Chapter 1 - The Calling Test
by Larry Kreider
Larry came and spoke on spiritual parenting on April 17 and I got a couple of his books to read! I started reading his latest work, and I will use this blog as a note pad to answer some questions at the end of each chapter! (www.21testsofleadership.com)
Chapter 1 - The Calling Test
1. Describe your personal God-given calling.
hmm. this is something EVERYONE's wondering and thinking and praying and searching and pulling their hair and banging on their Bibles for! under the great commandment and the great commission lies your calling! i suppose my calling is to... uh...... uuuuuuuh...... worship God in musical settings? heal the sick, raise the dead, and the whole nine yards? i really want to create music that makes a difference. not just some cheesy pop songs about breaking up and making up but songs about the suffering and the hope, the beat down and the rescue, the abused and the love. i don't know whether i'll profit from it, but hey if this is what God's calling me to do, I will go after it and I shall leave the rest to Him. He will provide me!
Larry mentioned that people might receive different callings in different seasons of their lives. maybe this calling is not for the current season. i definitely need to seek Him so i know what season i am in and what i should do in this specific season of my life!
2. Define the difference between talents and gifts.
If you are unsure what your call is right now, know that God has given you talents and gifts to help you figure out your calling.
Talents are those things God has deposited within you to excel, such as... public speaking, teaching, singing, mathematics, writing, drawing, cooking, designing, sales...etc. Your talents make certain types of work attractive to you. And because they represent natural skills you already have or can easily develop, you excel when you use them.
Gifts are spiritual areas of life that God has blessed you with. Your gifts may include teaching, service, preaching, encouragement, generosity, music, hospitality, and soon. God is the source of the gift that equips you to fulfill His call. Since He is the Giver of all gifts, your success completely depends on His activity through you and your dependence upon Him. (page 19-20)
3. Take the time to create a list of your natural and physical talents.
- Music making
- Singing
- Piano playing
- Networking
- Outgoing-ness
- Organize events/things
- Sales
4. Now take the time to list your God-given gifts.
Operating Gifts (Rom 12:6-8)
- Exhortation/Encouragement
- Leading
- Service
- Compassion
Administrative Gifts (Ephesians 4:11)
- Prophetic (worship)
- Evangelical
Charismatic/Spirit Gifts (1 Cor 12:1-14)
- Words of Knowledge
- Working of Miracles
- Healing
- Tongues
Other Gifts
- Worship
- Giving
Wikipedia has, to my surprise, a list of spiritual gifts if anyone is interested. The book doesn't point out all kinds of gifts, so I thought I'd search online for all kinds of "gifts" given from the Lord. It is very well broken down! Yes, I like wiki.
5. How do the two intersect in such a way that they fulfill or could fulfill a life call? Who will you serve with these gifts?
This is the million-buck question. I would say serving the needy and the hungry and the poor through prophetic worship, music making, some healing and miracles would be a great mix, bottom line: bringing glory to the Father.
I believe maybe in a month, definitely a year, or five years, my lists would be a bit different! While I was typing up this post, I saw a friend's facebook picture and thought it fits right in the middle of this topic of CALLING. Love the doodling by the way.
I want to see patterns in my life which relate to the people I enjoy touching and doing tasks that build convergence! I want to be "in the zone of my call" in my life!
So, here it is, the end of chapter uno. My brain is fried from digging out the list of talents and gifts and thinking about my "calling". I believe "skill", which is the ability to do something well through learning and practicing, can also play a part of my calling, however, God-given talents and gifts definitely come first (in my opinion) because God has put the talents and given the gifts for my specific calling, skills are what I would have to learn in the process of fulfilling that calling.
What is your calling? Try answering these five essential and extremely helpful questions that make you think and examine yourself... you might even be surprised!
johnny
