COM Newsletter - April 2020
“THOU ART THE MAN”
As time marches forward to the end of all things earthly and the coming of Jesus, it seems that there is less and less interest in receiving a “plain thus saith the Lord,” and more and more timidity in giving the straight testimony regarding sin, and the need of a Savior from it. Indeed! The words of Jesus Himself are viewed as hate speech, and those burdened to share “the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimonies” are viewed as homophobes and hatemongers. The easy way is to just preach love and acceptance, an inclusive, indulgent gospel, and to pretend that all is well with everyone’s soul. But is that not loving people down the broad way to destruction when we should be loving them into and along the narrow way that leads to life?
I was reading recently the story of David and Bathsheba and how God, in love, in redeeming love, sent the prophet Nathan with a very straightforward message of warning to David with the startling statement: “Thou art the man,” the man guilty of so heinous a sin as to commit adultery and cover it through murder.
“Words as unmistakably plain as these spoken by Nathan to David are seldom heard in the pulpits of today, seldom seen in the public press. If they were not so rare, we should see more of the power of God revealed among men. The Lord’s messengers should not complain that their efforts are without fruit until they repent of their own love of approbation and their desire to please men, which leads them to suppress truth.
“Those ministers who are men pleasers, who cry, Peace, peace, (love and acceptance…?), when God has not spoken peace, might well humble their hearts before God, asking pardon for their insincerity and their lack of moral courage. It is not from love for their neighbor that they smooth down the message entrusted to them, but because they are self-indulgent and ease-loving. True love seeks first the honor of God and the salvation of souls. Those who have this love will not evade the truth to save themselves from the unpleasant results of plain speaking. When souls are in peril, God’ ministers will not consider self, but will speak the word given them to speak, refusing to excuse or palliate evil.
“God calls for men like Elijah, Nathan, and John the Baptist—men who will bear His message with faithfulness, regardless of the consequences; men who will speak the truth bravely, though it call for the sacrifice of all they have.” (Prophets and Kings 141,142)
This is the high calling of ‘Coming Out’ Ministries with our messages of compassion, but without compromise concerning the word of God.
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Q&A
Question: How does the Lord bring about healing after someone has damaged themselves through participation in a homosexual relationship?
Reply: My experience and study is based upon such scriptures as:
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
"Only acknowledge thine iniquity... and I will heal your backsliding"(Jeremiah 3:13, 22).
"But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings" (Malachi 4:2).
Jesus is the balm of Gilead and the heavenly Physician (Jeremiah 8:22), the Comforter who promised to send another Comforter (John 14:16). He wants to be Friend, Companion, and first Love in our lives. He wants a deep and abiding relationship with each of us. As we grasp hold of these concepts, promises, and invitations, we will have healing for our souls.
I was deeply in love with my partner with whom I had to break up when accepting Jesus. I learned through study, prayer, and contemplation to love Jesus more–more than my partner. I left the relationship with G__ physically wounded myself, for the devil took control of him, turning him to violence against me. I was emotionally damaged and scarred, and a mental wreck. My breakup with G__ was more traumatic than my divorce from my wife years earlier, but I trusted Jesus to bring sanity back to my life and healing for my badly wounded soul; and He did. Within a matter of months I was in ministry; within a year I was married. The rest is history: 22 years now in ministry (at the time of this article) and having the time of my life! I have learned firsthand the truth of the promise in Steps to Christ, chapter 5, that God's plan for my life far exceeds anything I could even imagine for myself.
God's way is best! As the title of the old TV program says, Father Knows Best! If we practice putting Him first in our lives, others second, and ourselves last, in accordance with His two great commandments, we will truly have the healing we desire and need–healing of heart, mind, and soul.
Q&A text taken from:
TESTIMONY
It was a blessed experience for Michael Carducci and me to be speakers at the recent week of prayer at Campion Academy in Loveland, Colorado. On Saturday night we were invited to have dinner with a group of young adults at the “Ministry House” in Ft. Collins. Of course, we just fit right in with that occasion. Michael was to leave the next day, but as I was driving to my next appointment in Texas I decided to stay for a few more days. After dropping a few hints that it surely would be nice to go skiing while there in Colorado, David, one of the house residents, said he would be happy to take me skiing on Tuesday, his day off.
Tuesday found us at around 13,000 feet at Copper Mountain Ski Resort. At 71-yrs-of age on skis, I spent the day determined to keep up with 33-yr-old David on a snowboard!! It was a perfect day—challenging and exhilarating. And David was so gracious to not take off on some diamond run and leave me on my on. But he stuck with me until I eventually played out.
It was on the two-hour drive home that he opened up to me with his testimony, leaving me almost speechless! Eleven years ago, having grown up being sexually molested and led into many dark places in life, he found himself in deep despair and depression. Attending college in Ithaca, NY, he was stunned by the number of suicides on campus, 11 students in one month jumping from a bridge to their deaths. Now, in his own depression he found himself contemplating the same fate. In desperation, he sent out an email to pastors of three SDA churches around the country asking for help. One of those pastors responded, saying he knew Ron Woolsey and would seek help from him.
I, Ron Woolsey, evidently received an email appeal for help from this pastor, to which I responded. He in turn sent the email to David. And now David is telling me this after spending the day on the ski slopes!! He told me that my letter saved his life, gave him hope, and pulled him out of his despair and depression. Somewhere along the way he also attained my 1st book, “That Kind Can Never Change! Can They…?,” and found the complete plan of salvation for himself in the last chapter, “You, Too, Can Be Made Whole!”
One year later David was baptized, and, for the last ten years has been seeking the will of the Lord for his life. He has attended a number of spiritual institutions like Uchee Pines, Black Hills, and Eden Valley, educating and preparing himself for a life of service for God and to those looking for new direction in life. He is presently back in college, picking up where he left off in Ithaca when under suicidal depression, training in Occupational Therapy.
“You never knew me,” he said, “but I’ve known about you for a long time. And I just want to say thank you for all you have done for me.” A radiant, young, Christian man! I feel so honored to have met him, to hear his amazing testimony, and humbled to be told that God had used me to save his life, to give him hope and the encouragement to pick himself up and start all over.
I can’t help but think how wonderful heaven will be, and how many amazing like encounters we might have with perfect strangers saying, “It was you who invited me here!” Let us never be discouraged and never tire of planting those seeds of truth—the blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimonies. (Revelation 12:11)
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‘Coming Out’ Ministries at PO Box 107, Tilly, AR 72679.
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