Free Online Seminary in United States
Free Online Seminary in the United States – My name is Dr. Carl Fabrizio, Jr., and I’m a Clinical Psychologist and retired US Air Force Reserve officer. I had the unique privilege to serve 30 years in the armed forces of the United States. I’ve been employed for the past 13 years as a psychologist by the state of California. My wife, Kim and I live in Irvine (Orange County), California, USA. Kim is a Registered Nurse, and between us we have been blessed with 6 adult children and 4 grandchildren. My ministry is currently in Orange and Los Angeles Counties: large, urban areas. The foci of my ministry include the following: creating Christ followers in the workplace, leading small discipleship groups, ministering to the homeless and poor, and providing mentorship and Biblical counseling to men in my community. The challenges I face that are unique to these populations include high doses of materialism, isolation, individualism, sexual impurity and apathy.
I practiced Roman Catholicism for the majority of my adult life and raised my children in the Catholic church. Despite attending mass religiously on Sunday and serving in the church for several years, I never knew Jesus. I believed in Him in an intellectual sense, and I desired to have a relationship with Him. However, I desired living on more terms more. I never truly surrendered my life over to Him, repented for my sins or called Him to be my personal Lord and Savior. It wasn’t until my mid-40s when a series of devastating life struggles came to a crescendo (divorce, son’s mental illness, financial collapse, professional persecution) did I finally seek Him with my whole being. It was at that time that I admitted to God my sinfulness and asked Him to take charge of my life. I asked Jesus Christ to save me from myself and become my personal Lord, Redeemer and Healer. My wife and I chose a church together and began engaging in what became a revival experience for both of us. I later joined a small group, rededicated my life to the Lord through public water baptism and my life has never been the same!
This free online Seminary in United States helps bring ministry dream
My ministry dream is to complete my current MDiv studies, retire from working as a psychologist and enter the full-time ministry. My wife and I seek to prepare ourselves to become urban missionaries; traveling several times a year to different cities to help spread the Gospel through our words and actions to communities throughout our nation. We’re interested in participating in overseas missions as well if God so desires, but we believe that God has called us to work primarily in domestic mission fields that can benefit from our expertise and energy.
I resonate most with the titles of evangelist and small group leader. These roles best suit my principle spiritual gifts.
In retrospect, a number of key experiences have led me to choose to serve our Lord in the five-fold ministry. The first and most important is my calling. I believe that the Father called me to serve Him. He told me to prepare for this calling through academic, spiritual, emotional and professional growth experiences during the last 5 years. I’m a work in progress, but I’ve made substantial gains in all of these areas largely through His immense grace and love. CLI is a part of my journey to assist me in reaching my pastoral goals. Other key experiences have influences my decision to pursue the ministry have included my relationship with my loving, Christian wife; serving two combat tours as a mental health provider; the improved relationships with my 6 adult children; the birth of my 4 grandchildren; growing evangelism opportunities in my workplace and struggles with my physical health. Collectively, these events have solidified my desire to answer the Lord’s call.
Perhaps the challenges of ministering to people in LA and Orange Counties are similar to those of any pastor who resides in a large, urban setting. However, I believe that Orange County in particular is uniquely affluent, deeply materialistic and exceptionally individualistic overall. Some of the toughest folks to successfully evangelize are those that don’t think they need God, because they’re doing fine without Him. In fact, they lead such entrenched secular lives that their thoughts rarely turn to God, Jesus or any topics remotely spiritual in nature. The entire culture seems to breed ways of thinking and being that magnifies human achievement and miniaturizes God the Creator of the universe.
This free online seminary in the United States is available for local churches to use as a training place for those called into ministry.
My local church, Mariners Church has made an indelible impact on me and my life course. They have helped develop me as a pastor and keep me fed spiritually. Mariners has taught me through practical life lessons that God’s Church on earth is truly His people, serving as His hands and feet. We are His Church. We can change the world.
There is no other member of my family that has assisted me more on my journey to answer God’s call than my beautiful wife, Kim. She has been my greatest source of strength and support since before my conversion experience until the present. She is my life partner and will be my primary ministry partner as we enter missionary fields in communities around the US and the world.
Since retiring from the Air Force one year ago, Kim and I have been blessed with 3 additional grandchildren and 2 daughter-in-laws. Since our family has grown so rapidly, we are assisting our 6 adult children and 4 grand babies with our spiritual, emotional and financial treasure. The CLI scholarship will enable me to pursue my pastoral education and deepen the foundational knowledge crucial to my success as a small group pastor, workplace evangelist and urban missionary (evangelist).
Please pray for my continued dedication to and meaningful application of the word of God. I need prayer to minimize my tendency to replace God’s word with my own prideful notions that are based on personal experience.
Brother Carl, I too am a retired military service member and have answered my call to ministry within the past year. I, like you, share a passion for ministry outside the walls of the church, reaching the unchurched as Jesus did. I look forward to the education I will gain as well in this course, furthering my education of the His Holy Word. I have been given the vision to start a ministry called, “Real Life Ministries”, here in North GA. Please keep in touch. My email is: writeontime@hotmail.com. Brother Corey Brown (fellow soldier on the battlefield for Jesus!)