My first blog

I was raised in the Church of God from the time of an infant however; my personal relationship with Christ began at the age of nine years old when I was saved at church camp, in the summer of 1981. I grew in faith and learning through my family and church after receiving Christ. As I developed my relationship with Christ, I also had a very special relationship with the pastor at that church and he greatly influenced me in terms of my expectations of a pastor and demonstrated through his words and deeds the life of a Christian man as it should be lived. He was a true example of a man of God and I only pray that I could be the man that he was as a Christian minister.

At the age of thirteen, I was baptized in that same church. The pastor who had meant so much to me had retired prior to my baptism, so I was baptized by our new minister. After a short while, my family left the Church of God and we began going to a non denominational church. This began the reign of my back slidden days through high school and college. I was the king of sinners!

During my high school and college days, I went to church, but it was not the same as my childhood church and I felt out of place and disconnected. The pressures of high school, college and my peers lead me down a path of my own choosing rather then that of God’s. Instead of turning to the Lord Almighty, I tuned inward to myself and that was my down fall.

Fast forward to 2005, I was married and my wife had just given birth to our second child. We had gone to church in the past, but not on a regular basis and only to the actual service and not Sunday school. I knew I was raised in the church and wanted my children to have that same experience. We began attending a United Methodist Church and quickly became involved in numerous actives, including Wednesday night supper and Sunday school. Individually, I began to participate in the United Methodist Men’s Group. All of that was important, however; the most moving experience for me was when I read the “Purpose Driven Life.” That book along with my church family changed my life. I recommitted my life to the Lord and asked that the Lord to enter into my heart and to forgive me for my sins and help me live a life as a Disciple of Christ and a faith filled person.

From that point, I entered into a new chapter of my life and my walk with Christ. In April of this year, I began hearing the call into ministry. At first, my first thought was that I was imagining this and that God could not be calling me into a leadership role within the Church. As I thoughtfully prayed about this, the thought of ministry continued to fill me.

I wanted to be sure of my call and did not discuss it with anyone. On Sundays during worship, I felt the call, when I was driving in my car and listing to Spirit on Sirius satellite radio, I felt the call. At one point on a trip home to see family in Virginia, I broke down crying because of my own personal struggle with my call, as I could not believe it. I kept praying and asking God for a sign as if the pull at my heart was not enough.

Then in September of last year I felt the call again. I was attending my cousins wedding, (he is a Baptist minister) during the ceremony, when I heard two different ministers read scripture during a very moving sprit filled wedding. I felt the call from the Lord and the fact that I am to be in a servant leadership position as those ministers which were speaking to me. After returning home from the wedding, I finally told my wife and later that week sat down with my pastor as well and started my exploratory process to becoming a United Methodist Minister.

My motivation for entering the ministry is to fulfill my call and to do that which God has called me to do. I feel I have gifts and talents to offer and want to impact the lives of others and to be a Disciple of Jesus Christ by saving the lost and serving the needs of the community wherever that may be as God leads my life in a new direction. I know that my life as a minister will be challenging both financially and personally, but why have the world and give up your soul. When I am before the Lord one day, I want to hear, well done good and faithful servant.

My understanding of the ministry is analogous to that of a Sheppard caring for their flock. A minister is the principle servant leader within the church whom people look to for support of various events in their life both positive and negative. He is the spiritual leader within the church and is the primary teacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and guides and mentors the lives of his congregation. A local minister serves essentially as the CEO for the church in which he serves, but more than the bottom line he is a primary soul saver for Christ and equips his congregation to make Disciples of Jesus Christ.

To Christ be the Glory,