4798Gripping his black-and-white composition notebook and worn Bible, 11-year-old Ezekiel Stoddard commands the pulpit, preaching original sermons, laying hands on the sick and speaking in tongues at his family's Maryland church.
The sixth grader, who can barely see over the lectern, says God called him to be a preacher at the tender age of 7. "I had this dream; it was God speaking to me," he told The Washington Post. "'You're going to do My work, ministering the gospel and running people right over to [Me].'"
Stoddard preaches at Fullness of Time Church in Capitol Heights, Md., most Sundays, and takes speaking engagements at youth rallies and churches throughout the state. He says his main calling is "bringing souls over to Christ," but he also has the gift of healing.
Despite controversy, Stoddard was officially ordained as an evangelical minister in May. "It doesn't matter the age that you can be licensed. It just matters ... how much word do you have and how much God has called you," he said.
His uncanny story has garnered national press attention and, with it, naysayers who say his ordination was inappropriate and that he doesn't have the life experience to qualify him to preach God's Word.
But even seasoned pastors have come to Stoddard's defense, citing that age is not a factor when determining a calling from God.
"At 11 years old, you're not going to preach experience, you're going to preach the Word," said Pastor Hercules Jones to ABC News. "Preaching the Word carries enough power in itself to do what it's supposed to do.
Source: Charisma News | FELICIA ABRAHAM
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