Elisha Masiku is a man called by God, but without the free training offered by CLI he would have been unable to pursue his calling further than his local church. Here is his testimony.
I became the beloved of Christ empowered to God’s sonship when I was 13 years of age. Indeed I should indicate that I do not have much to testify about how I got saved at that age. I only remember that the one who adopted me loved God very much. In fact he is the pastor of Peace ministries Church of God, who could not resist preaching the word of God to me. I accepted right away the anointed word of Christ. I want to follow the example of this pastor in a sense of becoming a pastor too with several college papered work experience as of Christian Institute.
Wonderfully at present as the one of the leaders at my Church do feels good to be a well trained member of Christ’s family with your CLI mentorship so that my fellow leaders and I can successfully lead people with conflict free leadership compared as it has been before. And as the pastor’s backup in my Church i am so grateful seeing that what I have obtained from the getting started course has already started bearing fruits to the work of God. Generally the Church has been so supportive of my ministry considering how they (people) and God have trusted me for this period of more than thirteen years of experience. I am also thankful to my family from grandparents through all family members for their support for me. I am thankful that I can have the great opportunity of studying with CLI. I truly thank God for this: especially for my mother who is alive by now and not forgetting those that died.
The scholarship is so important for me because it will help me understand how I can reach people who have been called by God.
I pray you that you should pray for me to have enough financial support so that God’s work can reach the remotest area of Malawi, which I am from, as well as other places hardly reached; which I pray shall be reached by those that I have reached with this God’s truth. Amen.
In a book entitled Treasure in Clay Jars, we can find this statement which (among several others) describes a congregation on a mission from God. “The church understands itself as different from the world because of its participation in the life, death, and resurrection of its Lord.” (Barrett, et al, Eerdmans, 2004)
A congregation that is going to change the community in which it finds itself needs to understand this fact. In a class I once took, we studied “the mission of God in the Old Testament.” In that class, we focused on the many facets of God’s mission as we see it in the prophets, in the temple rituals, in the everyday affairs of Israel in the ancient times, and in the role God gave to the leaders of his people. In many ways the people of God were expected to be noticeably different from the culture that surrounded them. They were to be a unique people whose lives and culture raised the question of “Why?” among the nations surrounding ancient Israel.
A couple of “for examples” might be helpful here. The nation of Israel, in its infancy, had no king by God’s won design. They were to live in God’s Promised Land without the need of a King who would be their national leader. They had God as their king. They did not need a cheap knock-off of the real thing. The question would arise among those who saw it, “Why would no one take control of this people and its land?” The answer would be that God’s people already had all they needed in God’s Book of the Torah to shape their lives with justice, with mercy, and with humility. What more could a king do? Or, as another for example, all the rituals in the Temple which had been carefully circumscribed by God as He taught Moses how worship was to be carried on were for the purpose of creating a “Why?” in the minds of those who observed their worship. Why was there no visible image of God? Why was there just one family whose lineage gave the whole nation their priests? Why was there just one central location for worship? From our perspective thousands of years later, it is clear that God was demonstrating that he was not like anything humanity could imagine for themselves. He was the One who was the Truth, and there was no other.
History teaches us that such wonder was simply too great for the humans who made up God’s people in the ancient times. It was a treasure that was carried around in clay jars. Those pots would crack and break and fall to pieces. In the process something of the wonder of God among his people would be lost and the “Why?” of the peoples around Israel would be muted. It looked all too often as if God’s people were just like the culture around them and the beauty of life in the presence of God would go unlived and unknown.
But God was not deterred for He was committed to bring his Good News to the lives and hearts of the people he loved. Finally, in the fullness of time, as the Bible puts it, Jesus was born. God’s own Son came into the world. Finally, here was a jar made of clay that could withstand the threats of breakage. It was because God himself was in Christ so that he could reconcile the world to himself. Of course, there were those who thought they could destroy that clay jar. But, in his death, Jesus paid for the sinful debt of mankind, in his resurrection he demonstrated for all that the clay jar could withstand even death itself. Now he lives at God’s right hand as the Great King that he is. No, cheap knock-off, Jesus is the real thing!
We are Clay Jars, Jesus is the Treasure!
Today the church/congregation that sees itself as participating in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus finds that the mission of Jesus becomes their mission as well. We will readily admit that we are clay jars! But we carry the treasure of God in these clay jars and we know that in Christ, we shall change the very life character of the communities of which we are a part.
At Christian Leaders Institute we are providing training to Christian leaders so that they can participate more effectively in their churches in enabling the churches to be caught up fully in the Mission of God in the world today, For example, Vee writes the following:
“The main goal I feel I am being called to and hope to attain is to be an active working tool of God. I want training so that I can help give light on the foot paths of so many who have accepted that a dark and brooding way of life is all there is for them. To be able to share the love of a wondrous and caring God through His word and creation is a huge blessing to so many. To be able to help someone over what might seem like an insurmountable hurdle, all the while watching God grow inside of them and feeling the peacefulness that blossoms, is such a truly wonderful miracle.”
Another of our students, Uwegba writes of how he sees his calling to participate in the life of Jesus and so bring the light of Jesus to others who do not have that life. He writes,
“I have a project I am currently about to do in Nigeria which is a medical outreach for people in rural areas. I am currently gathering medical and nursing Christians who have volunteered to be part of our mission. My dream is to put a smile in the faces of many by introducing them to Jesus through doing good for them, just as Jesus went about doing good.”
While each of us and our congregations as well may only be jars of clay, the treasure we carry is extremely valuable. You too, even if you see yourself as a cracked jar of clay, maybe thinking you are useless, you can participate in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. In so dong, you can carry the treasure God has been entrusting to his people for millennia.
Derek Weller lives in Bermuda, which is a small island with limited resources for anybody who wants to take their knowledge of God beyond the sermons at church. Without any substantial income, traditional methods of Bible training would have been impossible for Derek, but when he discovered that Christian Leaders Institute offers an Online Bible School in Bermuda he was able to find the training that he needed.
Derek Weller Talks About His Need for the Online Bible School in Bermuda
Hello and Blessings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. My name is Derek Weller and I live on the islands of Bermuda which is located off the east coast of the USA in the Atlantic Ocean. I am the last of seven children. My father was the pastor of our church until he went home to be with the Lord on March 11th, 2011.
Bermuda is only 22sq miles but there is probably a church on every corner. Religious beliefs are protected here although a lot of people either don’t believe the true gospel or don’t live what they once believed.
I was born in the church and was brought up to serve the Lord, however I made my decision to really serve the Lord in my teens.
I currently play the organ at my church as well as sound and media.
I am pursuing this Ministry course for my own spiritual benefit and to strengthen my relation with the Lord.
My prayer is that I will be ready and equipped for whatever the Lord wants for me to do and that I will forever walk close to Him and be in His perfect Will.