Free Bible Education Dream

My name is Michael Blaes and I have a free Bible education dream. I live in the United States. I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was six years old. My parents both served in the church. Anytime the doors were open, I was there whether I wanted to be or not. I joined the Royal Rangers, which is a Christian Boy Scout group. In Royal Rangers, I was trained as a Junior Commander then later as an Outpost Commander. Over the years, I did all the “Christian” things that we are supposed to do as followers of Christ. My problem was that my roots were not deep. I knew all the stuff, but I did not have the maturity that came along with it. I started to resent being forced to be at church. I began to stray away.

I went away to college and distanced myself from God. I drank and smoked. It is only by the grace of God that I did not completely fall apart. My distance from God lasted for about 15 years. I went to church occasionally, tried praying and worshiping but found the experience to be dry and unfulfilling. It wasn’t until I met my future wife-to-be, Teresa, that things changed. There was something infectious about her faith. I started to go to church with her. Around that time, I remember my Mom telling me, “You need to be honest with God and tell him what you want.” I cried out to him and said: “I don’t want to be alone any more, I’m tired of being alone.” He heard my prayer.

That night I went to work at midnight. I was an operator at a military base. While we were working, our boss allowed us to make calls and I called Teresa. We ended up talking all night. I finished up my shift, went home and then to bed. That afternoon I woke up and called Teresa again to ask if she wanted to go out as friends. We went to Chilis. Teresa was nervous and she admitted that she was concerned that I would take advantage of her. I reached over to reassure her and touched her hand and sparks shot across our hands. We continued dating and were married about 6 months later.

Shortly before we were married, we attended a candlelight service at my hometown church. We were given 2 prophecies that night. The first one was that God was giving us something very rare and precious. We went back to our seats pondering what we had been told. Then Pastor JR came up to us. He started to pray and then shared with us the second prophecy. He said he saw a king’s carriage and two mighty horses were pulling it. The pastor said that we were the horses. The horses were pulling the carriage up a path that was getting more and more difficult to traverse till they were going through boulders. Then, all of a sudden the trail smoothed out and became like glass. He said, “You have to go through the rough to get to the smooth.” That night as I slept I heard the voice of the Lord. He told me, “My people do not know how to hear my voice, teach them how.” And that began our call to ministry in my free Bible education dream.

After we married, everything became a struggle in our lives. We yearned to serve God, to be in the ministry, but we could not find anyone that was willing to mentor us. That is when the Lord led me to reach out to Pastor JR, my former pastor. I told him what was in our heart, and he told me very frankly, “You are not ready. Your foundation is not strong.” He told me that we needed to be doing daily devotions. I asked him if he would be willing to mentor us. Pastor JR told me that he would pray about it and get back with me. A few days later he agreed.

We decided to move back to my old hometown. After we got situated, we met with Pastor JR. He told us we would meet with him about once a week. He told us that if we did not do our devotions, that he would not meet with us. Also, we would help clean the church every week. We agreed, and thus began our ministry training, and the crazy path we walk today.

I identify with a church planter. While I may never plant a church, my wife and I tend to move down the road less traveled. We are good at starting things and have started several businesses and several ministries. We will see where God leads us in this.

Our church has supported our family. They have held us in their arms and have been there when we needed them. They love and care for us. My wife and I are a team. We work together. My parents also support us and pray for us daily.

I want to take my walk and ministry up where it needs to be in my free Bible education dream. When I was a kid, I read this magazine called Campus Life. It was a Christian magazine aimed at high school and college students with ads for various Christian colleges. I desperately wanted to attend a Christian college. I applied for a few but did not qualify for any scholarships. So I gave up and ended up going to a secular school. But I’ve continued to have the desire to go to Bible school. Christian Leaders Institute is giving me the opportunity to fulfill a lifetime free Bible education dream.

Learn about local ecuministry ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.