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 giving his defense to King Agrippa, and so he relayed to him how he had been on the road to Damascus to persecute and perhaps 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:
“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.” (Acts 26:19-23 ESV)
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. For 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 the 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 telling people 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, or 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 of them are those who claim faith in Jesus, 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 my consecration as an official worker of the C&MA and my husband was training for his ordination to be a pastor of our small group which was meeting in our home. It was now 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 me 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,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
Link to whole book:
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Now Faithful to The Calling
An Original Work / May 27, 2023
Reposted on November 13, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
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