Taking Your Next Step Toward Full-Time Ministry
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Pursuing Him

Understanding God’s Training Program for those in Full-time Ministry

Training for an effective full-time ministry never really stops. We constantly need to be readying our heart to rightly serve the Lord. We always have room to grow. “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). We need to attentively listen to the Lord for wisdom, courage, strength and endurance. God’s training program might look different after we have been serving the Lord for a while, but in many ways it is similar to what He has been doing. An effective leader is a life disciple (learner) of the Lord Jesus Christ. Once a disciple, always a disciple.

Training is important for those in service of the Lord. We might make a lot of difference between pre-training and post-training, but the Lord doesn’t. We never graduate from His school of training until we reach heaven’s shores. He shapes us so that we can bear more fruit. It behooves us to better understand how He trains us.

 King Saul was one who resisted God’s training. He was qualified before man (tall, big and strong) but not before the Lord. In many cases the candidate considers himself qualified for service before God does. God, however, is the best appraiser of our strengths and weaknesses. There are numerous helps to evaluate a person’s qualifications for ministry but most of them fail. They are usually focused on graduation from a formal training program and the soundness of ones doctrine. In some situations they work, but today they often fail miserably. This is due mostly to the deterioration of the family and the resulting lack of personal character. It is compounded by the lack of ‘hands on’ training. God looked beyond David’s older and more mature brothers and chose the smallest boy out in the field shepherding because he had a heart after God.

We need to learn how to properly evaluate our qualifications for service.  How do we do this? We must avoid the tendency to only look at what we know or have done. We need to focus on fruits from ministry, personal growth, and relationships within the church. Because of the emphasis on academic training, we tend to ask the wrong questions. Here are a few right questions.

 We want to provide you with a better understanding of God’s full training program for your own lives. Although we could focus on specific qualities needed for service, we will here take a more strategic approach. We will observe four special areas of training that the person who aspires to go into missions needs to pay close attention to. This doesn’t differ too much for those going into the pastorate except in the area of raising support.

1. Experience/training: Gaining all the skills and knowledge one needs to enter full-time ministry.
   
   
2. Character/spiritual: Acquiring the moral character and effective spiritual disciplines to maintain a close and intimate relationship with the Lord.
   
   
3. Mission/support: Making the proper contacts with a mission or denominational agency along with the raising of needed support (prayer and financial).
   
   
4. Church relationships: Carrying on good and proper relationships with those in ones home church and making sure clear communication is occurring.

If any area is neglected, then certain problems and misunderstandings develop. There is no doubt that these deficient areas would in time be exposed and cause damage in our ministries and lives. God wants to properly prepare us so that He can more effectively work through our lives. He didn’t want Peter and the others to stumble and neither does He want us to fail. Effective training leads to long-term success.