The Minister Shown Approved: Equipped and Focused for the Great End-Time Harvest

By William Kumuyi

Are you a minister who is questioning whether you are walking in the will of God for your life? Are you even uncertain of your calling, unsure if God has placed you where you are? Perhaps you have not used your gift well because you genuinely can't seem to overcome the challenges of ministry? In The Minister Shown Approved, esteemed Bible teache

• Language: English
• Publisher: Deeper Life Today
• Release date: Jul 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986651934

William Kumuyi

Dr. William F. Kumuyi (Gbagada, Lagos, Nigeria) was born June 6, 1941 to a faithfully committed Anglican family. In 1964 he devoted his life to Christ. In 1967 he achieved an honors degree in mathematics. In 1973, while a lecturer of mathematics at the University of Lagos, Kumuyi began a Bible study group with fifteen people who had come to him for Bible training. It's been said before, "Despise not the day of small beginnings".This instruction became the groundwork of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry. His ministry, which in 1982 became the Deeper Life Bible Church, was said in 2005 to have had over 800,000 affiliates. At this writing we approach nearly twenty years later and the church has only increased. The vision, mission, and values of this humble, yet profound communicator of the gospel has grown internationally and countless lives have been changed for God's glory.Dr. Kumuyi is quoted as saying:"We would get up in the morning, read the Bible, sing hymns, and go to church regularly. When I was in middle and high school, I lost interest in the church because our principal taught us atheism. But after a while, I thought again and started going to various churches in town. Eventually, in 1963, a group of singers and preachers from a Gospel church got permission to come to the school. I understood the Gospel message and was born again on April 5th, 1964. I read John Wesley, Charles Finney, Charles Spurgeon, and lots of other books. I got involved with the Scripture Union, and I grew."The Deeper Christian Life Ministry founded by Dr. Kumuyi has the international headquarters of its church in Gbagada, Lagos. The church auditorium at the international headquarters could seat up to 30,000 worshippers and was once described by church growth experts as the fourth largest in the world (at the time). The auditorium was dedicated on 24 April 2018; the Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, and other dignitaries were present attending the inauguration. In 2013, Foreign Policy magazine listed Kumuyi among the "500 most powerful people on the planet".The Deeper Christian Life Ministry website shares,"By 1988 the congregation had grown to 50,000, and now numbers 120,000 members, making it the third largest Christian church in the world. Dr. Johan Combrinck reports that the Deeper Life Bible Church not only has an attendance of 120,000 every Sunday, but has planted 500 churches in Lagos, 5,000 in the rest of Nigeria (with an independent estimate of more than 800,000 members in Nigeria alone), and 3,000 elsewhere (with missionaries to 40 countries of Africa) as the movement missionary contribution. (Source: AFNET)."Dr. Kumuyi's great passion for souls has culminated into the Global Crusade with Kumuyi (GCK), an evangelistic foray with worldwide reach. God has graciously manifested his mercy and power in these meetings through many testimonies of healing and deliverance. GCK has seen over 200,000 conversions within a year of its inception and has spawned a daily program, GCK Daily which is available in different languages.

Book preview

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The Minister

Shown Approved

Equipped and Focused for

the Great End-Time Harvest

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Endorsements

Dr. Kumuyi skillfully writes of Paul’s exhortations to young Timothy. From finding the calling of God and the assigned ministries for one’s journey, to finding the affirmation and anointing to preach the message with authority, Dr. Kumuyi charts a path, provides a compass, and points to true north, for sustained and absolute ministry that will change lives; yours and others. The divinely approved strategic partnership of Christ and His faithfully studied, accredited, and Bible-qualified servants offers incarnational presence for the love of Christ, His Church, and the lost.

Joseph S. Girdler, D.Min

Superintendent, Kentucky - Assemblies of God – USA (2004-present)

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I know Pastor Kumuyi from as far back as 1976 when I first surrendered my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. His ministry, Deeper Life as it is being called, was very instrumental in helping me through my foundational life as a new believer and Pastor Kumuyi has been at the helm of Deeper Life for over five decades.

I know him to be a man of complete integrity. Pastor Kumuyi is so passionate about the Christian faith and he is absolutely sold out to the course of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For all the years that I have known him, he has been a man of unimpeachable character both in life and ministry. I am absolutely confident in endorsing his book. I know Pastor Kumuyi has written many and he is not ready to stop now.

Respectfully submitted,

Rev. Henry A. Bello,

Senior Pastor Canaan Worship Center, Brentwood in Long Island New York and 

President of the Nigerian Assembly of God Fellowship, USA (an Ethnic Fellowship of Assemblies of God, General Council.

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The Minister

Shown Approved

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Equipped and Focused for

the Great End-Time Harvest

© 2022 Dr. William Kumuyi

A Publication of Deeper Life Today

P.O.Box 29064 Chicago, IL 60629

www.deeperlifetoday.org

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system—except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper—without permission in writing from the author.

Cover Design and Interior Layout by Uberwriters Christian Ghostwriters

www.uberwriters.com

Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

ISBN 979-8-9866519-0-3 paperback

ISBN 979-8-9866519-1-0 eBook

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The Minister

Shown Approved

Equipped and Focused for

the Great End-Time Harvest

Dr. W.F. Kumuyi

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Foreword

On the occasions that I offer endorsements or write forewords for authors in the Christian genre of resources and materials, I am most heartened and invigorated when evidence meets reality. Dr. Kumuyi’s experience and proficiency, his longevity in faithfulness, and all such without ministry scandal is a measureable authentication and testament to this book’s materials. It is reliable and trustworthy.

As a pastor and mentor of thousands of dynamic and proof-producing pastors, Dr. Kumuyi, with the help of the Holy Spirit, preached many of those into conversion, trained them in discipleship, developed them into leaders, equipped them for ministry, and released them into the nations for service. This evidently apostolic ministry is his authority to write The Minister Shown Approved.

These real-world applications have been proven in discipleship with countless lives impacted by timeless biblical principles because Jesus takes center stage in all ways in this marvelous read. It is a candid, simple-to-understand, yet profound approach to ministry achievement for those who are God-called for Christian service.

Sometimes we ask ourselves, How can I use the Bible in my everyday life? I have learned that any honest seeker of God’s truth can apply the Bible to their lives by remembering key principles, and The Minister Shown Approved teaches just such principles. This book will help you remember promises, key truths, commandments, and prayers. Don’t just read it but take God’s Word to heart with an ear to hear what God might be saying to you.

If you apply the principles found in this book you simply will get results. This book is worth its weight in gold!

Joseph S. Girdler, D.Min

Superintendent, Kentucky - Assemblies of God – USA (2004-present)

Prologue

As ministers of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ we have a responsibility to teach the Word of God the utmost accurately. In fact, James, the leader of the early Church warns us that leaders and teachers are held to a higher standard, and will be judged more strictly when standing before God: My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation (James 3:1). The word masters in this verse is translated from the Greek word didaskalos¹ which means teacher. Teachers of God’s Word were leaders in the early Church just as ministers are appointed to lead a church today.

As minister, we must always remember Who is behind the message. We must never get so caught up in teaching a particular view or doctrine that we begin incorporating tradition and man-made theologies into the message. The only source and authority on anything we preach must be the holy Word of God. To teach anything else is to teach vain jangling (1 Timothy 1:6). A minister should be so convinced of the divine source of the message he or she is preaching that their life is a reflection of that message.

With such a great responsibility resting on ministers, where does a minister look to find direction on leading his ministry in such a way that he or she will remain in God’s grace, able to preach the absolute and unblemished Word of God? The answer is obvious—we look to the absolute and unblemished Word of God. When we study the Bible we find Paul the apostle, teacher, and mentor went into great detail on how a church is to be led when he wrote to Timothy, his spiritual son.

Using the guidance Paul provided in his letters to Timothy we will go through the principles and standards required to become a minister approved by God. As ministers, above all we all want to please God as faithful servants of His so it is crucial we know the marks of a minister divinely appreciated. More important, we must come to the realization that effective, divinely approved ministers are made by God.

For our service as ministers to be effective, we must be loyal to the Lord and to His Word, and our service must be a completely devoted service unto the Lord. To preach a message loyal to the Word it has to be a divinely authorized message preached by a divinely anointed minister. But first it is critical we understand that as ministers we are appointed to service through God’s grace, and sustained in our calling by that same divine grace.

God called you, appointed you, and anointed you to be a minister, and the affirmation of His absolute mandate will be attained through the God-given grit to hold fast to His Word in faith. As a called, appointed, and anointed minister, God will equip you for effective service, giving you sufficient grace to carry out your divine calling. The path to being a Minister Approved by God is laid out in His Word, so let’s go through what the Bible says on this so you can stand before God and hear the words: Well done my good and faithful servant.

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Part One

An Appointed Minister for an Assigned Ministry

Many people question their calling because they are unsure if God placed them where they are, and whether they are walking in the will of God for their lives. In the first part of this book I will show you something truly profound about your specific calling—we will explore what the Word of God says about being called and how to walk in obedience to that calling.

One of the finest examples of a minister is Paul the apostle; a man who knew he had been called to accomplish a task set out for him by God. We know this because he begins his second letter to his young assistant, Timothy, by saying, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus (2Timothy 1:1). There is a lot to unpack in this short verse: Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ . . . the word apostle means a person sent with a message.² Paul goes on to explain how he became an apostle . . . by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. In verse 11 Paul gives further detail, Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles (2 Timothy 1:11). Paul knew without doubt he had been appointed to the task of preacher, apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles, and he was certain his appointment was by the will of God.

Note that by implication, if Paul did not preach the Word of God he would be outside the will of God. As an appointed apostle, if he did not go forth in the power and in the pursuit of the Apostolic Ministry, he would not be fulfilling what God had assigned for him to do. Appointed as a teacher of the Gentiles, if he only taught the Jews, who were people like him and believed in the Law of Moses, if he stuck to his comfort zone and mingled only with his own ilk, he would not have fulfilled the will or the calling of God in his life.

Anyone appointed by God is appointed to do something for God. Moses and Aaron were both appointed, as were the Levites. Samuel was appointed by God as a little child. Today we might call people Christian workers but they were appointed; deacons are appointed, ushers are appointed, greeters are appointed—to whatever role people are assigned, they are appointed.

To whatever role people are assigned, they are appointed.

You are appointed to