Hearing the call.

Ok, so I know I have not mentioned this before, but God has really been speaking to me about moving into full-time ministry. This is something that I have struggled with for a few years now. Well, over the past few weeks, God has really made it clear that full-time music minsitry is where he wants me. One-by-one he addressed each of my fears about this.

So, here are the highlights of what God has told me recently.

1. Age: Ok, I know that 32 years of age is not old. However, that did not keep me from thinking that I was 10 years or more behind. So, as my wife and I drove to her parents house to get some stuff, we were listening to some random Christmas song. Well, for no appearent reason Kim (my wife) said, “He (Jesus) was only 35 when he died, right.” I told her that I belived it was actually more like 33, but that yes it was around there. She then went on to say, “He only started his ministry a little bit before that didn’t He?” Without thinking I said, “Yes, he was around 30 years old when he started and ministered for around 3 years before his death.” As soon as I said it I was struck so hard that I nearly had to pull over and pray. Now I know that I am not Jesus, or anywhere near it. However, it occured to me that if Jesus could do all that he did in 3 years or so, then I could enter the ministry at 32 years of age and through 30 or 40 years make some impact. And just like that God had blown away one of my biggest concerns.

2. Career: Another one of my big fears was leaving the career I had spent the last 12 years building to go in a completely different direction. I was then reminded the Disciples. As Peter and Andrew were called, they left their nets and followed Jesus. In all likelyhood fishing is all that these men had ever know. Their father and his father before him were probably fisherman, yet they put down their nets and followed. Matthew was a powerful and wealthy tax collector, yet he left all that behind and followed. If these men could leave all they had and follow how could I do anything different.

3. School: I had confusion over where to go to school, if I should go to school and some other school based concerns. So, as I spoke with paster today about my calling and my future, he addressed this one. He said that since I had a 4 year degree, some experience in worship team and was already 32 years old that he didn’t think that I needed to go back to school. He went on to say that for the type of ministry that I am looking at he didn’t think I needed to go to seminary. He said that the things that I felt I needed to learn I could learn taking classes at the local community college, or taking lessons, or studying myself. For me this was the best option as it means the least disruption for my family.

So, what will the future hold? What does God have planned? I don’t know. What I do know is that he does have a plan and that following that plan is going to be quite a ride. So, if you plan to ride this roller coaster with me, then I have to say get in, buckel up, and hold on. Oh and please keep hands and feet in the ride at all times, and before exiting the ride take small children by the hand, and gather all belongings. Ok, I have spent too much time at amusement parks. Get ready cause here we go.

This entry was posted on November 30, 2007 at 01:33 and is filed under Thoughts on Things. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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