tanya
New Member
Posts: 13
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Post by tanya on Mar 23, 2021 15:40:05 GMT
This post is for you to share a little about yourself with each other. It is a good way to see where others are from and to learn more about how that person came to being in Ministry School classes. I would like for each of you as an assignment, to tell us your story. It should be under 1000 words, and tell of how you were saved and sanctified, and what your goals are in taking these classes. I will post my bio here so that you all know who you are working with. Again this is a good way to get to know one another. MY BIO I was born in Butler Missouri, the son of an Air Force serviceman. Though I know my father, he left my mother when I was just three years old. He was not much of a part of my life as I would have wished. My mother moved us into a small home next to my maternal grandparents. Mother worked as a barkeeper in an old biker bar outside the town we lived in to keep us afloat. Though working in a bar, she continued to take us to church as much as she could. When I was five, my mother met a man who would eventually become my stepfather. The first part of this new life was great. My step-father would take us fishing, hunting, and swimming. We had a lot of fun together. Just before they were married, we moved to a small town in southeast Kansas, and life was good. My stepfather was a logger and a tree surgeon. In the summer, money was abundant and plentiful. In the winter, we had many days that we were hungry. I remember eating wild game and homemade biscuits every day at times, but life was still good. God provided all that we needed. Early in the 1980s, there was an accident. My stepfather was injured by a saw blade. He contracted a blood poisoning, and nearly lost his life. Because he did not know he had contracted this disorder, his brain became chemically imbalanced which caused mental issues that continue to this day. Depression, anger, sadness, and fear are all that consumes him. My mother caught the most of his rage and other issues, though he never harmed her physically. There were times that the boys of the family felt his anger, but we wrote it off to the problems he had. Because of these issues, church became a side note to all of us. Mom tried to get us to keep going, but that too slowed until we stopped going all together. We moved from that place in 1986, because he felt uncomfortable living there, feeling the house was possessed. We then moved to Savonburg Kansas, another small town in southeast Kansas. Though on welfare at the time, we made ends meet. I attended a small school thirteen miles from home and was having a great time. I met a girl at school whom I enjoyed being with and who is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Natalie is her name. Natalie is a farm girl who loves life and cared about me. This (love and care) was somewhat new to me, as I had grown numb to compassion due to the situation at home. School was not a priority and I seldom opened a book. My grades gave reflection to this as well. Natalie was all I thought about and all I cared to think about. I was the stereotypical high school male, chasing after girls without a care in the world for anything else. I managed to make it through school with a two point something grade point average. I had scholarships to attend a few colleges, but I was not about to continue to go to school. I was going to make money. I made a sufficient salary due to a decent job, however, I liked to party. I was drunk nearly every night. In 1994, Natalie and I married and moved to Iola, Kansas, just thirty miles from home. We started attending a local Baptist church where we felt at home. I say we, but I really did not care to go. Our life was not easy at all. I had grown accustom to drinking and she was set against it. I began hiding it from her the best I could and made excuses not to go to church. In 1997, we had our first child, Emily. This was what I needed to start a transformation. We went to church more regularly and I took a job as a police officer in 1999. I enjoyed the power and loved the action and adventure. Shortly after graduating the academy, Erin, our second daughter was born. I worked as a police officer for thirteen years and had a few incidents that haunted me. One was the death of a child and the other a suicide that took place right in front of me. I left law enforcement due to an injury and started working with the youth of the church. I also started hanging out with some local bikers who belonged to the Christian Motorcyclist Association. On October 18 2007, Charlie, a great friend, invited me to a motorcycle rally. He said, “It will change your life”. I had known Christ for quite some time, but not for real. During this rally, the speaker was addressing me. The Holy Spirit convicted me on my alcohol usage and instructed me to stop. Now, the speaker was talking to everyone, not just me but the Holy Spirit convicted me so hard that I fell to my knees and asked God to come and heal me. I quit drinking and chewing tobacco that second and will never touch it again. Since then, I served as the Youth Movement Representative for Kansas and an Area Representative for four adult chapters for the Christian Motorcyclist Association for five and a half years. In 2013, I started working as a licensed minister in the Iola church and obtained my District License. My walk with Christ is never dull. I previously served as the associate pastor in Iola for three years before being placed on the pulpit supply list for the Joplin district for a short time. On October 18, 2015, just 8 years after my moment of Sanctification, I accepted the call to be the senior pastor McCune Kansas, where I have now been for over four years. In 2018, I accepted the position of Secretary of the credentials board for the Joplin and less than six months ago, the coordinator of the Joplin District School of Ministry. God is still using this broken man to expand His Kingdom.
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tanya
New Member
Posts: 13
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Post by tanya on Mar 23, 2021 15:40:43 GMT
Hello. My name is Tanya Parker. I currently live in Cassville, Missouri with my husband Robert. We have between us six children who are all grown. We have several grandchildren. Robert is the pastor of the Nazarene church here in Cassville, and I am a licensed professional counselor. I currently work for Hope Restored in Branson, Focus on the Family, as a counselor. My parents used to move around often so I have lived all over Missouri and in Kansas City, Kansas for a few years. My first husband was in the military and then restaurant management, so I moved some more. I have lived in Missouri, Kansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Texas, and Tennessee. I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home and became a Christian myself at the age of six. I received entire sanctification when I was 18 years old and attending a Baptist University, please don’t shoot me. I have been blessed to have God walk with me through most of my life. I have felt His presence more at times than at others. I have resisted the call to become a licensed pastor, partly due to the way I was raised and partly because I am stubborn. I hope the stubbornness can become determination while I work through t his process.
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Post by avanover on Mar 24, 2021 2:53:45 GMT
Knowing who God is, was an area of life that was absent as a child. My family was never active in a church growing up, it was something that only happened during my visits with my grandmother. I do not believe that my parents did not know who God was, they obviously did serve him, that left me in a place where God was absent. I do remember hearing of Jesus when I would go to church with Nanny, but soon that would fade away when engaging back into my home environment. I remember there would be occasions where my stepmother would have us kids pray at night, there definitely was no habit formed there, it was only for moments. She would often talk about going to church and even see her read the bible at times. My dad on the other hand worked a lot, and had no interest in church, I never once heard him talk about God. Our household was not one of biblical background, unless we see it now as a wilderness experience. My family would at the time would be, what others would have considered normal, well at least I thought so. We had a lot of fun as kids doing everything a kid would want to do. I grew up riding motorcycles, four wheelers, bicycles, and loved the outdoors. My dad was very active with us, when he was not at work. He taught me and my siblings how to do many things. During these times of activities, we would see our parents do what we thought was normal, they would hang out with our neighbors and friends; and they would seem to have a great time, while smoking and drinking. Watching the party lifestyle was normal, it was everyday my dad was off and on the weekends. I would say they held this lifestyle together for some time. Sundays was a day of rest for them, but not one of a biblical standpoint. My mother was absent during most of this time, she left me and my brother Cody Ray on the doorstep of grandmas, leaving my father to take care of us. He did step up and do what he thought was best. She was absent due to the use of drugs, alcohol, and the lifestyle of rebellion. It is safe to say that there was severe damage during my childhood through not knowing why mom was not around. I did understand that was not a normal situation. It was definitely a topic my dad did not like talking about or mentioning to us as children. The way my parents lived soon worked its way into my life, actually very soon. I recall being curious about the things they did, such as smoking, drinking, and eventually found other substances, I begin to take from them and try myself. I would say this is where I begin to encounter the spiritual side of things, I was very attracted to the fast lifestyle and the party scene. My parent’s practices soon become my own, I fell in love with the use of drugs, any kind would satisfy me. I used and experienced with anything that was around, taking me into a deep dark walk of life. I understood this lifestyle I was living was one of a dark path, lets be honest, it really was the only one I knew from a young age. My life was one full of energy, I constantly was on the go. When I begin using meth at the age of fourteen, is when I can recall the awareness of my spirituality coming out. I knew it was wrong and the enemy in me wanted more of it. I engaged with all forms of dark living, taking further from a creator I had never known. I was always the friend who had the discernment when we should not be doing something; and I was the ringleader most of the time, I would keep those around me out of trouble, while partaking in everything that should get you in trouble. The whole time I was using I never really understood why it hurt my family, when I saw them do the same things. I guess my way of life was pretty damaging it took a lot from me. I was sent to prison physically at the age of sixteen, never being able to go back to high school. My life was not normal and my family payed the price for it. The grips of addiction took me down the path of darkness and I enjoyed it. The biblical text tells us that sin is even fun for a season. I suppose I was living in my season of fun sin, so I thought. This path I was on led me to jail, rehabs, mental hospitals, regular hospitals, and being homeless for seven years of my life. Soon the fun was running out and the problems begin to pile up. This is where my life began to transition and I come to my senses, like the prodigal son in the pigs pen. By this time my mother and I had spent many years of using and living a lifestyle of sin together. While incarcerated for I do not know how many times, lets just say a lot, my mother wrote me a letter talking about her new freedom in Christ. This interested me to see my mother talk of this new amazing life, I got out of jail and moved in with her. This is where my first encounter with Christ that I was aware of took place. I gave my life to Christ and my story took a huge shift. Life literally come back to me and I was falling in love with Christ. I understood the word from the beginning, and He gifted me with the power of prayer. I was in revivals and church every time the doors opened. This was in 2011 and during this time, it seemed as if everywhere I went people were telling me I was called to preach. Soon after me being saved I met my ex-wife, who was a preacher’s daughter. We got married while in sin, I did not know what was right, I was a new Christian. Besides the sins still in my life, I become a youth pastor and often visited other churches preaching revivals and services. During this time, I still struggled with addiction at times, it soon led me back into a dark place; and me and my wife separated and I left the church, wanting nothing to do with God again. I started running from God and begin destroying all He did for me. This time it was seven times worse than before. My best friend killed himself, my wife left me, I was shoot and almost killed, and sent to prison all in a six-month period. During my time in prison all I had left was to turn back to God and that is where my next shift of life took place. Prison was the key to me truly finding God. While in prison I begin to pray and search for Christ and I found Him; and while there the Lord used me to lead many people to Him, while healing me physically, spiritually, and mentally. My life was being created into something I never known, and it all took place in a prison cell. While I was in prison the Lord spoke to me about going west, I had no clue what that meant, I just knew He was telling me to go. After I got out of prison I went back home, thankfully during the time in prison, my relationships with family was being restored. When I got back reality hit me hard, and I soon begin to slip away from God again. Within my first month home I used drugs several times, each time becoming worse, it was not fun. The Lord intervened and opened a door for me to go to a sober living environment in Springfield, Mo. This is west of Sikeston, Mo. While in the sober living we were required to go to church, the first thirty days you have to go to The Well on Friday nights. On Friday nights we have a Redemption service where addicts, broken people, and simply those who love serving the Lord attend. I immediately felt at home my first experience there, and this church soon became my home church that I attend to this day. When coming here I knew absolutely nobody and had no friends or family, it was just me and the Lord Jesus on a journey west. After 18 impatient rehabs, 3 sober livings, 8 mental wards, multiple prison sentences, and overdoses I finally entered into my moment of sanctification at The Well on a Friday night! The Well offered me family, friends, and a love I have never experienced from others before. The have taught me how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and have pushed me to my limits of growth. I have found my true identity in Christ, showing me my worth; and bringing into a place where God is very present in my daily life, making me more like Himself every day. The pastors soon recognized the gifts of God within me, they opened the door for me to pursue schooling. I started Awakening School of Ministry in Fort Worth, Texas, in January 2019. I knew I was called to pastor and preach the gospel and I wanted to take any resource that was open to me. Over the last two years my testimony and life has led many people to the Lord. While being at The Well, it has opened opportunities for me to preach and teach the gospel in many locations. I have finally come to a place in my life where I am truly disciplined, formed, and made into the image of Christ daily. When I wake, I seek the face of God before anything, He is the very center of my life. The body of believers I serve with hold me accountable, teach me, and push me to my greatness. Soon after starting college courses I heard about Nazarene Bible College, this piece of gold I found has sincerely changed my life. I desire, seek, and search with everything I have, to learn and take from this opportunity of schooling. School holds me accountable more than anything, I have become the man God has created me to be through it as well. Throughout the past few year’s the Lord has restored to me, the years the cankerworm and locust had ate. I got married in September to my beautiful wife Dasha, something I never thought would be possible for me to have again. Through obedience the Lord blesses those who walk in it. Also, I will am leading and preaching during our Friday night redemption services where I initially met God. The same place God spoke to me and awakened my spirit at, is the same place I get to minister at. I am west in my journey and I desire to go wherever the Holy Spirit leads me. John 1:46 “Nazareth!” Exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” I am a Nazarene, I am the one the world counted out, but the Lord took me in. What good can come from a story of sin like my own? The Lord chose to restore me, so He may reach a broken culture, similar to the culture I was once apart of. The Lord come from a broken place, but He also now is the one who fixes the broken places. I can answer my own question, Yes! The Lord can turn what was bad into good. It does not matter what family, city, or way of life you come from; He can use anyone who is willing. My purpose of life is active, and the Lord is bringing good from my brokenness. In January my business “Restored Renovations” got licensed and is prospering grestly. Also, last Thursday I had my district interview and I now get to be a Nazarene Pastor and I am currently evangelizing as well to many churches preaching the Gospel. God has been so faithful to me!
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Post by jpheun on Mar 24, 2021 13:24:09 GMT
Hello, My name is John Heun. I was born in a catholic home. I grew up in the church, being an alter boy and a lector. I knew who God was and knew of stories, but didnt have a personal relationship with Him. When I was an adult, I ran from church to pursue what my will was. My marriage failed, and I was left with an even bigger void. I am a workaholic, and I would fill my void with things to try to keep me busy so I didnt have to deal with the real issues. I started dating my current wife through a divorce support group and we had a lot of similar issues that we had gone through. Deep down I was angry with God for all that had happened to me as I tried to be the best "christian" I knew how to be. (Ill save the grace/works topic for another time haha). As Amanda and I dated she could see I had issues I needed to deal with. She was currently a single mom of two and was active in her local Nazarene church. She invited me to church. She later introduced me to her grandfather Dwight who was a retired DS and missionary for COTN. I sat on a front porch, and asked him "if God is such a great God, then why did this happen to me?" He told me I had it all wrong. He had an old car in drive. He asked me if I could help him with his car if it broke down. Being a mechanic, I said sure. He asked me why I wouldnt just scrap the car out rather then fix it. Dwight told me that if we read the bible, Jesus wasnt with the kings and royalty. He was with the broken down. Just like I saw the value in that car, God can see the value in us. The Lord runs the greatest salvage business in the world. It is up to us to find the junk yard. SO MUCH WISDOM! I found the Lord on a front porch swing....
Fast forwarding, Amanda and I got married and I adopted Matt and Evie and we had added a 3rd Nick. I still had an issue that I hadnt dealt with yet. It was the sin nature. I wanted to serve myself and serve God on sundays. I was in a tractor one day and the Lord dealt with me. Asked me to give my whole life to him and surrender. I accepted the call into ministry and have been serving ever since.
After accepting the call, we have continued to face challenges. Our youngest child Nick has CVID and has 9 specialists. God has humbled me and I felt like Abraham laying my son at the alter. Covid has taken our precautions to a new level. I have had lots of talks with him and challenged him as to what he can do with this opportunity to glorify God. He came up with the hashtag BSAP which stands for Be Strong And Pray! Through an opportunity with Team Impact, they pair sick kids with sports teams, they paired him with the MSU mens soccer team. He has gotten to share this BSAP message with the players, and has opened doors for me to speak life into some young men from all over the world. God can use even our trials to help witness of His power.
Currently I am serving as an Associate Pastor in Ozark COTN. I am bi vocational and just love to serve the Lord in all that I do and have so much to learn!
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Post by jwhitt07 on Jan 4, 2024 17:51:36 GMT
My name is Jason Whittington, I was a military baby and born in Landstuhl Germany. Dad served in the United States Army for about 8 years. My biological mom went with him everywhere he went and she actually had my older brother and I both while still living in Germany. Soon after I was born my family came back state side and went back home in Maryland. To this day I am not quite sure of the circumstances, but my Dad and my biological Mom got a divorce. Dad was soon stationed in Fort Leonard Wood about 16 hours away from home. One day he was in town and went for a bite to eat where he met my step mama at the Waffle House. They hit it off pretty well because they’re still together til this day. My Step mama lived in Marshfield, MO so when Dad got out of the military we quickly moved down to Marshfield in 2003.
My brother, Dad, and I came into a home of 4; in which my step mama, brother, and 2 sisters lived. My Step Mama grew up Church of Christ and that is where we went from a very young age. We went every Sunday and to every VBS they ever had. As we got older we slowly drifted away from Church of Christ, we started to going to First Baptist in town, but no where we went really stuck. We started Church hoping quite frequently and eventually found ourselves going to church very seldom.
This time in my life I was very involved in school sports, I played everything, but Football was my best and my favorite sport. I played a little varsity my Freshman year and started my sophomore year. I started getting recognized rather quickly and the high school girls started to flock around me. Though my parents were awesome I never had a great biblical background on how to treat women. I quickly adapted a lustful view for the high school girls and found myself involved in things I shouldn’t had. I started having a rebellious background and sneaking out of my house to be with my girl friend while her parents weren’t home, I began lying and cheating and I found myself going down a very destructive path.
I often jumped from one girl to the next and found myself with a girl I’ve known for quite sometime, we weren’t really friends but I’ve seen her around and we hit it off; her name is Makala. Makala’s family was all about going to church and their relationship with the Lord. And since I wanted to spend every second with her, I started going to church on Wednesday nights and Saturday nights. Though our relationship wasn’t perfect, my relationship with the Lord started to grow and I started to focus on how I truly walked with the Lord.
Makala and I got married in 2020, God really used her to forever change my life. In 2020 I rededicated my life to Christ; I declared whatever he wanted to do I was his. At this time I was working a wood shop in Springfield and going to Ozarks Technical Community College to get my degree in secondary education. As I continued to pursue my education, doors started to shut quickly to become a teacher and I was unsure of m direction. I remember crying out to God in that Wood shop asking God why?!
At this time Makala and I were going to a non demonational church called Four Rivers Church in Marshfield, MO. I remember running the sound booth in the back while Pastor Vernon was giving a message. I can’t exactly remember what the message was about, but I heard the Lord speak to my spirit very clearly and he told me “You’re not only going to be a teacher, but you’re going to be a teacher of men” From that point on I knew God was calling me to be a Pastor. I started having conversation with my Pastor and started shadowing him on the behind the scenes things.
In 2022 God called us away from our home church, which was a bit confusing because I thought I knew for sure this is where I was going to be to begin my pastoral journey; boy was I wrong. We went into the Wilderness Season where we were unsure where God was calling us, but we knew if we drew near to him, he would draw near to us. We eventually found ourselves at the Well Church in Marshfield, MO and our Journey continued. I started meeting with Dylan, our Campus Pastor and Jake Schmidly our Youth Minister.
I soon started to help in the Youth Ministry and was Jake’s #2; I helped with the behind the scenes things, creating sermon series, planning events, meeting with students, etc. My Wife and I became a Member of the Well Church and soon I got my Local Ministers License. A lot has happened since then, but there has been some transition and recently left my full time job and I have now accepted and started as the Well Marshfield Youth Minister! Makala and I just wanted to be faithful to The Call, and we’re just living proof that through the unsureness God is always faithful, you may not know where God is taking you, but he does!
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