CHRISTIAN LEADERS BASIC CERTIFICATE FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
My name is Larry Herald. I live in Ohio which is in the United States of America. Currently I experience great freedom to do ministry, although times are changing and the future doesn’t look as free as it once did.
I did not grow up in the church. However, right after I turned 15, some people came to visit us from the large church in town. My father worked with one of the men who went there and he had been witnessing to my father for about 8 years. He finally gave in and agreed to let someone come out and visit thinking that would get him off his back. But that night my mom, dad, brother and I all accepted Christ as our Savior.
I immediately became involved in the ministry. Two years later at a missions conference where Warren Wiersbe was the guest speaker, I went forward and committed my life to full time Christian Ministry. Later that year, I started school at Grand Rapids Baptist College. I wasn’t prepared to go to school with a bunch of missionary kids and preachers’ kids who didn’t have a deep passion for the Lord like I had. I let it get to me and I ended up leaving after a year. While I was there I met my future wife. She, too, was called into ministry work. Over the years we have been involved in all kinds of Christian ministry. From Christian radio to ministry leaders in church to finally planting a church. My vision from the Lord was to reach lost bikers. So we planted a church where bikers can come and hear about the gospel and grow in the Lord. I am currently serving as the senior pastor of Freedom in the Wind Church. I am also the planter and founder of this church along with my wife and another couple.
Although I have been involved in ministry ever since coming to know the Lord in October of 1997, the Lord called me to a new phase of ministry. I was working in Christian radio at the time and I was in Washington D.C. covering the Promise Keepers Million Man Conference. While I was there and interviewing people, the Lord brought several bikers into my path. They were from the Christian Motorcyclists Association and the Sons of God Motorcycle Club. Through the course of the interview God revealed to me that motorcycles were going to be a part of my next ministry calling, although I did not currently ride or own a motorcycle. Over the course of the next year the Lord opened all the doors and we transitioned into motorcycle ministry.
As we got involved in the ministry and people got saved, there weren’t a lot of church options to send folks to. So many churches in America only want people like themselves and these people were different. They had tattoos and beards and long hair and they wore leather coats and chaps. So I began to pray about it and the Lord said, make a church for them and welcome everyone.
At that time, I went and talked to my pastor and he began meeting with me and praying for God’s wisdom. A couple of years later, I met another couple who had done street ministry in California and they were very open to helping us start a church. Once we felt God’s blessing to move forward, my church licensed me and blessed me to move forward. They helped open the doors for us to become a church plant for the American Baptist Churches USA. They also support us with their prayers and about $5,000 a year.
My whole family has been involved in the life of this church. Currently, my wife is the worship leader along with my oldest son who plays guitar and sings. My youngest son also plays bass and sings and really does anything musically that we need. Our daughter also sings and oversees the children’s ministry. Our other son was a part of the music ministry until he moved to Texas to help plant a church there where he is the worship leader.
I have been looking for a way to finish my schooling and to get deeper into God’s word and ministry training. I am not able to relocate and I don’t have a lot of funds to pay for schooling. The church I pastor has about 70 members. I really feel like this could be just the opportunity that I have been looking for and I thank God for directing me to it.
We are really trying to reach the lost bikers in this community and we need some mature Christians to come along side us and help us with discipleship, mentoring etc. In general, we need more people who are willing to do ministry so that we can create a place for people to come and worship the Lord.
If you would like to enroll into CLI’s free online ministry training, click here to begin! Your first achievement will be receiving CLI’s Christian Leaders Basic Certificate. From there climb the ladder in receiving our other level of achievements in certificates and diplomas! Work your way up to ordination and much more.
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Free Online Biblical Studies For Ministry Diploma
My name is Zachary Schmoll. I live in Orange, Vermont. Currently I am an insurance underwriter by day. I am also studying online to get my Master of Arts in Apologetics from Houston Baptist University with an anticipated graduation of May 2016. I love apologetics! I think it is my most appropriate ministry. But I was looking for a structured way to reinforce my theological biblical studies background a little bit. That is how I came to find the Christian Leaders Institute.
I have been a Christian for most of my life, but I began to take faith more seriously in my senior year of college. I had a friend who would challenge me on the fundamentals of the Christian faith which I had always taken for granted. Being from a Christian home, a lot of these things were simply what we believed. I never had a legitimate, intellectual challenge to my faith up until that point.
It was at that point that I began to develop an interest in apologetics biblical studies. I began to read a variety of books and watching a variety of debates to learn that Christianity actually has an incredibly robust intellectual history that has yet to suffer defeat at the hands of any other worldview. From that point of entry, everything kind of advanced to the point where I am now enrolled in graduate school and learning how to earnestly contend for the Christian faith.
I was an accounting and statistics undergraduate, so I do not have a traditional biblical studies background. Being raised in the church, I have received quite a bit of scriptural teaching over the years. However, that is different than the type of training that you receive through a Bible college with their biblical studies. At the same time, I am not in a position where I can afford to pay for two complete degree programs simultaneously to get the Biblical Studies background that I would like to have to more strongly reinforce my apologetics training. That is why Christian Leaders Institute and their biblical studies program is so valuable for me. I am able to do both and ultimately become a better apologist because of this opportunity.
It is interesting to think about where these biblical studies is going to lead me. Many apologists go into writing, and I also have proceeded in that direction through my own personal blog and contributing to a variety of websites around the Internet. I hope that greater education will obviously make my writing that much more compelling and impactful.
Vermont is an interesting place to be in apologetics. It is the least churched state in America, and I suppose that provides quite a bit of potential opportunity. We do not have very many apologetic ministries specifically in Vermont, so that might be a niche where I can slide the gifts I have been given into.
Overall, the Christian Leaders Institute is an excellent biblical studies program that I am hoping to use as a supplement to the incredible apologetic training I am receiving from Houston Baptist University.
If you are interested in taking biblical studies into local ordination click here to find out more details. Enjoy the comfort of being able to train in ministry with CLI’s free online biblical studies and receive your ministry diploma!
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FREE MINISTRY BIBLE SCHOOL FOR THE YOUTH AND BEYOND
My name is Keith Alan Aviles and I live in the USA. Michigan to be exact. Not many of my friends believed in God at all. Some even told me things like “I’m starting to believe a little”. But then when I would ask how often they prayed, they would tell me they don’t have to pray. I came to find the Lord around age 19. (I’m 21 now) When I was 15 I lost my big brother to drugs. I always looked up to him. I started getting into some stuff myself that I really didn’t want to be a part of. I even cursed at God for taking my brother. The more and more I read the Bible, it kept pulling me in. I read a book on fasting and I decided to go on a 10 day fast. During this fast I felt so close to God its unexplainable. I felt his presence and love all around me. Without God I don’t know where I would be. Through months and months of prayer and slowly learning about Him, I decided I would pursue my thirst for knowledge by going to school. That’s where I found this amazing free school. I thought to myself, how awesome would it be to become a Pastor. Be able to preach about God every day, help others in their journey to the Kingdom of God. I would also be surrounded by positive, Christ loving people.
I have only been to church a few times as a kid. I didn’t know any better then and wasn’t very interested. My family always believed in Jesus and pray once in awhile today. But they never had taken us to church, nor did they teach us kids about God. So I took it upon myself to learn all I could about our great Almighty Savior. That way I could teach not only my family, but any who do not already follow this Great Lord of ours. It is definitely a challenge to preach or bring up the Lord where I am at. This place is full of sinners, people who won’t give you the time of day to talk to them about Jesus. They would rather get drunk and cause as much problems as possible. They actually think it’s cool to go to jail! So all we can do is pray for people like that and hope God himself can change their life around.
This free ministry bible school is very important to me. It took me 2 extra years to get my Diploma from High School. I was a trouble maker and didn’t do my work. No one thought I was going to graduate, not even my mom. But I wanted to prove that I could do it, so I got serious and made up all my credits. I finally got my diploma and everyone was surprised. Going to school here for free through your free ministry bible school program is the greatest opportunity for me ever. I was never good in school because I never could focus. I never liked it. But this is something I love, and through it I have already been getting almost all 100%! So if everyone would pray for me so I can achieve my goals, spread the word of God, and increase my knowledge on how to help others, I would be so grateful. Thank you CLI for your free ministry bible school. God bless all of you in your journeys to increase your spirituality and get closer to our God and His Kingdom of Heaven.
If you are interested in taking bible Training into local ordination click here to find out more details. Enjoy the comfort of being able to train in ministry with CLI’s free ministry bible school online and set yourself a part for the Lord!
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