Classes for Ministry Training and on the Bible
I am Jimmy Lee Morgan, the Third from Long Beach, California. I am taking classes for ministry training and on the Bible at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). In CLI’s class on leadership, I’ve learned that leadership is INFLUENCE. John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” God wants us to use our influence to impact the people around us.
By taking this class, I’ve learned that to be an effective leader, one has to have a clear vision. First, one needs a vision of where one is going. That vision comes from God. There are two passages of scripture that stood out for me when this thought came to mind. The first is Proverbs 29:18 18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The second is Psalms 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.” So unless God gives the vision, those who labor without thought, heart, and direction are working from their own desires and not the desire of the Lord.
My Ministry Journey
I am grateful that God has allowed me to work in the ministry of encouragement. He has given me this gift to be able to talk to people and not at people. It opens the door to share the Word of the Lord with them.
The calling to the ministry started in my youth. At the time, I was not aware of it. However, when I became an adult, my Pastor gave me a challenge. That challenge was to oversee the youth department, and then things became clear. I love to help the youth, especially those that are the shunned, the troublemaker, the outcast, the hard to reach, the lonely, the broken-hearted, the mean, and the stubborn ones.
God has given me the gifts to reach them. I’ve seen the gang banger, drug dealer, and even the hardcore turn their life over to Christ. I believe in building strong and bold young Christian leaders to reach other young people for Christ. My heart is for every youth.
Men’s Mentoring Ministry Vision
Recently, God’s given me the vision to start a men’s group. He even gave me a name, M.M.A: Master My Altitude. It’s a mentoring program where men come together. There they talk about life issues and learn how to fight the battles that matter the most. This group is about resetting, restoring, and rebuilding what was destroyed. It’s about teaching young people and men to focus on what is needed to do. They will discover things about themselves by discerning where to focus their attention. They will also learn that one can not do everything. One cannot undo the past, the only thing we can do is face what’s ahead.
One challenge I have seen is people only support you when they believe that you will go somewhere. Then, when you do start to soar, they are quick to try to tear you down. But I know that as long as God gave the vision to me, it does not matter who talks about it. It will be successful.
I am thankful for the classes for ministry training and the Biblical studies at the Christian Leaders Institute. They are preparing me for wherever God leads me to go.
Religious Beginning
Hello to all! My name is Felicia Hudson. I am studying at the Christian Leaders Institute on my road to Women’s ministry training (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here).
Born in 1964, I am the youngest of six siblings. I presently live in New York State, USA, where I work in healthcare for the state. I did not grow up in a Christian household. However, I would later realize how important Christianity is to one’s well-being. I was baptized in the 1980s under the Baptist Faith and did not always hold close to my faith. To some degree, I attribute this to the lack of a strong religious foundation growing up as a child.
During my teenage years, I experienced some significant spiritual warfare. At this time, I learned that Satan was a real and powerful force. I felt confused, alone, and did not know where to turn. Fortunately, a relative introduced me to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I do not study with them now, but I am thankful for the introduction to religion.
Call to Ministry
I am responding to my call to ministry. I did not run away or ignore my calling. But, the fact is that I did not know what it was. So, I went to school and obtained a Master’s Degree in Human Resources from Penn State. Also, I have taken some classes at Liberty University for Christian Counseling.
Despite all this education, I was not where I wanted to be. So, I asked God to show me what He wanted me to do. One day while surfing the internet for Christian jobs, Christian Leaders Institute popped into the search engine. I decided to look into the school hard-pressed against more education. However, I could not resist the opportunities offered and knew this was where I should be. So, I signed up immediately and began my studies.
Road to Women’s Ministry Training
This is my first endeavor at ministry training. Presently, I am taking the Women’s Ministry track and look forward to becoming ordained. Once completed, I would like to mingle this with all my hard-earned education and obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Christian Leadership at CLI’s Leadership Excellence School. In addition to some religious classes at Liberty University, I have also completed a discipleship program at my local church. I never thought of myself as a minister, and it has been a bumpy ride getting to this point. Thank God for not giving up on me and then showing me the way. God bless you and your future endeavors!
My name is Morgan Young, and I am receiving formal Christian education at the Christian Leaders Institute to prepare for my ministry calling (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). This is the story of how I spent years ignoring my calling to the ministry before surrendering.
My Journey
From the United States, I was born in my own house outside of Augusta, Maine. Raised in the Assembly of God church, I accepted Jesus into my heart at 4. I also attended a Lutheran-Episcopal preschool. I made some of my earliest memories at these places.
When I was 7, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. I spent the next decade taking various medications and treatments. However, every time I started something new, my body produced antibodies against it. So then, I’d need a different prescription. For this reason, I was never able to take any particular medication for more than eighteen months or so.
Healed and Called
When I was 17, I went to Whited Bible Camp in Bridgewater, Maine, with a few of my friends from church. During the worship service on the first night, I wanted somebody to pray for me, but no one did. So I thought maybe this wasn’t the time I was meant to be healed.
But then my best friend came to me, and said God told him this was the last day I would suffer with this disease. So, I closed my eyes and lifted my hands so he could pray for me. Instead of laying his hands on me, he punched me in the stomach so hard I flew back and hit the floor. But I wasn’t hurt. I started praising God because I knew at that point I was healed. Someone who witnessed the event later told me he saw a light enter me and a darkness leave.
After that service, the youth pastor asked if any among us felt called to the ministry. If so, we were to come up to be prayed for. I knew I had to testify of this major turning point in my life to the world, so I did. Weeks or possibly months later, while at church, someone prophesied about me and my calling to the ministry. I wish I remembered his exact words, because this was the closest I ever came to hearing God speak to me personally and audibly. To sum it up, God indeed was calling me to the ministry and confirming this to me. So, I applied to the Pastoral Leadership program at Liberty University.
The Servant Who Didn’t Listen
However, I never participated in that program. For some reason, I grew disinterested in the ministry by the end of high school. So instead, I joined the Army Reserves at age 19 and became a Motor Transport Operator. When I finished training, I did Liberty’s Politics & Policy program instead, doing poorly in many of my courses.
I also tried starting a business on the side. So, I blew half of my Army bonus on stocks and crypto right before the COVID crash of 2020 and the other half on a failed Shopify store. Next, I tried a career in inbound sales and insurance sales, yielding next to no fruit. Penniless, unemployed, and back living with my parents, I spent many of my nights angrily crying myself to sleep, contemplating all the time and money I’d wasted.
Heeding God’s Call and Formal Christian Education at CLI
I wanted a job I could be passionate about, so I looked for one. I decided I wanted to do something Christ-centered since that was something I was passionate about. But how could I get the training for a job like that with no money?
That’s when I found the Christian Leaders Institute. I may have spent over $20,000 on college courses, but I realize now it doesn’t matter. I never needed to spend a dime to get a formal Christian education. Now, I have all the resources I need right here, and I have a supportive community of other leaders who share my calling.
My goal is to minister via radio (possibly television), and then plant a church when I make enough money to do so. I don’t think it will be easy, but it’s a lot easier to heed the call of your master like Samuel did than to be the servant who didn’t listen.