June 19, 2000

Madden: Ministry offers power to bless others
___ORLANDO, Fla. (BP)--The power of Christian ministry is the power to bless other people, Myron Madden told Southern Baptist chaplains June 12.
___"God's plan is to get himself involved in the process of blessing people," Madden said. "Only the truth blesses, and only the truth can bless."
___Madden, the author of several books, most notably "The Power to Bless," was keynote speaker at the annual convocation of chaplains and pastoral counselors.
___It is a chaplain's duty to bestow God's blessing on the hurt, the discouraged and the sick, Madden said. This blessing, he explained, is not merely a way with people. It is the power of God to change lives.
___"Blessing is power," he said. "Blessing is empowering people, affirming people, giving them the freedom to be who they are."
___While blessing is part of the power of God through Christians, it is not the same sort of power offered in the temptations of Satan, he continued. Temptation is about power, he said, but Satan never could offer power to Jesus in the wilderness. He only offers a shortcut to destruction.
___"The devil offers a shortcut," Madden said. "God is a God of promise, not of (open-ended) guarantees. He told Abraham, 'I will bless you, but I want you to be a blessing.' He blesses us to give his blessing away."
___The result of blessing, Madden said, is to enable people to be who they truly are and to see their lives in truth.
___Temptation, he said, distorts the "stories" or the life journeys believers have taken. Part of the chaplain's ministry of blessing is to help people get their stories straight and to see themselves as God sees them.
___"The worst lie is the lie about who I am," he said. "Tell your story until you get it right."
___

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