Missions Monday
Posted by Ashley Hoover
Some things to think about:
Called to the Ministry
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
09-05-2008
"Usually a person should keep on with the work he was doing when God called him" (I Cor. 7: 20 TLB).
We've all heard stories of men or women in the workplace that left their jobs for the "ministry." Certainly God does call people into vocational ministry. However, many times this move is more rooted in dissatisfaction with a career combined with a spiritual renewal or first time commitment to the Lord. The idea of a "higher call" can also appeal to our sense of a greater and nobler destiny.
We have incorrectly elevated the roll of the Christian worker that serves within "the church" or a traditional "ministry" role to be more holy and committed than the person who is serving in a secular environment. Yet the call to the secular workplace is as important as any other calling. God has to have His people in every sphere of life to meet the needs of His creation. Also, many would never come to know Him because they would be separated from society.
I learned this lesson personally when I sought to go into "full-time" service as a pastor in my late twenties, only to have God thrust me back into the workplace unwillingly. This turned out to be the best thing He could have done for me, because it was never His will for me to be a pastor. He knew I was more suited for the workplace.
We are all in missions. Some are called to foreign lands. Some are called to the jungles of the workplace. Wherever you are called, serve the Lord in that place. Let Him demonstrate His power through your life so that others might experience Him through you today. View your vocation as means to worship Him.
Paul said it right; "In most cases we're going to remain in the place where He first called us."
Feeling that God is calling you to missionary service?
"How can they hear without someone preaching to them?" -Romans 10:14
Consider these steps to discover if He is calling you
Read everything about missions and missionaries that you can get your hands on.
Get involved in the missions mobilization and education program of your local church
Go hear every missionary speaker that you can. God sometimes chooses that time to clarify His calling to young people.
Talk to your pastor. Verbalizing your thinking with him and enlisting his prayer support may help you sort through various issues.
Throw yourself into active ministry through your local church. Learn to minister effectively in your own culture before you attempt cross-cultural ministry.
Go on a short-term missions trip. A cross-cultural mission trip will give you a taste of life on the mission field and a good opportunity to sense God's leadership.
Contact a missionary sending agency for more information about something you are interested in.
Consider giving a year of volunteer service overseas before deciding whether you should offer the rest of your life.
Persevere.
In her book, Ventures of the Heart, Lela Morgan says that early Nazarene missions leader H.F. Reynolds told a young would-be missionary: "Brother Winans, we cannot send you to South America; but if God has called you, you will go or backslide."
A missionary call: Is it God's will for you?
Called to the Ministry
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman
09-05-2008
"Usually a person should keep on with the work he was doing when God called him" (I Cor. 7: 20 TLB).
We've all heard stories of men or women in the workplace that left their jobs for the "ministry." Certainly God does call people into vocational ministry. However, many times this move is more rooted in dissatisfaction with a career combined with a spiritual renewal or first time commitment to the Lord. The idea of a "higher call" can also appeal to our sense of a greater and nobler destiny.
We have incorrectly elevated the roll of the Christian worker that serves within "the church" or a traditional "ministry" role to be more holy and committed than the person who is serving in a secular environment. Yet the call to the secular workplace is as important as any other calling. God has to have His people in every sphere of life to meet the needs of His creation. Also, many would never come to know Him because they would be separated from society.
I learned this lesson personally when I sought to go into "full-time" service as a pastor in my late twenties, only to have God thrust me back into the workplace unwillingly. This turned out to be the best thing He could have done for me, because it was never His will for me to be a pastor. He knew I was more suited for the workplace.
We are all in missions. Some are called to foreign lands. Some are called to the jungles of the workplace. Wherever you are called, serve the Lord in that place. Let Him demonstrate His power through your life so that others might experience Him through you today. View your vocation as means to worship Him.
Paul said it right; "In most cases we're going to remain in the place where He first called us."
Feeling that God is calling you to missionary service?
"How can they hear without someone preaching to them?" -Romans 10:14
Consider these steps to discover if He is calling you
Read everything about missions and missionaries that you can get your hands on.
Get involved in the missions mobilization and education program of your local church
Go hear every missionary speaker that you can. God sometimes chooses that time to clarify His calling to young people.
Talk to your pastor. Verbalizing your thinking with him and enlisting his prayer support may help you sort through various issues.
Throw yourself into active ministry through your local church. Learn to minister effectively in your own culture before you attempt cross-cultural ministry.
Go on a short-term missions trip. A cross-cultural mission trip will give you a taste of life on the mission field and a good opportunity to sense God's leadership.
Contact a missionary sending agency for more information about something you are interested in.
Consider giving a year of volunteer service overseas before deciding whether you should offer the rest of your life.
Persevere.
In her book, Ventures of the Heart, Lela Morgan says that early Nazarene missions leader H.F. Reynolds told a young would-be missionary: "Brother Winans, we cannot send you to South America; but if God has called you, you will go or backslide."
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment