My name is De’Laine, and I am a Bible Bookworm. What is that, you may ask? Webster’s Dictionary defines a “bookworm” as a person devoted to reading. Although I enjoy reading books, I am devoted to reading and studying God’s Word. Therefore, I am a “Bible Bookworm.” I am also at the Christian Leaders Institute, taking ministry courses and biblical training online.
My Journey to a Relationship with God
I have been a member of the Lord’s church since the day of my birth. Growing up in the church, my parents followed God’s designed roles as my parents. They taught me about the gospel of Christ. They raised me to know who God is and what He did for us. Growing up, I always knew I loved God and wanted to follow Him.
However, it wasn’t until I turned 35 that the Holy Spirit moved me to take my relationship with God to a higher level. It was then that I learned about Bible Journaling. It took my relationship with God to a much deeper and greater place. I want to share my passion for Bible Journaling with others and help them find that same relationship with God.
My Journey to Surrender Control
Like others, my life has been filled with trials and adversities. I have not always handled these situations by acknowledging that God has control. I am a person that likes to have a strong handle on my circumstances. If I don’t, then who will? Well, in my living room one day, feeling as though I was losing control and didn’t know how to get it back, I saw a YouTube video on Bible Journaling. That day began my journey.
It’s been a journey of realizing that although I knew I loved God and followed Him, I had not completely surrendered myself to Him. I discovered what that meant through Bible Journaling and making that deeper relationship with God. Now, I will tell you I still struggle with wanting to jump in and take control. However, Bible Journaling helps me every day to recognize that God is the one in control. Who am I to think I could do better than Him? What an amazing gift Christ has given us to take that burden away from us!
Ministry Courses and Biblical Training at CLI
The ministry courses and biblical training at Christian Leaders Institute will help me with this spiritual calling. I want to share my love of Bible Journaling, studying God’s Word, and helping others find what a relationship with God can do for them!
Register a Study Account
Register for a free study account, automatically enrolling you in the Getting Started Class at the Christian Leaders Learning Platform. The Getting Started class will take you less than an hour to complete.
When you log in to the Learning Platform, you will notice that the Getting Started Class automatically appears on your dashboard.
The Getting Started Class will orientate you to the Christian Leaders Learning Platform and the Programs offered, including:
- Ministry Awards, Certificates, and Diplomas with the Christian Leaders Institute.
- College Degrees with the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
- Minister Credentialling (Ordination) with the Christian Leaders Alliance, including local Soul Center registration possibilities.
Note: You can enroll in tuition-free courses or mini-courses immediately without finishing the getting started class.
Find out more about women in ministry here.
My name is Joe Meserve. I am a student at the Christian Leaders Institute online to get their Chaplain endorsement and certification.
My Journey to Christ
I am the product of James 5:16: “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” My grandparents were constantly praying for my salvation. Every summer till I was 16, my brother and I would stay with my grandparents in Texas for two months. We loved it. My grandparents loved it, and my parents loved it. Therefore, everybody won. My summers at my grandparents were the only time I went to church. Unaware of it then, those summers with my grandparents laid the foundation for my saving faith and salvation in Christ alone.
Finally, in the seventh grade, it all clicked for me. My sin. The consequences of my sin. My inability to pay the price for my sin. Christ’s perfect life as a sacrifice for the sin of man. A just, holy, and righteous God. It all made sense. Thereafter, I became a lover and follower of Jesus Christ that year and have never turned back.
Service to My Church and Fire Department
Since I became a Christian, I have always been committed to a local church. It was, and is, essential to my faith, as it is for every believer’s faith and walk with God. One of God’s gifts is that I am a jack of all trades. I can do it if no one can teach the Youth Wednesday night. No one to play bass guitar with the worship band this Sunday; I’ll do it. No one to lead a group of men in doing a workday at the church next Saturday; I will make it happen. God uses me to plug holes and fill voids until a more suitable person comes in and does the job. Therefore, I do whatever needs to be done.
I was a bi-vocational Youth Minister at my church for ten years. For the past two years, I was the bi-vocational Young Adult leader. I have a master’s degree in Christian Theology. A firefighter by trade, I am currently on the PEER Support Team with my department. Our job is to support our PEERS in the department in their times of need. Those needs include listening, financial advice, family issues, deaths, and PTSD. We are not licensed counselors. We are friends in times of need, willing to listen and guide them to the proper help, professional counseling, legal advice, etc.
Chaplain Endorsement and Certification from CLI and CLA
Our department currently has a chaplain. Further, I have worked side-by-side with him on numerous occasions. Several people in our department asked me if I wanted to be a chaplain sometime in my career. I always answer, “I just want to serve wherever needed.”
Obtaining my Chaplain endorsement from Christian Leaders Institute and Alliance will get me started in obtaining the certification and experience I need to serve as a Chaplain someday if God opens those doors. I want to live my life for Jesus Christ and use my gifts, talents, and resources to further His Kingdom.
Register a Study Account
Register for a free study account, automatically enrolling you in the Getting Started Class at the Christian Leaders Learning Platform. The Getting Started class will take you less than an hour to complete.
When you log in to the Learning Platform, you will notice that the Getting Started Class automatically appears on your dashboard.
The Getting Started Class will orientate you to the Christian Leaders Learning Platform and the Programs offered, including:
- Ministry Awards, Certificates, and Diplomas with the Christian Leaders Institute.
- College Degrees with the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
- Minister Credentialling (Ordination) with the Christian Leaders Alliance, including local Soul Center registration possibilities.
Note: You can enroll in tuition-free courses or mini-courses immediately without finishing the getting started class.
Find out more about women in ministry here.
Hello, I’m Amanda. I’m 43 years old and from Ontario, Canada. Recently, I began my studies at the Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) for more biblical training for ministry.
About Me
I grew up in Northern Ontario as the youngest in a family with three kids. We had a phenomenal childhood, running around the wilderness, as my parents ran a Christian family campground. When I was five, my parents were born again at the non-denominational church we attended.
Therefore, I grew up in the church. I watched them play music and be involved with serving, maintenance, hospitality, and children’s ministry. We thoroughly enjoyed our church family. In my early teens, we adopted a little guy with special needs from Cambodia. Then, our family was complete! It was incredible to watch God work in and through him, healing him and helping him be more than anyone ever thought he’d be able to be. Beautiful!
My Testimony
When I was 12, I gave my life to the Lord in our church’s Sunday school program called “Super Church.” However, my walk wasn’t very vital or alive. For the most part, the “Christian rules” suited me as a teen. I didn’t want to get in trouble, rebel, party, etc., but my relationship with Him had yet to become my lifeline. I continued to attend church, even going to a ministry school at 19. Then, I went on to being busy with life, always calling myself a Christian but doing little to grow or deepen my relationship with God.
In my later 20s, in the midst of the breakdown of an abusive marriage, while caring for an infant, my relationship with my Savior became my absolute everything. He became my oxygen, my hope, my safe place, and my Rescuer. I needed His grace and guidance every moment of every day to function. There were eight rough years as a single mother. I had multiple surgeries and was in and out of a wheelchair. I relied on God to make it from second to second. He has since blessed my child and me with a faithful, Godly man as husband, father, and head of our home. Together, we serve in our home, family, and church. He is also a CLI student currently pursuing a degree in chaplaincy.
Ministry
When I was about 10, my grandparents got me a box organ. I played endlessly with it. So much so that within months, they found me a beautiful antique piano at a yard sale and restored it. I couldn’t leave it alone, day or night! When I gave my life to Christ at 12, it was like this musical gift got supercharged. Over the next year, I taught myself how to play by ear, as well as read music. By 13, I was on a mission trip in Europe, leading worship in churches.
At 19, I attended a ministry training school. I also had the opportunity to lead worship in a large city church and all around Scotland. Throughout my walk, connecting to my Father through music has been an important part of my journey. I’ve had the opportunity over the years to work with several ministries, two church plants, and with other teams and local churches on community outreach events.
Vision: More Biblical Training for Ministry at CLI
For the past 11 years, I’ve been working as a music director with a church plant that has blossomed into a thriving ministry. Earlier this year, I felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to invest some time into more biblical training as the church grows. That is when I found the Christian Leaders Institute online.
I look forward to the growth, expanding, and stretching that come with learning and moving to the next level in both my walk and ministry. I hope to one day be at least part-time (bi-vocational) at my church. Further, I’m open to pursuing whatever level of education is needed as the Lord leads.
Register a Study Account
Register for a free study account, automatically enrolling you in the Getting Started Class at the Christian Leaders Learning Platform. The Getting Started class will take you less than an hour to complete.
When you log in to the Learning Platform, you will notice that the Getting Started Class automatically appears on your dashboard.
The Getting Started Class will orientate you to the Christian Leaders Learning Platform and the Programs offered, including:
- Ministry Awards, Certificates, and Diplomas with the Christian Leaders Institute.
- College Degrees with the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
- Minister Credentialling (Ordination) with the Christian Leaders Alliance, including local Soul Center registration possibilities.
Note: You can enroll in tuition-free courses or mini-courses immediately without finishing the getting started class.
Find out more about women in ministry here.