Sunday, May 31, 2015

Season of Repair - Part 2

Joseph Herrin (05-31-2015)



















The Clean Dreamer

If you did not read the first part of this series, you can find it at the link below:

http://parablesblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-season-of-repair-now.html

Sensing that the Spirit is directing me to get all things in a good state of repair so that I can drive my bus down the road when needed, and to attend to a number of other repairs related to daily living, I have been steadily checking items off of my to-do-list.

I had been hindered in this task due to an injury sustained to my right knee in early April. I was practically bedridden for about a month, but have been able to progress from crutches to limping along. Something is still amiss in my knee. I experience sharp pains with each step and it likely needs more rest to fully recover. At the same time, I have felt a pressing desire to get things done, including mowing the yard with my walk behind push mower. I got the front yard mowed yesterday, but it was painful to complete and today I had to retrieve my crutches from my trailer again as I found walking quite painful.

In the earlier post in this series I mentioned a number of items that needed repair or upgrading. Some of them seemed more pressing than others. At the top of the list was getting my bus (The Dreamer) where it would crank again. I had not cranked the bus since I returned to Middle Georgia from Jekyll Island in February of 2014. I should have been cranking the bus routinely to burn up the old gas in the tank and to keep the motor working properly, but I let it sit for about 10 months without starting the motor. The cranking battery stays charged up because I have it hooked to some small solar panels on the roof at the front of the bus. However, when I tried cranking the bus back around December it would not start.

It appeared there was no fire getting to the spark plugs. I began looking for someone who is a mechanic to come out and look at it. A few weeks ago I mentioned my need of a mechanic to a friend I met at an RV park a few years back. This friend is now staying in another location about a 90 minute drive north of me. He mentioned that there is a mechanic who lives in a motorhome at the RV park he is staying at. He volunteered to ask the man if he would drive down and look at my bus. The next day the man was here and quickly diagnosed that the points and condenser inside the distributor cap needed replacing. Power was getting to the distributor, but it was not getting passed it to travel to the spark plugs. We drove to Perry, a town about 15 miles away, and picked up the necessary items at a local auto parts store. When they were replaced the bus cranked up fine.

Getting the bus to start was a great source of relief. That it was a relatively minor repair was a blessing. Next on my list was getting the large propane tank mounted under my bus refilled. I use this tank for cooking only. It supplies the gas for my oven and stove top. The gauge was showing that the tank was nearly empty. I was surprised it had lasted as long as it had, for I had last filled it up when I returned to Middle Georgia 15 months earlier. Normally, I have to refill the tank once a year. For the last 6 months I had Nicholas staying with me, so I was doing more than my normal amount of cooking. Nevertheless, the tank did not run out.

I had planned to drive the bus to town to refill the propane as soon as I got the bus to crank, but my knee was still giving me problems, and unhooking the bus from utilities, the trailer I pull behind it, and packing everything away so things don’t come crashing down when I am driving, is a large task that requires a couple hours of work. It would take even longer since my knee was not fully cooperating. In the end, I decided to call around and see if there was a local propane company that would fill the tank on site. I was blessed to find a service provider who would do the job at a reasonable cost. There is a small propane service company in Marshallville, only 5 miles away. They sent a truck out and refilled my tank. It required 12.1 gallons of propane and the total charge was $39.40. Many companies charge a premium to do RV fill-ups on site, usually charging $20 on top of the cost of the propane, but this company did not do so. Thank you Father.

Although the next job from my to-do-list is not in the order that I completed it, I will mention it as it also pertains to the bus. There are nine windows out of about 34 total (not including the windshield) that I painted over to provide privacy and reflect heat. Most of the bus windows I intentionally left accessible so that they can be opened to allow a breeze to blow through. These windows that open all have screens on them and have reflective tinting applied on the inside. The other nine windows are sealed up behind walls, or are in the bathroom where you would not typically be letting the windows down. Since they cannot let light through they are painted over.
















The spray paint had not adhered very well to the glass. Although they had been painted just three years ago, they were needing to be scraped and painted again. I generally wash my bus outside twice a year. I had begun washing the bus, and had gotten all but the passenger side complete before I injured my knee. I needed to complete the wash job, and scrape and paint the windows. This required that I move the canopy on the passenger side of the bus.



















In the photo above I have the canopy moved back. The bus has been completely washed, and four sets of windows toward the back of the bus have had the paint scraped from them readying them to be repainted. There were an additional two windows at the back and three on the other side that had to be scraped and painted.



















Windows Repainted

I only lack painting the two back windows now and I will be through with this item from my to-do-list. I also ordered two replacement lens covers for lights on the back of the bus which were cracked. One broke in pieces as I was washing the bus.

Another major item on my list was getting the repairs and upgrades completed on my recumbent trike. I had purchased the trike while on Jekyll Island a year and a half ago after having taken a spill from my bicycle and breaking some ribs while taking Champ on a run. Because I pull a trailer behind my bus, I am unable to tow a car. Consequently, I have used a bicycle, and now a trike for all my local transportation needs. I ride it to the post office and to the grocery store. I generally do this once a week as it is a round trip of approximately thirty miles. I also chose this mode of transportation, because I enjoy riding, I need the exercise, and it helps me to live a minimalist lifestyle without the added expense and responsibility that comes with having a car.

After purchasing the trike, I added an electric motor to help out on those long trips to town. I currently have over 2,500 miles on the trike and it was time for some maintenance and upgrades.



















I purchased a 5 year old unused Nuvinci N171 internally geared hub to replace the rear wheel and hub that had broken. The trike came with an entry level geared rear hub, but it could not handle the torque of the electric motor. The Nuvinci is built more sturdily and is used by many people who have electric motors on their bikes and trikes.

You can see that the chain is broken in the image above. This occurred yesterday as I was heading to town. The master link on the chain came apart. This was the original chain that came with the trike. It is suggested by bike shops that a chain be replaced every 1,000 miles as they tend to stretch over time. I had just purchased a replacement chain, but had not yet installed it. It actually requires three regular length bike chains hooked end to end to complete a circuit from the front sprocket near the pedals to the sprocket on the rear wheel on my trike.

I was blessed in that someone came along with a pick-up truck right after my chain broke and offered me a ride home. I was about 5-6 miles from home, so it could have been a very long walk with my injured knee. Pedaling my trike does not cause me any discomfort, but the act of walking does.

You can see in the image above that there is only a single 16 tooth sprocket at the rear hub. All the gears are contained inside the hub. The single sprocket replaced a 9 sprocket cassette that was mounted on my previous rear wheel. Nuvinci recommends that an owner use a front sprocket that is no more than a 2 to 1 ratio to the rear sprocket. In other words, since the rear sprocket has 16 teeth, the front sprocket should have no more than 32 teeth. Anything higher and the torque might be too great for the rear hub and the speed range would be very high with little on the low end.



















30 Tooth Race Face Sprocket

My electric motor came with a 48 tooth front sprocket, so I removed it and replaced it with a 30 tooth red sprocket by Race Face. The gearing seems just about perfect. I actually have access to lower gears for hill climbing, while still being able to attain a good cruising speed of 20-25 mph on the flats. The bash guard from the 48 tooth sprocket would not mount to the new sprocket, so I tried riding without a bash guard (chain guard). Although I am not concerned with bashing the sprocket on anything since the trike is not used for rough terrain and downhill racing, the guards also serve to keep one’s pants’ legs out of the chain.

After mounting the new rear hub and front sprocket I decided to try out the trike close to home. That little voice inside told me to put my pants’ leg clips on. These clips keep my pants from billowing out at the bottom and keep them away from the chain. I always wear the clips when riding to town, but since I was just going a short distance I decided not to put them on. I was out on the road in front of the neighbor’s house when my pants got caught in the chain. Right at that moment my neighbor, a young man in his twenties, drove up. He pulled alongside me and rolled his window down to chat. It is hard to look nonchalant when your leg is stuck straight out and you cannot move it because your pants are in the chain. Mine were stuck good, too. I could not go forward or backward. So, laying aside all attempts to save face, my first words to my neighbor were, “Would you mind helping me get my pants out of my chain?” I figured I might as well laugh at myself. No sense in taking appearances too seriously.

Arriving back home, the first thing I did was order a bash guard, and I will make sure I also wear my pants clips when on my trike.



















Bash Guard Installed

One thing led to another once I changed out my rear hub and got rid of the 9 gear rear derailleur. Because I was using a small sprocket on front and back, my chain had a much narrower circuit to travel. This required that I install new chain tubes to guide the chain around metal parts to keep the chain from rubbing. I went to the local Ace Hardware store and purchased a couple pieces of PVC tubing with flared ends (about $2 each). I cut it to size and mounted it on the trike. Although this kept the chain from rubbing on the trike’s cross member, there was a pinch point where the chain met on its forward and return runs. The bottom chain rubbed on the idler pulley that routed the chain on its top run.



















You can see where the chains are coming together just under the idler pulley. This was a problem which was solved by purchasing a second idler pulley (a return idler pulley) that was made specifically for this manufacturer of recumbent trikes.



















The image above shows the second idler pulley installed. Now the chain does not rub where it is not supposed to. One thing I am not satisfied with is that the chain lacks a chain tensioner. A chain tensioner typically uses a strong spring to keep a steady tension on the chain so that it will not become loose and begin to slip on the front or rear sprockets, or come off the sprockets. They sell chain tensioners that mount where the rear derailleur would have mounted before I removed it. Following are two types of chain tensioners available.


















4-Jeri SS Tensioner

















Q2 Tensioner

I purchased one of each type of tensioner, but neither one would mount up correctly on my trike. The Nuvinci Hub has a cable adapter that mounts outside the wheel frame and it interferes with the tensioner. If the tensioner is mounted the rear wheel will not slide into its mounting channel. I am going to have to put on my thinking cap and come up with some way to mount a chain tensioner because slipped chains can be a real problem when using an electric motor.

Anyway, after 6 weeks of not being able to ride my trike due to my knee injury and the repairs and upgrades on the trike, I was able to get it back on the road a few days ago. The only one happier than myself about this development is Champ. He is ecstatic whenever I pull out the trike and ask him if he wants to go on a run.

For my birthday back on May 7th, Nicholas and my daughter Kristin got together and purchased me a GoPro Hero action camera so that I can take videos when riding my trike. I have some footage now of taking Champ on a run as well as a full one hour of video that shows the journey from my rural location where my bus is parked into the town of Montezuma, GA ending at the post office. I am in the process of editing the videos now and should have them available for posting in coming days.

My next project on my list is to add a switch to my electrical set-up in my bus so that I can choose to charge my battery bank from either the solar panels, or from shore power.




















Switch

I have the switch sitting inside my bus ready for me to mount it and do all the hook-ups. It may be a few days before I begin that project, however, as I have a stack of letters from men in prison to answer, and another batch of newsletters to print and mail out to them. As important as I believe it is that we use this time of grace Yahweh has given to us to prepare for troublous days ahead and to get all things in readiness, it should be a priority that we not neglect the spiritual and physical needs of those whom the Lord gives us opportunity to minister unto every day.

Please pray that my knee might be healthy enough for me to be able to keep the yard mowed. I have come to understand that part of the reason for this knee injury is as a divine goad to get me to bring one other area of my life into a state of readiness. As I have prayed and sought the Father about the matter I have sensed that He is using it to encourage me to stay focused on losing weight so that I will get to the 165 pound weight goal He has set for me. The adage has repeatedly come to mind that states “the larger they are, the harder they fall.” Carrying excess weight on our bodies not only causes us to be less nimble and less capable of avoiding injury, it acts to magnify injury when accidents do occur.

I purchased a set of scales so that I can regularly check my progress in attaining to the goal the Father has set for me. I have 35 pounds to lose, and three months to do so. By the first of September my goal is to be at 165 lbs. and to remain below that weight. The pain in my knee will certainly help me to stay mindful of this aspect of my life that needs to be brought to a state of readiness. Yahweh is gracious and loving, even in discipline. My heart’s desire is to respond as a humble and obedient son to His chastisement that the discipline might be lifted. Your prayers are appreciated.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Storm Haven

Joseph Herrin (05-28-2015)

















Are You Prepared for What is Coming?

I am impressed to continue sounding the message of preparedness at this time. There are dire things coming to America and the nations. The people of God are woefully unprepared in both a spiritual and physical sense. Few Christians have embraced a Spirit directed life. They do not hear God’s voice. They are living independent lives, guided by their own souls. The soul will not direct you to safety in the things which are coming. Many who have chosen for themselves comfortable material lives will suffer the most. Others who have yielded their lives to the Spirit of Christ, who have embraced a humble lifestyle, a life of charity and service to others, will be sheltered under the wings of the Father in the coming storm.

I have a number of profound testimonies to share with the readers of the Parables Blog. Each testimony bears on the subject of preparedness. You will likely recognize yourself in these testimonies, either good or bad. My desire is that if you have delayed until now to surrender your life to go wherever the Spirit of Christ says go, and to do whatever the Holy Spirit commands you to do, that you would hesitate no longer. The storm is approaching. Your only safe shelter is to be found in living a surrendered life to the leading of the Spirit of God.

Brothers and sisters, there is no doubt in my mind that martial law is coming to America. There will be unspeakable calamities to strike this nation that will make the events of 9-11 pale in comparison. There will be rioting in all of America’s major cities. Stores will be looted and emptied.













Looted Walmart

Automobiles and businesses will be set on fire. I do not know which will come first, a calamitous event, or economic collapse, but a total collapse of the economy and a devaluation of the American dollar are coming. Many whose lives were focused on material acquisition will be devastated as their life savings, retirement accounts, and investments are decimated. Those with the most to lose, will lose the most. Those who at the leading of the Spirit emptied themselves of material possessions, adopted a modest lifestyle that is rich in good works and generosity toward others will experience far less shaking.

I was recently reviewing one man’s forecast of what is coming to America and the events that will trigger a collapse. Although I must concede that such prognostications are fraught with potential for error, I found much that appears credible. It is a sobering forecast of a massive storm to hit America.
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The NWO Schedule of Implementation
Here is the current Schedule of Implementation for the multilateral/multipolar New World Order as best as I can discern it at this time. As we go forward, I will add more details and supporting material to this page and will modify the timeline as I detect changes in globalist preparatory propaganda.

First Half of 2015:

June 4-18: There will be a notable economic downturn which could be set in motion by either a Greek default or a Federal Reserve interest rate hike (the Greek default seems the more likely candidate). The economic situation will grow worse as we approach September and may be accompanied by increasing war rumors and false-flag terror attacks (of both the real and the “crisis actor” varieties). Bank bail-ins and other measures to harvest the public’s wealth may be implemented in the following months.

June 16-17: The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet. If they choose to raise interest rates at this time, it would be a double-whammy (along with the likely Greek default) on the financial system. Given the globalist meetings occurring in the September – November time frame, though, it is more likely we’ll see the rate increase in September.

A core component of the globalists’ strategy to centralize power over the world’s currencies lies in making the Fed and their other national central banks look bad. For this reason, they’ve been deliberately staging “currency wars” and having their supranational institutions (the IMF and the BIS) and media propagandists point out the destructive nature of the policies being pursued at the national level. “Only at the international level,” they argue, “can currency stability be achieved.”

In keeping with this strategy, they are using their national central banks to blow up the global economy so their supranational institutions can step forward and restore order. And as they transition power from the national to the supranational level, they will close down the Fed and other central banks in order to transfer control of national currencies to their respective treasury departments. Since the central banksters have consolidated power over the national governments, they can safely move their “flag” from the central banks to the treasuries. The treasuries are run by their people anyhow.

So when you hear alternative media propaganda about “ending the Fed” and “bringing back a US Treasury dollar,” know that this is the solution the banksters want you to embrace. It is a solution designed to make it appear that the problem posed by the “evil Western central bankers” has been licked, but it’s just a scam. And in the US, Ron and Rand Paul are the primary controlled-opposition agents the globalists have designated to con you.

Second Half of 2015:

July 8-9: During this, the 7th month of the year, the BRICS will hold their 7th Summit meeting in Russia. They will likely announce the launch of the New Development Bank (the BRICS Bank) at that time, and Greece will seek membership and aid for the restarting of their economy. This will be a key scene in the “Good East versus Bad West” stageplay the globalists are putting on for the public.

The script of the play calls for Greece, the “birthplace of democracy,” to flee the “anti-democratic” West and join the “BRICS rebellion against the evil Western central bankers.” This will be the point in the drama where the “heroes” finally turn the tide and march on to victory. What the play’s program fails to mention, though, is that the BRICS central bankers have all along been working with their Western siblings in implementing the multilateral/multipolar New World Order. They all cooperate very closely in the IMF, the BIS, and the G20, and it’s all documented in the NWO and Globalist Agenda Watch 2015 sections of this blog.

September 4-5: The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will meet. Given the economic turmoil taking place, they will stress the critical urgency of moving past the US’ obstruction of IMF quota reform as soon as possible. Later actions and inactions by the Federal Reserve and Congress will be seen as cementing the G20’s arguments.

September 16-17: The FOMC will meet again. Should they raise interest rates at this meeting, it could create a New Lehman Moment by triggering defaults in financial institutions already weakened (according to the public version of their books) by the likely Greek default in June. Such a sharp crisis would provide the perfect segue for the Pope and UN to step forward to “save the day.”

September 22: The Pope will arrive in Washington, D.C. to covertly and symbolically remove the crown of world leadership from the US for its transfer to the UN. He will arrive in the evening to signify the end of “America’s Day,” and the Fall Equinox will occur during that night. So when the Pope visits Obama on the 23rd, this can be said: “The Fall (of the ‘American Empire’) begins the day the Pope visits the White House.” He will also speak before a joint session of Congress that day.

Why is it significant that he arrives on the 22nd? “22? is a Masonic “Master Number” and “because of its great power, the number 22 may result in outstanding ascendancy or disastrous downfall,” according to the numerologically-inclined. Here is the Pope’s itinerary.

September 25: On the third day after his arrival in Washington, the Pope will speak before the United Nations to covertly and symbolically crown it with world leadership…

The Pope’s speech will take place on the first day of the September 25-27 United Nations Summit to Adopt the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Following the meeting, we’re likely to see the globalists quickly implementing all the policies they’ve been telegraphing in recent times. Just as we’re observing with the Trans-Pacific Partnership here in the US, they will simply ram everything down our throats in rapid succession.

October 1: The US government will almost certainly shut down due to contrived drama over the budget and debt ceiling. This will be done to make the US look dysfunctional and incompetent. The last time the globalists did this, back in 2013, they used the spectacle to launch a worldwide “it’s time for a de-Americanized world” propaganda campaign. They will use the next shutdown to justify the actual implementation of “de-Americanization.”

October 9-11: The UN’s IMF/World Bank Group will hold their annual meeting, and they will move to implement both de-Americanization and the post-2015 policies adopted at the UN Summit. They will do so by bypassing America’s veto power in the IMF to adopt BRICS-friendly governance changes and by adding China’s renminbi to the IMF’s SDR (Special Drawing Rights) basket of currencies.

At either this meeting or a later point, they will also add a theoretical gold backing to the SDR in order to “restore confidence” in the financial system. China, their BRICS allies, and eventually all nations will also add a theoretical gold backing to their currencies, and China might offer gold to the IMF in exchange for more SDRs (and their accompanying voting power).

November 15-16: The G20 will hold its leaders summit. They will likely announce a worldwide New Deal-type program of massive infrastructure development. This will be cast as an attempt to get the world economy moving again, but its primary purpose will be in moving the world into the UN’s Agenda 21 development model.

Late in the year: The media will blame the Federal Reserve for setting up the conditions which led to the new financial crisis (with their “too loose for too long” monetary policy) and for triggering the crisis (with an “ill-timed” rate increase).

In the course of harping on the “Fed Mistake,” the mainstream and alternative media will make Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and other Mises Mafia members look like visionary statesmen who “saw it all coming” and “could have prevented it if only they’d been in power.” In the wake of all this propaganda, Congress will pass Rand Paul’s Audit the Fed bill and strategic leaks from the audit may find their way into the news in the months that follow. This process will make the Fed and other national central banks look very bad, while making the Mises Mafia and supranational institutions such as the IMF and BIS look prescient and wise.

First Half of 2016:

The New Lehman damage paired with the results of the Fed audit will result in the Fed’s downfall. This could occur at any time from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017 (after the new President is inaugurated).

Second half of 2016:

In the aftermath of all the economic turmoil caused by the Fed Mistake, Rand Paul will be elected President. He will lead America’s retreat from its leading role in the world so the BRICS-overhauled UN Complex can take the lead. And with that, the Rockefeller/”elite”-planned New World Order will be in place.
[Source: http://redefininggod.com/2015/05/the-nwo-schedule-of-implementation-mod-1/]

(I am not endorsing any other writings, particularly the religious beliefs, of the man who owns the redefininggod website.)

Please note that this is one possible scenario of how things will play out. Although there is a significant degree of guesswork in making such predictions, I am convinced that the underlying premise of what is being forecast is sound. There is a cabal of evil men and women, servants of Satan, who are working to bring down the old world order of politics, finance, and society in order to establish a New World Order that unites all the nations of the world under a single economic, political, and religious system. The destruction of the old order will be calamitous beyond imagination. Millions will perish. The middle class will be wiped out. In the end there will be only two classes, the masters and the serfs; the oppressors and the oppressed. To the degree that any Christian is invested into this present world system of economics and materialism, they will suffer great loss and a tremendous shaking of the very foundations of their world.
























This past week a tragic event was reported in the news. Tremendous flooding has been occurring in the Southern Plains of America. Texas and Oklahoma have been particularly hard hit. The facts of the story provide a parable for the body of Christ.

As Texas flood swept house away, woman called family to say, 'I love you'
It was supposed to be a relaxing holiday weekend in the Texas Hill Country for a group of nine family members and friends from the Gulf Coast city of Corpus Christi.

Instead, seven remained missing Wednesday, swept away without a trace by floodwater.

The lone survivor, Jonathan McComb, 36, was hospitalized with a broken sternum and rib and a collapsed lung, but was able to tell his father what he could recall of the night last weekend when his family and friends vanished in the swollen Blanco River.

McComb had driven 175 miles north of Corpus Christi to Hays County for a weekend getaway in Wimberley, a popular riverside vacation spot southwest of Austin. He went with wife Laura, 33; son Andrew, 6; daughter Leighton, 4; and their Labrador retriever, Maggie...

They went to stay at the home of friends from Corpus Christi: retired dentist Ralph Carey, 73; and his wife, Sue, 71; their daughter, Michelle Charba, 43; her husband, Randy, 42; and their 6-year-old son, William.

“They’ve done this over the years, Fourth of July, Memorial Day, go up to the river to roast hot dogs and float in the river. That’s what the plan was,” McComb’s father, Joe McComb, said by phone Wednesday from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where his son was listed in good condition.

Joe McComb, 67, also of Corpus Christi, is a former county commissioner and city councilman who works with his son at the family moving and storage business and knew the rest of the group.

They had heard a storm was coming, he said. But the house, like others in the area, was elevated on stilts. There had been a flash-flood warning, and officials in the area were alerting residents, but it’s not clear whether the group received any calls or messages. One thing is certain, he said; they thought they were safe.

“As evening came, the rain really started coming down good,” McComb said. His son and some of the others went outside to move their cars to higher ground.

“They figured if the river came up a couple feet they didn’t want to get their cars in it,” he said.

About 20 minutes later, they looked out a window.

"They got a flashlight and looked out, and all of a sudden the water was up to the top of the pylons, and they realized they were trapped,” McComb said. “They knew they were in trouble.”

The river had surged to nearly 45 feet, breaking a record set in 1929, creating “a massive wall of water,” he said.

At first, the house held its ground.

“All of them were in the room there holding on to pieces of furniture,” hoping to ride it out, he said.

“All of a sudden a big thud came. I don’t know if it was a big tree got uprooted and floated down the river, but it hit the pylons, the stilts, and the house was displaced,” McComb said.

That’s when Laura McComb called her sister, Julie Shields, in Austin, he said.

“She told her, 'The house is floating down the river. I don’t know what is happening, but I want to tell mom and dad and you I love you.' ”

The house floated, carried by the river’s rushing current. But it couldn’t float far, McComb said. Blocking its path was a bridge.

“The house hit the bridge and it took the top part of the house off,” he said. “The house started just coming apart, washing people in all different directions. That’s the last he saw anybody.”

Jonathan McComb was washed away too, “tossed around like a basketball,” unable to tell which way was up.

“He said the force of that water came in and just started taking people in different directions,” his father said.

And so he swam as best he could. At one point, he was hit on the head by a branch.

“He just kept telling himself, ‘I’ve got to get out of here,’” McComb said.

“He said, ‘I didn’t know if I was paddling up or down, I just thought with one of those strokes, I was going to hit air.’ ”

Eventually, he did. Then a few miles down river, he caught hold of an embankment and crawled out.

“He saw a light at someone’s house and was able to pull himself up and knock on the door and tell them something before he passed out,” McComb said...

On Monday, they found the family dog, Maggie, in a tree, alive and mostly uninjured.
[Source: http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-texas-flood-survivor-20150527-story.html]

The first thing I want to point out regarding this story is that all of the people who perished in the house which was swept away by flood waters were from Corpus Christi, Texas. Corpus Christi is Latin, and translates to English as “Body of Christ.” There is a message for the body of Christ in this event.

The second thing I would mention is that the family was on holiday, taking an extended week-end vacation. It was mentioned that they did this annually on the 4th of July and Memorial Day. Both of these holidays celebrate aspects of American history. This is a message for Christians, particularly those who are American patriots and those who are at ease during a time when they should be alert, vigilant, and sober.

The third item from this account I would draw your attention to is that those in the house did have warning of the river flooding, but they underestimated the severity of what was coming. They moved their automobiles to higher ground, but they did not move themselves out of harm’s way. Their limited precautions also did not offer any protection for their cars, for they were inundated in the waters.

Interpretation

The body of Christ is not behaving in the sober and alert manner in which the hour demands. The signs of impending disaster are visible to be seen. Just this month Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of evangelist Billy Graham, organized a nationwide call to nine days of prayer for America as she has become greatly disturbed at the inner knowledge from the Spirit of Christ that some terrible judgment is impending for the nation. When even those in the mainstream are becoming alarmed at what they see coming, it is unwise for any member of the body of Christ to continue on partying and treating life as one long holiday weekend. We live in a desperate hour and the majority of the members of the body of Christ are greatly underestimating the extent of the calamity that is coming.

The Blanco River rose thirty feet in a three hour period. It reportedly rose 12-14 feet in just 30 minutes. What is coming will occur with a swiftness that will catch many by surprise. Yet there is no reason that anyone should be unaware of the threat. Even the unregenerate can sense that America is at its end days and is about to collapse (like the stage platform at the high school musical American Pie). The Internet daily increases with additional websites issuing warnings of the storm that is bearing down on the nation.

















All the while, most Christians continue on as if they are on holiday. Those who do see danger approaching are grossly underestimating the matter. They are taking half-measures, akin to moving one’s car to higher ground. What is required is much more radical. It demands a wholesale willingness to lay aside business as usual, to make abrupt and fundamental changes to one’s life, and to obey quickly and fully whatever God reveals to be His will. There were nine people from Corpus Christi in the house that was swept away. In the Bible the number nine signifies judgment.

It is the last of the digits, and thus marks the end ; and is significant of the conclusion of a matter...

Nine is, therefore,

THE NUMBER OF FINALITY OR JUDGMENT,

for judgment is committed unto Jesus as "the Son of man" (John 5:27; Acts 17:31). It marks the completeness, the end and issue of all things as to man—the judgment of man and all his works.
[E.W. Bullinger, Number in Scripture]

The Bible tells us that judgment must begin at the house of God. It is significant that what occurred in this tragedy revealed a relationship to the body of Christ.

I Peter 4:17-18
For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don't obey the Good News of God? If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?













Brothers and sisters, heed the warning. Judgment is coming and the house of God will not be spared.

Although this is a lengthy post already, I want to include here a testimony of one man who has taken the warnings of God seriously. I have come to know this brother well over the course of the past few years. He is the brother who fabricated my solar panel sun-tracking mount for me. We have corresponded regularly, and at significant length, over an extended period of time. I recognize in his life and testimony the reality of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, guiding him, correcting him, perfecting him as a son. I would that all of the people of God would surrender themselves to go wherever the Spirit leads, and to do whatever He directs them to do, as Jeff has done. Yahweh is not calling every son and daughter to move with their family to Idaho. He has called me to reside in rural Georgia. What He requires of you only He can reveal. What is important is that you seek Yahweh’s presence, listen to His voice, and obey what He says.
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Hello friends and family!
As all of you know I rarely write to anyone, unlike my wife Mary who rarely uses a computer but
loves writing letters. Many of the things I will write in this letter I have shared with some of you, but perhaps some things you don’t remember or haven’t heard.

I want to share with each of you the reason why I left my beloved South to move to the cold of Idaho of all places. In short, it was because the Lord Jesus specifically instructed me to come here, but I will share the why and how.

Over the years I have infrequently had dreams and visions that came to pass. The first one that I still recall vividly was when we went to Brother Bailey’s pentecostal church in Ruston, La. I don’t remember the year exactly, but it had to be around the time my daughter Raquel was born in 1993.

Bro. Bailey was a supervisor for Med Express, which was basically a taxi service for medicaid patients that provided transportation to routine doctor visits. They either owned or contracted about 400 cars. I worked for Med Express as a driver during that time, and Bro. Bailey was both my supervisor and the pastor of the church that we attended.

Med Express was owned by a Pentecostal preacher and it was busted for medicaid fraud, shutting it down and putting me out of a job along with everyone else. Bro. Bailey started up a medicaid transportation business of his own shortly after Med Express was shut down.

I had a dream right during this time period. I saw a tornado coming, headed for Bro. Bailey’s house. On the side of his house was large letters, spelling out the name of his business, but the lettering wasn’t finished. Parked in the yard were his cars and van that was owned by his business, and he and his wife and all the employees were standing in the yard.

The tornado approached quickly and unexpectedly from the opposite side of the house without them seeing it. Right as it hit the house, everyone ran inside and the tornado enveloped the house and kept on its way. When the dust cleared, the house was not damaged but the business sign was gone and everything pertaining to the business was gone. Nothing else was missing or damaged.

I awoke from the dream and immediately knew that it was from the Lord, and I felt I knew the interpretation as well. I rushed to church the next service to tell Bro. Bailey about it. This was the first time I learned a lesson about how the messenger is not very popular when he tells something those listening don’t want to hear! Because of this lesson I have been reluctant to share anything with others that the Lord Jesus shows me unless I really feel I should.

I told Bro. and Sis. Bailey the dream and told them I thought that it meant that before they got their new business off the ground and running something was going to happen to shut it down completely. They would lose everything pertaining to the business, but their personal effects, themselves, and their employees would be fine, just no business would exist after this.

I was shocked when they reacted in anger, saying loudly “That is not of God, I do not accept that, that is not of God!!!” I was thoroughly rebuffed and didn’t know what to say. I was a young insecure man, so I just walked away not knowing what to think.

Three months later, without warning, medicaid suddenly announced that they were eliminating the medical transportation funding. At church, Bro. and Sis. Bailey came to me and wanted me to tell them the dream again. I was a little hesitant after the last reaction, and I didn’t know about the medicaid defunding, but I told the whole dream. After I finished telling it, they said, “That was of God, that was of God!” It played out exactly as I saw it in the dream. They lost everything with the business, but everyone found jobs quickly and never missed a beat.

I have had many more dreams, visions and words of knowledge that have come to me in the years since. Not every day, not even every year. Sometimes I didn’t believe them myself at first, but over the years I have learned to listen when God speaks, and to OBEY! Oh, how painful it is when I don’t obey the Lord. Those He loves he chastens, and it doesn’t feel good, that is for sure. I have received my share of spankings over the years.

I will relate another story that will hit a little closer to home for many of you. I had just gone through a 14 month period of no employment. I had been falsely accused of being a child molester, and though I was cleared of the charges in many peoples mind I was still guilty.

Those I went to church with warned the schools my children attended about me, and they also took it upon themselves to contact many of my business associates and warn them of me. This ultimately led to my business crashing and me being unemployable. During this 14 month period we received no income from a job, my business was dead, and I was afraid to apply for food stamps for fear that my kids would be taken away as they were when I was investigated regarding the molestation charges.

We lived in a cabin with no running water in the house and our note was $440 per month. We never missed a payment the entire 14 month period. We often, sometimes daily, ran out of food. Mary and I would go sit on a bench made of a board and two cinder blocks in our yard and pray asking the Father to provide for us. He DID! We never missed a single meal during this entire time, though we never knew how we were going to pay bills or buy groceries. Often checks would come in the mail to us, and always the money came from a source that did not know of our situation. If we are faithful to God and look to him, He will be faithful to us!

That time came to an end when the Lord directed me to a stranger who became my business partner. That business was wildly successful in a very short period of time. Eight months after we started the business, I was forced out of it by my partner. Many miracles took places as the hand of God was directing that, but the end result was that on June 15th, 2005 I suddenly was no longer a business owner, nor could I do business in north Louisiana per the no compete I had signed, and I had some money in hand.

My wife had always wanted to move back to her home town of Slidell, La. on the east side of New Orleans, and I was agreeable to that. As we stood there with the money, Mary asked “Are we going to move to New Orleans?” When she said that, I suddenly had a download of knowledge in an instant from the Lord. I suddenly knew that New Orleans would get hit by a massive hurricane, wiping it out. I also understood without a doubt that if we moved there we would lose everything we had and we were NOT to move there.

Now this was a little difficult to explain to my sweet wife why I suddenly knew we were not to move to New Orleans when previously I had been for it. I also knew that we were to move to the Austin, TX area. The gut wrenching part of this though was that our son who had moved out wanted to stay. I never would have moved leaving him or any other family member behind prior to this.

Mary and I had many discussions over it and we came to an impasse. She wanted to go to New Orleans, and I felt the Lord wanted us to move to Austin. Finally after much discussion and prayer, my sweet wife declared that she would go along with the move if I really felt like it was the Lord, but she wanted it to be known that her desire was to go to Slidell. I must confess at times I felt like a cruel heartless husband going directly against my wife’s wishes, but I was convinced of what the Lord had shown me.

One month later in July 2005 we moved to Georgetown on the north side of Austin. Sporadically Mary would burst into tears and ask “Why couldn’t we have moved to New Orleans?” I felt terrible at the disappointment she felt, but I also did not budge.

As all of you know, Hurricane Katrina hit August 29, 2005. Even though I knew in the spirit that it was going to come, I still was emotionally devastated when it hit. I was numb for 3 weeks, almost in disbelieve at the scope of the catastrophe that took place. Mary cried and cried, asking me, “How did you know, how did you know?”

Thank God that when He spoke to me, I listened!

The next time the Lord spoke to me, I wasn’t quite so receptive to what He had to say. Shortly after I moved to Texas, the Lord pressed upon me to sell all of my cleaning equipment and not look back. This I did not receive! This was who I was, Jeff the carpet cleaner, The Grime Buster as my mother in law would call me. My trade was my identity. I was an expert in all the cleaning trades.

To make matters worse, in January 2008 I purchased a 30 year old carpet cleaning business. Not only did I not sell the equipment the Lord had told me to, in direct defiance to what He showed me, I purchased the business. In February 2008 I broke all the records for all Februarys I had a record for. Things were great!

I think it was towards the end of February I had a dream that scared the socks off of me. I was laying in my bed sound asleep and in my dream I woke up. There was a lamp and chair beside my bed, and my dad was sitting there. He said “America is about to go through the worst depression it has ever had in its entire history, and it will be fueled by rising petroleum cost!”

That was the entirety of the dream, but I woke up immediately with my heart racing away, got out of bed and went and sat in my recliner in the living room. I knew that even though it was my dad in the dream, it was the voice of God speaking to me without a doubt. I sat there and prayed and asked the Lord “What do you want me to do Lord?” The Lord told me to sell my carpet cleaning business. I was floored, in total disbelief. Sell my carpet cleaning business? But Lord, I just broke all the records for sales for a February! I wrestled with it, back and forth. Finally, I told the Lord that I couldn’t do it.

The Lord never condemned me, never said anything back, it was just quiet. In fact, I did not hear the Lord speak to me again for 2 years! Ouch! Right after that dream, the price of fuel started going up. Me being the smart one, with this knowledge from the Lord but my own plan of action, I decided to pay off all the bills with the company with all this money I was making. In February I owed I think $10,000 on my carpet cleaning van. I paid a lot extra every month, paying it down.

In October 2008 came a crash, and my business dropped to 1/2 the volume of sales. I only owed $400 on the van at that point, but it took me two months to pay it off I was in such dire straights. I struggled on till July 2010, by which time I was only making $100 in my pocket each month for full time work. I was working a full time job teaching the cleaning trades in a prison, working full time in my own carpet cleaning business, and working a whole lot in the local church.

I was only sleeping 3-4 hours a night and working or at church the rest of the time. In June it finally caught up with me and my heart started skipping beats. An emergency room visit and several doctors visits later, it was determined I had no heart problems, it was just fatigue. In July the doctor gave me an ultimatum: Slow down or you are going to be in here with real heart problems.

I walked out of his office and I felt the strong chastening hand of the Lord on me. I knew this was due to my disobedience to what He told me in February 2008. Immediately after that visit I made three phone calls and I was out of the carpet cleaning business for good. The first week of August a man I knew took over the business, and I was totally free. At first I didn’t know what to do, but I was excited about finally obeying the Lord, for I knew that He would now show me what I was to do.

Towards the end of that first week of August, I had a vision of a mass evacuation out of Austin, TX on I-35. It wasn’t like a moving picture, more like a snapshot. I saw a place about 2 miles south of Jarrell, and all lanes were going north, including the feeder roads and some were even driving on the grass. However, something had happened, and traffic was stopped and there was no escape from what they were fleeing.

I specifically remember a red tow truck with a rock back Jerr-Dan bed on it, and a late 80’s or early 90’s grey Chevrolet custom van. The tow truck driver was a shorter man with a full beard wearing mechanic pin stripe shirt and he was standing beside his truck looking back. A lady was wearing a fawn or beige colored business attire with a matching skirt and jacket and a white blouse underneath, perhaps something she would wear to an office job. The sky was clear and bright daylight.

After I had this vision, I had no idea why there was an evacuation. I didn’t know if it was a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, or what. I thought perhaps the Lord showed it to me to help the people in it as I only lived two miles from the place I saw in the vision, so every day I prayed asking the Lord how I could help the people.

At first I thought perhaps I could buy blankets and food, but where would I put everyone? I walked around my yard, looking at my one acre and I couldn’t figure out how I would house very many people. Then I thought of our church. It was at the end of our street, and there was 13 acres with a pond and also a outside pavilion I had helped build. Perhaps the pastor would allow the church to be used to house people when this occurred.

I went to the Pastor and told him my vision and asked if the church could be used. I would buy the blankets and food, could it be stored at the church? The pastor said he didn’t believe the vision, no I couldn’t do that. Well, that ruled that option out. What could I do? I continued to pray asking for guidance.

Three weeks after the vision, my friend Dan had to put his 18 wheeler in the shop in Waco. I ran up there and picked him up, and we went by Heritage Ministries in Elm Mott, a Pentecostal Mennonite community on the north side of Waco. They have a bakery, pottery studio, carpentry shop, water powered grist mill, and they farm their 540 acres with horses. Any time I went to Waco I liked to stop by and I had made friends among the community members.

After we left and headed home, I told Dan about my vision of the evacuation out of Austin. He looked at me intently and said “What are we going to do about it Jeff?” I immediately replied, “We are going to move to Sandpoint, ID!”

Dan looked stunned, then asked me a totally off the wall question: “Do you know what temperature it is in Sandpoint, ID?” What kind of question was that?! Of course I didn’t know! “No, I don’t even know where Sandpoint is,” I said. He then told me the temperature, which was in the 70’s. I asked “How do you know what temperature it is?” He replied he had just talked to his wife and she had told him.

He then asked me why Sandpoint and I replied it was where I felt the Lord has just told me know where we needed to go. We both were in shock and disbelief at what had just occurred. Dan shared that he was looking at that area to move there, and his wife had the temperature on the Weather Bug on her computer.

When this happened, I did not even know where the state of Idaho was, much less Sandpoint. If you had given me a map of the states with no names, I would have thought that Idaho was where Nevada is, and I thought it was desert country and flat.

This revelation really shook me up, and I didn’t think it was a coincidence. I continued to pray about it for further revelation as to what I was to do.

A few weeks later in September I had yet another vision. In this one I was standing off the coast of Louisiana, quite a ways out in the Gulf of Mexico on a barrier island. The barrier island was under water, and I was about knee deep. I could look back and see the coast. It was kind of representative, and I could also see the coast line of Mississippi, Florida, Texas, and Mexico.

Looking out towards the Gulf I saw a massive storm headed for our shores. The clouds were pitch black, and there was the drop in temperature that comes with a storm like that and I felt a thrill of terror running through my bones. The winds were picking up, and I kept saying to myself: “I am woefully unprepared for what is coming to America, I am woefully unprepared for what is coming to America!”

I understood the storm to be three things: First, the storm was bringing great Spiritual destruction to America. Second, the storm was bringing great financial destruction to America. Third the storm was bringing great physical destruction to America.

This vision really shook me, so I began praying in earnest about whether I was to move to Idaho, and why I was to move to Idaho. The Lord told me that it was a safe place, and that I was going ahead or going before. I then prayed for confirmation.

Over the next several weeks, everywhere I went I heard people talking about Sandpoint, ID, I place I previously never heard spoken. Finally it was decision time. What was I to do with this? As I pondered and prayed, and talked to my wife about it, she asked me a question that shook me to my core. She asked “Are you sure the Lord is telling you we should move?” I replied “Yes.” Then came the one that scared my socks off: She asked “What will happen if you don’t do what the Lord has shown you to do?” This put terror through my heart, knowing that there would be consequences if I disobeyed God.

I then began in earnest to prepare to move. I am a junk collector, so I had a lot of junk, uh, treasures, filling my storage buildings and yard. I began selling, scrapping, or hauling to the dump everything that I couldn’t take in one trip. The Lord helped me mightily in this as He sent buyers for a lot of out of the ordinary things that are difficult to sell. I would have one caller, one buyer and at a good price.

Not everyone was happy to see us go, however. The church I had attended for 5 years and worked in faithfully thought that I was making a huge mistake. The pastor tried to use everything he could think of to keep us from moving, but I was certain of what God had shown me, so I didn’t waver.

I reasoned things out in my human reasoning and decided that we would move in the summer after Raquel graduated from high school. I was quite sure Raquel would be Valedictorian of her class, so we had to stay till summer for that. A couple weeks went by, then I thought, surely the Lord has a specific time for me to move. I then prayed and asked the Lord, and He said in the winter.

Winter?! Didn’t the Lord know I was a southerner! Move in the winter? Who in their right mind would move in the winter? What about Raquel? I couldn’t ask her to move in the winter and give up her chance to be valedictorian! And what about my job teaching in the prison?

The Lord told me that I would lose my job in January, to go after I lost my job. This new information left me in a state of confusion. Lose my job? How was I going to lose my job? What was going to bring that about? Questions, questions.

Well, first I had to address the issue about Raquel. I told the Lord I just couldn’t ask Raquel to move unless she wanted to go. I made arrangements with a couple of families that would allow her to finish out her school year there. Once that was settled, I went to talk to Raquel about it. Much to my surprise, without hesitation, she said she would go with us. The Lord had already been dealing with her about it.

At work, all seemed well. I was getting commendations on being such a good teacher, the slaps on the back and praise. I was wondering if I would get fired or how it would come about. In December all the wondering came to an end. Budget cuts had hit the prison system in Texas, and my prison eliminated not only my position but most of the trades in the education department, along with all the middle management among the correction officers. I was the only one with a big smile on my face when the Warden told me I was losing my job. All I could think of is “I’m not crazy, that was God speaking to me!”

My pastor warned me that I had better not move during the winter time. He said that if I moved in the winter I’d get caught in a blizzard and my whole family would die and it would be my fault. I brushed his warnings aside, sure of what God had showed me. However, that day when I walked out of the prison after losing my job, all I could think of was his warning ringing in my ears. Terror gripped me in the throat and I could hardly even pray. All I could moan was “Oh God, oh God.” For three days I was gripped by the terror of bringing about the death of my family by getting caught in a blizzard.

On the third day, I had another vision. In this vision I saw an interstate highway with a particular color grayish granite looking rock. The white lines and center dashes where newly painted white, and snow was about 4” off the white line on either side, but the road was clear. The Lord spoke clearly to me and said “You will not drive on any snow when you are going North!” Immediately peace and calm flooded me, and the fear left.

I was now fearless! With God telling me this, what was there to fear? I was ready to drive right through the middle of Wyoming. I asked the Lord what route to take and He showed me to go the lower route. From Austin over to I-10 out to El Paso, across New Mexico and Arizona. I was to turn and go up through Kingman, AZ and Las Vegas, NV and straight up I-15 through Salt Lake City to Ogden, UT. He did not show me anything past Ogden though no matter how much I prayed.

I packed the final things and started loading a trailer I had purchased to make the move with. As I loaded the trailer, one axle broke and it bent the frame on my 3/4 ton pickup that was hooked to the front! I was beside myself! I did not know what to do, and I didn’t think I had enough money to pay for a Uhaul truck. A good friend was helping me load the trailer and offered to pay for the Uhaul truck. Wow! I didn’t know what to say. To this day I am very grateful for his help. We transferred everything over to the Uhaul and on February 2, 2011 we left Jarrell headed for Idaho.

When we left, the news was saying that the biggest snowstorm in the history of the U.S. was in progress. They called it Snowmeggedon. It had gone all the way into Mexico and killed the crops, and El Paso was snowed in with no equipment to clear the roads. Due to batteries dying from the extreme cold we were experiencing, we had to replace them and got a late start, so we only made it to Ozona, TX on I-10 that night. When we got up the next morning, Austin had got 3” of snow and the roads were closed behind us (no snow plows), and El Paso was still closed.

We headed down I-10 and my wife was a little concerned about the roads being closed ahead. Suddenly, I recognized the road we were on. It was the exact same road I had seen in the vision with the snow! No fear now!

When we got to El Paso, the roads were clear to the white line and we passed through without a problem. We spent the night in New Mexico that night. The next morning, El Paso got hit again and the roads were closed, but we were already on the other side. We drove that day to Kingman, AZ and spent the night. When we got up the next morning, our destination was Ogden, UT, but the weather reports said the roads were closed there due to a blizzard. We headed out, stopping at a truck stop close to the Nevada/Utah border and ate the last Popeye’s chicken that we would have for a very long time.

When we got to Ogden, the roads were clear and we spent the night there. Reports were saying a blizzard would hit at any time. I had a bit of a dilemma now. The Lord hadn’t shown me the route to take past Ogden. Looking at the maps it looked like the best route was to continue up I-15 through southern Idaho into Montana, then head west on I-90 into north Idaho. I stopped at a truck stop and asked some of the truckers and they all told me the same route. However, the Lord still had not told me the route, so I had some doubt. I told my wife to stay right behind me in the pickup truck, and when we got to the fork in the road where we could either go towards Boise, ID or continue north on I-15 we would see what the Lord would have us do. If He said nothing, I intended on going straight north on I-15.

She did as I asked, and I drove in the middle lane as we approached the “Y” in the road. When I was only a few hundred feet away, the Lord told me to go left towards Boise! I had not looked at this route at all, so I did not know what options I had. Different ones were calling us to check on our progress, and they were worried about the storms all around us.

Shortly after I turned towards Boise, someone called and asked if we were trapped on I-15 in the blizzard. They had seen on the news that there were cars trapped on I-15 about where we should have been. I replied we were on I-84. Ogden had been hit with snow behind us, closing the road, and where we should have been got hit, closing the road, but where we were was clear. Thank the Lord!

My telephone advisors suggested I take highway 95 north out of Boise to get where I was going, so I agreed. When I got to highway 95, once again the Lord changed my plans and told me to go straight. After I crossed into Oregon, another phone call came: “Are you trapped on highway 95 in the blizzard? You ought to be about there.” Once again I had escaped!

We crossed a mountain pass and dropped down into LeGrande, OR, and the Lord told me to stop at a motel. As we checked in, the clerk informed me that the next pass was closed! we would have been trapped there.

The next morning as we were checking out, a different clerk was on duty. I asked her if the pass was open, and she replied no, it was closed. As I pondered what I should do, she added, “You can’t get to Boise right now.” Boise? I had just come from Boise over that pass the night before! We had hit it with perfect timing. We stopped before getting to the closed pass, then that pass opened the next morning, but the one we had just crossed over was now closed!

We finished our trip without any more events and arrived in Priest River, Idaho with $1200 in our pocket, no house, no job, in February which is the absolute worse time to try to find something. We never missed a beat or a meal and all our needs have been supplied. I could go on with all the many things that have happened here, but I wanted to relate to each of you how the Lord directed us to move here and how He made the way.

I had another dream after we moved here in 2011. In that dream I saw people fleeing and their cars were on fire. A fire truck responding was off on the side of the road in flames as well. I heard “People are dying on their way North because they waited too late.” Regarding this dream I do not know where the road was, but I took it to mean that some people in the South should have moved North but they did not when the Lord prompted them to, and the consequence was that they all perished.

An amazing thing has happened since we have moved here. We have probably met at least 100 people, if not more, who have moved to this area who all say the Lord directed them to move here because of a calamity that is coming. Some from the west coast, some from the east coast, and many from Texas. One unique thing is that none of them are connected. They don’t know each other, they only know that the Lord has told them to move here and that it is a safe area.

I often have said that the safest place to be is in the center of God’s will, whether that is in the middle of the wilderness, in the city, or caught in the crossfire between two opposing armies. Make no mistake, there is a huge calamity coming to the United States. Our collective sins as a nation have piled up and judgement will come for that. I believe there are safe places in many areas of the U.S. and abroad, not just here. What is most important though is that we have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doth the will of Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

We MUST have a relationship with our Lord Jesus. Yes we may be used in the gifts of the spirit, in casting out demons, in the sick being healed. Yet if we do not have a relationship with him it is all for nothing.

If we diligently seek to know what our heavenly Father would have us to do, I guarantee you that He WILL answer! Do not wait until you are caught in a crisis then expect that you will suddenly be kept from harm. He is calling, sending out a warning to all that will listen to prepare their hearts and in some cases to move their feet to a different location.

Many of you reading this letter live in my beloved Texas. I grew up citing the pledge of allegiance to the Texas flag, and it was instilled in me to be proud to be a Texan. Please hear me when I say this, I don’t think my beloved Texas is going to survive the calamity that is coming to its shores. I believe millions will die.

I do not have any particular revelation as to the time frame that this will take place, but I feel an urgency in my spirit to prepare NOW. Many signs point to the Fall of this year, 2015 bringing in many terrible things. I do not know this personally from the Lord about when it will happen, but I have already obeyed what the Lord has shown me to do to protect my family, and I have moved 2000 miles away to the place He has told me to move. I urge each of you in the strongest way possible to earnestly seek the Lord to know what He will have you and your family to do and to come to a place of peace (not complacency!) with that.

When the Lord directs you to do something, He will make the way for you, and provide for your every need, just as he has for my family and I. We have learned to live a very simple life here in Idaho. We purchased 5 acres and the girls have 6 milk sheep (for cheese), 1 meat sheep, 2 pygmy goats (useless pets unless I wanted some stringy meat) and 7 milk goats along with free range chickens and 8 rabbits.

We are off grid with solar panels and a generator providing our power and a old fashion outhouse. We currently haul our water, but I dug a well in December that we can throw a bucket into if we need to. It is peaceful here, and life is much simpler than when we lived in the city. We have learned to
be much more comfortable in a much smaller space, and I like it as does my family.

I am still learning more and more how to listen to the Lord Jesus and follow what He shows me to do. I had a lot that needed to be done to prepare here, so the Lord gave me the past 6 months off with pay! Now, not exactly the way I would have liked to. I drive a logging truck, and I fell on December
29th while at work and got knocked out. When I came back to myself I had memory loss for a while, confusion and head aches. I received a concussion, then went through post concussive syndrome. I came out of that about a month or so ago, now I have migraine headaches and nausea most days, so I am still off work.

It is no fun not feeling well, but most days I get a little something done that I would not have been able to do while working the 18 hour a day job I was doing before. Today I washed my clothes with our wringer washing machine (it uses much less water and electricity than a conventional machine) and hung them on the clothes line to dry. I also took the flatbed trailer up to the top of our hill so the girls could load up a lot of old car tires that were dumped on our property before we purchased it. We will use the tires to grow our garden in. We have a short growing season here and the black car tires heat up during the day helping the plants to grow. My 18 year old daughter Kim has a lot of starts she has been babying along, getting them ready to transplant.

Much of our diet consist of foods that we can purchase in bulk and that store well. Beans, corn, wheat and such. It is unbelievable how cheaply you can eat when you purchase by the 50 pound sack full, and it helps one to keep a well stocked pantry for hard times. We often eat oatmeal for breakfast or sometimes grind some white wheat to make homemade cream of wheat. Our youngest daughter Priscilla mixed the ingredients and made the dough today for wheat bread, and my wife Mary baked it, filling the house with the delicious smell of homemade bread. Mmmm!

Fortunately for us, we were already living very cheaply when the accident happened, so we have been able to get along quite well with the money workman’s comp sends each month, even though it is far less than a normal paycheck. In the days to come, many Americans will have to learn to live a lifestyle far different from the one they live today. Even now, many are struggling to make it as jobs dry up and natural disasters wipe out savings and possessions.

What action will you take with this? Please, my friends and family, please heed the warning. I know I risk sounding like a fool by writing this, but I would feel far worse if I did not say it. What is coming can not be circumvented by human reasoning, we must rely on the one true God who has everything in the palm of his hand, and we must learn to rely on Him.
I love all of y’all!
Jeff Higdon
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Brothers and sisters, I believe Jeff’s dream of the storm coming to America is divinely inspired. Yahweh is warning His people of what is to come. Yahweh made known to Jeff that the storm will be threefold. First, it will bring great spiritual destruction to America. Second, it will bring great financial destruction to America. Third, it will bring great physical destruction to America.

Dear reader, as a member of the body of Christ, I ask you what you will do? Will you disregard this warning and spend the coming months as if you are on holiday? Will you continue chasing the dollar and paying lip service to Christ? Will you respond half-heartedly, perhaps moving your car to slightly higher ground? If these actions describe your response you will be swept away with the coming onslaught. You and your family will suffer terribly when tragedy could be avoided.

There is only one response that will secure the blessing and protection of Yahweh on your life. You must count all as loss, surrender your life to the will of God, and commit yourself to a wholehearted obedience to whatever He requires you to do. To such ones the Lord will be a strong tower in a time of distress such as has not been known before.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Transition

Joseph Herrin (05-23-2015)

























Nicholas at His New Rental

It has been over six months since Nicholas, a young man I met through the prison ministry Yahweh has led me to conduct, came to stay with me in my motorhome. It is hard to imagine more than half a year has passed since his arrival. Time has flown by. Yesterday was a day of transition for Nicholas (and myself as well) as he procured his own rental, a very nice three bedroom, single-wide manufactured home on a large and beautiful lot a few miles outside the town of Montezuma.

About a month ago Nicholas told me the Lord had been showing him the number fourteen a lot, and he sensed Yahweh was telling him he would be experiencing some transition soon. The first transition occurred when he was offered a job building wooden storage buildings for a local Mennonite owned company. Nicholas discerned this offer to be something Yahweh would have him accept, so he tendered his resignation at the large dairy where he had been performing maintenance work, and two weeks later began his new job.



















Nicholas in Front of One of His First Storage Buildings

Nicholas works as an independent contractor at this company, being paid a set amount for each building he constructs. He loves the work and is excited about the new job skills it is teaching him.

Not long after he began his new job, Nicholas was at one of the multi-church volleyball games that occur weekly around this Mennonite community when a young man asked if Nicholas would give him a ride home. When Nicholas was dropping the young man off he saw the single-wide manufactured home across the street and asked him about it. It was rental property owned by the young man’s father, and it was vacant and needing a renter. Nicholas spent a few days praying about it, and discerned it to be Yahweh’s will that he move there. Everything worked out and yesterday Nicholas was excited to move into the first place where he has been out on his own.

Yesterday morning I rode with Nicholas to take a car load of his possessions over to his new digs and he showed me around. The yard is beautiful with numerous mature pines throughout the front and mature bushes, plenty of grass, and a vegetable garden in the back yard. The garden belongs to the landlord as most of the Mennonites have garden plots to raise fresh produce for their families.

My primary reason for inviting Nicholas to relocate to this area last year was so that he could become involved with a group of young adults who have a sincere love and devotion for the Lord. I recognized in Nicholas an unusual sensitivity to the voice of God, and a sincere desire to walk in a manner pleasing to Him. Nicholas had never been around other young people with a similar devotion, indeed finding even a small group of young people who are committed to honoring God in their lives is very rare today. I knew the church my daughter Kristin attended had such a group and I believed it would be beneficial for Nicholas to spend time with them. It has turned out to be a very profitable experience for all involved.

Some reading my blog posts where I mention my daughter and the church she attends often ask me if it is a Mennonite church. The church Kristin attends split off from one of the local Mennonite churches about a dozen years ago. They consider themselves non-denominational as they wanted to pursue relationship with Christ to a greater degree, and to escape some of the traditions and legalism imposed by the Mennonite community. Most of the women continue to wear the head covering, to wear dresses, and to dress modestly. Kristin actually began the practice of headcovering at the age of 14 after being convicted of the need to do so from reading the Scriptures, so she was already observing this Biblical practice when we first came and visited the church some months later.

The young people are very mission minded. Today they (and some of the older adults as well) are going to Atlanta to minister to the homeless and street people. They are taking fifty prepared meals, and will distribute them to those in need as they seek an entry to share with them about the love of Christ. My daughter is taking her guitar and some of the young people will be singing.

Nicholas has expressed to me more than once in recent weeks that he wanted his new home to be a place of ministry, not merely somewhere for him to live and call his own space. Yahweh answered the desire of his heart in a remarkable manner. Two days ago a brother in Christ who has come to visit me on several occasions, and whom Nicholas has met, called me. This Christian brother is twenty years younger than me, and twelve years older than Nicholas. He has been led of Yahweh to embrace an experience of van camping for more than a year. It has been a year of much spiritual growth and physical conditioning for him.

This brother called me to give me an update on some surgery I knew he was scheduled to have. He wanted to know if he might come stay with me a couple days so that he could rest and experience some recovery from his surgery. Because he does not have air conditioning when he is camping, and
he has to wear a compression vest for the next six weeks, necessitating that he wear a t-shirt underneath the vest and an outer shirt over it, he was not relishing dealing with the Georgia heat during his recovery period.

When Nicholas heard of this brother’s need, he suggested that he come and stay with him since he had two unused bedrooms in his new rental. The timing was perfect as this brother’s arrival came the same day Nicholas transitioned to his new location. I am blessed to observe in Nicholas this desire to minister the life and love of Christ to others. Please pray for him as he will have numerous challenges in the varied responsibilities of being out on his own. I noted that the day of his move was May 22nd. That is 5-22 (grace and flesh cutting). Although there is certainly blessing and much for Nicholas to be thankful for in his new home, Yahweh continues to press all of His sons and daughters forward to a greater conformity to Christ. There will be new tests and new challenges for Nicholas, but as he continues to walk humbly and contritely before the Father, I am confident he will do well.

Members of the church Nicholas and my daughter attend are giving Nicholas a house warming party on Tuesday. This is one of the blessings he is experiencing. The generosity of other believers will help him to get set-up as there are many things a young person getting out on their own for the first time will need.

I had not anticipated it, but after Nicholas drove off last night and I was left alone for the first time in half a year in what now seemed an empty bus, I experienced twinges of what some refer to as “empty nest syndrome.” There was a sadness as a sense of aloneness settled upon me, yet there was also an anticipation for the new experiences Yahweh will bring to Nicholas for his continued spiritual growth. Life contains a lot of “letting go” experiences. Along with this letting go there are also a lot of new beginnings.

In a significant way last night, the Father drew my attention to the clock at the moment it read 8:08. Eight is a number denoting new beginnings. It is a time of new beginnings for myself as well as Nicholas. You never know what a day will bring.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063