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Friday, February 26, 2010

The call of God

On another blog there has been some discussion of the call of God, whether it is a call to preach, a call to pastor, etc. With this already on my mind, yesterday while in a Christian book store I noticed a little book on the shelf titled Is God Calling Me?: Answering the Question Every Leader Asks by Jeff Iorg. So I picked it up for a quick scan. I didn't buy it, but found it interesting.

In what might be the heart of the book, Iorg claims that God calls in three ways: 1.) dramatic experiences, 2.) reasoned decisions, and 3.) the prompting of others (or a combination of the three).

Would you agree or disagree with any or all of these three? If you agree with one (or two or all three), what would be your defense of it? New Testament examples?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe the first two would seem to go hand in hand. Many times, a dramatic experience will often lead to a reasoned decision. Regardless of how mcuh another may prompt, it is the individual who must have the burden upon their heart, to which God gives. We have various accounts throughout the Bible of these experiences.

R. L. Vaughn said...

I hope some of you might still be reading this. The NT examples that Iorg gave, if I remember correctly are:

1.) Sudden or dramatic experiences -- Moses and the burning bush (Exod. 3) and Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9)

2.) Reasoned decisions -- several events in Paul's ministry leading up to his going into Macedonia. (prevented from going into Asia; tried to go to Bithynia; had a dream and through all this concluding or "assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. "

3.) The prompting of others -- Samuel going to David (I Sam 16) and God speaking to the church at Antioch in Acts 13.

And as a special treat (against my better judgment) for you alliterative guys: called through crisis, contemplation and/or community.

R. L. Vaughn said...

I found this book online: Is God Calling Me?: Answering the Question Every Leader Asks
pp. 31-44