I have had the privilege of serving as interim pastor at a small church in Lawrenceburg, KY over the last several weeks and it reminded me how much I enjoy and love ministry; truly, I cannot “see” myself doing anything else, which apparently is one of the litmus tests for whether or not you are truly called to ministry.  I’m not saying that an individual’s calling is reduced to a subjective in-the-gut-type feeling, because there are certain qualifications that an individual must meet.  For example, Paul tells his young protege Timothy in his pastoral epistle that “a bishop then must be blameless” (I Timothy 3:2a).   MacArthur notes that the rest of the qualifications are an elaboration of what it means to be blameless.  Suffice it to say, if an individual is blameless or above reproach then they’re probably not going to be addicted to wine or money, quarrelsome, covetous, or any of the other qualifications Paul outlines in his epistle.  But my main point in this post is that there are many individuals that may meet all of the qualifications and they may even demonstrate competency in ministry, yet, at the end of the day, they believe and can even see themselves doing something else.  I’m no expert and I’m certainly not a seasoned veteran of ministry.  Yet, I’ve been involved in ministry actively as a lay-person and as a staff-pastor for almost nine years and in those nine years I have learned overwhelmingly, time and time again, that ministry is a calling and that calling is an anchor.  And just as an anchor secures the boat wherever that anchor is posted and will not allow the boat to be moved from its anchored-position, despite whatever the elements bring its way, the same is true for a Christian minister.   That anchor will bring stability, security and even sanity to an individual’s life.  Because the calling is not simply some subjective feeling or impression but a clarion call by the God of heaven who deposits within a man or woman His irrevocable to follow after Him as a minister of the gospel.  All that to say, is that I love Jesus and I’m humbled and thankful that He has called me to be a minister of the gospel.  May I be found faithful.