Overcoming the Pain of the Past.

By Earl G. Presley, A Voice for Today Ministries

Galatians 1:11-24
For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.

Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days; but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord's brother. In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!

Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, "The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy." And they glorified God because of me.

Paul experienced a revelation of Jesus Christ while traveling on the road to Damascus. Paul's conversion is described in greater detail in Acts 9:1-31. Although Paul was highly trained in Judaism, he embraced a call to ministry to the Gentiles (Galatians 1:16).

It is important to note that Paul was, in many ways, isolated. He did not spend a great deal of time in the company of the apostles; in fact, he was practically unknown in the churches in Judea. What Paul learned was revealed to him by the Lord. This was due, in part, to the fact that he had a terrible reputation for persecuting Christians before his conversion (Galatians 1:23).

What's Your Story?

Paul's testimony appears repeatedly in the New Testament. Through it, we learn that testimony is an important part of Christian community.

Where have you come from;
Where are you going?
Who has accompanied you on the journey?
What is your call?
To whom are you called?

These were just a few of the questions answered by Paul's testimony.

What's your testimony? (And have you had an opportunity to share it?)


Overcoming the Pain of the Past.

Paul was haunted by his past. The Jews persecuted him as one who had wandered from the faith. At other times, the Christians shunned him because he once persecuted them. The records of Paul's conversion mentioned his checkered past frequently. The good news of Paul's story is not hard to find: Paul was not imprisoned by his past. He made no attempt to hide the evil things he had done in ignorance and unbelief. He always made sure that his audience knew that it was only the grace of God working in him, and not his own giftedness, that caused him to become one of the most influential men in the church of his era. He never took credit for the work of God.
Paul's ability to overcome is good news both for those who sin in secret as well as for those whose sins have been made public.

The way that Paul overcame his past is good news for all of us who have be deluded by “Religion” to persecute God. Paul was so convinced that his relationship with God through Christ had changed him that he was able to pen these words: "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17, NRSV)
Our testimony is as necessary as Paul’s.


I grew up in the Church.

My Mother was a devout Christian. My Father was a Baptist Minister. I went to church, sang in Sunbeams and Youth Choir and made a profession of faith at 9 and was baptized.

I saw a side of the “Church” that not everyone sees.

In the name of Justice and Christian Compassion my family suffered. At the hand of “Christian People” in our first Pastorate, the KKK burned a cross in the front yard of the Manse because the Church voted to seat African American visitors.

In St. Joseph, MO I learned that it was unacceptable for the Union people to teach Sunday School and be leaders in the Church. My Father was fired while away at Convention in Miami by a packed house of people who we had never met, but were “Members”.

I saw passive aggressive behavior first hand.

I watched my mother cry when we had to move and heirlooms were broken. I watched my father become broken both physically and mentally from a collapsed lung and Duodenal Ulcer caused by stress. My father told me once as we reminisced “It never occurred to me that me and Jesus couldn’t do anything”

When I was a teenager, my music skills gave me the opportunity to join my father in Full-time Evangelism. I learned how to share my testimony about Jesus without the inconsistency of the Church. I learned to not share the dissention, the backbiting, the bigotry, the exclusivity, the guilt and the negativity. I learned that Jesus’ Gospel and what I saw in the Church People I knew had very little to do with each other.

I met Dr. S.M.Lockeridge Pastor of 1st Bapt. Church, LA. He was an African-American educated in Fort Worth at Southwestern Seminary in the Basement, taught by professors on their own time. He said, “You can’t expect regenerate behavior from unregenerate People.”

When I was 22 I left the Church.

I didn’t set foot in a church for almost 5 years. But the Holy Spirit came to me and said “you can’t change it from the outside”. I returned and changed denominations to the Disciples of Christ because of their stated non-creed “No Creed but Jesus”.
I worked as a bi-vocational minister for 22 years, never allowing myself to be dependent upon a congregation for my livelihood. I was disobedient to my calling. I was deluded by “religion”. I still didn’t understand that it was about Jesus and me, not the “church”.

I now serve as Pastor of First Christian Church of Rockdale, TX. I try to hold up Jesus as the source of ministry, compassion, love, and justice. I have probably fallen short of my Lord’s expectations once again, but I know that my relationship with Christ is stronger, more vibrant and real than ever before.
My obedience has been reward enough for me. I see clearly the prize before me and the reasons why I haven’t attained it. I see even more clearly, like Paul, my shortcomings and my past baggage.

I see the miracles God has done in our congregation. I see a deacon, who came to know the Lord with a broken body from a car accident, who is now a spiritual leader of his family and this congregation. I see an elder that thought cancer would disfigure his face only to go to pre-op and the cancer was gone. I see a family who ask for prayer for one with cancer. She fought through Chemo and Radiation for months and then went to the Dr. and the Cancer was gone.

As the old hymn says, “This is my story, this is my song; Praising my Savior, all the daylong”

What is your testimony?
Can you tell it outside the context the Church?
Can you share it with a total stranger?
Can you show someone how to have a living, breathing relationship with the Son of God by the validity of your own relationship with Him?
Can you demonstrate how the love of God can forgive you and also give you the power to forgive those who offend you.
Can you share how the love of Christ can change all the struggles of life into the Beauty of Holiness?
Most importantly, do you have a Testimony? Are you Born Again, a new creation? Have you repented of the delusions of your religion that led you to persecute the Lord Jesus Christ by your actions and in-action, your keeping control of your life and possessions?

If you don’t have a testimony; If you don’t know this King of Glory; and you want to repent of the sin in your life and dedicate yourself to Jesus in such a way that He will be the most important relationship in your life; then I invite you to present yourself to him in prayer. Find a congregation of believers and present yourself as a new creature, repentant for the decisions you have made that grieved God. Begin a new life in Christ, a new creation in a new relationship.