Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 08 29 2026 Authentic Christian Ministry

Transcript

08 29 2026 Authentic Christian Ministry · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

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  Speaker 1: Most of us eat every day, some of us too much,
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  Speaker 1: because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy for
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  Speaker 1: today's needs. Why then do some of us expect yesterday's
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  Speaker 1: portion of heavenly manna, the word of God, to keep
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  Speaker 1: us through today's challenges? On this program, we are going
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  Speaker 1: to change all of that. Let's experience God's words today
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  Speaker 1: and receive the power we need to live healthy, vibrant lives.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Your Daily Portion. with your host, author, speaker, L.
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  Speaker 1: David Harris.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, good morning, good morning. It is Sabbath, the
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  Speaker 2: 29th day of August in 2026. Hello, my name is L.
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  Speaker 2: David Harris. I am your host, and this is your
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  Speaker 2: Daily Portion, where we give you God's Word every single day,
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  Speaker 2: and today is no exception. We are continuing in our
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  Speaker 2: lesson study series through the books of 1st and 2nd Corinthians,
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  Speaker 2: and our caption for today is Authentic Christian Ministry. Authentic
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  Speaker 2: Christian ministry. What is that? Before we get into that,
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  Speaker 2: I'd like to say welcome to you and ask you
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  Speaker 2: to go over to yourdailyportion.com. Will you please, please join
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  Speaker 2: our online community? Go ahead and click that button under
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  Speaker 2: the big header about stop guessing what God has called
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  Speaker 2: you to do. Stop guessing what God has called you
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  Speaker 2: to do, okay? And there's a button that says begin
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  Speaker 2: at begin assessment. And that is our spiritual gifts assessment.
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  Speaker 2: We call it the designed to serve assessment. And I
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  Speaker 2: promise you, it's not like any of the other really
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  Speaker 2: wonderful ones out there that you've ever seen, because we
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  Speaker 2: cover some key areas that I've been working through for really,
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  Speaker 2: if you want to really be, I want to really
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  Speaker 2: be honest, it's from the year 2000, but actively on
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  Speaker 2: this one for more than two years. And so So
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  Speaker 2: go ahead and do that and benefit so that the
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  Speaker 2: body of Christ can benefit and those that you reach
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  Speaker 2: out to so that you can share in your own
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  Speaker 2: way how great things the Lord has done for you. Also,
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  Speaker 2: will you please, please click the contribute button because your
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  Speaker 2: Daily Portion Ministries is a listener and viewer supported ministry.
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  Speaker 2: Let's go ahead and pray and then we will get underway. Father,
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  Speaker 2: thank you for this Sabbath morning. for the privilege that
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  Speaker 2: you have given us to listen for your voice and
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  Speaker 2: then do what you say. Really, anything else makes it
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  Speaker 2: too complicated. Father, will you fill us with your Holy
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  Speaker 2: Spirit today? In Jesus' name I pray, amen and amen again.
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  Speaker 2: Authentic Christian ministry. I have heard so many times when
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  Speaker 2: we are teaching about the Sabbath truth and some other
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  Speaker 2: things related, that when people who deal in currency, whether
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  Speaker 2: they are from a certain department of the government that
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  Speaker 2: scrutinizes counterfeit money or whatever, or some other group that
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  Speaker 2: scrutinizes it forensically so that they can determine what is
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  Speaker 2: real from what is not, they say that they don't
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  Speaker 2: study the counterfeit. I don't know anything about that, you know,
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  Speaker 2: from my own experience, but that's what I have heard.
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  Speaker 2: They study the authentic so that whenever the counterfeit shows
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  Speaker 2: up in many, many forms, they're immediately able to detect
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  Speaker 2: the counterfeit.
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  Speaker 1: Why?
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  Speaker 2: Because they are studying the true. So when I became
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  Speaker 2: a believer, I used to have a habit of studying
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  Speaker 2: the counterfeits. I studied, I'm talking about ad nauseum. So
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  Speaker 2: there goes one. I studied that one out. So what
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  Speaker 2: do these people believe? Okay, what do these people believe?
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  Speaker 2: And I was becoming what I thought was, unfortunately thought,
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  Speaker 2: was an expert in all of these different counterfeits of
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  Speaker 2: real connection with God. And then one year I just decided,
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  Speaker 2: and I told my friend and brother Frank, Frank Baker,
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  Speaker 2: I said, Frank, I'm not studying the counterfeit anymore, bro.
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  Speaker 2: This is over. I'm done. I am only connecting my
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  Speaker 2: mind to the things that God has shown us. And
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  Speaker 2: in terms of Christian ministry, that should be our posture.
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  Speaker 2: Becoming who God called us to become by studying the true.
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  Speaker 2: What is the true? The true standard, the true model
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  Speaker 2: is Jesus Christ himself. And while we study, it's not
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  Speaker 2: just intellectual. Now we are asking God, please, please, as
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  Speaker 2: I am studying Christ, please help me to become like
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  Speaker 2: him because you said by beholding, we become changed. By beholding,
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  Speaker 2: we become changed. And so for me, the most important
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  Speaker 2: thing here is authentic ministry is not measured by impressiveness.
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  Speaker 2: That is where a lot of people get caught up.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: It's a deliberate pause. There are people who love how
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  Speaker 2: some people sing, how some people maybe are hospitable among
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  Speaker 2: the faith fellowship. There are some people who teach and
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  Speaker 2: preach in ways that are really impressive. And I'm not
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  Speaker 2: saying that they're not authentic. But there are times that
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  Speaker 2: people become so impressed that they miss whether they are
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  Speaker 2: or are not authentic, and then they start to model
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  Speaker 2: themselves after behavior rather than modeling themselves after the Spirit
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  Speaker 2: of Christ. So, authentic ministry shouldn't be measured that way,
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  Speaker 2: but rather by the life Christ made visible in broken,
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  Speaker 2: ordinary vessels pressed out but not crushed. Let's go ahead
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  Speaker 2: to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. What does that mean? Okay,
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  Speaker 2: 2 Corinthians chapter 4. We'll begin with our first lesson
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  Speaker 2: from verses 8 to 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, beginning
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  Speaker 2: at verse 8, and the Bible reads, we are troubled
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  Speaker 2: on every side, and yet what? Not distressed. We are perplexed,
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  Speaker 2: but not in despair. persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down,
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  Speaker 2: but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body dying
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  Speaker 2: of Christ Jesus the Lord, that the life also of
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  Speaker 2: Christ might be made manifest in our body. I'll read
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  Speaker 2: it in another version. We are afflicted in every way,
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  Speaker 2: but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted,
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  Speaker 2: but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying
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  Speaker 2: in the body the death of Christ, so that the
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  Speaker 2: life of Christ may also be manifested in our bodies.
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  Speaker 1: What?
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  Speaker 2: Always carrying in the body the death of Christ, so
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  Speaker 2: that the life of Christ may also be manifest in
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  Speaker 2: our bodies. So, when Jesus died, we all know, well,
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  Speaker 2: I should say all, I shouldn't say all, We should
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  Speaker 2: know that when Jesus gave his life for us, it
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  Speaker 2: was so that we could be made holy. It was
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  Speaker 2: so that we would not need to pay the debt
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  Speaker 2: of sin, or the wages of sin, which is eternal death.
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  Speaker 2: So God is giving us the gift of eternal life
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  Speaker 2: through Jesus Christ our Lord. But the truth is that
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  Speaker 2: when he died, he didn't stay dead. He didn't remain dead.
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  Speaker 2: He took his life back up again, just like he
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  Speaker 2: promised that he would. And that now gives us the
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  Speaker 2: ability to do as well, the power to live according
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  Speaker 2: to what God has taught us. But in the meantime,
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  Speaker 2: that manifestation is coming because, well, we get pressed, we
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  Speaker 2: get squeezed. We get afflicted under pressure. That's what the
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  Speaker 2: word is that Paul used. Paul describes ministry as a
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  Speaker 2: constant pressing, but the vessel does not burst. The pressure
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  Speaker 2: reveals what is inside. You're the vessel, brothers and sisters.
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  Speaker 2: I am the vessel. And what is inside a life
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  Speaker 2: yielded to Christ is the life of Christ himself, what
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  Speaker 2: he made visible. And so the Bible says, let this
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  Speaker 2: mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: And then it describes that life. So really, every single day,
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  Speaker 2: we should invest a thoughtful hour. I know what I
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  Speaker 2: just said, a thoughtful hour contemplating the life of Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 2: especially the closing moments. This is what God has shown
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  Speaker 2: us under inspiration. And so the marks of authentic ministry
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  Speaker 2: are not polished presentations. Wait a minute, I do that
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  Speaker 2: every day. I present every single day of my life,
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  Speaker 2: and I've been doing it for years and years. Well,
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  Speaker 2: that's not really, it's not that. And impressive outcomes. They
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  Speaker 2: are the daily experience of being pressed. Are you being pressed,
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  Speaker 2: brothers and sisters, perplexed and struck down? Have you been
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  Speaker 2: stricken down before? While the life of Christ still shines through,
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  Speaker 2: the cracked vessel shows the treasure inside more clearly than
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  Speaker 2: the broken one. The cracked vessel shows more what is
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  Speaker 2: inside than the broken one. So whatever pressure you are
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  Speaker 2: under today, ask God to let the life of Christ
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  Speaker 2: be revealed through you. Make it a great Sabbath.
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  Speaker 1: Peace. Thanks for joining us, listening friends. Always remember, we
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  Speaker 1: cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that
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  Speaker 1: comes from the mouth of God. This has been your
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  Speaker 1: daily portion with L. David Harris. Make it a great day.