About the Book
Discover how to be used of God and hear "well done".
Want to grow in Christ?
Want to be used by God as a "vessel for honor" (2 Timothy 2:21)?
Want to hear "well done"? (Matthew 25:21)
In our zeal to glorify God and be used by Him, we have a tendency to rely on doing things for God. However, when God chose to use certain individuals in the Bible, it wasn't because of their efforts or abilities. God was looking at their heart. God wants worshipers who work, not workers who worship. There is a vast difference between the two.
God still searches hearts. Will you be found by God as pleasing to Him? You can become a person that is useful to God-not because of the great things you do, but because of a heart that pleases Him. Who you are is more important than what you do, because what you do flows out of who you are.
The goal of this book is to see your service to God become an overflow of the heart. You cannot minister from an empty cup.
Make your life count for eternity!
Overflowing subjects include:
Why God uses some people more than others
How to evaluate our heart behind our actions
How to test if we are pursuing the same goal as God
How remaining sin creates barriers in our relationship with God
How our faith makes God look great or small
How our holiness today affects our usefulness tomorrow
How we embezzle glory from God
How to find more joy
How to love others more
How to make disciples with boldness
About the Author :
Kyle Farran grew up as a missionary kid and has served overseas as a missionary since 2007. He and his family spent eight years in South Africa opening a HIV/AIDS Hospice Care Home and then training Zulu pastors. Since 2015 he has served as a Regional Director for ABWE, leading and developing missionaries to help them fully live out their calling. He received his Master of Ministry in Organizational Leadership from Clarks Summit University, is a ICF-credentialed life and leadership coach, and is a licensed instructor of The COACH Model®. Kyle and his wife, Heather, have three daughters and live in Lisbon, Portugal.
Review :
Most books have a “must read” section. It may be a key sentence or paragraph that reveals the heart of the author or the main thrust of the work. I was looking for that as I started reading Overflowing. What surprised me was that as I read, I found paragraph after paragraph of helpful biblical material. This book supports those serving in ministry with material to assess and diagnose their soul, to reflect on where their strength for ministry comes from, and to examine inner thoughts and intentions. With the gentle honesty of someone who has been there, Kyle walks us through a thoroughly biblical examination of pride and humility, sin and holiness, joy and discouragement. Make no mistake: this is not a theological treatise on missions or ministry; it is a heart book designed for you and your ministry success.
-Paul L. Davis, President, ABWE International
Do you ever wonder how to glorify God with your life? At the end of your life, do you want to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? Do you want less stress and more joy in your life? Then this book is for you! Saturated with Scripture and engaging stories from his life on the mission field, Kyle shares practical wisdom that is rooted in deep, biblical theology. This is a book I heartily recommend to youth who want to know how they can be used of God in life and ministry, as well as to seasoned veteran pastors and missionaries who desire to finish well.
-Jeff Demerly, ABWE Executive Director for Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa
Kyle has chosen a topic that is much needed and can be of great help to all Christian workers. Since he has had many contacts with missionaries, pastors, and others serving Christ, he is well qualified to understand the importance of spiritual health in serving the Savior. He has given many thoughts to encourage and challenge the reader. I have known Kyle since his call into the ministry, followed him in his missionary endeavors, and believe he fully understands the necessity of a long and fruitful ministry. He is not only an example but wants others to follow that example.
-Robert Farison, Pastor and Bible teacher
The Apostle Peter was clear in his writings of the importance of being reminded of sound Biblical truths. Thank you, Kyle, for following Peter’s model in reminding your readers of the supreme importance of pursuing our walk with Jesus Christ as priority one. Any book that both challenges and convicts you regarding your walk with Christ is a worthy read. You are holding such a book in your hand. After 41 years of pastoral ministry it was a welcomed and needful reminder of cherishing and nourishing a God-centric life.
-Jerry Pelfrey, Lead Pastor in Mason, Ohio (1985-present)
Once the initial excitement and the perceived glamour of ministry has past, those ministering need to be reminded of their source and their purpose. Kyle wonderfully establishes a basis for ministry, a basis that is centered on God and His Word. God is at work in us more than we are at work for Him. Missionaries need Him more than God needs missionaries, and this truth will keep them effective in their chosen field of ministry. Kyle does a great job in reminding us all of these truths. This book is a much needed tool for all those seeking serve Him through sharing Christ with a lost and increasingly desperate world.
-Dr. Desmond Venter, Grace Baptist Church, Amanzimtoti, South Africa
Human hearts are tricky things. Knowing them and understanding them is a perpetual mystery to us. I find this to be true even of my own heart. In this book my friend Kyle Farran lays bare a portion of his heart so that we might be encouraged to examine the real source of the activity we call “service to God.” The thesis of this book as expressed in its preface is that effective “ministry is not characterized by a busy schedule or an overflow of the will, but rather an overflow of the heart.” Kyle has written from his heart’s understanding of God’s Word to help us examine our hearts closely. He gives us wisdom that flows from the experience of pursuing the development of a full and clean heart before God as the mainspring of life. I have watched him do this in the midst of the tension of ministry in multiple cultural settings. If you struggle to cooperate fully with God’s molding ministry in your heart, read this book! It will help you! I know it helped me.
-Dr. Steve Stairs, Pastoral Training Consultant for Africa, ABWE and fellow-wanderer in Hluhluwe Game Park
Overflowing captures the essence of what it means for the Christian to want more of who God is and what He has to offer us. Not only does Kyle present a beautiful illustration of what living water looks like, he gives helpful and very practical tools for the Christian who is desiring to go deeper with God. Kyle uses the whole of Scripture to showcase the glory of God and how He wants to fully engage us in His incredible story. Really appreciate Kyle’s heart as he shares his journey of ministry life and what God has done in and through him.
-Ryan Christian, Founder/President, Hideout Ministries
God has graciously captured Kyle’s heart with the transforming realization that Gods ultimate goal is to display his amazing glory for all to see. He also touches the longing in us all to experience God’s approval of our life and ministry at the end of our lives by hearing the Lord say “Well done”. He joins these together by showing how we can receive the approval of God and bring much glory to him. Perhaps as valuable as anything is Kyle’s incessant, repeating of God’s great promise to always be searching for a heart that is fully given over to him (2 Chronicles 16:9) just so he can show himself strong through such a one!
-Drew Woods, pastor at Cement City Baptist Church, in Cement City, MI
Kyle is not only biblical, but insightful and incredibly practical. This book is for those serious about making their life really count for God, from God’s perspective. It has been said before that the only thing worse than failing is succeeding at the wrong thing. This too often is the case in Christian ministry where it can be easy to fill our ministry with tasks above becoming the type of person that God really uses. This is one of those books that has not only been a balm for my soul, but will become a tool in my training others in ministry.
-Aaron Cook, Cedarville University Director of Discipleship
I have spent a lifetime in ministry trying to please God by my hard work in his vineyard. Busyness is a badge of honor in today’s ministry world. How much of what I accomplish is God’s power working through me, and how much is my own tenacity in my own power? This book is a gentle rebuke to that approach that so many of us naturally fall into in ministry. I love what Kyle has taught me in this great Bible study on the right approach to ministry: the real deal that pleases our Father flows from our hearts, not our hands. “God is interested in who we are, not what we can do for Him.” I think the well-done faithful servants that God hands out will be for those who focused on being not doing.
-Dr. Hans Finzel, best-selling leadership author and founder of HDLeaders
