Changed By Jesus #30

By Anonymous, a young woman at Mars Hill Ballard

Dear Pastor Mark,

Please stop talking about Jesus. Please stop talking about sin.

You keep ripping my little Christian family’s world to pieces, and your teaching keeps bringing out secrets.

Through your teaching, God told me I needed to leave my home behind and follow him to Mars Hill. I was lonely and scared.

Through your teaching, my visiting sisters decided to come back and hear more. Through your teaching, they were convicted. So one at a time, they told us their secrets.

One of them is bulimic and cutting herself. The other has been getting drunk and sleeping with her secret boyfriend we knew nothing about. Our world is in pieces. We have all been crying non-stop. This pain is too much.

Why did you have to talk about sin and Jesus?

Now they have confessed and we are all shattered. We are all broken into little bits. My Dad had to go to the ER because his heart was giving him problems from all the stress and grief.

I can’t stop bursting into tears. We are so messed up. We are clinging to one another for dear life.

And now, more than ever, we need to hear you talk about Jesus. More than ever, we need to hear you preach the Bible and the gospel. More than ever, we need to be reminded that the truth is that the Truth will indeed set us free.

There is a “thank-you” in this pain, but I don’t understand it because this all hurts so badly. This Jesus from the Bible is alive today…he is the most painful and comforting person I have ever encountered.

Share your story. Has Jesus used the ministry of Mars Hill Church to change you? Email testimony [at] marshillchurch.org.