Crazy for Jesus

The Church Under Fire

 

Chapter Six

 

Crazy for Jesus

 

May 27, 2023

 

Acts 26:24-29 ESV

 

And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

 

When we follow Jesus Christ with our lives, and we do what he has called us to do, as his followers, we are going to be called all sorts of names, and “crazy” may be one of them. For even many professing Christians and even some pastors and elders of church congregations will find us odd and peculiar if we actually take the word of God seriously and we put it into daily practice. For it appears not many people do these days.

 

But it isn’t just “these days” I was recalling as I recorded the video to go along with this. For I recalled when I was a youth that our youth leader told us that we are to pray for the missionaries. And then he added, “But none of us do.” And so I shyly raised my hand and I said, “I do.” For, you see, I was one of those children and youth who took God seriously. And if I was told that I was to pray for the missionaries, that is what I did.

 

Now I was not a perfect child, but I also was not a willfully rebellious and defiant child, either. I don’t believe I ever thought of talking back to my parents and I rarely disobeyed them, partly because my father was an abuser, and I feared him greatly. But also because it was wrong, and it would be treating them badly. But that doesn’t mean that I did everything right, either. But generally speaking I was a rule follower, and I took God and his word seriously, and I wanted to obey the Lord.

 

When I was in college and I was in our college youth group from my local church fellowship, we gathered together at someone’s home some Sunday nights after the evening service, and we had a devotion of some kind and some snacks. And I recall many of them were buying into the whole thing of evolution, and they were questioning, to some extent, the story of creation as it is told us in the Scriptures. And I thought that was just wrong, and so I was regarded as odd. I just didn’t fit in with most people my age.

 

But the Scriptures teach that we are to be God’s holy people, and that we are to be holy in all our conduct. And to be holy is to be different from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. But if we are different, we are regarded as odd, peculiar, religious fanatics, crazy, antiquated and as dinosaurs, i.e. as “a person or thing that is outdated or has become obsolete because of failure to adapt to changing circumstances” (Oxford Languages).

 

But I think of it this way. Jesus’ family members thought he was crazy, and they wanted to put him away, for he was probably an embarrassment to them. I know Paul was called “crazy” (out of his mind), and so was Jeremiah, I am fairly certain, as probably were some of the other prophets and apostles in the Bible times. So, if they call us crazy, well we are then in good company – the company of Jesus, Paul, Jeremiah and the others who served the Lord faithfully and who did what God said.

 

The other comfort I find in this is that I know I am speaking the truth of God’s Word, not that I am saying I have everything down perfectly, but that I am a diligent student of the Scriptures who works hard to make certain that I am sharing the truth and not the lies. And I am one who is walking in obedience to the Lord Jesus and who is doing what he called me to do. So, if they call me names, it is okay, for I know that what I am sharing is what is necessary to people’s faith, salvation, and eternal life with God. And so I am at peace. And if people find me odd, well then, praise the Lord!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fEgpj9PIdk

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Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

 

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

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Now Faithful to the Calling

The Church Under Fire

 

Chapter Five

 

Now Faithful to the Calling

 

May 27, 2023

 

I am still reading in the book of Acts. Recap: Paul was on the road to Damascus to persecute and perhaps to put to death even more Christians (followers of Jesus Christ) when Jesus met him in a vision while he was on his way. Jesus spoke to him audibly, though not visibly, and there Paul (Saul at that time) received his life calling from the Lord to open spiritually blinded eyes, so they may turn from darkness (sin) to light (Christ) and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ. Then he said this:

 

Acts 26:19-23 ESV

 

“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

 

Do you know what your life calling of God is? Are you being steadfast and faithful to that calling? Now we are all called to holy living and to leave our lives of sin behind us to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands under the New Covenant. But the Lord has assigned us specific callings and ministries, and he has gifted us accordingly so that we can serve him faithfully in those callings and in those areas of ministry. These are our “body parts” within the whole of the body of Christ, his church.

 

Now most of you probably know this but let me say here that if we answer the call of Jesus Christ, not only to be his possession and to follow him wherever he leads us, but to fulfill a very specific purpose the Lord Jesus has for our lives individually, this may not go well for us in many respects. And Paul’s life is a great example of what I mean here, and so is the life of Jesus. For Jesus told us that if we follow him with our lives that we are going to be hated and persecuted as he was hated and persecuted.

 

Especially if you are speaking to the people, and if you are telling them that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance, you are not going to be well liked and well received even in the Christian culture in America. For so many professing Christians are believing lies which are telling them outright or which are giving them the impression that they do not have to repent of their sins, that they don’t have to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, that they don’t have to obey the Lord, and that no works (deeds) are required of them by God whatsoever.

 

But let me get back to the subject of our specific callings of God to special areas of ministry that God prepared in advance for us to do them. Paul was not disobedient to the vision and neither should we be disobedient, either to the calling that God has on all of our lives collectively, nor to the particular callings he has on each of our lives individually. But then we should be prepared that we are going to be persecuted, even by others who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and even by pastors and elders of church fellowships.

 

And in being faithful to the calling of God on my life, he has been leading me to share some of my own “Paul” experiences, only those who are opposing me are not Jews, but many are those who claim faith in Jesus Christ, and some are even pastors and elders of church congregations. Now, like Paul said, if what I was doing was wrong, if it was evil, and if it was sinful and disobedient and rebellious, then I would accept their discipline. But if they are disciplining me for obeying the Lord, according to the Scriptures, and if they are judging me by their own standards, then that is wrong.

 

My “Paul” Experiences

 

The year was 2004. My husband and I were training to be church planters under the Christian & Missionary Alliance (same denomination as A.W. Tozer). I was training for consecration as an official worker of the C&MA and my husband was training for ordination to be a pastor of our small group which was meeting in our home. And now it was September and we were invited to their annual official workers prayer conference. But my husband hurt his back and could not go, so he encouraged me to go without him.

 

And the Lord started speaking to my heart the moment I walked into that first meeting, for I was a few minutes late due to car trouble. And the messages I heard at that conference via the speakers and via my quiet times with the Lord just spoke directly to my heart in a very powerful way.

 

The messages spoke to me and to my heart like they were right from the mouth of God to be specifically. The messages said, “Preach the Word of God, not the teachings of man.” “Listen to God, hear what he is saying, and then obey him.” “You were appointed by God as a herald and a teacher of true faith.” “Give your ministry over to God – it is not yours. It is his.” “God may have something else for you to do that you have not even thought of.”

 

“Write down what God shows you and then wait on him to bring it about.” “What you are going through is much bigger than you can imagine.” “NOW is your time! For such a time as this you were placed upon the earth.” “The church is in crisis – the crisis of Supremacy. It is indistinguishable between the lives of evangelical Christians and the world. We need to get back to the basics – we need to put our focus on Jesus and the cross of Christ instead of on the teachings of man.” Amen!

 

Since I was the only one there representing our small church plant, I was also invited to speak before a room full of pastors and other official workers of the C&MA, and before their district heads. And I just let the Holy Spirit lead me in what to say for I was not prepared in advance that I was going to be asked to speak. And based upon what others were teaching at this conference, and what the Holy Spirit was speaking to my heart, I shared with them what the Lord was saying to me, from the Spirit within me.

 

When I went back to my chair, though, the wife of the district head over church plants said, “Well, that was the shortest lived church plant.” Wow! But after the gathering was dismissed, and we went to lunch (or supper), I had maybe a fourth of the pastors there encourage me that what I said needed to be said, but they also recognized that it was the death of me, even though it was the right thing to say, and it was what needed to be said. But I was being led of the Holy Spirit, and there was nothing anti-biblical in what I shared, but it was fully supported by the Scriptures.

 

So, I got called to see the heads of the district, and they told me that I was not hearing from God, even though they had confessed that they were not actually listening to me speak, from what I recall. And so at that moment I had to make the decision to remain with the C&MA and to ignore God’s calling on my life, or to depart from the C&MA and to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience. I did the latter, and here I am today nearly 20 years later still answering that appointment by God to be one of his heralds in these last days before the return of Jesus Christ. And I have no regrets!

 

I Surrender All  

 

Hymn lyrics by Judson W. Van De Venter, 1896

Music by Winfield S. Weeden, 1896

 

… Lo, we have left all, and have followed Thee. (Mark 10:28)

 

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

 

All to Jesus I surrender,

Humbly at His feet I bow;

Worldly pleasures all forsaken,

Take me, Jesus, take me now.

 

All to Jesus I surrender,

Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;

Let me feel the Holy Spirit,

Truly know that Thou art mine.

 

All to Jesus I surrender,

Lord, I give myself to Thee;

Fill me with Thy love and power,

Let Thy blessing fall on me.

 

All to Jesus I surrender,

Now I feel the sacred flame;

Oh, the joy of full salvation!

Glory, glory, to His Name!

 

I surrender all,

I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BnL_zI7uw

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Turn from Darkness to Light

I am continuing with the book of Acts, and I will be quoting from chapter 26 in just a few minutes. But to get us up to speed, where I left off last is when Paul appealed to Caesar (chapter 25, vs. 11). What happened next is that King Agrippa arrived in Caesarea, and to make a long story short, he wanted to hear what Paul had to say. And so King Agrippa gave Paul permission to speak for himself, and that he did.

 

And then Paul gave his testimony, beginning by describing his life before he met Jesus on that road to Damascus, and then he told of his encounter with Jesus, and about what Jesus said to him there.

 

“And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” Acts 26:15-18 ESV (One of my all-time favorite Scripture passages)

 

In a previous writing titled, “Are You Persecuting Jesus?”(1), based off an earlier chapter in the book of Acts where Paul shared some of this same testimony, the Lord had me talk about what it means to persecute the Lord Jesus. For what the Lord was saying to him, in essence, is that by him persecuting the Lord’s servants and witnesses that it was the same as him persecuting Jesus himself (See: Acts 9:4-6; Matthew 25:31-46). And that is the case with us, as well. For how we treat other followers of Jesus Christ is how we are treating Jesus Christ.

 

And then the Lord gave Paul his calling of God, which in essence is to share the message of the gospel of Christ with the people, which is what we are all to be doing, if we are genuine followers of Christ. We just aren’t all called to do this full-time, although we should all be ready at any given moment to share the truth of the gospel (the whole counsel of God) with anyone anywhere, as the Lord opens up those opportunities for us. And none of us should be ashamed of Jesus and of his Word.

 

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]

 

Then verse 18 captures the essence of the gospel message which is that we all need to turn from darkness, i.e. from sin, to the light of Christ and his righteousness and holiness, in practice. For we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer living as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what our lips have professed.

 

And we all need to turn from the power of Satan to God. For, prior to receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, we were under the control of sin and Satan, and we were separate from God and unable in ourselves to be righteous or to be acceptable to God. But when we die with Christ to sin, we leave those lives of sin behind us, and we are no longer under Satan’s control, and our lives are now surrendered to Christ to live under Holy Spirit control, in obedience to our Lord and Savior.

 

Then we have forgiveness of sins. And then we are included among those who are sanctified by God-given faith in Jesus Christ. For we do not have forgiveness of sins based on giving lip service only to the Lord. We must die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, in his power and strength and wisdom. For if we continue living in sin, deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord, the Scriptures teach we do not know God, we are not in fellowship with Jesus Christ, and we don’t have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God, even if our lips professed him as Lord.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

As the Deer

 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

 

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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(1)       https://runwithit.blog/2023/05/24/are-you-persecuting-jesus/

Hear My Case

The Church Under Fire

 

Chapter Four

 

Hear My Case

 

May 27, 2023

 

I am now reading in Acts 25. The Apostle Paul was being held in custody under the authority of the governor Felix. And during this time, Felix would visit him on occasion and would listen to Paul sharing about his faith. And this went on for two years, and then Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison (chapter 24).

 

Now Festus went to Jerusalem, and he listened to those who had a case against Paul. And those people urged Festus to summon Paul to Jerusalem, for they were still planning an ambush against Paul to kill him. But Festus said to the men, “Let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.” Then, after he had stayed among them for a little over a week, Festus went down to Caesarea where Paul was being held.

 

The next day Paul was brought before him, and the Jews from Jerusalem brought many and serious charges against Paul that they could not prove. And Paul was given the opportunity to argue in his own defense:

 

“’Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.’ But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, ‘Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?’ But Paul said, ‘I am standing before Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.’”

 

Now, I do not intend to go into all the history of this, for the Lord Jesus is having me make practical application of these passages of Scripture to our lives, to our world, and to our church today. And as of late he has been having me share some of my own experiences with church leadership accusing me falsely of what I did not do, and to share these experiences in order to illustrate the kinds of persecution we can expect to face today when we follow our Lord Jesus in obedience to his ways, and when we share the truth of the gospel with others, and when we do not dilute the truth in order to appeal to other humans.

 

Now, I don’t have an exact parallel to this story, but there are principles here that I have picked up on that do relate to situations I have experienced myself, such as a group of people being opposed to Paul, them appealing to someone in higher authority to take their side and to go against Paul, him having to defend himself against false and unkind accusations against his character, no one supporting him or taking his side, and then him having to appeal to a higher authority to hear his case.

 

Hear My Case

 

It was in the early 1990’s, and we were attending a church fellowship of a rather large church congregation. I loved the preaching. The preacher reminded me of my pastor of my youth. We loved our Sunday School class, too, and we enjoyed that teacher’s teaching. And I joined a small support group for women who had been hurt by others, and who needed healing. And I invited a friend to go with me, for she had many hurts from her past experiences. So this was to be a group that was supposed to help both of us to heal from past hurtful experiences.

 

Now my friend was very timid and shy, but she expressed to me that she did want to share something with the group, and she asked me for my help, and so I agreed to help her. And at the next meeting she began to share, and she started to chicken out, and so I encouraged her, as she had asked me to do. But at the next meeting a new rule had been added to the group that had my name written all over it, figuratively speaking here. For the new rule said something to the effect that if your friend is trying to say something that you should not try to help that friend. I felt so hurt!

 

No one had spoken to me about this. They just waited until the next meeting to announce the new rule that everyone in the group knew applied to me. So, I called the lady who headed up the group, and I expressed to her how that had hurt me, and I tried to explain to her that I was doing what my friend had asked me to do. But her response to me was hateful and harsh and accusatory, for she had concluded that I was being pushy or a bully or taking over or something like that, and she would not hear me out when I tried to give my own defense.

 

And remember here with me that this was a support group for people like me who were already hurting from other hurtful experiences, and these were people who were supposed to be helping me to heal. But she was treating me as though I was the enemy, and as though I had purposefully committed some horrible crime. And then she told me I needed to talk with one of the assistant pastors, and so I did, but he would not listen to me either, but he began accusing me sharply of attitudes I did not have and of deeds I did not commit. And even though I sat there in tears appealing to him, he was hard as a rock and had no sympathy towards me whatsoever.

 

And I wish I could say this was the exception to the rule, but it is not. And I am not the only one being treated like this by church leadership, either. But this wasn’t just about me trying to help my friend. This was a deeper issue than that, I ascertained. For this assistant pastor, who I had never met before, was using terminology to accuse me that had much further implications than just that. So I believe the real issue was the kinds of things I was sharing in the group, as a whole, things which were from the Scriptures and not anything that should ever have been an issue.

 

Now, since this is not the only time I have faced such persecution as this, some people have suggested that I must, therefore, be the one at fault. Well, Paul faced a lot of persecution, and he was not the one at fault. And Job was accused by his friends of sinning as the reason for his suffering. But what my experiences symbolize, I believe, is the reality of where the church in America is today, where they are weeding out those who have strong convictions so that they can persuade the naïve with their lies without any hinderance from those who know better. And I hope you can see that.

 

For what I have experienced are the kinds of persecutions that others are experiencing who are serious about their walks with the Lord and who are walking in obedience to his commands. For today’s modern market-driven “churches” (businesses) leaders are being trained to weed out those with “strong convictions.” And this is because most of them are teaching lies. So, if you are facing such persecution as this, take courage. Just keep trusting the Lord, keep loving the people of God, and keep speaking the truth. For the days are evil, and our Lord will soon return.

 

As the Deer

 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

 

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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We're Not All the Same

The Church Under Fire

Chapter Three

We're Not All the Same

May 27, 2023

Acts 21,22,23 and Acts 24:1-23 Summary

The apostle Paul was now in Jerusalem, and he was being accused by some Jews of things he did not do. And so the tribune arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. And he was placed in some barracks. But before that, he was given permission to speak and to give his defense. And so he took this opportunity to share his testimony. But when he mentioned how the Lord had sent him to the Gentiles, the people were in an uproar, and they wanted Paul dead.

Then there was a plot to murder Paul, but his nephew caught wind of it and informed Paul who then sent him to tell the tribune, who then sent Paul to the governor Felix. Then, after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, Tertullus, who set their case before the governor against Paul. And then Paul was given permission to speak in his own defense. Then Felix decided to wait until later to decide Paul’s case, and so he ordered him to be kept in custody but given some liberties.

Now, what is standing out to me about this story relates to a situation I faced in my early 30’s, which I will share, but before that I want to share a couple of verses from Acts 24 that particularly jumped out at me. Paul said:

v. 13: “Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me.”

v. 16: “So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.”

Since I have been reading through the book of Acts, I have been reminded of all of Paul’s suffering for the sake of the gospel, and the Lord is reminding me of the many ways in which I suffered, too, for the sake of the gospel, which all serve as examples of the kinds of sufferings we will face when we commit our lives to Jesus Christ and to his service. And a lot of this suffering will come from those within the gatherings of what is called “church,” and from pastors and elders of these “churches,” too.

So, without further ado, I am going to share with you a situation in my life which serves as an example, not only of the condition of today’s church here in America, but of the kinds of sufferings we should be facing and/or will yet be facing the closer we get to the Lord’s return, when we choose to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, and when we desire to do what he has called us to do, because we love him, and because we love our fellow humans, including the body of Christ, those who believe in Jesus Christ.

Suffering for the Gospel

So, the year was 1980. I was pregnant with our fourth child, and I had a prolapse of my uterus and bladder three months into pregnancy, which was extremely rare. By the time I was about five months pregnant I began having many contractions, so the doctor ordered me off of my feet for the remainder of the pregnancy, and our two youngest children had to be placed in daycare. So, I had a lot of time by myself to study the Scriptures and to draw close to my Lord in fellowship with him, and so that is what I did.

But at the end of that year (1980), after our youngest son was born, my husband lost his job, and so we moved back to our hometown which was about 700 miles away. And we returned to the church fellowship we had been attending before we moved 700 miles away from home. 

Now it was 1981, and the pastor was preaching on Spiritual gifts, and he sent around papers for everyone to fill out listing what they believed their spiritual gifts were and what ministries they were interested in. The expectation was then that they would place us in an area of ministry, but after being back for a year, still no word. So, I contacted the pastor, and he came to our home, and I asked him why I had not heard anything, and then he told me the reasons were that I was (a list of false accusations against me that I don’t recall).

And then he said, “Would you say you have been crucified with Christ?” I answered, “Yes!,” and then he said, “I would say you haven’t!” Wow! And this man and I had never had a conversation before that I recall, so I don’t know where he was getting this idea. But I was crushed! And so I withdrew into my dream world and I escaped because I really believed this man had power over me that God could do nothing about, for I had been abused as a child by my father, and the Lord never rescued me from that abuse.

And then one day I was reading the story of Jonah to my children and the Lord convicted me that I was running away from his calling on my life, and that I needed to get back in there and fight this thing through. And so I contacted one of the elders who was a friend and he and some other elders came to our house and they accused me falsely of things I did not do and of attitudes that were not mine to possess, but which turned out to be their attitudes, and so they were judging me by themselves. 

And they accused me of having earthly and unspiritual wisdom and of wanting to be seen of men. For they falsely assumed that because I wanted to serve my Lord in ministry that it must be because I wanted to be seen of men, for that was their reasons. And so, like Paul, I had to come to my own defense, and I had to declare to them that my motives were pure and that their accusations against me were not founded. 

So next I went to see my friend whose husband was one of the elders, and we talked, and she came up with all kinds of things she thought might be the issue, but I knew wasn’t. And then, as if a lightbulb turned on inside her head she said, “Hon, I know what it is. It is a spirit of fear.” That spirit was oppressing me, so I asked if we could pray for deliverance, and we did, and I felt that spirit leave my presence. 

After that all these memories of my childhood began to surface, and I began to remember things I had forgotten because I was taught to forgive and to forget. But what I did was suppress the memory, but the pain of the abuse of my childhood was still impacting me. I asked my friend what to do, and she didn’t know, and she suggested I ask the pastor, and I said “No, he hates me!” So she called him, and he called me, and he apologized to me for how he treated me. And he said, “As your pastor, I am to be your spiritual father, but I have not been a very good one, but I want to be.” Wow!

Now he encouraged me, that as the memories surfaced, that I was to release them to God and let him heal me, and so that is what I did. And later he apologized to me for himself and for the elders, admitting that they were threatened by me and my wisdom, which was from God, and that they were wrong about me. I accepted his apology, and we became friends. 

Now, not all of my experiences ended that well, but what this experience is an example of is not only the kind of abuse that goes on inside church fellowships coming from church leadership who falsely accuse people of what they did not do, but it is a warning to us against falsely judging others by our own selves, by our own thinking, and by our own personal prejudices, etc. For that is what they did to me. 

So, if we are going to judge, we need to do it by God’s standards, and we need to have proof that someone is truly doing what is wrong. And we need to accept that God didn’t make us all the same.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

Be Aware

The Church Under Fire

Chapter Two

Be Aware

May 26, 2023

Acts 23:12-21 ESV

 

“When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, ‘We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.’

 

Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. Paul called one of the centurions and said, ‘Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.’ So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, ‘Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.’

 

The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, ‘What is it that you have to tell me?’ And he said, ‘The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.’”

 

Now I am going to relate this story to our lives and world and church today. For what was going on here was deceptive. It was trickery. It was a trap. For they wanted to kill Paul in order to shut him up, and possibly also in hopes that the movement he was leading would then disperse. It is kind of like what they did with Jesus, hoping that by killing him it would silence not only his voice, but that his followers would disperse and that they would not have to deal with them anymore.

 

But I want you to be aware that this kind of trickery is going on within the gatherings of the institutional market-driven churches of today, and it is being done by some pastors and other church leaders as a method of controlling people and situations to go the way they want them to go. And even many pastors are being trained in deception and trickery as a way to make things happen the way that suits their marketing goals and purposes.

 

And my husband and I were church planters twice, so we went through some of this training. And at one of our training sessions we were taught that we are to use (take advantage of) “needy people” in order to get our church plants up and running. But once our church plants were well on their way, we were instructed to get rid of the needy people, for they would weigh us down. Wow! The people in our tiny congregation were needy people. For we were ministering to the hurting, and the rejected, and the neglected.

 

Also my husband and I had a ministry to college students and to college-age adults out of our home for 7.5 years, from early 1999 to mid-2006, and there were times when we tried to connect this ministry to a local institutional church, because we thought that was the right thing to do. And so we partnered with a local IC (institutional church). We provided the college ministry for their congregation, and they provided us with a facility where we could meet. And at first it went well.

 

But Then…

 

I was doing some volunteer work at the church office one day when the pastor called me into his office to talk. He asked me, “Would you say that your praise band would draw in large crowds of people from the world?” I knew exactly where he was going with this, and I also knew that this was contrary to our partnership agreement. For we told him our goal in ministry, at that time, was to provide a place for young people where they could feel included, and where they could feel valued and needed and wanted.

 

What he said he wanted to do was to replace our band with another band, and he wanted me to talk about that with our ministry team. So, I did, and we decided to all meet with him, and we did. And when we met with him, I asked him to tell the group what he told me, and all he would say was, “I would never do that.” So I asked him, if he would never do that, then why did he ask me to ask our ministry team about doing that. But his answer remained, “I would never do that.”

 

So, what he was doing was a non-denial denial. He neither admitted to saying it nor did he deny saying it. He just said he would never do that. So, afterwards he and I talked more but he still would not answer my question as to why he said that if he never intended to do that. And then their “Session” (of the Presbyterian Church) called me to a meeting. But they made it a prerequisite that I must admit I lied about the pastor before I could come to their meeting.

 

But I didn’t lie. I am not the one who was being deceptive. And I had been totally submissive. So I asked the Session if they would remove that requirement and they refused. So, I could not attend their meeting, because I would not lie. And so they put me on church discipline, which is totally against the Scriptures and the whole purpose for church discipline. But what they did, and a lawyer was one of the ones involved in this, would be like if someone accused you of a crime, but before they would give you a fair trial to determine guilt or innocence, you would be required to admit guilt. If you could (or would) not admit guilt, then to jail you went, no trial at all.

 

Do you see how absolutely evil what they did was? That lawyer knew better than that, and so did that pastor. I think the Session did not really know what was going on, in my opinion, but they were just acting on the word of the pastor and of the lawyer. But they had to know that what they were doing was wrong. You don’t make someone admit guilt before you even give them a chance to be heard. That is criminal! But so many of these ICs are being taught to use deception and trickery in order to get people to do what they want them to do, and/or in order to get rid of the undesirables.

 

Bottom line, we pulled our ministry out of that IC, and we took it back to our home, which is where I believe the Lord wanted it to be anyway. And the reason the Lord is having me share this with you is so you will be aware of the kinds of trickery and deception and manipulations which are going on in many of these ICs which are market-driven and which are trying to draw in large crowds of people from the world. Since I was not on board with what they were up to they found a way to silence me, but they lost access to our ministry to college students as a result. So, keep your eyes and ears open.

 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

 

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

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My Background

The Church Under Fire

Chapter One

My Background

May 26, 2023

 

My name is Sue Love. I am 73 years old. I have been married to my husband Rick Love for over 50 years. We are both originally from Akron, Ohio, USA, and we met each other in University Singers at the University of Akron. We have four grown children, 3 in-law children, and 14 grandchildren, one of whom is married, and another is engaged to be married. They range in ages from 5 to 24. There are 8 girls and 6 boys. And they all live not longer than an hour from us, and some much closer.

 

My parents attended the same church gathering as each other from infanthood, and they brought me and my four siblings to the same church gatherings at least three times a week. Now the gathering I attended, most of the time I attended there, was not of a church denomination, although it was affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, but which did not become a church denomination until 1971. If you are familiar with the name A. W. Tozer, that was the denomination he was from.

 

Our church denomination had a camp on Lake Erie in Vermillion, Ohio. They had children’s and youth camps one week each during the summer months, and they also had a Bible and missionary conference that maybe lasted a week or two every summer. I went to camp pretty much every summer, and at the age of 7, I believe it was, I believed in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of my life. I sat on that old hard bench with tears streaming down my face while I repented of my sins and trusted in Jesus to be my Lord.

 

I was very determined after that to follow Jesus with my life and to do what his Word teaches us we must do. And by the age of 16 I was teaching the Bible to children, and I’ve been teaching the Scriptures over a period of about 50 years now, first to children, then to women, then some to youth, and to college students some, too. Mostly I taught women’s Bible studies in homes or at church gatherings or in Sunday School classes for women. I was (and am) a serious student of the Scriptures who loves the Word of the Lord.

 

Now, I will tell you that there was a short period of time in my adult life when I wandered off from that pure devotion to the Lord, and I fell back into sin, on and off, but the Lord brought me back, and he restored me, and later on he called me to this present ministry of writing down what he teaches me from his word each day and putting it on the internet. I just write what he leads me to write and then I post it on the internet and I have no control over where it goes from there. But I do know that the writings are going to people in multiple nations, and so I praise the Lord for that.

 

When the Lord called me to this ministry, he helped me to unlearn some things I had learned wrongly, that had been taught to me out of context, and so I needed to get those things straight. And he had me read through the entire Bible, book by book, at least once, and maybe twice, and then he had me read from the Psalms to Revelation several times over several years and to write about what he was teaching me. And so I was learning the Scriptures in their context and that was helping me to learn them better.

 

Then, beginning in 2017 (this ministry began in November of 2004) he had me start using Biblegateway.com for their verse of the day and he had me begin writing devotions from those passages, in context. But then he began to increase the number of writings he was having me write each day from one a day to two a day to three a day and now mostly to four a day, as the time of our Lord’s return is drawing closer. For I believe the Lord called me to be one of his end times messengers because of the times we now live in.

 

In 2011 he gave me the gift of writing songs, which are simple songs of faith based off the Scriptures put to simple tunes and mostly all not professionally recorded, but to be included in many of the devotions that he has had me write. And he gave me 185 songs to write. Then in 2018 he began giving me poems to write (without music), and in 2020 he had me do my first devotional video talk, and I did a few of them, but I did not resume them until last year some time.

 

Now, we moved around a lot. We lived in five US states and ten cities, I think. We lived in Ohio for 33 years (with a year in Indiana in the mix), but we have lived in the southern states for 40 years. So, we have also attended and participated in many different church gatherings from multiple church denominations. And I (or we) have also had many experiences in these gatherings, both negative and positive. And since the purpose of this writing is to discuss “The Church Under Fire,” I will be sharing some of those experiences with you as examples of the kinds of things going on today.

 

Although some of those experiences were positive, some of them were also abusive situations which involved abuse of power and the persecution of one who is following the Lord in obedience at a time when the church at large is moving away from obeying the Lord in order to attract the people of the world to their gatherings. For they don’t want to offend them with the truth. So, I have wept many tears over those situations over the years, but the Lord has been my comfort and my strength, and so I trust him with my life.

 

When I Go Home

 

By G. M. Eldridge

 

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes…” Revelation 21:4

 

In the moment He appears

And the light from heaven shines,

I’ll forget ev’ry fear,

Ev’ry pain I’ll leave behind.

Then I’ll see Him as He is

And I’ll know Him as I’m known.

Ev’ry tear wiped away when I go home.

 

Ever present is the tho’t

That a moment waits for me

When unworthy as I am,

His glory I will see.

I will empty all my praise

Before my Father’s throne.

Ev’ry tear wiped away when I go home.

 

If the trial I endure,

And your presence I can’t find,

Be near me, Lord, I pray,

Bring back unto my mind

That your promises are firm

And I’m never on my own.

Ev’ry tear wiped away when I go home.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z98Zvr1CyXg

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