Classes for Ministry Training and on the Bible
I am Jimmy Lee Morgan, the Third from Long Beach, California. I am taking classes for ministry training and on the Bible at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). In CLI’s class on leadership, I’ve learned that leadership is INFLUENCE. John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” God wants us to use our influence to impact the people around us.
By taking this class, I’ve learned that to be an effective leader, one has to have a clear vision. First, one needs a vision of where one is going. That vision comes from God. There are two passages of scripture that stood out for me when this thought came to mind. The first is Proverbs 29:18 18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The second is Psalms 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.” So unless God gives the vision, those who labor without thought, heart, and direction are working from their own desires and not the desire of the Lord.
My Ministry Journey
I am grateful that God has allowed me to work in the ministry of encouragement. He has given me this gift to be able to talk to people and not at people. It opens the door to share the Word of the Lord with them.
The calling to the ministry started in my youth. At the time, I was not aware of it. However, when I became an adult, my Pastor gave me a challenge. That challenge was to oversee the youth department, and then things became clear. I love to help the youth, especially those that are the shunned, the troublemaker, the outcast, the hard to reach, the lonely, the broken-hearted, the mean, and the stubborn ones.
God has given me the gifts to reach them. I’ve seen the gang banger, drug dealer, and even the hardcore turn their life over to Christ. I believe in building strong and bold young Christian leaders to reach other young people for Christ. My heart is for every youth.
Men’s Mentoring Ministry Vision
Recently, God’s given me the vision to start a men’s group. He even gave me a name, M.M.A: Master My Altitude. It’s a mentoring program where men come together. There they talk about life issues and learn how to fight the battles that matter the most. This group is about resetting, restoring, and rebuilding what was destroyed. It’s about teaching young people and men to focus on what is needed to do. They will discover things about themselves by discerning where to focus their attention. They will also learn that one can not do everything. One cannot undo the past, the only thing we can do is face what’s ahead.
One challenge I have seen is people only support you when they believe that you will go somewhere. Then, when you do start to soar, they are quick to try to tear you down. But I know that as long as God gave the vision to me, it does not matter who talks about it. It will be successful.
I am thankful for the classes for ministry training and the Biblical studies at the Christian Leaders Institute. They are preparing me for wherever God leads me to go.
