Today, we get to talk to my friend Janet Thompson about her newest release Face-to-Face with Priscilla and Aquila: Balancing Life and Ministry. This book is the 5th in the Face-to-Face Bible study series published by New Hope Publishers.
Janet, please tell us why you chose to write about balancing life and ministry. It’s certainly something many people struggle with.
I’m always troubled when a Christian’s schedule becomes overcrowded with obligations and activities. Ministry work and service are often the first things they choose to cut back on. A new job or promotion or life change can prompt feelings of no longer having sufficient time or energy to serve at church or in ministry. In an effort to balance life and ministry, the scales may be tipped to the secular side instead of tipped to the spiritual side. It’s a subtle shift that is usually made for practical reasons, but God is calling His people to trust that He will provide if only they will remain faithful to staying about His work.
Why did you pick Priscilla and Aquila as mentors for balancing life?
Priscilla and Aquila managed to keep ministry as their number one priority while running a tentmaking business, mentoring other Christians, moving numerous times, and opening their home for the apostle Paul to stay and the church to meet. This inspiring couple understood the importance of Christians participating in spreading the good news and serving together in ministry and life. Their story is not often told unless mentioned in conjunction with being good friends of Paul and mentoring the biblical scholar Apollos, but there is so much for couples and anyone serving in a ministry to learn from this gifted and dedicated husband and wife.
Would it be valuable for couples to do this study?
Absolutely! They could do the study as a couple or in a couple’s small group. Today when couples do serve in the church, they often don’t serve together, but the marriage relationship is richly blessed when a couple surrenders their life to be used by God in a way that allows them to share that experience together. My prayer is that Face-to-Face with Priscilla and Aquila: Balancing Life and Ministry will inspire more couples to serve together as a team in their home and in their church.
Is this study just for couples?
No, it has numerous applications. There are questions for doing the study on your own, or a mentor and mentee or two friends to study together, or there is a leader’s guide in every book for small or large group study. Each study consists of five sessions.
Any last words for our readers?
If you’re going to tip the scales of life, tip them towards God! One way to do that is to share the load with someone else. It’s always better doing things together.
If you enjoy this study, please try one of the other Face-to-Face studies:
Mary and Martha: Sisters in Christ
Naomi and Ruth: Together for the Journey
Elizabeth and Mary: Generation to Generation
Euodia and Syntyche: From Conflict to Community
Priscilla and Aquila: Balancing Life and Ministry.
Where can these Bible studies be purchased?
They are available at all bookstores and online stores. Here are several links:
To book Janet Thompson as a speaker and find out more about her other books: Woman to Woman Mentoring Resources; Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter; Dear God, They Say It’s Cancer, and her 2011 releases The Team That Jesus Built and Dear God, Why Can’t I Have a Baby?, please visit her website at www.womantowomanmentoring.com.
Sounds like a marvelous study.