I’m exceedingly joyful on receiving an email from the far side of the world. His name is Giscard and he emailed me one day (I have his permission in sharing this). Let me keep this straight and brief. Here’s what he said:
My dear brother Sean,
your ministry. I pray that God continues to bless you and lead you in leading others to Him. I am one of such persons who was more than helped by your ministry.
It was on May 29, 2012, in the early hours of the morning when I came to read your article “The
Prosperity Test: How God blessed me Triple in 16 days” (https://h3sean.com/prosperity-
not believe that. In fact, it is being misused as it is in the churches, but that matter is not for
today.
What I want you to know, my brother, is that it was my reading of your article that rang a bell
in my spirit about my vanity and a sin I had been dealing with that then took extraordinary
proportions as I came to see it for what it was. I was operating outside of God’s purpose for my life
and I came to repentance that day. I would only understand what that day was some eight months later, which is a total scandal to me, having been in a Christian circle all my life, and even more so that I had left Catholic Church officially just over a year before.
The full gospel, sadly, had not reached me. But the best part is that about two and a half months after my repentance, as another occasion had brought me to be seeking God’s truth, which I did like a maniac for several weeks, I found myself born again. To me it was another scandal, for it was then that I started learning about what regeneration is, trying to understand what had happened. It’s only by the grace of God that I rolled through the Gospel without a precise knowledge of what was expected of me. MAY ALL THE GLORY BE TO GOD! I have tears every time I recall the circumstances that have brought me to salvation. I also shed tears for my close ones who have not yet accepted the truth or met Jesus, and I know my obligation towards them, whether or not they decide to become my enemies because I tell them the truth. In short, that is my path. I had to figure out my new birth from scratch and swim my way out of powerful false teachings I came to realize I was under. It is crazy.
So I thank you for what you do, for heeding God’s guidance and sharing your testimony. God uses
anything and anyone for his purposes. I am humbled to that truth. I was taken aback however by some comments I have read today on your site like you saying you are “not a holy person” (https://h3sean.com/about/) or “not a special, Holy guy” or “I will fail and I will disappoint you”
(https://h3sean.com/im-not-a-
attention.
On failing
It is true that no one can be perfect in what they do, and in our Christian walk we will fall and sin
(1 John 1:8) when our guard is down and we are neglecting on putting on God’s armor (Ephesians 6:11) while we are in this constant spiritual war we hope comes to an end soon. But you must remember that you are in the position of a leader, a disciple of Christ and a disciple maker and what you communicates matter. So do not let fear and doubt into the house (2 Timothy 1:7). 🙂 It is the Spirit of God that sustains you. As you are led, so lead others. If you make a mistake, make amends. If you sin, repent of it. That is daily business. But you are in control, of your weakness, no longer the other way around, so walk in the truth and the light. May God keep you firmly in his way.
On holiness
As a born again person, you are a saint and must stand in contrast to sinners, and relate to them with love and gentleness of spirit, of course. But we need not be afraid to shine as the light of the
world. It’s not a fantasy or a lack of modesty to claim holiness. For that is what we must live for
and strive for everyday (Luke 1:75; 1 Peter 1:15-16). We have commandments to keep about being holy. If then holiness is the truth for us, we must uphold it in our testimony to the world like any other truth we are commissioned to share. The world will always have a comment to make about you being “self-righteous”, but those who seek the truth, will seek it diligently with all their heart (Jeremiah 29:13) and they won’t be offended.
The only acceptable modesty in my opinion would be to not mention holiness as we present ourselves but simply live that life, being living testimonies of our holiness as we let God’s Spirit lead us to be more and more like Christ. We are dealing with temptation that comes to weaken us in our walk, but we must walk firmly brother, be prompt to correct any area of weakness, be it the reading of the word, prayer or our obedience. We must endure until the end. I do believe the direct negation of your holiness dims Christ’s light in you and therefore does not let you point others to that “color” of Christ’s light spectrum.
In the spirit of Psalm 141:5, I pray that you will receive this note dear brother.
I am your spiritual baby, my friend. I hope you will take me as I am. 🙂
May God bless you.
In Christ,
Giscard
I was amazed at what he said because he is correct. So I wondered to myself why I wrote such things in the first place and why I felt strongly to write these things. I asked God why and He gave me the verse and insight. Here’s my reply:
First-off, I want to say that it is a refreshing thing to hear from a brother in Christ and to listen to your story. I’m humbled by how God has moved in your life to bring you to Him. It is a very joyful event to be brought into God’s family. I’m honored to be part of your transformation – truly it is God who has planned you to be part of His story. I am but a messenger.
I’m exceedingly joyful to know that the blog has helped you in your journey of finding God. I hope and pray that it will continue to bless and inspire you to do so.
I’m sorry to hear that you were taken aback by these things that I wrote about myself. I want you to know that I am aware of God’s truths and I thank you for reminding me of them. I appreciate it. I write these things more for the benefit of those who are not in Christ and who are critical of our faith.
“For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” – Romans 9:3 (ESV)
For these people, I want to empathize and clothe myself as who I once was – a sinner. Broken and in need of Christ’s love and grace. And are we not both a saint and a sinner at the same time? Are we not a failure and a victor both on the same day? In the end and in the bigger picture and perspective, we are a victor and a saint but in the present as it is, we are both so long as we are in our flesh.
We are called to a higher standard. God’s standard. Since this is true, doesn’t it mean that before we heard this call, we were living in a lower standard? The standard of the world? I am sent out to speak and write to people who are living in this standard. As Christ ate and drank with the prostitutes and tax collectors without proclaiming his holiness and even violating the law of the sabbath (being the Lord of the sabbath Himself), I do not want to proclaim my own holiness but I want others to know my commonality with them – that I am of the same flesh and struggle and origin.
And through that, I take my readers to the journey of how I found out of this Christ who has saved me and who has graciously and mercifully loved me more than anyone else could.
I hope that this enlightens you to the reasons behind why I write such things so as to not take you aback any more.
Brother, would you mind if I post this in the blog so as to encourage others and to explain your same question if anyone else has such?
I hope to meet you someday.
God bless you,
Sean Si
I Praise God for another soul saved! I Praise God for His wisdom! I Praise God for this ministry! May God continue to use this blog for His glory and bless other people.