By: Rev. Gerry Weesner, Maples United Methodist Church
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:14-15 (NIV).
There was a time when, if I heard a minister had gotten a call, I would go yeah! Yeah! Just as many of you would, the reason being that in some churches when a minister got a call it meant that he or she had been offered a position with more money and prestige. But then came a time when I personally received “The Call.” The Call comes directly from God in whatever way the person will receive and understand.
About a year after I had retired from the company where I worked, I started to have night dreams in which I felt the terror of people going to hell with an implication of what am I going to do about it. I tried to ignore them thinking I’m just having nightmares but I kept having the dreams and each succeeding time they ramped up in intensity. I finally got the message, talked to my wife to get her point of view, talked to my pastor, and began the process of going into the ministry.
I am what, in the United Methodist Church, is a Local Licensed Pastor. A Local Pastor can do anything that an ordained pastor can do but is restricted to the church and area where he or she is assigned.
All Christians are called to serve in capacities that will benefit the church depending upon their talents and capacities. But I discovered that God will call some persons to a higher level of commitment and service, these persons will receive “The Call.”
The first thing that I discovered is that “The Call” is real.
The second thing I discovered is that the saying, “God doesn’t call the equipped, rather He equips the called” is also true and real. Before I was called into the ministry, I was an introvert, and tested as an introvert. Now I am doing things that I would not have been capable of doing prior to my Call. Now I am and test as an extrovert, and I am more extroverted in tune with my calling.
Isaiah 6: 8-9 (CEV): “After this, I heard the LORD ask, ‘Is there anyone I can send? Will someone go for us?’ ‘I’ll go,’ I answered. ‘Send me!’ Then the LORD told me to go and speak this message to the people: You will listen and listen, but never understand. You will look and look, but never see.”
Parson to Person
By: Dr. James Bachman
Dear Parson,
As a born-again believer, what is the most important thing for me to be perfecting in my life?
As for me, it is learning to increase my walking in the leading and power of the Holy Spirit. It transformed the apostles in the book of Acts, and it can do the same for you.
We are commanded to walk in the Spirit. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25) While we are walking in the Spirit, we cannot sin and will always do right. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16) “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth; Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:9-10) The only way you can beat that is to be in heaven where we will all do God’s will every moment (Matthew 6:10).
Walking in the Spirit is a matter of seeking God’s will in the Bible and trusting His Spirit’s power to do it. “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” (II Thessalonians 3:3) “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (I Thessalonians 5:24) It is about the same as abiding in Him. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
As you go through each day, pray and believe God to answer this simple prayer: “Lord, show me and help me. Thank You!”
Send questions and comments to: jamesbachman@juno.com
