Earmarked

Slaughter it, take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then splash blood against the sides of the altar.

Exodus 29:20

This was part of the consecration ceremony for Aaron and his sons, as priests set apart to serve God in the tabernacle. The marking of the right ear lobes reminds me of this other passage:

But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

Exodus 21:5-6

In both instances, we see that they were willing to serve their masters (God, in Aaron’s case, and the human master in the slave’s case) and the earmarking was a sign of who they belonged to. Also, it was a lifelong commitment. In addition, the earmark was clearly visible for everyone to see.

In the same way, when we are willing to give our lives to God, we are earmarked and set apart for life, regardless of our age and station in life. Our words and actions are to make Christ constantly visible to the world, wherever He places us and not only when we are serving in church or on the mission field. As for prodigals who stray away, like the lost sheep (in Matthew 18:12-14 and Luke 15:3-7), God will not lose sight of His mark on them and will pursue them all their lives until they return to the fold.

Incidentally, sheep are also earmarked as a sign of ownership. Like sheep, we are set apart for our Shepherd’s Purpose, consecrated like Aaron to fulfil His destiny for us. Perhaps God chose the ear to be marked as a reminder of the need for us to pay heed to the Master's instructions and to respond, "Not my will but Yours be done." We are also under His Protection, and He will watch over us and keep us from harm, from the lion and the bear (1 Samuel 17:34-35), and from the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). Even when death and destruction strike, we will be Preserved forever and enjoy eternal life with Him. And with The Lord as our Shepherd, we shall lack nothing (Psalm 23:1) for His Provision for us is always sufficient and timely.

That’s why we can say most confidently:

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 91:1-2

Love is... - 'The Liar and His Lover' (aka 'Lovely Love Lie') [Spoiler Alert!!!]

If Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is the cutest drama of 2017, then surely The Liar and His Lover has got to be the sweetest! You can tell just by looking at the poster - the pastel colour theme plus soft glow filters are splashed all over the entire 16 episodes. The premise of the series, as reflected in the title, is that songwriter-producer Kang Han Gyul (Lee Hyun Woo) has been living in a web a lies created by himself and others. The story is built around his transformation after he meets and eventually falls in love with a girl with a beautiful voice, Yoon So Rim (Park Soo Young, better known as Joy of Red Velvet). [You can watch the series here and/or read the recaps here.]

The thing about So Rim is that she not only has a lovely voice that captures the hearts of many people, she also has a bubbly and loving personality that leaves a string of boys falling head over heels in love with her. Unfortunately for these other guys, she bumps into the moody Han Gyul one day and it's love at first sight for her. She wins him over initially with her voice but subsequently also with her pure and selfless love for him.

Love is patient, love is kind...it always perseveres
But it's not an easy journey and takes So Rim all of  9 episodes before Han Gyul finally realises that he has fallen not just for her voice but also for her as a person. However, she never gave up and kept on showering him with her love and attention, even in the face of his rejection. She continued to speak to him kindly despite his hurtful words, like when he got mad at her for letting her bandmates listen to and record his song without his permission.

Love is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs
Actually, Han Gyul is the mystery music producer, K, who is behind So Rim's favourite band, Crude Play. His identity is hidden from the public for various reasons and he also hides it from her. That is why he became angry with her for letting her bandmates listen to a yet-to-be released song as that might have given his identity away as well as leaked the unreleased song to the public.

Later on, So Rim is spotted and signed by Han Gyul's record company. By the time she gets to tell him about it, he has already turned down the offer to produce her band (without realising that it's her) and the job has been given to Seo Chan Young (Lee Seo Won). So when So Rim breaks the happy news to him that she's been offered a contract, instead of congratulating her wholeheartedly, he loses his temper yet again at having missed the opportunity to have her sing his songs. Of course, So Rim is clueless as to the cause behind his outburst and feels hurt. But instead of blaming him for not sharing in her joy, she chides herself for not having told him earlier and forgives him readily the moment he comes back to apologise to her.

However, the bigger bombshell comes when she finds out that he is K. She is devastated that he did not trust her enough to let her in on his true identity. In fact, other than lying about his identity, he also didn't tell her about his recent breakup with his ex-girlfriend, singer Yoo Na (Hong Seo Young). So Rim accidentally discovers that the song she had recorded for him earlier had been written for Yoo Na. So now she is doubly hurt. However, she ultimately forgives Han Gyul's lies and later on even defends him while chatting with his father (Choi Min Soo) by saying that Han Gyul would never lie to intentionally hurt anyone. This reminds me of a scene much earlier on when she had already suspected that he was hiding things from her and told him so. At the time, Han Gyul had remarked that she was not acting like a normal person as anyone else would be angry at being lied to.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth

This is especially incredible when we see how So Rim always tells the truth, for instance she couldn't hide her feelings for Han Gyul and told him from the start that she liked him a lot even though they barely knew each other. And she pretty much wears her heart on her sleeve throughout, regardless of whether it's ecstasy over his reciprocal attention or dejection when rejected. She is also very honest with all those around her, from her grandmother to her closest buddies cum bandmates.

Another big lie that Han Gyul has a part in fabricating is that the Crude Play members, other than Chan Young, do not play the instrumental parts themselves. The music is recorded by session musicians and they simply play along to the recordings with their instruments muted during live performances. When So Rim learns about this, the Crude Play members have also had enough of living with the guilt and are considering confessing to the public. Han Gyul struggles with the decision as he fears the backlash from fans may lead to the end of the band altogether. But So Rim encourages him to reveal the truth about the band together with the rest and applauds him when he does.

Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud

We witness how So Rim's love for Han Gyul remains constant, from the beginning when they were both nobodies, to when she became famous while he was still unknown, and eventually when his celebrity status is revealed. This is totally unlike her schoolmate Se Jung, who dates So Rim's bandmate Gyu Sun after they’ve become famous just so she could brag about it.

Love does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking

So Rim's love is so wide that she even denies her own feelings and refuses to sing Han Gyul's song in order to honour her promise to Chan Young to sing only his songs. Instead, she tells Han Gyul to give his song to Yoo Na so it would not be wasted. She only sought to do good to others rather than her own gain. In contrast, Yoo Na had dumped Han Gyul because he couldn't meet her emotional needs (ie demands), and later dates their manager Jin Hyuk (Lee Jung Jin) in order to get ahead in her career.

Love always protects

So Rim also sides with Han Gyul and protects him whenever anyone tries to attack him even though he himself may feel that he was wrong (rather than wronged) and doesn’t deserve her protection. Her unconditional love for him changes him so that he also learns to protect his friends too. One of the main reasons for Crude Play miming their performances was so he could protect his music. After his turnaround, instead of trying to protect his music, Han Gyul makes a deal with CEO Yoo Hyun jung (Park Ji Young) to sell the rights of his future songs to the company in order to protect the band from getting sued.

Love always trusts, always hopes

So after the whole fiasco of having his lies exposed and then receiving So Rim's forgiveness, Han Gyul initially feels depressed as he keeps seeing his own flaws whenever he is with her. But instead of condemning him, she continues to love him and hopes that he will change for the better. He finally realises that he needs her to be beside him in order for him to become a better person.

This actually reflects God's love for us in that the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, yet in Jesus there is no condemnation and we receive grace and forgiveness, and God's love then leads to our transformation into Christ-likeness!

Love never fails

Yoo Na can't understand how So Rim manages to influence Han Gyul to change for the better when she could not, and lamented her 'failed love'. But So Rim doesn’t comprehend what 'failed love' is as her kind of perfect love never fails!

Perfect love drives out fear

In fact, it is So Rim’s perfect love and constant support that gives Han Gyul the courage to decide to stand up for the truth despite the negative press and public criticism. When the onslaught does come, So Rim continues to stand by him and gives him strength to start over.

Love in reality

A note of caution here though… I have not mentioned so far that So Rim’s character is a high school student while Han Gyul is a young adult in his mid-20s. So Rim fell in love with him at first sight without knowing anything about him, not even his name. And when she happened to see him again, she declared her love for him at once and exchanged phone numbers with him while still not knowing anything about him (but at least she got his name this time)! She goes against her bandmates’ warnings about meeting up with a stranger and arranges to see him again and again. Of course in K drama land everything turns out well - Han Gyul isn’t a bad guy after all and he falls in love with her too. But in real life, one must not be as naive as So Rim and make friends with a total stranger so easily for there are countless bad guys out there who are looking for young, gullible girls to prey on!

Furthermore, in the idealised K drama world, both So Rim’s character and her love are perfect. However, in reality nobody's love can be perfect like hers as none of us are perfect. Don't expect to change our partners overnight like she did either! If we are endlessly looking for such perfect love from someone else, we would be forever disappointed, or worse still, constantly hurt. The only perfect love that has the power to transform us is from God alone. We must acknowledge that our need for true love can only be met by the one true God.

Great in me

During a recent prayer meeting in church, the leader said something about God being great in us and it got me wondering, "How does God become great in us?" And immediately, a question popped into my head, "Will you allow God to be great in you?"

The thing is, at the beginning of this year, I had looked at all the assignments and projects for the year and thought that my plate was pretty much full. So I decided I wouldn't take on anymore work. But soon after that, an offer came to do some academic writing and I couldn't refuse as it's something I've grown to love during the two years in Bible college! I thought this must be it, no more after this! However, God has proven time and again that whenever I say never, I would soon come to regret it. A week before the said prayer meeting, He had shown me a need and directed me to offer myself to meet that need. I've learnt not to struggle for too long because He always wins me over, so I said yes.

And God started to show me the answer to the question, "Will you allow God to be great in you?" If I only venture to do the things that I can cope with on my own strength, then I don't need God in me to accomplish all that. But if I obey His directions to take on tasks that are beyond my abilities, then I would only be able to work through them if God works through me. Therefore, when I become weak when faced with those insurmountable challenges, and His power in me helps me to overcome them, God becomes great in me!

In fact, when I look back, I see how this has happened many times in my life whenever I yield to His leading and attempt incredible things. Like when He told me to quit my job and be a fulltime mom. I had absolutely no idea how to take care of babies and children, cook, and do housework (my mom is a progressive who didn't believe that her daughter's place should be in the kitchen!) But He not only enabled me to learn to take care of my family, He also led me to mentor other moms. Even older moms sometimes look to me for advice on parenting!

And then when I thought I had gotten my act together, He told my husband and I to start a music ministry from scratch, outside the church, without any finances and personnel other than the two of us. To cut a long story short, after just about five years, we had reached out to tens of thousands of youth and had a team of over a hundred volunteers!

Which was when He told us to drop everything and undertake a postgraduate course in a Bible college in the UK. We had neither the money nor the brains for it. After all, the only reading I had done in more than 10 years were the Bible and books on parenting. We also didn't have any prior theological training. Plus, how were we to move our whole family to the UK? What would we do about the children's education? Well, again He worked in and around us and now we have come back from the UK to Singapore, with our Masters degrees! In addition, the children slipped right back into the schools here and performed marvellously well in their national exams.

I am not saying all this to boast about our achievements and success. In fact, I'm boasting about how weak I had felt every time He called me to something seemingly impossible. Yet, each time He said, "My grace is sufficient for you." And when I had struggled enough and eventually said yes to Him, I allowed Him to be great in me and His power worked through me to do whatever He wanted. So, will you also allow Him to be great in you?

"Surely the people are grass"

While I was praying with some moms for their children recently, I suddenly saw a picture of an ear of barley in my head. Did a quick Google search and found that barley, like other grains such as wheat and rice, is classified as grass. It was one of the earliest grains to be cultivated and is currently the fourth highest in terms of quantity being produced. In fact, it has many uses and is seen as a highly nutritious health food.

As I continued to ask God about the significance of this picture, I realised that many people, including the young people we were praying for, probably feel like they are as worthless as grass. Thoughts of not being good enough, not valued by others, and not having any purpose in life, are common to many children and youth. Is that not like grass, which grows and withers quickly, without being noticed by anyone? Such sentiments also seem to be reflected in Isaiah 40:7, "The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass."

However, if we scan through the Bible, we actually find that grass is highly valued by God. Otherwise, He wouldn’t clothe the grass of the field in splendour beyond Solomon’s (Matthew 6:29-30), nor would the grass be so carefully mentioned in three out of four accounts of the feeding of five thousand (Matthew 14:19, Mark 6:39, John 6:10). And when the earlier verse in Isaiah 40:7 was quoted by Peter, he explained that when we have the living Word of God in us, we are no longer perishable like grass but we become imperishable (1 Peter 1:23-25).

Furthermore, He has created grass for a purpose (check Wikipedia!), just as how He has set us apart in our mother’s womb and called each one of us to a wonderful destiny (Isaiah 49:1, Jeremiah 1:5, Galatians 1:15). But if the grains are not gathered and processed, they would just remain as grass and the nutrients would be left untapped. So every individual needs to seek God to discover what his/her unique purpose in this life is and then pursue it, in order to fulfil the potential that He has given. Until then, we would go through life aimlessly and find it meaningless, for “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18a KJV). Yet when we have the Word of God in us and allow Him to direct us in realising the purpose He has ordained for our lives, we will find true fulfilment and joy. That is why the second half of the verse says, “one who follows divine instruction will be happy” (Proverbs 29:18b CSB).

Transforming Youth and Children's Ministry from "Limited Church: Unlimited Kingdom"

Rob Rienow explains God's design for ministry and evangelism to youth and children in his book, Limited Church: Unlimited Kingdom.

SO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

Through the last century of modern youth and children's ministry we have learned what we are looking for is:

• A low "leader-to-child ratio"
• A person who will disciple a child for the long haul
• A person who loves the child with all their heart and is willing to sacrifice everything to lead them toward godliness
• A person who has day-in, day-out experience and skills working with this age of child
• A person who has authority from God to require obedience from the child.

Does this sound like someone we might know? A parent! All the things we are looking for in our church-based ministries God has already built into the institution of the family, and the parent-child relationship.

BUT WHAT ABOUT KIDS WHO DON'T HAVE CHRISTIAN PARENTS?

I can hear you. "Rob, this whole model where the church equips Christian parents to disciple their kids is great for all the Christian families, but what about all the unsaved kids who don't have parents to disciple them?" This question is of the utmost urgency and importance.

As a first response, I need to address the assumption in the question. The assumption is that our modern ministry is radically effective evangelistically.

I once gathered together my team of ten paid youth ministry staff and asked them a question, "Can you give me the names of students who have come to Christ in this last year?" I didn't want names of students who checked a box on a card. I didn't want names of students who were on fire for a month and disappeared. I wanted the names of students who a year ago were lost, in families that were lost, and who were now converted, walking with Christ, and meaningfully connected with the church.

The response? At first, silence. Everyone was racking their brain trying to think of a student who was a new believer. This was in the context of five hundred active students from 7th-12th grade. This was in the context of a ministry dedicated to outreach and evangelism. We were blowing the doors off. Many events were standing room only. Yet, we were struggling to come up with specific students who we knew had been converted. After more thought, we identified five students who we believed were new converts. Five out of five hundred.

So my first response to the question of reaching unsaved youth is to challenge the assumption that what we are currently doing is effective. While God uses fallen people and flawed methods (thank you, Lord) to advance His Kingdom, we should not be at all satisfied with the evangelistic effectiveness of our current ministry model. People are dying apart from Christ and going to hell, and through our ministry model we see precious few saved! We must return to God's methodology, not only because it is His, and not only for the sake of our own children, but for the sake of the lost as well.

I set out to interview these five new believers. I wanted to find out what happened to them. What was their story? How did God take them from darkness to light? Many of their answers would not surprise you. God brought them a Christian friend. They attended a couple of youth group events. They heard some portions of Scripture. But there was a common thread. Each of these five (and I realize this was not a Barna study) not only had a Christian friend, but they were meaningfully involved in their Christian friend's family life. They went on trips with them. They frequently were over for meals. They could walk in the front door without knocking, because they were so welcome in that home. They saw love, forgiveness, grace, joy, and the gospel in action.

I asked them, from their perspective, what had the greatest impact on their journey toward Christ. They all said in their own words, "being a part of that family." At that time I didn't understand the doctrines of sufficiency and jurisdiction, but my view of "child and youth evangelism" changed forever. Before that time, I thought the responsibility for reaching unsaved youth rested with Christian young people (through peer-to-peer evangelism) and with the local youth ministries.

I am now convinced the responsibility for child and youth evangelism is an "all-hands-on-deck" mission for every family in the local church. As a father, it is not my job to simply say to my children, "You need to be sharing Christ with your friends." Instead, God calls us to minister together as a family by opening our home to children in the neighborhood. Our family is a powerful evangelism and outreach center. This is not because we are super-spiritual, but simply because we are Christians.

If we are going to get serious about reaching children who don't have Christian parents, we need to unleash every single one of the local church's "satellite ministries." But Rob, we don't have any satellite ministries. Yes, you do! They are called homes.

My second response to the question of reaching unsaved children is we have dramatically over-estimated the evangelistic impact of church programs, and dramatically under-estimated the evangelistic impact of the Christian family. Imagine if the parents and grandparents in your church stopped looking to the youth ministry to reach the unsaved students in the community, but took the responsibility to intentionally welcome their children's friends into their homes with the goal of reaching not only them, but their entire family for Christ!

Here is the third response. One of the reasons we do not see many unsaved students coming to Christ is because the majority of our focus in Sunday school and youth group is on Christian students. If your church is like most, the majority of children in Sunday school are from church families. The majority of students on your youth group retreat are from church families. The leadership of the church, along with the parents, are expecting the youth and children's leaders to disciple the church kids! As a result, most next-generation ministry leaders are overwhelmed with all of their relationships and discipleship with children who come from Christian homes. This leaves precious little time for serious outreach to the unsaved.

This seems counter-intuitive, but an essential key to accelerating youth evangelism is for a church to embrace the biblical model of home discipleship. When this happens, the youth and children's ministry team is no longer expected to disciple the Christian children from the Christian homes! Instead, in accordance with God's Word, parents are trained and equipped to disciple their own children at home. When this happens (1) every Christian home grows in its mission of becoming a discipleship and evangelism center and (2) the youth and children's ministry staff at the church are freed up to get out of the church building and launch evangelistic initiatives out in the community. We cannot wait any longer to embrace the biblical model, for the sake of our own children, and for the sake of the lost.

Other excerpts from the book:

Death in the Ditches

Repentance

Pastoral Repentance

Overwhelmed, Burned-Out, and Discouraged

The Great Commission and The First Commandment

God's Call To Fathers

God’s Call To Fathers from "Limited Church: Unlimited Kingdom"

From Limited Church: Unlimited Kingdom by Rob Rienow:

In… Ephesians, God gives a Great Commission calling to fathers.

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” - Ephesians 6:4

Fathers are to take the lead in passing faith and character to their children. What is God’s primary plan for children to be evangelised and discipled? Fathers. God did not create the institution of the local church to take over or replace His calling for fathers to disciple their children at home. Rather, the early Christian churches trained and equipped fathers for their “disciple making ministry” at home. Ephesians 6 is a specific example of this training. Ephesians, along with the other letters of the New Testament, were read as sermons in first century churches. These words were spoken from the pulpit to fathers: calling, challenging, and instructing them how to embrace their mission to disciple their children.

God gives men two vital words here if they want to impress the hearts of their children with a love for God. Fathers are to bring their children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

The word discipline here means far more than correcting wrong behaviour. It is a word that connotes systematic training and action. One might think of teaching a child the “discipline” of karate. The child engages in wide variety of training activities, which in the end lead him toward becoming an expert in karate. In the same way, God calls fathers to take the lead in the spiritual training of their children. Fathers are to pray with their children, worship in church with their children, and serve their neighbour with their children. Fathers are to practise the disciplines of the Lord with their children.

But fathers are not only commanded to practise their faith with their children, they are commanded to bring them up in the instruction of the Lord. Echoing the Great Commandment in Deuteronomy 6, God calls fathers to talk with their children about the things of God. Where can a father find the “instruction of the Lord?” There is only one place: in His Word. Fathers are to lead regular family worship in the home: reading, studying, and discussing God’s Word at home.

Once again, God connects the Great Commission with the family. If a man wants to impact the world for Christ and he is a father, he should think first of the souls of children, the souls that God has uniquely entrusted to his care.

Other excerpts from the book:

Death in the Ditches

Repentance

Pastoral Repentance

Overwhelmed, Burned-Out, and Discouraged

The Great Commission and The First Commandment
Transforming Youth and Children's Ministry

The Great Commission and The First Commandment from "Limited Church: Unlimited Kingdom"

From Limited Church: Unlimited Kingdom by Rob Rienow:

At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, we find Jesus’ Great Commission to His disciples.

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” - Matthew 28:18-20

God’s desire from the creation of the world is unchanged. He wants this earth, and the New Earth, filled with worshippers. With this in mind, we can see the first commandment from Genesis 1:28 echoed here in the Great Commission. Jesus parallels, reiterates, and expands His first commandment to Adam and Eve.

FIRST COMMANDMENT	GREAT COMMISSION
Genesis 1:28	Matthew 28:19-20
Be fruitful and multiply	Make disciples
Fill the Earth	Of all nations
Subdue it	Teach them to observe all I have commanded

In the first commandment, God calls us to multiply physically and spiritually through having and raising godly children. Jesus calls His followers to “make disciples” and thereby multiply! Jesus called His disciples to be disciple-makers. In the beginning, God established His plan to “fill the earth.” Jesus repeats His own words from Genesis 1 when He calls His disciples to “all nations.” In the beginning, God called Adam and Eve to subdue the world, and take dominion over it. This meant far more than taking care of the garden and the animals. Adam and Eve, and their descendants were called to establish the righteous and holy reign of God in every sphere of life. Jesus reiterates this call by saying “teach them (all nations) to observe all I have commanded you.”

Am I arguing that the Great Commission is all about marriage, the family, and raising godly children? No, the Great Commission is much greater and broader. But as we have seen throughout God’s word, marriage, the family, and raising godly children are all connected to the Great Commission.

Like you, I have heard many sermons on the Great Commission. The typical pattern in these sermons is to preach through the text and then challenge the congregation to think about (1) our non-Christian neighbours, and (2) unreached people groups (global missions). Are you praying for and reaching out to your non-Christian neighbours, and are you involved in global missions? These are certainly proper challenges, and appropriate application points from Matthew 28.

But our adult friends and those on the other side of the world are not the first ones we are called to evangelise and disciple. If we are married, encouraging faithfulness and godliness in our spouse is where our ministry begins. If we are parents or grandparents, God has chosen to entrust immortal souls into our care. God has given us spiritual responsibilities with our children who are a higher priority than our spiritual opportunities with our neighbours.

As a pastor and preacher, God has graciously given me many opportunities to share about the gospel and see people repent and trust Christ. None of these conversions came about because of my flowery words or persuasive presentation. The Holy Spirit simply uses His Word and brings people to repentance. I have had the thought, “What if God used my sharing the gospel to lead 1,000 people to repent and trust Christ…but I lost one of my six children?” I am thankful for any fruit God brings about in my public ministry, but my greatest desire is to spend eternity with my wife and children. For many years, I was passionate about making disciples of those in my community and around the world, while I neglected my most important calling, leading my wife and children to know and love God.

God’s plan has been the same from the beginning. He is filling the earth with His worship and He has chosen His temporary institution of the family as an essential component to carry out His plan. In every chapter of the four gospels, except for Mark 4, God refers to family relationships or gives us spiritual truths using a family analogy. There is a divine ordering to our Great Commission ministry in the world.

Other excerpts from the book:

Death in the Ditches

Repentance

Pastoral Repentance

Overwhelmed, Burned-Out, and Discouraged
God's Call To Fathers
Transforming Youth and Children's Ministry