Understanding Calling

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!We can find ourself seeking to go further up the ladder, seeking to be 'at the top' of our profession or ministry and totally miss that we have gone past a place we were called to be.What if being the place and the person God has us destined to be has nothing to do with being the most important person at our workplace, or in our church, or amongst our peers or competition? The bible shows us in the life of Jonathan that you can actually step out of the flow of pressure to get to the top or be who everyone expects you to be, and instead live a life where you honour the anointing of God where you see it and refuse to move away from it.In this episode we look at how we can move out of the flow of expecation and pressure to succeed and into a mindset that is content with being the person God made us to be and coming alive where He desires us to do so - regardless of how it looks from the outside.CHECK OUT MY PATREON (patreon.com/cw/UnderstandingCalling) for more content, leadership stuff, an extra podcast with courses and series and a whole lot more - all for free!

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!In this episode I talk to Jay Snyder, a pastor, missionary, Father and friend. Jay along with his wife Peg heads up Passion For Life Ministries (passionforlifeministries.org) a ministry that equips pastors and leaders in churches in America and Central America, plants churches and seeks to show release the love of the Holy Spirit and the Father heart of God.Jay is a man who loves Jesus and his wife and kids and has a wealth of experience in leading churches and navigating "doing calling" along with being a husband and a father. In this chat we get into exactly that, stepping into calling and holding together your family, marriage and health protected and valued and not flung to the side for the greater good of "ministry". I hope this will help anyone who is navigating their calling and holding the most important relationships where they should be.CHECK OUT MY PATREON (patreon.com/cw/UnderstandingCalling) for more content, leadership stuff, an extra podcast with courses and series and a whole lot more,,,all for free!

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!How much should we think about our God given calling...and how much is too much?How do we draw the right balance between being intentional and being egotistical?What is God's best for our mindset and perspective on what He's called us to?In this episode we look at:Obedience - Intentionality - Living - Living in the flow of the Spirit - Obsession = Naval Gazing - Vision and Dreams - Our Potential - Stewardship and what God's Priorities are."Seek Great things for thyself? Seek them not..." Says God through Jeremiah to his servant Baruch.What is God up to...? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> You can be part of Understanding Calling's Patreon for more content for growing in your calling and support for pastors including:Monthly community calls, the Understand Calling Extra Podcast, Courses, Show Notes and Devotionals for each episode, the audio book of Alistair's book 'The Road to the Father's House, video sessions Enjoy for FREE as well as supporting the show as a monthly partner go to: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!Over on Patreon Understanding Calling has a whole other Podcast called "Understanding Calling Extra", that is for courses and series to help with our personal discipleship journey. This trailer is about the new course "The Calling Quadrant" - check it out for free on Patreon or become a monthly supporting member and sow into this ministry to support others who want to grow in their God given callings in the kingdom. 

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!This episode is all about the insecurities God lets us see when we get squeezed by waiting and by the pressure of circumstances on us.Very few things expose the need for control in our lives like a season of prolonged waiting does.In this episode we look at a story from the Old Testament and the New to explore how we end up often looking back with rose tinted glasses to a former life when our current life squeezes us, or how we project forward to some kind of idyllic savior like a job or healing or change of circumstances that we believe will just change everything."If God would just give me this thing...then all would be well...then I would follow Him..then I would be better than I am right now".God in His mercy resources us where we are and invites Him to trust Him as we are.I hope and pray this episode helps you...if you're in a prolonged season of waiting right now.--> You can be part of Understanding Calling's Patreon for more content for growing in your calling and support for pastors including:Monthly community calls, the Understand Calling Extra Podcast, Courses, Show Notes and Devotionals for each episode, the audio book of Alistair's book 'The Road to the Father's House, video sessions Enjoy for FREE as well as supporting the show as a monthly partner go to: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership  

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!In this second part of the Waiting in the Wilderness series, we're looking at Joseph's story and what God does in the life of someone who has been rejected, forgotten, lost a sense of belonging and purpose (multiple times) and yet been used where he was, as he was, and experienced huge redemption in areas of suffering and obscurity. If you have felt forgotten, hidden, in a transition season or in a series of false starts in your calling, there may be some lessons here from God's Spirit to you that will help.--> You can be part of Understanding Calling's Patreon for more content for growing in your calling and support for pastors including:Monthly community calls, the Understand Calling Extra Podcast, Courses, Show Notes and Devotionals for each episode, the audio book of Alistair's book 'The Road to the Father's House, video sessions Enjoy for FREE as well as supporting the show as a monthly partner go to: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!We all want to know what God is doing in us and around us as we wait for what He has for us next...HoweverHow do we know if we are actually waiting like we think we are? Could it be possible that we might be in danger of deferring, stuck in a holding pattern, kicking the can of what God has put in our hearts down the road?This new mini series "Waiting in the Wilderness" is about discerning what God is doing within us as we wait...but we have to know that we are waiting under godly obedience first and not simple existing, hoping that something in our callings will spontaneously happen out of nowhere.What does God's word say about this and what questions do we need to ask?//--> You can be part of Understanding Calling's Patreon for more content for growing in your calling and support for pastors including:Monthly community calls, the Understand Calling Extra Podcast, Courses, Show Notes and Devotionals for each episode, the audio book of Alistair's book 'The Road to the Father's House, video sessions and the first few chapters of Alistair's new book 'The Heart of Calling: What Matters Most to God'.Enjoy it all for FREE as well as becoming  a monthly partner of the show. For everything go to: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!Ken Snyder, Missionary and Pastor shares authentic stories about living outside of the limelight and from a place of humility and service - and ultimately from a place of trying to be obedient to God in our callings, not ambitious. A very helpful listen to anyone wanting to grow in a real, not impressive looking, godly calling.Also, if you are a pastor of a numerically smaller church - this ones for you!--> You can be part of Understanding Calling's Patreon for more content for growing in your calling and support for pastors including:Monthly community calls, the Understand Calling Extra Podcast, Courses, Show Notes and Devotionals for each episode, the audio book of Alistair's book 'The Road to the Father's House, video sessions Enjoy for FREE as well as supporting the show as a monthly partner go to: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!We all ask ourselves questions about who God made us to be:- Is who I dream I could one day be "The real me"? - Is it the person I am on my worst day?- Is the real me the one that feels like my best days are behind me?- Or is there another way of discovering who God designed me to be?In this episode we explore how our human nature is to try and discover who God made us to be based on the vision we have for our lives, our successes or failures and the unfolding of our lives.We land on the biblical truth that God reveals to us, through daily intimacy and revelation who He really made us to be. It's actually not us working it out, but God revealing it to us as we trust that He is with us and guiding us through life - one day at a time.--> You can be part of Understanding Calling's Patreon for more content for growing in your calling and support for pastors including:Monthly community calls, the Understand Calling Extra Podcast, Courses, Show Notes and Devotionals for each episode, the audio book of Alistair's book 'The Road to the Father's House, video sessions and support the show at: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!This week I am speaking to Mark Burlinson, who along with his wife Jane pastors Catch the Fire Church in Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.Mark has pastored in numerous denominations and movements, including during the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Toronto in 1994. He has a history in business, coaching and in facilitating the Life Languages profile.Today we talk about what it looks like trying to do your calling with an orphan spirit, the revelation that comes from knowing God is a good Father and how that makes us a secure son or daughter of His, especially when it comes to pursuing what He has given us to do.We also talk through the Life Language profile, a biblically based way to understand how God has made you, where you are strong, where you have areas to grow and what your unique jigsaw piece in God's kingdom looks like!Check out Mark's website for more info on coaching and life languages at markburlinson.comCheck out Catch the Fire Myrtle Beach SC catchthefiremyrtlebeach.comFor more information on Life Languages check out lifelanguages.com--> You can be part of Understanding Calling's Patreon for more content for growing in your calling and support for pastors including:Monthly community calls, the Understand Calling Extra Podcast, Courses, Show Notes and Devotionals for each episode, the audio book of Alistair's book 'The Road to the Father's House, video sessions and support the show at: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!A new year is upon us, but many of us are still full and overflowing with the last year...This shorter episode is an offering for what I am doing this January and might be for those who are still considering what they want to do, with integrity, to position themselves for whatever God's kingdom has for them.God has been emptying me very intentionally for the last year...I'm only just realizing it now. So, using Philippians 2 as guide, I'm reaching out and putting a hand on the bucket that God is pouring out...and agreeing with what He's doing.What is He calling you to do?Do you need emptying?Do you need to partner with what He's already been doing? Sign up to our Patreon and support the show at: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!One of the most used words in Christendom these days seems to be 'Seasons'.We talk about being in a season, coming out of one and into another, navigating them and contending with what God is teaching us in them.What is the theology, biblical basis, significance, purpose and process with seasons though?How do we tell when we're in one?What do we look for?What does Jesus and the bible say we should be doing?How do we navigate them?What matters most at the end of the day...?Check out Understanding Calling on Facebook and Instagram, send me a message and let me know what topics you'd appreciate being covered.Sign up to our Patreon and support the show at: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!Tom Allsop is the Pastor of Catch the Fire: Three Rivers Church in Hertfordshire England and this week I get to sit down and talk with him about what a life led by calling looks like.We talk about failure in calling, humility, choosing the low path rather than seeking personal glory and how our ministries and callings need to take their place behind our relationship with God, with our spouses, kids and key relationships.There is so much gold in this interview!For show notes, devotionals based on each episode, audio and video courses and connections Sign up to our Patreon and support the show at: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!God calls a life over a lifetime - that means there is more than one thing you and I are called to do with our lives. The bible shows us ways calling in the Kingdom can be expressed, these are not fixed or rigid categories for us to be restricted by. Instead they are useful identifiers so we can get a better understanding of where and how God's Spirit is active in our life and what His priority is for us in that season.In this episode we look at how calling is really about living, but within that we will be called to one of or a blending of the following 8 expressions of calling:Preparation, Gifting, Assignment, Contribution, Legacy, Passion, Destiny and Glory.For notes and devotions on this episode and others, along with vidcasts, extra podcasts and more sign up to our Patreon and support the show at: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membership

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!Gifts, skills, prophetic words and dreams, vision for our future and the 'what if's' of our younger years - all of these feed into what 'our potential' is.A vital question we need to ask ourselves as we pursue our God given calling is "Is God looking for me to reach and achieve my potential...or are there other things that matter more to Him than how high, big, far and wide I might be able to go?".This episode is about the hidden motivation that often is driving us forward. What we do with our thoughts about our abilities, our dreams, the prophetic words or dreams God has given us, all of it, is fundamentally important. If we can hold them rightly in tension with the things that matter most to God then they will drive us passionately and safely forward. If we hold them in an unhealthy place of priority in our hearts then we risk running our ship aground. So what matters most to God? What matters more to God than us reaching our potential?This episode is dedicated to Joanie Barth. Sign up to our Patreon and support the show at: www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membershipPhilip Yancey's Post:https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ZYjmDBQrH/

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!Check out our Patreon for ways to become part of the community and our monthly video calls: https://www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membershipEp 3: Here’s a breakdown of what we’re contending with…1. We all have been made with an innate and personal way of hearing God‘s voice and discerning how He’s leading us. 2. We’ve all been taught things through the denominations, movements, churches, and leaders we have engaged with.3. God speaks in more ways than anyone method or movement can account for or prioritise.4. …. So we have to learn how God has made us to hear Him, what we have been taught that is good, what we have been taught that is restrictive or no longer helpful and ultimately what the truth of the word of God says about God’s voice and his leading as he takes us forward in calling and growing His kingdom. Easy right?

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!Check out our Patreon for ways to become part of the community and our monthly video calls: https://www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membershipEp 2: This episode is full of questions for you to consider about who God has created you to be. We're considering all the past 'versions' of you from different stages of your life, what was good and gold about those expressions of who you are and what wasn't. We're looking at the real time you right now and how you have been shaped and where you're going. What has God said over you, put inside you, put before you to bring you further in and further up into His call for your life.

Click here to send me a Text or a Voicemail - I'd love to hear from you!Check out our Patreon for ways to become part of the community and our monthly video calls: https://www.patreon.com/c/understandingcalling/membershipPilot Episode:  God calls all of us to be something and to something. His calling on our life is complex, but also simple. It's mysterious, yet it can also be staring us in the face. It's about our purpose but it's also not really about us when all is said and done. We may have to sacrifice everything to walk in our calling but the best version of our life may only be found by being in our calling.In this pilot episode, Alistair Forman leads us on a fly over tour of all the things calling can be and how really, more than trying to find our way into a job or to the top of a ladder one day, calling is really about drawing near to God and learning who He made us to be.