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Becoming a pastor


nature.nut

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Hi, my name is Mike. I am just looking for some advise and understanding. My question/situation is more for pastor's, I'm sure there are some on here. Ever since I was young... maybe 8 years old, I have wanted to serve the Lord... I felt like he wanted me to serve for him. I was raised Cathilic but 7 years ago I felt closer to the Baptist church. To make a long story short, I feel like the Lord wants me to be a pastor but I feel like I am not someone who is worthy of thinking about it. For one thing I am not real smart as far as school smart. I dropped out of high school in grade 11 and never went back. I don't know the first thing about becoming a pastor (a real pastor, not a purchased card off the internet that says I am a pastor) and I feel too old to even be thinking about changing... I am turning 40. Any advice? Don't worry about hurting my feelings, tell it like it is haha

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Hey Brother Mike !!

 

You do not need to be a pastor to serve the Lord.  You can do that now.  Jesus will help every believer in being a witness, and so trust Him to guide you as to when and where people are seeking the Lord or are wanting answers that the Lord has given you to share. 

 

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

 

Degrees are over-rated as a necessity for serving Him.  Just have a KJV handy and lean on Him.

 

2 Corinthians 3:1Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? 2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. 4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

 

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I Cor. 1:7

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty...

It's not what we are, but what Christ is in you.

It is better that you don't think you are so much.

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Blessings nature.nut

    Welcome to Worthy.........God bless you!  May I ask you a question?What makes you think the Lord has called you to be a "Pastor"specifically?We are all called to go out & make disciples of men as disciples to one another & to all but not to shepherd a church,that is very specific......so I am curious

     You can begin by contacting different Bible Colleges,Charis has a very good reputation,,,,,,find out what the pre-requisites are,I believe you do have to have a High School diploma or the equivalent of so,you might want to start there. And there are some very good Bible Colleges that you can complete your courses & studies on the internet.........Do you go to a local church?It would be a good idea to speak with your Pastor about what is involved besides the Wisdom & Understanding by the Power of the Holy spirit that it is Gods Will for you

                                                                                                                                                With love-in Christ,Kwik

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You said "I feel like I am not someone who is worthy". You are right. You are not. If you thought you were, you would be too arrogant for God to use you.

HOWEVER, you can "minister" for God and His Son, Jesus, wherever you are.

In fact, if you are not doing God's will right now where you are today, what makes you think you will do so after spending thousands of dollars and years of study to become a "pastor"? Even if you did make such an investment, you would be no closer to reflecting Christ to those you interact with than you are today.

I am firmly convinced that the two most important things for any Christian to do is draw close to God through His only Son, Christ Jesus, as earnestly and daily as one can, and, to reflect Christ to those around us.

The ONLY way we can reflect Christ and be more like Him, is to spend as much time as we can with Him, preferably daily.

(Or at the very least make sure you spend at least seven to eight hours with Him a week. - I get this from the fourth commandment where God tells people to set aside an entire day for Him each week. Through the New Testement, I interpret this to mean that we should set aside sheduled time each week to meet with God. - This does not include going to church or having a day of rest. It means we should actively and consciously spend quality time with God each week, and 7 or 8 hours is a good place to start. For a pastor, I would suggest no less than 20-30 hours a week. If you want to be a pastor, spend at least two hours a day getting to know God better. If you do that for a week, you will be surprised how much God is leading you.)

It is my opinion that the most important and fundanmental responsibility of a preacher/ pastor/ minister/ reverend, or whatever, is to reflect Christ to those they lead, and to lead them to desire to be closer to Christ.

The only way one can instill in someone else the desire to be closer to Christ is to have that desire oneself and share how exciting and fun (that is, joyfilled – even in the midst of adversity) it is to be living it oneself.

Set your sights on having a great (and even, respectfully, fun) relationship with Christ daily. After you have this part down, then talk with Him about how to reflect Him to the world around you. (You probably won't need to talk with Him much about this because you will be changing to be like Him as you spend more time with Him anyway.)

After you are spending all day talking with Jesus and hearing Him clearly in return, THEN you can ask Him what to do next.

Don't limit it to going to school for several years and spending many thousands of dollars in order to “do God's will”.

Take it day by day and just enjoy getting to know Jesus better, and see what happens. He probably won't tell you what is years down the road for you. All He really wants from you (and any Christian, indeed, any human) is a great daily relationship with Him. Once you are in love with Jesus, you can't help but want to share Him with others. That is when you are where Jesus wants you.

Edited by Earnest
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Thank you all for your responses! Kwik, there are many reasons why I am thinking of this step in life. I don't want to really get into it because I don't want it to sound like I am knocking churches, so I will just say that every day I see more and more churches turning worldly. Catholic, Baptist... does not matter. They preform gay marriages and tell people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear. In my small city there is one huge church and a couple small ones. The pastor of the huge church has two cars and a yacht that he goes sailing in each week. To me that is not right, that is not living humble. That is standing infront of people one day a week and telling them God loves them and has forgiven all their sins, then having a blast the rest of the week. Not every church is like this, but more and more are becoming worldly. But aside from my personal reasons like those few examples, I think God is calling me to be a pastor and has been for a long time because I can feel it. It feels like the Holy Spirit is trying to guide me in that path. Kind of like if you are about to do something wrong and you get that feeling it is wrong... like if you are at the store and the teller gives you change back for a $20 when you only gave her a $5. You could really use the money, but you have that feeling telling you not to walk away. Or if you are in the grocery store line and the person infront of you is short $ for their baby diapers. You have no extra money but you get that feeling asking you if you really need that bag of doritos? Ok, maybe those are not great examples haha, but it's the feeling we all have from the Holy Spirit to guide us in every day life, big choices and small choices. There is one big reason why I question it... I am 40 and I do not have my highscool diploma. I am not dumb, but I am not "school smart". My credit is toast, I made a lot of wrong choices in life because they are choices I made without handing my life to God and accepting his guidance. I am at the point now of knowing I should have listened, and thinking I need to start listening. But it is hard... most people's idea of a pastor is a well educated man who has always had his life together, that is not me.

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If you really feel like becoming a pastor is the direction God is showing you, then you should do something about it. Whilst intelligence is a gift from God to us, there are many different forms of it. A pastor does not have to be an astrophysist, considering what you said about being smart. He will teach you what you need to know and sense. Our stength is in His wisdom.

 

I am graduating to become a pastor in the Lutheran church in about one year from now. The path to here so far has been rocky and sometimes I've really wondered if I am heading the right way. The church here has quite much as you said, taken the wordly direction, and one has to wonder where things are heading. What can you do in such a place? Frankly, I have no clue, it has been only recently the whole idea of working as a pastor in a congregation has begun to make sense, after four years of study in the university. The university alone won't do much good, the best experiences no doubt come from the life outside. Hopefully God has a plan why I am supposed to become a pastor. But He seldom makes mistakes (read: never).

 

The issue about the burden of being a pastor is another thing. Such humility is required to be worthy of that job. For on the ground level and in the face of God, such positions don't matter. But in today's  church culture they exist. And can be run in many ways. As long as pastors exist, I really pray to have those born in spirit and not in doctrine only.

 

You sound like a solid person, someone whom the Lord has a job to do. If your calling is to become a pastor, then off you go. Even my entrance into the university was a sort of miracle. On the way to the entrance exam I managed to grab a dog bitten age old pencil with me, wrote the answers with ink, no correcting whatsoever. I think was half a point that sufficed to put me on the list to enter. Ever since it's been shocking the academic world with revelationary material, being the worldly state it is in.

 

So if I could do that (although, not me but Christ within me ;) ), you should have no problem.

 

All you really need, is a serving heart. Be it a pastor or not. Praise God.

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If you have been called to this high calling by God then you must answer the call. As far as your parents pray that they understand the importance and the need for you to leave this "cultist" enviroment. Praying for you. Fear not!

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Firstly, thanks for the question. Very bold!

However don't let your age deceive you. That's the devil getting in your ear. If Gods will is for you to become a pastor, then do it.

Phillipians 2:13-14

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing

Hebrews 13:21

equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hope this helps :)

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Blessings nature.nut

    Those are perfect examples of the guidance of the Holy Spirit,more than great examples,,,they are real.everyday life's trials.tests & experiences.If you feel that strongly about this calling then you should just move ahead without further delay,40 is not old ,,,,,instead ,look at it this way 20,30 & 40 years  more of walking in the Purpose of Gods calling for you is a good number of years to get a lot of work done!

    Begin with getting that HS equiv diploma & looking into the different Bible Colleges.....these are things that will be required as I believe,don't delay....there is no time like the present.The Lord will be right by your side & direct your footsteps,trust Him & go for it!

                                                                                                                                  With love-in Christ,Kwik

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