After reading Allen’s treatment of Discerning Your Call to Ministry, define his main
argument and analyze his assessment.
How has your call to ministry been similar to what Allen promotes? How has it
differed? What were the objective and subjective elements to your call? Is it okay
to question God’s call on your life for ministry? Why or why not?
In Jason Allen’s book, Discerning Your Call to Ministry is basically asking do you
know how to determine the call God has placed on your life for ministry. Allen
begins by stating that all Christians are called to minister. This is based on
scripture where the great commission is telling the believer’s “GO and make
disciples”. In the book it mentions “every Christian is called to ministry” whether it
is to minister or to serve the body of Christ. [1] The book then proceeds to ask ten
questions to guide the reader to evaluate whether they are called to ministry.
While the questions guide the reader to determine their call, it is important to
“surrender to God’s call wherever it may lead” . [2]
For me personally, during the pandemic is when God started revealing to me
certain steps to take. I was led to turn my closet into my prayer closet. Did not
understand why but I was obedient. Several months later, I was awoken in the
middle of the night and I heard God say you are a watchman and a gatekeeper. I
got scared because I did not know what that meant. So, I began to search the
scriptures of what it says about gatekeepers and watchman. Still reading my two
books concerning that. But what is interesting is that even though I do not know
where God is leading me to I know that as of right now God wakes me up at all
times of the night to pray. c I know that I am a Prophetic Intercessor, I am just not
sure if he wants me to go back serving as a teacher in youth ministries at my
church. I have prayed and I am just being still and waiting on conformation.
I believe that it is okay to question the call of God on your life for ministry. I
believe that is where I am at this moment. I have always jumped up and do stuff
without praying about it first. Asking God if this is where I am supposed to be or
doing.
[1] Jason Allen, Discerning Your Call to Ministry: How to Know for Sure and What
to Do About It (Chicago:
Moody Publishers, 2016), 19-20.
[2] Ibid;, 125.
