravaged the local church with narcissistic ideals. Our churches are filled with those who are content to just “date” the church. If we are to follow the example of the New Testament church we must be belong in a covenantal way.

He beat her in a violent rage. In his anger, he decided to take fate in his own hands. He was not willing to bear the responsibility of becoming a father. So he violently attempted to force a miscarriage by his anger. This was not the first time that he had beaten her, but it would be his last. The young woman he abused was a runaway that he had just met in a shelter. After a little while, they decided to go back to her parents house. After seeing signs of abuse, her father kicked him out, and called the police, and he was never seen or heard from again. By the grace of God she and her baby would recover from their injuries. Every moment of our lives is left with an undeniable imprint of the grace of God. I know this to be true, for I survived my biological father’s murderous rage.

I had heard much about Bill Johnson and Bethel Church over the years. From what I observed, I knew that there were numerous doctrinal differences that I had with him and his church. Bill Johnson really began to come onto my radar after watching the testimony of Lindsey Davis and the film “American Gospel: Christ Alone” However, I had never read anything written by Bill Johnson prior to reading “The Way of Life.” I had read much about Johnson but had never read anything by Johnson. That all changed when I promised a local pastor (who is friendly with Johnson and Bethel Church) that I would read and discuss the book with him. He graciously purchased the book for me and I kept our promise to meet.