God’s Peace be with you.
Tracy

I’m so excited to see how God is moving in your life and causing you to desire a stronger more committed walk with Him. First of all, we are all called to the ministry of reconciliation, as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:18. So we are all called to be ministers. However, there is a calling given to some to be pulpit ministers, as I assume you are referring to. So with reference to that, first of all, I would encourage you to begin with the church you attend. I would begin by going to my pastor and letting him or her know that I am interested in this area, and ask him or her if he or she would mentor me and give me suggestions on how to go about doing this. (If your pastor doesn’t believe in women ministers, I would find one who does. That’s blunt, but you have to fulfill your purpose God has you here on earth for such a time as this. What’s really great is if his wife preaches as well, but that is still not necessary.)

I began with teaching Sunday School to the kids. It really got me into the Word. I decided I would be the very best Sunday School Teacher there ever was, and be prepared and be on time. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Remember not to despise small things, because no work done in the power and blessing of God’s Spirit is ever insignificant, but has eternal value and importance, and if you will be faithful over a few things, that God will make you ruler over many things. (Zechariah 4:10, Matthew 25:21)

Then I began to do other things as well, like writing a church newsletter, the monthly letter for Women’s Aglow, etc. And I was faithful to all of these areas. I set out to excel. I knew that to be a great leader, I must first be a great follower. And I believed with all of my heart that I needed to be the very best follower I could be. The reason I could do this was that I always knew that I was in training for a purpose God had for my life. I always followed God one step at a time. It’s always His timing. That’s the first thing we must realize and settled in our hearts and spirits and minds. And know that everything you do you do for Him, not for man. And when God is in it, there is ALWAYS a peace about it. (For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace,... - 1 Corinthians 14:33)

But Tracy, only you can know for sure of what God has called you to do. Man cannot direct you, but through the Holy Spirit can only confirm what God has already placed within you.

You said that you have endured many things... Those may be things that I have never had to endure. But those things have made you the Woman of God that you are today. If you and I both come across another person who is going through those things that you have endured and I haven’t, who is most capable of ministering to that person? Which one of us would be able to understand what that person has gone through or is feeling at that time? We are all needed in the Body of Christ to reconcile others to God. And you and I each have our own testimony about what God has done for us and how accepting Jesus and allowing the Holy Spirit to change our lives and empower us has set us free from many things. That’s how we overcome... by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony.

So how can you know if you are called to Minister? I believe you already know, or you wouldn’t have asked. Be the very best you can be for Him, as you are truly called to the kingdom ‘for such a time as this’.

God Bless,
Pastor BJ

- J.

Thank-you so much for visiting ‘For Such A Time As This’! The Lord is an awesome God!

I can only tell you what I believe is to be true... The Bible says that sex without being married is called fornication and fornication is a sin...As a Christian, I am a single woman and am engaged to be married. I have chosen to wait until I am married to have sex, because I BELIEVE it’s wrong! Sometimes I look at things like, ‘if I have to ask if it’s wrong, then God is usually dealing with me that it’s not right’! Jessie I would say just get in close with God and He will guide you in the right way! As far as living together without having sex, I haven’t seen anywhere in the Bible where that is wrong, just be careful to avoid getting yourself in a position you don’t want to get into.

All of my love in Christ! If I can help in any way, please feel free to email me again...

- Pastor Gena

But my husband seems to think it’s OK! So I said, “Fine, I’m not telling you that you can’t drink. But I won’t allow it in the house or around me or the children.” He said OK. But I have woke up and find beer cans in front of the couch by him while he was sleeping. But the fact to me is he will say forgive me, but then the next day or so I will find another can. To me that shows that he has no respect for me or how I feel. I have to watch myself cause I do get angry when this happens over and over again and nothing changes. But my real angers at satan. I just need advice about this situation cause I don’t believe in compromising on certain things. I just need to know if I’m doing the right thing.

- J.

Love you,

- Pastor Gena

- R. J.

Dear R. J.,
First of all, I want you to understand, that every Christian has moments where they wonder if they are really saved and on their way to Heaven. But this is a good thing, because according to 1Corinthians 11:31, it says, ‘For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.’ It keeps us alert. Because we can’t always go by how we ‘feel’ that day or at that moment. That’s when we find ourselves getting out of the spiritual realm into the soulish realm, ruled by emotions instead of faith. Which brings me to Ephesians 2:8, which states, ‘For by grace are ye saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.’ G.R.A.C.E. means, God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense. In other words, Grace means, ‘unmerited favor.’ It’s a gift that has already been bought and paid for. 

You know when someone holds out a gift to you on your birthday, or special days, and without thinking you just reach out and receive it? You don’t sit there and keep asking for it, or begging it, you just say, “For me?”, and you reach out and receive it. That’s Faith. Faith says, I trust you have something wonderful in there for me and it is for me because you held it out to me. F.A.I.T.H. means, Forsaking All I Trust Him. You know, you can go to a circus and ‘believe’ the guy on the tightrope will not fall and kill himself in front of your child, but ‘trust’ means you will trust that man enough to allow your child to go across that tightrope with him. We can believe God is real, yet never trust Him enough to lay our lives into His hands.

OK, so how do you know that you know that you know you are going to Heaven? Well, you must ‘believe’ there IS a Heaven to have even asked that question. And if you believe there is a Heaven, you must believe God’s Word as Truth. Romans 10:9 says, ‘That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him (Jesus) from the dead, thou shalt be SAVED. (Verse 10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto SALVATION.’ Now, do you want to know the ‘sure test’ for KNOWING you are saved and on your way to Heaven? It’s found in Romans 10:11 - ‘for the scripture saith, Whosoever BELIEVETH on Him (Jesus), shall NOT be ASHAMED.’

How do I know that I know that I know that there is Really a God? Well, I’m like the man that was born blind in the 9th Chapter of the book of John, where he answered them after being questioned in the 25th verse - “one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, but now I see.” You see, I have come too far in my walk with the Lord and have seen too much ‘evidence’ in my life and the lives of others to not know for a fact that God is very real.

Have I ever seen the devil. Well I did in a dream once. But more than that, I have also seen too much ‘evidence’ that he exists every time I see a baby aborted, or incidences like the Oklahoma Bombing where little children were killed, or the 911 incident. Every time we see a person strung out on crank or children molested we see ‘evidence’ that the devil is real.

So I do pray I have answered your questions in some way.

Walk by faith and not by sight,

Pastor BJ