View Full Version : How did you know you were called?
OneAccord
12-14-2007, 03:16 PM
There are several threads regarding the ministry and I was wondering: How did you know you were called to preach?
Did God speak audibly? Dream...Vision? How did your calling come to you?
I was called in my teens. I'd go to church and preachers would call me out and say things like "This young man will one day preach". I began to pray about t and had visions of me preaching. I'd stand to testify and end up "preaching". One day in church, the Lord spoke to my heart saying something like "Go into the streets and preach the Gospel". At that time, I had no idea something similar to those words was in the Bible. I told the pastor what I believed God had spoken to me. The next Saturday, I preached my first message on the street corner in a well known "trinitarian" town. I was 15 years old.
So, preachers, how did you know you were called to preach?
Truly Blessed
12-14-2007, 03:38 PM
I had an amazing call to the ministry that I will never forget. I was attending the Family Camp at Pea Cove, Maine when I was 17 years old. While praying in the prayer room after an evening service I began to sing a song in tongues and suddenly had this vision of multitudes marching towards a cliff and then stepping off the edge into hell fire. It was as if they were mindlessly following those ahead of them to their ultimate destruction. It stirred me so much I left that meeting and went to a District Board Meeting being held after service and shared my experience and how I felt God was calling me into the ministry and needed to go to Bible School. They gave me some wise counsel and upon graduation I attended UPBI and the rest is history. That call has kept me focused in difficult and trying times in the ministry.
Scott Hutchinson
12-14-2007, 04:52 PM
When I first felt the call to minister I say Lord I think you are mistaken I'm not that smart,but God kept dealing with me.
My pastor told me son you must learn to love people if you are going to preach,and he told me I must read my bible through from Genesis To Revelation ,and He told me I must know what I believe and why I believe it.
OneAccord
12-14-2007, 05:50 PM
I had an amazing call to the ministry that I will never forget. I was attending the Family Camp at Pea Cove, Maine when I was 17 years old. While praying in the prayer room after an evening service I began to sing a song in tongues and suddenly had this vision of multitudes marching towards a cliff and then stepping off the edge into hell fire. It was as if they were mindlessly following those ahead of them to their ultimate destruction. It stirred me so much I left that meeting and went to a District Board Meeting being held after service and shared my experience and how I felt God was calling me into the ministry and needed to go to Bible School. They gave me some wise counsel and upon graduation I attended UPBI and the rest is history. That call has kept me focused in difficult and trying times in the ministry.
When I first felt the call to minister I say Lord I think you are mistaken I'm not that smart,but God kept dealing with me.
My pastor told me son you must learn to love people if you are going to preach,and he told me I must read my bible through from Genesis To Revelation ,and He told me I must know what I believe and why I believe it.
Thank you, brothers. Its interesting to hear the experiences of those called to preach. Truly Blessed, your vision is similar to mine. I saw two groups of people on either side of a bridge. I would call out to the people on one side to come accross the bridge I was standing on. I would lead them across, one by one. Are there others?
One old preacher described what a "call" is as follows:
1. An inward desire
2. A reasonable fitness
3. An open door
John Atkinson
12-14-2007, 06:21 PM
By the fact that I absolutely and completely DID NOT want to do that, then when I finally warmed up to the idea thinking "yeah, I could pastor" learning, no that isn't it either..... and thinking... "well that is disapointing.." There was a dream/vision involved but I cannot share it. sorry.
I therefore abide...eh, it is fun here and I am happy...
speaking about callings, this is something I sent out to some people earlier today:
--------------------------------------------
This is an editorial from the latest issue of the Pentecostal Evangel.
I thought I would pass it on.
Jim Ellis
http://www.geocities.com/patandjimellis/index.html
What Are You Waiting for in 2008?
Hal Donaldson, Editor in Chief
Are you praying for God to issue you new marching orders in 2008? Perhaps you sense a change is coming but you don't know what it is. You simply long for God to make His way clear to you and bring an end to your waiting game. If that describes your circumstances, please know you are not alone.
Following are principles to ensure you don't just tread water while waiting on the Lord's direction:
1. Remain persistent in prayer. Breakthroughs come through fasting, daily prayer and Bible reading.
2. Don't be afraid to engage in candid conversations with God. But be wary of sharing your frustrations with too many people, especially those who haven't learned to tame the tongue.
3. Consider yourself a servant-in-training and take advantage of the ministry opportunities God places before you where you are. No task should be viewed as too big or too small.
4. Remember that waiting on God isn't an excuse for not working for God.
5. Remain faithful to your current responsibilities. Don't become so preoccupied with your future that you neglect today's obligations.
6. Do not be in a hurry. Let God open doors at the right time. Making a move at the wrong time will only lead to unnecessary hardship.
7. If you don't have clarity, don't move in a direction that may prove to be the wrong one. That will only cost you precious time if you're forced to retrace your steps. Faith is hearing from God and stepping out. Presumption is stepping out and hoping God is going before you.
8. Seek the counsel of a godly pastor or senior adult. God confirms His plans for us in prayer, by His Word and through others. Senior adults have a wealth of experience and wisdom to offer. Tap into that database of knowledge when facing major decisions.
9. If you make a mistake, embrace God's mercy and grace and ask Him to help you get on the right path.
10. Remind yourself that God is more concerned about your spiritual growth and obedience today than He is about your geographic location or job title tomorrow.
RandyWayne
12-14-2007, 08:02 PM
I have always believed that circumstance more often then not shows the will of God. How many here have ever heard a literal spoken word from God or the angel of the Lord? I don't want to hear "Yes I did! I heard it impressed on my heart!" -THAT is not a literal spoken word. A literal spoken word is something that if a tape recorder were running, would record what was said.
Sherri
12-14-2007, 08:06 PM
God spoke to me when I was fifteen and I knew that I would marry a Pastor. There was no other idea in my head from then on. My husband, on the other hand, wanted to do anything BUT preach. But he did know from the time he was a child that he was supposed to; he just was fighting it with everything in him!
RandyWayne
12-14-2007, 08:09 PM
God spoke to me when I was fifteen and I knew that I would marry a Pastor. There was no other idea in my head from then on. My husband, on the other hand, wanted to do anything BUT preach. But he did know from the time he was a child that he was supposed to; he just was fighting it with everything in him!
Oh Lord.... THIS is why I gave up trying to date Christians during my 20's. LOL Nearly ALL the women wanted to marry a "pastor". Well, God stayed with me despite myself and gave me a Christian woman who wanted nothing to do with being married to a pastor. :)
Sherri
12-14-2007, 08:12 PM
Oh Lord.... THIS is why I gave up trying to date Christians during my 20's. LOL Nearly ALL the women wanted to marry a "pastor". Well, God stayed with me despite myself and gave me a Christian woman who wanted nothing to do with being married to a pastor. :)
Well, I didn't grow up in a pastor's home, so it was all new to me. But I knew that was a call from God, as real as anything I'd ever felt. I married Eddie because I felt like it was a God-thing (AND I was crazy in love), even though at the time and for at least a year afterward, he was saying he was NOT going to preach. I knew it was in him! LOL!
Sister Alvear
12-14-2007, 09:05 PM
When I was very young I had a visitation from the Lord and He told me I would be a missionary to Brazil....So all my life growing up the call was ever before me.
There are several threads regarding the ministry and I was wondering: How did you know you were called to preach?
Did God speak audibly? Dream...Vision? How did your calling come to you?
I was called in my teens. I'd go to church and preachers would call me out and say things like "This young man will one day preach". I began to pray about t and had visions of me preaching. I'd stand to testify and end up "preaching". One day in church, the Lord spoke to my heart saying something like "Go into the streets and preach the Gospel". At that time, I had no idea something similar to those words was in the Bible. I told the pastor what I believed God had spoken to me. The next Saturday, I preached my first message on the street corner in a well known "trinitarian" town. I was 15 years old.
So, preachers, how did you know you were called to preach?
How about I have been running from it my entire life.
Every time I try to get more into business.
I have been the resident counselor to many of my coworkers over the years.
I have prayed and laid hands on folks in secret at work.
I have prayed and laid hands on customers after they sign contracts.
I have helped save several marriages.
List goes on and on...
But the ministry in me came in 1977.
My father was going through his illness which he passed away from in March 1978 at 43.
It was my turn to take something to drink up to my dad.
When I got to my parents room.
He told me to stay.
He told me Nathan I want you to know you are just like me.
It is in the heart.
I will never have to worry about you....
He told me ministry is first to the Lord.
Seek him and he will lead you to folks that are really seeking him and in need.
The Lord knows that your ministry will make "you" happy.
It is the relationship with him and he wants you to be happy and prosper.
He told me his ministry may be coming to an end.
He told me to look to the future and use what the Lord speaks and help others....
So at 43 I have started to speak again.
I know the Lord is directing me.
The passion in me is for people.
People just like my wife and I who have been through hell and back!
I am proof that God has a purpose and it is in his perfect time.
Just hearing my son in the basement with his friend right now in the moment (It is a miracle).
Assures me that the Lord is with me!
I thank God for all of my experiences, it helps make hearing his voice so much easier....
Here is what one of my Cousins Debbie sent me just last week in an email.
She heard through family that I was preaching once again.
She has not been to church for over 15 years.
"I'm glad to hear that you have been preaching." "You have the heart of a minister and that's a good thing."
The use of the word heart in her comment took me right back to that bedroom in 1977.
Now it's time to get the work done......
Scott Hutchinson
12-14-2007, 09:34 PM
I didn't see a vision but I felt a drawing from The Lord,similar to a call to repentance.
After I accepted the call to minister I had alot of zeal but not according to knowledge.
I have learned a few things since then.
Scott Hutchinson
12-14-2007, 09:38 PM
I feel I have more to do,and this may sound silly but I have a desire to pastor.
I currently help out in my local church.
I want to be whatever The Lord wants me to be and do whatever The Lord wants me to do.
I didn't see a vision but I felt a drawing from The Lord,similar to a call to repentance.
After I accepted the call to minister I had alot of zeal but not according to knowledge.
I have learned a few things since then.
Scott,
That sounds like my experience.
Shortly after I got saved I had this "feeling" within that I was to "preach."
It would not go away.
I was young in the Lord.
Yet the feeling persisted.
I surrendered to it and said, "Yes" to God.
Later, through the leading of the Lord and circumstances I see things somewhat differently. This was not just a call to "preach" but to serve. And preaching/teaching is just one of the ways I serve.
Scott Hutchinson
12-14-2007, 09:46 PM
That's true one must have compassion for people,actually I feel called to the office of a teacher.
We use the word of God to edify and to build up people in their faith in Christ,and to help the believer develope in their relationship with Christ.
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