“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.” (Philippians 1:12-14 NASB1995)
Here I am going to share my testimony which parallels Paul’s
testimony. It is a testimony I have shared before, only this is not a
copy-paste. I am writing this fresh today as I am being led of the Lord this
morning in what to say.
I believed in Jesus Christ at the age of 7. I am now 75
years old. I began teaching the Scriptures at the age of 16. I taught children,
youth, and then mostly women in small group Bible studies. And then my husband
and I had a ministry to college students and to college-age adults out of our
home for 7.5 years. And I did some of the teaching there. Six years into this
ministry the Lord called me to an additional ministry, to write down what he
was teaching me from his word and to post these writings on the internet.
But here’s the background behind this. Throughout my life I have
faced a lot of mistreatment from pastors and elders of churches, and from other
Christians, but not for doing what was wrong, but for obeying God in doing what
is right in the eyes of the Lord, according to his word. In the first case I
was judged falsely and unjustly because of my walk of faith in obedience to my
Lord by those whose walk of faith was rather self-serving, at times, or it was
more casual and not taken as seriously as what I took my walk of faith.
And then I had a pastor who asked of me to ask of our
ministry team about replacing our worship team with another team. So I did what
he said. So we met with him, as a group, but he did the non-denial denial thing
by saying, “I would never do that.” So I asked him why he then asked me to ask
this of our leadership team, but he responded the same. Then I was called to
meet with the elders, but they required that I admit that I lied, as a
prerequisite to the meeting. But I did not lie. And so they put me on church
discipline.
In another case, I was in a small group ladies Bible study.
But there were some immoral and ungodly situations going on within the church,
and so I offered the women some biblical and godly counsel in that matter. But
then I was reported to the pastor who then sent me a threatening letter telling
me that I was banned from the church property and that I would be arrested if I
stepped foot on the property. But he was one of those pastors who was following
the wrong people, and not the Scriptures taught in their context.
In yet another church situation I was with a friend in a
small women’s group for the hurting. And I was one of the hurting, as was she.
She was very timid and so she asked for my help to be able to share in the
group what she wanted to share, and so I did as she requested. But then I got
accused falsely of being a bully of some sort, and the leaders would not even
listen to my case, and one of the pastors accused me falsely of intentions that
were not mine, and he would not listen, even though my tears were streaming.
Also, a fellow Christian and his wife came to my house and
he blasted me because I was testing the spirits, as I ought, and because I was
sharing on Facebook the deceptions I was finding in the writings of certain
people, exposing them for what they were, as I ought to do. For he was a fan of
those authors. So he yelled at me in front of my husband, and he told me that I
needed to be in the majority, and not in the minority, for he said that the
majority is right, and the minority is wrong. He got that one wrong.
In another situation my husband and I were training to be
church planters. I was asked by our church denomination’s local heads to speak
about our ministry to a large gathering of pastors and official workers in this
church denomination. So I shared what the Lord put on my heart to share, which
was fully biblical, and which supported what the other speakers were saying,
only to be accused falsely of not hearing from God, but with absolutely no
basis for their accusation other than just their personal opinions.
But because of their rejections of me, and their
mistreatments of me, God then called me to the internet, to be a voice of one
crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” That
was 21 years ago, and by the grace of God I have been faithful in his service
ever since then, now writing down what he teaches me from his word each day,
and posting these writings on the internet, “so that a herald may run with
it” (Habakkuk 2:2). And this has, indeed, turned out for the greater
progress of the gospel.
Should I Not Preach Jesus
Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13
An Original Work /
July 4, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Woe to me should I
not preach Jesus.
I’m compelled to
preach the full gospel.
I make myself a
slave to ev’ryone
To win their hearts
to Christ.
All this I do for my
Lord Jesus,
And for the sake of
His Name;
Do it for the sake
of His gospel,
So that I, its
blessings gain.
Scripture notates
the sins of others;
Written down for us
as examples
To keep us from
setting our hearts
On evil as did those
of old.
Do not worship other
gods of man;
Do not give your
hearts to them;
Not partake in
immorality.
Do not test your
Lord and King.
So, be careful if
you think you are
Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.
God has given his
word to warn us,
So through faith we
will not fall.
No temptation has
o’ertaken you
Except what is
commonplace.
God is faithful to
not let you be
Tempted past what
you can bear.
He gives the way of
escape.
For The Greater
Progress of The Gospel
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