Pastor Training Blessings

Pastor Training Blessings

Hello and many blessings in the Name of Jesus Christ! My name is James Johnson and I am receiving pastor training blessings as I study at Christian Leaders Institute. I live in San Angelo, Texas in the United States of America. I was born and lived my earliest childhood in a small town in east Texas. We had a neighborhood church that influenced me greatly in that I learned early about God and living in a godly manner. Sadly, the neighborhood church moved to another part of town. My family then attended a Baptist church outside the immediate neighborhood but still close by. However, this church did not have the strong impact on the neighborhood that the earlier church did. When I was between seven and eight years old, my family eventually moved out of the area but not before a noticeable decline in the neighborhood.

The location of my family’s new house was not close to any church. My mother and father divorced and attended different Baptist churches. We were required to attend a church on Sundays so my older brother found a nearby Primitive Baptist Church. They had few weekly services other than Sunday, and they started early and ended early. He and I attended this church when they had services so we would be close to home and able to be the first to the swimming pool during the summer. This church closed and then we were required to attend my mother’s  Baptist church.

At the age of eleven, my family changed churches again. I attended this church from the age of ten until about the age of sixteen when I witnessed some ugly and seemingly ungodly business meetings and other behavior that made me question the church. I met a family and was invited to the Church of Christ, it was just up the street from my home. This was a much smaller and much more serious church and it was there that I was baptized and received the Holy Spirit at the age of sixteen. It was also there that I began to walk with the Lord and my life changed.

My ministry dream is to share the Word of God without denominational restraints. I believe our churches and communities grow weak for lack of the Word of God being taught. His Holy Word needs to be unleashed. One of the pastor training blessings I see is the heavy dosage of scripture in this first course at CLI. It has renewed my desire to walk with God in spreading His Word to all communities.

I mostly identify as a Pastor and Teacher. A pastor because two large churches I and my wife attended closed after internal strife. And most of the leadership and members walked away leaving large debts. My family and several others stayed and paid those debts because it was the right thing to do. While there, I was asked to lead by the remaining members. I preached and taught weekly and loved it. I also learned to love those in attendance. I was asked by the leadership about ministry before the church broke up, but I felt others were more qualified than myself. When I did purse going to a local seminary health issues interfered. I have since been able to take and complete quite a few Bible courses and classes that have increased my knowledge and abilities. These pastor training blessings are being continued here at CLI.

I believe the big challenge for my area is the teaching of God’s Word without political motivation, cultural acceptance and/or other man-made conditions. People need to hear what God says, what He expects and what He accepts. This may very well require a new church plant so I will not rule that out.

My local church has been supportive of my efforts, however many are not aware of my endeavors but they are aware of my passion for the gospel and teaching and learning. My wife of thirty-three years shares my passion for spreading the Word of God.

A study scholarship with Christian Leaders Institute would be a big pastor training blessing and it would help me become ordained to move forward with preaching God’s Word.

Learn about local ecuministry ordinations with Christian Leaders Alliance.