Calling is one of those mysterious things that God does and he rarely does it the same way twice. I was called to salvation mostly out of fear. I was called into ministry more as a process of finding my identity in Christ through discipleship and then using my spiritual gifts in ministry. Our call to replant The Stone Church was also a process and what began as an idea was affirmed through series of conversations with trusted friends, advisors, counselors and the miraculous intersecting of our lives with the story of Abraham and Sarah beginning in Genesis 12.
In the days of assessment, coaching and evaluation that led us to become official church planters with the North American Mission Board we were given these words of wisdom on several occasions: "Be sure you're called! If you aren't certain of your call you will not succeed." It is one of those questions that I'm glad Tracie and I were willing to honestly evaluate. If we hadn't been confident that God's hand had led us to this place at this time we would have said, "Let's buy a deserted island and move away!" I mean, I did dress up like Gilligan one Halloween when I was in college. Let's be honest--a lot of people attempt to do noble things for the wrong reason, right? I've talked to guys who have said, "I'm planting a church no matter what!" They wisely go through an assessment process designed to reveal areas of weakness and determine if their call is sure, but when the results come back negative they go rogue! They loudly and defensively proclaim: "No one can tell me I can't do this! God called me." And perhaps He did, but I know this: You'd better be sure! Are you attempting to do something out of anger, resentment or bitterness? Is your call a veiled attempt to receive recognition, appreciation or honor? Or, is your call certain? My gut tells me that if you can't tell the story of your call with passion, conviction, and clarity then you may be deceiving yourself but eventually it will find you out.
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