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The Gospel Ministry Call Part 2 by Mike Ramey

by Mike Ramey
11/05/25
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     The first requirement of becoming a man called by God to preach involves a man called by God to become a Christian. This is accomplished by the drawing of a man to saving faith in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit (John 6:44 KJV). Unless a man is FIRST drawn to the realization (repents) of being a sinner (I Corinthians 6:9-10 KJV) in the eyes of God and himself, that he needs Jesus Christ as his savior and accepts Christ’s gift of salvation by faith IN His finished work on that cross on Calvary THEN is born from above; he IS a Christian (Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV)!

     The Christian becomes a part of the Lord’s Army…the Army that promises a fight with the world, the flesh, or the devil every day and night—but the Army that has retirement benefits that are out-of-this world! As the Christian grows in the grace and mercies of God, Jesus Christ becomes his Captain, and the Holy Spirit becomes his teacher through the KJV Bible. The new Christian not only has to be up in his skills with the Word of God, but he must also know how to access the heavenly arsenal of God’s spiritual weapons and learn how to use them (Ephesians 6:10-20 KJV).

     No one can study the KJV Bible FOR you BUT you! IF you do not keep up with your bible studies, you will soon go from being a conqueror to a casualty. The world, the flesh and the devil will tromp on you like a football field.

     Following conversion (salvation) the new Christian is duty-bound to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:5 KJV). Baptism in the Christian faith is done by full water immersion. No sprinkling nor ‘just’ baptizing the head of a person. They must go fully under the water, traditionally by an ordained minister or ordained deacon of the Christian faith. It is best to baptized as SOON as possible AFTER becoming a Christian! There ARE some false religions that believe you can be baptized instead of converting to Christ (salvation). Never put the cart before the horse, my friend. Do things IN the right order…salvation THEN baptism.

     This next item is key. A new Christian WILL have a wilderness trek in their young salvation life. This will give the Lord the opportunity to ‘smooth off’ those rough edges in your walk. Jesus’ vocation while on earth was that as a carpenter. He knows what needs fixing in your new life. Further, IF you get that second call to preach…you will also have a ‘wilderness trek’ for the same reason: The Lord will have need to work on your rough edges and your ministry walk.

     Let me emphasize this next point: ONLY Christians (believers in Jesus Christ or believers) will be in the right standing WITH God to get that second call—the call to preach the gospel (good news)! The distance between salvation (and baptism) and the call to preach should be more than a few years. Why? Because a man who is ‘a novice’ (young in the faith) has not faced the battlefield as a growing Christian and must endure many things before he is called into the gospel preaching ministry (I Timothy 3:6 KJV). Yes, the new preacher will have to endure MORE things ahead as a minister of the gospel. However, being sure of his faith after getting saved and baptized will be an asset…not a liability.

     Let me emphasize another point…the devil’s crowd—through a variety of means—will attempt to ‘push’ a novice Christian man into the pulpit too early in violation of the scriptures, Be on your guard against this tactic. Satan is a master trickster and manipulator. He knows the Bible and has a 6,000 year head start on a new Christian man. Resist such efforts to get you into the preaching ministry TOO early. Check yourself via the Word, no matter what ‘well meaning’ people may think of you.

     Having said all that, the RESPONSE to the call by God to preach His gospel after a season of being a Christian will usually manifest in your life in one of three ways. At this point, I will use Peter, Paul, and John to illustrate my point:

     *Peter ran FROM his Lord. You know his life by the gospel record. Peter, while having the right answers in some cases, bombed out miserably in some others. Peter was impulsive, hard-headed, and hot-tempered. He knew Jesus, but didn’t have enough Jesus IN him to become effective in the gospel ministry UNTIL after the Lord was resurrected and restored Peter publicly. This is how Peter went from being the Coward of Calvary to the Preacher of Pentecost.

     *John was another who had a detailed gospel record. He was the youngest of the twelve. He spent a lot of time quietly following Jesus. Yes, he had a flash of temper in a few places and was a young man who was unsure of himself in some others. John had to be LOVED into the gospel ministry by Jesus. The end result was that John outlived all of the Apostles and was used mightily by God through Jesus Christ.

     *Paul was one who was called to the gospel ministry by Jesus out of due time. Paul already had his education in the scriptures well in place. Paul also had been an enemy of the Cross when Jesus showed up to blind him, bind his rebellious spirit, and bring him into the gospel fold. The Book of Acts details his rise in the gospel ministry.

     To sum this up, Peter ran FROM his calling—but came back to serve later. John was loved into his calling and GREW into it. Paul was called OUT OF another vocation altogether and after his initial preaching of the gospel, had to be moved aside for a season to be taught the right way in the scriptures by the Lord himself. Paul ran TO his calling.

     Keep this in mind. The gospel ministry call is a serious call. The Holy Spirit will take the invitation to the man God chooses through Christ. Such a call is NOT an end to the life of a man of God. Rather it is a glorious beginning. More to come.

     Mike Ramey is a Retired Minister, KJV Bible Teacher, syndicated columnist and Bible Prophecy Specialist who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a Circuit rider of the Funky Electronic Frontier. “The Gospel Ministry Call” series is one of a variety of his columns appearing and abounding in print and cyberspace, written from a biblical, business, and common-sense perspective since 1996. Catch Mike Ramey’s columns on X (Twitter), Substack, Faithwriters.com, LinkedIn and in fine publications like this one! To drop him a line—or a whine—the address is still the same: [email protected]. ©2025 Barnstorm Communications International.