HalleluYah!
My wife and I were recently informed that I am licensed to Minister now, to work in the office of Evangelistic Missionary under the covering and with the full oversight of the General Assembly Evangelistic Association Board. I can train the Body of Christ as a Minister, and also perform weddings and funerals. I thought I had to wait for my training to complete, which will take a year, but the Board said that training was to hold the office of Pastor; Our testimony and existing works have been enough to fulfill their license requirements for the office of Evangelistic Missionary (even as a Youth Minister).
You may ask, “Why did you bother?”, or, “Isn’t Jesus enough? or, ” Why do you need anyone looking over your shoulder?”, as some have put it. And to these I say that, without a question, if you have no compulsion, no ‘fire in the belly’, to seek the Lost, then don’t bother opening your mouth. I also say to my fellow Christians that it is best that you do not preach without training. You wouldn’t drive a car without lessons so why would you try to explain Salvation to someone without training on how BEST to do so? [And that is what an Evangelist is for! The Evangelist trains the Body of Christ in HOW to share their faith Biblically.]
And, Pastors, would you ALLOW someone in your pulpit who didn’t answer to a body of Elders? No, right? If you would we need to talk!
So that is the reason I sought to be licensed and have this oversight; for accountability.
Accountability is the key to effective ministry…
…and I am so glad to have Godly Believers to oversee our efforts, pray for us and keep us in line! Anyone who thinks they have the right to minister without Biblical authority over them has made a grave error in judgment.
We surely didn’t want to go the route I have seen so many take; The Lone Preacher with no one to answer to, no authority to help him stay true, no prayer support. The Lone Preacher falls to the ravening wolves, or his own flesh, eventually. I have watched so many ministries fail, or fall into grave error, because they refused oversight. We chose the G.A.E.A. for their stance on Biblical Accountability; They are the only Christian Ministry Licensing Authority I know of that refuses to ordain anyone who violates the Scripture (like in the case of sexual deviates seeking ordination). The G.A.E.A. will also PULL the license and ordination of any minster who refuses counsel and the agreed to Discipline of the GAEA board.
Did you hear that National Association of Evangelicals? I have YET to hear whether the N.A.E. have removed Ted Haggard’s Pastoral license, have you? And when will they pull the ordination of Pstors who marry homosexuals??? Well that is the very reason I sought the G.A.E.A., for their position on Godly Standards; I pray they will remain true to them.
So now we just need to create our daily witness training packages, for which I rely heavily on LivingWaters.com Ministries.
The joy of being able to train Believers and see them effectively share their faith in everyday situations is only overshadowed by the knowledge that we will be able to see Jesus glorified, both in the lives of those we have equipped to minister, and in the lives of the Lost who the Holy Spirit will rescue, to the glory of Yahweh, God, our Father. Amen.
May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!
To contact us while we are in the Columbus, Ohio, area to have me come and train your congregation on how to share their faith Biblically, just email me at the address below and I will respond with our details:
(ALL training is free; Freely we have received, freely we give. And no deceptive “love offering” nonsense will ever be mentioned. We trust Jesus to provide through whom He chooses as we have need.)
Patrick Burwell, OnlyJesusSaves.com/HowWillYouDo.org Ministries
