"I will go, I will go / I will go Lord send me / To the world, to the lost / To the poor and hungry / Take everything I am / I'm clay within your hands / I will go, I will go - send me"
-Starfield "I Will Go"
Saying things like "I will go Lord, send me!" can be dangerous. God knows how serious we are and if he sees we are serious, watch out. Not everyone will be called to serve in the jungles of Vietnam though. Sometimes God calls people to minister in another part of their own country.
Some of you may already know I participated in two short term mission trips as a teenager. I went to Mexico in 2004 and Kazakhstan in 2006. Unfortunately the events of the Kazakhstan trip turned me off to missions and caused me to distrust missionaries. It's a long story and not something I want to get into.
For the past two months however, I have been feeling like God may be calling me to minister to the people of Fairfield, Iowa.
Fairfield, Iowa is the location of the Maharishi University of Management, founded in 1971 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, commonly known as the "Beatles Guru." Maharishi traveled the world for fifty years, teaching what he called transcendental meditation. Transcendental meditation, or TM, is claimed to be a relaxation technique, but in reality it is a form of Hinduism. The mantras used in the so-called relaxation technique are the names of Hindu gods and goddesses.
Even though Maharishi died in February 2008, this movement is still going strong.
I first heard of transcendental meditation ten years ago, when I was twelve. I was never formally trained in the technique, even though when I was between the ages of 12 and 15, I considered myself a Hindu. I read enough about the technique that I figured out how to go about doing it, even finding out through the Internet which mantra I was to use.
I used the technique for a while, quitting after I accepted Christ in 2002. I have only used the technique once since then and that was in July 2003. Now I feel like God is calling me to those people to minister to them, and get them away from the grip of the Maharishi and the technique he taught.
Has anyone else ever felt like God could be calling them to move somewhere and minister there?
Comments (18)
In 1991, I felt like God wanted me to go to Slovakia to help with the work there. I went. I do not know if I was effective, but I did what I could.
Why? Can you not serve God by ministering to the people where you are presently located? Your family? Your friends/acquaintances? Those people next door? Posters on Xanga? If God wishes you to somewhere else, then pray that He makes it impossible for you to ignore the directive.
@blonde_apocalypse@xanga - If you spoke the true Gospel of Christ Jesus to those people, then you were effective.
1 Thes 5 keeps coming to my mind.
"19Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil."
Test this voice, ask God to confirm it to you. If he wants you to go, he will convict your heart and then you must obey, whether to stay or to go. Neither put out the fire of the Spirit nor treat his prophesies with contempt. Do not doubt that God wil make clear what you are to do and then do not be turned away by the advice, words, doubts of others.
@HLPU@xanga - I spoke it in the best way I knew at the time. I was young, with all the failings and misunderstandings of youth. If I had it to do over, I would do it differently, but God sent me at that time for his own reasons.
I was called into Louisiana.
I'm curious, why do you think you're called to minister in that area?
God called me to Denmark a few years ago. I don't know when or how it will happen, but He called me, and there is no question.
will pray for you
I felt called to the college I'm at right now but am transferring because I feel called elsewhere and into a different field of study and may have interpreted wrong. But I have learned that you can't mess up God's plan as long as you listen. You may get your calling wrong but He will get you where you need to be if you stay faithful.
@blonde_apocalypse@xanga - @HLPU@xanga - @deepestrecesses - @Pickwick12@xanga - @dianebojarski@xanga - Hebrews 5:4 keeps coming to mind
@J_Goldens_Shadow@xanga - You bet! I could never take something like that on myself without God's calling.
@J_Goldens_Shadow@xanga - For scriptural integrities sake, Hebrews 5 is not talking about ministers; it's talking about the role of the High Priest. v4 says that no one can take that honor upon himself, but must be called of God, like Aaron was-- then it says that it is the same with Christ. Essentially, Christ did not take the glory of high priest for himself, God gave it to him.
I think that each Christian has a calling, as the very nature of being a Christian requires, each calling may differ, as Paul stated there are different parts of the body, but they are all parts of the body. Some have been called to be the mouth, some the hands, each do their part.
I believe that every Christian has been called by the great commission (Matt.28) It seems that there generally is little fervor for the work of God among the so-called laity in this country. It's so easy to leave the heavy lifting to the church staff and just be a spectator. In these difficult economic times, we will be seeing more and more hopeless and helpless people turning to the church as the poor and sick came to Jesus. It is the responsibility and privilege of the rank and file Christian to be aware of new faces in our sevices, and reach out to them in the love of Christ.Most non-Christians view us in a stereotypical way; either Bible pounders or naive anti-intellectuals,etc. It would be nice to see these stereotypes dispelled by a revived generation of praying and loving Christians. We must tap into the incredible power within each of us to reach the world around us.We certainly don't need to leave our own neigborhoods to accomplish missions.
@blonde_apocalypse@xanga - "I spoke it in the best way I knew at the time. I was young....."
Perhaps it is you who were being taught, then. Yet, sometimes, our simple words are more effective in helping others, if those words point to Christ. You point out one thing which always disturbs me, that is the prospect that groups send people (youngsters) with poor training and thus cause more harm than good. We need to take teaching more seriously, and not just a 'do it for Jesus' attitude. I am not judging your group, just noting a problem I have seen from time to time. May you continue to grow in the word!
@HLPU@xanga - I was 24. Not exactly a "youngster," but I was not as wise then as I thought I was. I believe God calls all of us in one way or another, and I have seen that all missionary teams are stronger if they have a mix of personalities, from younthful and idealistic, to sage and mature. I did what I could with the tools God had given me to work with at the time. My focus was on teenagers (13-19) mostly, and I believe there were things I could say to them that older Christians would not have been able to say. I hope God was able to use me for his purposes.
Are you married/in a relationship?
Do you have kids?
At times we think we can be useful in a situation, but God can use anyone, and preferably a broken vessel... a person that knows he can't help those people.
It looks to me you are not that person.
Your knowledge of Yoga and other techniques do not help you bringing the message to these people.
Only God can reach those people. I'd strongly suggest you to search these options, think and be honest, and see if God actually has something to say through you to those people or not..?
I have been in missions, Africa: Senegal, Gambia, Mali.
I've also visited England, Belgium, Holland, France, and Germany with Christian organizations.
Now I'm living in the USA.
I also felt God calling me to a country in the past too! To Laos!
I thought I was a good christian, ready to suffer and if had to, lose my life for Christ! (totally unaware of the Christian persecution going on over there)...
But God thought different about this trip!
He barely made me know something about another country, without ever been there!
As I started praying, God gave me visions, of little children, being thrown over the fire! Of people being martyred for the sake of Christ!
As I went on to research the area, it seems that Laos was closed to christianity, and in the past the Laos Army had used toxic poison (known as yellow rain) in the forests to kill the remaining christians who fleed from the cities and their houses!
Little did I know about how things where going on over there.
Things started happening over here too...
God gave me a girlfriend, and a job. I was too busy to take care for preparations to Laos, and for some reason the thought of going to Laos became less and less interesting to me.
Don't get me wrong, I still was willing to lay down my life for Christ, but I had the sensation God wanted me to LIVE for Him, instead of die for Him.
Also, the relationship with my girlfriend grew, and we got engaged after 3 years! For her sake I could not leave her behind, for it would not be loving to her.
In the end, I never went..
I was too proud! Instead, I believe God just brought to my mind what was a necessity in prayer, rather than going there physically.
If He wants you there, then pray about it!
Start preparing what you can!
Never go on a mission unprepaired!
People who go unprepaired either get a direct revelation from God through their Godly and pious life (and they KNOW God called them), so they also get God's protection;
Or, they get humbled, humiliated, tortured or even killed while trying!
The least you can do is pray! Pray for that nation!
If you don't know, and come to ask us, it means you can't hear God's voice well enough by yourself...
So why even think of going somewhere else, and teach them about God?
First learn to hear His voice for yourself.
When God truly calls you, you'll know; you'll not doubt, and don't need others to tell you yes or no...
I apologize if I may sound harsh.. but that's my opinion about the matter!
@deepestrecesses - @Pickwick12@xanga - There's something that I don't think
you understand about callings. Why would the calling of a minister be
different from that of a High Priest? It's not. So it stands. How was
Aaron called? Moses, the Lord's living prophet, called him, along with
others. It was the same way that Jesus called the Apostles.
@J_Goldens_Shadow@xanga - Don't get me wrong, I believe that Christians are called by God... but I don't think you understand the role of the high priest. It IS far different from that of a minister, prophet, or apostle. Do you know the roles of the High Priest? Do you know all the ceremonial cleansings that he had to undergo in order to become the High Priest?
Remember, he was the only human allowed into the "holy of Hollies" once per year.
Essentially, the scripture you used, is there to tell us that Christ became that for us; he is now our one and only high priest.
So the fact still stands, the scripture was missused. It's a completely different "role" than that of a minister. Ministers do not, and cannot offer sacrifices to forgive sins, can they?
@deepestrecesses - Perhaps you misunderstood my statement. I agree that the role of a high priest is different than that of Prophet, Apostle, etc, but the issue at hand is how they are called, not what they do (although since the Savior's sacrifice, the role of a high priest has changed as well, but that's for another time).
"No man taketh this honour unto himself, except he that is called of God, as was Aaron." Aaron was called of God through the only one with the authority at the time, Moses. It was the same way the Apostles in Christ's time. They didn't go to the Savior and say, "I decided that I'm going to go into the ministry. Now I work for you". No. The Savior Himself was very clear on this "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you..." (John 15:16)