Call To Ministry

Status
Not open for further replies.
Dec 16, 2011
5,208
2,548
57
Home
Visit site
✟234,667.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
I have read the replies to your questions and I'm quite amazed by the answers. People are replying as if obedience to wife is more important than obedience to God.

Luke 14:25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Jesus didn't leave the wife out of the people who must come second to Him. The OP is not saying he wants to leave his wife; it is the wife that wants to leave him. We shouldn't twist this into "Some charismatic people have left their wives so the OP could be heading in that direction."

Paul in instructing about families, clearly understood that an unbelieving spouse can leave.

1st Cor 7:15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

Although the OP hasn't said that the wife is an unbeliever, i'd be very troubled if my wife were to be unhappy because I am "too addicted to God." I wouldn't be shocked if a few years from now, Christians will be witnessing to non-believers but urging them not to become a Christian if it will wreck their families because God hates divorce and He recognizes the institution of marriage regardless of one's faith

If you are 100% convinced that this is the will of God for your life, then go ahead and do what God commands you to do. Don't wait until you get all the answers. There is an old teaching by Andrew Wommack on this and i'd urge you to read the article and listen to the teaching. How to find God's will
A word of discernment needs to be added to qualify what the Lord has said. Very often, people seek to enter into the ministry because of motives that have little to really do with the Love of God, and much more to do with Love of self. The One who said "He that love wife more than me is not worthy of me" also says "unless one denies himself... he cannot be My disciple". Many seek to become pastors, not out of Love of God, but because they are full of the defilement of self-love, and all of the sinful passions which feed it. A person who not so long ago cheated on his wife with another is likely not even close to having been sanctified and deified (Theosis) enough to be free of the poison of self-love and all of the vile passions. This is why so many entering the ministry merely wind up serving to become sources of scandal and evil. Much repentance is needed. Bearing with the burdens of Holy Matrimony and family is just the opportunity that many of us who have been very selfish and sinful men need in order to learn to bear fruit befitting of repentance. Our spouses often grow as we grow in the grace of God, and can be converted through our own conversion.

This takes time and patience. God places great value on Holy Matrimony. If we throw away a marriage on some selfish whim to become a minister, we are not denying ourselves, and we are not a disciple of Christ.
 
Upvote 0

letmeseeyourphone

Active Member
Feb 2, 2018
57
30
46
Oregon
✟10,332.00
Country
United States
Faith
Pentecostal
Marital Status
Married
Everything will work out in the end. But please read that article and if you find it worth it, listen to the teaching. It helped me a lot
I will! I bookmarked it. I'll try to get to it this weekend. Thank you for sharing it.
 
Upvote 0

letmeseeyourphone

Active Member
Feb 2, 2018
57
30
46
Oregon
✟10,332.00
Country
United States
Faith
Pentecostal
Marital Status
Married
A word of discernment needs to be added to qualify what the Lord has said. Very often, people seek to enter into the ministry because of motives that have little to really do with the Love of God, and much more to do with Love of self. The One who said "He that love wife more than me is not worthy of me" also says "unless one denies himself... he cannot be My disciple". Many seek to become pastors, not out of Love of God, but because they are full of the defilement of self-love, and all of the sinful passions which feed it. A person who not so long ago cheated on his wife with another is likely not even close to having been sanctified and deified (Theosis) enough to be free of the poison of self-love and all of the vile passions. This is why so many entering the ministry merely wind up serving to become sources of scandal and evil. Much repentance is needed. Bearing with the burdens of Holy Matrimony and family is just the opportunity that many of us who have been very selfish and sinful men need in order to learn to bear fruit befitting of repentance. Our spouses often grow as we grow in the grace of God, and can be converted through our own conversion.

This takes time and patience. God places great value on Holy Matrimony. If we throw away a marriage on some selfish whim to become a minister, we are not denying ourselves, and we are not a disciple of Christ.
I get it. No I'm not running to any church with claims of any kind. I learned my lessons there. My church is small. Very small. About a dozen. We're a home group that just moved into a building. Starting new. The Lord kept me out of church for a reason I see now. So I wouldn't be afraid to stand up to bad doctrine. I wanna reiterate what I said earlier, I don't doubt what I've been shown. At all. And I wasn't super excited about alot of it. Mainly the part with all the people inside the church and me being center stage. I'm scared sh*tless. I will admit it. But the Lord's gonna work that out of me too. I'm not running to this. There's some parts that thrill me greatly, sure. But alot of it I still fear. This will take time. And I'm still getting schooling. All I'm trying to do is follow the prophetic path the Lord has shown me, which right now just means going to school and going to church twice a month. That's it. And that alone is drawing lines.
 
Upvote 0

ValleyGal

Well-Known Member
Dec 19, 2012
5,775
1,829
✟114,245.00
Country
Canada
Faith
Anabaptist
Marital Status
Divorced
You say you came to get opinions, yet almost any opinion given has been met with defense.

I will agree that if the Lord called you to ministry, it will happen. Perhaps this isn't the right time. Imo, there is more going on in your marriage than meets the eye. You are both hurting and resentful toward the other.

Ministry begins at home. When you study Jesus, study the way he is with the church. He is the one who initiated the relationship (Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners), he is the one who initiates reconciliation, he is the one who is spiritually strong, who does miracles to meet her needs, who serves her (Philippians 4, iirc), who submits himself to torture and false accusations for her sake. This is how ministry begins at home - by being all these things (and more!) for your wife. You have admitted here that you are sick of her. Yet you say you love her. I'm confused.

Your calling is important and good, but we are all ministers of his love in any calling, in any job, in any career, or vocation. But your marriage is in trouble - even if you were not to pursue ministry, I would still say your marriage is in trouble.

Dr. John Gottman (he is Jewish, and he is a leading psychologist researcher on the marriage relationship, voted into this position by his peers worldwide) trains counsellors to use his very successful method. You can find a Gottman-trained counsellor on his website:
Find Couple Therapy or Marriage Therapy in Your Area
 
Upvote 0

letmeseeyourphone

Active Member
Feb 2, 2018
57
30
46
Oregon
✟10,332.00
Country
United States
Faith
Pentecostal
Marital Status
Married
I got what I needed here. Thank you all. Some of you are right on. Some are misguided due to bad doctrine. May you all find the truth, and may Jesus bless each of you. Mods, please delete this thread so I don't get any more hate mail. Thank you.
 
Upvote 0

GingerBeer

Cool and refreshing with a kick!
Mar 26, 2017
3,511
1,348
Australia
✟119,825.00
Country
Australia
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Private
Don't trust my own eyes or ears? Don't trust what the Lord has spoken directly to me and shown me?
That is right. Do not trust to your own 'revelations' because many have trusted to such and fallen.

1 John 4 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Testing the Spirits
4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God:
every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world.
4 Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: discipler7
Upvote 0
Dec 16, 2011
5,208
2,548
57
Home
Visit site
✟234,667.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
I get it. No I'm not running to any church with claims of any kind. I learned my lessons there. My church is small. Very small. About a dozen. We're a home group that just moved into a building. Starting new. The Lord kept me out of church for a reason I see now. So I wouldn't be afraid to stand up to bad doctrine. I wanna reiterate what I said earlier, I don't doubt what I've been shown. At all. And I wasn't super excited about alot of it. Mainly the part with all the people inside the church and me being center stage. I'm scared sh*tless. I will admit it. But the Lord's gonna work that out of me too. I'm not running to this. There's some parts that thrill me greatly, sure. But alot of it I still fear. This will take time. And I'm still getting schooling. All I'm trying to do is follow the prophetic path the Lord has shown me, which right now just means going to school and going to church twice a month. That's it. And that alone is drawing lines.
Good. But if you missed post #59, I think you should give it a once-over. No need to reply. It's just that if may be of help for you down the road. God's Grace be with you.
 
Upvote 0

All4Christ

✙ The Handmaid of God Laura ✙
CF Senior Ambassador
Supporter
Mar 11, 2003
11,682
8,018
PA
Visit site
✟1,013,527.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
Mods, please delete this thread so I don't get any more hate mail. Thank you.
Open a ticket up by clicking Contact Us at the bottom of the page and request the thread to be closed.
 
Upvote 0

mreeed

shalom...
Oct 2, 2014
139
59
✟76,579.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Private
I understand you're planning to close this thread, but a quick thought I hope will be encouraging if I may. I think God gave you these visions for your conscience's sake, to know that in the end your wife won't be left behind and to give you confidence in what He has called you to, whatever the timeline may be. The story of Joseph comes to mind.

Edit: And Joseph's vision wasn't very politically correct either. Christian fellowship and accountability is important; this may or may not be in a church setting. Perhaps a different type of setting/structure might interrupt some of the unhealthy patterns it seems she may have developed with respect to church itself. Deep-focus on loving your wife and strengthening that relationship, but if there are clear and specific times God calls you to take a stand, take that stand and trust Him through it. He who has called you will bring it to pass!
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

Matthew 24 10

Active Member
Feb 28, 2018
135
67
30
Warsaw
✟9,130.00
Country
Poland
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Single
Usually when God does something like that, he doesn't give a time frame. Missionaries often spend years preparing to live where God has called them to. In trying to understand God, it is a sure sign that you are being influenced by the effects of sin or Satan if you are feeling time pressure to get something done quickly.

While God himself should be the most important thing your life, the work you do for him is below several other priorities, and the highest priority one is your spouse. It is even more important than caring for your kids and caring for your family (which obviously you shouldn't neglect). God is making the two of you into one. Your wife belongs to you and you belong to your wife now.

and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ ? (Matthew 19:5, 1984 NIV)

Both you and she should be sacrificing what you want for the other (and she isn't accountable to you to do so—if that was the situation, it would leave an opening for Satan).

Really ? I though when God said to Jonah to go preach he looked like he wanted him to do it right now , don't know if God was preparing him for years .
 
Upvote 0

joshua 1 9

Well-Known Member
Supporter
May 11, 2015
17,420
3,592
Northern Ohio
✟314,577.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
I cannot minister to my wife. She won't allow it. Refuses to read, pray, or discuss anything with me. Ministering to her is no longer an option. Even the marriage counselor picked up almost immediately on the fact that her problem is not from me, it comes from her lack of relationship with Jesus Christ. She is obviously hostile toward Christianity, although will deny it point-blank.
Everyone has to make their own decisions in life and a wife is no exception. No one can decide for her. She must decide for herself and make her own choices.
 
Upvote 0

joshua 1 9

Well-Known Member
Supporter
May 11, 2015
17,420
3,592
Northern Ohio
✟314,577.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
I LOVE her. Obviously. Otherwise I wouldn't be torn about this.
Now you know how God feels. Jeremiah 3:8 "I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery."
 
Upvote 0

joshua 1 9

Well-Known Member
Supporter
May 11, 2015
17,420
3,592
Northern Ohio
✟314,577.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
don't know if God was preparing him for years
God writes the book of our life before we are born. He does not make things up as we go along. He has the plans and purpose for us from the beginning. Jermiah 1:5 ""Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Psalm 139:16 "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
 
Upvote 0

Bible Highlighter

Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
Supporter
Jul 22, 2014
41,433
7,859
...
✟1,187,903.00
Country
United States
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Married
Thank you for being supportive. I'm still in prayer about this.

#1. Seek out God’s Word through prayer on this and not a vision.

#2. You can serve God 1st in a way that obeys all of God’s Commands in the New Testament and not destroy your marriage.

#3. Love your wife by praying and doing good for her when she does bad towards you. Return good for evil done against you. Be a servant of good to your wife. Suffer as Christ has suffered.
 
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums
Status
Not open for further replies.