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.

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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.com

Check out Catch the Fire Myrtle Beach SC catchthefiremyrtlebeach.com

For 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

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? 

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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. 

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Philip Yancey's Post:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ZYjmDBQrH/

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Ep 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?

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Ep 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.

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Pilot 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.