Day 4 - My Views on Religion
Since I am in ministry I have quite a bit to say on this topic and I would be glad to answer any specific questions. For efficiency sake I am going to simply insert the paperwork that I prepared for my recent District Committee On Ministry interview for Certification as a Candidate in the United Methodist Church.
Statement of Call
Growing
up our family held membership at FUMC Mansfield but rarely attended. In 6th
grade the invitation came to register for Confirmation. I am still not sure
why, but that year when my mom asked if I wanted to go through Confirmation, as
my brother had the previous year, I responded “That seems like a big deal and I
don’t think I’m ready yet.” It was not until 8th grade that I
finally accepted the invitation.
I felt I
was better able to understand confirmation lessons by being more mature during
that process, in a way in which it really began to change and shape my life. I
look back now and can see how significant of a change there was emotionally,
behaviorally, and socially once God became a regular part of my life. It was
this confirmation process and an invitation from my youth pastor to be a part
of the youth program that really launched my participation in the life of the
Church. Through heavy involvement in the youth program and direct mentoring from
a new youth director, I accepted a call to youth
ministry my sophomore year of high school and took on significant leadership
roles as a student.
I first
felt the hint of being called to more than just youth ministry in the spring of
my junior year in high school. Several times, I had invited a friend of mine
from the track team to come to church with me, after about a month of attending
he felt compelled to be baptized. My pastor invited me forward to lay my hands
on my friend during the baptism. In that
moment, I felt an overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit that was telling me
that this was what I was supposed to do with my life. In my youth, I dismissed
this feeling as simply a confirmation of my call to youth ministry. It wasn’t
until I really began learning about the process of ordination while at McMurry
University that I came to understand this as a call to Sacrament. However, God again guided me to the similar
thought I had before confirmation, ordination is a big deal, and I wasn’t
ready.
While Lay
ministry has provided me with the opportunity to learn more about church work while
spreading the gospel, I have learned that there is no way to satisfy that
burning in my heart other than thru ordination. To delay following my call any
longer would be to deny the desires that God has placed in my heart. I deeply
desire to be sent as the set apart leader who brings God’s grace to new people by
baptism and the grace of restoration to congregations that desire to feel the
movement of the Holy Spirit as they once have. I desire to expand the kingdom
of God by way of creating new opportunities for people to learn that nothing
can separate us from the love of God. I desire to lead people in worship of and
service to God, so that communities would be changed by a church that is
relevant in people’s lives. This call on my heart has finally guided me to say
that now is the right time to enter the process. I am experiencing the joy of
married life, and now fatherhood, yet my heart was not settled. Where at times
there has been fear or reluctance, there is now peace that only came from
saying yes to God and what He has planned for my life by beginning the
ordination process. I now feel confident to say that I know this is a big deal,
I am ready.
When it
comes down to a single definitive thing I must point to, it would be Matthew
28:19. My personal faith would not be complete if I never fulfill what God
called me for years ago during my friend’s baptism. I must go and baptize, I
must go and share in communion, to not would be to deny God’s call for my life
making it difficult to consider myself a disciple of Christ.
Do they know God as pardoning God?
Have they the love of God abiding in them? Do they desire nothing but God? Are
they holy in all manner of conversations?
I feel confident
responding “yes” to all of the above questions. I believe that God is merciful
and have felt evidence of God’s grace and love in my life.
Have they gifts, as well as
evidence of God’s Grace, for the work? Have they a clear, sound understanding;
a right judgment in things of God; a just conception of salvation by faith? Do
they speak justly, readily, clearly?
I feel strongly that the evidence
for this set of questions rests in the answers to the questions about fruit. In
my time working with Preschool children in chapel at Preston Hollow UMC I found
very quickly that if I did not understand the biblical concepts of right judgment
and salvation by faith, it would be impossible to communicate such profound
lessons to 3-4 year olds. I have been uplifted by many for my ability to
communicate the gospel in a way that people at many different life stages can
understand.
Have they fruit? Have any been truly convinced of
sin and converted to God and are believers edified by their service?
Not only can I answer yes
there is fruit of my ministry, but I can provide names, stories, and examples.
By the Grace of God, my life has served witness to have the following people
make the decision to become baptized Christians: Joseph Farley, Catherine
Newton, Sophia Newton; and at least the following make a clear renewal of
commitment to their faith: Chris Newton, Drew Johnson Scott, Michael Conley,
Alexandria Zupa, Rebecca Delflache and hopefully many more. I strive to live a life that uplifts and
encourages people, and have been a source of spiritual growth even to people
that I admire for their faith.
I can,
point to a trip to the Taize Monastery in southern France as my most formative faith experience. Through
the unique style of worship and experience of silence, reflection, and prayer,
I came to understand something different about my beliefs. This is what I wrote in my journaling of the
experience, “what was once confused as understanding is now understood to be
confusion.” What this statement
represented was a shift from a black and white, cut and dry, legalistic
perspective of what it means to be a Christian, to a place of constantly
seeking and evaluating between what is right and wrong in my beliefs and
actions. I am convinced of my beliefs in both heart and mind yet this openness
has allowed me to come to grow deeper in belief and appreciation for God. I
believe that we must always continue to learn. I believe that we will never perfectly
understand God, mankind, or how we are to interact with each other but that perfection
should be what we strive for in life. What this has to do with my call to ministry
is both spiritual and practical. In our churches when someone is seeking to
grow deeper spiritually there is only so much growth through silence, self
reflection or even, searching the scriptures, at some point we must get more
involved. We must become more involved in our communities to be able to see how
God is moving and interacting with others. We must become more involved with
the un-churched to grow in our understanding of all Jesus’ references to
gentiles. We must become more involved in church for our eyes to be opened to
the reality of life behind the plastic smiles of those we think “have it
figured out,” and to see the Pharisee in our own selves. Personally I have
journeyed from saying I am a Christian, to being a church attendee, then from
attendee to volunteer, from volunteer to leader, and finally from leader to
staff. My faith has grown each step of the way as I have found joy in becoming
more connected, have been uplifted and encouraged by others to continue in my
path. That is the spiritual role of the church in my personal call. The
practical role of the church in my call to ordained ministry is what District
Superintendant Dr. Clara Reed once told me is the “outward call.” She explained
to me that there is more to being called to ministry than how I personally feel
about my call. Others in our life will see God’s plans for us sometimes before
we do, and they confirm and encourage verbally what God is speaking in our
hearts. In my time of working in the church, many people have provided this
confirmation and encouragement of pursuing ordination as an elder.
I
believe that God created and is creating still. I believe that God is truth and
that God is love. God pursues a relationship with each and every person and
will do anything to be with us even to the point of sending us Jesus, God made
flesh, not only as the atoning and redeeming sacrifice for our sin but as the
only perfect example of how to live. As a Christian my relationship with God is
not merit based but a free gift of grace outside of my doing and through that
relationship we are invited to be a part of what God is doing in the world. I
believe God loves murderers, rapists, brutal dictators, atheists, religious
people, apathetic people, and even me, yet God’s love does not look the same to
all people. The world will be a better place if more people were able to
recognize God’s love in their life and then respond to it through the way they
live. The Gospel is social and it should affect the way we interact with each
other and with God. I trust in the Holy Bible as the word of God, even though
there is a lot about it that I do not understand. I believe that God brings
life and that the abundant and eternal life that Jesus came to give should be
lived even now. I believe that God packages a unique set of gifts in all people
for them to share with the world. I believe that my gifts are best used in
ministry. My entire life God has been
crafting me for this work, making me a leader with creative vision and the
ability to spread this vision to others. The gift of persuasion then allows me
to bring others into the process of change. God has also blessed me with the
gift of preaching in a way that challenges and inspires people. I am able to
identify with a wide variety of people through my life experiences which allow
me to be a witness of God’s love to many people in many different
circumstances. These gifts inspire me to continue following my call to ordained
ministry as an elder so that I would have the opportunity and authority to
bring people into the church and into closer relationship with God.
I have
an amazing support system comprised of both friends and family starting first
with my wife. All of our immediate family lives in the Dallas/Ft. Worth
metroplex and are willing to help us in whatever way they can to help me
through the ordination process and seminary. I have friends that I can trust
outside of my place of work and friends that I can trust at the church that
help me to accomplish the things I do.
What is the meaning and significance
of the Sacraments?
The Sacraments are outward
symbols of God’s love toward us and a means to God’s grace which is working
within us. The Sacraments implemented by Jesus and by doing them we affirm our
love for God and awareness of God’s love for us. Sacraments unify the members
of the body of Christ in community with each other sharing in responsibility of
strengthening each other as Disciples of Christ.
What is your
understanding of itinerant ministry?
Simply put, it means
going where the bishop decides to appoint an elder for the sake of ordering the
church and administering the Sacrament. Methodists began itinerate ministry for
the practical reason of not having enough ordained elders for every church to
have one so a pastor would be assigned a circuit of churches to ride between
for a year or two and then moved to a new circuit.
What is your
understanding of baptism? Who Can Receive Baptism?
Baptism, an outward sign
of inward grace, is a sacrament ordained by Jesus in which water is used and an
Ordained elder says the prayer “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” It represents the receiving of the Holy
Spirit. Baptism is a means of grace that is a complete work of the Holy Spirit
and is permanent. You cannot be un-baptized much the same as a pickle cannot
become a cucumber again, therefore it must only be done once. Anyone who has
not yet been baptized can receive the sacrament of baptism.
As Always thanks for your
time and giving this a read. If you enjoyed it share it with friends, you can
do so easily with one of the buttons below. I pray that you will embrace life
in the Love and Grace offered to you through Jesus Christ, and that you will
always remember Jeremiah 29:11. – For I know the plans I have for you
declares the Lord, Plans to Proper You and not for harm, Plans with Hope for
the Future.
