Never Too Old To Get A Free Formal Education and Serve Our Lord!
My name is Dan Fisher. I currently live on the east coast of the United States but was born what was at the time a small town in Northern California. I have discovered that no matter your age you are never too old to get a free formal education or serve our Lord.
I grew up in a Christian home thanks to my parents. The church was very important to them as well as was a wholesome family life. We were attending a Baptist Church for several years, and I can remember when I was in 5th grade something came over me. Not immediately but over a two-Sunday time frame. As Baptists do, (thank our good Lord), the minister gave the invitation to accept the Lord into my heart. Honestly, I was scared. That first of two Sundays I couldn’t bring myself to step forward. I was crying inside. I knew I needed to do something with my young life, but was not ready to make that commitment. The second Sunday came, the invitation was given and I was ready…and I was crying with joy on the outside this time! From that day and for many years, I knew I was God’s special child.
After high school, I joined the U.S. Navy. I even became a Chaplain’s Assistant. Then I got married and my wife had two wonderful children. It was during this time that I received the calling from God to go into His ministry. For financial and other reasons, it just wasn’t possible for me to quit my job and attend a Bible college. I was, however, able to teach Sunday school and work with the church youth for a time.
As time passed, I unfortunately slipped away from the Lord. I feel very bad about that, and I know I’m not alone, but that doesn’t make it right. Thank the Lord for “Saving Grace.” What I found in my life was that if we do not keep our eyes on the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, we become attached to other things, such as money, reputation, gluttony, etc. We know the list goes on. I fell into that trap in my life. You know, it’s funny, (not really); I thought of myself as a good person, but now as I look back, I see what a horrible person I was, and just imagined God crying because of how I had turned out. I feel ashamed.
Prayer and studies brought me to the point where I am at now. I’m almost retired, can’t afford but would dearly love a Christian education. Christian Leaders Institute seems to fit the picture! My new bride has an uncle who is a minister in the Philippines and we are working on a plan where I can go over there on a missionary trip. I am so excited.
So, my desire is to earn a degree from CLI with its free formal education. I want to fulfill the Lord’s calling in whatever capacity He leads me to. I could not afford to work on this if it wasn’t for CLI and those that support its mission of providing a free formal education. The bottom line is this: I want to be a part of leading people to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I’m just an ordinary person, hoping to be used of God, however and wherever He chooses.
Learn how you and Dan can become Ordained at Christian Leaders Alliance
Free Ministry Study
I am so excited to have this opportunity for free ministry study at Christian Leaders Insitute. While growing up, I was not part of an active Christain household. I came from a broken family. My parents were divorced when I was four years old, and though they did fight over custody, my grandparents raised me. As a child, I did not go to church. I do remember that I would ask questions about the very old leather Bible my grandparents had in my room. My questions where always answered, but I was never actually actively taught.
The first real teaching of the word I ever experienced was in 5th grade. My best friend had been going to a local Baptist church for Awana meetings, and she had gone through a night where they asked for everyone to bring a friend. I loved Awana classes. Even though I had started very late in the program, it lighted a fire in me. I was devastated to learn we could not come back next year because they didn’t have the resources to take on 6th graders or older kids for their summer programs.
Shortly after that, both of my grandparents passed away, so I was living with my mother again. I believe the next time I was exposed to God was quite a few summers after at a county fair. A local church had a booth set up, and they were handing out pocket Bibles to the youth as they walked by. I read through Matthew and Mark, but at the time, it left me with more questions than answers. I didn’t have a real outlet to ask questions about Jesus to anyone that was willing to answer.
Though I didn’t truly understand much of the Bible, I did begin to pray regularly. However, it wasn’t until I was 21 that I started leaning on God. My husband and I had just had our son, and we learned he had a very rare heart defect that required him to have open heart surgery at one-month-old. With being so powerless over the situation, all I could do was pray. God carried us through it. After my son had recovered, I vowed I would read the Bible in its entirety.
The next half a year I spent several hours a day reading the Bible from start to finish. I made many realizations about myself and my life in those few short months. The biggest was the realization that even though I didn’t know Jesus, He knew me and loved me. I started to see parts of my life that He had touched. Most notably was the morning of my son’s surgery following an entire month of emotional turmoil and praying and begging God to save my son. The morning of the surgery I remember this full feeling of calm. I didn’t understand why then. I remember thinking to myself, “Why am I so calm? This is a serious life and death circumstance!” I know now it was Jesus. God loved me enough that He was there for me at the hardest moment in my life.
Since then, my husband and I have joined a church that we have been regularly attending for the last three years. They have helped us tremendously as we continue to grow as Christians. I have made it my mission to bring others that were lost like me to know God’s unconditional love. I was over the moon when I found Christian Leaders Institute with its free ministry study opportunity. I truly appreciate the fantastic work CLI is doing. This education opportunity they are providing is truly helping create leaders that will seek lost people like I was and bring them to know God. Thank you for all that you do!
Learn about ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.