Evangelism

I first felt the call to ministry in the 9th grade. In the 9th grade we were given a project. What do you want to do for life and do you plan to retire? I began thinking about this. My dad works with computers for a living. His degree is in computer science. So I thought maybe that's what I wanted to do. But I got a deep impression. "Be an evangelist." I thought about a few other occupations. But every time I got the same impression. "Be an evangelist."

So I went to school for Theology. I got my B.A. in said degree with a minor in Biblical Languages. Towards the end of my schooling, I had to write a philosophy of pastoral ministry as an assignment for a class. And so I did. A very good friend mentioned to me that I would make a good counselor. In my philosophy, I wrote that I wanted to get a master's in counseling so I could counsel the members of a church I may pastor someday.

As a consequence the staff of the college I went to felt that I was not 100% for pastoral ministry. And because of that, I was not allowed to interview with the conference presidents when they came down to interview the soon to be Theology graduates. Please keep in mind that I don't tell you this to get back at them. That is why I won't mention where I went to school.

For a while I would get upset and even bitter when I thought of it. But this next quarter of the year, our Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath School lesson is on evangelism and witnessing. And God made me realize something.

I don't need to be taking a paycheck from the church to be in the ministry. I don't need to be hired to be an evangelist or a pastor. If God has called you to be a pastor, you are a pastor. If God has called you to be an evangelist, you are an evangelist. Whatever He calls you to be, you don't need anyone else to agree with God's calling for you. If He says you are called, you are called. And we are all called to reach out to those around us with the love of Jesus.

I don't get upset anymore. I'm no longer bitter about it. God has something in store for me. 

Check this out.

Ephesians 4:11 says, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;"

 Check out the different meanings for "evangelist." Awesome. I will try to write more on evangelism as we go through this quarter of Sabbath School lessons on this subject.

For now, I leave you with this thought. If God calls you to something, do it. It may be that He wants you to do it in a way that is out of the norm.