Damon Horton joins us for the next episode of the Find Your Calling Podcast. As a pastor, author, and former Christian rapper, Damon shares some of his backstory that ultimately led him to his current role as a church planter in Long Beach, California.

Damon Horton’s mother heard the Gospel and made a profession of faith at a Billy Graham crusade in Kansas City. This shaped the rhythm of his early life.  He met his future wife in the inner city of Kansas City while doing evangelistic outreach with his parents.  Damon was a natural evangelist utilizing Christian rap to reach youth.  He became a youth pastor and eventually went to seminary.  He pastored several different churches before assuming the role of Executive Director of ReachLife Ministries.

Convicted by his calling and with the financial responsibilities of a young family, Damon and his wife left the comfort and security of their current role to become church planting residents at the Summit Church in Raleigh Durham.  From there they felts God’s strong and clear call to move across the country to Long Beach, California to plant a church.

Damon Horton describes personal calling as the intersection of talents, burdens and giftings, and of open doors and closed doors as led by God.  Damon sees his calling as challenging and communicating scriptures, via the local church, in ways people can understand.  His core essence if creative communication of Biblical truths.

Damon describes the clues embedded in his life and childhood pointing to his calling, and his personal journey of seeking to follow God’s leading in his life.  Damon’s story demonstrates the power of looking hard at the “I remember when” events in our life.  God’s fingerprints were clear in Damon’s life as they are in ours.

D.A. Horton serves as Pastor of Reach Fellowship a church plant in North Long Beach, CA & as Chief Evangelist for the Urban Youth Workers Institute (UYWI). Prior to his current roles he served as an urban church planter/pastor in Kansas City, MO, a National Coordinator of Urban Student Ministries at the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the Executive Director at ReachLife Ministries, the non-profit ministry of Reach Records.  He has authored three books; G.O.S.P.E.L., DNA: Foundations of the Faith (published through Moody Publishers) and Bound to Be Free: Escaping Performance to be Captured by Grace, (published through NavPress). He and his wife of 13 years Elicia are co-authoring a book on marriage. D.A. and Elicia have two daughters, Izabelle and Lola and one son, D.A. Jr. (aka Duce).

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Alan Hirsch joins us for the next episode of the Find Your Calling Podcast. As a pastor, author, and leading missional voice for the church, Alan shares some of his backstory that ultimately led him to the United States as a missionary.  Alan says he’s always been a bit of a rebellious dreamer.  When God got a hold of him and redeemed his calling, a prophetic, “holy rebel” emerged.

Alan grew up under the Apartheid system of racial segregation in South Africa.  The unfair system shaped his values and thinking from an early age.  He often found himself in fights because he spoke up for the underdogs.  He describes himself as a “scrapper.”  Alan says, “I now have great respect and love for the edges and fringe in society because that’s where I was.”

During his time in the South African army, Alan and his buddies often withdrew to smoke marijuana.  The leader of this rebellious group found Jesus and introduced Alan to him.  As Alan says, “my friend Murray never left the rest of us after he experienced the life-changing power of Jesus.  Murray’s example left a lasting impression on me for how we need to remain in the culture to reach those far from God.”

In this edition of the Find Your Calling Podcast, Alan explains his journey to gaining clarity on his personal calling.  Alan says, “At the heart of calling is getting in touch with the unique purposes God has for you as a unique individual that no one else can fulfill.  It’s a sense of your particular destiny.”  His calling emerged after he became a Christian and moved from South Africa to Australia with his family.  As Alan notes, “When we moved to Australia I had a defining encounter with God.  The idea of being commissioned and sent was embedded in the experience.  This solidified and grounded my calling.”  Alan describes his unique calling as, “I’m called to help the church get into the ‘sent’ equation. That is to help the church become a movement again.  I feel a prophetic call to challenge the current system and bring it into account.”  Join Alan as he explains his journey.

Alan Hirsch is the founding director of Forge Mission Training Network and 100 Movements. Currently he co-leads Future Travelers, an innovative learning program helping megachurches become missional movements. Known for his innovative approach to mission, Alan is considered to be a thought-leader and key mission strategist for churches across the Western world. Hirsch is the author of The Forgotten Ways and The Forgotten Ways Handbook; co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come, ReJesus and The Faith of Leap (with Michael Frost); Untamed (with Debra Hirsch); Right Here, Right Now (with Lance Ford): On the Verge (with Dave Ferguson); and The Permanent Revolution (with Tim Catchim).  His experience includes leading a local church movement among the marginalized, developing training systems for innovative missional leaders, and heading up the mission and revitalization work of his denomination.

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Brandon Cox joins us for the next episode of the Find Your Calling Podcast. As a pastor and friend to other pastors, Brandon shares some of his backstory that ultimately led him to full-time vocational ministry.  Most recently, his calling brought him to Bentonville, Arkansas where he and his wife, Angie, planted Grace Hills Church.

Brandon has pursued his calling from an early age.  At age 17, equipped by several generations of family involved in business, Brandon dreamed of his future making money.  While riding on a bus to a Future Business Leaders of America gathering, Brandon felt God nudging him toward ministry.  After reading Jeremiah 1, Brandon wrote down in his Bible the sense he was feeling:  “called to ministry”.

In this edition of the Find Your Calling Podcast, Brandon shares his journey of following that nudge on the bus.  After his first few ministry assignments, he was feeling drained and never wanting to be a senior pastor.   However, that wasn’t God’s plans.   Brandon led his next church through the 40 Days of Purpose study and gained  fresh perspective on ministry.  Eventually a passion for creative communication and social media emerged.  Brandon was hand picked by Rick Warren’s Saddleback team to oversee the Pastors.com online community.  After being on staff with Rick, a passion was ignited for planting a church.  Rick explained that some people are “called to Saddleback” while other are “called through Saddleback.”  Join Brandon as he explains his journey.

Brandon Cox became a pastor at age nineteen and has served in that role in small churches, as well at Saddleback Church, one of America’s largest and most influential churches. He’s now planting Grace Hills Church in northwest Arkansas. Brandon also serves as editor, mentor, and community facilitator for Pastors.com and Rick Warren’s Pastor’s Toolbox, one of the world’s largest online communities of church leaders. He’s an avid, top 100 blogger (according to Kent Shaffer’s semiannual list) and lives in Bentonville, Arkansas with his wife, Angie, and their three awesome kids.

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Mark Batterson joins us for the next episode of the Find Your Calling Podcast. An author, pastor and personal friend, Mark shares some of his backstory that ultimately led him to preach and write, including what he calls his “summer of seeking” and the moment that brought him to Washington, D.C., where he and his wife, Lora, would eventually plant National Community Church.

Mark has pursued his entrepreneurial calling in diverse ways, including church planting and writing. A New York Times best-selling author, he has influenced thousands of people worldwide, and in the podcast excerpt below, Mark tells us how people have influenced his calling—those who spoke into his life at a certain point and in hindsight were there in the right place at the right time.

“I remember my grandfather when I was five years old (he died when I was six) kneeling next to his bed, taking out his hearing aid, and praying for me by name. He couldn’t hear himself but everyone in the house could. That’ll shape you. I remember a Bible study minister I never met. When I was a sophomore in high school, I gave a speech that was really more like a salvation sermon. My mom sent a copy of the speech to my grandma who sent it to her Bible study teacher who asked the question, ‘Has Mark ever thought about ministry?’ I remember my father-in-law who passed 18 years ago, but I wouldn’t be in ministry if it weren’t for him. I try to preach the way he preached and lead the way he led. And then I’ve had the privilege of having a spiritual father or mentor for 20 years who has really taken me under his wing. A former pastor and former college president, he and his wife were two of the 19 people our first week at National Community. Without the influence [of these people] in my life, I know I wouldn’t be anywhere close to where I am today.”

Mark Batterson serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C.  One church with 20 locations, NCC focuses on reaching emerging generations and meets in movie theaters throughout the D.C. metro area. Mark is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including The Circle Maker, If, The Grave Robber and many others. He and his wife, Lora, live on Capitol Hill with their three children, Parker, Summer, and Josiah.

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Jim Putman joins us for the next episode of the Find Your Calling Podcast. In this thoughtful interview, Jim shares his personal story of finding God and the Church (after years of bitterness and resentment toward both), as well as how he found his unique calling as a “coach of unique coaches.”

A former All-American wrestler, high school teacher and coach, and now leader of the Relational Discipleship Network, Jim urges churches to think relationally about discipleship. In the podcast excerpt below, Jim identifies what he believes is one of the greatest culprits of Christians forsaking their calling and how helping others find and follow their calling is essential to discipleship.

“One of the problems I think most Christians have is that they don’t understand calling. They think they’re going to get some sort of personal call from God.  They’ve never gotten that, so they think they must not be called. But we all are a holy nation and a royal priesthood. Part of disciple making is to help people understand how to see their calling, how you, as a leader, got your calling—so they don’t just assume you got yours from on high. You share with them how people played a part in helping you find your calling, and how you want to play a part in theirs.”

“So it’s not just introducing people to Jesus, giving them a Bible and sending them on their way. Discipleship is about helping people understand what a relationship with Jesus and other people looks like; helping them understand that God has saved them for a purpose; and then helping them figure out their calling, the gifts they’ve been given, and how those gifts fit into the mission of God.”

Jim Putman is the founder and senior pastor of 17-year-old Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho, and the founding leader of the Relational Discipleship Network, committed to equipping church leaders to follow the model of discipleship Jesus practiced. He is also the author of Church Is a Team Sport, Real Life Discipleship, and DiscipleShift (with Bobby Harrington and Robert Coleman). He, his wife and three sons live in scenic northern Idaho.

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