CAUGHT UP
There are several places in the New Testament where the term "caught up" is used. An examination of them is enlightening.
The first one we will look at is 2 Corinthians 12:2 "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth; such an one caught up to the third heaven. See end note.
II Corinthians 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Paul said he didn't know whether he left his body or not. One thing he did know--he was into another realm entirely. Where and what is "Paradise?'
My mind goes to the conversation which Jesus had with Nicodemus. Notice the words, "up" "down" and "in" as Jesus used them. John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven.
Where, exactly, was Jesus while He was conversing with Nicodemus?
Another Scripture that is our favorite is I Thes. 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with
the Lord.
I have some questions about whether we have been given the correct interpretation of this verse. (1) Is the "shout and the voice of the Archangel" supposed to be something audible, or is it figurative language, as so much of the Scripture is? (2) Just what does the "trump of God" consist of, and will it be audible to the human ear?
The third question concerns the phrase "caught up". Does it actually mean leaving terra firma, or is there a hidden meaning to this also?
Next come questions about what we have been taught about "clouds". Does the term mean those things we see in our skies almost every day? Maybe not, when we look at all the places where the term is used in Scripture.
My question about the term "air" just won't go away and be quiet. I am fairly sure that it is not talking about the stuff we breathe. The ONLY other Biblical definition I can find is in Eph 2:2 "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: This creates more questions than it answers.
Here are a couple more Scriptures for us to look at along this line of thinking.
Revelation 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Revelation 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne.
E. Warren Anglin brought up this subject. M.F.
End Note: Paul' use of the term "third heaven" is referring to Peter's definition of the "former", which perished in the flood, that which now is, and the one we "look for", or the "third" heaven, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
II Peter 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
II Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
BEGINNINGS
BEGINNINGS
Pearl and I are old enough now (May, 2006) that we are prone to look back to certain "beginnings" and historically follow them through to either their fulfillment or to their demise.
One such "beginning" was in February of 1942. We were serving as Pastors in the Tieton Pentecostal Church, and had Sis. Thompson, from Nampa, ID. in special meetings. She stayed in our home, and there was usually a morning prayer meeting. People got the Holy Ghost in those meetings.
One day Sis. Thompson ventured to mention to me that God had another "move" of His Spirit for the Church. It was "hidden" in the Scriptures, so that careless eyes would not find it.
When I exhibited an interest, she warily ventured further into what she was seeing in the Word.
She told us about the "Latter Rain" of Joel. She told us about the "Overcomers" of Revelation 2 and 3. She told us about the "Two Witnesses", again in Revelation. She mentioned the "Manchild" and the "Mother Church" of Rev. 12.
Then she "clinched" the whole thing with the "Little Sister" of Song of Solomon.
She readily admitted that she didn't have all the answers, but she felt she had caught a glimpse into the heart of God.
We were so young in age at that time. Louise was just learning to put sentences together, and Marvin was not even in the realm of thought. I had been rejected by the draft board because of poor hearing. The Church in Tieton needed a Pastor, so we agreed to serve, if the saints would help us by telling us if we started to do anything wrong. We still appreciate the help those older saints gave us. They prayed with us, three nights a week for ten weeks. The Church grew, in numbers and Spiritually. They counseled us, warned us, praised us-- the "whole nine yards."
We were hardly able to grasp what the elderly saint was trying to tell us. But seeds had been planted, and we know now that the ground was fertile and rich (Hungry and thirsty for the Truth of God's Word).
Through the years, the seeds began to germinate. Mostly, they did so one at a time.
As they began to grow, we did find that they would intertwine into one Truth. We were to learn later that this one Truth was not exactly what was being taught generally in the Churches.
It was in Cascade, ID. that the "Latter Rain" began to grip our souls. The war was just over, and things had started to get back to normal. But Latter Rain was still more theory than anything else at that time. It was a start.
Our ministry was more of the "flat chest" "little sister" type. We were still very immature in Spiritual things, but very eager to learn. I would pray and agonize over every sermon and Bible Study I was to give. They were "Word", but rather devoid of "Spirit."
One Sunday I ministered from Joel 2, and promised the folks that God would, indeed, pour out of His Spirit on the earth again, and it would be before the Rapture. Some eyebrows were raised at that point.
We knew about the gifts of the Spirit, but they had not been incorporated into our ministries yet. A hunger set in, but it was not to be satisfied for some time to come. We were to enter into them several months later, and it has been wonderful. Now, we are hungering for "more of the same."
In 1947 a man named William Branham stirred the U.S. with a ministry such as we had not seen. We attended his meetings in Boise, and saw miracles of many sorts take place before our wondering eyes. God had our attention, and we knew He had greater things for us than we were experiencing in our own lives.
His ministry proved to be the first of a great number which were to spring up. Each one was different, yet they all bore witness to the Glory of God. Some of them hit the rocks quite soon after being launched. Others went on, and built kingdoms, for God, or otherwise. No one could deny it-- God was moving in the hearts of men and women all over the country.
BEGINNINGS
Pearl and I are old enough now (May, 2006) that we are prone to look back to certain "beginnings" and historically follow them through to either their fulfillment or to their demise.
One such "beginning" was in February of 1942. We were serving as Pastors in the Tieton Pentecostal Church, and had Sis. Thompson, from Nampa, ID. in special meetings. She stayed in our home, and there was usually a morning prayer meeting. People got the Holy Ghost in those meetings.
One day Sis. Thompson ventured to mention to me that God had another "move" of His Spirit for the Church. It was "hidden" in the Scriptures, so that careless eyes would not find it.
When I exhibited an interest, she warily ventured further into what she was seeing in the Word.
She told us about the "Latter Rain" of Joel. She told us about the "Overcomers" of Revelation 2 and 3. She told us about the "Two Witnesses", again in Revelation. She mentioned the "Manchild" and the "Mother Church" of Rev. 12.
Then she "clinched" the whole thing with the "Little Sister" of Song of Solomon.
She readily admitted that she didn't have all the answers, but she felt she had caught a glimpse into the heart of God.
We were so young in age at that time. Louise was just learning to put sentences together, and Marvin was not even in the realm of thought. I had been rejected by the draft board because of poor hearing. The Church in Tieton needed a Pastor, so we agreed to serve, if the saints would help us by telling us if we started to do anything wrong. We still appreciate the help those older saints gave us. They prayed with us, three nights a week for ten weeks. The Church grew, in numbers and Spiritually. They counseled us, warned us, praised us-- the "whole nine yards."
We were hardly able to grasp what the elderly saint was trying to tell us. But seeds had been planted, and we know now that the ground was fertile and rich (Hungry and thirsty for the Truth of God's Word).
Through the years, the seeds began to germinate. Mostly, they did so one at a time.
As they began to grow, we did find that they would intertwine into one Truth. We were to learn later that this one Truth was not exactly what was being taught generally in the Churches.
It was in Cascade, ID. that the "Latter Rain" began to grip our souls. The war was just over, and things had started to get back to normal. But Latter Rain was still more theory than anything else at that time. It was a start.
Our ministry was more of the "flat chest" "little sister" type. We were still very immature in Spiritual things, but very eager to learn. I would pray and agonize over every sermon and Bible Study I was to give. They were "Word", but rather devoid of "Spirit."
One Sunday I ministered from Joel 2, and promised the folks that God would, indeed, pour out of His Spirit on the earth again, and it would be before the Rapture. Some eyebrows were raised at that point.
We knew about the gifts of the Spirit, but they had not been incorporated into our ministries yet. A hunger set in, but it was not to be satisfied for some time to come. We were to enter into them several months later, and it has been wonderful. Now, we are hungering for "more of the same."
In 1947 a man named William Branham stirred the U.S. with a ministry such as we had not seen. We attended his meetings in Boise, and saw miracles of many sorts take place before our wondering eyes. God had our attention, and we knew He had greater things for us than we were experiencing in our own lives.
His ministry proved to be the first of a great number which were to spring up. Each one was different, yet they all bore witness to the Glory of God. Some of them hit the rocks quite soon after being launched. Others went on, and built kingdoms, for God, or otherwise. No one could deny it-- God was moving in the hearts of men and women all over the country.
Pearl and I are old enough now (May, 2006) that we are prone to look back to certain "beginnings" and historically follow them through to either their fulfillment or to their demise.
One such "beginning" was in February of 1942. We were serving as Pastors in the Tieton Pentecostal Church, and had Sis. Thompson, from Nampa, ID. in special meetings. She stayed in our home, and there was usually a morning prayer meeting. People got the Holy Ghost in those meetings.
One day Sis. Thompson ventured to mention to me that God had another "move" of His Spirit for the Church. It was "hidden" in the Scriptures, so that careless eyes would not find it.
When I exhibited an interest, she warily ventured further into what she was seeing in the Word.
She told us about the "Latter Rain" of Joel. She told us about the "Overcomers" of Revelation 2 and 3. She told us about the "Two Witnesses", again in Revelation. She mentioned the "Manchild" and the "Mother Church" of Rev. 12.
Then she "clinched" the whole thing with the "Little Sister" of Song of Solomon.
She readily admitted that she didn't have all the answers, but she felt she had caught a glimpse into the heart of God.
We were so young in age at that time. Louise was just learning to put sentences together, and Marvin was not even in the realm of thought. I had been rejected by the draft board because of poor hearing. The Church in Tieton needed a Pastor, so we agreed to serve, if the saints would help us by telling us if we started to do anything wrong. We still appreciate the help those older saints gave us. They prayed with us, three nights a week for ten weeks. The Church grew, in numbers and Spiritually. They counseled us, warned us, praised us-- the "whole nine yards."
We were hardly able to grasp what the elderly saint was trying to tell us. But seeds had been planted, and we know now that the ground was fertile and rich (Hungry and thirsty for the Truth of God's Word).
Through the years, the seeds began to germinate. Mostly, they did so one at a time.
As they began to grow, we did find that they would intertwine into one Truth. We were to learn later that this one Truth was not exactly what was being taught generally in the Churches.
It was in Cascade, ID. that the "Latter Rain" began to grip our souls. The war was just over, and things had started to get back to normal. But Latter Rain was still more theory than anything else at that time. It was a start.
Our ministry was more of the "flat chest" "little sister" type. We were still very immature in Spiritual things, but very eager to learn. I would pray and agonize over every sermon and Bible Study I was to give. They were "Word", but rather devoid of "Spirit."
One Sunday I ministered from Joel 2, and promised the folks that God would, indeed, pour out of His Spirit on the earth again, and it would be before the Rapture. Some eyebrows were raised at that point.
We knew about the gifts of the Spirit, but they had not been incorporated into our ministries yet. A hunger set in, but it was not to be satisfied for some time to come. We were to enter into them several months later, and it has been wonderful. Now, we are hungering for "more of the same."
In 1947 a man named William Branham stirred the U.S. with a ministry such as we had not seen. We attended his meetings in Boise, and saw miracles of many sorts take place before our wondering eyes. God had our attention, and we knew He had greater things for us than we were experiencing in our own lives.
His ministry proved to be the first of a great number which were to spring up. Each one was different, yet they all bore witness to the Glory of God. Some of them hit the rocks quite soon after being launched. Others went on, and built kingdoms, for God, or otherwise. No one could deny it-- God was moving in the hearts of men and women all over the country.
BEGINNINGS
Pearl and I are old enough now (May, 2006) that we are prone to look back to certain "beginnings" and historically follow them through to either their fulfillment or to their demise.
One such "beginning" was in February of 1942. We were serving as Pastors in the Tieton Pentecostal Church, and had Sis. Thompson, from Nampa, ID. in special meetings. She stayed in our home, and there was usually a morning prayer meeting. People got the Holy Ghost in those meetings.
One day Sis. Thompson ventured to mention to me that God had another "move" of His Spirit for the Church. It was "hidden" in the Scriptures, so that careless eyes would not find it.
When I exhibited an interest, she warily ventured further into what she was seeing in the Word.
She told us about the "Latter Rain" of Joel. She told us about the "Overcomers" of Revelation 2 and 3. She told us about the "Two Witnesses", again in Revelation. She mentioned the "Manchild" and the "Mother Church" of Rev. 12.
Then she "clinched" the whole thing with the "Little Sister" of Song of Solomon.
She readily admitted that she didn't have all the answers, but she felt she had caught a glimpse into the heart of God.
We were so young in age at that time. Louise was just learning to put sentences together, and Marvin was not even in the realm of thought. I had been rejected by the draft board because of poor hearing. The Church in Tieton needed a Pastor, so we agreed to serve, if the saints would help us by telling us if we started to do anything wrong. We still appreciate the help those older saints gave us. They prayed with us, three nights a week for ten weeks. The Church grew, in numbers and Spiritually. They counseled us, warned us, praised us-- the "whole nine yards."
We were hardly able to grasp what the elderly saint was trying to tell us. But seeds had been planted, and we know now that the ground was fertile and rich (Hungry and thirsty for the Truth of God's Word).
Through the years, the seeds began to germinate. Mostly, they did so one at a time.
As they began to grow, we did find that they would intertwine into one Truth. We were to learn later that this one Truth was not exactly what was being taught generally in the Churches.
It was in Cascade, ID. that the "Latter Rain" began to grip our souls. The war was just over, and things had started to get back to normal. But Latter Rain was still more theory than anything else at that time. It was a start.
Our ministry was more of the "flat chest" "little sister" type. We were still very immature in Spiritual things, but very eager to learn. I would pray and agonize over every sermon and Bible Study I was to give. They were "Word", but rather devoid of "Spirit."
One Sunday I ministered from Joel 2, and promised the folks that God would, indeed, pour out of His Spirit on the earth again, and it would be before the Rapture. Some eyebrows were raised at that point.
We knew about the gifts of the Spirit, but they had not been incorporated into our ministries yet. A hunger set in, but it was not to be satisfied for some time to come. We were to enter into them several months later, and it has been wonderful. Now, we are hungering for "more of the same."
In 1947 a man named William Branham stirred the U.S. with a ministry such as we had not seen. We attended his meetings in Boise, and saw miracles of many sorts take place before our wondering eyes. God had our attention, and we knew He had greater things for us than we were experiencing in our own lives.
His ministry proved to be the first of a great number which were to spring up. Each one was different, yet they all bore witness to the Glory of God. Some of them hit the rocks quite soon after being launched. Others went on, and built kingdoms, for God, or otherwise. No one could deny it-- God was moving in the hearts of men and women all over the country.
ARRESTED
ARRESTED
A few days ago I began looking back over my life, wondering what, if anything, I would change if I could live my life over. I decided there is very little that I would want to change, if I could.
That is not to say that I am not aware of any mistakes that I have made, for there have been many of them. But I come under the category of a "good man", and Psalms 37:23 The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
There are many things which I still do not understand, but I have not the slightest doubt that God has been responsible for both the things which seemed to be success as well as those which seemed to be defeat. Some of my thoughts were:
Pearl and I started our ministry together in The Dalles, OR. just after our twenty-second birthdays, which are in November. Shortly thereafter, we went for further training to the Big Downtown Mission Training Home in Oakland, CA. We were taught how to pray, study God's Word, and participate in Mission Services eight times a week. We each had received the Holy Ghost baptism. We knew about the Gifts of the Spirit, but they were not active in our lives, nor in the lives of most other ministers and lay members we knew. There was no one to emulate. We sort of "moved with the herd", as the saying goes.
After a few years of Pastoring, we came to a church where there was one woman who was exercised slightly in Tongues and Interpretation. At least, she seemed to know something about it. But, since most of the other ministers were taking a dim view of such things, we were not much impressed by what she was doing. But we were not opposed to it.
William Branham produced a drastic change in the Spiritual life of many Christian people in the last half of the 40's. God got our attention, to say the least.
The Fall of 1949, I attended a conference in New Westminster, BC. I was, by then, editing the official paper of the Northwest Disrict of the United Pentecostal Church, and serving as Pastor of a church in Yakima, WA.
How well I remember, I made a statement to the effect that a lot of what was going on at that time was, to me, quite spurious and irrelevant. One of the older ministers gently said, "Now, Pastor, let's not be too harsh in our judgment. It might be the real thing, and if it is, we don't want to miss it". I was cut to the quick, not by the man, because he had been ever so gentle. But the rebuke of the Spirit was so strong that I wept inwardly, and asked God to forgive me for having pre-judged what I had known so little about.
By mid-winter of 49-50 we were hearing reports of a mighty move of the Spirit which was sweeping the land. It was breaking down barriers which had stood for decades. It was causing churches to become polarized and to split wide open. We heard glowing reports, and disparaging reports, depending on which side they came from.
In late Winter (Feb 50) some of the men of the church went to Portland to a Wings of Healing convention to see for ourselves what was going on. Was it God, or was it not God? We saw both good and bad. Much of it was, indisputably, from God. I had not personally seen anything like it in my 31 years of life. I did not feel adequate to make a decision for the congregation we were shepherding, so I asked some of the men to come to Yakima and explain it to our people. They did. Ronald Sittser, Clifford Huit and Bob Barnett came in March.
The Yakima saints had been a very Spiritually minded people. They had been influenced by such men as Gaar (sp?) Price, Parret, and others who had been mightily used of God in early Pentecost. Mattie Crawford had been the instrument God had used to start the Oneness movement here in 1923.
They immediately recognized the authenticity of the outpouring, and were ready to receive it to the fullest extent. I have often thanked God for their perception and willingness to move in the things of the Spirit.
Revelling in the Spiritual atmosphere was marred shortly for me, for our official organ had a statement in it that summer that headquarters had rejected the (so called) Latter Rain movement. They were also outlawing the teaching of a modern day Israel apart from the Jews.
We took the matter to the saints, and their decision was that we should go on with God, and if it meant that we must withdraw from the National organization-- so be it.
I thought, "Hey! that's all right for you folks-- you don't have anything to lose. But what about me? At the rate I am climbing right now in the organization, I will be on the district board in less than five years. From there-- who knows? People appreciate me, and I have the natural ability to excel." But I didn't say anything to them.
Sadly, our organization was run more on natural ability than it was by the Spirit of God. That may still be the case.
It was in this way that the Lord formed a chain of circumstances around me and accompished to "arrest" me, and re-direct my life. I knew I dare not fail to walk in what I knew to be of God, and yet my brethren were precious to me. I did not want to give them up. At one point I remember walking across Summitview Ave. with the man I had assisted in his Pastorate earlier in my life. There were three of us, but I do not remember who the third man was. I asked them why we could not continue to have fellowship even though I had been forced out of the organization. God was the same, our belief in Oneness was the same. The only element that had changed was membership in the national group.
Fellowship on those terms was never extended.
My life, in the natural, was devastated. My goals, ambitions, hopes were in ruins at my feet.
But, (and oh, I love this) out of those ruins came a learning of the Spirit that was to supersede anything I had hoped for in my natural life. Pearl and I were to learn how to know, recognize, and respond to the Spirit of the Creator in ways which would be so much more satisfying than anything we had ever known before.
We were to learn about Spirit Control in our meetings, and to watch in awe as God performed His Work in the lives of those under our ministry. Changes which are wrought by the Spirit are pure and complete, whereas the best of human efforts are but to meet with failure and dismay.
The most important agenda, for us, was to endeavor to minister by His Spirit alone.
There have been other "arrestings" through the years, but each one has helped to direct us into the ministry of His choosing for our lives.
The Lord is so good!
ARRESTED
A few days ago I began looking back over my life, wondering what, if anything, I would change if I could live my life over. I decided there is very little that I would want to change, if I could.
That is not to say that I am not aware of any mistakes that I have made, for there have been many of them. But I come under the category of a "good man", and Psalms 37:23 The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
There are many things which I still do not understand, but I have not the slightest doubt that God has been responsible for both the things which seemed to be success as well as those which seemed to be defeat. Some of my thoughts were:
Pearl and I started our ministry together in The Dalles, OR. just after our twenty-second birthdays, which are in November. Shortly thereafter, we went for further training to the Big Downtown Mission Training Home in Oakland, CA. We were taught how to pray, study God's Word, and participate in Mission Services eight times a week. We each had received the Holy Ghost baptism. We knew about the Gifts of the Spirit, but they were not active in our lives, nor in the lives of most other ministers and lay members we knew. There was no one to emulate. We sort of "moved with the herd", as the saying goes.
After a few years of Pastoring, we came to a church where there was one woman who was exercised slightly in Tongues and Interpretation. At least, she seemed to know something about it. But, since most of the other ministers were taking a dim view of such things, we were not much impressed by what she was doing. But we were not opposed to it.
William Branham produced a drastic change in the Spiritual life of many Christian people in the last half of the 40's. God got our attention, to say the least.
The Fall of 1949, I attended a conference in New Westminster, BC. I was, by then, editing the official paper of the Northwest Disrict of the United Pentecostal Church, and serving as Pastor of a church in Yakima, WA.
How well I remember, I made a statement to the effect that a lot of what was going on at that time was, to me, quite spurious and irrelevant. One of the older ministers gently said, "Now, Pastor, let's not be too harsh in our judgment. It might be the real thing, and if it is, we don't want to miss it". I was cut to the quick, not by the man, because he had been ever so gentle. But the rebuke of the Spirit was so strong that I wept inwardly, and asked God to forgive me for having pre-judged what I had known so little about.
By mid-winter of 49-50 we were hearing reports of a mighty move of the Spirit which was sweeping the land. It was breaking down barriers which had stood for decades. It was causing churches to become polarized and to split wide open. We heard glowing reports, and disparaging reports, depending on which side they came from.
In late Winter (Feb 50) some of the men of the church went to Portland to a Wings of Healing convention to see for ourselves what was going on. Was it God, or was it not God? We saw both good and bad. Much of it was, indisputably, from God. I had not personally seen anything like it in my 31 years of life. I did not feel adequate to make a decision for the congregation we were shepherding, so I asked some of the men to come to Yakima and explain it to our people. They did. Ronald Sittser, Clifford Huit and Bob Barnett came in March.
The Yakima saints had been a very Spiritually minded people. They had been influenced by such men as Gaar (sp?) Price, Parret, and others who had been mightily used of God in early Pentecost. Mattie Crawford had been the instrument God had used to start the Oneness movement here in 1923.
They immediately recognized the authenticity of the outpouring, and were ready to receive it to the fullest extent. I have often thanked God for their perception and willingness to move in the things of the Spirit.
Revelling in the Spiritual atmosphere was marred shortly for me, for our official organ had a statement in it that summer that headquarters had rejected the (so called) Latter Rain movement. They were also outlawing the teaching of a modern day Israel apart from the Jews.
We took the matter to the saints, and their decision was that we should go on with God, and if it meant that we must withdraw from the National organization-- so be it.
I thought, "Hey! that's all right for you folks-- you don't have anything to lose. But what about me? At the rate I am climbing right now in the organization, I will be on the district board in less than five years. From there-- who knows? People appreciate me, and I have the natural ability to excel." But I didn't say anything to them.
Sadly, our organization was run more on natural ability than it was by the Spirit of God. That may still be the case.
It was in this way that the Lord formed a chain of circumstances around me and accompished to "arrest" me, and re-direct my life. I knew I dare not fail to walk in what I knew to be of God, and yet my brethren were precious to me. I did not want to give them up. At one point I remember walking across Summitview Ave. with the man I had assisted in his Pastorate earlier in my life. There were three of us, but I do not remember who the third man was. I asked them why we could not continue to have fellowship even though I had been forced out of the organization. God was the same, our belief in Oneness was the same. The only element that had changed was membership in the national group.
Fellowship on those terms was never extended.
My life, in the natural, was devastated. My goals, ambitions, hopes were in ruins at my feet.
But, (and oh, I love this) out of those ruins came a learning of the Spirit that was to supersede anything I had hoped for in my natural life. Pearl and I were to learn how to know, recognize, and respond to the Spirit of the Creator in ways which would be so much more satisfying than anything we had ever known before.
We were to learn about Spirit Control in our meetings, and to watch in awe as God performed His Work in the lives of those under our ministry. Changes which are wrought by the Spirit are pure and complete, whereas the best of human efforts are but to meet with failure and dismay.
The most important agenda, for us, was to endeavor to minister by His Spirit alone.
There have been other "arrestings" through the years, but each one has helped to direct us into the ministry of His choosing for our lives.
The Lord is so good!
A few days ago I began looking back over my life, wondering what, if anything, I would change if I could live my life over. I decided there is very little that I would want to change, if I could.
That is not to say that I am not aware of any mistakes that I have made, for there have been many of them. But I come under the category of a "good man", and Psalms 37:23 The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
There are many things which I still do not understand, but I have not the slightest doubt that God has been responsible for both the things which seemed to be success as well as those which seemed to be defeat. Some of my thoughts were:
Pearl and I started our ministry together in The Dalles, OR. just after our twenty-second birthdays, which are in November. Shortly thereafter, we went for further training to the Big Downtown Mission Training Home in Oakland, CA. We were taught how to pray, study God's Word, and participate in Mission Services eight times a week. We each had received the Holy Ghost baptism. We knew about the Gifts of the Spirit, but they were not active in our lives, nor in the lives of most other ministers and lay members we knew. There was no one to emulate. We sort of "moved with the herd", as the saying goes.
After a few years of Pastoring, we came to a church where there was one woman who was exercised slightly in Tongues and Interpretation. At least, she seemed to know something about it. But, since most of the other ministers were taking a dim view of such things, we were not much impressed by what she was doing. But we were not opposed to it.
William Branham produced a drastic change in the Spiritual life of many Christian people in the last half of the 40's. God got our attention, to say the least.
The Fall of 1949, I attended a conference in New Westminster, BC. I was, by then, editing the official paper of the Northwest Disrict of the United Pentecostal Church, and serving as Pastor of a church in Yakima, WA.
How well I remember, I made a statement to the effect that a lot of what was going on at that time was, to me, quite spurious and irrelevant. One of the older ministers gently said, "Now, Pastor, let's not be too harsh in our judgment. It might be the real thing, and if it is, we don't want to miss it". I was cut to the quick, not by the man, because he had been ever so gentle. But the rebuke of the Spirit was so strong that I wept inwardly, and asked God to forgive me for having pre-judged what I had known so little about.
By mid-winter of 49-50 we were hearing reports of a mighty move of the Spirit which was sweeping the land. It was breaking down barriers which had stood for decades. It was causing churches to become polarized and to split wide open. We heard glowing reports, and disparaging reports, depending on which side they came from.
In late Winter (Feb 50) some of the men of the church went to Portland to a Wings of Healing convention to see for ourselves what was going on. Was it God, or was it not God? We saw both good and bad. Much of it was, indisputably, from God. I had not personally seen anything like it in my 31 years of life. I did not feel adequate to make a decision for the congregation we were shepherding, so I asked some of the men to come to Yakima and explain it to our people. They did. Ronald Sittser, Clifford Huit and Bob Barnett came in March.
The Yakima saints had been a very Spiritually minded people. They had been influenced by such men as Gaar (sp?) Price, Parret, and others who had been mightily used of God in early Pentecost. Mattie Crawford had been the instrument God had used to start the Oneness movement here in 1923.
They immediately recognized the authenticity of the outpouring, and were ready to receive it to the fullest extent. I have often thanked God for their perception and willingness to move in the things of the Spirit.
Revelling in the Spiritual atmosphere was marred shortly for me, for our official organ had a statement in it that summer that headquarters had rejected the (so called) Latter Rain movement. They were also outlawing the teaching of a modern day Israel apart from the Jews.
We took the matter to the saints, and their decision was that we should go on with God, and if it meant that we must withdraw from the National organization-- so be it.
I thought, "Hey! that's all right for you folks-- you don't have anything to lose. But what about me? At the rate I am climbing right now in the organization, I will be on the district board in less than five years. From there-- who knows? People appreciate me, and I have the natural ability to excel." But I didn't say anything to them.
Sadly, our organization was run more on natural ability than it was by the Spirit of God. That may still be the case.
It was in this way that the Lord formed a chain of circumstances around me and accompished to "arrest" me, and re-direct my life. I knew I dare not fail to walk in what I knew to be of God, and yet my brethren were precious to me. I did not want to give them up. At one point I remember walking across Summitview Ave. with the man I had assisted in his Pastorate earlier in my life. There were three of us, but I do not remember who the third man was. I asked them why we could not continue to have fellowship even though I had been forced out of the organization. God was the same, our belief in Oneness was the same. The only element that had changed was membership in the national group.
Fellowship on those terms was never extended.
My life, in the natural, was devastated. My goals, ambitions, hopes were in ruins at my feet.
But, (and oh, I love this) out of those ruins came a learning of the Spirit that was to supersede anything I had hoped for in my natural life. Pearl and I were to learn how to know, recognize, and respond to the Spirit of the Creator in ways which would be so much more satisfying than anything we had ever known before.
We were to learn about Spirit Control in our meetings, and to watch in awe as God performed His Work in the lives of those under our ministry. Changes which are wrought by the Spirit are pure and complete, whereas the best of human efforts are but to meet with failure and dismay.
The most important agenda, for us, was to endeavor to minister by His Spirit alone.
There have been other "arrestings" through the years, but each one has helped to direct us into the ministry of His choosing for our lives.
The Lord is so good!
ARRESTED
A few days ago I began looking back over my life, wondering what, if anything, I would change if I could live my life over. I decided there is very little that I would want to change, if I could.
That is not to say that I am not aware of any mistakes that I have made, for there have been many of them. But I come under the category of a "good man", and Psalms 37:23 The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
There are many things which I still do not understand, but I have not the slightest doubt that God has been responsible for both the things which seemed to be success as well as those which seemed to be defeat. Some of my thoughts were:
Pearl and I started our ministry together in The Dalles, OR. just after our twenty-second birthdays, which are in November. Shortly thereafter, we went for further training to the Big Downtown Mission Training Home in Oakland, CA. We were taught how to pray, study God's Word, and participate in Mission Services eight times a week. We each had received the Holy Ghost baptism. We knew about the Gifts of the Spirit, but they were not active in our lives, nor in the lives of most other ministers and lay members we knew. There was no one to emulate. We sort of "moved with the herd", as the saying goes.
After a few years of Pastoring, we came to a church where there was one woman who was exercised slightly in Tongues and Interpretation. At least, she seemed to know something about it. But, since most of the other ministers were taking a dim view of such things, we were not much impressed by what she was doing. But we were not opposed to it.
William Branham produced a drastic change in the Spiritual life of many Christian people in the last half of the 40's. God got our attention, to say the least.
The Fall of 1949, I attended a conference in New Westminster, BC. I was, by then, editing the official paper of the Northwest Disrict of the United Pentecostal Church, and serving as Pastor of a church in Yakima, WA.
How well I remember, I made a statement to the effect that a lot of what was going on at that time was, to me, quite spurious and irrelevant. One of the older ministers gently said, "Now, Pastor, let's not be too harsh in our judgment. It might be the real thing, and if it is, we don't want to miss it". I was cut to the quick, not by the man, because he had been ever so gentle. But the rebuke of the Spirit was so strong that I wept inwardly, and asked God to forgive me for having pre-judged what I had known so little about.
By mid-winter of 49-50 we were hearing reports of a mighty move of the Spirit which was sweeping the land. It was breaking down barriers which had stood for decades. It was causing churches to become polarized and to split wide open. We heard glowing reports, and disparaging reports, depending on which side they came from.
In late Winter (Feb 50) some of the men of the church went to Portland to a Wings of Healing convention to see for ourselves what was going on. Was it God, or was it not God? We saw both good and bad. Much of it was, indisputably, from God. I had not personally seen anything like it in my 31 years of life. I did not feel adequate to make a decision for the congregation we were shepherding, so I asked some of the men to come to Yakima and explain it to our people. They did. Ronald Sittser, Clifford Huit and Bob Barnett came in March.
The Yakima saints had been a very Spiritually minded people. They had been influenced by such men as Gaar (sp?) Price, Parret, and others who had been mightily used of God in early Pentecost. Mattie Crawford had been the instrument God had used to start the Oneness movement here in 1923.
They immediately recognized the authenticity of the outpouring, and were ready to receive it to the fullest extent. I have often thanked God for their perception and willingness to move in the things of the Spirit.
Revelling in the Spiritual atmosphere was marred shortly for me, for our official organ had a statement in it that summer that headquarters had rejected the (so called) Latter Rain movement. They were also outlawing the teaching of a modern day Israel apart from the Jews.
We took the matter to the saints, and their decision was that we should go on with God, and if it meant that we must withdraw from the National organization-- so be it.
I thought, "Hey! that's all right for you folks-- you don't have anything to lose. But what about me? At the rate I am climbing right now in the organization, I will be on the district board in less than five years. From there-- who knows? People appreciate me, and I have the natural ability to excel." But I didn't say anything to them.
Sadly, our organization was run more on natural ability than it was by the Spirit of God. That may still be the case.
It was in this way that the Lord formed a chain of circumstances around me and accompished to "arrest" me, and re-direct my life. I knew I dare not fail to walk in what I knew to be of God, and yet my brethren were precious to me. I did not want to give them up. At one point I remember walking across Summitview Ave. with the man I had assisted in his Pastorate earlier in my life. There were three of us, but I do not remember who the third man was. I asked them why we could not continue to have fellowship even though I had been forced out of the organization. God was the same, our belief in Oneness was the same. The only element that had changed was membership in the national group.
Fellowship on those terms was never extended.
My life, in the natural, was devastated. My goals, ambitions, hopes were in ruins at my feet.
But, (and oh, I love this) out of those ruins came a learning of the Spirit that was to supersede anything I had hoped for in my natural life. Pearl and I were to learn how to know, recognize, and respond to the Spirit of the Creator in ways which would be so much more satisfying than anything we had ever known before.
We were to learn about Spirit Control in our meetings, and to watch in awe as God performed His Work in the lives of those under our ministry. Changes which are wrought by the Spirit are pure and complete, whereas the best of human efforts are but to meet with failure and dismay.
The most important agenda, for us, was to endeavor to minister by His Spirit alone.
There have been other "arrestings" through the years, but each one has helped to direct us into the ministry of His choosing for our lives.
The Lord is so good!
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