Pardoning God Testimony

My life is like the life of the Apostle Paul.  God has taken a chief sinner like me, opened his blind eyes to the marvelous truth of the gospel and given him a new life, a new charge and a new purpose. God has relieved me, of the guilt, pain and shame of being such a sinner.

During my teenage years, I really struggled. I was confused with who I was and what I stood for. I tormented myself by feelings of inadequacy and insecurity. My mother and brother both worked second shift. I came home each afternoon to an empty house, and went to bed without seeing another person. I thought that if I only I could meet the expectations of those around me, I would somehow make them happy and I would be loved. My world was chaotic and out of control. After high school, I ran away from the church. The church seemed to be a den of hypocrites, stone hearts, wooden traditions and a lot of misery and condemnation.

Nothing could satisfy my hunger for happiness and purpose.  I tried different things to fill that hunger; I just ended up deeper and deeper in the cycle of sin. I became increasingly isolated and alone. I was used and hurt; I quickly realize that I could never live up to the expectations of my family, my world and myself. It seemed that I was so much of a failure that no one could ever love me. I felt that I had let everyone down, especially God. I felt that I could never be good enough for God to love me. I had hurt so many. I began to criticize and ridicule Christians. I thought to myself, "How could God love me, someone who had sinned so greatly?" I began building a thick and tall wall around myself.

Slowly, the bricks in my wall came down, one by one. As the hole in the wall became bigger and I could look out and see the hope that our savior offers us, I made a decision to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and to follow him. God put a young man in my life that challenged everything that I believed about myself. He was a Missionary Church pastor, who was not afraid to tell me the unadulterated truth of the gospel. He forced me to face what I thought were hidden sins. He showed me that God created me with a purpose and a plan. He showed me that I was never alone. He introduced me to several of his Christian friends who showed me that God loved me as I was. Not only did God love me, but they also loved me.

It was by grace alone that I was free from my past and shame. He has pardoned all of my sins. The truth of the Gospel and his agape love has opened my eyes to which I truly am: a child of God and a joint heir to the kingdom of Heaven.

I believe that I have the love of God abiding in me. I have had many opportunities to share that love. We can better show Love through action than through just words. Christian Action is the passing on the love of Christ to others. God's love transforms our lives through his love and changes us forever. Throughout my call to service, whether it is youth ministry, Bible quizzing, Christian education, Counseling or servant ministry, I have received edification of this love from my fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ. By putting my faith into action and building personal relationships with others, I have shown God's love in tangible ways. By showing this love, we touch the lives and hearts eternally of those that God puts in your path. As Christ loves us, as the body of Christ, we must do several things to share this love: to evangelize, to disciple, to study scriptures, to pray and meditate on Christ.  Do they desire nothing but God?

Because God provides for my needs, I desire nothing but to serve God in: everything I say, everything I do and everything I think. As I grow in my love for the Lord, my priorities have changed. Serving the Lord with all my heart, soul and strength has become my purpose. He truly is my all in all. Scripture calls us to die to self so that Christ may live in us. Scripture promises that since we are in covenant with Christ. He will defend us and provide for our needs. Like the green grass of the earth and the birds of the air, we can depend upon God to be faithful to attending to our needs.

We can communicate in many ways. Words can be powerful weapons, but they can also be powerful tools. Words can destroy, yet they also can heal and build up. God has given us the ability to use this tool to share the Gospel. Words can give godly counsel and warn others of spiritual danger. Communication is a gift God has given us to serve him. We can use the words to preach and to instruct. Communication is not just talking, but it is also listening. As someone reminded me last week, God gave us two ears and one mouth. As a counselor, I must be very careful of using these tools to build up the church rather than put it down. I must be holy in all matters of conversation. As a counselor, I need to be quiet and listen to the real meanings of those who are hurting. Sometimes I need to hold my words.

The Lord convicted me early on in my Christian walk that we need to do four things: Listen, and then Listen some more, Love and then Love some more. ?

Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, God has blessed me with certain gifts and talents that are useful in ministering and discipling others for Christ. God has used these gifts to bless others and bring them to a closer relationship with our Father in heaven. There are many gifts required for a counseling ministry

Teaching - Taking concepts and putting them into a vernacular that people  can understand and apply, has been one of my gifts since high school. Over the years, training and teaching others is something that I really enjoy. Not only do I teach using an interactive and a responsive style, but I really learn a lot by training as well. I do not just teach and give the answers, but I help students to discover for themselves the real answers. I can typically think on my feet and present the material in a memorable and useful manner. Being a lay speaker has greatly helped me improve my presentation skills and focusing on the important facts. I have taught several Sunday school classes, from children to senior adults. The key to proper bible study is prayer, observation, interpretation, application and allowing the Word of God to transform our lives.

Counseling - Through my own experience and brokenness, I have become a "Wounded Healer". I have learned how to be empathic and be sensitive to the feelings and confusion that accompanies someone who is broken and hurting. The key to good counseling is a balance to biblical theology and psychology. When working with broken souls, we need to take off our shoes because we are walking on holy ground of their hearts. The best way to lead someone out of the darkness and emptiness is to be a light. They need to discover for themselves that which they need to focus on. Reflective listening can help us in searching for the answers. The help that we give others must come directly from the scriptures. It is important that we realize that there are many causes of pain, suffering, anxiety, grieving and depression. Sometime we need to deal with one issue at a time. We need to be careful when counseling someone. Often, issues are interconnected. Healing and wholeness always begins with the Love of Jesus... Many people just need to know that God and others loves them, that they are not alone and that they are important. There is often a spiritual root to many types of pathology. Sin affects all areas of human life, whether it is physical, emotional, relational, intellectual or spiritual. We need to understand that spiritual warfare is real and that we need to use biblical weapons to combat it.

Servant-Leader - Being a servant-leader is the opposite of being a master-follower. Following Christ's example, God calls us to be a servant-leader to all. Christ came as a suffering servant. He put other's needs before his own. Through serving others, God also meets our needs. I have spent much of my time as a servant-leader by preparing, performing and cleaning up. Many times, I have had to stay in the shadows while others are out in front, doing that which is required but not recognized. I truly enjoy serving others. I had to serve dinners, setup rooms, prepare for activities, and cleanup. It was an incredible blessing to serve in this capacity. Often, the participants take this activity for granted. This type of activity truly humbles me and reminds me why I am truly there: to serve God in any capacity that is required.

Missions / Outreach - I truly love missions. Helping others is a real blessing. Somehow your own needs seem small when you help others. Again, missions are another way of sharing the gospel in a tangible way. Have theostanding

I believe in God, the Father, who is the creator of all things in the heavens, on the earth and under the sea. From him, all good things come. God created all things to glorify him.

I believe in God, the Son, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, who is the eternal Word, through which all things are created. He has existed since before time. I believe that Jesus came to earth, was born unto a virgin, according to God's own plan. He lived, grew and breathed as a man and endured life as a man. Jesus came to bridge the gap between man and God so that our relationship with him could be restored. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God.

I believe in God, the Holy Spirit, who is the power and opens my eyes to all truth. The Holy Spirit abides in me as a source of strength. He enables me to do that which is required. He is my comforter and reminds me that God is counting on me and I am counting on him.

I believe in the triune nature of God and in the unity of God. God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are one.

I believe that God created humanity in his own image. God created man so that man could be in relationship with God. In our own attempt to become like God, we have all fallen away and have strayed from God through sin. Sin separated us from God and doomed us for eternal death.

I proclaim Jesus, the Christ, as my Lord and Savior. He was beaten and tortured, killed on the cross and rose from dead bodily and spiritually so that our sins may be atoned. Jesus is the Lamb of Life. He is the perfect and unblemished sacrifice that paid the ultimate price. Jesus died on the cross so that God may forgive completely. As Christ died for our sins, we too must die to our self so that he may live through us. Jesus came to earth to fulfill scriptures and to lead the way to eternal life.

I believe that the Bible is the holy, inspired and inerrant Truth from God. God's Truth is eternal and perfect. The canon is complete. It is God's love letter to his people so that they may grow in a deeper relationship with him. There is only one truth with many applications. We must learn how to handle scripture correctly. We must correctly observe scripture, interpret scripture and then apply scripture to our lives, all through the power and discernment of the Holy Spirit.

I accept the grace of God as being my sustenance and my strength. Through God and his sovereignty, I can do all things that are according to his awesome and perfect will. He provides for all my needs. I shall want for nothing but only to seek to do his will, primarily by sharing the love that our Father in Heaven has for us. I depend upon God's grace to sustain me. I trust that it is sufficient. Through his grace, I will continue to grow in mercy, truth and charity. God is faithful to his promises. He is my defender of faith, whom I am in covenant with. God's Spirit has always been working in our lives, even while we were sinners through his grace. We are true heirs to the Kingdom of God as God's children through his justifying grace. Through prayer, study and Christian action, we grow in Christian love and obedience. Christ's example sanctified us. I believe that are many means of grace, including the sacraments of baptism and communion.

I believe in the priesthood of all believers. God commanded the Church to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind and body. He commissioned us to go out into the entire world and make disciples of the entire world. He commanded us to follow Jesus' call for our lives and to become fishers of humankind for God's Kingdom. Just as Christ was a servant leader, God calls us to become servant leaders. I believe that God calls me to be a servant leader. God has given me gifts to administer his grace, peace, love and mercy to the entire world.

I believe that this earth will pass away, and God's will administer his perfect justice and mercy. I believe that there will be a time for eternal judgment. There will be a separation of the sheep and goats. God will pour out his wrath onto the world. I believe in the rapture, where God will pull away his eternal church from this earth. There will be a time for tribulation, great trial and testing. God so loves that world that he wishes none to perish. Let no one be without an excuse for not accepting God's incredible gift. He will make all things new. At this time, as the Church of God, we will experience God's perfecting grace. We will live forever in heaven, where there is no longer death or pain. Our Lord has complete and ultimate victory over sin, death and evil.

God is so good. I will praise God for all things. I will praise God at all times. I will praise God in all ways. He is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last. He is my all in all.

Conclusion There is no doubt. The Lord has been preparing me for ministry. He has put me in situations where my faith has been tested and built up. He has tempered me through the fires of trials and molded me like clay with his bare hands into his image. Slowly and patiently, he has removed the blemishes and wages of sin. Like a single candle in the darkness, the Lord has used others to light my fire. In turn, God has used me to start a wildfire of other fires to go out into the world to touch the lives for Christ.

                               As is often quoted from Philippians 1:6, "be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." I trust God for my all in all. He has been faithful to bring me thus far and will be faithful to see me through to the end of the race.

                       I just have one more response; "Here I am Lord. Send me."

 Your brother in Christ

Dave Sumner