Or better yet, how does One Degree go about doing ministry?

In One Decree Ministries, we are intentionally following in the footsteps laid out for us by our Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul. Through studying Scripture, we noticed that both Jesus and Paul did ministry and created new life growth by focusing primarily on the Kingdom of God. For example, if you do a close reading of Matthew, Mark, or Luke you will notice that when Jesus walked around Palestine he always spoke about the Kingdom of God and did a variety of signs and wonders to manifest its present nature. And furthermore, if you study the ministry of the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts, you will see that Paul went about his ministry also by focusing on the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. For example, read the last two verses of the book of Acts. There it says Paul spent two years teaching about the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. And that is where the book of Acts ends.

In One Degree Ministries, we’ve taken up where Jesus and Paul left off. We’ve taken our main page from these founding leaders. Our focus is on the Kingdom of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe the Kingdom of God presents itself as God’s way of manifesting his presence and accomplishing his purpose in the church and in the world. So that’s where we start. If you attend any of our training sessions you will always hear us speak about the present reality of the Kingdom of God and how to participate with God in it by practicing the ways and the values of the Kingdom. And our experience shows that as we allow God’s ways and words to actively shape us, we are being transformed into Jesus Christ’s likeness from one degree of glory to another (2Cor 3:18).  This is why we named the ministry — One Degree Ministries.

Our focus on the Kingdom of God and participating with Jesus Christ is a distinctive factor that sets us apart from virtually all the other church growth and development programs that one can find in the market place. Most church growth and development programs focus mainly on skill development. In One degree, we believe skill development is very important, but we don’t believe it’s the whole of the matter. We believe developing best practiced skills and strategies are the hands of ministry. But is a worker complete if he or she only has a skillful set of hands? What about the head and heart? The answer is so obvious it doesn’t even need comment. In One Degree Ministries we’ve chosen to start with the head - a biblical perspective about the Kingdom of God. And then move on to the heart - our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

We spend a significant amount of time on these head and heart issues. We do this because we don’t want to develop either headless or heartless workers. Have you ever seen the chaos that can be caused in a ministry or an organization when the key leader is skillful but heartless?

In our experience it takes between one and two years for a typical pastor in the Philippines to fully grasp the implications of the head and heart – and so we spend a considerable amount of time focusing on the Kingdom of God and learning to identify and practice the values and the ways of the Kingdom.

The amazing thing is that God is blessing our efforts. It is not uncommon for a church that has less than 50 in attendance to double in size in the span of six months or a year after they start to recognize the reality of the Kingdom and the importance of allowing God’s will and ways to shape their lives. When leaders start to allow God to become their living Lord then we start to see God beginning to manifest the various facets of the Kingdom of God in and through their ministries.

As you read through our website www.onedegreeministries (not yet, but in the coming months) you will find a variety of new life stories that speak about the activities of the living God. We have posted these here as an example of what can happen in your life and ministry. In the near future, we will also work to post some of the many insights and teachings that we’ve begun to put together and assemble. It is our intention and our hope that God will use them in your life and ministry to create a blessing.

Warmest Regards,

Bob Harris