“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
An Original Work / July 10, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love