Thoughts on "A call from God"

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PilgrimsProgress

PilgrimsProgress

Well-Known Member
What does this actually mean?

Is it the reason folks go into ministry?

Does God call other than those in the ministry?

How do you discern the difference between what you want to do - from what God is calling you to do?

Have you personally felt that you've had a call from God?


Lots of questions, so I'd appreciate lots of answers.........
 
I got a call from g_d today and I wasn't paying attention at the time

Getting back from buying some groceries heading back to my hut when a sunburned dude asked me why I was wearing 2 different socks.

That's how it began.

He had a nice beard.

A friendly dog (malamute? Husky?) Named Buddha who was sniffing my bag.

He said he was without a home -- he was living in his truck -- he didn't want to pay the exorbitant rental rates. He said he pays some $3000 a month on his truck for gas etc and taking care of his dog (he puts his dog in dog care).

He kept on asking if I had a place 2 live.

Another guy recognized him and greeted him. I fistbumped and went on my way.

And I only realized after what had happened.

Gives us what we need...

Tricksy She is
 
Sometimes church speak is used , eg "calling" instead of job or profession

to make the person feel a cut above. People can do the same work by what ever

name that that the position is called or they can hear noises in the night ,"I'm calling

you." I heard a co-worker tell me that he was "called" on a tractor. Actually it was

s partner calling him for Supper. IMO
 
PilgrimsProgress said:
What does this actually mean?

Is it the reason folks go into ministry?

Does God call other than those in the ministry?

How do you discern the difference between what you want to do - from what God is calling you to do?

Have you personally felt that you've had a call from God?


Lots of questions, so I'd appreciate lots of answers.........
Click to expand...
--Hi Pilgrims I was hoping you would tell us more about your belief.
Yes GOD talks with me , almost every day. He don't talk to you? Yes I feel I am called by GOD. You believe anyone would go through this on there own?
 
Questions From OP -----

What does this actually mean?
Is it the reason folks go into ministry?
Does God call other than those in the ministry?
How do you discern the difference between what you want to do - from what God is calling you to do?
Have you personally felt that you've had a call from God?

All great questions ----so to answer them --the word call should be rightly defined when speaking of the divine----- especially when we are talking about God calling people into the Ministry and other services that are divine ---

People in the Old Testament we spoken to directly by God and were called to provide a divine service ----these come to mind Noah --Abraham ---Moses --Elijah --Enoch ---Jonah and many others all were called or summoned by God for a purpose ----- God dealt directly with these people ---

After the Death and Resurrection of Jesus ----the Holy Spirit comes into play here -----

The question is -----without having the Holy Spirit ----that is receiving Jesus as our Lord and Saviour are we connected to God in any way ----God can call whom He likes --He is God ---He called Paul into His Service ----Did Paul have the Holy Spirit indwelling in Him or did Pau Preach on his own power ------

Is the calling from God when people go into the Ministry ----or is it their own calling thinking they are being called by God into the Ministry ---

So the question is -----do we need the Holy Spirit indwelling in us today to be called by God to be in the Ministry or any other divine service that God may call people to -----or is our Human corrupt Nature good enough to preach and serve a Holy God ---
 
According to Oz Guinness in his book The Call, “Our primary calling as followers of Christ is by him, to him, and for him. Our secondary calling, considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere, and in everything should think, speak, live, and act entirely for him." Calling means that everyone, he says, everywhere, and in everything fulfills their (secondary) callings in response to God’s primary calling.
 
airclean33 said:
--Hi Pilgrims I was hoping you would tell us more about your belief.
Yes GOD talks with me , almost every day. He don't talk to you? Yes I feel I am called by GOD. You believe anyone would go through this on there own?
Click to expand...
Just curious airclean33, HOW does God talk to you? Is it through the Bible?, signs? or does he actually talk to you like you would have a conversation with someone here on earth (with an audible voice and using language?)
 
Waterfall said:
Just curious airclean33, HOW does God talk to you? Is it through the Bible?, signs? or does he actually talk to you like you would have a conversation with someone here on earth (with an audible voice and using language?)
Click to expand...
--Thanks for asking so nice Waterfall.. I will try to explain. I hear God as a person sometimes , as a thought. He leads me to study something. Then will teach me what I missed. He has asked me to do things, That I didn't want to. Like tell the man your speaking to , he is drinking far to much, God wants you to stop ! I really hardly new him.. We both wind up crying. I was the third one in a month ,to tell him almost the same thing. To pray for someone" , I was very angry with. I had not known that was more for me" ,than them. Anger hurts" you not the other person. Get rid of it , as soon as possible.( Love comes back many times more than you give.) His teaching just for you Waterfall." All Glory is GODS.
 
The word discernment can be used for this physical realm as well as for the Spiritual Realm ----

An example of using it in this physical realm ----http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discernment
  1. His lack of discernment led to his disastrous choice of business partners.
  2. <the discernment to know when someone is a true friend>

So to answer this question from OP -----How do you discern the difference between what you want to do - from what God is calling you to do?

Discernment in the Spiritual Realm is a gift of the Spirit -----you need the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 12:8-10 ESV

For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.


Satan is a deceiver and can parade as an angel of light -----So Spiritual Discernment is very important when being called to Preach or serve in God's Church ----The deceiver is in place in many churches today in my view -----


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PilgrimsProgress -----your quote ------I'm still not clear on how those that have a call know it's from God, and not just their own thoughts?

All Chridt--ians are called to be ministers ----Not all are called into a vocational Ministry as a Pastorate

This is what I say if the person is wondering if they are called into a vocational ministry should be looking for ---

If the person has a strong desire-- that is continual desire that can't be quenched no matter what they do to squash it --they should amerce themselves in prayer about being called into this job ----

The person should look for gifts that are necessary for preaching and see if they may possess some of the gifts or want to possess these gifts ---

The person should look for confirmation from others that they should be doing this job -----if a person seems to have a special quality in regards to the Ministry people will voice their views to the person ----the people will witness to the person that they have what it takes to be doing this job

Watch for circumstances that come about to confirm that sense of the calling

But to my mind deep praying -- listening for direction is most important of all ----- don't be hasty in decision making ---
 
Many ministries are formed from a need and an empathy.
We hear the poor and their depravity calling so we feed them.
We make prayer shawls for comfort because we hear the hopelessness.
We visit the lonely and dying because we hear their crying.
We minister because we hear the lost.

God appeals to our conscience that He created within us and we answer the call if we have the ability and the means to do so. There is not one of us that is placed somewhere in the world where we can't be of service if we listen.
 
unsafe said:
PilgrimsProgress -----your quote ------I'm still not clear on how those that have a call know it's from God, and not just their own thoughts?

All Chridt--ians are called to be ministers ----Not all are called into a vocational Ministry as a Pastorate

This is what I say if the person is wondering if they are called into a vocational ministry should be looking for ---

If the person has a strong desire-- that is continual desire that can't be quenched no matter what they do to squash it --they should amerce themselves in prayer about being called into this job ----

The person should look for gifts that are necessary for preaching and see if they may possess some of the gifts or want to possess these gifts ---

The person should look for confirmation from others that they should be doing this job -----if a person seems to have a special quality in regards to the Ministry people will voice their views to the person ----the people will witness to the person that they have what it takes to be doing this job

Watch for circumstances that come about to confirm that sense of the calling

But to my mind deep praying -- listening for direction is most important of all ----- don't be hasty in decision making ---
Click to expand...

Agreeing with unsafe. A couple of things I would add...

the person should have an inner peace regarding their calling.

the person should make sure that the calling they feel they have is in keeping with Scripture.
 
Well now's the time to come clean about the reason for my thread.......
It may involve, in some folk's eyes, of making a bit of a fool of myself (but, hey,at my age, I've got quite comfortable with that!)

It's a bit of a long story, so settle back.......

It begins with me being in a psych hospital in my twenties and one of the other patients demanding to know why I got more intensive treatment - and they were just medicated.
Now, being one of five kids, I wasn't use to being given a lot of attention, so I had to agree that this patient was correct.

I asked the psychiatrist and he said I had good verbal skills and, more importantly, I was capable of insight.

This fellow patient was a tough dude -he'd been raised in boy's homes, spent time in jail and was on the methadone programme in hospital for those addicted to heroin. He was also someone who became a friend, and when he died of an overdose years later I always had the thought that what I had learnt about mental illness -from my better treatment - I would find a way to pass on to others such as him, who didn't have my advantages. (He had gone through schooling without being able to read.)

Some of you might recall that about a year ago I wrote my thoughts about empowering those with mental illness -and wanted to read it out at my church for Mental Health Month. The minister didn't allow me the opportunity -and it caused conflict and upheaval -with me looking for a new church.
I soon found myself in a mission church, which is for those who don't feel accepted in mainstream churches -alcoholics, drug users, various mental illnesses, intellectually impaired, homeless, etc..........
The two ministers at this church are very enthusiastic about me contributing - "You've walked the walk, our people will listen to you."
I thought about this, and came up with the idea of doing monthly talks on faith and emotional health, as part of the church service. I remembered how Jesus talked in parables to convey his message - so I found stories that demonstrated what I wanted to say, and kept it to five minutes -telling the story, and then saying how my message related to the story.....

It's been very satisfying on one level - the congregation are enthusiastic and I really feel I'm doing something worthwhile.


Now, do you think God could have called me to this ministry, or is it simply my idea?


I say that, because it's certainly not the kind of ministry I would prefer to do.

No prizes for guessing the kind of ministry I would have chosen - a speaker for Progressive Christianity, impressing everyone with my academic knowledge of theology! Yet truthfully, although I'm reasonably intelligent, I'm no intellectual, and my abilities just aren't in this area.

Which just happens to be what the original minister I had the conflict is!!

(I now attend both churches and the original minister and I have reconciled - so God sure does work in mysterious ways!)
 
Last edited:
PilgrimsProgress said:
Now, do you think God could have called me to this ministry, or is it simply my idea?
Click to expand...
I'm open enough to the idea of a 'calling' that I will say it will be either. For many of those who claim something was a calling though, it's almost always related to religion, even if it's a bit less direct than something like ministry. If God really does call people into certain roles wouldn't they include a very wide-variety? Why are some seemed to be considered calling-worthy and others not?
 
unsafe said:
PilgrimsProgress -----your quote ------I'm still not clear on how those that have a call know it's from God, and not just their own thoughts?

All Chridt--ians are called to be ministers ----Not all are called into a vocational Ministry as a Pastorate

This is what I say if the person is wondering if they are called into a vocational ministry should be looking for ---

If the person has a strong desire-- that is continual desire that can't be quenched no matter what they do to squash it --they should amerce themselves in prayer about being called into this job ----

The person should look for gifts that are necessary for preaching and see if they may possess some of the gifts or want to possess these gifts ---

The person should look for confirmation from others that they should be doing this job -----if a person seems to have a special quality in regards to the Ministry people will voice their views to the person ----the people will witness to the person that they have what it takes to be doing this job

Watch for circumstances that come about to confirm that sense of the calling

But to my mind deep praying -- listening for direction is most important of all ----- don't be hasty in decision making ---
Click to expand...
Sorry. It doesn't answer pilgrims question. Could you try again.
 
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