Goliath Awaits: When God Doesn't Make Sense 6313l

Goliath Awaits When God Doesn’t Make Sense

Benjamin Lee Vince; Mike & Vickie Oliver

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2016 Benjamin Lee Vince; Mike & Vickie Oliver. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse 06/13/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5246-0944-3 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-5246-0945-0 (e)

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Contents

The New Goliath Awaits Book Series

Introduction

David Speaks

Goliath Speaks

Preface

Chapter 1 Goliath, The Philistine

Chapter 2 The Hills of Home

Chapter 3

The Fear Factor

Chapter 4 Victims of Surprise

Chapter 5 Impediments

Chapter 6 Against All Odds

Chapter 7 Goliath Awaits

Chapter 8 Welcome to Sand Castle

Chapter 9 Mine! Mine! Mine!

Chapter 10

The School of Hard Knocks

Chapter 11 Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here

Chapter 12 My First Heart Attack

Chapter 13 Eye To Eye With My Enemy

Chapter 14 Foot In Mouth Club

Chapter 15 The Face-off Begins

Chapter 16 Goliath Steps Forward

Chapter 17

Both Feet In Mouth

Chapter 18 Goliath Steps Back

Chapter 19 Fall Or Fly–Depends On The Size

Chapter 20 Setting The Battle In Array

Chapter 21 Overcoming Evil With Good

Chapter 22 ing My Victory

Chapter 23 Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

Chapter 24

The Church With The Friendly Ghost

Chapter 25 The Economy of Sin

Chapter 26 A Prelude–Family Ministry In Action

Chapter 27 Mom & Dad

Chapter 28 The Mystery of God’s Will

Chapter 29 The Blessings of Home And Family

Chapter 30 Did I Say Something Wrong?

Chapter 31

The Shadow of Death

Chapter 32 A Strange Spirit

Chapter 33 No Amber Alert

Chapter 34 Parents of a Prodigal

Chapter 35 I’m Having A Stroke

Chapter 36 Life Goes On

Chapter 37 Three Months

Chapter 38

Runaway Missing

Chapter 39 They Found A Body

Chapter 40 Drugs And Prostitution

Chapter 41 To Steal, To Kill, & To Destroy

Chapter 42 The Pain of Not Knowing

Chapter 43 Climbing Out of My Hole

Chapter 44 Making A Deal With God

Chapter 45

On The Road Again

Chapter 46 A Spirit of Witchcraft

Chapter 47 Prophecy And A Vision

Chapter 48 Angels Unaware

Chapter 49 When God Speaks It Happens

Chapter 50 The Prodigal Returns

Chapter 51 The Robe & The Ring

Chapter 52

My Final Test

Chapter 53 Face To Face With My Goliath

Chapter 54 Gone Fishing

Chapter 55 Spinning My Sling

Chapter 56 Gethsemane’s Surrender

Chapter 57 There Is Going To Be A Wedding

Chapter 58 A Soul In A Box

Chapter 59

A Nine-Month Reality

Chapter 60 When God Doesn’t Make Sense

Chapter 61 Guardians of Honor

POEM The Prodigal

Concluding Thoughts

Index

The New Goliath Awaits Book Series

Ending the year 2001, I felt in my heart that the Lord was calling me into a new era of labor of which I knew nothing about. (This is characteristic of the Lord to call someone into a strange field of labor of which they know nothing about.) Nonetheless, one morning as I awoke to prepare myself for work the Lord spoke to my heart (through His Spirit) concerning writing a book. While meditating upon this inspiration I said to the Lord, “I know nothing about writing; however, if you will inspire my heart with your thoughts of what you want written, I will do my best to transpose it into a manuscript.” Then, instantly, (as we would say in the computer age) the Lord ed into my heart the outline of the New Goliath Awaits Book Series. The words, though not yet made known to me, the essence of the subjects was suddenly revealed to my heart. Since I knew nothing about computers and less about writing, I needed someone who knew their way through the curvatures of literature, so, the Lord sent a prominent orthopedic surgeon into my life to mentor my work. Impatient by nature, and as unapologetic as was his bedside manners, (as he was well known for that) our knowledge factors blended together as a hand with a pen. Thanks Doc for being my mentor. You and I and God put it together as a team. (My picture on the front cover of my books was his idea.) I signed up for a ninety-hour college course in ‘Introduction to Computers and my journey into the world of writing began. When the time came to start the project, amazingly it was then that the waves of inspirations began to flood my mind. And as the abundance of heavenly thoughts came rushing in, I offered my hands, my mind, and my heart to God for whatever He would run through them to the keyboard. Over the next three months, I wrote from the moment I arrived home from work until late into the night hours, hoping not to lose any of the inspirations the Spirit was speaking. I took notes: I scribbled, I scrabbled, and I asked many questions. Unbeknown to me, within three months I had outlined a series of books, which has developed into “The New Goliath Awaits Book Series” surrounding the lives of David and Goliath. Five books are now in print nationally and are available

wherever books are sold: bookstores/websites/eBook & Kindle Fire.

BOOK THREE

VISIT: www.goliathbookseries.com

Introduction

Nothing so enhances the relationship between the author and the reader than knowing their personal life. Knowing that they too have suffered the same sorrows brings him or her closer together as comrades of hope. Having the same experiences establishes feelings and emotions, which magnifies the joy and relieves the present pain. Some of the chapters in this book were written from raw everyday experiences familiar to many Christians who have suffered the same defeats, climbed the same mountains, and walked through the same valleys. Why Christians suffer such blindness during trials I cannot say. Yet, with each trial, there seems to be a loss of hope that keeps us from seeing God at work in our lives as we enter the arena of life and face-off with the enemy of our soul. Most of our problems stem from the root of our own lust; on the other hand, some of our problems arise through people we know and love the most. Such was the case within the lives of my contributing authors, Mike & Vickie Oliver, who faced a heart-breaking dilemma full of stress and discouragement beyond measure. The enemy of our soul is no fool when it comes to harassing and frightening those who dare to be a Christian. This was Goliath’s job: He daily came out to terrify and beat down the spirits of Israel’s Army and to weaken their faith in their God. By doing so, they could then lead them astray as slaves constrained to worship and to serve the gods of the Philistines. This did Goliath every morning and every evening as he taunted and laughed at the God of the Israelites (1 Sam 17:16). Do not think, my dear friend, that this cannot happen to your family, Because in some type of a trial, mentally, physically, or spiritually, your Goliath could suddenly appear before your face to wear you down into despair. Every word spoken by this larger-than-life hindrance was designed to taunt and to discourage Israel into surrendering their resolve in their God, and you dear Christian friends are no exception to the rule–Goliath Awaits…

David Speaks

“What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God…Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine…Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a loin, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock…And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him… Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God…The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine…Comest thou to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied…This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee…And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands” (1 Sam 17:26-57)–Goliath Awaits…

Goliath Speaks

“Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose ye a man for you, and let him come down to me…If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants and serve us…I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together… Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves…Come to me and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field” (1 Samuel 17:1-44)– Goliath Awaits…

Preface

David and Goliath ended their abbreviated dialogue to the church age and stepped off the stage of time. The books were then closed and preserved in encrypted codes for another dispensation. They spoke a total of 454 words and their memorandums and allotted space behind the podium of time ended. The cryptic mysteries hidden within their speeches are waiting for the ministry to transfigure them into New Testament designs of truths; they are as golden crowns of knowledge buried among the mummified remains of the shadows of the past. We must not forget to express our appreciation to the scribes of that day. We call them Journalists in today’s language: They risked their lives while covering the events and hostilities of their day. But through it all, they not only recorded in meticulous detail the activities but also affirmed them, incorporating them into the archives of Israel’s history. They penned these physical wars as they happened, without which, scriptural history would be void of significance: They filled in the blank spaces of these encounters of both personal and national affairs; they did not suggest, they certified each event. In this book David and Goliath represent two nations whose actions we will expand upon as a portrait of strength, courage, and comion for the Christian student of today–Goliath Awaits…

GOLIATH AWAITS

By Benjamin Lee Vince & Contributing Authors: Evangelists: Mike & Vickie Oliver

Chapter 1 Goliath, The Philistine

Lets first take a look at Goliath the Philistine and see what we can discover about him: Who was he, who was his ancestors, what of his genealogy, and was he really a Philistine? Imagine if you will, meeting this giant in some remote place and you are totally at his mercy. You are out there all alone and this giant says to you, “Come with me little fellow and I will show you a new dimension in life.” Trying to keep up with his giant steps while wondering where in the world are we going? Over the hill, you see a large dwelling and you are invited inside. As you walk through a huge door you suddenly realize how small you really are. There appears before you a gigantic table with chairs you would have to climb up onto and stand just to see the tabletop, you see also eating utensils too large to put into your mouth. But the spirit of curiosity has now taken control and lures you deeper into this strange domain and on into the bedroom. Before you sit’s this mammoth bedstead that measures sixteen feet long and seven feet across. The name gigantic is not sufficient to explain this exaggerated story to your friends, but you try. (Iron bedsteads of this size have been found in Sidon and other parts of the Middle East and were placed in the Museum of Louvre before the 19th century. (1) David did not follow this big fellow home as we are imagining, however, after he slew Goliath he did retrieve his sword and head as a trophy. His head he delivered to the king in front of Israel’s brave warriors, but the sword he kept as a souvenir. Well, you can wake up now and return to reality and read about the real giant that could be knocking on your door sooner than you think–are you prepared? The problem with this story is, we all without examination have believed Goliath to be a Philistine. However, Goliath was not a Philistine at all, his genealogy

does not trace back through this nation of renegades, nor does their genealogy show any giants within their race. To be more specific: If you will research their history you will find that there were no giants within the Philistine race–not one. Oh, yes, he was just as the scriptures tell us: “Goliath, The Philistine.” But he was not a Philistine at all; he became a Philistine by naturalization: Goliath’s parents and forefathers descended from the Rephaim’s, the Zuzims, and the Emims, and were of a different ethnic origin. They were of the gigantic aboriginals, who inhabited Syria in earlier times.(1) Goliath’s parents migrated from the northern Mediterranean coasts, and on down into the land of Palestine many years before and eventually on into the Gaza strip settlement. Their genealogy goes back before Noah’s day even before the flood. So how did they survive the flood? They were safely hidden away within the genes of Ham. Whether Goliath was born at the time of their migration history is silent; however, his ancestors lived in and around the country of Palestine during the time of Moses (1632-1492 BC) and beyond. Goliath was born a few years before David’s time, as we can only approximate. We do know that giants lived before the flood and that they came through the pedigree of Ham. Both history and scripture tells us that they were warmonger’s who bullied and terrorized their territory and made war with whoever would fight with them, and that they headquartered in and around the Bashan region. These giants or huge-bodied men, in the pride and confidence of their stature and strength, became despisers of God and goodness and were the terrorists and bullies of their day. They were known as the Nephilim’s (the giants–Num 13:33). They existed previous to the time of the mixed marriages in (Gen 6) and were therefore of a different race than the Philistines.(1) The Philistines, however, most likely migrated from Crete (Caphtor) either directly or through Egypt and on into Palestine, (Ps 60:8, 87:4, 108:9) and settled in Philistia, from which they got their name “Philistines.”(1) At some later date (around the year 1250 BC) the Philistines overtook the land of Palestine by overthrowing the government; and thus, they became the terrorists of the land– until a boy with a sling and a pocket full of rocks by the name of David came on the scene and upset their campaigns of evil. According to the laws of grace and/or of faith, bodily strength and size are of no

effect against the power and wisdom of God, especially when it is in the hands of a child: “for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16). It is amazing how we grow out of this powerful stage of faith and into one that is vulnerable as we mature into adulthood. As I said earlier, Goliath was not a Philistine by birth; he lived among them as a naturalized citizen. He descended from the Rephaim’s who in earlier times occupied the whole country of Palestine but were conquered by the Caphtorim’s, (Deut 2:21). A family of them remained in the country and became champions of the nation in the days of King Saul and David, (2 Sam 21:22). David and Goliath were not unequally matched. David was a shepherd boy but not one of the modern types. From early youth he kept his father’s sheep amidst the mountains of Judea, which was one of the resources that helped develop his physical strength as well as his fearless combatant spirit. Though he was a shepherd, man-to-man warfare was no stranger to him. The times he spent in the wilderness alone educated him in the knowledge of wild beasts as well as robbers and thieves who would try to steal from his flock; this gave him faith in his own strength and his personal capabilities. Our human skills and knowledge are a divine blessing, but they come through human experiences, and if you live long enough and do anything for God you will learn what this means. David’s accuracy with his sling was nothing wonderful above the other shepherds, as each was well trained in this skill; a three-hundred-foot mark was an easy kill without a miss. It was the shepherd’s means of protection against wild dogs, wild beasts, and if I may say so, wild human beings. This is why Goliath asked David the question: “Am I a dog?” He was expecting to see a different type of warrior and a different type of weapon when he went out to engage with an Israelite warrior. But when a boy with a sling and a pocket full of rocks showed up, to Goliath, this was an insult to his warrior skills: “Do you take me to be a dog and not a man? (Slings were used for driving off dogs more than human beings. It is noteworthy: That the only giants left remaining in the land during the days of David lived either in Gaza or in Ashdod.(1) That particular tribe was eventually eradicated to only a memory)–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 2 The Hills of Home

By the time David arrived at the camp the battle was already set in array. Shortly thereafter, these two armies, which were suppose to be engaged in hand-to-hand combat, are now observing one another from these two mini-mountains of some five-hundred-foot risings about a half a mile apart, and both forces are still contemplating on what to do next. Israel should have already inflicted many casualties upon the Philistines, but instead, each is sending out scouts with hopes of negotiating some type of peace treaty. The scouts have now returned from the valley floor and have given their reports to their captains, and they, in turn, have taken it to their kings. However, God does not negotiate with wickedness. After the Philistine scouts had returned and given their report to their king, the decision was made to try and frighten the army of Israel by sending out their best representation of defiance, which would be their big dummy, Goliath. And now, on behalf of the Philistine army, Goliath stepped out and made his opening statements and Israel was supposed to do likewise. However, when this big wall of terror came walking out and echoed his roaring blasphemies against the God of Israel; the deep roar of his loud voice created a frightening frenzy of confusion within the camp of the Israelites, which set off a rejoicing within the camp of the Philistines. Thus, sending terror and fear into the hearts of the Israelites until they ran into their tents to hide. This really got me: Hide? Hide where, and under what? They camped in tents; how do you safely hide in a small two or four-man tent? What were they thinking? Meanwhile, David, back home on the farm and unaware of the problems his brothers were now facing on the battlefield; he was enjoying the beauty and quietness of the solitary life. His heart was busy enjoying inspirations from God, which inspired him to begin his poetic career as a writer and poet, which, day by day, turned into a marvelous concerto of Psalms. But back now to the campsite and to the front-line of the war. Nearly forty days

and nights had elapsed since the big man with the loud voice had made his first presentation. And David has now made his way from the keeping of his father’s sheep to the beautiful valley of Elah, to where the would-be-battle was all lined up but doing nothing but gazing at one another. Then, here comes this young stripling shepherd boy dressed in sheepskin and carrying a basket of bread, fruits, and figs. It must have felt strange to David as he made his way through the heavily armed crowd of warriors who were standing idle. Can you imagine: Here is a war waiting to happen and a seventeen-year-old boy comes strolling nonchalant and non-restricted through the crowd of Special Forces awaiting the command to engage in hand-to-hand combat. How obvious and how strange he must have felt, as they looked at him with puzzled faces. Nonetheless, he found his brothers, not out on the battlefield as he expected, but instead, within the company of idle warriors who were thinking about doing something for God but were actually peeping out from their tent door. We have an overstock supply of peepers and thinkers today in our churches but only a handful of doers. They have the fire of God in their heart but they cannot get it into the feet. This is an entrapment Satan has so cunningly set for all Christians: Instead of being in the offense mode of going after souls we are in the defense mode of hiding behind tabloid excuses. However, the “Sin of Omission” was the number one sin of the early church and it continues yet today into the latter reign. The church cannot spread the gospel while in a defensive mode; it can only be achieved while in the offensive mode (Rom 2:13). The difference is: Offense is when you go after souls, whereas defensive is when you stop to negotiate or argue about what to say or do next. The Word of God needs no defense; it was established before the foundation of the world and will never bow before another god, and Christians who stop to defend it are wasting offensive time. Never should we let the devil frighten us into a standstill, because motionless offers an opportunity for the enemy to regroup. But when the church is in the attack mode the enemy has no time to think. The church is commissioned to attack: “Go ye therefore into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). But the church has been selective as to when, where, and to what type of creatures they want to preach to. I wonder what David thought when he saw all these warriors and his brothers standing idle and not pursuing the enemy? This seems to be a replay in the lives of many Christians of today who are waiting for someone else to step out; but

the battle involves all of God’s people: men, women, and children; yes, they too have a job to do. One old sister comes to my mind that has gone on to her reward; she left behind her a character that every Christian should be proud to exemplify. She was the last of the charter of the church where we attend. But while she was alive and well: When the church was having a sale or dinner or any type of activity, she would, if possible, come in and say to the organizers of these events: “I have two hands and they are yours to use for whatever purpose you need them.” It didn’t matter to her if she waited on tables, took out the garbage, washed dishes, or cleaned the floor; to her it was God’s work and she didn’t back down from whatever she was assigned to do. Though small in body, poor in health, and only a church member and nothing more, she left behind a mark of reliance on all who knew her. And this supposedly is where this public war story begins. However, like many other events in the Bible that do not offer the readers a great deal of information, at least for David, this is not where it all began. This story really began some years earlier around a sheep farm in the hills of Judea where his family: His father, his mother, his brothers and two sisters (1 Chron 2:13-16) were trying to make a living on a sheep and cattle farm raising, trading, and selling livestock. The family business had already expanded into both a cattle and a sheep farm out in the hill country near the city of Bethlehem, which lies about six miles southwest of the city of Jerusalem. (From a bird’s-eye-view–all locations within the country of Israel are designed geographically from the city of Jerusalem.) And it would be on this small farm out in these hills that God would supply the right type of experiences necessary for David to go up against this defiant enemy of righteousness. And thus, unbeknown to David, after he had killed the giant, he would now embark on a new experience to be the next king of Israel. His victory over the giant was wonderful, but his next phase of training for his kingship–not so. God has a special training camp for all who feel the call to work for Him, and the lessons you learn in His training camps you will never forget. (It’s like attending Knocks University–the school of hard knocks–you never forget the lessons you learn there.) This early training system seems to be a trademark with God. It happened in the life of so many other heroes of faith: Such as, Abraham and Joseph, Moses and Samuel, etc., and now David is the next candidate. God

has a special way of preparing those whom he has called, and many times it begins through strange and painful experiences not common to our desires. A life of faith is never mapped out ahead of time; it is a learn-as-you-go process, which helps each candidate attain his or her objectives. In God’s boot camp things are run a little different from today’s modern warfare. In todays training systems the men are trained mostly in simulated classrooms with little physical or exertions. However, in David’s day, they were trained for physical combat, which imprinted lessons into their minds, (as well as their bodies) which prepared them for the coming tasks, which, in David’s case, was to face Goliath. This is something for all Christians to consider as they prepare to face the giants who appose Christianity. The trials Christians face is not an attack on them personally, but rather, an attack on their faith in God whom they represent. , the devil is the enemy of God, and if you are going to be a servant of God, the devil will attack you and try to bring you down, not to destroy you, but to destroy the livelihood of God within you. The roap of faith is rarely ever clear enough to read until we get right upon where we are going. Then, from out of nowhere, the road suddenly makes a detour that is filled with many unexpected demands on the knowledge factors of what we learned during the early days of our training. However unpleasant the situations, they are set in place to help us grow in faith and in knowledge. Whatever seemingly God-forsaken conditions we may face, graduation day will eventually come to all who are willing to submit to the rigid tests. However, graduation day is only a move from one phase of service to another, and sometimes the painful story or scenario starts all over again. From the hard work and chores of the farm life, David would build a manly body as well as learning to discipline himself; he would not forget the lessons, which promoted him to royalty. Nothing was more painful than the green hickory switch of my father, and likewise, nothing was more comforting than the soft and loving voice of my mother; however, both were instrumental in molding me into a man. In some homes, as I , the Bible and a green hickory switch were always displayed side-by-side. And where would David learn the art of humility? That would come from a close association with his sisters and his older brothers. I do not know where his two

sisters would fit into this family life that home-schooled their children, but they did fit in, and they did do their jobs just as all the others around the farm. From the years of homeschooling, David would also learn how to care for and maintain the animals entrusted into his care. We cannot challenge David’s three R’s of learning: Righteousness, Respect, and Responsibility, because his life and character expressed his knowledge. From a small farm boy, he, like many of the boys whose fathers were farmers (as I ) would learn and understand the meaning of these three words: Righteousness produced respect and respect produced responsibility; the rest is history–you have to use your imagination as to how they were applied. However, these three icons of learning seem to have lost their meaning as new generations with new ideologies have marginalized their use. This is seen so clearly in the lives of this present generation who have no cocoon of discipline to propel them into their next assignment; they have no ability to fly away to their new world of dreams. I can only look back into the early years of my own life and my father and the other farmers around our small town. The remembrance of the early morning smell of a farmer’s breakfast of eggs and fried chicken, bacon, ham, or better yet, fried squirrel or rabbit. The sound of cowbells ringing and roosters crowing as the farmers arose early before daybreak to begin their chores; they prepared themselves for a day that demanded both discipline and responsibility– along with a hardy breakfast. Almost all of our successes in life and in God stem from how we react to these three teaching guidelines; they are the main ingredients for success in any field of labor. The farmers back then who lived near us leaned very heavily on the shoulders of their children to take control of the farm and the animals in their absence as well as when they were present. Everybody had a special job to do, and if that special job was not done well, it was like a broken spoke in the wheels of progress, and that meant someone else had to work overtime. On the spiritual side of these circumstances, this also happens in the ranks of Christianity: In church and on the street when of the family of God become slothful and unconcerned, it creates an infectious creepy-crawly bug-like microorganism that is invisible to the naked eye called “dilly-dally”, or more properly called slothfulness, and it is very contagious especially among church .

The work of God should work in precision to propel the gospel out to a lost world. However, many feel they belong to a union rather than a church body that can’t be replaced, and if they get the work done or not, so what. If Christians of today do not experience the type home-schooling of my day they will bring a hardship on other of the Christian family, which sometimes causes feelings of resentments, and in turn divisions in the body of Christ arise, etc., etc. Nevertheless, farms, businesses, and churches must continue, and the work and plan of God must also continue, even if some everyday jobs are left undone. Among all the saintly church who are sporting angelic wings, it is hard at times to tell who has or has not a special calling on their lives. I have been taught that all Christians have a special calling within the church. But sometimes if the load is not equally carried, tempers among angel-like people can arise and the world will see it. Yes, this happens even among Christians. It creates a smell that will affect the surrounding communities and damages the influence of the gospel, as well as affecting others who know not the truth. Nevertheless, in the face of all this opposition and confusion, the work and plan of God must continue. If you would take a closer look at this family just a few years before, you might consider that not one of them was in training for a future of royalty, especially of being siblings to a kingship. I know of no family, large or small, rich or poor, to live together in complete harmony; at least there are none recorded in the entire Bible that were blessed so–not one. Bible characters in the Old Testament did not get along, and neither did the apostles of our Lord in the New Testament; from father to mother to children to siblings, all had their share of internal disputes. Though they are in the line-up of great Bible characters and world religious Icons, they spared not to squabble among themselves. Nevertheless, and regardless, each would become a reality in the phase of David’s life of training; the family business continued to grow, their beast multiplied, and so also their problems–Isn’t that just like a growing church? David’s calling was getting ready to shift into another phase. The family grindings were now coming to a slow-ebb; David’s brothers are now away at war and the press against his life is moving him closer into manhood. Oh, how

the press of God can squeeze us out of one phase of life and into another. God’s press has a way of ironing out all our wrinkles if we can endure the heat and pressure of His squeeze. Then, before we can get our breath we are rushed into the next phase of our training, which is designed to help us reach the next phase, and the next phase, until we are seasoned for the job. The long days of growing up and following instructions was always a drag for me, and I am sure it was for you as well, and likewise for David. Each step he took behind his father and his brothers would be a new challenge and a new experience that would become another stone in his pouch. Sometimes the process of learning can be joyous, but sometimes it can be grievous and painful. I would suppose being the youngest child, just as Joseph, he became familiar with the expression “family pet.” Being an only child, many children miss out on the benefits of family feuds and resentments, which sometimes explode into bitterness and even into violence. Among church and blood relatives, envy and strife can cause divisions and slow down the productivity of the entire family network. Surely this never happens in the church of the living God–surely not? Christian or not, these are common experiences among human beings, yet they are crucial cocoons to the process of learning and succeeding together. If we run this story back a few years and look at other large families we would find those who share the same challenges. Look at the family tree of mankind: Adam and Eve had their share, even murder. Abraham, along with his sons and grandsons; they all had their family feuds, especially with the twelve growing boys of Jacob; their scenario almost took the life of their father–but God turned their bad into good. Large families always disagree to some extent, and especially when or if there is a family pet around the house like Joseph or David, or perhaps like you, surely not you–you, a family pet? Jesse’s family was no exception to the rule; they had their share of disagreements. Being the youngest in his family, David, no doubt, was the target of many debates and resentments just as Joseph was among his brethren. But look at the resolve it wrought through their offenses (Rom 5:15-21). David appearing on the battlefield surprised his older brothers, and immediately resentment came out of the closets of their hearts. I wonder if in my heart I have any shadows of resentments hidden away that even I cannot distinguish? God

help us not to frustrate the battle against sin through skeletons of our past. You would be surprised at what we hide in that little room that is designed for prayer and meditation. Surely this could never happen to church , and especially in today’s educated society–really now? Nevertheless, if it should be true, and if it should really happen among church , God has a way of squeezing the bad out of us right in front of everyone so all can see the real person behind the mask. But be of good courage, it is all for our benefit. those good old days of washing your clothes on the old scrub boards? Some were made of brass and some of galvanized steel; it depended on what your parents could afford. God’s scrub-boards can be rough beyond measure, but the cleansing power always works. David’s older brothers are now drafted into Israel’s army, and this also would place more responsibilities on his shoulders, just as it does when of the church move away or stop coming to church; the balance of labor is then shifted and someone else must carry a heavier load or different type of burden. And then there are the ones who have grown older and can no longer fulfill their assignments. David is now in the spotlight alone and the eyes of God and the Army of Israel are upon him. Oh, how puzzling it is when God is looking down upon you as though He has something up His sleeve. Do not begrudge the responsibilities placed upon your shoulders in and around your church; it is not so much your pastor looking at you, as it is God looking at you. Many church feel they will not be noticed when taking on new responsibilities. But you can rest assured that God’s eyes are upon you for more reasons than one, and that one might be just to test your attitude toward a new assignment. How David handled these errands and odd jobs of low esteem as a youth would determine God’s favor when he became a man. And it was these same minimum wage jobs (as we call them) that promoted him to write his poetry, dream his dreams, imagine his destiny, fight his lions and bears, and slay his giants until they would become a reality. David dreamed just as any other young lad would dream: What will I be when I grow up? Where will I venture too? Will God be with me as with my fathers? Will I be a king or a servant? Who will I marry and what of my home and to where will I roam? Many things run through the mind of a young person–it did with me.

If the ladder of life is hard to climb it could be that others are using your neck as a leverage of promotion, not knowing that their tower of fame will one day collapse upon them, and they will descend right ed you to the abasement (basement) of shame; do not descend to their level of thought. Many successful businessmen, politicians, and pastors began in a basement ministry fulfilling their assignments as they worked their way up to the main floor of public notoriety. And to the surprise of many, there they were, out of the basement and working on the main floor and doing business in the same spirit of humility. Where did they find that robe of humility? It was hidden away in the basement ministry where others had worn it. The daily supply of humility and low-calorie wages they humbly received with gratitude: They received no public honor, much less respect, yet they persevered with dignity. It was during these times of low esteem that David learned the art of leadership, of watching, listening, praying, and following instructions. Before you can learn how to become a great leader you must first learn how to become a great follower. And during your reign of greatness, as it may be, people will not see your greatness in leadership as much as they will your faithfulness as a follower; after they see your greatness as a follower then they will see your greatness as a leader. Those solitary moments when you are out there by yourself can be boring, especially if you do not know what to do with your time; and Christians of today do not know what to do with their time. Being a machinist most of my life, I had hours upon hours of time that I sit and twiddled my thumbs while the machine was doing its job; you cannot be a machinist without patience. David knew what to do with his time. When there were no chores to do on the farm he meditated upon God: He prayed and played his instrument, he sang praises to God, he wrote songs, and now and then he wrote a psalm or two about the beatitudes of God. This is how the Psalms had their beginnings–they were born from a solitary life. In the darkness of the night while out in the hill country, David looked up into the heaven’s and began writing and putting the Psalms in order. He looked at the sheep around him and saw a silhouette of Christianity a thousand years in the future. The rocks he used as pillows reminded him of the stories of Jacob and his dreaming of the ladder reaching from earth to heaven and him wrestling with the

angel until the breaking of day; no doubt he yearned to have an experience of like nature. Everywhere he looked he saw a picture of God’s handiwork and he wrote it down and tucked it away in his pouch. Time is a cash commodity that yields great returns and Christians can invest in the banks of knowledge by using their thoughts wisely. God already has plenty of angels to do the spirit side of His work, what He needs right now is physical bodies to evangelize the physical world. One of the greatest accordion players I have ever heard learned how to sing and play out behind the barn while just a young lad. After his school day was over and his chores around their farm were finished, he would retire to the barn where he would practice on his accordion; even into the moon-lit night he would continue singing and praising God until he perfected and mastered this challenge. And when he grew up and entered into the ministry, those who heard him sing and play were enthralled by the style of his music; not to mention the richness of the gospel he ministered. David’s faithfulness on the farm promoted him to the hill country where he would experience the testing of his teachings with the sling. Those up-and-down experiences in the hills made him appreciate the smoothness of the plains where wars were fought. Life has its hills and its valleys and its plains–what are you doing with your time while waiting in one of these situations? David is now alone with the elements of reality. He is away from home and away from father and mother, and he is an open target for brutality and murder as thieves and vagabonds roamed aimlessly across the hill-country where sheep grazed and shepherds watched for thugs who hoped to make an easy kill. In addition to these dangers, the elements of nature were also an enemy to fear and to respect: The coldness of the night could chill you to the bone and the heat of the day could scorch your flesh. Wild and dangerous beast roamed endlessly in search of food, and it just so happened that sheep was a special delicacy for jackals, lions, bears, and wolves, adding to the threat of any loner. He was too far away from Mom and Dad for them to hear his cry. His brothers were away at war and his friends were too busy with their own lives. Now it is up to David and to him alone. And friend, there will come a time in your life, both spiritual and secular, that victory or failure will be left up to you and to you alone; are you paying attention to your mentors? Will what you have learned

today in the basement ministry secure you when you reach the top floor of responsibility tomorrow? There in the early evening hours in the solitude of the moonlit nights or in the tranquility of the early morning light, David opens his heart to God in meditation and prayer. Only a shepherd or farm a boy can understand this happiness found out in the hill country. Destiny has a way of helping us make the necessary decisions and adjustments while growing into manhood. I have seen young men who didn’t want to grow up; however, they grew up ready or not. My how time is magical. I love this old saying: “Time heals all wounds; and amazingly, time also wound’s all heals.” The strong under-currants of life that once frightened all of us when we were young would soon be knocking on David’s door. Just a few short years earlier the news of these giants was only a plaything to David’s immature mind. The thoughts that one day he would face a real giant was probably not yet conceivable to him. Yet, in those early days of his life everything David heard, seen, or did became a learning opportunity. The stories he heard of Israel’s past years of their bondage in Egypt and them crossing the Red Sea, David kept in his heart. They were to him as music to the ears that went deep into his soul; they motivated his desire for more of God. Do your experiences in life motivate you to learn more about God? Does your circle of friends and fellowship offer you inspiration or do they drag you down? Is the pastor you are sitting under building you a spiritual future or is he whitewashing you with a thin coat of flattery that will not stand when life deals you a bitter and painful taste? The wars and skirmishes in the hills and valleys near their farm were no concern to David as a child. Like most children, he was busy playing his games and imagining his meaningless fantasies of whatever sort they may have been; when you are poor and a child and you live away from the mainstream of life, you have to use your imagination to have fun. But as the news of Israel’s battles and welfare came in by drifters and travelers, not like most young people of today, I believe the news brought concern to David’s young heart. I wonder if David had lived in our day and saw our young people with their electronic gadgets and the affluence they live in; would he have laid down his love of writing and his music like so many of today who are following the modern trend? Which way would he have gone if he could have seen our day in reality? David must have already settled it in his heart to live and work for God.

Though he was working a minimum wage job back on an unknown farm away from the mainstream of public life, still he maintained a humble attitude towards those more qualified. He made himself ready in the hills as a lad: He ed his creator in the days of his youth, (Eccl 12:1) and he was ready when the opportunity came for him to step out onto the stage of life–how about you? Getting ready, being ready, staying ready, and being available is all a part of the plan of God–Are you preparing should God visit your heart today? God is not interested in our ability or our inability but in our availability. The day David saw Goliath in reality he was ready and available–the two work together as one. The definition of good luck is being ready when opportunity calls; God wants to know today if you are preparing for that opportunity. God wants to know right now today if you are available and ready? If you will be available for Him He will be available for you. If you will take care of His business He will take care of your business. David’s giant was his ticket to fame and success; however, he did not use it “… for an occasion of the flesh, but by love he served his people” (Gal 5:13)– Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 3 The Fear Factor

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself”

President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 7th 1941.(1)

These were the strengthening words from the lips of the most beloved president this nation has ever known. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke to our nation in one of the darkest days of our history–the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Japan had made a sneak attack on our nation, and when the news came to our president that thousands of American lives had been lost and many ships were now sinking. President Roosevelt made his way to the microphones to address a frightened and crippled nation that they should not to fear but take courage. Only a man of faith and hope could utter such warm and comforting words as these, which are far different from the lips of our leaders of today. Many leaders have offered words of hope but utter them is about all they did. Roosevelt’s voice brought a calmness that took away the nation’s fear. As the microphones of this nation were turned on, President Roosevelt rolled his way out in a wheelchair to bravely face his followers with these immortal words, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” To many, this was a foolish gesture to hide his inner fears of defeat. Nevertheless, his faith in the people, faith in his country, and faith in his God encouraged him that our nation would overcome. And by the strength and jubilation of those powerful words, this nation ed together as one mighty warrior armed for the battle. Thus, our nation went after the enemy as David

running to face Goliath. This nation was wedged in between a conflict and a difficult situation. Like a statue of honor this nation did not want to go to war. Still yet recovering from World War I in 1914 and the sock-in-the-jaw collapsing of the stock market in 1929, which plunged America into poverty and hunger, yet the people of this nation presented itself as David with only a sling to fight the good fight of faith. America had enjoyed some twenty plus years of peace with a slowly reviving economy. When this financial giant fell in 1929 it pushed this nation again to its knees. However, it clad itself in the dust and ashes of its remains with humility and regained its strength, and again stood with pride as a Christian nation. The taste of dust and ashes is never pleasant to the soul, but it brought this nation to repentance and God heard their prayers, and America again recovered from its hardships and wounded soul. The coming of new Technology was giving birth to a lucrative and prosperous automotive industry. People were once again purchasing new homes with the hopes of fulfilling the American dream–but then came the bombs, the setbacks, and the darkness of fear. Nevertheless, in the face of the attack and the loss of so many lives, this nation stood bravely again and arose from their tents of fear and marched out to face its enemy. They went out like David, full of faith with nothing but a sling and a pocket full of rocks. They didn’t have the shells, they didn’t have the bombs, they didn’t have the parachutes, they didn’t have the tanks, the guns, or even the clothes and food they needed for the task. Nevertheless, they went out trusting that God would deliver them from this sudden evil. God’s grace is always facing a nation who looks to Him for hope and strength. His love is always toward those who look to Him in the time of trouble. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov 14:34). We had our differences and we had our sins; nevertheless, prayer became our weapon on the home front. People prayed when they got up in the morning. People prayed and gave thanks before they ate their food. And people prayed before they went to bed at night. This nation’s leaders and educators, and in many industries, men gathered and prayed before beginning their day; it was more important than their daily food. However, today prayer is a thing of the past within our industries, our schools, and even within our homes.

The leaders of our great nation today are ashamed to pray in public and/or in private; they are ashamed of the name of the God they say they serve. To pray in the Name of Jesus can get them kicked out of the government, which was established upon the principles of prayer and faith in God. Those who desire their colleague’s demise have no backbone or mentality; they are political puppets turned by the thread of deception and complacency; they speak with mouths filled by their masters who control them. This was Goliath’s problem: he was nothing but a puppet in the hands of the Philistines. We have presidents, senators, congressmen and congresswomen who have neither the guts nor the righteousness to stand up and lead this nation back to God. What will happen to a nation who forsakes God? We can look for nothing less than that which befell all nations who turned away from God–Israel is a perfect example. In the days following the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor recruits came from all across the country to enlist: They came from Virginia to the plains of the west, from the cold north to the hot south, to unite as one mighty warrior. America came together as one mighty combatant to defend the cause of freedom. They went forth in prayer and in the name of liberty to put to silence the forces of an evil empire. Casualties were countless as the sacrificing soldiers fought their way across foreign lands. Fear was their enemy on their battlefronts but “Give me liberty or give me death”(5) was in their hearts. No one will ever fight any harder than when they are faced with a life or death situation. You can define all the qualities of a real man when he is desperate to be free. His fear of losing will burn in him like fire as he fights his way to victory. Freedom is not free. When the chips are down and there is no way out, the demand for determination will reach the point of sacrifice. When Jesus came into this world, He came to make a declaration to all that righteousness is under attack. The imperial forces of hell are attacking the lives of all people. It involves all mankind all over the world, and when Jesus came in the stead of David He spoke also these immortal words:

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom…(Luke 12:32) For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of

power, and of love, and of a sound mind…(2 Tim 1:7) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear…(1 John 4:18) The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him…(Ps 25:14) The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them…(Ps 34:7) Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me…” (Ps 23:4).

There is a call going forth across our world today to recruit all peoples from every nation, of all colors, creeds, and sizes. Recruit the rich, the poor, the lame, the halt, and even the blind. The world has become a battleground; people of all occupations and lifestyles are under a satanic attack of sin and oppression! When Jesus came into the world all mankind was suffering from the oppression of sin. The guns, the bombs, the cold winters and hot summers, the loneliness, the wounds and the scars; none weakened their faith, as did the power of fear. Fear causes spiritual blindness and is one of the major causes of heart attacks: “Men’s hearts failing for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth…” (Luke 21:26). Fear captures real men and turns them into wimps. Fear activates the imagination center, which then produces blown-up images of mystical giants. Fear is nothing but an unknown factor in the equation of life just as death. When Jesus came and died, He nailed the fear-factor to His cross. Though He triumphed over fear and death, yet they continue to reign as a challenge to man. Just as Jesus triumphed over sin and fear and death, even so are we to triumph over sin and fear and death. When a man or woman is overcome by fear they die a thousand times a day. But because Jesus overcame, all believers can overcome. Because He lives, all can live. The president said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” David made his way past the heckling of his older brothers (1 Sam 17:28). “… and they laughed Him (Jesus) to scorn” (Matt 9:24). It’s not a sin to be laughed at for being a Christian. It’s not a sin to be scorned by your family and friends for standing up for your faith in God. David had to get ed the hecklings before he could stand before King Saul. The warriors heard him talking to King Saul concerning how he slew a lion and a bear–this impressed the king, but what did the warriors think? In some cases it really does matter what others think; people of all walks of life are listening for a ray of hope and your testimony may be that ray of hope.

Is there anyone out there whose testimony is worthy to be given before the leaders of our nation today? If there ever was a time in the history of our nation that we need strong Christian leadership within our government who will stand and fight against the powers of evil–it is now. Is there anyone out there who fears not the other party, the other nations, the crowd of voters–the faces of evil people, would you please stand up now. Christians are at ease in Zion just as politicians are at ease in government (Amos 6:10). They are too busy patting themselves on the back just as Christians are too pre-occupied with personal affairs. They fear to move into the mainstream of dedication where the current is strong and the waters are swift; they fear the trend of the day will vote them out of office. Knowledge is power, and the nation that has the knowledge of God will be the nation that God will honor with power. It is an honor when someone is chosen to enter into the presence of a king, a president, or a leader of any genre; but it is not the time or place to your ignorance. To testify before great people one must be particular with his words and attitude, because he is speaking on behalf of God Almighty. Read about the Apostle Paul’s intelligence, his knowledge, his wisdom, and his humility, when he stood before the leaders of his day (Acts chapters, 22 & 23). The world is not looking for a fantasy Christian or a fantasy Savior; they are looking for a genuine with God through a genuine Christian. They want to hear and see reality in both word and deed; they want to see and hear someone with intelligence enough to rightly divide the Word of Truth when they speak of God. They want to meet someone who carries not the Sword of the Lord (the Word of God) in vain. Though they are sinners who are dead in sins and treses, yet they still recognize a genuine Christian when they see or hear one–are you that one? The army of Israel fled to their tents in fear. Goliath was not their problem–fear was their problem. Sin is not the problem with this nation today; it is the hearts of man that is without the knowledge of God. The giants that stand in the way of Christianity today is not the problem, fear is Christianity’s problem. Fear is an invisible spirit that is more frightening and is harder to overcome than Goliath. One of the greatest signs of this truth today is the knowledge factor among Christians who know less about the things of God than any other issues in life; it is the harvest-factor of the new breed of Christians: These generic versions of the Bible are producing a generation of generic Christians who know nothing

about God or His Word. After Saul heard David’s testimony and saw his courage, he was convinced to let him go and fight with the giant. I wonder if later, as perhaps when David was running for his life from Saul, if it must have been this type of nostalgia, which occasioned him to write this Psalm? “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me” (Ps 23:4). David thought his valley problems were over after he slew Goliath; but when the king tried to kill him that was a shocker to his faith. Now a new giant has materialized and is more threatening than Goliath, and has appeared in the form of someone he loved and respected. Facing strange circumstances can be a frightening experience: Whether financial, physical or spiritual; fear-factors have a way of shutting down our personal assurance and confidence. Fear is the enemy of faith and will make a sneak attack upon our lives–even from those we love. Fear has a long list of cronies who are waiting to negotiate: Fear causes anxiety disorders as well as depressive illnesses. Fear causes emotional disorders that affect our behavioral patterns; it causes people to withdraw and become unsociable, isolated, with gloomy attitudes (Num 13:25-33). Fear invades the health of our bodies as well as our minds, and can disable a person for days, weeks, and even months into seclusion. The seeds of fear give birth to inferiority complexes and low self-esteem, leaving its victims with emotional and irrational animosities, which lead to social phobia and neglect. A spirit of fear can completely invade a person’s life, after which, many resolve to alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and even to suicide. Fear is not a friendly spirit; it and can damage a resilient life–fear can turn your lights out if left untreated. David did not get the he needed from his brothers. And many times you as a Christian will not get the you need from your family, your church , or even from your pastor, which can also destabilize your faith. Saul sent David out with an optimistic attitude. To him, the king of Israel was his spiritual leader, his mentor, his hero, and pastor. And there may be a time in your life that your pastor will be optimistic about you and your decision to do something for God; this also has destroyed the capability of many good potentials. However, many times it is in the plan of God to send you out alone so you and you alone can own your own victory within your own heart. God has a way of knocking your props out from under you so you can learn to depend upon

Him and Him alone–been there, done that, how about you? It is not a heartwarming feeling when your pastor, your church , and your family cast shadows of doubt across your path; it weakens your faith especially when you are on fire for God. It is as if a wet blanket were cast over you to smother out the fire within your soul. And if and when it should happen to you, it makes you feel like stepping aside and letting Goliath do his job. However, this was not the attitude of David and should never be the attitude of a Christian. David set forth a great example in the face of physical, social, and spiritual opposition. His king was of no to him and neither were his brothers; they resented him even appearing on the battlefield. I have faced a few of these wet blanket leaders in my lifetime, some physical, some social, and some spiritual. In the following chapters, you will read about my doubts and fears, my victories and my defeats. However, through all my trials of whatever variety they arrayed themselves, I learned that I had nothing to fear but fear itself–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 4 Victims of Surprise

In early spring 1988, my wife and I finished all the drawings for our new home and were directing our attention on the cabinets, the color of the carpet, the color of the walls, the roofing, and the vinyl siding, etc., etc. Then we turned it all over to the building contractor we had hired and the construction on our new home finally began. About three months later and many hours and days of anticipation and anxiety, plus some hard work, it was finally finished and we were ready to move in. We had purchased a beautiful four-acre plot out in the country where the houses were not stacked on top of each other as in the big cities; as both of us had previously lived in a large metropolis: she from Kansas City, MO, and I from Pontiac, MI, north of Detroit. We worked hard and did all we could to make our new dream home and property look beautiful. It was our first new home that we had planned together and our dream had come true. We had worked very hard and put in many long hours at our day jobs, as well as on the property just to make this happen, and we did it; our American dream had come true and we did it together. A good scale to measure the strength of your marriage is to build a new home, and if you can stay together during the process and not get a divorce, you have a strong marriage–we made it. The house was finished, the yard work was back in place, and we moved in. Life was beginning to settle down to the peaceful sound of country living–we were tired and we needed the rest. As we were getting adjusted to our new home and its surroundings of shade trees and flowers and the smell of country living, during a restful sunny afternoon I decided to take a walk out to the mailbox of some 360 feet from the house. I was just musing myself with the beautiful green grass, the shade trees, the smell of honeysuckles, the fresh country air, and looking at the stream that went through the property and crossed under the driveway about halfway out from the house. I was just over this point out between the house and the mailbox when I looked up and noticed there were three large dogs sitting in our driveway looking at me, and needless to say, my musing suddenly ended, because these dogs looked as if

they had business on their minds. The first one in the line-up was a big Rottweiler; he looked like he could swallow you whole. The second dog, he was a fast running Doberman-pincher whose teeth looked razor sharp, and he was smiling at me as to show them off. You know how they like to show off their teeth to frighten you. Well, he frightened me, and I sensed he knew it, because he just kept smiling and showing off his pearly white teeth. The third dog was a large longhaired Red Lab that left you wondering what he was thinking. He looked like the type that was just running with the pack and whatever the pack did he was ready to participate. I have seen this within the nature of humans who are just out with the crowd– know what I mean? Each of these big creatures was just sitting there looking at me about a hundred and fifty feet away, and each one had a good set of white fangs and they were all showing them off. I stopped and I wondered with my heart pounded within my chest–what should do? I thought to myself: If I run toward the house they could catch me. If I attempt to run at them to scare them off, they might attack me and maul me to death, or leave me all full of scars inflicted by those white fangs. I had tried the frightening technique many years before and it worked on several dogs; however, I tried it on one dog and it did not work. I had a delight in jumping at the dogs in my neighborhood just to watch them squall and run away; however, with one dog my theory of fun did not work on him. This big creature was sleeping in the shade on a hot summer day and I slipped up on him and let out a loud scream, expecting that he would jump up and run off squalling as before; well, this dude did not take a delight to my joking. He slowly got up and showed me that he had a mouth full of pearly white teeth with long white fangs that he used for ripping flesh, and I was immediately convinced that he was going to use them on me. And not only that: As I stood frozen still he walked around and around me very slowly as if to say “Scream again, boy, I need a little more persuasion before I rip you apart.” Not a good situation to be in. And I was thinking, “Lord, how do I get myself out of this fix? It could not have been my big mouth or my ignorance because I am smarter than that–well, maybe not or I wouldn’t be in this fix.” My mouth and my brain had sure gotten my body into a mess, and now what do I do? Then, the dog’s owner came out of the house and walked slowly toward me, and I was so glad. I really didn’t pray, but it was a good time and situation for prayer. I was too concerned

with the present to think about the future; we humans get that way under pressure. I wonder sometimes what God thinks of us humans when we get ourselves into situations like this, perhaps not with dogs but with other human beings who differ in nature and character: We holler and we scream at one another, we throw things at one another, and at times we really act like these four-footed creatures. I really do wonder at times what God and these creatures think of us humans. This man (the dog’s owner) said to me, “Son, do not move.” The owner then gently came over to the dog, carefully got him by the collar, and then gently led him away. Needless to say, that was my last time to pull off that stupid stunt on any dog–never, no never again would I pull a stupid stunt like that. This dog just did not have a good sense of humor; but he did teach me a lasting lesson in respect for his dogma. This reminds me of the story of Balaam (Num 22:22-35 / 2 Peter 2:26) who was rebuked by his mule for his frenzy of covetousness; perhaps God was showing him by the use of his mule his level of intelligence. Perhaps God was using this dog to show me my level of intelligence. Our Lord made mention in His beatitudes of those who display themselves as dogs and swine’s. Sometimes we humans do display a lacerating nature through unkind words, which rend the soul and spirit like the teeth of an animal (Matt 7:6). God even compared some men’s intelligence to an unfruitful tree. Our lord used many examples of the earth, sea, and sky; and even a worm as a comparison to some men’s level thinking. It’s really a great blessing to have your level of intelligence checked and adjusted every now and then; it’s like running into a brick wall and living to tell about it. Have you had your level of intelligence checked lately? I need mine checked quite often; it helps lead me away from troublesome situations. Though I was a sinner, I do feel that God used this dog to teach me a lesson. But this was not my last bout of displaying my ignorance; I have since gotten myself into many other situations that brought me embarrassments–how about you? I received a strong rebuke once from my bishop while in training for the ministry. I did not use diplomacy one night while ministering, and my pastor who was distinguished for his wisdom complimented my level of intelligence in a way that I shall never forget. Nevertheless, his strong rebuke increased my

intellect level; though painful to my pride, my thoughts were elevated to a higher level of diplomacy–it was a blessing in disguise. But back to my driveway scenario: These three dogs just sat there looking at me and me looking at them. I thought to myself, this is my only hope: If I appear to be fearless they might become friendly. But how do you appear fearless and hide your emotions from these creatures who can sense your every feeling–they are masters of discernment. When they looked at me with their keen eyes they could tell whether or not I was frightened; I could not pull the wool over their eyes. Trying to do this and think the situation through in only a few seconds of time can sometimes render a costly mistake. For the time it was the only logical idea I could think of–I had to face these creatures with a smile. And did I ever put on a false face; I was smiling from ear-to-ear. It is amazing how we Christians can get ourselves into situations and then try and smile our way out; avoiding the truth rather than suffer the consequences will certainly bring embarrassment. We should realize, that each confrontation with the truth is only an opportunity to liberate our souls and spirits from superfluity and surplus fears. Then, just as I decided what I thought would be my best bogus, the big Rottweiler (the largest of the three) jumped to his feet and came trotting right toward me. Talking about feeling fainthearted, a gentle breeze could have blown me down. Nevertheless, as he came closer and closer I observed that he was wagging his tail, and this gave me hope that this big creature was friendly. Then, suddenly, without thinking, I extended my trembling hand out and he let me pet him on the head, and I sure was glad. Then, in a moment of time, away he ran to re his neighborhood buddies, and away they ran across the field and up the hill and out of sight. I was untouched, unharmed, and much relieved; the rush of fear was now gone and my spirit was slowly reviving within me. Don’t think for a moment that God or the devil cannot send something or someone across your path to frighten the life out of you. Being “Victims of Surprise” has happened to many people: It happened to David, to Joseph, to Moses, and too many other Bible characters whom God selected as model examples for attitude adjustments. My experience with the dogs helped me face other situations that were also frightening, each one teaching me more about myself. Knowledge sometimes comes with an inflated price tag that cost us more than we want to pay. Though we came into this world with all the capabilities of

knowing, getting from A to Z can be painful. Growing in grace to reach the knowledge factor is where we mostly fail. Nevertheless, it is an inescapable process if we are to achieve our goals of both spiritual and secular desires.

Chapter 5 Impediments

There were many relatives and friends when I was a lad that lived around us when we moved from the old dirt roads out in the country into a different neighborhood uptown. We were moving on up, and like many other poor people in our community, sometimes other family moved on up with us to the same house. Nonetheless, we kids did not mind because we all had fun after school and fun was our game. We all (boys, that is) took a bath in the same old # 3 washing tub and we all slept in the same bed, even if we had to sleep crosswise. One evening we all (girls and boys) had been playing hide-and-seek and things had slowed down to a bore. I was just standing on the front porch resting from the running and hiding, when suddenly my cousin pushed me off the porch with a harsh shove and then ran off laughing. It didn’t hurt me and it didn’t take me long to get back on my feet and the chase was on–she is going to pay. Around and around the house we ran: once, twice, and the third time she split off out towards the road and around a large green bush full and plush with leaves. By this time, I had gained enough ground and the space between us was getting really narrow. I thought to myself: If I jump this bush I will land close enough to push her down and even the score. So, I put myself into high gear and my feet left the ground. As I : I was air born for about a second of time when suddenly I stopped in mid-air. My hands and my feet flew forward and my torso (body) remained at a dead standstill in mid-flight. What I had forgotten was, there was a wooden fencepost hidden within that lush looking bush and it stopped me dead in mid-flight, down I went, the race was over, and that ended my vengeance. Many times in our Christian walk or run, whichever, we can get over being wrathful in several ways if we try, and if we don’t try, God has many techniques of helping us. The race was over and my rush of childhood anger was replaced with a knockout. After I got my breath, re-adjusted my ethics, and got back on my feet, I realized that chasing her was vain; we lived to face another day full of

fun; all was forgiven, and we started life all over again with joy. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the children of God could forgive and forget their sudden collisions with one another just as fast and continue on as if nothing happened? But instead, we grown-ups continue chasing after feelings until God is forced to place obstacles in our paths to thwart our foolish reprisals; He is a master at deg impediments. Another incident comes to mind when I was again chasing after the same cousin, and again, it was to satisfy my vengeance. She was shorter than I was, and again, she had pushed me off the same porch, and again around and around the same house we ran. Then she suddenly turned and ran under a beautiful green rose bush where one of its vines had climbed up and over onto a pole of some type. It was nearly dark so I couldn’t see it coming. I was running at full throttle just as before. She ran under and out the other side of the rosebush vine without a scratch. However, when I ran under it, suddenly a large green briar from this climbing vine caught the center of my nose and split it up the middle, and again, the race was over. The blood was flowing and the screams could be heard, and again, another lesson well learned. I lived to regain my posture. And after my smeller was bandaged up and the blood was wiped away, along with my tears, I was as good as new and ready again for fun and games–and again, all was forgiven. But now life has taken on a different front with a different meaning, and especially since I have matured into manhood and have given my life to the Lord. After becoming a Christian I thought unexpected changes would be over, but I have found out the hard way that they still come to us even after being born again. However, I have never enjoyed my comfort zone being upset–how about you? I another time (after I had developed into my teen years) that I was driving down the street in Pontiac, MI. There was a pretty girl walking on the sidewalk heading in the same direction, and needless to say, she caught my attention. (I was young and not married and like all boys, my eyes were trained to spot pretty girls.) I do not know why the car in front of me stopped; it could have been the red light in front of him. Nevertheless, I suddenly pushed the back bumper of his car in as we came together with a bounce, which suddenly brought my thoughts back to reality.

Sometimes people just do not watch where they are going with their words and/or with their actions, and this can cause people, even church people and close friends to collide. Strange and sudden changes in life can happen to us all, and it does not take long for them to bring us back to the world of reality. I have had many of them in my short space here on earth: Some when as a sinner and some after becoming a Christian, and I cannot one being pleasant to my flesh or to my spirit–not one. Nonetheless, some of them did leave a lasting impression in my mind that I will never forget, and some left a lasting impression in my flesh for me to see and to . There are demands and situations that can pop up at the most unexpected times and from the most unexpected places without a warning. Overcoming the fear factors and staying Christ-like requires faith, surrender, composure, and sometimes just plain good horse sense (good stable thinking). I was already schooled in what not to do; now I needed to know what to do in unexpected situations; being a Christian in any circumstance is always the best defense against the unknown. When the warriors of the Army of Israel saw the size of Goliath and heard his roaring voice, the spirit of fear frightened them into their tents, and sometimes it is the same type of spirit that frightens Christians into retreating. When Goliath came on the scene that day, his size and the roar of his voice overtook the courage of Israel’s warriors, so they ran into their tents to conceal their humiliation. Many times it is the first sight of our problems that frightens us, and before we can analyze our situation, fear blinds us to the solution and then we want to run and hide. When David saw this big wall of flesh he did not display any type of fear or confusion in his character. Your fear and your trembling will expose your weakness and your enemy will notice it afar off. David’s supply of faith sustained his courage at a time when his life was on the altar and death was waving a sharp spear in his face. Fear, like most spirits of evil, will remain hidden until it can display its conquering power. Fear is not an open-air creature; it cannot live in the presence of the Son, it must hide behind the shadows of doubt. Not all fear is evil. We are to “reverence and fear God” (Heb 12:28). We are to “…render fear to whom fear is due” (Rom 13:7). Just as wealth, fear can be a servant as well as a master. David had a respectful fear of Goliath because he

knew he could end his life. He was not frightened because of Goliath’s size or his loudmouth bully threats; David knew by his skillful past that he could remove this wall of flesh, which stood between him and victory. He had not been slothful in his prayer life and neither in his training; he was an up-to-date warrior. And this is the disturbing factor that so many Christians are lacking in today: They must keep their prayers and their knowledge of the Word of God upto-date. , David represented the Armies of Israel and their God. The armies of Israel were out there to defend the cause of freedom from servitude. And Christians of today are on a simulated battlefield defending against the servitude of sin. How we handle our display of faith while out in the open also displays the power and beauty of the nature of the God we serve. However, I find it more and more each day that many Christians are unprepared for a public display of their faith–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 6 Against All Odds

In the seventeenth chapter of first Samuel we find a most inspiring picture-story of Christianity neatly hidden within the cries and actions of this titanic giant called Goliath, and a stripling shepherd boy who says he can take him down. And to enhance the scene, this glowing and promising juvenile runs out at him without fear. These two representatives of two different nations and cultures met for their first time face-to-face; well, not really face-to-face, because Goliath towered another five-feet above David’s head. Can you imagine walking up to a man that is twice your height, tall enough that the top of your head came only to his beltline? That would be like a five-year-old running up to a full-size man and telling him he is going down. This was the first time for these two eccentrics to see each other up close, and what a paradox it was: A giant warrior and a shepherd boy, a giant of hate and a boy of love. But that’s the way it is in Christian warfare; the odds are always stacked to glorify God. Possibilities and impossibilities were at their maximum that day and it was visible to all. Representing the Army of Israel was a teenager of one hundred and fifty pounds, but tough as shoe-leather and rawhide all wrapped up in sheepskin. And representing the Philistine Army was this 800 pounds (maybe a 1000 pounds or more) of grizzly bear terror, and these two were getting ready to slug it out. There’s not much to say about David’s physical size, only that he was about seventeen years of age, he was no taller than five foot five inches, and weighed no more than 150 pounds. (This was the average size of an Israelite.) But size is of no threat to God, as faith has a way of balancing the scales. But this giant, Goliath, imagine this: His hands were large enough to hide a grapefruit, and if he got a hold on you with those big hands he could twist your head off like the head of a chicken. (The younger generations will have to ask their parents or grandparents about what this means). Goliath could pick you up with one hand and twist your body into with the other hand. By the weight of his huge body and his big feet he could smear you into the ground like a worm.

His eyes were as large as the eyes of a cow or a horse. With his huge mouth, he could bite your arm or your leg off or dismember your body with his horse-like teeth. His breathing had to be like that of a black-Angus bull, and the valley floor must have trembled under the weight of his huge body, as he walked back and forth pounding his big feet in defiance. No wonder he was frightening to look upon; he left the impression of being a pre-historic creature of a million years before; even Frankenstein would have run and hid. But with God size and strength is no obstacle–with God the bigger, they are the harder they fall. So don’t outgrow your pants, big boy, God may have a stripling full of faith waiting to adjust your attitude. When God sends someone out to do His bidding, you can rest assured he or she will face the situation alone. And if God must, He can and He does, at times, remove your friends and church circle, as well as your pastor, just to make sure the man or woman He has chosen will trust only in the power of God and not by or through the influence of someone else. It can be glorious to step into the battle with everyone cheering you on and pumping you up with adrenaline; however, it can be heart failing when there is no one but you and a prehistoric intimidator. God does not count the odds as man counts them, and when it comes to applause, even our best friends can let us down. This is the type of send-off David got as he was leaving the crowd of warriors to face the giant: “David, we will be watching from the observation tower–we hope you do ok–God be with you my boy.” Isn’t that an encouraging send-off? But note this: If and when God should place you into a strange situation, you can rest assured that He will accommodate the opposition to challenge your faith in Him, even if it causes you to constantly wonder–where is God? How natural can we act when the chips are down depends on the amount of prayer and study we have devoted to the problem we are facing. Our dependence on our flesh is of no value when faced by a carnal enemy. Though God is not visible, His forces are always presently waiting in case the dilemma gets out of hand and we are overtaken by fear. The spirit of fear was projected by the size and sound of Goliath to shield him from the threats of his enemies. But David was not intimidated by his fearfactors; he trusted that God would deliver him into his hands. Have you ever encountered someone who, just before they made their attack on

your mind, they first try to inject you with the spirit of fear through the power of their words, and sometimes even through the power of their eyes? This was Goliath’s scheme and it worked on the entire Army of Israel, and it is still one of Satan’s favorite fear-factor tactics of today. David knew by his past experiences that faith was stronger than fear, and he knew also that “…perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). This is another problem with Christianity: Their love for God has not been perfected through experiences. Faith is not faith until it is tried in the furnace of affliction; likewise, love is not love until it is also is tried through trials and afflictions (1 Peter 1:7). Perfections come through transitions, which are sent to improve our faith–not to destroy it. When David took size of Goliath his faith increased to match the size of his giant. Most of the attacks upon Christians of today will be directed toward their thoughts, which confuse and thwart the progress of the true apostolic gospel. How David felt in his heart when he came near the enemy is relatively clear: The texture of his spirit was lifted up by the texture of his experience. Though David was small in statue, when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, it spiritually lifted him up in thought to where he could look Goliath in the eye. Why do we use the expression “eye”? Somehow the eyes have a way of saying things the tongue cannot articulate; the eye can frighten in ways the tongue cannot threat. I have heard big game hunters say you never look your creature directly in the eyes especially if it is stalking you. Because they can see and sense your fear through your eyes, and the second your eyes cross with theirs, they instinctively compute the situation and attack. The ear seems to be questionable and slow to compute what the tongue is saying. But when the eyes capture a frightening expression a text message is sent to the brain with instructions to run. In most cases it is not the size of the giants we face but the look in their eyes that causes doubt. This is nothing to be ashamed of, even the great prophets of old faced this problem: “Be not afraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord” (Jer 1:8). David maintained a lethal attitude during his approach to Goliath and neither did he feel intimidated by his size or his roar. And neither did his knowledge of his own small torso make him feel inferior; he was as sure and courageous as Goliath ever thought of being. David’s faith caused a charge of adrenalin to rush throughout his physical body until he released the spinning stone, which brought

Goliath face down to the ground. David’s physical enemy was only a shadow of the mystical giants of today. A scenario: A mystical sketch on the canvas of time. There is nothing wrong with sizing up your situation whether great or small; taking a closer look at your problems and possibilities is the wise thing to do. Too often we question the reason why when life turns strange and the dark clouds of change cover the light of our day. Why God has to mess everything up after we work so hard to make it happen is beyond me. Nevertheless, challenges are designed for victories, so why not go ahead and raise your flag of victory today–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 7 Goliath Awaits

I will never forget some of my experiences while growing up and especially during my teen years (there are some years I wish I could forget). As I so vividly : There was one problem that lingered and aggravated our fun and games in and around our small town when I was a teenager, and it even extended out into the farm country where we lived; though I was a sinner God helped me bring it to a close. Though we were hillbillies, or I should say country-hicks, we would venture out on the weekends to the next big town for Saturday night’s excitement, and especially to make a splash with the girls; we wanted them to believe that we were manly–so we thought. Though we were hicks hidden away in the country, we still wanted to show ourselves strong and manly; after all, those hills were our domain; we only went into town to find an imaginary girlfriend. We were too frightened of the girls to talk to them, so we just looked at them, and looked at them, and looked at them; we never got tired of looking at the pretty girls. We were a group of peaceful boys who loved to hunt, fish, swim, and roam through the open country. However, there were these four brothers in our small coal-mining community that held a different opinion on life: They were mean bullies who was not afraid to steal, cuss, drink, or chew tobacco, and they were not afraid to knife you if you got in their way. They were the bad guys around our community who was always getting into trouble; so we stayed clear of them as much as possible. They were of the type that seemed to roam around like a pack of wild dogs or a pack of wolves in and out of neighborhoods; they were always on the prowl and you never knew when or where they might show up. Each of them carried pocketknives with blades as sharp as a razor, and this was a frightening thought for us country boys; we were not yellow we just didn’t like to fight. Each time we saw these boys roaming near us, all we could conceive in our frightened minds was the feeling of their sharp knives cutting into our flesh and the blood running down our bodies like we had seen in the movies. So we stayed

clear as much as possible and let them roam. I had already tangled with the youngest of these four brothers and received some cuts from his sharp knife in my jacket and gloves; though he was smaller than I, he still was a tough little rascal to handle. Most of the teens around our town also carried pocketknives, but just for the fun of whittling on wood and cleaning squirrels, fish, and rabbits; we never thought of them as weapons or instruments of fighting. Those four brothers were not afraid to use their knife’s on human beings and we were human beings. You could call us cowards, but fighting and getting hurt was not our game. We were hunters, fisherman, wildlife and nature explorers that loved the outdoor life and we wanted to live to enjoy it. We didn’t want these four bullies in or near our neighborhood. They thought they were like the big city gangsters, but in reality, they were just small town thugs, so us plowboys stayed clear and let them roam. There was this big lake near our town about a mile or two out from where we lived, and on the weekends some of the townspeople would gather there to swim, fish, hunt, and camp out. Being a small community most everyone knew each other: From the financial section to the married status, who were the poor and who were the otherwise; we were all like a family town and we wanted it to stay that way. Most of the fathers worked together in the mining industry and many of the mothers worked at the school as teachers, as lunchroom servers, and also at the Community Hospital in the next town, so, everyone knew just about everyone–probably better than we needed too. Meanwhile, out at the lake: Early in the morning while camping out just as the sun peeped over the hills, the smell of fried bacon and eggs cooking on an open fire; the aroma would drift across the lake into our poor man’s camp. Though everyone knew just about everyone, still, when it came to socializing and especially camping out, well, there was some people in our town that kept their distances. We didn’t have the means to sleep out in a nice tent with sleeping bags and so on, so we stayed off by ourselves on the other side of the lake. But as kids, we didn’t know any better or the difference, so we didn’t care. We built a big campfire and slept out under the stars, literally, on whatever we could find or in whatever we could find to stay warm and dry. And when it came to eating, if we were lucky while hunting or fishing the evening before, we would have fried fish and/or fried squirrel, or maybe a rabbit or two with water gravy and water-biscuits for breakfast; after all, we were poor folks and poor

folk does whatever poor folks does. That type of meat and fixings for breakfast may not have a hungry sound to city folks, but to us poor country boys it was the best we could offer. We didn’t go hungry, we just burned up any calories we might have gained from the meal before, and we were always ready for the next one. The smell of cooked food of whatever sort when cooked over an open wood fire out on the banks of a lake or river; the smell would bring the hunters in to eat a hungry man›s breakfast. And besides, sleeping out under the stars at night by a fire and looking up into the heavens was a special delight the uptown folks could not enjoy if they had to. Not everyone had this privilege of viewing the glory of God like us poor folks. We would lie out under the stars at night and muse ourselves as kids do, about what we were going to do or be when we grew up. We talked about the pretty girls in our school and in our classroom: The ones we were going to marry, who was pretty and who was otherwise. At that time of life we barely could afford a hunting dog much less ing a wife and family, and if a girl should speak to us it frightened us speechless. Our folks never seemed to worry teens getting lost or hurt or in trouble while we were hunting and fishing or were out roaming through the beautiful scenery. Even when we thumbed a ride to the big city near us, where we loafed and watched the girls walk the streets–they just didn’t seem to worry . Drugs, tobacco, and alcohol never made it to our list of excitements. Our parents never seemed to worry being kidnapped by big-city thugs because everyone in our town knew everyone, and being burglarized was just about out of the question; after all, we lived at the end of a dirt road and at the end of a dirt road nobody traveled past our house. That was one of the privileges of being poor; no strangers came to visit, and living at the end of a dirt road you don’t have sightseers. We never needed a GPS system because we knew all the creeks and paths and hills and hollows all around our part of the country; our GPS system was built into us from following our Dads while hunting, fishing and taking care of the farm. However, as I , we did have one neighbor who lived out ed us in a little log shack at the end of a lonely dirt path. He was a poor man whose wife had ed away, leaving him with a little boy and a little girl to bring up all by himself. Many times, I them walking past our old rented warn-out

farmhouse as they walked to town to get a hand full of food and some hunting supplies. In those days, if you didn’t hunt and fish you didn’t have meat to eat. Most of us poor folks raised chickens to eat. We didn’t worry much about the wild animals because we kept the woods around our farm cleared out of squirrels and rabbits and whatever else was eatable and so on, as they played a major role in our meat supply. Rarely would a squirrel or a rabbit venture out into the open because they knew it was a risk of their life, if we didn’t see them the dogs would. This poor man that lived on out past us that had a boy and a girl: The boy was strong from farming and helping his Dad and was of a good nature. The girl, she was of a beautiful countenance, and for us lustful teenage boys, she was a target for our imagination, and that was about as close as we dared to venture. Because around that part of the county and in those days we all knew that just about every father that had a daughter also kept a loaded shotgun standing in the corner by his bed. And all of us boys knew to respect the father, the girl, and the shotgun. Nevertheless, as teens we boasted, we bragged, we told stories, and we continued to be the best of friends; we had to, most of us were cousins. These were the happy days of our lives: hunting, fishing, swimming, playing, daydreaming, and looking at the pretty girls; no cares, no worries, no job, no money, no cars, just poor and happy–those were the days. For entertainment we made slingshots, rolled tires, made stilts out of saplings and out of tin cans, by putting wires through them and up to our hands to hold them on. We made bows & arrows and wooden guns; we scavenged junkyards and dumping places for toys and whatever. Not very many Americans today can conceive those days as being happy days; nevertheless, and in spite of our poverty, those were the best days of our lives. No, Lord, please, I don’t want to return to those days–just them–that’s all. Within our families, we had many cousins scattered around the countryside where we lived: There were first, second, and third, and cousins by the dozens, plus in-laws and out-laws, we had them all. Nevertheless, there were three or four of us cousins that were close to the same age and we all hung out together; we had to, we were cousins and cousins look out for each other, or so I thought. You never know who your allies are even among relatives until the chips are down, and then you get to see the real color of who you are related too–even if they are blood-kin.

This happened between David and his brothers. All might have been well back home on the farm under the protection of Mom and Dad. But now things are different out on the battlefield of reality where the chips are down and there is no parental protection. And besides, many people that David’s brothers knew, they wanted to gain a prestigious reputation; after all, they were now warriors and they wanted everyone, including little brother to respect them as such. It’s easy to get that way when pride and peer pressure begins to tiptoe into your life: I’m this or I’m that, when we really are nothing but dust and ashes. My, how we change when we are out there in the outer circle. The inner circle seems to be of less value when there are no peers around, but when we enter the outer circle of peer-ism, then we want to appear tall and strong and fearless–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 8 Welcome to Sand Castle

Several of us cousins decided one summer to build some small cabins out by the lake to sleep in on the weekends while camping out; besides, our toe-sacks (feed-sacks) just didn’t keep us warm and dry through the cool nights. The uptown campers across the lake had tents and we wanted to look a little more dignified; we were growing up and our feed-sack sleeping bags were getting shorter by the year. So, we took our hatchets and our saws and we cut down these little three-inch saplings and notched them out just as the Indians and the pioneers did in the movies. Plus, there were girls camping on the other side of the lake and we had to make a good impression. After we cut enough of these little three-inch saplings and notched them out, then we built the walls and got it ready for the roof. We scrounged around the neighborhood junkyards and dumping areas near our little town to find whatever we could to help in our building project. We found discarded roofing, tar siding, old rugs and usable cardboard. The cardboard we used for wallpaper, the rugs for the flooring, the tar-siding for the roofing, the old rugs for the floors, and a piece of old tarp for the doors–we were moving on up and we were going all out. Our parents didn’t have to be there with us because we were big boys now and didn’t need their supervision or protection; after all, we were teens now, and like most teenagers, we thought we knew all there was to know about life– those days? This reminds me of the parable of the three little pigs who built their houses out of whatever they could find. The first little pig found some perishable materials from China to build his little hut. The second little pig found some material made in Mexico to build his with. But the third little pig, he was wiser and searched until he found some material made here in the USA. He then bought a piece of land with a sand rock bottom and built his hut on that. As it happened: When the storms of life came to the first little pig, his dreams were all blown away, so he ran and got in with the second little pig. And when the storms of life came again (and they will come again, and again, and again) and blew against

his little hut, his dreams too were all blown away, so they two ran to the third little pig’s house. And the next time the storms of life came they three were all safe and sound, because somebody did it right. That’s not really a parable nor the way the story goes, but I thought it is a safe scenario or illustration of how we do things today. The true story is on this wise:

“Therefore whosoever heareth these saying of mine, and doeth them, (says Jesus) I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock…And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock…And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand…And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matt 7:24-27).

The material is the Word of God and the Rock is the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Word of God is our foundation, we don’t have to worry about being blown away by the winds of false doctrines. We were young, poor and foolish in the way we built our little weekend huts; nevertheless, being poor we did what we could to satisfy the moment. In many ways Christians are just as foolish in the type of material they use to fashion their lives: They move from church to church searching and gathering old fables discarded by disgruntled and unteachable vagabonds who cast off knowledge and experiences as something worthless. Like so many of today who seek happiness through others: You will not find a golden trophy in the homes of vagabond Christians, and neither will you satisfy your hunger for spiritual food by following their trail. But you will find what you are searching for when you build your life upon the Word of God, because it is comprised of the right material that will shelter you through the storms of life–find a good pastor and stay put. Well, after we got all our fancy little weekend lodgings put together and completed–we moved in. It sure was nice to sleep inside and not out in the cold and dampness of the night; we had moved on up and we were so proud. These

little 6x6x6 fun huts were not the biggest and best, but they were good enough for us adolescent explorers–until those mean boys came calling–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 9 Mine! Mine! Mine!

Time went on and we were enjoying our new dwellings. Then, one day, while we were away from our campsite, those four bullies came snooping around and took notice of our little weekend condominiums. We didn’t own the campsites and there was no law against them visiting. But to destroy what we had worked so hard to build, that sort of got under my skin and my mouth began to work. To have fun, these boys tore down one of our fancy little huts that we so carefully and meticulously had put together. We had walked all over the community to find what we needed to build these play-havens; we had carried our material for miles on foot and we did not want anyone mes our dreams. We were away doing our thing one day; so the opportunity being there, these boys had fun destroying one of our little huts that we were so proud of, and guess whose it was? You got it–it was mine. The one they tore down just happened to belong to me! They tore down my weekend hideaway! Mine! Mine! Mine! That made me mad. Then the spirit of vengeance began to take control of my mind. Earlier in another chapter I wrote about my spirit of revenge–it came back. Not being a Christian at that time it made me mad and I said things I should not have said. Sinners do what sinners do and sinners say what sinners say, and later I wished I had said nothing–too late now. Oh the problems we get into without thinking–ever do that? Sinners naturally speak out in a rage and go beyond the limits of safety–but Christians? Yes, they too at times say things they should not say; it is a trick of the enemy and humans love trickery. Christians are not supposed to let their mouths say things they know they will be sorry for, but at times they do exceed the speech limit and have to pay the penalty–know what I mean? You’ve heard of exceeding the speed limit and having to pay a fine? Well, Christians sometimes exceed their speech limit and then comes the penalty. It’s like overeating: When you exceed the feed limit you have to pay the penalty for being overloaded. Being the detective that I was and having a big mouth, it didn’t take me long to

find out who did the dirty work. It was those mean boys in our town, the ones that roamed through the community and tried to bully all the other boys (and girls). The ones that carried sharp knives and wasn’t afraid to use them. They did it! They tore down my playhouse and I’m going to get revenge! If the truth were known, (and the truth will always become known) I was more insane than mad, because madness turns into vengeance and vengeance is nothing but lunacy out of control. Whatever or whichever, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into–ever been there-done that? Somehow I hear the sound of a modern day saint who has got his claws dug deep into this world’s goods and someone has tore down his or her playhouse: Someone has scratched your car, your boat, your motorcycle, got your carpet dirty, or called the police about your barking dog, and you are foaming at the mouth–better get over it, you are biting off more than you can chew! The Apostle Paul when writing to the Hebrew Christians reminding them of the days when their possessions were dedicated to the Lord, and also of the days when they were willing to use them for the glory of God. Read what the apostle Paul said concerning our earthly possessions:

“But call to remembrance the former days, in which, ye were illuminated, (You first received the revelation of Jesus Name baptism and Him being God) ye endured a great fight of afflictions; (You were willing to suffer for His namesake and the wear and tear of your furniture, your car, your boat, your clothes, your carpet, etc.) Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock (even if you were verbally abused) both by reproaches and afflictions; (people tested your faith and patience) and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. (Even your new church family tested your faith)…For ye had comion of me in my bonds, (You understood my suffering) and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, (You were patient toward all visitors) knowing that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance” (Believing that God would recompense both here and there) (Heb 10:32-34).

Oh, how we love our earthly havens of rest. Oh, how we love our pads of comfort and security, and especially our perch of political and spiritual forums of

debates. We love our public discussions and the nods in the marketplace–we love it, we love it, we love it, and we do not want anyone upsetting our lives. We are spiritually and secularly independent and we want to stay that way. We have what we want in life: We have the truth of salvation in our hearts; we have ascended to a place of recognition and we love it. We have a nice home, a nice vehicle, a garage full of toys, and we don’t want anyone venturing into our domain and upsetting our pattern of living. We not only have separated ourselves from the world, we have also isolated ourselves from the world. Our homes that once was a spiritual depot and sanctuary for hurting families who were going through the fire, is now a cold shrine and is off limits to all but us four and no more. There have been many Christian pads that God has blown away just because the dwellers got too comfortable and forgot about the reason they were so blessed. What I had then was not worth what I could have gotten from those mean boys. And what you have today, when it comes to being a witness for Jesus Christ: Our possessions, if we are not careful, can certainly put a space between God and sinners and us. My mind goes back to a brother in the Lord who was forced into a situation where he lost everything he had worked for, all because he was baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and would have been homeless had it not been for the poor saints where he attended church. It was not the upper crust ladies and gents that took him in; it was the poor saints of his church. These poor saints were willing for their goods to be spoiled so a brother in the Lord could have a place of refuge. They counted it an honor that they could help someone who was going through the fire. There have been many whom God has brought down to the level of reality; it is His way of preparing people for the tasks they are to accomplish. God is strange in the way He chooses and plans the events that make us strong, even if it rubs us the wrong way. His ups are down and His downs are up, and if we are to do anything for God we will have to ride the ups and downs to the end. It’s all a part of testing our dedication to make us shine as the stars in a dark world. When Christians get selfish and tight-fisted with their worldly goods, God has a way of stripping them down even if it hurts. After a time of trying and adjusting his faith, God pulled him up out of the pit of despair, restored him to a prince of a

man, and then placed him into a prominent place in life, at work, and in his church; plus what he lost for Christ sake was restored many-times over. Though you may feel forsaken in these times of testing; ; God will not forget you. I knew these boys were mean, and I knew also that if there were a fight I would be the one to suffer. Nevertheless, (that means: to sound big, rough, tough and ignorant) I let the news get out around our community that I was looking for these mean boys and I was going to do some butt kicking. I really didn’t mean to say it that way nor did I want to do any butt kicking. I had to put on a good front of courage; after all, I had my image to protect, and the girls at our school wouldn’t think much of me being a spineless coward. I had heard it said, “It is better to be a live coward than a dead hero.” That’s a matter of choice. But further into this situation I did consider being a live coward. What are we protecting by secluding ourselves away from the world? Why do we grasp so hard the blessings God has given us as though we gained them all by ourselves? Why do we so easily forget that just one puff from the Master’s breath and all our fame, fortunes, and earthly ions could easily vanish away? These boys taught me a great lesson in courage and I taught them one in fighting, and neither of us gained anything spiritually–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 10 The School of Hard Knocks

In reality, I was really hoping I would not find those mean boys. But being a small town as it was, it didn’t take long for the news to get around the community, and when these little gangsters heard about it, it was not I looking for them but them looking for me–and I didn’t realize the tide had turned. Oh, how I wish I had read the book of James so I could have learned a lesson on the power of the tongue without me learning it the hard way. If only the Word of God could have been my mentor and teacher, perhaps my tongue would have been more under control. However, I was not interested in the Word of God at that time in my life. So my tongue just kept on rattling and rattling and the situation kept getting worse and worse. Oh, how deep the pit we dig by the power of our tongues. It seems to be the best way to scratch our ego regardless of the pain we may inflict on ourselves–know what I mean? Therefore, not being a Bible student nor listening to my teachers or my Mom or Dad, it was time to enroll at Knocks University and learn a lesson from the School of Hard Knocks. My, if I had only read the book of James perhaps it would have saved me from some rough times. If only I had read the fine print in that black book (the Bible). If only I had read it every day like I was supposed to I might not have been in this predicament–but I didn’t. And now I’m in this fix and I don’t know how to get out of it other than fight my way out–gruesome thoughts. Lets read what Brother James had to say concerning the power of the tongue.

“Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body…Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth…Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth…And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our , that it

defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell” (James 3:3-6).

I want to remind the reader(s) that this all happened before I became a Christian. Later in life I did become a Christian but not all of my bodily parts got saved at the same time (so to speak). And even yet today after fifty-five years of prayer, Bible studies, fasting, teachings, and attending the school of hard Knocks, some parts of my body still give me trouble and especially my tongue. I really didn’t want to tangle with these boys and I really didn’t want to get hurt; I just wanted to vent my feelings but the fire I started got out of control. Our Lord mentioned the plucking out of the eye and the cutting off of the hand if it offended, but He said nothing about removing the tongue; I guess He knew we really needed it for other reasons. Truthfully speaking: I have never had my right eye to offend me without my left eye not being just as guilty, and when my right hand offended me, my left hand usually was an equal partner in the offence; but my tongue–it’s always been a loner. Reading our Bible really does offer great suggestions on how to avoid suffering defeats through our carnal nature. If only I had taken the time to read what this great man of God had to say. Notice the power of the tongue: (verse 6) “And setteth on fire the course of nature…” It was surely about to set the course of my nature on fire, and maybe my body also–we’ll see. I can recall many times that my parents set my nature on fire with a keen hickory-switch because of my tongue, plus a few other reasons. The writer of James is trying to advise us that our nature is genetic and is handed down to us through Adam. But no one told me this until after my exodus from being a sinner into becoming a Christian. I was a young man when I came to the Lord, only twenty-one years of age, and I had not yet cut loose from the feelings that I knew everything. I was of the opinion that when a man became a Christian he was just as the scripture says, “He is a new creature: old things are ed away; behold all things became new” (2 Cor 5:17). The problem was, I knew nothing about the new creature (the new man). I thought it was an automatic nature change that would come over me and make me like Jesus Christ. However, it did not happen that way, not with me. I had to

learn that it was a day-by-day process much like the process of growing up. Being born again can happen in one day; it’s the growing in Christ that is the hard part; being born again was easy; however, becoming a Christian was not. So I needed very much to pay attention to my spiritual teachers and mentors as well as my secular instructors, they really do know more than we give them credit for. I thought a new tongue came with the package of being born again-as in (Mark 16:17), but that was a misunderstanding on my part. Truth is, a new tongue does come in the package of salvation. But like these new electronic gadgets, you have to learn how to use them before you can get any good out of them, and I had plenty to learn. My tongue had to go through some painful embarrassments before it got adjusted with my new life. I learned later through my instructors, that though it was my body that my tongue was attached to, it was my soul that was going to be saved; but it was my body that had to cooperate until my tongue could come to the unity of the faith. They then told me it was my principles that I would need to change. They then told me that by reading my Bible my inward character would change and would help me control my tongue. Then they told me that those principles would come through teachings, preaching, and Bible studies. Sort of like house cleaning: I had to discard a lot of unneeded rhetoric that did not fit into my new spiritual house (life). Though I did not like to be told what to do, think, or say, I will forever be indebted and grateful to those who kept the pressure on until I could learn the difference in being born again and becoming a Christian: Just as we have to learn how to grow up as children–likewise as Christians. Between the beginning and now, many times, oh how I wish I would have used my ears and kept my big mouth shut; but since I thought I knew so much, listening was not in my plans. I wish I had the time to tell you of all the regrets, the embarrassments, and the days and weeks of inner torment I have suffered all because of the fires I have started with my tongue–how about you? There is no one else we can blame when we start these fires. Some people, as good as they are, have become asphyxiated from the smoke of their own flames rather than come out into the open and face the arsenal squad of onlookers. We need all our body parts to function; that’s why God attached them to our lives, and good or bad they are attached for a good reason. Nothing can be more mischievous as an unruly tongue. It is the chief

through which lethal news and sins are gusted out of proportion. Its fiery influence spreads like a flaming torch throughout families, communities, cities, and churches, infecting everyone in its path like a deadly epidemic. The book of James tells us, that the upward drafts and winds, which drives word-fires is coming out of hell: Like a spiraling flame fed by dead works from within our souls, our tongues fans these destructive flames until life itself erupts into a wind-devil out of control. The apostles also had this problem in the early days of their ministry. They wanted to root up the tares instead of preaching the gospel and leaving the verdict up to God (Matt 13:28-29). Wildfires of debates start through our lack of knowledge. What a diabolical (devilish) influence the father of lies has placed on our tongues, making it almost impossible to tame: It is “…an unruly evil” filled with “a world of iniquity” (James 3:6-8). The tongue contains an arsenal of artillery of the old nature of sin, and if not guarded carefully, like the blast of an erupting volcano, it can spew out enough corruption that a whole church could be lost. It can separate the best of friends and even tight-bonded families. It can set a close-knit community on fire with hate, jealousy, envy, variance, and discord. But in my case, I was the only victim scheduled to suffer the reprisal of the fire I started. My tongue had pulled me out into the open where everyone could see the real me–the real raw naked me. I had a reason–I had an excuse. A reason does not give you an excuse or the permission. An excuse is nothing but the skin of a reason stretched over a lie. If you think telling the truth is raw, try stretching the skin of a reason over a lie and let your tongue get caught in the snap-back of the stretched-out story–not a good situation. However, now that I am a Christian I would rather face the truth than a lie even if it hurts. At least the truth will set you free, skin and all, whereas a lie will imprison your body and soul and leave your spirit in torment. If there is one thing that opens the door to sin it is the tongue. The tongue started the sin business in the Garden of Eden and the tongue has been the downfall of man ever since. The tongue got us all into trouble in the beginning and it will be the tongue that will get us out of trouble now. All down through Biblical history you will find it was the tongue that brought victory and/or defeat. Oh, the power of the tongue! It is a master at expressing what we secretly think and feel, and is yet today the major cause of all our sufferings; we rarely get over one display of unedited impulses until we start another fire (Lev 10:1).

There will be more people fall out with God and be lost because of their tongue than there will be over any other sins. We use the excuse: “My tongue got in the way of my eye-tooth and my mouth could not see what it was saying.” But this will not be accepted on that day when man will give an of what he has said–women and children included. My tongue got me into this mess, and as a result, I am frightened and I feel like I could faint. (That might be a good way out, I’ll just fall on the ground like I’m dead–man, am I an escape artist or what.) Just the thought that these mean boys would enjoy beating on my body and cutting into my flesh with their sharp knives all because of my innocent little tongue. How could they think of doing this to me? I said only that I was looking for them–that’s all. My imagination center went wild with thoughts of vengeance on them, but now it has gone wild with thoughts of their vengeance on me, and now my whole body is going to suffer just because of my tongue. I know what you’re thinking; I know what is going through your mind: “…from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45). I thought my tongue was attached to my mouth; however, according to this scripture it appears it is attached to my heart. If my heart had not been thinking it perhaps my mouth would not have spoken it. You know–you are right. The tongue is like a little flapper that swings either way, and without the Spirit of God to help control its direction or purpose, nothing seems to come out right. And sometimes even having the Spirit of God words can slip out of our mouth, exposing the contents of our hearts. Time went on and the little cottage that was so abused was finally repaired, things returned to normal, and we returned to doing our own thing again. That’s how life is when people are happy and the pressure is off; we go back to doing our own thing and forget again the more important things. Oh, if only I had been a Christian and went after these boys in pursuit of their souls. If only I could have said something to reach them while they were young. Some of the most malicious boys and girls in our world today, after hearing how Jesus loves them, have been turned into great advocates of the gospel; just by the power of the little tongue–it works both ways, you know. We went back to spending our weekends sleeping in our little cabins, fishing, hunting, camping, swimming, and playing, just as though nothing had ever happened. I had almost forgotten about the threats I had made and my mind was

at ease. It looked as though the fires of wrath were completely gone out, and then one beautiful evening it all changed–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 11 Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here

One beautiful evening just before the setting of the sun, my cousin and I were up on the main road (that would be a gravel road) throwing rocks and talking about our teen stuff, when suddenly from out of the woods came walking all four of these mean boys–the ones that I had been looking for but was hoping I would not find. These boys that carried big sharp pocketknives and had done so much damage to my fancy little hut; the ones I had tangled with before–well, they found me. What a pleasant surprise it was to see them–and so soon. And guess what? These four brothers couldn’t come by themselves, no, no, no, they brought an extra cousin with them and that made five. With the four brothers came also an older and bigger cousin, and guess what, they had invited him along especially to act out the part of Goliath. He was not as mean looking as was Goliath; it was just that he was bigger and taller than all the others, including me. I think these four brothers just wanted to watch while their big cousin bounced me around on the gravel road, and that did have me worried. In almost all intimidating circumstances and gang-related fights, someone big fails to comprehend that he has been selected to do the dirty work. One would think that these big dummies would sooner or later learn the reason behind the invitation. However, like the animal domain, they right up with the pack, and besides, few of them rarely ever roam around by themselves, so they team up with a gang and are placed out front as a shield of defense–some people never learn. On the spiritual side of this story, these boys lacked faith in God and in themselves, as well as inner-courage. What they really needed was selfconfidence to stand on their own two feet and face the reality of life while they were young. You know; face one on one where the score is even. But they were not taught this; their bluff was their shield of confidence and also their line of defense. They really have nothing to offer in exchange for their brutal attitude, so they try to bully their challengers by injecting them with fear. Fear removes our self-confidence and holds us captive. The devil is in bondage

to himself and so are his followers: His fear tactics gives him power over others; that is why he has a large company of followers. The devil is a sly old fox that at one time captured the love and respect of all the angels of heaven, by which a great multitude of them was stupid enough to be led astray by his flattery; but the sad part is, he is still flattering a great multitude of human beings today and people are still biting the bait. This also was Goliath’s attitude of friendship: Like most bullies, these boys knew nothing about God or His principles, and they were, without doubt, not taught them by their parents to respect other people when they were young. They had no concept of real friendship and rarely would they venture into another turf alone. Satan is always busy trying to gather a crowd of cronies around him to do his dirty work, and if you are not careful he will rope you into a situation and convince you to become one of his fools. Likewise, many of the young people of today are just as vulnerable to in the hunt for trouble, and how sad it is that so many of them end up taking the fall while Satan slips away. What a master of schemes Satan is and his rewards are always filled with shame and disappointments. The devil is always protecting his back. Goliath had a large cast surrounding him while on the mountain; however, the situation called for just one to show himself a man. And now, just like the scene of David and Goliath, big cousin steps out, the war of words is about to turn into a physical force of resistance, and my only backup and onlooker has removed himself a safe distance up the road–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 12 My First Heart Attack

Oh me, Oh my, Oh no, Oh why? I think I am going to have the big one. This is it! This is the big one! I can feel it coming! This cannot be happening to me. This is something that only happens in the movies and not in real life, yet it was happening to me. How true it is that we reap what we sow and I was about to reap what I had sown. The primary subject and central figure of the gang, just like Goliath, big cousin stepped out of the ranks of the four and walked out near the center of the road and stood there. So, to show that I was not frightened, I did the same. Then he came up closer and looked me right in the eye as if to frighten me–and frighten me he did. Then he said to me in his special tone of voice: “We heard you were looking for us.” I must confess, my legs began to get weak and my body began to tremble. Oh no, (my heart almost fainted within me as I thought) what do I do now? It is strange how our mind becomes blank when we are forced to face the out of the ordinary circumstances. This happens with Christians all the time as the enemy of our soul appears to frighten and enslave us with his fear tactics. We might as well confess to the fact that we do get weak and cannot find words to say when our brain and our heart fail us completely. When our enemies are not present we had things to say, but now that they are present, our facial features and our physical postures suddenly start trembling–why is this? The enemy wasn’t around to hear our threats of revenge–but now he is. My how we talk big and stretch our mouths when we think that God and/or the devil is not listening–wrong. Perhaps we should season our words as we may be forced to eat them more sooner than later, and that in the presence of our enemies (Ps 23:5). And believe me, words have a way of tasting good on their way out, but when you have to eat them, the taste can be pretty sour. The situation was not too embarrassing, because we were out on a country road and no one was there to see my humiliation. But many times in our walk with God it is not that way, because God has a way of spotlighting us while on the stage of

reality–out of love of course. When Peter denied the Lord and began to curse and to swear that he was not one of them, he was not aware that within a few hours he would have to eat his words. When our Lord looked at Peter after his denial, just the taste of what he had said became as bitter as wormwood to his soul, and he sought a place away from the crowd to spit it out in repentance. No, doubt, Peter was hoping that the other disciples would not find out about his denial; but as we can see and read it went on to become world news. It was not the embarrassment that I was so concerned about; it was these mean boys beating on my body–that had me worried. Physical persecutions in some parts of the world, seems to be a thing of the past; however, it still exists very much in verbal form. Here in the USA and today’s new sociality, it is getting to the place that Christians cannot even speak the name of Jesus in schools and in public places, including within our government offices. They may not be threatened physically, but showers of satanic hate radiate down upon those who dare to reference Jesus` Name. There we stood, big cousin and me, eye-to-eye, threat-to-threat, and I am wondering if the other cousins, like a pack of wolfs, will in for the kill– Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 13 Eye To Eye With My Enemy

There we stood big cousin and me all by ourselves. Four cousins watching on their side of the road and one cousin watching on my side of the road–at a good distance away. Then suddenly a familiar feeling came over my body: I grew weak and faint-hearted just like the armies of Israel and man did I ever wish I had a place to hide. I was just too far from home where I could find protection with my Dad, so I had to face my enemies all by myself. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal 6:7) and my reaping came earlier than I thought it would; I had sown to my flesh and I was about to reap to my flesh. Isn’t it wonderful when God hedges you in and you have no place to hide and you have to face your problems alone? I suppose that is for the best, because, most of our problems we get into we bring on ourselves. I do wonder at times how God feels when we pull Him into the picture and it’s not His fault. Does He ever think: “Why pull me into it–I didn’t start this feud; you are the perpetrator of this mess; you started it so you finish it.” The world attaches God and His name to all types of phrases, of which most end with the D word. Even Christianity uses ungodly expressions like, “God dog” or “God darn” as a by-word for cursing, which is nothing less but a substitute containing the same feelings and meaning. Why connect God to these inner rushes of anger? If we’re going to curse with our lips, then curse, the feelings come from the heart and are all the same. Better yet, why not just leave God out of the picture and handle things ourselves; after all, it was we who created the problems, so why not leave God out of the picture and face the blockades we created. Christians should be careful with their phraseology concerning God; He could become angry at our terminology as well as our action-ology, which could inspire Him to impose a case of knee-ology, which might be bad for our humility-ology. The part where Israel ran to hide in their tents is a mystery to me. Here we have an Army that was afraid of no one: They were strong, courageous, and daring,

yet look where they ran too: They ran and hid in their tents behind walls made of canvas–if you please. Why not behind large rocks, there were plenty of them in the area. I can understand them hiding behind large rocks, behind trees, in trenches, etc., but behind canvas curtains–that doesn’t make good sense to me. It reminds me of a movie I saw on the radio many years back: The crooks were hiding behind a car shooting at the police, who were hiding behind a bush, and the amazing thing was, not one policeman was hit. Where are the thinkers, the strategists of war, the Captains, the Lieutenants, and Sergeants in this army that tell the men where to take cover? But don’t laugh! It is amazing of the kind of paper excuses Christians hid behind when the pressure is on and the fiery darts of words are flying through the air, and we think the world cannot see us–give me a break. There we stood like Israel and the Philistines, just looking at one another–one looking at five and five looking at one. My backup cousin had fled the scene so I was left alone. I was wondering–what will I do and how can I get out of this fix? I thought my judgment day had come and I was facing it all alone. I was so young and did not deserve to suffer a beating by these mean bullies–I was too young to die. We went to school together; surely they would have mercy on me. I was not a Christian and neither were they. There was no good-boy and bad-boy facing each other, it was sinner-facing sinner and sinners do what sinners do. I needed to make a quick decision: Do I step forward and fight this big guy or do I turn-tail and run like a coward? At that point the thoughts of being a live coward brought me peace of mind. This was a rough choice for a young teenager to make; after all, I had my life to live and my image to protect, and one thing for sure, I did not want anyone beating on my body–but the bullying must be stopped and it looked like it was left up to me–but why me, or why you? Sometimes it works that way. If God picks you to be the hero or the star attraction, you can rest assured He will orchestrate an uneven situation for His glory. But this: His glory will be contingent upon your performance, so put on a good show of faith. For us teens, we had been tormented long enough by the fear of these boys, and it looked like it was time to get the victory. We would go out of our way to avoid meeting them face-up: We could not talk with them, we could not reason with them, and the dread of even accidentally running into them brought distress to our hearts. But suddenly all that anxiety turned into reality and there we were, face-to-face and eye-to-eye, and it was all left up to me and it was all going to be

(win or lose) in reality mode. The new technology of the television is soon switching to digital viewing and they think it is much clearer than today’s technology; they need to take a look at life in reality mode. It couldn’t have gotten any clearer to me that I was about to take a beating and it was all going to be in reality mode; no music, no backups, no substitutes, just me feeling the pain. We can only run from our problems so long and then we must turn and face what we have sown. Whether it is a sin in the flesh or a secret sin hidden under our smiling faces, eventually we will have to face it if we are to overcome its power over us. what President Roosevelt said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” What I did not know is this: These boys were just as afraid of me as I was of them and fear was the only unknown factor that stood between us; just a thin layer of fear and we could have had the victory. That was all that stood between Israel’s victory and Goliath’s defeat, just a thin layer of canvas– what fear-factor are you hiding behind today? Come out, come out, from wherever you are hiding and God will give you the victory–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 14 Foot In Mouth Club

I was already a member of the foot-in-mouth club, as you can obviously tell, and my approach into this knuckle match was verification that I was truly a qualified member. There we stood, they with their knives and muscles and big cousin, and I, with one foot in my mouth and the other one on the ground. Now, how am I going to fight this big brute with one foot in my mouth and one foot on the ground? This is certainly not a good situation or code of ethics for a fight. But, Oh, read what I am thinking: “Will I let these community bullies continue to torment me and my cousins, or will I stand up and fight and break loose from their spell of terror?” This is not something that I wanted to do. I did not think that it was my big heart that got me into this situation; I was sure it was my big mouth. Even though you may have a big heart and you want to forgive, there are times when situations demand a face-to-face confrontation with what you’ve sown with your words and/or deeds. I another situation where the boss, who was a sinner, made a sensual remark concerning a man’s wife who was a Christian. Before the boss could think, the Christian picked him up over his head and held him over a grinding machine. He told him not to ever say anything like that again concerning his wife or he would put him inside the machine headfirst and turn it on. It was no doubt a bluff to teach the boss how serious a matter it could be. The Christian did not get fired, the boss learned a good lesson in humility, the results brought respect from all the employees, and all was forgiven. Even our Lord was faced with a situation to where He drove the moneychangers out of the Temple with a whip (John 2:15). In one of His messages our Lord spoke about the subject of the heart and the tongue and it was on this wise: “…for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt 12:34). So maybe I could put the blame on my heart and not on the rest of my body; after all, my tongue was just being used as an instrument to protect the rest of my body, and it came on suddenly like a loudspeaker system expressing the feelings within my heart. No wonder the

writer said, “But the tongue no man can tame” (James 3:8). When the heart has something to say the tongue becomes its mouthpiece. There is not much of an escape route when you are hedged in and your only means of turns-tail and runs. the cousin that was with me and we were throwing rocks and talking and enjoying life? He suddenly felt like this was none of his business, so he removed himself a good distance away where he could watch and not get hurt. It was not Satan who hedged me in and neither was it God; it was my own evil surmising that brought on this situation. And Christians need to face the truth; most of the situations we get into we bring on ourselves. It is amazing how we get ourselves into situations and try to put the blame on God and/or the devil. First, we try to put the blame on God as if it was His idea, and when that doesn’t work we then try to put the blame on the devil. It might be a wise idea to look deeply into the contents of our own hearts before we open the floodgates of our mouths. Then, to cover up our ignorance and/or our overzealous stupidity, we try to psych our way out by acting even more stupid. This doesn’t seem to work against unbelievers: What provokes them to anger is our decomposing attitude; they can see right through our curtain of fear and what a sight it is. When God steps in to fight, He fights on the assumption that it is for His cause and for His glory and not that of His pity on us. Again, let me say this: All these things happened before I became a Christian and carnality was my only avenue of escape; I did not know God or I might not have been in this situation. Even though I am no longer a member of the “footin-mouth” club, I still have to filter my thoughts before releasing them to the public, because what goes out through my mouth could very easily return to my flesh–are you listening? We may get ourselves into many strange and unpredictable situations as Christians, but however it may happen, we are commanded to remain a Christian throughout our ordeal. Ask yourself: “What would Jesus think? What would Jesus say? What would Jesus do?” The Apostle James gives us some sound words of wisdom:

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure; (has pure motives) “then

peaceful”; (brings peace of mind) then gentle; (is temperate and moderate) and easy to be entreated; (is approachable) full of mercy and good fruits; (returns good for evil) without partiality; (without favoritism) without hypocrisy; (is not two-faced) (James 3:17).

Any Christian should know that behind well-planned trickery stands the enemy of our soul. When Christians boast with their tongues and spew out words full of poison, the germs of their anger will spread far and wide and will return unto them. Whether it be yea, nay, or amen, the judicial courts of heaven will not grant us peace until we have “…paid the utmost farthing” (Matt 5:26). When Christians boast too much it is an opportunity for God to take a rest and let us enjoy the reaping of what we have sown–do you agree–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 15 The Face-off Begins

At first it was two against five, then my cousin chickened out and now it is one against five. You would think that these boys would find it in their hearts to be fair and choose one in the gang that was near my size; after all, there was five of them and just one of me. Nonetheless, not one in the pack was willing to step forward to balance the physical force–not one. It appears that David was faced with the same situation: No one within the entire Israeli military force, including the king, nor his brothers, was willing to step out on his behalf-not one. But this did not change David’s mind or weaken his faith in God or in his own ability; he held on to what he believed, and thus, it gave him the strength and stamina he needed to challenge the opposition on behalf of his brothers and his cowardice king. This is not always true among brethren when troubles come and not even your leader shows an interest–it can be discouraging beyond the limits of our power to stand strong. In today’s political and spiritual arena, most heroes of freedom and of faith have ed on and we are left with a group of complacent-minded leaders who offer no standards of courage or tactics of spiritual warfare; their lives are filled with a generic brand of the gospel that has become the trend of the day–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 16 Goliath Steps Forward

When Goliath stepped out to fight with David the tension of the battle increased. David, seeing that Goliath had made his move, ran toward him as if he was nothing but a small bully; but that was not my style of approach. I think if their big cousin had accidentally sneezed I would have fainted. My battle was not a fight for righteousness but one of stupidity. Many good Christians of today have engaged into the same crusades of speech, which was just as senseless and foolish by this same scenario of the tongue and have been put to shame. Like the Philistines, these four brothers put the biggest jug-head they could find out front to do their dirty work. In my situation, their big cousin was taller and older than I, and one thing for sure, he did not seem to be shaking in his boots. To me, he was Goliath made over, big and fearless, which frightened the life out of me. He was not really that big, but when you are afraid and pain is eminent, everyone seems to appear oversize and out of proportion. I was not David, I did not have his type of skills, and I did not have anything in my hands to protect myself–not even my slingshot. Perhaps I should have thought of beating him to death with my tongue; after all, it was my big tongue that got me into this situation–ever feel that way? I didn’t have a set of pearly white fangs to rip him apart, but I did know how to bark, and that was why I was in this situation. I have another idea: Why not try to bite and devour him to death with my mouth–it works among Christians (Gal 5:15). We bite and devour one another with the same attitude, which leaves our brothers and sisters wounded and hurting, and sometime spiritually dead. Oh of the sinners and brothers in Christ we have wounded with the sword of our mouths, our tongue; yet God has not forsaken us–mouth and all–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 17 Both Feet In Mouth

Before we venture any further into this little scenario of the past, let me relate to you a bogus that was played on me some years back in the fashion of a joke: One day my wife and I were riding with a group of Gold Wing Road Riders and one of them began to relate to a story over the CB radio. All the bikers had CB radios so they all heard and knew what was going on from previous rides. The story that was told me (as he so cleverly lured me into his web of conversation) was about a woman who had cancer in one of her legs and the Doctor had scheduled her for surgery to remove that leg. However, during the process of pre-op some of the paperwork got mixed up with someone else` paperwork and the Doctor removed the wrong leg. After she had recovered from the surgery, as the story would go, she was re-itted into the same hospital and the same doctor removed the other leg and she survived. After she had again recovered she filed a malpractice suit against the doctor and against the hospital, claiming a large sum of money plus punitive damages. However, when the case went into court before the judge and a of jurors, the final outcome was, she lost the case and was denied payment. This jokester really took his time; he really set me up just right for the laugh. Like David, concerning the wee lamb, my indignation got out of control. Has the devil ever done this to you–set you up and pulled you into a most interesting meaningless scenario to be laughed at? He has me. Satan is a master at storytelling and he really knows how to sucker people in–ask Eve how it felt. This is why man is at risk when it comes to the Television: Hollywood spends so much time and money just to create one minute of suspense that will lure their viewers into a state of captivation. Whereas the ministry can hardly keep their audiences interested in their message for thirty minutes. Reason: the filmmakers are more dedicated to their cause. There was a long space of silence just before I took the bait and asked the question: “How could someone lose a case like this that was so vivid to a charge

of malpractice?” This was his punch line: “She didn’t have a leg to stand on.” You should have heard the laughs over the CB radios. This guy really set me up for a public display and he succeeded–the laugh was on me. This was a joke and we all had a good laugh. However, it does offer a great truth: Be careful of the scenarios you get yourself into because the last laugh will be on you, should Jesus come for his church at that moment and you are not ready. But back to the fight: Suddenly this big Goliath cousin of theirs said to me “We need to settle this matter right here and right now.” Then I did what comes so natural to me. Just to show this big bully how stupid I really was, I stepped right up into his face and looked him right in the eye, and that was when I put my other foot into my mouth. I said to him: “We might as well settle it right here and right now.” In other words: When I started boasting again, I then started threatening again, and it was at this point that I put my other foot in my mouth and said things I really didn’t’ mean to say. Oh, how we say things we really don’t mean to say when we are challenged to save face. The first taste of toe-jam should have been enough for one time; however, it must not have been enough to turn my mouth off, because foot number two is now on its way in. Now that I have both feet in my mouth I suddenly realized I have no ing arguments–I do not have a leg to stand on. How is that for intelligence? I am smart. I am brilliant. I am a genius of strategy. I am sure by now the reader of this book is thinking: “How stupid can this guy be–why does he not bow out and save his hide while his body is still all in tact?” Well, to tell you the truth, with booth feet in my mouth I really couldn’t turn and run–not a good situation–I was trapped. And that is how it is with God. He will let you enjoy the bittersweet taste of your own problems as long as you want to, and sometimes it is a long, long time before He grants to us the victory. God has placed His Holy Spirit within our hearts and has established His Written Word to help us in our times of trouble; that is, if it brings praise and glory to Him. But if we tempt God through our ignorance, Him being a God of wisdom and knowledge, He could let us work out our own salvation and ignore our fear and trembling–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 18 Goliath Steps Back

It had appeared to me that I was about to reap what I had sown like it or not. I am sure that no Christian has ever ventured to get entangled into such a tonguetied web of ignorance like unto this scenario. Surely this will not happen to a Christian who represents the intellectual image of God–but I was a sinner. Christians are not supposed to fight their battles in this manner. However, some have fallen into this trap that Satan has so cleverly set, by which they will wear the scares of their own shame, even while kneeling in prayer to repent of the error of their way. And when their minister pulls back the clothing to pour in the healing oil of the gospel, there will be plenty of bystanders to view those familiar scares; though they are not likely to it that they too have experienced the same–they will laugh in their hearts. How do we fight battles with both feet in our mouth? My, the things we say that cause us so much trouble and pain, and the depths we descend into just to get certified into this elite club. One would think that we would eventually learn not to say things we do not mean or do not know anything about. Another short story comes to my mind of a Christian that was talking about someone in their church, when suddenly they realized they had gone ed the end of their knowledge factor. Then, to avoid embarrassment they said, “If you want to know more you will have to ask someone else because I have already told you more than I know.” Christians and people in general have a way of hearing more than is being said, seeing more than can be seen, and supposing more than what is really truth. We don’t just talk, we over-talk, and we don’t just hear, we over-hear–know what I mean? Then, when I made a step forward toward this big bully, to my surprise, he takes a step backward and that really messed with my mind; that confused my war-like strategies. I didn’t know what to think, to say, or what to expect–maybe it’s a trick. Then he gently stepped backward again and that really began to bother me. Then he bent over and picked up a large piece of wooden weaponry about

the size of a baseball bat that was lying on the side of the road, and then I begin to get the picture. And with a faint and tremulous voice, I asked, “What are you going to do with that club”? (As if I didn’t already now.) You guessed it; he was going to bounce it up and down upon my head. Though I was not a praying person at that time, prayer would have been must appropriate: “Dear Lord, why could I not keep my big mouth shut, and why does my mouth keep getting my body into so much danger; they are about to pounce an uglystick upon my body and I cannot understand the reason why”–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 19 Fall Or Fly–Depends On The Size

While working in the tooling industry in Michigan, there were these three men employed in the same company where I worked, two of which stood seven-footone, and another that stood six-foot-nine; all of which were professionals in the tooling trade. One day while washing up for lunch, as we all gathered around these large half round foot-controlled washbasins. One of these big guys was washing up next to me and he bumped into me, I do believe on purpose. I looked up at him and I said, “Boy.” (I stood about five-foot-eight max with my shoes on and this guy stood six-foot-nine–quite a paradox.) Every day for lunch this 6’ 9” guy would drink a quart of chocolate milk and he brought enough food in his big lunch box to feed two or three hungry men my size. When I looked up at him and said, “Boy” he looked down at me and asked, “Where did you get that boy stuff”? I said to him, “Where I come from the bigger they are the harder they fall.” He looked down at me with a smirk-like grin on his face (As if I couldn’t see that he was able to smear me) and he said to me, “Oh yeah! And I said, yeah! (There goes my big mouth again) Then he said, “Well, where I come from, little man, the smaller they are the further they fly.” He was of a good nature, as some people cannot appreciate a joke of this type even among friends. Since that time, however, I have grown a little older, a little wiser, a little more respectful, and a little more intellectual with my speech and thought of approach, plus in wisdom. Nevertheless, after attending many classes at Knocks University, (the school of hard knocks) I still need an intellectual tune-up once in a while. And I must confess, there have been many times I have wished I had kept my big mouth shut–however or whichever, it’s all a part of paying your fine for exceeding the speaking limit. Down through the years I have received the prestigious award for my ability to put both feet in my mouth; it helps enhance my feelings of achievements, plus it is good for my ego–so to speak. This is an elite club that has many great and famous signatures of both secular and Biblical eccentrics. If you were to scroll

down through the archives of Biblical, political, and secular history, on the list of names you would find many great and distinguished individuals: such as St. Peter, Samson, Haman, Saul, Moses, Jacob, Abraham, Isaac, Cain, Adam, and many others, including an American president by the name of Richard Milhous Nixon, who had to eat their words. these famous words? “I’m not a crook” spoken by the President of the United States of America just before his political career ended in shame. However, he did leave us with a political joke to him by that will never be forgotten. “I’m not a crook”–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 20 Setting The Battle In Array

Let’s return now to this teenage clash as they are getting ready to compete for the crown: The four brothers are still all lined up on the other side of the road, my cousin has removed himself to a safe distance away, and I am now out there in the middle of the road to face their big thug dummy cousin all by myself–not a good feeling. Friend, do not feel that God has forsaken you because you are out there facing your trials or problems all alone; that is just the way God does things. If you are going to win any battles or have any victory over obstacles that stand in your way, it will be you and you alone to face them, and it will be you and you alone who will triumph over them. It seems as though that God is continually monitoring our faith for weaknesses and this is one of His ways of doing so. (But I was a sinner and the Spirit of God did not orchestrate this situation; it was my own surmising that got me into this fix and it would be me alone who will take the beating. There are some battles that we humans must deal with on our human level and I was about to learn that lesson.) Then, when I realized what this big dude was about to do with that big killer club, I decided the fear factor had to be broken. So, while he was on his way back up from picking up his weapon, I tightened my fist as tight as I could, sweat and all, and pulled back with all the faith and strength I could imagine. And just as he reached his vertical pivoting point of posture, with all the thrust I could offer, I gave him a big whammy right in the kisser and I knocked all his feathers off. The blast of my fist hit him right in the face and to my surprise, (and to my joy) when my fist came in with his face, he went down backwards all the way down to the ground with a big thud–he was my Goliath and I took him down. There is a difference in the spiritual domain within which anything occurs, prevails, or dominates: In this case it would be the way we fall. Sometimes we display defeat and sometimes we display surrender. If Goliath had fallen

backward on his back like this guy, the story would have offered a different suggestion. My goliath fell on his back, which means, there could be another confrontation later on in life. David’s Goliath fell on his face in complete surrender, which means his reign of terror was over. When I took down their shield, (their Goliath cousin) I took away their confidence just as David did when he took down Goliath. And just as all the Philistine army ran in hopes of escaping, so likewise did all the four brothers run for safety. I couldn’t believe my eyes; I didn’t believe what I saw; what a surprise and what a joy it was. I did not believe I could do it; I did not believe I could take down their big cousin. I did not believe I did it–but I did, and I sure was glad. Me, knocking down the big guy of the gang! Me, overpowering their hero! Little me, taking down the community bully! I was partly in shock that I was still standing– but I did it! I did it! I did it! I took him down. Then, like the army of Israel who was before shaking in their boots–I was encouraged. that big club that their big cousin had in his hand: The one he was going to use to pounce upon my head? Now it is my turn. I just stepped past the fear factor and their big cousin that was still prostrated on the ground. Then, like the Israelites running after the Philistines, I took that same big club that was meant for me, and I took off down the road chasing after all four of the brothers that had been taunting us peaceful country boys. I went after them and ran them down the gravel road barefooted until they picked up speed and ran off and left me. In those days I could run for miles, so I gave them a good run– today–maybe a short jog. This little victory in life gave me the faith and feeling that I needed, and I went after these mean imps to make sure they didn’t bother us farm boys again; these boys will never be a fear-factor threat to us again. Freedom from fear is a wonderful feeling; however, don’t get overzealous too soon, there could be another battle and another giant waiting that requires much more vigilance: It happened to David and many others. David came away that day with the victory over this rough-skin giant. But later in life he met a soft-skin giant (a beautiful woman) with only a smile, a soft and tender touch, a compelling voice, and he was imprisoned. David won the battle against his first challenger by his skill with a sling; however, his second

challenger attacked his nature and that throw him off track; his war strategies were useless against her tender resources. Our little encounters with the devil are only a part of the war against sin. If we stay in the battle, though we may lose a conflict here and there and now and then, we can still be counted with those who win the war–it is the quitters who are the losers. Sir Winston Churchill’s philosophy was: “Never give up–never give in”(5)–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 21 Overcoming Evil With Good

It is amazing how faith can make us strong and fearless. If Christians can break through the fear-factors Satan has set-up against us in our homes, our playgrounds, our workplaces, and yes, even within our churches where we worship God. If Christians can break through the fear tactics, then the victory can be theirs. Though the weaponry of carnal retaliation is the way of the world, sometimes it’s the only language the world understands, and sometimes it may be necessary to react through measures they understand. Some years ago while I was still employed in the tooling industry, my supervisor seemed to take a delight in riding my back; not only my back but in general anybody’s back. Being a journeyman and having proven the quality of my work, his barking had little effect on me. However, one day while having lunch one of the other employees asked me this question: “How can you let this guy, even if he is the boss, how can you let him ride your back like that? Why do you let him chew on you so much without you telling him where to get off? And why do you not retaliate?” The group was surprised at my reply. (, I am now a Christian and many years have ed since my days of ignorance and retaliation and my mouth getting out of control). I said to him, “I need that. I need for him to chew on me and to ride my back; by this he is doing me a great service. The more he rubs on me the better witness I become for God. God has employed him to help me to become a better Christian. So, unbeknown to him, he is actually rubbing off the rough edges hidden within my character; he is helping God create within me a better attitude. While he is trying to overcome me with fear tactics, I am actually overcoming him through kindness.”

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds…Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:4-5).

When your enemy begins to rub you the wrong way, whether you are right or wrong, , he or she is employed by the Lord to do you a great service. They are sent to buffet you to help you get past your fear-factors that torment your life; their challenging your nature is designed of God to help mold and form you into a mature Christian. Like stones, which rub and tumble against each other to make them smooth, it is your enemy’s job to polish off your sharp edges so you will not be gouging others, and believe me, you will gouge others, trying or not trying. Your patience through these times of testing will yield a much smoother quality of an attitude that you can use to help others overcome their fears. It always takes a positive and a negative to complete the circuitry of power; without which, no one would ever learn how to overcome evil with good. So, then, the evil is the negative and the good is the positive, and when these two are ed together, the circuit is complete and the positive character will shine forth for all to see. When I came to the Lord in 1960 I was nothing but a rough-cut shell of a young man–but Jesus made me a new creature. However, after being born again, it took many teachers, many instructors, many mentors and a lot of sinners to help create within me the form and image of a Christian. It took a lot of grinding on my character and my spirit to smooth off my many sharp edges. Then there was the need of cutting me loose from a lot of my old habits I had collected. Like Adam, I first was made and then I became. When I was born again, like Adam, I was nothing but a rough-cut shell of a man. But also like Adam, when God breathed into me the breath of life, again, like Adam, I became a living soul– alive to God and His Word. Being born again was easy compared to the struggle of becoming a Christian. Becoming a Christian was like that of the caterpillar getting out of it’s cocoon: The smoothing out of my rough edges was accomplished by a mixture of sinners and saints treating me good and then bad, good and then bad, good and then bad, and then sometimes ugly; it took all of them working together as one to mold me into the image of Christ. While one chiseled the other rubbed, and none stopped until they created within me a better attitude. Did I enjoy those days and weeks and months and years of formation? No! But through it all I cherish those moments as a golden investment that I can now draw from in times of trouble, and, without resentment toward those whom God employed.

Fear can make you feel in your own eyes as small as David looked in the eyes of Goliath; fear can reduce your personal image to a wimp if you let it. Though the taste of humility for the present may not be our favorite flavor, if we endure the lessons God sends our way, they will yield a peaceful reward. It is now my turn to do the pushing around since I have overcome my fear factor. I took that same piece of wood that was meant for me: That same club, the same gallows that was meant for my neck, the one that he had assigned for my hurt. And when I was finished they were all running down the road, screaming and running as fast as they could go–all four brothers. And big cousin is now back up on his feet and he too has ed in the race to escape my wrath, and is now following the pack down the gravel road just as fast as he could run. The fear factor was broken and we were all free at last, free at last; no more fear and no more Goliath, we had finally overcome their fear tactics. Problems and trials are designed, not to hurt us, but to set us free from the things that torment us. Whether it is an overzealous boss, a neighborhood bully, a jealous church member, an intimidating family member, or a disgruntled pastor. Their bad displays of character are all designed to do us good. Do we enjoy these times in life when we are forced into these situations? No! And if we fail our first test, that’s Ok. God is a very patient and a very forgiving teacher, and He understands our reasons why. He can always create another mind-boggling scenario especially designed for our starting over again, and again, and again– Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 22 ing My Victory

From that time forward until the time I moved away from that small community I was counted by these bullies as the one to be feared. It was told in and around our little town that I had taken down all five of these boys all single-handed. Technically it was the full truth, and technically it was not the full truth. Technically David defeated the whole army of the Philistines all by himself, and technically he did not; nevertheless or whichever, the outcome was victor for all. Overcoming these small-town bullies did sort of give me the bighead. But even that too, God was able to adjust through other situations–some good, some bad, some ugly, and some really ugly; but by the grace of God I survived them all. It was all a part of God’s way of expressing His wisdom in helping me overcome my devilish rhetoric while growing up and on into manhood–to God be the glory. I have met many people who love to esteem themselves as someone worthy to rule over others. Their use of fear was their means to their throne of glory where they could rule and reign. And if perhaps you should let them rule over you, their reign will last until their charisma of fear over you is broken. It is amazing of the pride we see within those who expose their evil desire through fear tactics. They use people as a front just as Goliath was used: The Philistines used him to protect themselves from being stripped of their power over others. These boys used intimidation by the same spirit to protect themselves from feeling inferior; they tried to make the impression that they were paramount. But once their shield (their older cousin) was removed, their weakness was exposed and then they were left open to being dethroned, and all it took was just a little plowboy. Some people, and even some Christians, cannot live with the thought of being on the same level as others. This was one of Goliath’s biggest problems, he loved the thought of standing tall above all others. However, his thoughts over did his intelligence, and sadly, this is a problem among Christians today: They let their mouth override their intelligence, which leads them to believe that they are paramount; this also happens among some Christians concerning the Word of

God; but even that too God has a way of making adjustments. This has been a problem that has plagued Christianity all down through history even unto the present day. This was King Saul’s greatest problem, which ended his reign as king and eventually his life. He not only stood physically head and shoulders above all the men of Israel: When he was humble he stood tall enough that God could use him, and that is standing tall. However, pride entered into his life, and along with pride came also a spirit of trepidation. (Trepidation is an evil spirit that wears many costumes, (Synonyms) which feign themselves as royalty even in the church of the living God.) The bottom line is, people of this nature are trying to hide their fear of not being up to sniff. We do not need to criticize the habits of sinner’s: Their worldly life, their lust of the flesh, their lust of the eyes, nor their pride of life; they are just as we were before the power of the gospel struck us between the eyes and down we went in repentance. It was not a sword, a spear, a shield, or physical power that overcame our sinful lives; it was just a simple message that Jesus Christ saves the lost at any cost. Just the mentioning of this great name, Jesus, brought “peace be still” to our souls, and it will do the same to yours also. David took a look at Goliath with all his fronts, and when he saw that one small opportunity of reaching his mind, he saw an opportunity of victory. And all it took was one smooth stone and whammy; down he went into a forward position of eternal prostration. Prostration (bowing forward to the ground) is a bowing of oneself in complete surrender before sovereignty. It is an absolute position likened unto a death to self-will and self-qualification that must be forfeited before one can fully surrender his or her life to the greater–why not fall before the Lord Jesus Christ today in complete prostration and surrender your heart and life to Him now in complete contrition while there is time, tomorrow might be too late. When David got into Goliath’s mind it affected his thinking. And when it affected his thinking, it affected his heart, and thus, it affected his stiff and stubborn posture. And the end results were: He fell forward into an eternal posture of surrender before David, before the army of Israel, and before God. How about you, have you ever fallen on your face in complete surrender before God?

Every person on earth, whether big or small, bound or free, they all have thinkers and thumpers and kneelers, and it is the thinker (the brain) that is the most vulnerable, because it is a direct link to the thumper, (the heart). The heart listens through the headphones (the ears) as “Faith cometh by hearing.” The gospel is as a smooth stone, and under the right circumstances it will penetrate the mind (the thinker) of those who hear it. As Christian warriors of today, the gospel in our hands is as the stone of David; it will disarm the proud and separate them from their shields and fronts. It is the careful aim of our thoughts and the smoothness of our words that guides our testimony into the minds and hearts of those who hear us; after which, it finds its way ever so gently into their hearts and souls, bringing them down to their knees in contrition. Many people, though they are small in statue and strut with a giant-like attitude, they have been brought down from their intellectual perch by some of the most unbelievable and unthinkable Christians. People with Shepherd-like spirits have taken down the greatest of the worst with just one smooth testimony: Just one gospel tract, just one word of witness that was as smooth as the stone of David. It is amazing how powerful the Word of God really is in the hands of a prepared Christian warrior–as Paul wrote to the Hebrews:

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul (the core of man) and spirit (the character of man) and of the ts (the knees) and marrow, (that helps us to kneel) and is a discerner of the thoughts (the thinker) and intents of the heart (the thumper) (Hebrews 4:12).

It took separation from family and friends when David took on the liability of killing the giant; it took training, discipline, and complete submission. When David came to the stream where there were many stones of sizes and shapes, his kneeling down was easy because he was a person of prayer. And once on his knees he could discern the type of material he needed for the task. Like David, the shrewdness of our character and the smoothness of our words will manifest the power of our prayers, which will be the determining factor in bringing down the giants we face. Don’t try this until you have studied carefully

the power of knee-ology–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 23 Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

Like most young couples venturing to purchase a new home, this becomes a significant realignment for their lives, not mention their pets. The hours of driving and looking finally comes to an end as they patiently wait for the loan approval. The paperwork is completed and signed and they are anxious to move in, but they must again make another inspection to decide which and what goes where. But this time along with them comes also their snooping family pet, a mean looking but lovable Doberman-pincher dog. These dogs look vicious with their black shiny fur with brown around the mouth, ears, and eyes, and, of course, they all have a full set of bright shiny teeth that could rip you apart. Within their excitement the couple opens up their new dwelling to let in fresh air to ready it for the truckload of furniture. The windows are clean, the walls are clean, the kitchen is clean, the carpet is clean, and they are ready, ready, ready, to move in. The children, like Mom and Dad, are exploring their new dwelling with joy. But the family pet begins his own tour to set up his new domain; after all, he is a watchdog and it is his duty to inspect the place. He has got to know every square inch of the house. So with noes down, ears up, and eyes open, after inspecting the yard, he cautiously walks through the front door of the house. First, he eases through the living room, smelling and sniffing and checking things out to make sure there are no other claims to the pad. He sniffs through the kitchen and on into the garage, then makes his way slowly through the rest of the house, bedroom one, and then bedroom two, the closets, etc. Then he ventures into the master bedroom and then on into the master bathroom for his last and final inspection. He sniffs slowly and carefully and then makes a slow turn-around, and he is thinking: “I need to look upon that vanity top just in case I’ve missed something.” So he slowly raises himself up to see what might be on top of that smooth marble plateau, when suddenly he discovers another creature is there and it is another Doberman-pincher looking him right in the eyes. First, he hunches down a little and then he is dead still. The hair on his back

raises up and he begins to make these deep vicious growls to express his dominance, along with showing off those pearly white teeth, and likewise, every move of his demonstration is revealed in the mirror in front of him. Each time his foot moved, likewise the other. Each time he made a vicious jester, likewise the other. There he was, eye-to-eye and nose-to-nose with himself and neither was backing down. This situation of an animal growling at himself produced a tear-jerking laugh when it came to me, but believe it or not, it is so symbolic to the nature of mankind. The dog is not alone in his strange array of acting; man too has demonstrated himself in some of the most fascinating designs. Human beings (men, women, and children) stand in front of mirrors and look at the same face and the same body they see every day: They smile, they look, and they make faces of every kind. They flex their muscles and stick out their chest. They stand there looking eye-to-eye at someone who displays the same image as the other. You would think they could tell the difference as to who-is-who; however, with every turn they make the reflection does likewise without a perception. The dog’s vicious display was to prove his dominance; he did not want another dog around the house without him knowing he was in power; all other creatures to be in submission to him. But what is all the primping and strutting and looking and eyeballing of mankind? He is supposed to be in control and above the animal world in dominance and in knowing the difference between the two. Though God created man somewhat higher than the animal world, man does at times display many of the same features. reading about Balaam being rebuked by his mule (Num 22:22-35, 2 Peter 2:26)? It happens all the time between man and beast, but we seldom recognize the anointing God has placed on the creatures around us. This furry black creature is preaching a message to the human race if we can receive it. In reality, when mankind is looking eye-to-eye into the mirror, he is looking at the one most likely to be the designer of all his problems. The creature he sees in the mirror every day eats his food, wears his clothes, drives his car, and sleeps in his bed. If there is any trouble he can get into, whether financially, a tongue fight with the wife, a spiritual debate, or a challenge against his personal character, how he sees himself in the mirror will be the determining factor and the solution

to all his problems. On the spiritual horizon of this scenario: King Saul’s greatest problems came, not from David, nor from the Philistines, and not from God, (as we so many times accuse Him) but from the man he saw every day in the mirror. The one that wore his crown and his robe is the one that caused him all his problems; my how we place the blame on the reflections rather than the bona fide image. I was standing in the hall of a church one morning when a brother came by and said, “Excuse me, I hope I’m not in your way.” My reply to him was: “You are not in my way; I am the only creature that gets in my way.” This is true of all of us. We step on our own toes and stumble over our own two feet, and then we wonder what is the cause of all our instability. There is no one to be feared more than ourselves; we are our most dreaded enemy. I how the dogs barked at night in our small community: When one dog would start barking and howling just about every dog in town would in the song. While Israel was propped-up on their paws on the one hill, the Philistines were likewise propped up on their paws on the other hill, and when one started barking the others all ed in; they were all in perfect harmony with one another as they stood facing each other from across the valley floor. It must have been an orchestration to see and to hear: All the yelping and barking must have been like an environmental display of nature all in harmony. You know how the frogs do it, it was just about the same situation: Each watching the other, and each time one made a move or sound the other did likewise. What a show it must have been, these two armies barking at one another and neither was backing down. And man in his animal display reacts in the same way. When he starts talking (yelping) at someone it is a common attribute that many others in the song. And sadly, in some cases human beings have been known to display the nature of wolves by biting and devouring one another–I hope this is not you I am writing about. I have seen people in front of mirrors and do they ever put on an adoring display of personalities: They primp, they strut, and they look at themselves with iration, as if the mirror might make a mistake on improving their appearance. But disappointingly the mirror on the wall never tells a lie; whether good, bad, or ugly, what we see is what we get–always.

In the spring of 1978, my two sons and I were touring the southwest and then drove on up to Las Vegas to see the sights and night-lights of sin-city; including a visit to a family oriented casino. As we slowly entered this strange world we had never seen before, amusement and amazement filled our hearts. While we slowly made our way through the crowd of gamblers and others who were also just sightseeing, one of the most fascinating events of our evening was the mirror room. It was filled with all these different types of mirrors that recreated our bodies into funny and strange designs. As we walked slowly ed each mirror our bodies changed into different shapes and forms and fashions. When I saw how funny a reproduction these mirrors produced of me I laughed until I cried. In one mirror I was tall and skinny, in the next I was short and fat. In another, I had long legs and a short body, and in another, I had short legs and a long body. Before one mirror I weighed 100 lbs. Before another I weighed over 300 lbs. These mirrors were designed to tell lies to the curious on-lookers, but a true mirror, just like the Word of God will always produce the true you. Man may appear splendid and pompous in the mirror on the wall and yet be destitute of all the real principles and qualities of grace. He may ire his image with his eyes, but if he does not see the principles of grace within his reflection he is looking at a dud. When man looks into the natural mirror, what he hopes to see is a perfect image of himself; he does not want to see the raw uncut and unfinished figure of a fallen man. He wants to make sure that his outer shell covers all his inward corruption with beauty. However, mirrors are not designed to beautify nor expose the inner core of man, they are designed to display the truth of the outer man. But could there be a mirror capable of showing the inner core of man in his sinful insignificance? It just so happens that God has such a mirror especially designed to do just that; one that man can view even his own soul. Now, the big problem is to persuade mankind to look into that mirror, which God has so designed to spiritually spruce man up to project the reflection of a righteous man. The ancients who come up with this idea of a looking glass may never have thought that God would one day incorporate their ingenious invention into His

Holy Book. Nevertheless, it turned out to be such a refining discovery that God incorporated it into His Holy Word as a measuring catalyst agent where mankind could evaluate himself inside and out. The Apostle Paul makes mention of this mirror in his letter to the Corinthian Christians as he writes:

“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a glass…For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was…But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:23-25).

At first glance in my mirror I think I see a hunk of a man (a lot of us see a bigger hunk than we need to see). But when I look into God’s looking glass (the Word of God) I see a dark blob of an image stained with sin and shame. Though the Word of God is designed to reflect a true image of our life, it is the dark side of a mirror that brings out the true image. The brush of grace has so arranged its designs in creating this holy mirror, that the darker the canvas behind our reflection, (our lives) the clearer the image it produces of who we really are. In today’s mirrors we may see men laden with beauty, but in God’s mirror we see men laden with sin. The Pharisees enjoyed looking into their own mirror because it was designed to impress them. All they could see was Mister perfect and Mister wonderful: A perfect specimen of themselves. But when they saw Jesus, (the true image of the perfect man) His life exposed their dirty and vile inner condition, and they could not find a way to cleans themselves within or without; His clean and righteous life exposed their true character. I heard a story of a woman who was always peering through her window at the neighbor’s laundry; she was always criticizing and complaining about how dingy it looked. Then one day as she happened to clean a spot on her window to get a better view, she suddenly discovered that it was not her neighbor’s dingy laundry but her dingy window that created the dingy view. The malignity of the Pharisees` sin looked beautiful through the windows of

their own eyes. But when they looked at the life of the sinless One, they got a clear view of a true image of themselves; they saw a true reflection of their own inner person. Their view of Him reflected the flipside of their lives, which exposed their unclean souls. The reflection from His eyes created a clearer view of themselves in their own eyes; they thought they were the fairest ones of all until they met the Fairest One of all. I have seen people go into a rage because of what they saw of themselves in their looking glass. And by the same token, I have seen people go into a rage because of how they saw themselves when reading the Written Word of God. I wonder how many mirrors have been broken because it displayed the truth? I wonder how many Bibles have been thrown away because it revealed the real truth to the reader. It is strange how books affect the lives of the people that read them. Some people read western novels and dream of being out there with the horses and the longhorns under the big sky; while others read mysteries with sad endings and sit and cry. Books are like a good and true friend; they contain the power to lift you up and/or to let down. Books can literally provoke and transform its readers into a more or less affirmative frame of mind. I heard it said that, “Good thinking is a product of good reading, just as good reading is a product of good thinking.” If people would only look into the perfect Word of God they would see the real image and appraisal of themselves. The Bible is the only book in the world that while you are reading it–it is reading you. It is designed to do just that: To show mankind his or her true image of how they look sitting or standing from God’s point of view–we are all naked in His sight–isn’t that grand to know? The Apostle Paul writes a second time concerning God’s view of the church in the city of Corinth. Only this second letter is more about cleaning their windows for a better view of God and of others:

“And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished…But their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same vail…which vail is done

away in Christ. (The gospel is designed to clean the scales that accumulate over our eyes and hearts so we can get a better view of God)…But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass (as in a mirror) the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, (day by day into the image of Christ) even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor 3:13-18).

Paul is here writing about how we change moment-by-moment and day-by-day as we read the Word of God. It is a daily process: As we read the Holy Scriptures: our image, our view of ourselves, and our thoughts of God are slowly changed. You will not see the real you more clearly until you read the Word of God more thoroughly. Likewise, you will not see God clearly until you truly read His Holy Word. If Jesus is living inside a Christian’s heart he or she should seek to feed Him the very best of spiritual food. We cannot expect God to stay alive within our hearts if we feed Him garbage and trash. The life of the Holy Spirit within our hearts depends on the quality of the Word of God we receive. Lives are filled with His Spirit when lives are filled with His Word; we grow in grace as we grow in knowledge. When Christians read the Word of God they take on the nature and image of God. When sinners read the Word of God they see it as looking through a dirty dingy window or as having a veil over it; however, the veil is not over the Word of God but over the eyes of their hearts. When they start to believe what they are reading, the veil is then removed and they then can see more clearly the type of person they really are (2 Cor 3:16). You may be asking this question: How does all this darkness of the veil, and is that me I see in the mirror? How does all this blend in with the title of this chapter, “Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall”? When you are looking into the mirror on the wall you are seeing the real outer shell of you. But when you are looking into the Word of God you are looking into the mind of God and how He is looking at you–what does He see? When Goliath stepped out and roared against the Army of Israel, he was hoping to face another warrior of his equal; the thought of condescending to the level of a boy was below his level of pride; though a predator, somehow within his speech I detect a weakness against the carnage of killing a child. When David stepped out to face Goliath, in his own eyes he was just a boy; but in his heart he

became as mighty in spirit as the giant. This is what faith and the Word of God does for you and through you; it gives you the inward strength you need to equalize your circumstances. Let us all approach our strange and unexpected circumstances with humility so as to emerge as David regardless of our social or physical status. May the Word of God lead us to follow the paths of the heroes of faith as champions through faith (Heb 11:1-12:1)–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 24 The Church With The Friendly Ghost

Looking back over the years to the days when I was just a young lad, and ing the great times us kids had while playing and swimming and hiding under the water lilies (we called them water bonnets in the lake near our farm) where I would not dare to swim today. What would appear today, as a snake-infested pool of water was a haven of fun for us little rascals; diving down and swimming into the thick stems that stood below the green lily pads was a thriller. Sometimes we would break the stems off and breath thru them so we could stay under for longer periods of time so the others couldn’t find us. Hide-and-seek was a great game when there was nothing else to do, and being poor, nothing else to do kept us busy exploring for other things to do. For fun and excitement: Now and then we would venture over into a graveyard (with fear) and hide behind the tombstones; surely they wouldn’t look for us there, because they were just as frightened as we were, and after hearing the spooky stories the old folks told, plus after seeing some spooky movies; the graveyards were mostly off limits. I as a young boy when a movie came out about “Frankenstein”. They had created this big creature that looked like a giant, and naturally, all of us kids had to go see the movie; this made our hiding and playing in the graveyard even more frightening. We were afraid a big hand would come up out of the ground and grab us and pull us under, or, we might find him lying in an open casket having a snooze and he might wake up–our imaginations ran wild. And then years later they came out with the movie Casper, The Friendly Ghost. that? It was a world smash hit with kids and adults alike. Everybody, Moms and Dads and children and grandparents; the whole family went out to see the movie, why, because he was a friendly ghost–no one was afraid of Casper, the friendly ghost. In fact, everybody fell in love with him. But is there such a thing as a friendly ghost–and where would he have come from? We heard also a lot of ghostly stories back in those days about Pentecostal

people and Pentecostal churches: How they would swing from the light fixtures and climb the walls and rattle their jaws until they made a phenomenon sound with their mouths and speak in strange tongues, and they said it was God speaking through them–that also frightened our little minds. And just before they started to shout, what they called a blessing was coming on, they made these painful-looking expressions on their faces that made you think they were in great misery. And how they would play with snakes and drink poison and would fall out in the floor into a spiritual bewitchment for long periods of time. And also, of how they would lie on the floor and moan and groan as if they were wrestling with a devil. We heard a lot of stories and every one of them was frightening to our little imaginations; so we stayed clear of the Pentecostal churches and some of their people. We also heard that Pentecostal people were of the devil and you would go to hell if you went to one of their churches. Others concocted evil stories that never existed in real life or in the Bible, and not being students of the scriptures we believed everything we heard. Nevertheless, we found out later when we got older and wiser that these stories were fabricated by those who opposed the real power of the Holy Ghost in action as it was expressed in the Book of Acts–the book of the actions of the apostles. Naturally the news and style of these gatherings made everyone in town eerie of them, and so most Baptist` people avoided them, even on the streets because of what they heard. I really couldn’t blame the upper crust for not associating with them; it scared the life out of us kids also. But was it really that way; were they really that wild and strange? Some years ago a minister from Ireland came over to the United States to preach a special service for us. I very clearly of him telling about how he and his family came to the Lord. He said, when he was a young lad he was crippled in his feet and was pushed around in a wheelchair because he couldn’t walk. Then came the news to their community that a Pentecostal tent revival was coming to town. His family was not of the Pentecostal faith, but hearing about it aroused their curiosity, especially when they heard that people were being healed in their meetings. As the word spread around the countryside and through the communities of the powerful preaching, the glorious singing and shouting; though this was not their way of believing or worshiping God, they could not resist but to venture out to see and to hear them sing and shout.

The minister told how they had to walk about three miles before the tent even came into view, and they only came close enough just to hear them sing and no closer–they had to protect their Anglican Baptist image so they didn’t want to be noticed. Each night as they came they ventured a little closer and a little closer and would sit in the dark where they wouldn’t be noticed. They enjoyed watching them dance and shout and listening to the music; they didn’t want to it to the fact that they did enjoy it; then again, they would slip away to their homes and talk about it. However, about the third or fourth night something big happened. They came too close to the fire of Pentecost and it began to warm their souls. They were afraid to get any closer to the tent’s door because these types of services were not kosher to them or to their family. They were worried about what the family might think or say if they heard they went to one of these wild meetings, which would be nothing short of being disowned and disinherited by all for bringing such a dishonor to their religious traditions. However, on this one night as they cautiously approached the tent door where they could get a better view, the usher tenderly came out and greeted them. He said to my family, “Welcome, we have been waiting for you; we have been watching you each night and we are so glad you came. Would you come inside and us in worshipping God and enjoy the service.” So, to save embarrassment, my family ventured inside the tent-door and sat down near the back. We sat there and we watched the people shout and dance and we listened to their beautiful music. We had never heard this type of singing before; it was all new and strange to us orthodox Protestants. Our family was so stiff from being motionless during our church services, that if they had shouted they would have blown a piston or come apart. The preacher from Ireland told how that, as the preacher was preaching, every time he mentioned the baptism of the Holy Ghost, my grandmother, whose hands were resting on my wheel-chair, would start shaking it really hard and make it rattle, and each time he mentioned it she would shake it even more. It was as if the preacher was telling a story about a spooky ghost and it was scaring the life out of my grandmother. He said, being a young boy I did not know what was going on. He said: It was either that night or the night after, that the preaching was so powerful and so compelling that they found themselves going to the altar to

repent. Then came the grand event of my life as a boy: All my family was filled with that Holy Ghost they were preaching about Then, as the minister and others gathered around us, they laid their hands on my crippled body and prayed and God touched me and healed my legs. I got up out of that wheelchair and I walked and I am still walking today. Not only so, but I am also now a minister of God’s great gospel, and I am still walking and telling the story of my healing. However, why was this “Holy Ghost” meeting so frightful to my people?” I can when Pentecostal brush-arbor meetings were held in and near our little communities in western Kentucky; you could hear them shouting and singing and preaching seems like for miles. You never heard of the other churches in our community holding meetings of this nature when they were having a revival service, but you could hear the Pentecostals. And sometimes at night when there were no church services, I : The weather was hot and the windows were open, and you could hear the Pentecostal people praying from their homes as they lifted up their voices to God in prayer for sinners to come to God–we sure don’t hear that today I can also as a young lad when the Pentecostals would hold services in town, some of the town folks would walk across the street to avoid a close-up encounter with the shouting and the music that echoed from the church windows, especially when the weather was hot and the windows were open. I have talked with folks that say they are Christians, but as soon as I would mention the “Holy Ghost” they become frightened and weak in speech as if they had sensed the presence of something strange. Yet if I used the phrase “Holy Spirit” they remained calm. It is the tradition of their orthodox services where they don’t use the expression “Holy Ghost”. Nevertheless, there is a “Holy Ghost” and it is a friendly “Holy Ghost” that everyone needs to get acquainted with. If we could spread out the books of the New Testament from left to right like a road map, we would see many people who are of churches who would take a detour around the Book of Acts as if it was a bad place in the road. Most non-Christians and Protestant church are afraid to even read the Book of Acts because of what happened on the Day of Pentecost and what went on thereafter. Why the fear and why the trembling as if it were a ghostly story? The true gospel had been suppressed for hundreds of years and thus the power of

the gospel was imprisoned and forbidden. Then around the year 1901 in a prayer meeting in California and another in Kansas, the worshippers were suddenly filled with Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) and began to speak with tongues just as they did on the Day of Pentecost. This started a gospel fire, which has since spread across America and around the world. And people are now finding out that the Book of Acts is not a book filled with spooky and ghostly stories, but a book filled with glorious stories of divine experiences. People who have never experienced this phenomenon speak of it as if the Book of Acts were a book of weird happenings that is strange to their thoughts of God and to their religion–and they are right. It is a book that is filled with unorthodox and strange happenings contrary to modern beliefs. Yet they happened then and they are still happening today and they are still strange to many people. God has not changed–people have changed. I have witnessed concerning this Holy Ghost experience to strong and brave people who claim to be Christians. But when the Books of Acts is mentioned or some of the writings therein, these supposedly strong minded people suddenly become physically and mentally unbalanced and didn’t want to talk about it. Why are people so frightened of this great book about the Friendly Ghost is beyond me. And besides, after people are filled with this Holy (Friendly) Ghost, they begin to act just as did the apostles and the others after they received it; and they too also began to spread the news to others. And that is what the Book of Acts is all about–the actions and reactions of the events of the apostles and the people who have accepted the truth. Israel was at this stage in the battle–or so-called battle. They had not yet begun to fight and this valley between these two great armies was a place of fear; it was a no-man’s-land. Do you see a picture of the church in these two stories–David and Goliath, the Pentecostals and today’s modern Christians? Perhaps you are in the valley of decision and you want to make the right choice. Perhaps you have come too close to the tent door and heard and saw, and perhaps you felt something you have never felt before and it has got you wondering–you are not alone. There are millions of people today that are halted between two opinions: They have a giant decision before them and a world of sin behind them, and the loneliness of the valley of decision is frightening to their soul.

Giants do not necessarily appear all the time as bad guys who are out to get you. There is such a thing as emotional giants that can traumatize and destroy people mentally. And then there is the sinful giant that strips people of their virtues and fashions them into renegades of hate and destruction. I too was once in this valley of decision, and I too was frightened by all these voices of doubt and fear. And when I read about Jesus in the Bible I too did not understand–until I heard about “The church with the friendly Ghost”. I am not talking about Casper the friendly ghost; I am talking about the Holy Ghost–the friendly Ghost of God–the Holy Spirit. Like the family from Ireland who carefully and fearfully ventured closer and closer until they found themselves worshipping God in a strange and joyful behavior; I too found my answer to the same questions. I too was just a young man when I first heard about the friendliness of this Holy Ghost. And I too was frightened by what I saw and heard, especially when I ed all the stories about these people speaking in tongues and shouting and dancing in the Spirit. Yet it was the answer to my life. And when I accepted it, my fear turned into joy as it entered into my heart and took control of my life. (Took control means: My thoughts of fear and doubt are now thoughts of joy and peace–it changed my life.) As far as the snakes and the poison and the swinging from the chandeliers: There is a group up in the eastern part of our state that practice` these things, but they are not the true apostolic Pentecostal believers. The only poison is their false doctrine they try to pour down the throats of the simple-minded people who are only looking for a spiritual high. The swinging from the lights fixtures and/or the chandeliers: Most Pentecostal churches cannot afford a chandelier. And as concerning the handling of snakes: The only ones I have seen in church were clothed and walked on two feet but spoke with a forked tongue. Though they had a human body with all the conformities thereof, they had the nature of a snake and would test your temperature before trying to inject you with their deadly venom of paranoia. We have a rule in the true apostolic church–no crawl-bellies allowed–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 25 The Economy of Sin

By the carelessness of Adam and Eve’s venture into the new knowledge of sin, the whole structure of creation became disoriented. Their careless venture changed life for all mankind and beasts; all creatures of the earth, land, sea, and sky, all creation in some way or another felt the effects of their fall. The nature of all creatures, as well as the elements above and below, all creation was altered just because Adam and Eve made the wrong decision and disobeyed the voice of God. Though their venture was somewhat different from ours today, still their disobedience brought on an economy of reaping that has affected the universal existence of all things. Animals that were once sociable suddenly became irrational. Creatures that once roamed and grazed nearby suddenly became estranged and wild. Animals that gently came up to Adam to be named now had to fight to survive. And man, until he is born again of the water and the Spirit continues in that same wild and standoffish state of mind. Adam and Eve’s fall also changed the nature of their food supplies, which in time brought on the infestation of weeds and briars and thorns as well as all kinds of pestiferous insects. And as strangely as it may sound, their sin also had an effect on the climatical structure of the world’s weather patterns. The world was pleasant and warm all year round as a mist came up and watered the ground, including all vegetation for them and the animals to eat and to enjoy. The entire world was nothing but a lush greenhouse full of plants and vegetation and flowers before the fall of Adam and Eve. Everything worked together for the good of mankind, as well as the creatures that pollinated and groom the lush green pastures and fields and forests (Gen 2:5, 6). The economy of Adam and Eve’s sin brought into existence hospitals, mental institutions, prisons, death, funeral homes, and yes, graveyards and casket companies; as well as many other contingencies. The fallout from their disobedience brought a curse that has continued to reproduce and spread like a deadly virus. The elements of the ground, sea, and sky; the weather, all which

was designed to bless man became a curse (Gen 8:22). Christians need to exhibit wisdom and knowledge, and especially when it comes to ministering the Word of God. The ministry should be well trained and disciplined; every word they utter should be as refined gold tried in the fire of experience. One of the greatest church fathers of the third Century (St. John Chrysostom–346-406 AD) obtained the name of “Golden Mouth”(2) because of his wisdom and knowledge of the Word of God; his words were as gold that had been tried in the fire. When he ministered, lives that were nothing but dross were made rich by the judiciousness wisdom of his anointed words. Though I won this little conflict between these teenage boys and myself, and though I walked away the victor, they still went away with the same attitude as before. They continued in the same path of sin but only in a different part of town. They continued to take advantage of others whom they could puppy down to their schemes of fear. If only I could have led these four brothers and their big cousin in the right direction to where they would have reaped the wages of eternal life. Whether your sin, my sin, or their sin, it is still sin and the economy is the same. I also was a sinner just as they, and I also was just as blind to the ways of God; I just wasn’t as bold to intimidate and to fight as they were. It was their heart that needed adjustment, and I am not talking about physically beating it into or out of them. They needed someone to lead them and teach them the right ways of life, because doubtfully their parents did not teach them the ways of God–I gather this from their character; you cannot be a Christian and live like the devil. Giant thoughts have always been the common denominator of conflict; they produce fear within Christians and sinners alike. Thoughts can grow as large and as furious as Goliath, and can keep you in trouble with God and with people. Just as these boys` thoughts kept them in trouble with God and with people, Christian’s are not exempt from the same factors. The Apostle Paul writes these words to all people: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:23). Death, in all its hideous forms: Whether spiritual, mental, natural, or otherwise, each offers the same rewards and are procured by all who labor and/or suffer in its services.

The signs that read “Eternal life is free” have been posted on every highway and pathway across America and around the world; thus, taking away any excuse of not knowing the way to heaven. Yet, the exit ramps that lead to sin is the most traveled paths of all. The highways that lead to avenues where sin is conceived and born are hot with travelers; though the signs read in bold letters “The wages of sin is death” man cannot resist sins offers. This scenario of these boys did not end in beauty; it has a cruel and sad obituary ending. These precious young boys, like so many others of today, could have held an important place in life, i.e. perhaps in church or in the ministry. Maybe they could have had a good job, a happy family life with a wife and children and held a respectful place in the community; who knows what type of service God may have called them into? Don’t cast people of this nature aside as worthless or unworthy of eternal life; some of our greatest leaders and Christians of today were at one time as low as a snake’s belly “…and such were some of you” (1 Cor 6:11). These boys were no worse than any others around our town who needed God; they only let their frustrations expose their need more than others. People innocently expose their need of God through their actions; with these boys their ideologies exposed their deeds. Nonetheless, like many others that we toss aside as not having the same potentials; we neglect to offer them eternal life. It is the power of the gospel that promotes man to become spiritual and secular leaders; it sets them free from sin, from defeat, and from the old self. With no Christian upbringing or no one to teach them the right way of life, our community Christians cast them aside as worthless. So they inherited the path of sin to fulfill the same lust and crave for dominance, as did Goliath. Most sinners, including each of us, inherited sin from our parents; they deposited it into our lives from birth; so thus, the economy of sin had no choice but to write death across our paychecks. It is a law that applies to everyone; to all mankind–sin and death was our fate; that is until Jesus came into our lives. With all possibility, the gospel was never sown into their hearts by the local upper crust Christians in our town; and thus, they became the outcasts, the rejects, and the outlaws of the community. We will never know what they might have become or what they might have done for Jesus Christ if only they had been given the chance. God have mercy on those who reject the unfortunates.

As it turned out: One of these boys murdered his brother, and the others who did not go to prison for local crimes, wasted their lives on drugs and alcohol, and all but one died a premature death long before their time. They reaped the wages of sin and for their final reward they will reap the vengeance of eternal wrath forever and forever and forever–how about you? It’s not about going to hell; it’s about missing heaven and not seeing Jesus. Oh, yes, I took care of their physical side of power and rule when we were just teens; they never bothered us boys again. But that was just on our side of town and on our side of the tracks. I did not change their mental social status or their attitude, and nor did I help them with their spiritual side of life. In time, I drifted off to a big city in the north, got involved in the economy of working for a living and with Christianity. I found a new way of life with all its blessings: A job, a church, a wife and children, new friends and a new way of life. However, many times down through the years I wondered about these boys as the news slowly came in of their fate. I have wondered many times if only I had been a Christian and could have taken the beating for their wrong. If only I could have displayed to them the humility of the cross instead of carnality. Maybe at least one of them might have exchanged his wages of sin for the reward of eternal life–if only they could have seen Christ Jesus through me. How about you, can sinners see Jesus within your character? The economy of sin does have its paydays, and many people have enjoyed its pleasures for many years without their life coming to an abrupt ending. Do not be fooled by the sparkle and glitter of the economy of sin. Though the joys for the moment may feel great and the cost may seem little to the soul of him or her that travels the highways of pleasure. However, eventually, all avenues will reach their end. And then the One with whom we have to do will be waiting hear our excuse; what will you say to Him Who holds the power of life and death in His hands? You will not buy him off through politics; you will pay with your life. Never let anyone tell you that sin does not pay. Sin has a payday just as living for Jesus has a payday; it is the wages that makes all the difference. My plausible life, like David, of bringing down a giant was early in my life and long before the pressures and responsibilities of manhood would be assigned to my destiny. It really didn’t matter much back then because there was always someone else who could do the job if I failed. However, as our experiences expands into new dimensions of Christian knowledge, and it is then our turn to

play the role of leadership: When others future is placed into our hands then the things of life hold a greater value, even life itself. It would do us all good to stop and repent of our sins of neglect and rid ourselves of the grime that attaches itself to our lives; repentance and confession work hand-in-hand just like soap and water–but even better. In the realistic world: In time every Christian will face their own Goliath. Whatever costumes it, he, or she, may be wearing: Its shapes, its forms, its fashions, its styles and/or its size, it will have one purpose in mind, and that is to challenge and defeat your faith in God–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 26 A Prelude–Family Ministry In Action

Evangelists Mike and Vickie Oliver are specialists in the field of “Family Ministry in Action” focusing on Teens and Children’s ministries home-based near Columbus, OH. They spend their time traveling across America and other parts of the world teaching youth seminars, holding youth revivals, and ministering in camp-meetings in a unique and inspiring style, reaching thousands of teens and younger children, along with helping parents influence them in the right direction. With a ministry booked forty-five weekends a year, there is not much time to get involved with a giant problem at home; however, what if that giant problem just came walking in one day and said, “Here I am–are you ready.” In this book we have visited the hills of home where we learned the first principles of life: We studied the fear-factors of sudden changes in our lives as well as being home-schooled in the tent-life. And now we come to the part where a teenager has run away from home, which has created a giant problem within the Oliver’s family. As this story unfolds, there comes a time when our children will develop into teenagers with their own car keys, and we will no longer have the say or the sway over their lives as they venture out into a sin-filled world alone. It is at these times that life can paint a complicated scenario for parents, even Christian parents, pushing them to the point to where they believe that they are failures and that God has forsaken them. However, His promise that He would never leave us or forsake us still stands true. Unexpected changes in the lives of our children can initiate a parental crisis, especially as Christians, which can develop into a spiritual and/or a secular nightmare. Most parents watch their children very carefully as they move from the parental care into the swift currents of growing up, but not even the best of Christian parents are exempt from the unexpected. A man by the name of Simon, a Cyrenian, who was just a visitor and bystander

in town who was amused as he watched Jesus carry His cross, when suddenly Jesus` cross became his cross (Luke 23:26). What a jolt that must have been for a stranger who was minding his own business; nevertheless, this unexpected burden put his name into the book of life. I wonder how many of us today have rejected the unexpected call to bear the cross of a man we’ve never seen or met? Would we reject it as a burden to our life, or would we accept it as an opportunity to serve? It was not Joseph’s calling to understand the mysteries or the dramatic misfortunes he was experiencing as a youth. Thus, the story of his life is told over and over again to new generations as a witness to God’s mysterious ways. What happened in Joseph’s life made no sense to him, and your trials, my dear friend, will not make sense to you either. As Christians, the preservation of perseverance rests upon our shoulders just as it did upon Joseph’s, and God is counting on us to be faithful, even if we do not understand the audition of experiences, which prepare us for the next level of responsibility. God is dramatic in the many ways He composes the lives of those who believe in Him. Why does He overshadow our lives with such darkness? It is His way preparing the canvas of life to paint a new picture that will magnify the mysteries of His will? Why couldn’t He have just spoken to Jacob and said, “Move down into the land of Egypt and I will make of you there a great nation?” Why starve a continent and bring such hardships on so many people just to relocate one family who knew only that one day God would make of them a great nation; but how, when, or why, they knew not. Nevertheless, the brush of grace began by over-shadowing Joseph’s life with sorrow and pain in preparation for his training and reigning as Head of State of Egypt, which became a glorious display of God’s affection and an Icon of His wisdom throughout religious history. If there is a strange drama taking place in your life, perhaps it is the Spirit of God secretly at work preparing a plan that will (if necessary by force) mold you into the perfect image for the job; hold on and ride out the storm, you will never forget it of regret it. The brush of grace has again chosen a family who is busy about the work of

God: The Oliver family by name, a busy family who has no time to play games. Nevertheless, they are about to experience a new example of God’s grace through the rearrangement of their lives. Why does God have to be so canny when He is planning something new for our lives? That’s just the way God is– get use to it. : Just as Jesus was the mediator between God and man, so also is every Christian a mediator between the gospel and man. And if Christians are going to reach man, many times God must accommodate the situation by bringing each one to the same level. Just as Jesus was glorified through His obedience to the cross, so also do Christians glorify Him through their obedience to their cause of the cross: You may have the fire of the Holy Ghost in your heart, but getting it into your feet may require a painful experience–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 27 Mom & Dad

(The of the Prodigal Son is one of the most beloved stories used during altar services. While all eyes of hope are focused on that wondering boy or girl who is finally returning home, the evangelists and pastors turn to its resources of love and forgiveness when the Spirit of God is moving at the close of a touching message. But what about that Mom and Dad, and what about all those days and months, and sometimes even years of waiting and wondering and worrying while their prodigal child is on the run; has anyone considered the value of their sufferings? The Prodigal son was not the only child who for some strange reason left home. The rate of runaways is increasing higher each year as children rise up in rebellion against their parents and leave home. Where did they get the attitude that they know all there is to know about life? And, not all prodigals return home safely to face a forgiving father and a loving mother; sometimes it can be a very sad ending, or, there is no mother or father to return too; time has removed them. These youths of today know nothing about the world of briars and thistles and thorns and thugs designed to damage their lives and strip them of their virtues. And if they through some reason should escape death, in many cases, the scars of their mistake they will wear the rest of their life. But on the other hand Prodigals are not always children; sometimes it’s the parents who run away from home. National statistics has confirmed that over all more Dads and Mothers run away from home than do children. Being a parent under normal circumstances can overpower their stability of love until one or the other crumbles, much less having a runaway child to add to their frustrations and inner pain. A short story came to me of a Dad who was taking his son to school one morning. After he would drop him off he had planned to leave–to run away; imagine that, a Dad, a father, a husband, running away from home. Not realizing his desertion would rip apart the hearts and lives of his children, his wife, his parents, and his friends. However, just a short distance before arriving at the school there appeared these words on a large billboard sign: “More Dads run

away from home than do boys.” With reading the sign, the father took deep consideration of his thoughts and his family’s future and changed his mind. When Christian children leave home to venture into a world filled with sin, confusion, and dissolution, no matter how hard we try; only a parent can explain the pain of not knowing their whereabouts or the reason why. The Oliver family did not expect to find the brush of grace painting such a dark picture across their lives. After all, they were ministers of the gospel and they are dedicated to the cause. Their children were brought up in a Christian home and were taught strong Christian principles and values–how could this happen to them? However, this made them a target just as it did Job and Joseph and Moses and many others who have played the part of faith in God’s great cast of believers. This coming storm was placed across their lives, not to destroy them, but to prepare them for a new phase and/or a new dimension of faith and of service. Over the next nine months, this family would be tossed to and fro as the brush of grace crisscrossed the canvas of their lives in preparation for a new chapter and a new portrait of service. If you are going to be a child of light for Jesus Christ then you are going to be tested in the chambers of darkness–be ready. It is now with great honor that we share with you this strange and bazaar experience of “When God doesn’t Make Sense” ministered by Evangelists Mike and Vickie Oliver at the Greater Lighthouse Pentecostal Church 2007 Campmeeting in Madisonville Kentucky, a service and message we shall never forget)–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 28 The Mystery of God’s Will

“I have argued with the Lord about this message. When I was growing up and in school, I very often the teacher would explain something to the class, especially in math, and my hand would go up and I would say, “I don’t understand.” I wanted it to be re-explained to me again so that I would understand. The teacher would be kind to me and say, “I am going to work with you on this; we’re going to work one-on-one; we’re going to work on it after school or during recess until you understand.” Sometimes the teacher would go over it again and again until a little light would come on inside my head and I would say, “Oh yes, now I understand.” It is wonderful when you understand what you are being taught, especially in math. Thus, we must understand the building blocks of the gospel because they lead us in the right direction. If we are ok in our walk with God then our relationship with God will be as it is supposed to be, especially while trying to understand what God is doing in our lives. We know that we are in His will and we are serving Him when things are going well. And we understand that God is on the throne and He is helping us, and we know we are going to heaven, we understand the Word of the Lord and everything is just great. However, it is in those times when you raise your hand and say, “God, I don’t understand.” Then God, many times, because of the complexity of His thinking, He says to us: “His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8, 9). He does not readily say, “Ok, I will meet with you and we will talk it over and I will tell you exactly what I am doing and I will let you in on it.” There are many times God does not say anything, and many times He just says wait. So tonight, I want to share with you one of such times in our family and in our lives–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 29 The Blessings of Home And Family

Brother Oliver and I have four children, two are married and all but one is busy working in church and are working with children’s ministry. Nevertheless, the one who does not attend church, he has a calling on his life and he is on his way back to God–I believe that. And if anyone here at this church knows any of our children it would be our youngest daughter. She was still living at home and has been coming to campmeeting now for many, many years and has not missed. Each year she could hardly wait for campmeeting to come around so she could meet with her friends and they pray and speak in tongues together and work with children at the altar. We have traveled for sixteen years now across thirty states and have seen God do many wonderful things. Children and young people have been our heartbeat and we have seen God deliver many of them from sin and many filled with His Spirit. Within the last sixteen years, the best that we can count, we have seen Jesus fill over 9000 children and young people with the precious gift of the Holy Ghost–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 30 Did I Say Something Wrong?

I , especially one service, where the anointing of the Spirit was moving and I was speaking and I shook my fist and I said, “Devil, you will not have my children–you will not touch my kids.” It came back to haunt me, because that is a very foolish statement to make. We want our children to serve God, but the bottom line is this–they will make their own choices when they get older. After you have put everything spiritual into them that you can think of, they still have to have their own relationship with God–they will have to experience God for themselves–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 31 The Shadow of Death

On September third, 2004, it was on a Friday and I was going about my normal day. We travel forty-five weekends a year and we have never called anyone and asked if we could come to their church to hold services. Neither have we ever said to any pastor that we are going to be in your area or whatever; we completely rely on the Lord to order our calendar. After forty to forty-five weekends of booking and scheduling, pastors stop calling for that calendar year and start calling for the next calendar year to book us for services, and it has just always worked that way for us. We want to live in His purpose and in His will. Then one day as I was looking at our ministering schedule. I brought the calendar to Brother Oliver and I said to him, “I am concerned, we have had five cancellations in a row this month: everything from a hurricane, to a pastor’s wife having surgery, to a flooded church.” I mean; it was just one thing after the other. All these cancellations came in a row within five days–all of them. I said to Brother Oliver, “I’m afraid I’m going to break my leg–something is happening.” We just laughed it off and said, “Maybe the Lord knows we need a rest.” This was the first weekend that we had a cancellation and we were at home. I left on Friday morning to go get groceries, you know, everybody has to do those things. Our youngest daughter was still living at home. She was sixteen years old. As she was leaving for school I kissed her goodbye and gave her lunch money. She had her own car and had just started driving and the High School was just around the corner from where we lived, so we felt safe. After she left for school I left to go get groceries. Later, when I returned home, the answering machine was beeping. And I get tired of that beep, beep, beeping noise. So I quickly laid everything down and went and pushed the button and it said, “Your daughter is not in school today, you need to send a note with her on Monday when she returns.” Well, I knew she was in school because she was just with me a little while before. Her car was still gone. So I picked up the phone and I called the high school and I said, “You have made a mistake, I know she is there.” The office

person said, “Probably we have made a mistake. We are having computer problems and so just ignore the call, I am sure she is here.” I said, “Wait a minute, you just called me and said she is not there. Could you do me a favor, find her and call me back.”–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 32 A Strange Spirit

It is a normal morning and I am playing some good gospel music and I am unloading groceries–but there is a nagging in my spirit. I something that had happened just three days before. I vividly while walking through my house. I am not easily frightened by ghostly stories, but I do believe in being sensitive to strange spirits because they are spoken of within the scripture. The devil and one-third of the wicked angels were kicked out of heaven, and those angels are not sitting around frying hamburgers just waiting for hell–they are at work concerning the devil’s business. In our home where there is always peace, and we always feel love and we pray, and we carefully guard what comes into our home, and if you do not do that you need to start. We try very hard to make it a haven: A place where you can feel Jesus. And for several weeks I had been seeing a dark figure. This brought me to say, “Lord, help me to identify this spirit; what is this figure, and what is going on in my home?” I could not identify it; the Lord blinded my eyes to it. I had asked her just three days before, “Do you know anything about this?” and she said “No mother.” This conversation and the look on her face came back to me. I got into the car. They had not called me back, so I drove up to the high school and I looked in the parking lot and her car was not there. Then I really begin to feel that something is not right here–something is just not right. I walked into the door of the High School and someone was waiting for me. The security guard walked me to the principles office. Please understand; this school is just around the corner from our house where our other three children had attended. We were very active in that school and we were always there to our children; they knew our witness and they knew the witness of our children. The office was small where they took me, and they, including the police officer with his clipboard, were packed into it. The principle, vice principle, the school counselor, one of the history teachers, the security guard that walked me in, and then there was a teenage girl standing over against the wall; they all were in this small office, and they said, “Mrs. Oliver, you need to sit down.” I said, “I want

to know where my daughter is?” The police officer said, “I have already taken a report, but I would like for this young lady to tell you what she knows.” This young girl begins to list the things that she wanted to do that we would not allow her to do, i.e. things like, dating boys, and our dress codes, etc., and she said this out in front of everyone in this office. Then all of a sudden the room begins to spin and I am thinking, “This is a nightmare and I am going to wake up in a cold sweat and understand that she is safe and that everything is ok.” It was one of those times that you felt like someone rolled up their fist and punched you in the stomach–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 33 No Amber Alert

The police officer said, (as he helped me to a chair, because I am going to the floor, and the officer catches me and sets me up in a chair). He says to me, “Now, we have taken a report and this is what has happened. Do you want me to call your husband?” I said, “The first call I want you to make is–I want an amber alert–I want you to find my little girl. She’s sixteen years old and she’s with a twenty-one-year-old drug dealer, I want you to find her.” The officer said, “Mrs. Oliver, you do not understand, the consensual age for sex in the State of Ohio is sixteen years of age. We cannot put out an amber alert because she is with her boyfriend; you heard what this young girl said. Do not worry, Mrs. Oliver, it happens all the time–she well come home.” I was completely helpless. He said, “However, we will be sending human services out to your home to talk to you.” What kind of world do we live in? If you think you are going to get help raising your children please be advised, the world thinks completely different than we parents think. They would not go look for my daughter and they would not put out an amber alert–she was gone. I have never felt so helpless in all my life as I walked that day to the car alone. I drove to my house and my husband met me there, and the police officer did come to follow up on our home affairs, because, you know, kids just do not run away from good homes. Human services checked us out. They called our neighbors, they called our church people; they called everyone they could think of. They checked out our home and they came and talked to us. And the man called us back the next day and said, “In thirty-two years in this business I have never seen a situation like this, our prayers are with you.” And that is the last time we heard from him–our little girl was gone– Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 34 Parents of a Prodigal

(Parents of Prodigals suffer a lot of pain behind the scene that the younger generation knows nothing about. Some parent’s who experience this type of trauma turn to alcohol and drugs, and some, after a while, lose their rational footing and withdraw into isolation where they can suffer alone without fear of being noticed. And, sadly, traumas of this nature succumb many to physical sicknesses and they literally die, never knowing why, what, or the whereabouts of their missing child. Grief causes sickness, gray hair, wrinkles suddenly appear in the face, it slumps the shoulders, it leaves expressions of defeat noticeable in the face and posture, as well as creating many internal disorders. Parents who suffer this degree of grief can age five to ten years in only a few months–so to speak. When you are a “Parent of a Prodigal” grief is your constant companion. Grief is the tormentor of the body and spirit: Its nature is to attack the immune system of the spiritual man to bring him down to death’s door where he or she will feel that God has forsaken them. Its constitution is ed by fear and doubt, of which Goliath was the perfect image. It was Goliath’s mission, not to slaughter the outer shell of the army of Israel, but to destroy them inwardly through the power of fear. This method of approach Satan specializes in, and his devices are as deadly as the sting of sin, which is death. He is a smooth operator and his performances are well thought out. We have books about “The Prodigal Son” and “The Prodigal Daughter” but what about the “Parents of a Prodigal”. The world needs to know in microscopic detail just how Parents of Prodigals really feel when the nights are long and the days are empty, and the pain of not knowing gnaws on their soul and spirit without mercy, and their imaginations expand out of proportion giving birth to fear and doubt. The Oliver’s were not expecting a trial of this magnitude to come to their Christian home. They did not know a problem was lurking in the shadows of their Christ-like surroundings waiting to make its attack. Though they taught their children well and were spiritually ready, they were not expecting an enigma

experience of this nature that could take their daughter away from them. No parent is ever ready to face this type of giant regardless of how close they are to God.)–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 35 I’m Having A Stroke

I am talking tonight about “When God Doesn’t Make Sense.” When your hands are raised in prayer and you need an answer from God and there is not an answer–God was silent to me. And so, I am at home in my chair and getting phone calls, and people are concerned, and the church people are calling, and I feel a lot of love; but no one can touch my heart–no one can help me. In the living room of our home I was talking to a friend and I was giving her details, and all of a sudden I had a crushing blow to my head and I felt the right side of my face go completely numb; my eyes and my mouth, I could not form words. I was trying to talk to my friend on the phone and I realized the words would not come out–I knew I was having a stroke. I dropped the phone and my husband got the phone out of my hand. My blood pressure had soared–stress will do that, you know. I could not even call on the name of Jesus; it was just as if it was my time to go. I thinking, “I am going to die”. The enemy has me where he wants me and I am not going to be here when my daughter comes home.” About that time our oldest son who was rushing in from Illinois, drives up in the driveway. He came running into the house and, I , he braced his big body. He is six-foot-four and weighs three hundred and fifty pounds, and he draped his big body over the top of me in that recliner, and I heard him praying. I felt like I was leaving and I heard him praying: “Don’t take my Mom, she has trained me and taught me and she is not finished teaching me and I need her.” I begin to feel my life come back into me–I felt myself reviving. I felt the symptoms of this stroke leaving, and by the time he got through praying I was whole; I was completely whole–Hallelujah! Do not think God does not know where you are in the midst of your troubles! He knows where you are! He may be quiet, He may not talk, but He knows where you are–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 36 Life Goes On

As time progressed, and you know what, life also goes on. It would be wonderful if time and life could be suspended while we are going through our trials, but it cannot; it is a grin and bear it thing and God and the devil are watching us. Sometimes it is hard to produce a smile, especially when there is a giant of this nature standing before you. The world is watching you, God is watching you, the devil is watching you, your friends are watching you; everyone is watching you when you are in the heat of the battle, and like David, the giant-like problem will draw you out into the open for all to see. Brother Oliver went back to work and everything just moved on. However, for a mother, I carried a phone in each pocket. All day long when I was at home I had the cell phone in one pocket and the house phone in the other pocket and I was afraid to leave the house, and so on and so forth, and yet there was no phone call–nothing! This went on for quite a while. And we did not know it at first, but the Lord gave me those five weeks off to recover from this news–from this sudden shock. In those five weeks, I laid for hours on her bedroom floor weeping and interceding and praying, and God was so silent to me. I : I said, “God, you have to make her call–she has got to at least call me, I have to know she is alive. You said you would not put on me more than I am able to bear, and I cannot bear this.” Then the Lord spoke. It was so clear. He said, “I cannot make her call. I cannot make anyone do anything they do not want to do; everyone has a free will. But I can protect her, and I have sent angels to watch over her and to take care of her.” That was one of the three times I heard the voice of the Lord–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 37 Three Months

Three months later, after the five weeks were over, I went into my pastor’s office and I said, “Bro Sciscoe, I need for you to write a letter for me. I need to send it out to all the places that are on our calendar, I cannot do this any longer; I cannot minister any longer.” The enemy, of course, was following me around and saying to me, “How are you going to snatch other parent’s kids from hell when your own is gone? How can you tell other people what to do?” The enemy followed me around day and night “mine acc” (Rev 12:10). He said, “You should have known. If you had not been so busy you would have known. This is your fault; you are her mother and you should have seen it coming.” Even though my pastor and other folks were just as shocked as we were–there were no signs. The Lord allowed it to be hidden from me. I realize it now but I did not then. My pastor said, “If we had lined up all our young people, I would have picked her last to have done this.” I said, “Brother Sciscoe, I cannot do this anymore, I am done, I cannot do this anymore.” With a pastor’s voice he said to me, “You listen to me. You pack your bags and you go to every single meeting you have scheduled, and you stand in that pulpit if you have to crawl there, and the Lord will meet you there; the anointing of the Spirit of God will be there.” And that is what I did; I did it out of obedience. If I could have done what I wanted to do I would have stayed home. However, out of obedience I went, and brother Oliver can tell you, the Lord came into our meetings and met with us there in those meetings. I did not go around telling my sad story. I did tell it as the news came in of what was going on, but other than that I did not share it. We went to many, many churches and we ministered to hundreds of people every weekend and nobody knew our pain. Only us and God, and I promise you, the Holy Ghost came into every service and the Lord made it so easy. He knew the level of my strength and my ability. And as we ministered, the children and the young people and the adults, and whoever would line up in the front of the church, and I would simply look down at them from the pulpit and ask, “Are you ready?” And then I would

say, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost!” and it would fall upon them! We saw 789 people receive the infilling of the Holy Ghost while she was gone–Hallelujah! I am talking about when you are a “Parent of a Prodigal.” “When it doesn’t make sense to you!” When you do not understand what is going on in your life and your situation has you confused! I found out: The less I talked about it and the less I whined about it the better off I was. Because, there is a measure of faith that comes to you when you simply let go and say, “I do not understand, but I trust you Lord.” There were days I said, I know I said it a hundred times: “I trust you, Lord! I trust you, Lord! I trust you, Lord! I trust you, Lord!”–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 38 Runaway Missing

We were doing a crusade out in Wyoming and I get a call from the FBI. It has been three months now since our daughter went missing and she has not called. The FBI told us that they have assigned an officer to the case and that they wanted me, over the phone, to design a poster concerning our “endangered runaway” and they would help me. It was in every major discount store across the nation. You know: that glass box that we all glance at and walk on by on our way in or out of our favorite shopping stores, and we say, “my, my, my”. Her picture was there. The little card that we get in the mailbox that we usually just pitch them in the trash; she was on one of those. I when they sent me that poster by way of computer and it came upon the screen and how I felt. This is not supposed to happen to our kids; it was a nightmare and I could not wake up. My pastor would call and he would weep with me over the phone and he would say, “I do not know how to minister to you, or, I do not know what words to say”–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 39 They Found A Body

I was at home in the middle of the week and my cell phone rang; the FBI agent checked in with me every day or so. He called and he said, “Mrs. Oliver, we have found a body in a ravine out in the country close to your home; we know for sure that it is a young girl. I need you to go to the dentist. I need you to get some dental records and bring them to my office as soon as you can.” I headed out and I am driving to the dentist and I am thinking, “How can this be? How can I be going to get dental records?” You know, that stuff is in the bookstores and in the movies and stuff, and I am trying logically to think it through and it just does not make sense. I arrived at the dentist office and I walk in and I asked for her dental records, and they ask me, “Why?” Stunned, I said, “I’d rather not say why.” I mean, there was a whole lobby full of people and I am near crumbling all the time anyway. And I said, “I would rather not say why. Could you just release them to me and I will sign for them, I am her mother.” The office person said to me, “Mrs. Oliver, we do not give out dental records without knowing the reason why.” Embarrassed and in pain, I leaned over the counter and quietly I said, “Because, they think they found her.” The next thing I knew I was in the morgue, how painful, how embarrassing. They walked me to a back room, and there again, somebody is picking me up off the floor. Why? I am a “Parent of a Prodigal” that’s why! I am going through one of the strangest trials of my life, and the pain and the feelings of frustrations are about to take me down, and they asked me why? I am sharing my heart with you tonight. I do not have to expose this story. But because it happened to us, I want you to understand: It does not matter how bad it looks or how bad it gets, Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you. While going through this, there were times when I was not as strong as I wish I had been; nonetheless, my Savior cares. Later in the day I got the call. It was not she and we rejoiced. And I ed

my promise: I said, “Devil, you will never do that to me again.” This was the work of the enemy to break me down through this time–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 40 Drugs And Prostitution

Just a few weeks after that, (the call about finding a girl’s body) they called again. It has now been fives months since she disappeared and still no phone call. They said again that they have located her. They told me: “She is living in an apartment complex and it was a very, very, bad area of town where many drug dealers and gangs in Columbus, Ohio hang out, and we have found her there.” He said, “Mrs. Oliver, we have over ten people, including the security guards that work at this complex, they have looked at many pictures of her and they have said it is her. We are going in around two or three o’clock in the morning and we are going to do a bust, and we will be calling you to come downtown and get her. I do not know if we will release her to you at that time but you need to be prepared.” Here I am driving: I am running errands, I am trying to stay away from the house and it was such a horrible time in our lives. I would just get out and do whatever just to get away from the house; I just could not stand to be there without her there and her laughter and all of that–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 41 To Steal, To Kill, & To Destroy

I was driving and I look up and I did not know where I was. I’m driving down some country road outside of Columbus and I do not know where I am. I’m getting this news on the cell phone. So I pulled the car over for a moment or two, and I think: “What’s the use?” I so vividly: The pain was so great and I was beating my head against the steering wheel. I could hear the devil laughing at me. And then, as God always does at the right moment, He came to me. The Holy Ghost; the Spirit of God slowly filled that car where I was sitting and weeping. I did not have to ask Him this time; He just came in. Then, all of a sudden, I felt strength as it began to flow through me, and my spirit revived. I knew it was a trick of the enemy of my soul. And I said: “Wait a minute, devil, you listen to me: We dedicated her to Jesus when she was born. When she was four years old she and her sister were playing church in the bedroom. She had just gotten out of the bathtub and she had a little towel on her head, her bathrobe was wrapped around her and she had her little house slippers on. Then all of a sudden, (our other daughter) came running and said to me, “Momma, come quickly, sister is talking in tongues; we were playing church and she got the real thing.” I went running into the bedroom and there she was speaking in tongues kneeling down by her little rocking chair. She was so lost in the Holy Ghost that we called grandma; they were listening to her speaking in tongues on the telephone and she never knew that we made the call.” I said, “Devil, I was there and the Lord made me a promise and you are telling me another lie. You are lying to me again–it’s not her! I do not care what that officer said–it is not her!” I went about my day. And I went home and I went to bed that night and I slept like a baby. Come morning, I called the officer back and I said “Well?” And he said, “Well, it wasn’t her. We went in and took the girl out; she looked a lot like her but it was not her, Mrs. Oliver.” Hallelujah! When things do not look good you have to trust Jesus! We have to

hang on to His promises; in these times you have to trust in the Lord! Do not lean on your own understanding! When the way looks like it is over, put your trust the Lord! Hallelujah!–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 42 The Pain of Not Knowing

To make a long story short: It was seven months and eight days without a phone call from her. I whined, I cried, I grieved, and I mourned; it was worse than a death–not knowing. Not knowing why! Not knowing where! Going to sleep at night–not knowing! Waking up in the morning–not knowing! Going through the day–not knowing! Not knowing! Not knowing! She was our baby girl! From the news the FBI had told me; I pictured her in crack houses strung out on drugs. Then I ed my promise that God had made to me: “I will send angels to watch over her.” What God’s Word has meant to me and to you; some of you need to what the Lord has promised you in His Word. You need to cash in on those promises when the chips are down and you do not know the reason why–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 43 Climbing Out of My Hole

I decided I was going to quit whining. I said, “Lord, I want you to forgive me for my whining.” I believe in praying in the Spirit. I have prayed in the Spirit for my children all of their lives. I have travailed for them in the Spirit. However, I had been so overcome by my own grief that really, when I knelt down to pray, I was just weeping and crying for the lost and not realizing that I am her mother, and if anyone is going to do battle for her it needs to be me. I started by saying, “Lord, if you will, show me how to pray.” Parents please listen to me: There is a way that you can pray that is more effective than whining and moaning. I said, “Lord, show me how to pray and I will pray the prayer you teach me; only show me how and what spirit to pray against.” This was so odd the way it all happened. I knew that it was a trap laid by the enemy of my life; I knew that it was an attack on our ministry. I said, “Lord, I need to know how to pray.” I even talked to my pastor. I talked to many other ministers and they all prayed with me, but no one gave me a direct answer– no one–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 44 Making A Deal With God

We are in Connecticut now. Please understand that the Lord and I had a little deal and I really felt assured in my spirit of this. I said, “Ok, Lord, I will travel and I will go back out on the evangelistic field and I will do whatever you want me to do. But we have to have a little deal between us, that when she calls I have to be home. When I felt my faith getting weak I would get up in the middle of the night. You say, “Sister Oliver, this sounds ridiculous.” Well, maybe I was out of my mind when I did this, I do not know. Nevertheless, I would bake chocolate chip cookies and I would stand in the middle of the kitchen with nobody there but me, and I would say, “Devil, you see these cookies I have baked? She is coming home to eat them; in the name of Jesus, she is coming home! And when she comes home I’m going to be here!” Somebody, out there, in this audience, you need to speak the words of faith to your situation. The Lord made a deal with me. I just felt it in my spirit that I was going to be home when she came home. I was not going to be in Florida or California or somewhere I could not get home from in a hurry. I was going to be home when she called; I had that assurance in my heart and in my spirit–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 45 On The Road Again

We are traveling again now, and we were in Connecticut, and I have my message prepared, and I have props all laid out, and I am getting ready, and the Lord speaks to me and He says, “I want you to tell the runaway daughter Story.” You talk about an argument. I said, “Lord, I know you know the end of the story but I don’t. I cannot tell that story with her still missing. How will that give you glory if I get up and cry and tell the story when she is still missing? I’ll tell it when you do the ending of it”. And the Lord said to me, “I want you to tell the story–I want you to be obedient.” I cannot tell you what happened that night. But I stood in the pulpit and I told the story of of her running away, and if you think I am crying now, you should have seen me then–I was a blubber-basket. I told that story that night; I was so weak I could hardly stand up because she is still missing and the pain is still so real. At the ending of the message, all of a sudden, people started getting up out of their seats and parents brought their teenagers to the altar; they brought their children to the altar. Teenagers were reconciled to their parents and parents were reconciled with their children–it works both ways you know. Several children had been sneaking around and doing things they should not have been doing, and they came to their parents and confessed and God refilled them with the Holy Ghost. There were people reborn again that night into the kingdom of God. Oh, it was a wonderful and glorious service. When God gets ready to anoint something, He just anoints it. He does the work and that is what He did that night–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 46 A Spirit of Witchcraft

After the service was over one night, I was sitting on the front row marveling at what God was doing, and a young Hispanic man came to me. He sat down and he said to me, “Sister Oliver, the Lord has shown me that you have asked Him what spirit to pray against, that a trap was set for your baby girl and that you want to break the back of that spirit. I am going to tell you what it is in Spanish: It is called: “Brew area–Witchcraft.” “Witchcraft is as the sin of rebellion” (1 Sam 15:23). That spirit has attached itself to her spirit and she will not come home until it is broken.” When he said that to me I felt it all the way down to my toes! The church where we were at that night had a large old wooden cross leaning over against the wall at the hind-side of the altar. And I got on the foot of that cross, and I got down with my face at the foot of that cross and I begin to warfare in the spirit. The Spirit of the Lord came over me and I began to speak with tongues; I began to bind that spirit in the name of Jesus. I commanded it to loose my baby girl and to set her free. The sisters of the church did not know what I was doing; no one knew but the man who told me. No one knew I had been asking the Lord for that. The sisters of the church gathered around me and that same burden that was upon me also came over them. And for forty-five minutes we did warfare in the spirit against this evil spirit that had taken my daughter captive. Somebody here in this church tonight needs to pray for your lost children; someone needs to intercede for your unsaved children. Someone needs to get a hold of the spirit world to find out what has a hold on your children. Someone here in this building tonight needs to command an evil spirit to loose your children and set them free! Hallelujah!–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 47 Prophecy And A Vision

Suddenly a hush came over that building as the pastor took the pulpit, and he said: “Thus saith the Lord, she is turning her face toward home–she will be coming home very soon.” And we rejoiced. I got on the airplane and came home. And on Monday evening we had some friends over for dinner, and after dinner (I had not had the chance to tell them that she was on her way home. I had not had the chance to tell them the story yet). We were going to tell them but they wanted to pray. So as we were starting to pray our friends began to intercede. The woman came over and just laid her head in my lap and she begin to intercede for me. And while she was interceding I had a strange feeling of–I do not have to pray; it is done–it’s already done. And so, I sat there with a smile on my face with my eyes closed and the Lord gave me a vision. And in this vision I could see her bent over and she was sitting in a chair and her hands were over her face and she was sobbing; I could see her just sobbing. I could see, in the door walked a beautiful holy Pentecostal woman, and I saw her lay her hand on her shoulder; I couldn’t hear what she was saying but she was ministering to her. The Lord said to me in this vision, “I am sending someone across her path to facilitate her in coming home.” I told everyone in the room. I said, “This is what is happening, I just know it, the Lord showed it to me, this is what He is doing.” How little did I know that she had met a young man in the summertime and that she was somewhere where she was not allowed to be? You hear Sister Oliver tonight, young people and children; you think you can handle just about anything. There are parents and people here in this church that love you who are watching out for your souls. So the first mistake is: Do not go places you are not allowed to go, be obedient even if everybody else is going. Do not use this with your parents: “Everybody else saw that movie, everybody else is going, and everybody else is doing it.” That is the first step toward big troubles. Because, when you start sneaking around then you have to lie, and one lie has to cover another lie until you find yourself going further and further, and

you find yourself going much farther than you thought that you would go. Our daughter had met this young man and she started sneaking around with him, and then she felt guilty and she felt bad. She knew that we were in the ministry; she knew that we would be very hurt and disappointed in her if we knew. She knew because she had traveled with us and she had heard more messages than probably any little kid in the world would hear, and the enemy of her soul was playing on that. You hear Sister Oliver tonight: It does not matter what you have done, you can always come running to the foot of the cross and you will find unconditional love. You will find people in this church that will forgive you and love you– Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 48 Angels Unaware

Our daughter had taken off with her boyfriend and went to Boston, Massachusetts, where he had work waiting for him. He is illegal and he is from El Salvador. He is not a drug dealer; he has never done drugs, it was just another lie the devil told–just another one of his lies. Wouldn’t it have been a shame if I had lost my mind or if I had a stroke and died over a lie from Satan? Do not let the enemy of your soul lie to you. When you do not understand you have to trust God–you have to trust Him. She was in Boston, Massachusetts, and the day before she found out that she was expecting a child. She went to have the test done and her reaction was so bad that they sent her and her boyfriend together to a social worker the next morning–on Tuesday morning of that week. And so, she is sitting in the social worker’s office and the social worker comes in. The first woman is not so kind, and she said, “I do not want your case. I see enough troubled little girls and I am fed up to here with troubled little girls. However, we have a new worker that just came on and you are going to be her first case, she will see you in a few minutes. Because of the woman’s harsh words she was already weeping. She already felt so guilty and so bad, and now she is weeping and she is thinking, “Now everybody is going to be like this.” And she has got her face in her hands just as in the vision that God gave me. This, the worker told me later over the phone– Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 49 When God Speaks It Happens

She has her face in her hands, and a woman, a beautiful godly woman walks in and she puts her hand on her back and says, “Honey, everything is going to be alright, tell me about your problem.” And she looked up with tears dropping off her face and she said, “I have not told anyone the truth for over seven months now and I want to tell you the truth”. And begins to unload her story: “My family is in the ministry. I have a good Mother and Dad, I have a good home, and I have been raised in church.” She said, “I do not know if you can understand this but, when I was just four years old Jesus moved into my heart and I spoke in tongues while kneeling down by my rocking chair in my bedroom, and I have always had a relationship with the Lord–but I just messed up.” The godly woman (that I saw in the vision) said, “Wait a minute, she, what denomination–where are you from–what church are you from?” she said, “I belong to the United Pentecostal Church”. The social worker said, “So do I. I also attend a United Pentecostal Church right here in Boston.” The social worker told me this on the telephone. She said, “I was so moved with comion that I had to leave the room and go into an empty office nearby and shut the door to intercede and pray for your little girl”–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 50 The Prodigal Returns

Did you know that right now somebody else is praying for your children and that you do not know anything about it? Did you know that God moves within the hearts of people and you never know anything about it? And so, we got the call that she was coming home. And she came home on a bus, and she came back into our home, and there she was again just as if she had never gone away. There she sat that evening with her long hair and her gene skirt on; she looked modest and holy just like it had never happened–it was such a strange thing.” (This is a dangerous time for prodigals, especially when their parents want more than they can offer. Harsh words from unmerciful parents can wound a precious young soul forever. Magnifying their guilt can easily destroy a wounded soul, causing them loose all hope. Parents that want more than a child can give need to re-evaluate the power of forgiveness in restoring a young life and leading them back to God. The Oliver’s used the wisdom that is from above to handle their situation and it worked.)

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17.)–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 51 The Robe & The Ring

I said to her, “Momma needs to know; I have to know, is it because I travel? Was it because I was not here for you that you ran away? I want to do right by you, if I had just known.” Then this look of horror and surprise appeared in her face. She said, “Momma, you’re what brought me back. All I could think about was one of your messages about the Portages Man of War and I got out of the boat. I got my hands over the side and I kept swimming further and further away. All I could think about was, I have to get back in the boat. Every day I thought about the messages I have heard you preach, and Momma, that was what brought me home.” Do not let the enemy of your soul work that guilt thing on you. Parents, listen to me, you did your best. There comes a time when your children make their own bed their own way and their own relationships. However, do not give up now; God still sends angels to protect them. It matters not if they are thirty, forty-five, or fifty years of age, God will still bring them in; He is not done with them yet. He will not give up on them, so why should you. He will still send somebody his or her way! Let me put a ray of hope into your heart tonight: He has not forgotten where your children are! He has not forgotten where they are and how they were raised! And so, there, she was home again. And I said to her, “I have to know.” I said, “Honey, did you smoke and did you drink and did you do drugs?” She said, “No, Momma, I never smoked; however, Momma, I did take one sip of something that they gave me and I said, “Why would anyone want to drink this stuff?” and I never tasted it again. Momma, I never did any kind of drugs. My boyfriend does not do drugs; he does not drink and he does not smoke. So Momma, I just felt so guilty. And the devil kept telling me, (I am talking about the spirit world now) the enemy kept telling me, “You have messed up too bad to return home or to God.” (The devil will tell you this when you fail: When you fail in school, at work, within your social circle, or even with your family; it is the trick of the devil to

keep you bound within his web of fear and doubt. It is one of his browbeating techniques to keep you from returning to your family, your friends, your church, and to God.) “And so, there she was–home again at last. We were so glad to have her back into our home and family. We were celebrating–we killed the fatted calf. We were so happy. I looked at all my other children and I said (you know the story). I said. “We are all going to be happy; we are all going to embrace her. There is not going to be any back talk or talking behind the back about what used to be or what did happen. We are going to forget what happened and we are going to put it under the blood of Jesus.” We gathered around her, and she, while standing in our living room with her hands raised; she began speaking in other tongues as the Spirit of God gave the utterance. Hallelujah!” (Though speaking with tongues is the initial evidence of the infilling of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, it also appears as the result of true repentance and confession when one is returning to God.) I laid my hands on her and I commanded that spirit to loose her and let her go for the last time, and she has not missed a church service or a time to pray in that altar yet! Hallelujah! I have my baby back! I have my baby back home–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 52 My Final Test

After she was home and things were smoothing out again, she begins to cry, and she wants to see her boyfriend. She had been with him for seven months and she wanted to see him, but I did not want to see him. I am human you know. Well, she would not eat, she would not sleep, and she was carrying his child. So, I said, “He could come, and then we will decide what we are going to do.” I kind of mumbled that under my breath. He kept calling my cell phone. He would leave me messages, and he would say, “Mrs. Vickie, are you going to hurt me when I get there? I am afraid to come. If you are going to call the police I am not coming”. I would call him back and say, “You just better get on that bus and get here; we will straighten this thing out when you get here.” I mean: I did not give him a lot of flowery words, I just said, “You need to get here.” And so he did–he came”–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 53 Face To Face With My Goliath

(Many times, in our Christian walk with God, our problems with our children and friends, and even within our churches, things can grow into metaphors that appear as the angel of death, but is only a ghostly figure with no reality. Images, which appear in our thoughts fashion and expand themselves out of proportion and frighten us beyond measure. According to the scripture, Goliath was nothing but a shadow, (of things to come) yet he brought a standstill to the mighty army of Israel. The talk around the camp was “Goliath Awaits.” and so did the army of Israel. They waited, and they waited, and they waited until God sent them a small ray of hope in the figure of a young lad named David who would solve their problem and restore their faith. Isn’t it grand when someone comes to our rescue that has the answer to our problem? But now Sister Oliver is about to meet her Goliath up close, eye-to-eye, nose-tonose, and face-to-face; the one who led her daughter astray. The one who created this strange and painful experience, which hid the grace of God from the eyes of their family, their friends, their church family, and made their home a prison without walls. However, this is what problems are all about, isn’t it: To teach us about the mysteries of the grace and mercy of God. One thing we have all learned while going through the storms of life, is that grace always creates a dark background before painting its narrative of mercy, and brother and sis Oliver are about to see the brush of God’s grace in action.)–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 54 Gone Fishing

“It was a Saturday and guess what, we were home. We did not have anything on our calendar on that weekend, so my husband said to me, “What do you want to do, honey?” I said, “I want to go down to the fishing hole–I sure don’t want him in the house right away.” (She struggles to find just one smooth word–just one smooth thought. This is common with the flesh and is not to be taken as a spiritual flaw: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph 6:12). “I am thinking in the back of my mind, “There might be bloodshed and I didn’t want to clean up the mess.” So, we packed a lunch for the kids, and it just so happened that all of them were there that day. We took all the children and we went down to the fishing hole. And we are fishing for catfish, and we are having a big time; my heart is beating fast because he is getting ready to come down that bank at any moment. Our son and daughter-in-law had taken her to the bus station to pick him up and in a little while there they came–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 55 Spinning My Sling

And I looked up and he was standing on top of the bank, and I laid my fishing pole down, and, I felt all of that anger from all of those months building up within me. And I thought, “How dare you.” (It’s ok to struggle against the spirits of revenge; she is fighting to resist its power over her Christian principles of, “Be ye angry, and sin not” (Eph 4:26). “I stood up and I started toward him to meet him. You know, I knew what I could do. I knew I could call the FBI agent and he would be removed from our life forever–I knew we had that power in our hands.” (The power and wisdom of the Holy Ghost will now take control and she will overcome her antagonist with good and not evil–with words of life and not of death.) “As I started up that bank, I had my cell phone in my pocket and the officer’s number was in my cell phone. However, as I started up that bank the Lord said to me: “Vickie Oliver, how many times have you laid before me in prayer and you have said to me, “Lord, nothing is more important to me than one soul; if just one more soul would walk down that aisle, nothing is more important to me than a soul.” The Lord said to me, “Now I want you to prove it to me”–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 56 Gethsemane’s Surrender

He came walking down that bank towards me and he threw his arms around my neck. He was weeping on my shoulder, and he said, “I am so sorry for what we did to you.” Then the Lord said to me, “I have given you a little brown boy to love.” Then I held him at arms-length and I looked into his eyes and I said to him, “We don’t want you to be afraid of us because nothing is going to happen to you; we are going to become your family.” I said to him, “The reason we are not going to hurt you, we are not going to call the FBI, and we are not going to turn you in, is because we have Jesus in our hearts, and you are going to learn what that means in the days and months to come.” Church, I went after him as I had gone after any other soul–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 57 There Is Going To Be A Wedding

Our Pastor, Brother William Sciscoe, came to the house and he counseled with him and them, and he scratched his head, and he looked at me with that one eye and he said, “I hate to tell you this, Bro and Sis Oliver, but they are in love and I’m going to marry them. I feel like we just need to marry them.” And, so, as the story goes, they did get married, and they lived with us for three months. And every day in the morning I talked about Jesus, and every day and night thereafter I talked about Jesus. He and they would ride around in the car with me and I would feed them lunch and I would talk about Jesus–I just kept putting Jesus into his spirit–this was something new to him–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 58 A Soul In A Box

“Jesus saw a little El Salvadorian boy and He said, “I have a plan and I am going to save this boy.” When he hit the ground in the United States he began to work. When he arrived he did not even have shoes on his feet–he was barefooted. Nevertheless, he began to work very hard, and over time he sent nine thousand dollars back to his family, which, that is a lot of money in El Salvador. He paid for having a floor put in his family’s house. He paid to put running water in their home. He bought them a vehicle and he pays all their medical expenses. They sent us a video of all the things that he had paid for. The house that they live in is in his name in El Salvador–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 59 A Nine-Month Reality

We were at home and not out on the field preaching, and it is Sunday, so we went to our home church in Columbus, Ohio. The newly weds are sitting in a pew at about three pews back. And so, I went out for a moment, and when I came back in, I am right by their pew, because I am sitting just one pew in front of them. And as I hesitated by their pew I am marveling and I am looking at them sitting there. Then the Lord spoke to me and He said, “How long has it been?” And I am thinking: “How long has it been since the day she ran away, since the day she slipped out, how long has it been?” I did the math in my head and it had been exactly nine months to the day. Then the Lord said, “I have required you to carry this baby in your womb for nine months and today you are going to be delivered of him; I am going to fill this boy with My Spirit.” I could hardly sit through the rest of the service. When the altar call was given I was ready to go ask him if he wanted to go to the front; however, he beat me to it. He stepped out of his seat and went running up to the altar, and before he got there, with his hands raised in the air, he started speaking in other tongues as the Spirit of God gave him the utterance. Then he was baptized in the precious Name of Jesus for the remission of his sins–Goliath Awaits…

Chapter 60 When God Doesn’t Make Sense

I am talking about: When we do not understand God always knows what He is doing. He has a work in progress and He is working in ways that we cannot see or understand, it is our job to believe to the end that God is in control and that He has a special plan for our lives, even if what is going on does not make sense to us. God always knows the end from the beginning.” (As strangely as this may sound: God knows and plans our every move from beginning to end, while at the same time He let’s us enjoy the fruits of what we have sown. He promotes His will without being a futurist or predestinationists; otherwise, He would not be a sovereign God. He creates good, and He creates evil without defaulting on his righteousness. The evil He creates is not the sin in our lives, but the denominators designed to bring us to our senses when it comes to accomplishing His will, and it is these denominators that we do not understand. Don’t be afraid of the new chapters God may have planned for your life. The darkness that appears is only the Master Artist preparing the background so the brush of grace can begin painting the glorious colors of God’s purpose for your life.) “And we know that all things work together (the good, the bad, and the ugly) for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28)–Goliath Awaits…

~ THE END ~

Chapter 61 Guardians of Honor

At a later time in David’s life he was challenged by a spirit, which overpowered his strong will and pierced him through with the sting of a death. Nathan the prophet was then summoned to minister to David; he was commissioned to remove the arrow of death from David’s soul to spare his life. This was a great honor that he should be entrusted with the guardianship of the honor of the king. When a Christian is wounded by sin, though he or she may have fallen at the hands of satanic trickery or were overcome by the power of lust; whichever is the case. The apostle Paul had something to say concerning our failures and the guardianship of those entrusted thereby: “Brethren, if a man (or a woman) be overtaken in a fault, ye that are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal 6:1). If you are a Christian then you have been entrusted with a great responsibility of restoring wounded souls. Christians must be certified (proven) in meekness. This is a fearful moment for the ministry and/or the saint of God, as they stand between their church and God’s wrath; they minister as a priest before God on behalf of the fallen. Sometimes a warning comes through a message from the pulpit or as a riddle as did with Nathan, the prophet when he was sent to minister to David. Oh, the mercy that flows through the hands of those who minister in God’s stead; they stand between the wrath of God and the sword of death until repentance can be accomplished. When the prodigal son returned home wounded and stripped of his virtues, his father, like a pastor, welcomed him without reservation. But as always, there was one member within his (church) family (his brother) who would rather he had died while on his jamboree than to see him restored to life. Sadly, this spirit continues in the hearts of many Christians today. You will notice them by their robes of self-righteousness and their sharp tongues as they call down wrath upon the wounded. However, God’s love is without reservation and partiality to all who return to Him in repentance and confession.

To be a “Guardian of Honor” is a sacred calling that is not to be betrayed. Their honor is of the utmost importance to God. Protecting them from the wrath of over-righteous and over-zealous individuals places a Christian into a dangerous situation. He must answer to God and at the same time conceal their sins within their heart lest the same punishment befall them. As Guardians of Honor no one will ever excel higher than a Father or a Mother, as they will preserve the reputation of their children with their lives– Goliath Awaits…

POEM The Prodigal

I want to be a prodigal and travel far from home, I want to see that land where sinners loaf and roam. I want to see the lights glittering in the night, They fascinate my ego, those bright night-lights.

I want to know more than I know now, I’ll find it out there and oh brother how. I will say goodbye to dear old Mom and Dad, I’ll bid them farewell; they looked so sad.

I’m on my way to that promise land, Where I’ll find on my own a friendly hand. They’ll all love me and treat me well, So I’ll share with them all of my wealth.

I’m happy now and full to the brim, We party every night; the lights are never dim.

We roam around from place to place, People are happy with a smiling face.

I’ve tasted of wine the best there is, And I’ve met the girls with the sexy twist. I’ve gone to parties, wild and strange, Never saw this at home; life’s not the same.

My money is low and my friends are few, I’m looking for a job, and maybe some food. I’m not having fun as I was before, My money is all gone, and now I am poor.

I’ll slop the hogs and sleep in the barn, I’ll beg for food, there is no harm. It’s cold at night as I wander around, Looking for food cast upon the ground.

Those pigs don’t share, they eat all that’s theirs’, I am so hungry I wish I was there. Back home there is plenty to spread all around,

Servants of my Father never eat off the ground.

Tomorrow I will travel and maybe hitch a ride, To that land of plenty, but tonight I will cry. I miss my Mom and my dear old Dad, I when I left; they looked so sad.

I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned, I have wasted my all, I’m not worthy to be thy kin”. I see him now as I approach the old home place, He’s running toward me, as though he cannot wait.

In his hand is my old royal coat, I left it there so many years ago. He placed it proudly upon my back, And he wept aloud as he said, “Welcome back”.

I said, “Father forgive me, for all my shame, I’ll do my best if I can but reclaim. The years I have wasted are forever gone, And the pain I caused when I left home.

I am not worthy as I bow my head, I have sinned against thee and heaven, I should be dead”. He kissed me and he wept, and he cried aloud, “Kill the fatted calf and gather the crowd!”

He washed me and he clothed me and forgave all my sins, I’ll not cause you any more trouble, if I may but come in. He placed a ring upon my finger, Then silenced the crowd; the players and the singers,

I him now as he stood that day, Telling all about me, and my going astray: “He has returned, he who was dead! But he is now alive to eat of my bread!

He cried and he wept, as he danced across the floor! “Let us rejoice–rejoice evermore! My prayers are answered–my God is alive! He reigns forever up there in the sky!

The sacrifice I made is nothing down here, And up there in heaven we may shed a tear, Not over a boy who has gone astray, But over a God who is able to save”.

My Dad has gone now, up there in the sky, His mission is over and oh what a sigh, Some day I’ll meet him and I will hear say, “My, It’s good to see you, son, I the day.

You’re home now boy, never more to roam, Let’s you and I gather around God’s great white throne, The angels will be singing, a glorious jubilee; You’re no longer a prodigal, son, you’re home for eternity. Vince ©

Concluding Thoughts

The Master Artist is unpredictable when He displays His purpose so meticulously on the canvas of our lives, and, from time to time He changes it without letting us know when or the reason why. When I began to seek after God in the late 1950’s, God then began painting my future on the canvas of my life, which included: a wife, three children, a nice home, a good job, a church family, and a good surrounding of Christian and secular friends. However, some seventeen years later the brush of grace darkened that beautiful canvas with a divorce and all that goes with it. So dark was the graffiti on the canvas of my life that I was filled with bitterness, enough to let it take control of my life. I gave my Bible to my oldest son and I said to God, “If You wanted me, You know where to find me” and I turned and walked away from God. Like a prodigal, I roamed aimlessly for five years in this darkness until one day my senses returned. I then dropped to my knees and repented of my bitterness and anger and of my sin. I then asked God to forgive me–with an attachment: I needed a wife who would worship the same God I worshipped and would be a helpmate to me in rebuilding my life. Unbeknown to me, the same brush of grace was already at work painting a new future for that special girl who shortly would become my wife. In short: We met, we married, we went to church, we worshipped, we built a new home in the country, and we enjoyed twenty-five wonderful years together–until the brush of grace began painting another dark background in preparation for another phase for my life–naturally, against my will. The first sweep of the brush showed that my wife had cancer, and the second sweep showed that it had already spread into the fourth stage. As the days and nights slowly ed, the canvas of life grew darker as she grew worse. We prayed and we cried to God day and night for her healing; however, the brush of grace just kept sweeping backward and forward and up and down, and when the brush of grace could paint no darker a background, she ed from this life leaving me alone in this darkness with unexplainable pain. She ed away of

cancer while I was writing this book. Don’t ever think that darkness cannot be felt; it has the power to display death in grotesque. I cannot explain this challenge or the way I felt in my heart; only that it left me in a valley facing another giant that I was totally unprepared to face. This darkness has been very hard for me to understand or to accept. Though I trusted God’s benevolence through the darkness of this storm, and yet I see no new silhouette of my future, I believe with all my heart that the brush grace is secretively painting new transitions of hope that will appear without a smudge. Your Goliath may appear different than mine: With a different nature, a different force, under different circumstances, or as with David, with a different voice. Our challenges, failures, and our victories depend upon our walk with God. Whichever or whatever be the stains and smudges while striving against the tides of life, when the brush of grace is finished, its subjects are always thoroughly cleansed with the blood of the Lamb–Goliath Awaits.

Index

(1) The New Self-Interpreting Bible Library, by Bishop John H. Vincent, Volumes One, Two, Three, & Four, Copyright 1909—Public Domain.

(2) The book “Golden Mouth” by St. John Chrysostom (Public Domain).

(3) “Parents Of A Prodigal–When God Doesn’t Make Sense.” Owners of said script: Mike & Vickie Oliver. Endorsement: Pastor Wm. Sciscoe–Used by permission.

(4) Poem “The Prodigal” by Author, Benjamin Lee Vince © Other quotes from the Homilies of St. John Chrysostom, volumes X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV—Public Domain

(5) Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Sir Winston Churchill–Public Domain.