September-October 2006 Newsletter

Exo 9:21 And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.

ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES Last night I preached a message entitled "According to the scriptures" taken from the text in 1 Cor. 15:1-4. I reviewed through the Bible the great importance the Lord places on things being done according to the scriptures. How the Lord places Himself, His Son, His plans and His redeemed in submission according to the scriptures. The Lord puts this importance on the scriptures and expects those subject to Him to follow His example and the text above in Exodus is the result of those who scoff at this truth. The Lord leaves the decision completely up to you.

With this in mind we presented to our churches here in Romania the facts concerning a new translation of the Bible. I know…this terminology of "new translation" is anathema to me as it is to many of you…but you must understand that what currently exists as a "Bible" is a very sorry version, not much better than a watered paraphrase. The currently accepted translation seriously attacks the deity of Christ, equates Jesus with the devil, and completely relieves all sinners from fear by eliminating all traces of hell. It is very bad. A very fine missionary on the west side of Romania has spent many years with a committee of 14 very skilled and qualified Romanians working both with the original languages and verifying everything finally through the King James. This is no simple task but the next task facing them is even tougher…getting the Christians of Romania to fully accept this new-fangled intrusion into their complacent familiarity with the only translation which survived the communist era and by which many of them were saved. But just because you are pointed to the Lord by a source which somewhat resembles scripture by no means confirms this source to be God's authoritative Word.

Our churches here are pondering this troubled sea and deciding whether to take the first step into this fearful, next stage of growth and all is not smooth. Please spare me from any manuscript evidence advice or any counsel which might subtly suggest compromise for the sake of numbers. For years I took it for granted what having a ready copy of God's perfect Word produced in the lives of those who would submit themselves to it. The character, strength, and motivation to service are virtues which can be obtained from no other source. We have, for the past two years observed the lack of these virtues in the lives of the people we are dealing with here and it is very evident they never had access to that which supplies these qualities of Christian life. We are joining a few other uncompromising Christians, both missionaries and natives, who seek to supply the Christians in this part of eastern Europe with a pure well from which they can safely satisfy their thirst. The final battle in the world and within the individual is one of submission to the Word of God. The battle lines here have formed…the Lord is smiling and Satan is casting an evil eye. May the best Man win. Pray for this.

THE WORK IN GENERAL I believe all ministries have their cycles. We have had two years of relative calm and steady growth and development here in Romania. The devil is pretty sick of it and he is taking some opportunity to painfully oppose us. We now have facets of our ministry here that we look to for encouragement and others which offer a tightening of the stomach muscles. Sorry to be so general but if you want details then sign up to receive the SWAT REPORTS via email gsutek@streetpreaching.com or view them in the archives on the website www.streetpreaching.com .

The Police are aware of our designs to resolve the differences of opinion concerning the law which exist between us. They are still active against us but we are always able to finish our meeting. In fact, their presence always commands attention and we fully use that, even though it is not the preferred way of gaining that blessing.

All three of our gatherings of people into small units of churches are functioning, some better than others…we are in desperate need of help by those who can and will serve, as well as interpreters for those of us who still have not received the gift of tongues.

Robin and I are the proud parents of a teenager now. No one can be fully prepared for such a trial nor can they successfully draw from past experience, however much they may have. Truly, Mary is a wonderful experience in and of herself. Our home is a delightful place because of her. We are all looking with pleasurable remembrances upon the coming change of season, further developments in our ministry, and the holiday times. Things are changing very rapidly in this country…in preparation for the fast coming membership in the E.U. Some of the changes may be to our advantage but all of the changes will be to the disadvantage of the acceptability of the people to the gospel. We are driven to much prayer when we hear of other missionaries who are called upon to dwell in very unsavory, and even dangerous areas, but we can truly say that we love living and ministering here in Romania. Since we cannot push time back we must spend it wisely while we have any at all. We truly appreciate your prayer.

Preaching the gospel on your streets and around the world

Gerald Sutek and the SWAT TEAM for Christ
2 Tim. 1:8, Amos 5:10
From the USA dial 011-40-268-477-243 and if we are home we will answer.