Dave Harvey - Am I Called? (Foreword by Matt Chandler): The Summons to Pastoral Ministry

This is the fullest, most realistic, down-to-earth, and genuinely spiritual exploration of Gods call to pastoral ministry that I know. I recommend it most highly.

J. I. Packer, Board of Governors Professor of Theology, Regent College; author, Knowing God

Every generation needs a fresh army of gospel men with a sense of destiny in their hearts. They arent looking for a job. They are following a call. God is setting them apart to pastoral service. Are you one of those men Dave Harveys wise book will help you answer that question.

Ray Ortlund, Lead Pastor, Immanuel Church, Nashville, Tennessee

Discerning Gods call with clarity is an ongoing challenge, but a necessary journey. Dave Harvey has written one of the most helpful, practical books on Christian calling that Ive read. Am I Called guides a wide range of readers, not just pastors, through Gods call to ministry in their lives. I know I will be sharing Am I Called with many in the years to come.

Ed Stetzer, President, LifeWay Research; contributing editor, Christianity Today

Over the years I have been shocked and amazed at the number of men pursuing and engaging in pastoral ministry who doubted their call. In this accessible but biblical book, Dave Harvey helps those who are wrestling with Gods calling on their life. We need men with ire in their bones that simply must be in vocational ministry. Am I Called will draw out such men.

Darrin Patrick, Lead Pastor, The Journey, St. Louis, Missouri; author, Church Planter

As a young man, I wrestled with the issue Dave Harvey wisely and skillfully addresses in this book. Im glad a generation of young men can find in these pages the help that I was looking for thirty years ago.

Bob Lepine, Pastor, Redeemer Community Church; Co-Host, FamilyLife Today

The issue of the call to pastoral ministry is a complicated one, involving matters of character, technical ability, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In this book, Dave Harvey ofers a good overview of the things that anyone contemplating the ministry needs to consider. In an accessible, conversational style, Dave guides the reader through the biblical teaching on this mattercarefully balancing the external and the internal aspects of the call. He also provides apposite anecdotes from church history to illustrate his points. Full of wisdom and wit, Am I Called is a delightful and challenging book for potential ministers, their wives, and, indeed, those already in the ministry to read. Highly commended.

Carl R. Trueman, Teacher, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, Ambler, Pennsylvania; Paul Woolley Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia

The history of the church is marked and marred by the ministries of unqualiied men. The reason I am glad to recommend Am I Called is that Dave Harvey sets the call to pastoral ministry in the biblical context: the calling from God and the calling from and to a local church. May God use this book to raise up a whole new generation of men who ar called, equipped, and competent for the work he (and we) have called them to.

Tim Challies, Associate Pastor, Grace Fellowship Church; Toronto

My appreciation for this book is matched only by a sense of frustration that it wasnt around when I was considering my call to pastoral ministry. Dave Harvey manages to explain and insist upon the biblical qualifications for pastors without being discouraging or legalistic. Most importantly, the good news about Jesus is the heartbeat of this clear and engaging book. If you are considering entering into pastoral ministry, Am I Called will act as a faithful mirror and friend. If you are already a pastor, it will renew your passion for raising up the next generation of ministers.

Mike McKinley, Pastor, Guilford Baptist Church, Sterling, Virginia; author, Am I Really a Christianand Church Planting is for Wimps

According to the Apostle Paul, faithful gospel ministry must include entrusting that ministry to others who will carry it on. Am I Called will be of immense help to both those wondering whether they are called into gospel ministry, and to the pastors in position to help them igure that out. I know of no other book that does the important, practical work this book gets done and does so well. Am I Called is marked by both wise, practical insight and a strong gospel vibrancy. I will be putting this book to regular use with young men at my church, and Im glad to be able to highly recommend it.

Mike Bullmore, Senior Pastor, Crossway Community Church, Bristol, Wisconsin

Also by Dave Harvey:
Rescuing Ambition
When Sinners Say I Do

Am I Called The Summons to Pastoral Ministry
Copyright 2012 by Sovereign Grace Ministries

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Faceout Studio

Cover image: David Sacks Studio

First printing 2012

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible
(The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-2748-7

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-2749-4

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-2750-0

ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-2751-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Harvey, David T. (David Thomas), 1960

Am I called : the summons to pastoral ministry / Dave

Harvey ; foreword by Matt Chandler.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4335-2748-7 (tp)

1. ClergyAppointment, call, and election. 2. Vocation,

Ecclesiastical. 3. Pastoral theology. I. Title.

BV4011.4.H37 2012

253.2dc23 2011039685

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

VP 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12

14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To the pastoral team of
Covenant Fellowship Church,
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

Contents

Immediately after my conversion, I developed an insatiable appetite for the Scriptures. My personality, even from my earliest memories, was one of constant curiosity. I wanted and even needed to know how things worked. I would take apart and try to put back together anything I could get my hands on.

When the Father sent the Spirit to open my eyes and ears to the beauty of Jesus, that curiosity was redeemed. I wanted and again even needed to know how our faithmy faithworked, so I read and studied and memorized and asked a thousand questions to the poor ministers at the First Baptist Church that God so graciously saved me in. It didnt take long for me to start answering the questions of the lost people with whom I was sharing my lifeand more importantly the gospel. And my Christian friends started coming to me with questions also. Not knowing the answer simply fueled my curiosity, and I would try to find the answer.