Paul Suprak was introduced to Christianity by his uncle was young. His desire wasn’t to live for Jesus at that time. Though he remembers looking up to preachers and even wanting to be one, his heart was not given to Jesus. By the time he was old enough to make his own decisions, Paul didn’t even think about church anymore.
His former desire to be a preacher forgotten, Paul decided to join the U.S. Air Force. in 1967. It was there that he would become a heavy drinker. Paul recalls this was a dark time in his life.
I joined the US Air Force in 1967. After basic training was over and I went to Electronics Tech school, I began drinking and abusing the use of alcohol. After Tech school I got stationed at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas Nev. I continued drinking heavy and spending a lot of time in the taverns in North Las Vegas. I was getting into a lot of bar fights and my life was falling apart.
One day while sitting at the bar, a man to my right began to talk with me, he said that some people talk about a born again experience. I said to him: “If there is such a thing as a born again experience, I wish it would happen to me.”
This man was not to teach Paul how to live for Jesus. In fact, six months later Paul decided to accompany his friend Dan up the mountain for a weekend away. Paul wasn’t thinking about Jesus or being born again. He was just hoping for a weekend without getting in trouble.
Paul got more than he bargained for on the mountain. God was trying to get his attention. And in the midst of a weekend immersed in worldliness, Paul suddenly saw the light. He got his call to live for Jesus.
When we got on the mountain, Danny being into drugs, while I was a heavy drinker, offered me a mescaline pill and we both took one. We began to talk about the things that were wrong with the world. (Materialism, drinking, etc.) As we were talking about things that were wrong with the world, it was like a non-visible light shined on my life and for the first time in my life I saw that my life was really wrong. I told Danny that I could see that the drinking and fighting and bar life that I was doing was wrong. As the light was shining on the inside of me illuminating my evil ways, a voice began speaking on the inside of me. He said to me: “you keep going deeper and deeper into that lifestyle, and when you get into trouble you call out to me, O GOD! Then the voice said to me: “I’m not there, but if you turn from that I’m there.” Then the voice on the inside of me said: “there is a pedestal in you heart, you keep putting other things on that pedestal and pushing me back in the corner. Put me on the pedestal and live your life for me” As the voice was speaking to me my heart changed. I received a new heart. I was born again! I told Danny, “with all my heart I wanted to live for God.” When the voice or words of God spoke on the inside of my Heart, I received a new heart. I was born from above. Praise God!
As we were retiring to go to sleep in our sleeping bags, below the starry night, I said to Danny, “If it was the drug when I wake up tomorrow morning I will be back to my old self, But if it was God that changed my heart tonight it will be the same and I will want to live for God.
The following morning when I was awakening, I laid in my sleeping bag and the first thing I asked myself was: “How do I feel” I felt the same, with all my heart I wanted to live for God. When my wife came up to pick me up I was so excited about what had happened. I remember saying to her: “With all my heart I want to live for God, but how do you live for God?” I did not have a clue. I told her that my mother had a Bible at home. It was not read, but used to see if we were lying. I bought a bible and started reading the book of Mathew. As I was reading the book of Mathew I noticed that the bible was saying the same thing to me that the voice had said to me on the mountain.
Shortly after this I said to my wife, “Christians go to church, I don’t know why, but maybe I should start going to church. We started going to a Baptist Church and I officially went up to the altar to give my life to Jesus Christ. This is how I began my Christian journey.
Now Paul was excited to live for Jesus! He was ready. He was committed. He got his family into church, and they began attending faithfully. But then disaster struck.
In the summer of 1971, I received a call that my Dad had committed suicide. He shot himself in the head. He lived long enough for me to get back to Pittsburgh. I went to the hospital and sat next to his bed speaking to him about his need for Jesus. He was in a coma; I pray that he heard me.
Shortly after this I backslid and ran from the presence of God. The Holy Spirit convicted me. I knew right from wrong and I was doing wrong. I began drinking and smoking pot. I was on the run.
But God wasn’t giving up on Paul. He’d been called to live for Jesus, and God was going to keep pulling him back till he got the message.
One evening in 1973, after my wife left for work and I was watching our 3-year-old daughter, I opened my first can of beer and sat down on the couch. My daughter was in front of me sitting on the floor watching TV. I was not drunk or on drugs at the time. As I was sitting there, the voice began to speak on the inside of me as He did up on the mountain. This time He said: “You know what road you are on, you’re on the broad road that leads to destruction, But is it fair to take her with you. Because whatever way you live your life, you will raise her the same way”. I immediately got up from my chair, picked her up and put her to bed. I went into my bedroom and fell to my knees and ask God to forgive me and help me get back. For days it felt like there was a wall between God, and me that I could not get through. I was working at a cabinet shop at the time. There was a Christian named Tom who worked there. I went to Tom and told him that I had been backslid and wanted to get back to God, but there was this invisible wall that I could not get through. He told me he was having a prayer meeting Monday night and I should come. I went to his house and I rededicated my life to the Lord in prayer. I did not feel any difference at the time, but about three days later I felt the wall come down and I felt like I was back with God.
I have now been a Christian for 46 years. I have been married to the same woman for 46 years. I have three children and seven grandchildren.
As I look back on my life, one thing stands out to me. That night my life was changed on a Mountain outside of Las Vegas, NV.
Before that night, my life was one of alcoholism, abuse, and the absence of peace. No Christian influences. From that night in the summer of 1970 to the present, my life has become one of experiencing God’s blessings. He has blessed me and my family in so many ways over the years. Now my whole family is Christian.
As He told me 46 years ago, “Live your life for me”, This is my desire.
I want to live my life for God, in allowing Him to use me in ministering to His people.
Now Paul is determined to live for Jesus. He’s already obtained a Master’s degree in theology, but his passion calls him to continue learning. He wants to get training at Christian Leaders Institute so he can continue his passion to live for Jesus.
If your calling to live for Jesus involves training, Christian Leaders Institute is for you. Click here to enroll in courses today!
Experiencing revival is something that all of us wish for. But how often do we stop to think that before a true revival, a time of darkness must take place?
Matt Stuemky had to go through his dark times before experiencing revival in his soul. Though he was raised in the church, his ideas of Jesus were more about fear than love. More about forced obedience than loving submission. This fear-based understanding of God resulted in plummeting into sin when he was a teenager.
But God’s grace is always enough. He knew where Matt was the whole time, and when he was ready, God brought him back into His grace. After experiencing revival in his soul, Matt was even given a ministry calling to fulfill! Now, Matt serves with his wife as a Care Pastor in his church.
Knowing Light, Pain of Darkness, and Experiencing Revival to Love and Light… If I could summarize my life, this first sentence would be the overview.
Hello to my fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ. My name is Matt Stuemky and I live in Weatherford, OK, United States. I grew up in church and accepted Christ as my personal Savior at the young age of 7 years old.
Growing up in a very strict, and highly ‘religious’ environment (legalistic), my understanding of God’s love was less about relationship and more so based on fear of hell. I grew up in an environment where I fully understood how the slightest sin separated me from God, but I didn’t truly know God’s grace, mercy, and life-altering love for me. As I grew older and made mistakes many other teens made, I dealt with separation from God due to an immense amount of guilt. Although God never moved, I moved away from him due to a growing sense of being unworthy of His love.
Over an 8-year period, I dove head first into a sinful lifestyle. “If you can’t beat them, join them”, seemed to be a standard for me in that dark time of my life. I tried to fill the void left by a lack of relationship with God with meaningless physical encounters, alcohol and other recreational drugs common to late teens and young adults. Nothing helped.
Finally, a year after marrying the one bright spot in my life (Annie), I relented and begged God for a relationship. Through all of the bad times, I developed a new understanding of just how important a relationship with God was, and just how valuable grace and mercy were to a sinner like me.
That rough patch in my life made me less judgmental of others and their shortcomings and encouraged me to love people right where they are in life. My wife and I eventually were invited into a small group leader role at a local church and God used that environment to groom us into the pastoral role we hold today. 13 years later we operate as Care Pastors at our local church. We love to love people. Good people, bad people, messy people…we love them all. Our dream is to see every Christ follower engaged in meaningful community together (small groups / “LIFEgroups”). I love to raise up, mentor, and train small group pastors that can provide intimate and safe environments for people to be real and vulnerable. Environments where real change can take place, real accountability is embraced, and where the Holy Spirit is free to move.
Another area of ministry heavy on my heart is men’s ministry. We live in Western Oklahoma where men take pride in a hard day’s work from sun up to sun down. We live in oilfield country where money is readily available to a hard worker. There’s no need for a college education to earn six figures here. These elements create a culture of spiritual apathy among men due to a combination of ‘wealth’ and exhaustion. They are often exhausted when they get home and it’s easier to disengage than to engage with their own wife and kids. I want them to experience a call to action to re-engage and to reprioritize where they spend their time, money, and energy. We need men to be leaders in their own homes again.
The Bible says people perish for a lack of knowledge. CLI will help me increase my knowledge and understanding. Combining that knowledge with the school of hard knocks I’ve lived through will help me be a better pastor to people around me. It will allow me to impart that same wisdom and knowledge to the leaders I help mentor and, in turn, to the people they mentor. I also love the fact I gain a network of fellow leaders to help me with resources, encouragement, and accountability.
Having the ability to earn a scholarship and further my knowledge is an incredible blessing. With a young and active family, affordability has been a key obstacle preventing me from furthering my formal education in ministry. Having the ability to complete this type of training for free is an absolute answer to prayers.
If there is any prayer I could request, it would be for me to more fully understand the wholeness of God’s love through a deeper daily relationship with Him. As that relationship grows in depth, I will become a better vessel for God to operate through and He can be glorified more easily and more often as I interact with the people around me. I also ask to be lifted up in my ability to remain focused on sticking to a daily spiritual routine.
There are hundreds – maybe even thousands – who are experiencing revival in the world today! Many of them are finding that God has an urgent calling for their lives. They’re finding that they need quality ministry training. If you’re looking for quality ministry training, click here to learn more about Christian Leaders Institute’s certificates and diplomas. Or you can click here t0 enroll in our first class right away!
Christian Leaders Institute started small. Initially, it was just the determination of Henry Reyenga to provide quality ministry training to the world. But his determination was from God, and as time went on, more people joined his team.
Today, Christian Leaders Institute offers quality ministry training to students at no cost to them. These students come from all walks of life and all backgrounds. Even educated students come to CLI and see the quality ministry training that we provide.
Robert Fieldhouse is one such student. He came to Christian Leaders Institute with a doctorate. But Robert found that the quality ministry training at CLI still had a lot to offer him.
Robert found his way to ministry through immense personal strife. He went from an affluent home to a fizzled-out military career. From faith in his youth to tears of repentance before the altar in his later years. But when God called Robert to the mission field, he recognized his need for quality ministry training. When he found Christian Leaders Institute, he discovered that it was possible to get this quality ministry training without the tens of thousands that had to be spent on traditional schools.
My name is Robert Fieldhouse. I was born in Miami, Florida, in the United States of America. My family life, up to this point, was pretty average for an upper middle-class family of 5. I am the youngest of 3 siblings. My father had the money, time, connections, and the desire to enjoy, as well as share the material benefits. My mother all of that as well, plus strong convictions of our heavenly Father. We were all very active in our church as most of our neighborhood was. Well… maybe not so much my father. From him I learned skepticism and the mixed blessing of questioning and having reservations before committing. From my mother I learned faith and the love of God. I recall having and expressing the desire to become a minister.
Next, it appeared the world was being shaken up and all that I knew and depended on was eroding. Many years of walking around with a psychedelic gleam in my eyes searching for “truth” proved futile. The Viet Nam war was in full swing and my brother was there. He was hurt and my outlook on life changed. I joined the United States Marine Corps having full faith in my government and its leaders. Upon entering, I was outfitted with what I needed and to my surprise I was given a small pocket Bible! I began Sunday worship service (again). The point was made to me that there are no atheists in a foxhole! Unfortunately, I began to backslide again. I made some poor decisions, got hurt and was ultimately released from the Marine Corps. I continued to make poor choices and half-heartedly tried to find my way back to Christ Jesus.
Years later I found myself (again) in a rehab facility. Where are you God? You promised to never leave me nor forsake me! Where are you God? How can a loving God allow me to suffer this much physically and mentally for so long? Where are you? There was a small chapel at that facility, and for some reason, I was drawn to go in. I was the only person in the chapel so I walked to the front and again I asked the question… Where are you God? You promised to never leave me nor forsake me! I was prostrate on the floor at the foot of the chapel alter. “Where are you God?” I cried out. Crying out… God either kill me or help me! God either kill me or help me! At that point I recall frightening groaning and guttural sounds coming from my mouth. I have no idea how long I was there, but I can recall an odd peace washing over me in waves that created “goose bumps.” The crying out ceased, the moaning ceased, and my tears stopped. Am I dead? Did I finally succeed in killing myself? No! As it turns out…I had to calm down and quit feeling so wrapped up in myself so that I could “hear” the quiet, comforting, and loving Word of God. I never left you or forsook you…you decided to walk away from me – I heard (sensed). I have been waiting for you and your decision Robert.
I still wrestle with sin. I am still in physical pain and disabled. But the HUGE difference now is that my heart, soul, and mind are at peace with the Father. I discovered through intense unbiased study and reflection directed and aided by the Holy Spirit that I had never really accepted God because I never really understood grace, justification, salvation, and therefore had never truly repented of all my sins.
Somehow… heavenly Father brought my attention to the Christian Leaders Institute. The Institute immediately became yet another Blessing from the Father. Taking my time and finding myself completely engrossed in the courses and links to additional research, Father has helped me fill a deep dark void that was in my heart for MANY years! Because of my disabilities I minister from home and when I am able to, I visit our hospital, hospice, and senior rehab units. I minister publicly wherever the Holy Spirit directs me.
After struggling through the physical requirements placed on me while undertaking a doctorate degree – as well as spending over $100,000.00, I never fully understood why I wasn’t satisfied with that training and indoctrination. The quality ministry training I have gained – at no charge – from Christian Leaders Institute has grounded me in solid knowledge and now…slowly – wisdom! I tell everyone, when given the opportunity, about Christian Leaders Institute! Even if Father hasn’t moved you to public ministry – the opportunity afforded anyone, anywhere with a computer connection is truly a blessing worth taking advantage of!
This will be my secondary ordination! I am sooo excited about this. I plan on continuing on for the degree program. After I finish all that there is being offered…I’ll most likely start all the courses over again! Before closing I would like to mention 3 more things. 1.) I heard from a church leader once that one should tithe where one is fed. Though I cannot be employed and live on VA and a small disability check – I tithe to Christian Leaders Institute. It might be a small amount every month but I am “being fed” like never before. I pray that my offering, though small, will help others. 2.) Whether you aspire to the ministry or not…remember and live by what we are told in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (KJV). 3.) “Jesus said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40, KJV).
From me to you – whoever and wherever you are…I pray our heavenly Father will keep you strong and multiply your Blessings!
Do you need quality ministry training? Would you like to support quality ministry training? Christian Leaders Institute provides quality ministry training at no cost to people all over the world. You can enroll and check it out for yourself, or you can give to support the continued offering of quality ministry training at no cost to students. Click here to enroll, or if you feel so led, click here to give to Christian Leaders Institute.