Testimonies

At Setting Captives Free we get to see many exciting testimonies, and we thank God for each life that is changed by God’s grace. Rob Robertson, who is the Setting Captives Free Ministerial Coordinator for Australia, sends testimonies to our mentors list each week. Below is a copy of one of his weekly testimony emails. Enjoy!

"Only God can ultimately fill our emptiness. I now realize the absolute necessity of being in vital connection with Him every day. The “Setting Captive Free” helped me to see this more clearly and build a habit of seeking God daily. It is that connection and that connection alone that keeps me from going back to my old ways. Once again Jesus has saved me from a pit of despair and misery. I have been free for almost 3 months. Praise to Jesus!!"

Joe Ciccanti's student Rob lived in fear of being found out all his life. One day his wife signed them both up to go and hear Mike and Shon talk at a Setting Captives Free conference. And then he faced his fear -

"The act of confession, once too impossible to even consider, was such a relief and a release of my burden. As I worked through the SCF lessons, I prayed long and hard for brokenness and repentance. I could feel God changing my heart. God was so faithful to me over those dark years even when I wasn't faithful to Him. I have been forgiven much and I love Him so much. He has taken a proud self righteous lustful man and changed me into a humble man who relies on the God of his salvation for everything. I am far from perfect and must still cope with temptation, but I am free in Christ! Thank you so much for this course. God used it to change my heart and bring me back to fellowship with Him."

Criss D George is celebrating as Aaron, his student is so excited he is planning on mentoring, himself. He concludes his passionate testimony with this -

"I am reminded, finally, of a verse in the Bible that says, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." God has made me righteous once more, and now my prayers are effective and my walk with Him fruitful and sweet. He has even put it on my heart to pursue being a mentor with Setting Captive Free. Truly, He is deserving of the highest praise!"

Mentor Marty Blevins is celebrating too over his student Paul, who back in 2002 went back to his sin rather than confess - but was drawn back inexorably by the 'Hound of Heaven,' and now is able to write this -

"In 2002 I had asked Marty if it was really possible to be totally free from the bondage of porn and sexual impurity as I had great doubts whether I could get free (remember I had been in bondage for almost 33 years). Marty gave me hope that total deliverance was a reality. Well, I have very good news for all those who wonder whether they can really be free from all manner of sexual impurity. Yes, if we fall at the feet of Jesus and give up on ourselves he will not cast us out and he WILL set us free! Jesus has done it for me and I can truly say ‘when the son shall set you free you shall be free indeed’ No porn, No sexual impurity and No desire for it."

I hope by now you are singing praises with me brothers and sisters, in fact dancing around your studies or lounge rooms :)

But wait, there's more! My own student, Evgeniy, like most men struggled with p&m but knew of no solution. Then one day a friend, Mikhail (my student too. they both live in Kazakhstan, Russia) offered to pay him to translate an American web site into Russian - yes Setting Captives Free!!!) Before Evgeniy had finished the translation work (it is now in the proofing stage with Evgeniy and Mikhail so be in prayer for them) he started and finished the course as a student. Rejoice with me as you read this -

"...then after 6 years of my turmoil - this is closest but weak definition - my friend came to me and ask for help in translation of this course. I agreed. And in the middle of this work I was so interested that I enrol in this course. During this course God began [to] convince me of my sin, pride (I knew much Scripture, but it was in my mind not in my heart), rebellion and stumblness. God broke my heart and began change me. Now I finish this course and begin to walk my way to real purity. I thank God that He changed my thinking and now I try to think of Him more. That is the most woderful thing. Praise and glory be to God for my freedom, my mentor and this course! Amen!!!"

Whew! And lastly - TJ, what a work God has done in your student, Derek's heart. Derek's testimony is long but oh so powerful. The fascinating thing for me was that Derek thought SCF too rigid, too uncompromising, which prevented him from starting at first. But then he did!!!!! Even the conclusion here is long, but well worth the read -

"I found myself desperate for deep freedom and ready to be done with this sin for good. But how? I had catalogued the Setting Captives Free website in my mind back in November of 2003 while doing a search for porn resources at work. I remember thinking that it seemed a bit rigid at that time. I thought their attitudes in certain areas—toward counsellors who are not biblically certified, for example—to be close-minded. I had some other quarrels with their approach, so I put the site aside for the time being. However, there was one thing I noticed about their approach then that I had not forgotten in the interceding months—their utter confidence in God to truly liberate people from the bondage of enslaving sin. Isn’t this what I was dying for? Isn’t this where I found previous approaches to be lacking? Even more, isn’t this what I believed the Bible taught? After putting it off a few days, on February 19, 2004 I swallowed my pride, put aside my objections and began the The Way of Purity Course. Guess what happened? God showed up! God kept His Word! From the very beginning God used the Scriptures and the course materials built on Scriptural principles to work in my heart, to challenge, confront, and transform me. I knew early on that something special was happening in my life, something that brought me considerable excitement and joy. As I worked through the course, God broke the last links of the chains that bound me. He had broken some of the chains through the previous work of others, but struck the decisive and freeing blow as I made my way through the The Way of Purity course. The time was right. The season of change was upon me. God had prepared me for this new work and now saw it through to the finish. I am forever thankful. I am no longer consumed by sexual sin, but am becoming more enraptured with our Triune God each day. I can say now, as never before, that God is undeniably for me. He can and will do what He promises us in the Scriptures. Again, God keeps What is ironic is that I still have some of the same criticisms of Setting Captives Free that I had before a started. Nevertheless, I praise God for their faithfulness! I am glad that God saved me from my pride and my objections, that He didn’t allow me to dismiss SCF on these grounds. Oh, would I be the poorer if I had! Praise God for showing me that I don’t know it all. Lord, keep me humble and teachable. Finally, I must give a big shout out to my man TJ, the king of the mentor world! What a joy it has been to work with him. He has lavished me with attention, encouragement, and wisdom from farther up along the trail. Our relationship is one of the great, unexpected blessings of this whole experience for me. A friend for all of eternity…how cool is that?!"

And these are just a few of the stories of victory that I was blessed to read this week. Truly, I have got the best job in the company folks, reading through and sharing from these amazing testimonies.

Rob R