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CALLING

Though I don’t claim to be an expert at mechanical work, I certainly know how to change the oil in my car. Yet, I never do. I always take it to a quick lube to get it done. Why? It isn’t worth my time to do it. In an article for Reader’s Digest, Jane Spencer asks the question, “Is it really worth your time?” She writes, “Americans often make drastic miscalculations about the value of their time, taking a do-it-yourself approach to tasks that might be less costly in time and money to hire out. A simple oil change, for example, costs $26.99 at some Jiffy Lube locations. But the supplies to do it yourself can run about $21.” 

—Reader’s Digest, Sept 2003, p. 155-6 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson 

Add in the hassle of disposing of the waste, the time spent shopping for the supplies and the time spent doing the work and it just doesn’t add up—at least not for me. You see, just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should do something. 

It’s true with small things like change the oil in my car and it is true in other areas of my life too. I can get so busy doing things I can do that I don’t have time to do the things I’m supposed to do. The things I’m called to do. 

Ephesians 2:10 NASB “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” 

CALLING/GOD’S VOICE

Chariff Haddad says God speaks to people in many ways. He may even choose to speak through the guy in the next shower stall. At a commissioning service for new missionaries, Haddad, a pastor of a new church for people of Middle Eastern descent, says God used a friend in the shower to speak to him. 

Haddad says that as a teenager in Lebanon he struggled with God’s call to service in the ministry. During a shower following a soccer game, Haddad was thinking of all the reasons why he could not obey. He had a family to raise, and planned to become an engineer. In his mind there were too many obstacles to serve God. Haddad silently prayed “It’s impossible to do it financially. It’s impossible for me to change people’s hearts.” 

Suddenly, Haddad’s friend in the next stall, blurted out, “ What is impossible to man is possible to God.” Haddad says, “It made the hair on my neck stand up.” Knowing his friend could not have overheard him, Haddad asked, “ Sam, where did those words come from?” His friend answered, “ I don’t know. They just came to mind, so I blurted them out.” 

Later when Haddad felt he needed to serve in the United States, he told God. “Lord, if you want me to serve you, send me to the States. I don’t have a Visa, I don’t have the resources, I don’t even have the desire to go.” The next day, Haddad received a letter from a church offering to sponsor him as he pursued his education and ministry. 

Referring to Haddad’s words, Mission Board President Robert Reccord said, “ When you answer His call, you will inevitably have the opportunity to tell His story. And when you do unapologetically do that, you will change your world.” 

—http://www.bpnews.net, February 12, 2003, Missionary learns God’s voice can come at unexpected times. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell. 

2 Peter 2:10-11 “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

 22 year-old Christopher Wuebben recently lost his job as a paramedic. While delivering pizzas to make ends meet, Wuebben displayed his true talents when he saved the life of a man who went into cardiac arrest just as his pizza was delivered. When he drove up to a home in suburban Denver, Wuebben heard a woman screaming for help because her husband had collapsed. He assured the woman he knew CPR, got the man on the floor and revived him before the fire department arrived at the scene.

Wuebben’s boss John Kelley told reporters he didn’t know how long the young man would be delivering pizzas for him because one hospital and the fire department had called to offer the veteran a job in his chosen field after hearing of his actions. Kelley added, ”He’s a good kid who was very nonchalant about what he did and hopefully this will work out for him.” 

Colorado man delivers pizza and saves heart attack victim, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66K02P20100721 ; July 21,2010., Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Romans 12:6-8 (CEV) (6) God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. (7) If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. (8) If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully. 

The son of the creators of a popular children’s book series is continuing the family tradition and expressing his newfound faith as well. Mike Berenstain is the son of Stan and Jan Berenstain who created the popular cartoon stylebooks. He says his parents specialized in created book about parenting and included moral in each story. Though fans praised the books for teaching morality, Berenstain says he and his brother were raised in a secular household. He told reporters, “My father was a secular Jew: my mother was raised a nominal Christian. We weren’t raised religious.”

Berenstain has worked on a new book series published under the name “Living Lights” He has also illustrated a Berenstain Bears Holy Bible, and is working on a new Bible storybook. The second-generation author and cartoonist says he was interested in science as a child and became unsatisfied with secular values. Later in life, he meet his wife and they sent their children to a Quaker school. Through the school, Berenstain was exposed to the Bible, which led to his conversion and baptism. He says the new work gives him an outlet to express his faith. He added, “I felt that we are called upon to use your talents in the service for God. I wasn’t doing much else. I wasn’t going out visiting the sick and I wasn’t visiting the jails. I was just drawing.”

--Berenstain Bears Author Uses Talents for God in faith Inspired Series, http://www.christianpost.com/news/berenstain-bears-author-uses-talents-for-god-in-faith-inspired-series-51146] , June 14, 2011, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Colossians 3:23-24 (CEV) (23) Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master. (24) In fact, the Lord Christ is the one you are really serving, and you know that he will reward you. 

Ward Brehm went to Africa with his pastor nearly twenty years ago. That trip changed his life forever. While there, Brehm saw people who were chronically malnourished, children going blind for lack of inexpensive medicine, and other people dying of AIDS.  He came back from the trip feeling a call to speak for people who do not have a voice. Since then, Brehm has been back to Africa more than 30 times. Brehm is currently part of a group working to establish enterprise zones to bring medical care, water, and better food to areas where civil society has broken down. He has also introduced the simple message of Jesus’ principles and precepts.  He says the impact has been powerful as people in these countries been caring and praying for one another. Brehm feels fortunate to have been able to do so much in twenty years. He said, “When God makes your specific purpose known and you do your best to discern the calling on your life it doesn’t get any better than that.” He added,” I’ve been the winner in all this, in terms of meaning and purpose.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Prayer Breakfast speaker finds his calling in Africa, by Susan Olp, http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/religion/prayer-breakfast-
speaker-finds-his-calling-in-africa/article_06f04e5f-7093-54f2-8b70-8c3337532311.html, 
 Accessed April 27, 2013

2 Timothy 1:9 (ESV) who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 

When the Barna group began to look at how people felt about having a more meaningful life, they discovered some key focal points to consider. The research found that 75 percent of American adults said they were looking for ways to live a more meaningful life, and the concept of vocation or “calling” played a key role. The respondents also indicated that a calling extended beyond work and into family life as well. The research found that the question was especially important to Christians with only 40 percent of Christians indicating they had a clear sense of God’s calling on their lives. Younger adults were very interested in the idea, but almost half of them said they thought God might be calling them to different work, but had not made any changes yet. The research found three main focal points in relation to calling. The first was a varied outlook on jobs and work due to the changing work environment. Most people do not stay at a single job for more than three years.  The second involved dissatisfaction among women who find it difficult to balance demands of work and home. They commonly described themselves as stressed out, tired, and overcommitted. The third area was related more to home life and a call toward adoption, as more than 75 percent of respondents said they felt a personal responsibility to adopt and care for children.  The Barna group says the results of the research should offer some guidance for churches and other ministries who hope to address needs in this generation.—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Three Trends of Faith, Work, and Calling, https://www.barna.org/barna-update/culture/649-three-major-faith-and-culture-trends-for-2014#.UwJBPmyx6ie, Accessed February 17, 2014.

Romans 11:29 (ESV) (29) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 

Lilly Endowment Inc. has announced that they will give nearly $4 million in grants to campus ministry organization working with students at 49 public universities. The initiative is designed to encourage campus ministries to create programs and strengthen existed programs to help students make connections between their academic, career pursuits, and their faith commitments.  The programs would be focused on helping students draw on their faith as they make choices concerning their future.  The endowment envisions projects that develop leadership skills, connect students with mentors, and help them find support that would allow them to consider careers in ministry.  Dr. Christopher Coble, vice president for religion at Lilly Endowment said campus ministries can help students discover God’s call in their lives and play a role in building a new generation of Christian leaders. He added, “Some students are considering ministry and others are learning how they can live their faith through other professions and careers and forms of service.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Lilly Endowment makes grants to strengthen campus ministries serving public universities, http://pressreleases.religionnews.com/2015/11/04/lilly-endowment-makes-grants-to-strengthen-campus-ministries-serving-public-universities, Accessed November 4, 2015.

2 Thessalonians 1:11 (HCSB) “And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith,” 

CALLING

Two weeks before he turned 51, Daniel Holbrook sensed that God was telling him that he needed to leave his job at a transmission manufacturing plant. Daniel had worked at the plant for many years and had worked his way up the corporate ladder to become a general manager at the plant. All the while, he served as a lay leader in a local church, as his way of following God’s call to preach. At a retreat, Daniel felt that the Lord was asking him to follow the call to preach full-time. In response, he resigned his job and took a job pastoring a small church nearby. Daniel said making a middle-age career change did not make sense financially, he knew he had to be obedient. He said now he knows he is where God wants him. Daniel said, “There is peace when you’re where you are supposed to be. Ministry was my passion. It’s what I was meant to do.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

From Magnate to Magnet, By John W. Kennedy,http://penews.org/news/from-magnate-to-magnet, Accessed July 14, 2016.

Philippians 3:14 (HCSB) “I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”

CALLING

Shelly Pennefather was Villanova’s all-time leading scorer. When she was 25 she had a $200,000 contract to play in Japan. She turned it down. Instead she joined the Monastery of the Poor Clares in Alexandria, Va., one of the strictest religious orders in the world. “I would never choose this for myself,” Pennefather told a friend, “but this is what I’m called to do. God is calling me.”

Now 53 she has lived as a cloistered nun as Sister Rose Marie. She sleeps on straw mattresses and rises at 12:30 a.m. with her sisters to pray. They walk barefoot and never leave their monastery, believing their prayers will help the world’s suffering. She gets two family visits a year through a see-through screen and is allowed to hug her family every 25 years.

THE WEEK August 30, 2019, p10

You have to admire a person so dedicated to God’s calling. Do you know what God’s calling for you is? Are you faithfully following it? —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

2 Timothy 1:9 (CSB)

He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.