Bible Scholar Training
I am Tareen Jacob and I am receiving Bible Scholar training for free at Christian Leaders Institute. I am a Medical Doctor from Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. I was born into a Christian family and I don’t have particular events that brought me to the LORD. It was more like a gradual turning towards the cross.
I had my Premedical graduation from an institution started by Dr. Ida Sophia Scudder which is more than a century old. Of late, I find myself reading the Bible for many hours together in spite of a busy day’s schedule. I have been mysteriously pondering as to why it has become this way in my life. So I decided to get more in-depth knowledge about the Word of God that is able to save my soul through Jesus Christ!
Christian Leaders Institute was introduced to me by one of my Christian friends who is an aircraft pilot, a missionary, and a visionary leader. So I enrolled at Christian Leaders Institute to receive Bible scholar training to learn all that I can about ministry and Bible knowledge. Currently, I do not know exactly where this course of study will lead me to. But I feel this preparation time is not a waste of time but rather is to sharpen my knowledge and understanding of the word that was with God and is God himself, Jesus Christ. I want to grow in my daily walk with God and follow where He leads me.
My purpose is to be a bi-vocational Cardio-Thoracic Surgeon and a Bible Scholar. I want to lead a prayerful, humble, and talent utilizing life for my Savior. I want to be a musical man for HIS kingdom expansion!
Learn about local ecuministry ordination and ordained minister study programs with Christian Leaders Alliance.
Spiritual Growth Journey
My name is Cindy Bingaman and I have been on a spiritual growth journey. I currently live in Harrogate, Tennessee, USA. I have lived in 9 states and 2 countries.
I am the youngest of 3 children and the only daughter. We were raised in a Christian home and sent to Christian schools. We were there every time the church doors opened. I received Christ as my Savior early on but it wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I really started to gain a deeper understanding. It’s only been within the last 2 years that I have come to understand God’s amazing grace on my spiritual growth journey. Grace was not taught nor practiced in my family. My own mother and father disinherited me 3 times.
In my late thirties, I went through a horrible divorce and I was spiraling out of control. I lived in an area with no family for support, 2 beautiful children to raise, and an ex-husband that would not help in any financial way. At 41, I was at the end of myself. I begged God to be Lord of my life on my spiritual growth journey.
Shortly thereafter, God brought me to my husband, Les. We went through middle school and high school together. He had gone through a horrible marriage too. He was in Germany, I was in North Carolina. God worked in and through us both in healing emotional scars. Jesus Christ has been the center of our relationship. We have been married for 8 years.
We live in a small rural town. It was not our intention to be here. God just brought us here. My husband is a retired military disabled veteran. God knew what Les needed, peace and quiet.
Our area, although it’s in the “Bible Belt” meaning there is a church on nearly every corner, is 85% unchurched or have left the church. The church we are attending is reaching out to the 85%. It is only 3 years into the ministry. We are growing. My pastor asked if I would lead a women’s Bible study. In the past, I would have said no. Les and I were starting to study Jonah prior to his asking, so I did not say no. I spent days in prayer. I kept coming back to the excuse of not being equipped.
Then, God brought me to Christian Leaders Institute. As I poured over the website, I thought I would love to go through the entrepreneur track. Still, more prayer and God said you will do women’s ministry track. I started the getting started class. Now I am hungry for more. So much prayer has been poured into “God show me where you want me”. I had thought about going back to school, but there is no Bible Seminary and I am my husband’s caregiver. He has so many doctors appointments and the VA hospital is a 2-hour drive. Attending a school would not be possible.
My pastor has agreed to be one of my mentors. He is very excited about this. We talked about ordination which he also thinks is great. He is encouraging me to get a Chaplain certificate as that would open even more doors of opportunity. I am so excited, it is as if scales have fallen from my eyes on this spiritual growth journey. I’m seeing the possibilities for where God can use me. All of this because of God’s amazing grace!! Thank you, CLI, for making this possible!
Learn about minister ordination with Christian Leaders Alliance.
Revival Hope
I am Doug Berryhill. I have the privilege to tell you about God’s incredible role in healing me from my past and giving me revival hope.
My life was great in the beginning. But things soon started downhill: my mother had depression problems. She depended on sleeping pills for help. When the depression became overwhelming she committed suicide. It was a month before my sixth birthday. I was crushed. I was alone. I saw myself as a victim – a pawn in some awful experiment. I withdrew and became a loner – I was socially clumsy and not popular at all. I was the kid that everyone else made fun of. By the 4th grade or so, I would have been voted The Most Likely To Fail.
But my Dad was a major presence in my life. He was my link to the reality of love, caring and belonging. I did poorly in school and I wasn’t much of an athlete, but my Dad loved me. We spent a lot of time together, my Dad and I. It was because he loved me.
But in my mid-teens, my Dad began to change. Over time, he became convinced that he needed to raise some money. So he purchased a life insurance policy on my life with himself as the beneficiary and made some calculations. The back of that policy still has the handwriting that is my Dad’s. It has the words: “If he does not die before about” … and something about 2 days … and a place where he calculated how much he could get from the policy and for my car if I was no longer around. Then he called me into the house, explained that he needed to raise some money and that to do so, he was going to have me killed.
My last, best hope was gone. Abandoned again. Deep, deep pain again. Alone AGAIN.
But my God was watching out for me! While I was in college, I met someone at the Wesley Foundation who I could hold onto. I met a wonderful young lady named Shirley. We’ve been married for 48 years.
Yet, there was still a great emptiness inside me. My mother abandoned me by destroying herself; my Dad abandoned me by trying to destroy me. Was there nothing or no one that I could trust completely? Was there no one that I could belong to that was absolutely secure and that couldn’t be wiped out by death, suicide or a change in perspective?
The great undercurrent of my life has been focused on answering a complex three-part question:
• who can I trust absolutely?
• who won’t abandon me?
• who will heal my memories?
Some 25 years ago, I participated in a psychological examination that is renowned for its accuracy and thoroughness. It said that I had deep, deep wounds and that I was greatly at risk in 2 or 3 significant categories. Psychologically I was in very serious trouble. You know what they can’t figure out? They can’t explain why I’m not in jail or a psychiatric ward somewhere… or worse. They can’t explain it because the survey doesn’t take into account the healing and rebuilding power of our great God who gives me revival hope!
You know, the great thing is that God didn’t have to do a lot with me – just convince me of the Truth, that’s all. I can’t explain how God did it. But the conduit for that healing was the Bible and learning about His character and plan which brought me revival hope in Him.
In studying the Bible over the years, I learned:
• it’s His great desire that I belong to Him.
• He’s in the business of calling the people of His creation into His eternal family.
• that as much as I want to belong to Him, He wants me even more.
• that in Jesus Christ He provided everything I need – the perfect way of Belonging.
Being a part of God’s eternal family has replaced my aloneness with an incredible sense of Belonging and revival hope. So I am at peace… I’ve been made whole and I’m not afraid anymore! I am filled with joy! It’s because I have a Home and because I belong to the eternal God of all Creation. Nothing can take that away from me, after all, my Daddy, my Abba Father, loves me!
Now I have this opportunity to study and learn more about our great God at Christian Leaders Institute. I am happy to continue to grow in Him and follow where He leads me in revival hope!
Learn about minister ordinations with Christian Leaders Alliance.