Ministries should be built upon the steady, unshakeable word of God, and not upon styles, fads or anything else.

Bruce Ashford, dean of The College at Southeastern, spoke to Southeastern students in chapel on August 31 about the danger of basing ministry on anything but Scripture. Teaching from 2 Timothy 3:10-17, Ashford reminded students that faithful, Bible-based ministry will endure persecution and suffering, but that the foundation must remain God’s word.

“Paul went from being the persecutor to be being the persecuted,” Ashford said. “We, too, should desire godliness, all the while knowing we will face opposition.”

He said the suffering and persecution for the gospel’s sake will only increase.

“You’ll be persecuted, not only from outside the church, but from within. In the Bible belt, cultural Christianity could become our biggest obstacle.” Ashford said that rather than transforming people into worshipers of God, “cultural Christianity” is more about transforming people into polite and moral beings.

The entire text teaches Timothy to be on guard against persecution, Ashford said, all the while knowing it is inevitable for followers of Christ.

“Your foundation must be the unshakeable word of God. The entirety of Scripture is about Jesus. There will be immense pressure to sacrifice Biblical convictions,” Ashford said. “Once you give up that, you begin to give up everything else.”

To watch the chapel sermon online, please visit the multimedia page here.