I Went from Being Tossed To and Fro to Standing Strong

I had been raised with just a little bit of teaching about the Creator of the heavens and earth, and at the center of the teaching God was kind, benevolent, and forgiving—but then also angry, harsh, and judgmental. He could bless and He could punish.

In my college years, I went on a search for meaning in life and read the works of many noted philosophers, from the ancient Greeks to modern and contemporary thinkers, but this led to a greater sense of confusion.

By the time I was in my early twenties, I had few, if any, answers in life; I was driven to and fro by worldly ideas; and when it came to understanding good and evil, I simply had no understanding of source and causation.

One evening, over the telephone, a longtime friend who lived on the other side of the country asked if I had a Bible in the house. I did. She had me open it and read it, showing me verses that declared the goodness of God in very simple and direct terms. One of the verses we looked at was John 10:10, where it records that Jesus Christ came to make a life more than abundant available, and that there is also a competing element of evil in this life called the thief, Satan, the Devil. I learned that these were truths my friend had learned at a Christian fellowship she recently started attending. As we reviewed these verses, I was still quite skeptical. I just could not shake the old teaching that there was one God Who could and would both bless and punish. At the close of the conversation, we agreed to disagree and would perhaps talk about it some more another time.

The very next morning, I got up as usual to go to work. I had some tea and a quick breakfast and got myself to the bus stop, which was just a half of a block from my front door. It was a cool morning and the sun was out. I got myself a window seat on the right side of the bus, and within one block of the ride had a life-changing realization. The bus slowly pulled up to a stop right beside a fast-food restaurant that was popular among people who typically poured out of the neighborhood bars and clubs late at night. It was early in the morning, and there was trash lining the sidewalk all along the side of the restaurant. And not just trash, but also squashed packets of ketchup that had hardened to the cement, a couple of half-eaten burgers, some french fries strewn about, plus bags and drink containers—it was disgusting.

As we pulled away, it occurred to me in no uncertain terms: “What I am seeing cannot be of God.” It was at that moment that the simple teaching from the night before about John 10:10 clicked, and in an instant I understood the sources of good and evil in this life. Suddenly, I had some tools to understand not only the broader affairs of the world, but also how I could parse out various influences in my own life. As I started attending a Way Ministry fellowship in my own town, I started to learn how to apply God’s Word in day-to-day living and how to lay claim on the more abundant life Jesus Christ came to make available. I went from being tossed to and fro to standing strong, and over the subsequent twenty-five-plus years, this ministry has continued to deliver God’s Word in such a way that the more than abundant life continues and flourishes. I am thankful every single day.

The Word of God Is the Only Standard for Truth

I grew up in a Roman Catholic family where my father regularly took us to mass on Sundays; I nevertheless distanced myself from religion as soon as I went to secondary boarding school, where I could decide not to go to mass without any problem.

I was completely ignorant of spiritual affairs, although I often heard about talismans that some people could use to prosper in life or village notables who own totems in my country.

Since I was a good Cartesian, all the explanations I had previously received about these phenomena did not satisfy me, until the day when, in the face of a situation of a friend suddenly possessed by devil spirits and where scientific medicine was powerless, a colleague who was with the ministry of The Way told me not only that this could be explained in the light of the Bible, but also how my friend could be healed. He recommended that I take the Foundational Class, which in a very short time would enable me to acquire maximum knowledge on the spiritual realm.

Thus, some time later, I took my first foundational class on Power for Abundant Living (PFAL) with much curiosity and enthusiasm. This class really hooked me with its scientific precision and mathematical exactness, especially in the demonstrations of truth, such as the day Jesus Christ died or the four crucified with Jesus. I was relieved to know that I was saved by God’s grace and not by my works.

Later I took the Foundational Class again. As a scientist, I appreciated the demonstration leading to the conclusion that the Word of God is the only standard for truth, whatever the theories upheld by “great philosophers” were.

In this class, I was particularly moved when I learned that the purpose of the Word of God is for the man of God to be perfect (equipped, outfitted) and furnished for all good works. God has outfitted us during our pilgrimage on earth so that we lack nothing.

I now know that the Devil is the god of this world. The concerns I had at the time about all the injustices around us, the mishaps that people had met without deserving them, finally had an explanation through the idiom of permission. Lucifer also had free will, the possibility of making a choice. God had to allow darkness, the potential for evil.

Later, I was able to take the Intermediate and Advanced Classes, which completed the series for my knowledge of spiritual matters:

I Corinthians 12:1:
Now concerning spiritual gifts [matters], brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

All these teachings enable me to know God’s true nature in that He is essentially good, He is Love, and He is Light. I no longer have any fear concerning all these irrational things, especially coming from our customs in my country characterized by secret myths and practices. I am very grateful to God for this how-to ministry that teaches us His rightly divided Word. I can attest that God is faithful, as is His Word, which could not be more coherent.

God’s Will for His Children

God Forgives

I had always known as a child that God did exist, but I did not know that He could and would forgive and that Jesus Christ was the way, the truth, and the life. Then someone took the time to lovingly show me the truth from God’s Word.

This is the truth: God forgives and forgets.

I John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalms 103:12:
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

I never knew these scriptures or even where they were in the Bible. I was taught as a child to obey and that God punishes those who do not obey. I was taught that only by begging God for forgiveness could I be forgiven. A footnote to that teaching was that God never forgets my disobedience.

Being shown from God’s Word the truth that He is love and there is no darkness in Him at all, I was able to let go of past sins, failures, condemnation, and feelings of inadequacy. And most of all, I was shown that God only wanted me to live a life that was more than abundant.

I Finally Accepted the Word

The most significant event that I am grateful for is, literally, getting born again.

Growing up, my parents never attempted to influence their children’s views concerning God. I was an agnostic through much of my childhood, and I had participated in church on occasion, but I didn’t get much out of it. During my years in college, I received an education in “religion,” including a variety of Christian faiths: Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism, among others. I also received an education in some Eastern philosophies, including Buddhism and Daoism. By the time I completed this “education,” I determined that as messed up as the world was, if there was a God, He would have straightened it out long before now. I decided at that time that I was an atheist and remained so for the following three years. At that time some followers of The Way witnessed to me and began instilling in me an understanding of the Word and (more importantly) the integrity of it. Through some longsuffering on their part, I finally accepted the Word for what it is: revelation of God’s will for us. I was not just told why the world was the way it was, but I was shown in the Word the reasons why. I was also shown many other things that established my new Biblical convictions and beliefs.

One evening at fellowship, I was asked to pray during directed prayer (until that moment I had refused to pray because I was coming to fellowship for purely academic reasons), and I had to make a decision. So I decided that the Word has integrity and that I could place my trust in it and God. At that moment, I was born again. I became a child of God with the promise of eternal life, and I looked forward to seeing what other treasures awaited me in my new station of life. One of my earliest lessons was in the joy of giving, and I have continued to give as much as I can ever since.

Praise God for His Wonderful Word!

Peace Instead of Turmoil

Growing up in a church that taught we were to worship the trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost) left me in great mental and emotional turmoil about Who God really is and who to pray to and whose name to pray in.

I began to search the Bible using a concordance and found where God said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). I saw many times that the Bible says there is one God (Romans 3:30, I Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 4:6, and I Timothy 2:5). Psalms 86:10 says, “For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.” I knew there were consequences for idolatry, and I wanted nothing to do with it.

I was taught to pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, when God’s Word actually says in Ephesians 5:20, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So, I would pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and then finish my prayer with “in the name of Jesus Christ.” I wanted to obey God and pray correctly, but I still had turmoil and uncertainty about which way was truly God’s will.

The Way Ministry provided a Bible class called Power for Abundant Living, taught by Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille. The Word of God was taught, and I could read it for myself. It was clear there was only one God and that Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God. The eyes of my understanding were opened by the rightly divided Word of God taught by this ministry. The inner turmoil about Who God really is, and who to pray to, and whose name to pray in was dispelled by the light of God’s Word. Praise God in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for His wonderful, matchless Word that has brought me peace instead of turmoil.

The Joy and Astonishment of Learning the Rightly Divided Word

I was introduced to a Way Ministry fellowship when in college, and I took the Foundational Class when I was twenty years old. I am now near retirement, but I clearly remember the joy and astonishment of learning the rightly divided Word of God on so many topics. I’d had no idea that it was available to pray perfectly and be built up spiritually—just one of many wonderful surprises!

To this day, I thrill when I read or hear something in God’s Word that exactly meets my need at the time. And there is hardly any greater privilege than to teach the Word so that others also can see its greatness, understand God’s heart and will, and enjoy sweet fellowship with our heavenly Father.

When I was a young girl, I wanted to love and please God better and to make a difference in the world. Wow, I am living my dreams! I thank God for bringing me to this ministry and for helping my husband and me stand with it for all these years.

The True Way, Jesus Christ

The ministry of The Way helped me not only to get born again, but also to know the true God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, since I have been young, I have heard about John 14:12: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” But I did not notice anything special in knowing this verse. So I began to seek God to find the truth about this statement among different churches, denominational and nondenominational groups, but nothing was satisfying.

The trick of the adversary was to make me think, through a group with devilish practices that I joined, that Jesus Christ was a kind of mystic who did not teach his secrets in the Bible. His secrets were esoteric. I followed that way and I seemed to be very successful in various aspects of my life. Nevertheless, deep in my heart, I felt that the truth was not there.

I did several things. I prayed to men, nature, and many other things until my wife got involved with the ministry of The Way and witnessed to me. However, I could not commit to take the foundational class on Power for Abundant Living because I was held back in that group with people telling me that if I left the devilish practices, snakes, toads, and all kinds of misfortunes would come my way, and my condition would become worse!

A faithful believer, who is today a Way Corps minister, accurately expounded to me the Word of God. It was not easy to receive, because I was in chains. I finally took the Foundational Class. Not only did I not see snakes and toads in my life, but I was able to experience the new birth. Three teachings are the reason why I am still standing in The Way Ministry today:

  1. The Word of God is the will of God
  2. True worship (speaking in tongues and its benefits)
  3. Discerning of spirits (from the Advanced Class)

Today, despite the attacks of the adversary, I will not give up. I will always be thankful to God for His deliverance and His direction that led me to this ministry of The Way to enjoy His promises.

The ministry of The Way truly delivers and brings men and women to the true way, Jesus Christ.

Aligning My Life with the Word of God

The Word of God has given me direction in life from the time I was seventeen. This direction came from aligning my life and the choices I have made with the Word of God. The verse of scripture I credit for this is…

John 14:6:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The Word of God has freed me incrementally from fear as I put it in my mind regularly, consistently, and by deliberate decision. I remember a time in my life when I lived in so much fear it was paralyzing. However, making the choice to deliberately walk out on the truth of God’s Word has filled me with power. The scripture I credit for this is…

II Timothy 1:7:
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

The Word of God has helped me become selfless. I no longer see everything through the prism of myself or how I can advance my life or my career; but my question now is, “How can I bring glory to God and be of service to Him?” My desire now is to serve. The scripture I credit for this is…

Matthew 6:25:
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink;
nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

The Word of God has taught me to be a leader, living by a higher example and standard. In a world and time when leadership is in peril and crisis and people wonder, “Where are the true leaders?” I now know that true leadership is about service, and this service is most essential and understood in the household of God.

Freedom from Mental Bondage

One of the biggest things that I have learned by way of the Word of God taught in this ministry is that I am a son of God NOW and that I can walk without any sense of sin, guilt, or condemnation.

I grew up in a denominational church where I was taught that God was both a loving God and a wrathful God, Who judged you by your works. You had to maintain good works—­both to earn your way to heaven, and to stand righteous before Him every day. That’s what my church taught, that’s what my parents had taught me, so that must be the way to worship and stand approved before God. If you didn’t maintain these good works, not only would you not go to heaven, but in the here and now God would either punish you by allowing bad things to happen in your life, or simply withhold His goodness and not answer your prayers.

This denomination didn’t teach the Bible, and I was always very unclear on the standards of behavior I was supposed to adhere to, besides going to church every Sunday and doing my best to keep the ten commandments. I was encased in the fear that I was not good enough for heaven and probably never would be. I also felt that as “good” as I endeavored to be, I would never be quite good enough to please God. But, I didn’t know what else to do since I didn’t know of any other way to love or worship God.

What an eye- and heart-opening time it was in my first fellowship. I heard of a God Who is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. I heard of a standard for truth, the Bible, that doesn’t have just commandments, but over nine hundred promises! I learned that God wants me to prosper, to be in health, to be more than a conqueror. Truth versus tradition—­what a contrast I saw! I had never heard the things of God taught so clearly, so logically, so powerfully before.

I received great mental deliverance when I took the Foundational Class. I learned that because I had confessed the savior from sin, Jesus Christ, that I am a son of God now (I John 3:1,2). I learned that I could know that I know that I know that I have eternal life because I can speak in tongues. I learned that I don’t have to walk in fear, guilt, or condemnation, because I am redeemed, justified, sanctified, and made righteous NOW.

I am ever grateful for the freedom from mental bondage I received by way of the Word of Truth taught by this ministry. Now I can walk as a son of God with power, coming boldly before His throne of grace, manifesting the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation, and sharing His Word and His love with others.

Delight Thyself in the Lord!

I heard that “the Word of God is the will of God” for the first time in my life in The Way Ministry, and that simple but powerful statement became the foundation of my growth in the Word of God. The Word of God taught in The Way Ministry drastically changed my whole life.

Two of my favorite verses in the Bible are Psalms 37:4 and 5: “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” I never understood those verses before I came to The Way Ministry, but through the rightly divided Word, they became clear to me. I’m very thankful to God for the blessings I continue to reap from applying them each day of my life.

Delighting myself in the Lord put into concretion the desire of my heart, which was to have a brilliant life. At the end of my studies, I wasn’t sure that there would be a job for me even though my parents had done their best by sending me to the best schools in my country at the time. To be able to get a good job, you must come from a well-known family or be acquainted with higher-ranked executives. Thank God, through the teachings I was receiving weekly at home fellowship meetings, I actively started studying the Word, praying with great joy, doing the Word by renewing my mind in any situation, and seeking ways to serve God and His people. Then, I saw God’s mighty hand work in my life! I got a wonderful job that was exceeding abundantly above all that I asked or even thought! It was a job beyond all of my expectations—secretary at the U.S. embassy.

With that tremendous victory in my life because of the rightly divided Word of God, my heart started burning with the desire to give my very best to God even more. And what I experienced is that the more I gave to God in service, in abundantly sharing and tithing, the more I received from Him in any aspect of my life and the lives of my beloved ones. I was very blessed!

I can remember once while enjoying the performance of The Way of Togo dance troupe, I thought in my mind that I would be very happy to work with that wonderful group. It was just a thought, and God brought it into reality! Some years later, the Country coordinator appointed my husband and me to supervise that wonderful group. God always does exceeding abundantly above all that we think.

The Word of God is true and always works effectually in our lives as we decide to believe it wholeheartedly. I experienced and continue to experience many victories, many blessings, and tremendous joy. I overcame and continue to overcome situations with the Word of God I have learned in The Way Ministry, and I’m thankful to God for making it available to us.

My Life Started Changing Right Away

I am very thankful for this opportunity to share with you about “What God has done for me because of the Word of God I have learned in The Way Ministry.” First of all, I am so thankful because now I am a daughter of God, born again of God’s spirit, and I have a new life!

The year before I was introduced to The Way, I felt miserable, alone, and lost, thinking that my life did not have any sense. I thought nobody could help me. I was not happy. I was a mom of two children, I was pregnant, and my marriage was not working. Because of my job, I was living in a city away from my relatives and friends. As a Catholic, I usually prayed to Mary, the saints, and many others, but my prayers were void with no answers. One day I decided to write directly to God asking for help. I wrote a letter at the back of my planner. In my prayer I said that I wanted a normal family, I wanted to be happy, and I wanted my life to be fruitful. I also wrote that I wanted to know the purpose of my life and I wanted to do something for others.

The following week my boss went on vacation, and a new person came to the company to oversee our new projects. This person was a believer. That day we worked together, and after showing him everything I was doing, he asked me if I believed in God and how much I knew about Him. I said that I believed in God, that I was a very faithful believer of the Catholic Church, and that I knew a great number of prayers by heart. Then he asked me if I had read the Bible. I said, “I don’t know anything about the Bible, but certainly I would love to learn about it.” That was the beginning of my new life!

I confessed Jesus as my lord and started going to fellowship. My life started changing right away. The eyes of my understanding were enlightened and I felt scales falling from my eyes every time I listened and understood something I had never heard before. I had so many questions and many complications in my life, but I got an answer and a solution from the Word of God for each one of them.

After I took the Foundational Class, I witnessed to a coworker and her sister; they both believed. I knocked on the door of every apartment in the neighborhood and invited people to our fellowship; I visited my hometown and talked about God to all my relatives, friends, classmates, and teachers. Some didn’t understand what was happening to me. I just wanted everyone to hear and believe the wonderful goodness of God, His great love, and everything He accomplished for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. I wanted them to be born again, to live a new life, and to change from darkness to light as it had happened to me! My life, my family, and my happiness were restored because of the Word of God that I learned and believed, and because someone cared for me and loved me. I am absolutely persuaded that anyone can live a new life by believing God’s Word, and by the knowledge of all His wonderful promises!

Grateful for This Ministry’s Research

The Way Biblical research, teaching, and fellowship ministry has given me a greater, more in-depth understanding of the Word of God. I have been delivered in many aspects of life while involving myself in this ministry.

The greatest deliverance I have received in The Way Ministry is having a clear understanding of the Word of God. Without a clear knowledge of the Word, there can be no deliverance.

One of the greatest deliverances I have received is learning that God is not the author of death. (I Corinthians 15:26) All through my Christian life, while attending other Christian ministries, I had been taught that God kills. I lived in fear and was afraid of God. I was taught that God would punish me if I was not living according to what was being taught in these ministries. My relationship with my heavenly Father was based on fear.

I was so ecstatic to learn in the foundational class on The Way of Abundance and Power that God does not kill. My heart was so blessed and I was so relieved to know that God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all! (I John 1:5) My relationship with God grew stronger, and I am now able to freely love and serve God without fear. What an awesome deliverance I received. This began my journey with The Way Ministry and a new, profound relationship with my heavenly Father.

Another deliverance I received while being a part of The Way Ministry was learning that Jesus Christ is not God. Learning this great truth opened my understanding of the importance of researching the Word for myself and not allowing myself to believe the religion and traditions of men.

II Timothy 2:15:
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

I am so grateful for the research this ministry has made available to those who want a clearer understanding of God’s Word. I have learned so many truths about God’s Word that have enabled me to become mighty for God. This new light of learning has provided me with the key to researching the Word of God with accuracy. I now enjoy reading the Bible. I am so thankful for The Way Ministry.