The Call...."Paying The Price"
When God called me to ministry I said yes. Because I said yes and because it was MY call on MY life I took responsibility for the high cost involved, financially, spiritualy,physically and emotionally. I learned quickly that preparation for the call of God meant hard work. It meant more hours at work for both me and my wife. It meant very very little sleep. It meant very little personal time and family time. It meant long hours away from home. We sold personal belongings at yard sales. We even sold my prized Ford Bronco II. Why? To make provision for the call of God on OUR life. I remember leaving the house at 6:30 am daily and not getting home until midnight or later. Why, because I was going to school full time preparing for ministry and I had to work to put food on the table and to pay my bills! The Bible sais if we don't work we don't eat. We lived on a very tight budget. A budget that did not allow room for ministry conferences, ministry dinners, ministry travel or any other ministry pleasures.
This was a hard season for our family. For me personally, it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. It was a season that I thought was never going to end, but it did! God used all of the above to break me. More importantly though, He used it to make me and to mold me! Never for one moment in the midst of this season did I ever think it was my family, my friends, my church family, or my churches responsibility to provide for the call that God placed on MY life. Pawning our financial responsibilities onto others never crossed our mind. I must confess that I did wish I had rich parents that could have flipped the bill. That thought usually occurred at 2am when I was studying for finals! We did not expect anything from anyone, ever! We stepped out and watched God step in as He always does. God did not decrease our work load during this season, in fact He upped it! One thing He did increase was His grace load! We discovered that His grace is truly sufficient.
During this season of preparation there were a few that stepped up and helped us as they could. They did so because they saw the many sacrifices we were making for our dream, not because we approached them or blasted our needs over myspace and through newsletters! I am aware that myspace did not exist waaaaaaaaaaay back then!
That season eventually came to an end, but one thing that continues on is the high cost of the call of God. The sacrifice that the call demands is always before us. My wife sacrifices every morning when she gets up at 4:30 am to get ready for work. She travels nearly 100 miles every day round trip. Why? Because we said yes to the call. I need her home more than ever before, the church we pastor is growing. Quitting her job is not an option for the time being. She's working for a season to help provide for the dream that God has placed on our life. This is in no way a complaint, i'm just stating the facts. Another thing that continues is the large amounts of grace that God pours out on our life's!
In the last two or so years a disturbing ideology has found it's way into the Charismatic and prophetic movement. It seems this ideology is isolated for the most part to this movement. Ive have spoke with some outside the movement and the subject is foreign to them.
So what's the idea? When God calls an individual to ministry it becomes other peoples responsibility to flip the bill. This is a false sense of entitlement! There is a major disillusionment amongst those in thier early twenties saying yes to God when He calls. Saying yes to God does not mean you quit your job and live by faith. That's not faith, that's lazy! The call in some circles has been reduced to nothing more than a glorified rock star lifestyle. Traveling from one conference to another bombarding the local restaurants at crazy hours of the night and as a result sleeping in until noon! Ok maybe not noon but ten or eleven!
When God calls our instinct should not be to quit our jobs, but to get another one if need be. If you do your part God will do His! You can count on it! Doing your part is not quitting a job and expecting others to pick up the financial slack.
I want to help as many as I can step into their destinies but I will not give a dime to anyone that expects me to. We cannot afford to remove hard work and sacrifice from the preperation process for the call. If we do we will have a generation of spiritual leaders that obtain positions that cost them nothing. And as a result there will be very little respect and honor for the call of God.
This was a hard season for our family. For me personally, it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. It was a season that I thought was never going to end, but it did! God used all of the above to break me. More importantly though, He used it to make me and to mold me! Never for one moment in the midst of this season did I ever think it was my family, my friends, my church family, or my churches responsibility to provide for the call that God placed on MY life. Pawning our financial responsibilities onto others never crossed our mind. I must confess that I did wish I had rich parents that could have flipped the bill. That thought usually occurred at 2am when I was studying for finals! We did not expect anything from anyone, ever! We stepped out and watched God step in as He always does. God did not decrease our work load during this season, in fact He upped it! One thing He did increase was His grace load! We discovered that His grace is truly sufficient.
During this season of preparation there were a few that stepped up and helped us as they could. They did so because they saw the many sacrifices we were making for our dream, not because we approached them or blasted our needs over myspace and through newsletters! I am aware that myspace did not exist waaaaaaaaaaay back then!
That season eventually came to an end, but one thing that continues on is the high cost of the call of God. The sacrifice that the call demands is always before us. My wife sacrifices every morning when she gets up at 4:30 am to get ready for work. She travels nearly 100 miles every day round trip. Why? Because we said yes to the call. I need her home more than ever before, the church we pastor is growing. Quitting her job is not an option for the time being. She's working for a season to help provide for the dream that God has placed on our life. This is in no way a complaint, i'm just stating the facts. Another thing that continues is the large amounts of grace that God pours out on our life's!
In the last two or so years a disturbing ideology has found it's way into the Charismatic and prophetic movement. It seems this ideology is isolated for the most part to this movement. Ive have spoke with some outside the movement and the subject is foreign to them.
So what's the idea? When God calls an individual to ministry it becomes other peoples responsibility to flip the bill. This is a false sense of entitlement! There is a major disillusionment amongst those in thier early twenties saying yes to God when He calls. Saying yes to God does not mean you quit your job and live by faith. That's not faith, that's lazy! The call in some circles has been reduced to nothing more than a glorified rock star lifestyle. Traveling from one conference to another bombarding the local restaurants at crazy hours of the night and as a result sleeping in until noon! Ok maybe not noon but ten or eleven!
When God calls our instinct should not be to quit our jobs, but to get another one if need be. If you do your part God will do His! You can count on it! Doing your part is not quitting a job and expecting others to pick up the financial slack.
I want to help as many as I can step into their destinies but I will not give a dime to anyone that expects me to. We cannot afford to remove hard work and sacrifice from the preperation process for the call. If we do we will have a generation of spiritual leaders that obtain positions that cost them nothing. And as a result there will be very little respect and honor for the call of God.
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