Unlocking your Purpose: Discovering your God-given Purpose in Life

By Terry J Boyle, Allan Dr Meyer and Arthur Blessitt

I had written this book sometime ago and left it on the shelf unfinished. I was speaking at a church recently and a complete stranger came up to me afterwards who knew nothing about the book and said to me that they felt that God had given them a message for me. They had put it as a text on their phone and when they showed me it read 'Finish

• Language: English
• Publisher: Terry J Boyle
• Release date: Mar 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9780646998787

Book preview

Published 2019 by Terry J Boyle

© Terry John Boyle 2019.

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible,

New King James Version Copyright C 1979, 1980, 1982

by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by Australian copyright law.

Words in capitals, or in bold or italics are the emphases

of the author Terry Boyle – [e-mail]

Cover & typeset by Carl Butel at Deep Image – [e-mail]

Cataloguing-in-Publication data is available from the

National Library of Australia

ISBN 978-0-646-99846-6

eBook ISBN 978-0-646-99878-7

Acknowledgments

For the wonderful love and support of my wife Caroline, and our children Amanda, Felicity, Andrew, Sharon, and their Spouses and children.

To our daughter Amanda Butel for her insight, and hours of typing, also her husband Carl for the brilliant cover design and internal layout, getting this book ready to publish.

To many fellow ministers and mentors over the years. Hal Oxley for his leadership principles that he imparted to me when I was his assistant minister in Melbourne. To the late Trevor Chandler and the Brisbane Church who supported us while we were on the mission field. To John Pasterkamp together with National Leaders who invited us to start a Bible College in the city of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

To all those in Lismore NSW at CLC (now Centre Church) where I served as senior pastor and chairman of the board of Summerland Christian College for 21 years. I handed over to Rod and Margaret Dymock my associates at the time. Their leadership has now taken the Church and College on to a higher level of excellence.

We are now semi-retired and reside on the Gold Coast, where we enjoy fellowshipping with several churches. We are officially affiliated with A2A.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Section One

Opening up your Heart

1.Living with Shark Hunters

2.Hidden Purposes within you

3.Is your heart in it?

4.Avoid living without a Purpose

Section Two

Opening up your Gifting

1.Grace for your Purpose

2.Discovering your Gifting

3.Faith to Pursue your Purpose

4.Inspired by Good Leaders

Section Three

Opening up your Ministry

1.Spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom

2.Helping to Plant and Establish Churches

3.Considering the Culture

4.A Home Base and Spiritual Warfare

5.The Purpose of Provision and Prosperity

Section Four

Opening up your Future

1.What does the Future look like?

2.Understanding Times and Seasons

3.Pressing on with Purpose

Foreword

by Dr Allan Meyer

I first met Terry Boyle at a meeting at Life Ministry Centre where he was one of the Pastors. The Charismatic Movement was touching churches all over the nation. Life Ministry Centre under the leadership of Pastor Hal Oxley was one place a person could go to encounter that move of God. I was a High School Teacher in my early twenties with a call of God on my life. This was a critical season of life and Pastor Terry Boyle was one of those who played a critical role as an example and encourager in unlocking the purpose of my life in those formative years.

About this time Terry led my brother Neil to the Lord and played a key role in unlocking the purpose of his life. Inspired by the character and vitality of the ministry team I left my role as a teacher, took my wife and young family to LMC Bible College and later that year was appointed their first Youth Pastor.

In that first year of my ministry appointment, Terry was a friend and a coach. I was inspired and strengthened by his faith and his kindness as he prayed and ministered to people. I had hoped to acquire a perfectly positioned property in the local shopping centre as an outreach centre for our Youth Ministry, but the owner had rejected our application and rented the property to a dentist. I was deeply disappointed. Terry came to me one morning and said God spoke to me this morning about you. He said, Tell Allan Meyer to try again. The owner reversed his decision, rented the property to us, and promptly died ten days later. That word from Terry Boyle unlocked the purpose of our youth ministry for the next three years.

Terry is the real thing – a man of God with many years of profound experience in fulfilling the call of God in his own life. He is faithful and true. I would encourage everyone to read this valuable insight to his journey through life with Jesus, but I would particularly encourage parents and grandparents to invite their children and grandchildren to read it before they get out of their teens. It is simple and profound. I pray that many people will encounter through this book the keys to discovering their God-given purpose.

Dr Allan Meyer

Introduction

Why have I written this book?

I actually wrote the heart of this book some time ago, then decided to put it on the shelf unfinished.

After I spoke at a church recently a man came up to me and said that while I was speaking he felt the Lord had given him a message for me. He put it as a text on his phone. When he showed me, it read Finish the Book. So here it is!

As a teenager my life was good. I loved my parents, sister, and relatives. I loved playing sport. I enjoyed cruising up and down the main street of my hometown in Horsham, Victoria, in my hotted up FJ Holden. Yet there was still something missing. There was an emptiness inside me.

I would often find myself asking the question What’s the purpose of my life?

After I became a Christian, I discovered that my real purpose was to pursue the call of God upon my life.

I have based this book around the context of the following verse of Scripture in the book of Acts.

‘When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord’.

Acts 11:23

Throughout the book, I have mixed sound biblical principles with experiences, and memoirs that I have encountered over many years in the ministry.

The book is formatted in such a way as to help the reader unlock their God-given purpose in life. It will appeal to all who seek to serve the Lord, especially those who aspire to be leaders and missionaries.

I’m talking about your spiritual gifting and passion. The thing that you get excited about, the thing that makes your eyes light up, and causes you to talk faster, the thing you want to pursue more than anything else.

I have gleaned stories from Australia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Indonesia, India, Borneo, Malaysia, Myanmar, Europe, UK and the USA.

Since retiring to the Gold Coast I have enjoyed the opportunity to do some Bible College Lecturing, Mentoring, and Ministry in some Churches. Also a little golfing, fishing, artwork, and lots of time with family and friends. I hope and pray that this book will help you to find your purpose in life and pursue it with a passion.

SECTION 1

Opening up your Heart

‘…that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.’

Acts 11:23

Chapter 1

Living with Shark Hunters

I have introduced this first chapter with a story I have written more in the form of a novel but based