As a recent graduate of the Associate of Divinity degree program here at Christian Leaders Institute, Keith West says that while Father God could use anyone, “God chooses to use me”. Read his story to learn the many ways in which God has used him throughout the last few years.
In Need of Training
I started doing ministry about ten years ago, and got very serious about my faith. Although I did not know much about the Bible, I did know the basics. The Bible is God’s Word, and it says that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. God used that message to bring over 50 people that first month to Christ, and brought others around me to begin an online ministry. Deep down, I knew I needed some kind of training. I knew I needed to be ordained to do weddings, but I didn’t know where to start. While my pastor told me to go to seminary, I just wasn’t financially able to. Thankfully, Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) solved that problem for me.
Called to Seminary
Seminary wasn’t on my bucket list in high school. College wasn’t on my bucket list either. I remember a dream I had that my co-worker was teaching me how to write a sermon and I wanted to know more, but in the dream he just left the room. That morning, I talked to my girlfriend about that dream. I wondered: “could God be calling me to go to seminary?”. My girlfriend at the time told me I was double-minded and not being led by the Spirit. I wanted to follow God, so I prayed and asked Him to show me if He wanted me to go to seminary. That very same hour, I came across CLI’s website. I asked my pastor about it, and he looked into it. He told me to be careful, because nothing was truly free. That was eight years ago. At that time, CLI did not even offer degrees.
Much to Learn
While I still have much to learn, I have learned a lot so far from classes at CLI. I have learned a bit of Greek, and how to apply the meaning of words to the context of passages and verses. Also, I have learned about church history. I learned faith is more than something we believe by not seeing, but something we believe because of all the evidence for faith that is out there.
God Chooses to Use Me
My favorite class was Mission and Revival. It encouraged me to see that God uses people from different denominations, countries and people groups to revive his people. The reason it encourages me is because sometimes I just look at who I am and wonder: “God why me?”. He could use anyone and yet, God chooses to use me. That class helped me to see that God doesn’t favor any one person, denomination or church. He uses the most unlikely people to do great things. For example, He took Saul who was killing Christians, transformed him, and used him to write most of the New Testament.
Improving Weaknesses
These classes were not easy. Reading, spelling and writing are all my weaknesses. However, CLI helped me improve in these weaknesses. I am able to write think differently. When I am reading the bible, I naturally see key points and ask key questions about the passage. The hardest classes for me were the courses in Greek. It’s been so many years since I took Greek with CLI. I have been debating with myself if I should take Greek 1 and 2 again and then take Greek 3. I remember about four years ago, taking a history class with CLI. At the time, I was not interested in the material at all, but recently I have become very interested in history. These studies have awakened me to a lot of new interests. In high school, I was not interested in half the things I am interested in now.
Growing Ministries
This training was extremely helpful because of the ministries I have. Currently, I have two very successful ministries on Facebook. One is called “Single Christians” and the other is called “Day Of Psalm”. Single Christians was created about five years ago, but it never really took off. Then COVID-19 happened, and now it’s the best group for single Christians on Facebook. I don’t say that because I created it, but because that is what everyone who joins is saying. I’m reaching people from all over the world: new and old believers alike. The training I have received at CLI is the only reason I am able to communicate, lead and preach effectively to this group. I also appear more credible to the group members when they see that I have gone to seminary. This training has truly made me a better writer, leader and communicator.
Fulfilling God’s Mission
In the past eight years, I have been a manager, a US Marine, and have been homeless. For the past eight years, God knew about all that was in front of me. He led me through tough seasons and great seasons alike. I believe those seasons will become stories in messages I will teach and preach to others from the bible. The training and skills that CLI has given me will allow me to effectively fulfill the mission God has placed on my life. My greatest goal in ministry is planting a church. I believe God made me for something big. He put me here on this earth for something huge. This ministry training is a stepping stone towards the great mission God created me for.
I’m Annie Watts, and I am excited to study for my chaplain credentials at CLI. I grew up in farm country in central Illinois near the Mississippi. We moved to Oklahoma my Junior year, and from there, I joined the US Air Force. As a result of my military service, I have lived all over. And I learned to truly love the fantastic variety of experiences and cultures around the globe. I also learned that here in the USA, our cultures are as different from place to place as they are from country to country! I lived in Alaska three different times, for a total of about 20 years now, and still have a condo there. So, I call Anchorage, Alaska, home even though I also have a house about 40 miles NW of Atlanta, GA.
I attended university very piecemeal for many years, depending on where I was living. Then one day, I got serious, moved into one location, and buckled down. I received my bachelor’s degree from the New Mexico Institute of Technology (now called New Mexico Tech) in Technical Communication. Talk about a career field that has seen a million changes! At least writing words down itself hasn’t changed. I used my skills primarily for editing scientific papers, but also for editing and writing for churches as needed.
My Faith Journey
I have been a Christian as long as I can remember, but I never really had a relationship with God until 1987 when I lived in Socorro, NM. I had completely stopped going to church and was extraordinarily unenamoured with most of what my denomination seemed to stand for. It wasn’t about God. It was more about tradition. I disliked their religiosity and legalism but was most offended by their attitude that we were expected to believe and not question.
My best friend had come out of the same denomination and was now a bit of a “Jesus freak.” However, I could ignore that because other than that, she was a great person. She kept nagging me that I needed to go to church with her and that they are not all the same. Finally, I told her I would go, just once, but that then she had to leave me alone about it. She agreed, so I went. Doesn’t God have an amazing sense of humor? We went to an Assemblies of God church, and the pastor there read Isaiah 1:18. When he read, “Come, let us reason together,” time stopped for me. What? God wants us to think? To question? To REASON? Holy Spirit and I had a pow-wow, and I was done. Now I was His.
Made New In Christ
My health was feeble (basically, if it’s an autoimmune disease, I have it – including MS, lupus, fibromyalgia, etc.). I was attending college while in a wheelchair, with four kids and a husband, who was also in school and working. I was a wee bit tired. But God taught me about giving. I discovered that for every hour I gave Him, he gave me back more time!
Another life-changing discovery. I studied God’s Word, the Bible. How good it tasted! The problems of life? Oh, yes, they were there. Satan attacks those who love Jesus. And the attacks can be fierce. But through every trial, I had joy. He reminded me that God, with me, equals a majority. I grew in faith. He got me out of the wheelchair, my children grew, and my relationship with my husband became a joy I could never have imagined.
I have had many seasons in my life. With almost every one of them, God was moving me to a new place – both spiritually and physically. Also. I have been blessed to perform many ministries and served wherever I was needed. I was a church board member and cleaned church toilets. Teaching Sunday school and leading small groups, I also helped and led service ministries. I have been “that person” that gets the call when something needs to be done. And that’s the person I want to be – the one who, when God says He needs help, says, “Here I am.”
Study for Chaplain Credentials at the Christian Leaders Institute
Now, as a widow, with my children all grown, I have been confused as to what I am to do next. I travel so much now that, although I have churches that I attend whenever I am there, I am not able to “plugin” to a church as a worker. So what should I do? I’m stepping out in faith and taking free ministry training classes at Christian Leaders Institute.
As I travel, there are many things that I see that I can do. Of course, I take every opportunity to let everyone I meet hear God’s Word, which never goes forth void. But I feel that I could be much more effective with credentials. And what could be more effective with the traveling lifestyle than a chaplain’s credentials? So now, I study for my chaplain credentials at CLI. I hope that I am given the time to get a bachelor’s degree in chaplaincy and another in divinity. I want to make use of that knowledge to give God glory and help bring more of His precious creation back to His loving arms.
Learn about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Called to Ordained Ministry: A Long Strange Journey with God
My name is John Hutchinson from the United States of America, and I am called to ordained ministry. The secondary title of this profile should give some indication of my age. Currently, I live in Ozark, Missouri, but I have lived in 11 states and more residences than I care to count. A semi-retired college professor and administrator and currently work as a higher education executive search consultant, I am educated as a speech-language pathologist. My bachelor’s degree is from the University of Redlands, and a master’s and a doctorate are from Purdue University. Born and raised in Montana, it is where both of my parents were educators.
Called to Ordained Ministry and a Time of Humbling
In my early years, I grew up as a regular but not particularly devoted church attendee (Episcopal). When I went to college, as do many, I fell away from the church. I married, and when I completed graduate school, our first son was born. His birth was the impetus for me to return to church.
At that time, I experienced adult conversion and the first inklings of being called to ordained ministry. Several years later, I completed a rigorous three-year training program and received ordination as a Deacon in the Episcopal Church. I continued my work as an academic and functioned as a bi-vocational clergyman. After several more years of education under a mentor, I received ordination as an Episcopal Priest.
I accepted the position of Rector (lead minister) in an Episcopal parish in Missouri. I had great success and popularity – particularly suitable conditions for an attack by the enemy. My marriage fell apart, and I succumbed to an inappropriate relationship. I lost my holy orders and my job.
Rescued by God
It was in the wake of this that God rescued me. He did so in two significant ways: (1) He showed me that my liberal, anything goes, culturally focused theological worldview was but a house of cards and could not sustain me in a crisis. (2) He gave me a wonderful new wife, a devout Christian who, along with the Lord, loved me back into an orthodox, truly Christ-centered conviction. Between us, we have five children and nine grandchildren.
Through it all, I remained in the church. However, I would have to say that I’m not denominationally settled. There are essential emphases in most of the varied denominations. Because of my sin and deposition, there was no chance for reinstatement as an ordained minister in the Episcopal Church, nor in most other denominations, for that matter. However, the call to preach, teach, and celebrate the sacraments has never waned.
Renewed Calling and Study at CLI with Ordination at CLA
I have functioned in any number of important lay roles in the church. In it all, I tried to deny my deep inward calling. The COVID-19 pandemic scraped the top off of that denial. My wife and I started a neighborhood worship service on the lawn with proper social distancing. I once again had the chance to lead services and to share the Word of God. I have felt, and others have confirmed that it is time for me to return to ministry as an ordained person.
One evening, almost by accident, I stumbled upon the Christian Leaders Institute. As I listened to President Reyenga in one of his lectures, he said that we minister out of our sin because we know more than most how desperately a Savior is needed. “You have a calling,” he said, and I felt the Lord speaking directly to me through him. So I am seeking ordination through the Christian Leaders Alliance and hope to move on to complete the Commissioned Minister course.
Where this will ultimately lead, I have no idea. We live in a beautiful area abounding in recreational opportunities. For now, my ministry dream is to take the Word into campgrounds to serve those who are traveling and recreating. Therefore, as I write this, we are about to visit several campgrounds and see where the Lord leads us.
Learn about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.