The Time of Waiting is Past
By: Susan Deborah Schiller
"Do I have to DIE in order for people to hear me?" asked a woman who was forced out of her home by a predator-pastor, threatening her life… boasting that his hands are lethal weapons.
Of course no one believes her – in public, he is so kind, generous, and charming. He is the man of God and some people say, "The enemy is just using his wife to destroy the work of God. We must pray for her." At home, he grins – a mocking twist of his mouth – because the victim is blamed while he is comforted and his virtues extolled.
She is not the first victim of this type of terrorism. I hear the cry for justice among the martyrs. Their voices haunt me in my deams. I wake up thinking about Bethany Deaton and how two years later her Christian-leader-abuser is still free, while her body is buried in the ground.
Surrounded by Christians, protected by their silence if not their full support, the Christian abuser is the worst kind of abuser. I echo the words of CT Studd:
“Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time of waiting is past!
The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In God’s Holy Name let us arise and build! ‘The God of Heaven, He will fight for us’, as we for Him. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us.
Should such men as we fear? Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts.
We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.” (C.T. Studd)
How many more victims must die before we listen to their stories? Before we believe their trembling words? Before we take up their cause, open our mouths for the mute, defend the afflicted, and plead the case of the abandoned wife…
Open your mouth for the mute, For the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy. – Proverbs 31:8-9
The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. – Proverbs 29:7
He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD. – Jeremiah 22:16
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. – Isaiah 1:17
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. – James 1:27
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:8
I write to be a voice for the ones who are silenced.
You may never have experienced domestic violence, but our churches are saturated with this type of hidden violence. Survivors surrender to the shadowlands, smothered in shame, simply trying to survive day-by-day. Most of them have no hope.
We must learn to hate evil, not give it grace or tolerance. The greatest evil of all is disguised as "pastor," "therapist," and "husband". With your help (listening to our stories and sharing our words), you can fulfill the words of Scripture, to be a voice for the voiceless, to cry out for justice, and to defend the cause of the poor and needy.
My Full Story What I Believe Contact Me
With all my love,
Sue
Copyright © 2010 to 2016 Team Family Online, All rights reserved. For reprint permission or for any private or commercial use, in any form of media, please contact Susan Schiller.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
"They" don't hear. "They" don't care. "They" have been drawn into the web of deceit and to even suggest that they have fallen into the enemy's trap is to invite their wrath. I know. But I also know that prayer works and when I pray for the mouth of the predator to become a mouth of truth amazing things start to happen. When I pray that no lie will pass the predator's lips but will cause the tongue to cling to the roof of the mouth I see God move. And when the predator is exposed for what he/she is by THEIR OWN WORDS then "they" begin to wake up.
Pray with me, Susan. Would you agree with me in prayer that every single predator in the church will be exposed by the truth of their own words? Let their mouths become vessels of truth and no lie pass through their lips. In the name of Jesus Christ let the Spirit of Truth take over their ministries. Amen and amen. RAK CHAZAK!
Rak Chazak!
You have amats, Joyce, and what a powerful testimony. Yes, prayer works – every time we pray with authority, that is we BELIEVE, and because we believe we speak using our Father’s own words and initiative. We speak with His love and in His language, which is Truth.
I stand with you and agree that every single predator will be exposed by the truth of their own words! Let their mouths become vessels of truth and no lie passes through their lips, but instead their tongue gets tied and sticks to the roof of their mouths. May Truth, who is Jesus Christ, take over their ministries. AMEN!
Joyce, change is happening… I cannot help but believe whole cities at a time, in a single day, will be saved from the darkness that has swept over our planet. Whole cities and whole nations. I’ve been asked by God to believe for a whole nation – a Native American nation in the North.
In a dream, I saw a whole city – Missoula – be saved. I don’t mean in a religious way, either. In the dream I was told to write it down.
I believe when we write things like this down, it becomes a prayer – and the writing creates history – future history, that is.
Good words, Joyce – I’m always excited to read what you write!
2 Samuel 22 – David sang this song to the Lord after he had rescued him from Saul and from all his other enemies… Let's pray these words…
2
“Jehovah is my rock,
My fortress and my savior.
3 I will hide in God,
Who is my rock and my refuge.
He is my shield
And my salvation,
My refuge and high tower.
Thank you, O my Savior,
For saving me from all my enemies.
4 I will call upon the Lord,
Who is worthy to be praised;
He will save me from all my enemies.
5 The waves of death surrounded me;
Floods of evil burst upon me;
6 I was trapped and bound
By hell and death;
7 But I called upon the Lord in my distress,
And he heard me from his Temple.
My cry reached his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the heavens quaked
Because of his wrath.
9 Smoke poured from his nostrils;
Fire leaped from his mouth
And burned up all before him,
Setting fire to the world.[a]
10 He bent the heavens down and came to earth;
He walked upon dark clouds.
11 He rode upon the glorious—
On the wings of the wind.
12 Darkness surrounded him,
And clouds were thick around him;
13 The earth was radiant with his brightness.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
The God above all gods gave out a mighty shout.
15 He shot forth his arrows of lightning
And routed his enemies.
16 By the blast of his breath
Was the sea split in two.
The bottom of the sea appeared.
17 From above, he rescued me.
He drew me out from the waters;
18 He saved me from powerful enemies,
From those who hated me
And from those who were too strong for me.
19 They came upon me
In the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my salvation.
20 He set me free and rescued me,
For I was his delight.
21 The Lord rewarded me for my goodness,
For my hands were clean;
22 And I have not departed from my God.
23 I knew his laws,
And I obeyed them.
24 I was perfect in obedience
And kept myself from sin.
25 That is why the Lord has done so much for me,
For he sees that I am clean.
26 You are merciful to the merciful;
You show your perfections
To the blameless.
27 To those who are pure,
You show yourself pure;
But you destroy those who are evil.
28 You will save those in trouble,
But you bring down the haughty;
For you watch their every move.
29 O Lord, you are my light!
You make my darkness bright.
30 By your power I can crush an army;
By your strength I leap over a wall.
31 As for God, his way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is true.
He shields all who hide behind him.
32 Our Lord alone is God;
We have no other Savior.[b]
33 God is my strong fortress;
He has made me safe.
34 He causes the good to walk a steady tread
Like mountain goats upon the rocks.
35 He gives me skill in war
And strength to bend a bow of bronze.
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation;
Your gentleness has made me great.
37 You have made wide steps for my feet,
To keep them from slipping.
38 I have chased my enemies
And destroyed them.
I did not stop till all were gone.
39 I have destroyed them
So that none can rise again.
They have fallen beneath my feet.
40 For you have given me strength for the battle
And have caused me to subdue
All those who rose against me.
41 You have made my enemies
Turn and run away;
I have destroyed them all.
42 They looked in vain for help;
They cried to God,
But he refused to answer.
43 I beat them into dust;
I crushed and scattered them
Like dust along the streets.
44 You have preserved me
From the rebels of my people;
You have preserved me
As the head of the nations.
Foreigners shall serve me
45 And shall quickly submit to me
When they hear of my power.
46 They shall lose heart
And come, trembling,
From their hiding places.
47 The Lord lives.
Blessed be my Rock.
Praise to him—
The Rock of my salvation.
48 Blessed be God
Who destroys those who oppose me
49 And rescues me from my enemies.
Yes, you hold me safe above their heads.
You deliver me from violence.
50 No wonder I give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations,
And sing praises to your name.
51 He gives wonderful deliverance to his king
And shows mercy to his anointed—
To David and his family,
Forever.”