Driving Lessons

Joseph Herrin (06-13-2013)

Yahweh is a great communicator. His Son is called “The Word made flesh” (John 1:14). I am constantly amazed at the variety of ways in which Yahweh chooses to communicate to His people. For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, the words of the Father are frequently encountered through ways that most people, even Christians, seldom perceive.

One of the very interesting ways in which Yahweh has often spoken to me is through the vehicles He has provided for me. The van in the photo above came to me through a very unusual manner in 2005. I have shared about this elsewhere, and will cite a portion of a writing posted in 2008.

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One day when I was employed at the Macon Rescue Mission I had gone to the  post office and found that a brother in Christ from Canada had sent me a money order for $800. As I rode my bike back up to the mission, I noticed a class B motorhome/van parked in the lot. I assumed that it had been donated to the mission to be sold. The Spirit spoke to me as I looked at the van and told me “The $800 you just received will be used to purchase that van.”

The mission was waiting to receive a dealer’s license to sell automobiles, and they were accumulating a number of them to be sold at auction. It was three months later that the auction was held. I gathered, along with about a hundred other people, to bid on the assortment of 25 vehicles up for sale that day. The van was well down the list, so I waited my turn patiently.

The auctioneer always started out at a low price and increased each bid by $50. Finally he got around to auctioning the van. Several people began bidding on it, but most dropped out quickly. It came down to just myself and one other man who were bidding on the van. His last offer was $750. I then bid $800 and no other bids were forthcoming. I was able to purchase the van for the exact amount God had sent me.

I wondered for a time why God had me buy this van, for the next several years I spent working for the mission and most of my driving was in town, and usually by myself. The van was larger than my immediate need and consumed more gas than a smaller vehicle would have. If I had chosen a vehicle for myself, I would most likely have looked at something more economical...

(Later on I would learn the reason Yahweh gave me this van. He sent me across the nation for several consecutive years to speak at small gatherings of His saints. I also lived in the van for an entire summer, parking it on the property of the Macon Rescue Mission in downtown Macon, Georgia.)

The van tells quite a story. Every detail of it seems to be pregnant with meaning, and I have observed in it many things relating to the ministry appointed to me.

The van is a 1986 model. When I purchased it in 2005 it was 19 years old, and it had around 50,000 miles on it. It was driven very little, being owned by an older couple who had purchased it new...

The number 22 is very prevalent throughout this vehicle. It is a conversion van built on a Dodge chassis with a Dodge engine. The conversion is by Xplorer Motor Homes and the model of this Xplorer is 222...

The number 22, as I have noted, is also very symbolic as it stands for the removal of the sinful flesh. The van contains a small refrigerator that is 2.2 cubic feet in capacity. It is a model 2200...

In an earlier writing Explorers and Pioneers to Serve as Guides I noted that the van is an Xplorer and it has a Pioneer sound system in it. (The Father provided new tires for the van before I set out on the road. The tires were Pathfinders.) The significance of this is that the Lord has sent a group of forerunning saints ahead of the rest of the body to experience a cutting of their flesh as they have journeyed through wilderness places, in order that they might serve as guides to a larger remnant of the body who are to follow them in fast approaching days.

The tires on the van are specified as 235 tires. This is encouraging as the numbers 23 and 5 in combination have been repeatedly used to signify God’s grace for material provision in my life. The Lord has certainly proved this in relation to the van from the very moment it showed up at the mission just as a brother had sent the $800 that would be used to purchase it. Yahweh has continued to manifest magnificent grace in His provision as I have followed Him to the places He has led.

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A couple years ago the Father upgraded my vehicle. He gave me a 1972 school bus that I converted to a motorhome. The manufacturer’s plate is just inside the door. It says, “Body by Carpenter.” It is very apparent that the Father has chosen to communicate things to me through the vehicles He has provided. The bus has a history. It started off as a school bus, was then sold to a church. The church in turn sold it to a private party who gutted it, threw a couple of sleeper sofas inside, and used it to go to the races. He built the deck on the rear roof of the bus so he and some friends could sit on top of the bus and watch the cars race around while the bus was parked in the center of the track.

The bus still had the words “Church Bus” on it, and a symbol from the Methodist Church when I bought it. It also had numerous numbers painted on it to correspond with the favorite race car drivers of the Nascar fan. This was confusion, but it was in keeping with the condition of the body of Christ. Symbolically, the bus represented the condition of the church that had begun as a place of instruction in the ways of God, but had descended into a platform for entertainment. Yahweh delivered it to me and charged me with the task of transforming it into a fit habitation.

Vehicles represent the ministries entrusted to us, and to some extent they also show forth things about our lives. I have shared these truths with my daughter Kristin and she has been alert to what the Father is speaking to her through the vehicles He has provided for her.

Kristin in My Bus Last Year when Champ was a Puppy - (9 or 10 Years Ago)

When I was employed at the Rescue Mission, Kristin needed a car. I was able to help her purchase a used Kia Sephia. Afterwards we pondered this vehicle that Yahweh had provided for her. The word “sophia” means “wisdom” in Latin. We understood Yahweh to be saying that He had appointed my daughter to walk in wisdom, and to instruct others in this wisdom. The Scriptures state that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” I observed during the time my daughter had this vehicle that she was led to be a light and a testimony to others, encouraging them to embrace God’s will for their lives, and to walk in the fear of Him.

After a few years, the Sephia was in need of replacing. Kristin asked me if she should look for another Sephia. I told her I did not think so. We had not looked for a Sephia originally, nor did we choose a car because of what message it might convey. The Sephia was simply the best car we had found in the price range we had to work with. Yahweh ordered our steps. I told my daughter to be led of the Spirit, and she would know what vehicle God had chosen for her.

Kristin was very impressed with the quality and endurance of Honda’s cars. She was desirous of looking for a vehicle manufactured by them. She used the Internet, mainly Craigslist and Ebay Motors, to search for a vehicle. She would send me links, and ask me what I thought. Nothing really stood out to either of us.

After about a week of searching Kristin e-mailed me a link and said “Dad, take a look at this!” Kristin had been asking Yahweh to affirm His will regarding the car He had chosen for her. I looked at the ad. It was for a Honda Civic. It was a decent car, but nothing leapt out at me. Kristin said, “Dad, look at the identity of the person selling the car on Ebay.” I looked again and noted that the seller was K_Wisdom. Both my daughter and I had a witness that this was the vehicle Yahweh had chosen for her. Kristin caught a flight from Atlanta to St. Louis and drove the car back home.

Honda Civic

A couple months ago it became apparent that the Honda was on its last legs. Kristin drove it about 4 years. It had about 270,000 miles on it, and much of that had been up and down the washboard dirt roads that my daughter lives on. The car was literally shaking apart. It had given her good service during the years she kept it.

Kristin began looking for another vehicle, but the search was not going well. Her car was in need of repairs, and a young man she worked with wanted to purchase it from her. He said he would do the repair work himself, and he was eager for Kristin to sell it to him.

One day Kristin and I drove to a nearby town to look at a car. We were meeting someone at a McDonald’s. While there the rack and pinion steering in her Honda became unsafe to drive. We had to leave the car at McDonald’s. The young man who wanted to purchase it, towed it home and replaced the steering assembly. He graciously offered for Kristin to continue driving it until she found another vehicle. This put added pressure on her as she felt she needed to make a purchase soon.

Kristin called me one day about a month ago and told me of another Honda for sale in a nearby town. I had some reservations about the vehicle, but the whole process had dragged on and Kristin was feeling the pressure to get another car. She decided to purchase this car. It was a Honda Civic si Type R. This was a performance edition of the Civic. It looked sporty. It was black with a sunroof and custom rims. A previous owner had replaced the stock 15 inch rims with 17 inch rims and lower profile tires. This made for a rougher ride, especially on dirt roads. Because it was a Type R, it also had a stiffer suspension. Honda had also removed much of the sound dampening from the body to lower the weight and increase the performance. It was a loud car inside.

It didn’t take too long for Kristin to figure out that the car was not a good match for her. Aside from the fact that the car was noisy, and rode rough, there was something else that troubled Kristin and led her to sell it. Kristin lives in a community where there are a large number of Mennonites. The church she attends was formerly a Mennonite Church, and they have fellowship and interaction with several other Mennonite Churches in the area.

The Mennonites are similar to the Amish, though not quite so strict where it comes to technology, and they differ in some other ways. The most conservative of the Mennonite churches in the community has rules that their members must abide by when selecting a vehicle. These rules pertain to the appearance of a vehicle. Most of the members drive black vehicles with no external adornment such as chrome pieces, or decorative striping. Despite the intent of these rules to promote modesty and humility, Kristin had observed that the youth of this church were far more focused on the appearance of their vehicles than any of the other churches. They stayed within the guidelines, but they were purchasing new, expensive vehicles, and they were very obviously intent on getting the coolest looking car they possibly could.

Some of the youth from this church had commented to Kristin on her new (used) Honda Civic si Type R. They remarked about how awesome it looked with its custom rims, sunroof, and shiny black paint job. Some mentioned that they would really like to have a car like that. Rather than pleasing Kristin, these words caused her concern. She did not want to give to others the impression that she was vain, or had chosen a car to impress others. Kristin became concerned that these youth would derive the wrong testimony from her life because she was driving a car they envied. This convinced her that she needed to get rid of it.

Kristin listed the car on Craigslist, and she eventually sold it to a young man from a small town of Omega in South Georgia. The young man’s name was Daniel. This struck me as unusual. Daniel is the name of a prophet from the Old Testament who was given visions of the last days. 

Daniel 12:9-10

And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. Many will be purged, purified and refined; but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.”

Additionally, the word Omega is defined as follows:

Omega: the last of any series; the end.

I began pondering these things. Having sold her car, Kristin was right back where she had been a month earlier. She was without a vehicle, and she was having to borrow cars from friends to be able to drive to work, to church, and to continue her car search. The search drug on for a couple more weeks, and was beginning to wear on Kristin as she felt she was imposing on people by asking to be able to drive their vehicles. Finally, after weeks of prayer and searching, Kristin found the car the Father had for her. We went to look at it last night and she purchased it.

2000 VW Jetta

The car is a 2000 Volkswagen Jetta. It is in good shape both cosmetically, and mechanically. I was impressed with the way it handled. It sounds like a well engineered German sewing machine going down the road. It is not as flashy as the previous car. It is green, which I find an attractive color, while it is lacking the sunroof and custom wheels. It is attractive, but not flashy.

After having ridden with my daughter to look at numerous cars in recent weeks, always in outlying towns, I had grown accustomed to being disappointed time and again. There is a sense that something is not right, that a vehicle is not God’s provision, when you look at it. I never had the sense in looking at any other vehicle that God was saying “this is it.” Neither did my daughter.

Kristin arranged to meet the owner of the Jetta. When she told me his name my spiritual senses perked up. The young man selling the car in named Elias. This is a very uncommon name, especially for a young person, but it is a Biblical name. The KJV Bible uses the name Elias in the New Testament to refer to Elijah. When Kristin told me the seller’s name I broke into a grin and asked her what it was that she had going on with prophets? She sold her car to a Daniel, and now she was considering purchasing one from Elias.

When we saw the car, both of us sensed a peace about it. This was quite different from our earlier experiences viewing cars. When Kristin brought it home last night I reminded her that vehicles signify ministries. I told her the last time I read about someone named Elias passing their ministry onto another, it turned out pretty well for that person. Elisha, of course, took up the mantle of Elijah as he ascended to heaven in a whirlwind.

I did not know what the name Jetta meant. I assumed it was simply some made up name that really did not mean anything. However, as I looked into it, I found that Volkswagen has adopted a naming theme for many of their vehicles. The cars are named after air currents. I suppose that this is because currents carry things places, and so do their cars. I came across the following information online.

Jetta: Jet stream

Scirocco: Hot North African desert wind that blows into Italy

Golf: Gulf stream winds

Passat: Trade winds

Vento: Blowing/windy (E/I)

Santana: Hot desert blast across the Sea of Cortez. 

Corrado: From Spanish Correr which means to run. The original name for the car was Taifun (Typhoon) which means hurricane except it was already a registered trademark for a GM truck. 

Elias went up to heaven in a whirlwind, and tornadoes have been much in the news of late. America has experienced a rash of very violent storms where the damage has come from strong winds. I am not sure what all of this signifies for my daughter, but there is definitely a message here. We are told that Elias must return before the coming of the Lord.

Matthew 17:10-11

And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

KJV

That her previous vehicle was sold to Daniel from Omega seems to further point to a time of the end.

Although I do not believe that I have fully understood the message Yahweh is seeking to convey through this experience of my daughter, I want to share it to encourage others to be alert to the ways that Yahweh speaks. I plan to continue to seek the Father, and should He give fuller understanding I will share it with you.

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

Champ’s Lessons

Joseph Herrin (07-28-2021)

Champ - Today

This is Champ today. He is ten years old. Not to the date. I don’t know when he was born. I found him by the side of the road. He was the only one who could get out of a basket. There were seven other puppies his size, and I was told that a lady came by and got them right after I left with Champ.

This is me and Champ ten years ago. A couple of years ago I heard that the last of Champ’s siblings had gotten run over by a car. I had actually met this one shortly before this time. He was a very nice dog. Never met a stranger. But, like his other brothers and sisters, besides Champ, he was to meet with a sudden death. He was perhaps 7 years old when he died. Now all that is left is Champ. It seems strange that Champ is perhaps the orneriest one of his siblings and is still alive. Champ has never met a stranger either. He thinks all people are his enemies. He will bark at everyone who comes within his earshot. I only know 6 people that he won’t bark at. Me, Randy Simmons, Nicholas Teal, George Young, Joe Boes, and my daughter Kristin. He will give everyone else a terrific barking at, and if they don’t show enough gumption (Yes, that is a word), he will continue barking and won’t let them anywhere near the end of his leash. 

This is what seems strange to me. According to what I have heard of Champ’s brothers and sisters over the years, they all seemed fine. They wouldn’t harm a fly. A person could walk right up to them and start petting them. This didn’t make them any brighter around cars, however. They still all died, run over by the Greyhound. This is just a manner of speaking, of course. I have never seen any Greyhound buses around here. I don’t suppose Champ would have done any better. He has just never had a chance to get loose. He stays on his leash next to my bus/motorhome. He has a hundred foot runner, with about a fifteen foot lead on either side. This gives him about 130' x 30', or about 3,900 feet of running room. He seems quite content with this. On the rare occasion where his leash has broken, I would find him in his regular place in the morning. He would be waiting for breakfast. Smart dog.

I would like to comment on this blog by citing a posting from where Champ was 2 years old.

Joseph Herrin (01-16-2013)

Champ

If you are new to this blog, you can find a post on the remarkable way in which Yahweh provided a dog for me in the post at the following link:

http://parablesblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/rescue-perishing.html

The photo above was taken today (8 years ago). Champ is growing up. He is a strong, healthy dog. He is a real musher. When I attach him to the dog jogger on my bicycle, he is so eager to go that for about the first quarter mile I don’t have to peddle at all. I have one of those digital monitors on my bike that tells you speed, distance, and time. From a dead stop, Champ will have me cruising along at about 16 MPH as he eagerly runs down the dirt lanes out here in the country.

Dog Jogger

The image above shows the type of Dog Jogger that I use (It is Nicholas with Champ in the photo). Champ and I regularly make a 5 mile circuit down the country roads near where I am parked. All the roads are dirt, and we rarely pass a vehicle.

When I traveled to Mississippi recently for my father’s funeral, Randy Simmons drove down from Macon to check on Champ. Randy only came one day, but that was enough for him to teach Champ the commands to “sit” and “stay.” I was quite impressed when I got back. The photo at the top of the page shows Champ right after I told him to sit.

Champ on Runner

Champ is an outdoor dog. He doesn’t do well inside the bus. He has far too much energy and curiosity, not to mention that he smells like...well, like a dog. He loves it out of doors, and he has had a number of “buddies” drop by to see him since we have been at our present location. You cannot see any of the neighbors’ houses from our location, but there are a few other people scattered around. One young man lives about a quarter mile away and has a purebred Border Collie.

Border Collies are very intelligent animals, and extremely high energy. This particular Bordie Collie was solid black, and female. Champ liked to have her come around. They would play with one another. The Border Collie was a few years older than Champ, and she helped “learn him some manners,” as the saying goes here in the South. She would come and go. Her owner never kept her locked up, or on a leash. Most of the people around here let their dogs roam free.

A few weeks ago two Pit Bull puppies showed up. They were extremely friendly, and appeared well fed. They were making the rounds between various neighbors’ houses as somebody evidently dumped them out beside the road to get rid of them. They were beautiful dogs and they too began hanging out with Champ.

One of the dogs was male, and the other female. Sometimes they would stay for days. I ended up feeding them, and a few nights when it was cold I let them sleep in the kennel with Champ. They all climbed into Champ’s crate together and helped keep each other warm. They too would come and go. About a week ago they stopped coming around, and I thought perhaps they had taken up with one of the neighbors. Three days ago the Bordie Collie also stopped coming around. This was unusual, for although she came and went, she spent a significant part of every day with Champ.

The young man who owns the Border Collie has family nearby. His little sister is around 12 years old (I am guessing). She also has a couple dogs. Randy and Veronica came for a visit last week-end, and we went on a walk, taking Champ with us on the leash. The young girl’s dogs came out to greet and meet Champ, and walked a ways with us before I shooed them back home.

I saw the young girl ride her bike over here yesterday morning. She didn’t see me, but she went over to where Champ was, looked around, and rode back off. This morning her older brother who owns the Border Collie drove over here as well. He looked around and drove off. I realized that he was probably looking for his dog, as he knew she liked to hang out with Champ.

I relayed a message to him to let him know I had not seen his dog in several days, and that I had not seen the Pit Bull puppies in over a week. He said his sister’s two dogs were also missing. He stated one of the neighbors nearby told him some time back that if the dogs ever came on his property he would shoot them. I have heard a lot of shooting recently, so I have little doubt about what happened. Many folks out in the country don’t think twice about shooting a dog. It is a tragic fact, but a fact nonetheless.

I went out to pet Champ and speak to him when I heard this news. A godly man will have compassion on animals. In a previous blog I shared the following Scripture.

Proverbs 12:10

A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal...

It filled me with sadness to think of these beautiful animals being so carelessly slaughtered. They were so full of life and curiosity. None of them were vicious. They were all eager to run up to people, an innocence which likely contributed to their being shot.

I have been thinking about this today. Life is full of lessons, some happy, and some tragic. Randy Simmons and I often talk about Bill Britton’s excellent writing titled The Harness of the Lord. In this writing Bill relates a vision of two horses. Both are running free until they are caught and brought into captivity. One of the young colts rebels against the confinement and breaks free, while the other submits meekly to the training of the master.

As the training progresses, the colt in confinement finds his freedom restricted more and more. First he is left to run about the corral. Then a halter is placed over his head and he has to learn to be led about on a lead. He is brought into the master’s barn, and he learns the discipline of being harnessed and not moving until the master gives a command to move.

The colt that is free cannot understand why his brother does not break free of his confinement. He says it is much better to be free to roam wherever he desires. Yet, his brother remains under the training of the master.

One day a famine strikes the land. The grass withers and the pools of water dry up. The colt that is free is famished, while his brother remains well fed in the care of the master. Then is seen the wisdom of surrendering one’s freedom to the master’s will.

The Harness of the Lord is an excellent writing, filled with insight. It came to mind today as I thought of Champ day after day being restricted in his movements. I have a 100 foot runner that his leash is attached to by a pulley. He can move about a good bit, but he cannot leave the vicinity of the bus where I am parked. I can always look outside and see where he is, being assured that he is close by. Champ would often whine when the other dogs would come around. They had the run of the whole yard, and he often wanted to go play with them. He would especially whine when they would leave. He would see them walking off down the lane and chafe at his confinement. Yet now they have perished and he is alive.

Our Father has been bringing a remnant of His sons and daughters into confinement in recent years. Like Joseph in Egypt, their liberty is taken away while their brothers and sisters live freely, following their own course in this world. Yahweh has directed a remnant to come under harness. He is keeping them on a short leash. Others may go where they want, and live as they please, but they cannot. Yahweh gives them explicit instructions about what they may, and may not, do.

At times this remnant chafes at the restrictions God has placed upon them. They wonder why they cannot share the same liberty and freedoms as their brothers and sisters. I have watched some experience great impatience and agitation as Yahweh continually restricts their way more and more. What they once could do, then can do no longer.

One brother recently spoke of God directing him to give up coffee. He used to start every day by turning on the coffee pot. He would drink coffee throughout the day. He has complained when he sees other Christians drinking coffee, seemingly without any condemnation or conviction in the matter, yet Yahweh will not permit him to do so.

There are a myriad of such examples I could give, for our Father is dealing with each son and daughter similarly, yet with differences. One person can no longer spend money on anything without knowing that it is something God has ordained. Another may have been led to give up television, movies, secular music, or tobacco products. Some are being led to give up all of the above, and more. Yahweh is asking them to surrender their will to His.

Champ may not have understood why he has been on the leash while his buddies were all running free, but it is because I care deeply for him. He is MY dog. God gave him to me. Even so, God has given you to Christ. He cares for you. He does not want to lose you.

John 6:39

And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

We have an adversary in this world. The predations of Satan are increasing. He comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. I can say with confidence that those who refuse to yield their freedoms to Christ and fail to come under subjection to the Spirit will find themselves exposed to attacks of the enemy that they could have been spared. Even as Champ is kept safe by abiding close to me, there is safety to be found in abiding close to the Father.

Champ

Champ has grown so that I cannot hold him in one hand anymore, but I will always hold him close to my heart.

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

Carbon Footprint

Joseph Herrin (11-20-08)

Since 1999 I have had no debt. Not a penny. My lifestyle in recent years has been much more environmentally friendly than earlier days. When you have less money to spend you certainly tend to be less wasteful. I know that there are lean days coming for multitudes of people who have been accustomed to fat times.

I Corinthians 7:29-31

But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none... and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.

I believe that if all of God's people were surrendered to the leading of the Spirit in how they conducted their lives, that the lives of Christians would stand out from the rest of society. When the nation was trending toward ever larger houses, and bigger SUV's, the vast majority in the church would have found themselves being content with far less.

I Timothy 6:6-8

Godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

The Bible is actually a very green book. Certainly there are those who have gone to extremes in their worship of nature and hatred of mankind, and much of the environmental movement is based upon philosophies and pseudo science that are objectionable. A Christian would be wrong to conclude, however, that God is not concerned with man's attitude toward the earth in which he resides.

Sin is manifested in a spirit of rabid consumerism. The sinful nature is selfish, and seeks to gather matter to itself. In contrast, the Spirit of Christ is that of love, and it is giving. When the Spirit of Christ was manifested in power in the lives of the disciples in Jerusalem, the result of the influence of the Spirit was observed in a profound way.

Acts 4:32-35

And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them... For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

When the Spirit of Christ was manifested in power in the very early church, men and women who had formerly been marked by a spirit of consumerism were transformed. They relinquished ownership of their amassed goods and sold much of what they had to provide for the needs of others. Downsizing was the order of the day.

What does it say about the spiritual state of the church today when it has followed the trend of the world towards greater accumulations of all things material? Some time back I was struck by a story of some who were downsizing. I found what they were doing very appealing. It had a sense of "rightness" about it.

The story spoke of a woman who had moved into a very small home which was built to be portable. She was parking her "home" at the house of some friends, and her costs were in every way greatly reduced. It was her answer to a struggling economy. Another story was of a group of college students who traveled to a city in Mexico and were shocked at some of the sub-standard housing, and they wanted to design something safe and clean and livable for people who did not have much money. What they came up with was a home built out of a recycled shipping container.

[Source: http://www.pfnc.net/]

Mankind can be content with much less than many would consider desirable in America. As Christians, we should stand out from the society in which we live. When others are upsizing, the Christian would certainly be manifesting a different spirit were they to pursue downsizing. How greatly different would the situation of the majority of Christians be at this hour had they sought the mind of the Father in all that they do. There would be far less distress from people who are now struggling with a collapsing economy. Debt would not be the problem it is today, and a people who had learned the joy of giving would find themselves well prepared spiritually for the coming days.

I recommend to you the audio message Compassion's Silver Lining, to see how giving to the poor and needy prepares one spiritually for a day of distress.

Reducing one's carbon footprint actually contains within it a spiritual parable. In the book The Mark of the Beast I wrote about the element Carbon. It is the only element that has 6 electrons, 6 protons, and 6 neutrons. All living matter is Carbon based, therefore at the lowest level God has stamped all living things which are under the curse of sin with the number 666.

I want to share an excerpt from this book with you.

The Beast Nature

What is the beast nature that Adam and Eve submitted unto? What is it that Adam and Eve were commanded to subdue and rule over, but which they became slaves unto? A good place to begin studying this matter is to look at the creature that was the instrument of Eve’s fall.

Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made.

Genesis 3:14

Yahweh God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life...”

The serpent is identified as a beast, and he excels all other beasts in two distinct ways which are mentioned in these verses. The serpent was more crafty than any other beast, and the serpent was cursed more than any other beast. We should note that in this account we have the very first appearance of Satan, and he appears as a serpent. That the serpent and Satan are one is revealed in other passages.

Revelation 12:9

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world...

Satan’s first appearance in the form of a beast reveals much about his character. Satan is wholly given over to the beast nature. He was created as a covering cherub, perfect in beauty and the sum of wisdom (Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14). He was flawless in his creation until the day that iniquity was found in him. He became corrupted due to his great beauty, and he began to worship the creature rather than the Creator. When Satan began to worship the creature he was given over to a beast nature. His wisdom, which was declared to be “perfect” before his transgression, became distorted, and thus we see the serpent described as “cunning.” The word cunning speaks of a fallen wisdom that has been given over to the pursuit of selfish desire, no longer seeking the will of God.

There is no greater characteristic of the beast nature than its selfishness. It lives for self. It exists to satisfy the natural appetites that are found within its own being. It lusts and covets and is jealous and knows nothing of dying to self in order to live for the will and pleasure of another. While Satan was yet in heaven he determined that he would no longer live for the will and pleasure of God, but he thought it right that he should be equal with God and be able to determine his own way, being self-directed and seeking self-fulfillment. An attitude of selfishness always leads to a host of other sins such as covetousness, jealousy, selfish ambition, pride, strife, and violence.

Much is revealed about the beast nature in the curse which God spoke to the serpent.

Genesis 3:14

“On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life...”

There is great symbolism here. The words, “On your belly you shall go” signifies that the beast nature will live for the fulfillment of the natural appetites. What is it that the beast nature desires, and what are its appetites? Food, sex, fame, riches, ease, pleasure, worldly goods, power and a host of other such things. None of these things are inherently evil, but they become evil when they are that which the creation pursues, hungers and thirsts for. God’s will is that mankind would seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness while allowing God to choose how and when to supply mankind’s needs. Yahshua spoke in this way:

Matthew 6:31-33

“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

What is expressed in these words is the contentedness of those who live to do the will of the Father. Doing God’s will is the foremost priority of their lives, and they care not for the things of this world. They do not need houses and lands and cars and many material goods. They are not worried about the care of their physical body, for they understand that the One who fashioned man’s body already knows their needs and He will certainly provide according to His great wisdom, love and power. They understand that if they give themselves to the pursuit of the Kingdom of God that Yahweh will take care of their needs.

Those who are subject to the serpent do not know the contentedness of doing the Father’s will. Of the serpent we read that he was cursed to eat dust all the days of his life. The flesh of man was formed from the dust of the earth. These words of judgment upon the serpent symbolically speak of an appetite for that from which the flesh was formed, and for all of the sins of the flesh.

Galatians 5:19-21

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these...

The serpent was cursed to be ruled by its belly and to eat of the things of the flesh. When a Christian gives himself to the things mentioned in the list above, it is certain that they are allowing the beast nature to be manifested in them. Many men, even those who name the name of Christ, are ruled by this nature.

Philippians 3:18-19

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

Paul most likely had the serpent in mind when he penned these words, for he speaks of the belly and a mind set on earthly things. The belly is a prominent feature of the beast nature, and it was singularly marked out when God cursed the serpent. The emphasis on the belly of this beast reveals that its entire life rests upon the satisfying of its earthly appetites. The belly is also emphasized when speaking of men who have given themselves over to be ruled by the beast nature.

The beast nature can be summed up in one word, “selfish.” The divine nature, in stark contrast, can be summed up in the word “selfless,” or with the word “love,” for we are told that love “does not seek its own” (I Corinthians 13:5).

The perfect wisdom of God is unselfish and seeks the welfare of another. Thus we see in Scripture that among the godhead there is a great selflessness. The Father glorifies the Son, the Son lives to do the will of the Father, and the Spirit takes the things of the Father and with them glorifies the Son (John 16). The perfect wisdom of God is such that Yahweh would send His beloved Son to die for mankind, and Yahshua would freely lay down His life for His friends. This wisdom is utterly unselfish. This wisdom is meek and gentle and humble.

James 3:17

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

The corrupted wisdom of the beast nature is not so. It is born in selfishness and cares not about the welfare of others.

James 3:15-16

This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

I want to share something here that is difficult to convey. The reason it is difficult is that the saints have been so carnal for so long that they can only with great difficulty begin to perceive the tremendous depths to which the church has sunk. I know the majority of those reading this will think that they are not manifesting the beast nature in any way, that they are truly selfless and to a great degree they are manifesting the Spirit of Christ, but we must remember that the serpent is cunning above all beasts and that Satan’s chief weapon is deception. Satan can convince you that you are the image of godliness when in fact you are far from it.

I ask you to really allow the Spirit to search the depths of your being as you read what follows. It will certainly sound radical and appear out of place in a world ruled by the evil one. It will appear as heretical to a harlot who wants to remain firmly seated upon the beast. It may even cause some fear to arise within your being as you “count the cost” and consider the consequences of what is being shared, but if you will not shrink back, and if you will allow the Spirit to transform you so that you are no longer conformed to a fallen, materially obsessed world, you will find the image of the divine expressed in and through your being. You will begin to manifest that for which God created man. You will appear as the very image and likeness of God.

Are you ready?

We read above where jealousy, and selfish ambition, and a slavery to the belly, or the appetites of the flesh, are all characteristics of the beast nature. The beast nature is marked by its consumption and it is never satisfied. This consumption is evident everywhere in our society, but we really do not see it. We have become so lost in this conspicuous consumption that it is no longer conspicuous to us.

Saints are called to be conformed to the image of Christ, and Christ is called “the Light of the world.” He is totally selfless and giving. He laid down His life for the very ones who hated Him. We are told that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” and even when we were His enemies. We read in the first chapter of Genesis that on the fourth day that lights were created in the firmament of the heavens, and we saw how the saints correspond to these lights. Light is selfless. Light does not consume, rather it radiates outward. It goes forth and brings warmth and life and energy to all that it shines upon. All saints are called to be such selfless, giving lights, radiating the life and love of Christ in a darkened world.

It has occurred to me that even as God has given us a representation of the saints in the heavens, so too has He given us a representation of those who are marked by the beast nature. Much has been spoken in recent years about black holes. Black holes are said to be areas of super dense matter that are caused by a star collapsing in upon itself. These areas of super dense matter begin to pull all things into themselves. They are such powerful attractors that they will not even allow light to escape from them. They just suck in more and more matter.

Scientists cannot actually see black holes, for they give off no light. Rather they have determined that they exist by observing the effect that occurs on matter around them. They can observe matter being pulled powerfully to a certain location, and light being extinguished, and by observing this activity they are made aware of the existence and presence of black holes.

See now how perfectly these black holes typify those men and women who have given themselves over to the beast nature. Mankind was created like the stars to show forth the light and life of the Creator, but many have collapsed back in upon themselves, having turned inward and begun to seek things for self. Many, even among the saints, have failed to be content to express the light of Christ and to live to do the will of the Father. Rather, they want things for self. They are attracted to the matter of this world, and they crave it, being filled with covetousness and lust and selfish ambition.

As these ones begin to work to gain the things their souls desire they cease radiating the light of God and they become as big vacuums attracting material things to themselves. They reason that it is only right and proper that they should have a fair portion of the world’s goods and they begin exerting tremendous energy to gain those things around them. They begin attracting matter to themselves. The Bible calls this activity “serving mammon” and the saints are warned that no man can serve both God and mammon.

Now here is the difficult part of what I desire to convey. Almost all saints are attempting to serve both God and mammon, though they do not recognize it. Most saints are marked by the influence of the beast nature on their lives, and a great number are even riding upon the beast with no admission of what it is they are doing. Though all saints have been called to give forth the light of Christ, an alarming number of them have turned inward and have become voracious consumers of matter. They are in peril of being cast back down to the earth as unripe figs, of being given over wholly to the pursuit of their selfish appetites.

One reason that the saints fail to recognize the influence of the beast nature upon their lives, the great selfishness and covetousness that is present within them, is that they compare themselves with one another rather than with God Who is the true measure of what man was created to be. I would therefore like to set Christ as the standard and reveal what His attitude was regarding consumption and the fulfillment of natural appetites. In looking at Christ we will see clearly what is of the beast nature and what is divine.

Immediately after Christ was baptized by John in the Jordan River, the Spirit led Him out to the wilderness where He fasted for forty days. Another way to say this is that Christ consumed nothing for forty days. After these forty days we are told that Christ was hungry, but He did not yet eat. Satan then came to tempt Yahshua and the very first temptation was related to consumption. Satan said to Christ, “If you are hungry, turn these stones to bread.”

What Satan suggested seems very reasonable to the creature part of man. If you have an appetite that is clamoring to be satisfied, then it seems normal to satisfy it. After all, God created man’s body to be nourished by food, and even Christ said “food is for the body,” but see here a remarkable manifestation of the divine nature. Christ responded to Satan by saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

What Christ declared was that doing the will of the Father is more important than satisfying the natural desires of the body. The Spirit had not yet released Christ from His fast, and God had not yet manifested how He would meet His Son’s need for food. Yahshua was so submitted to the Father that He would not consider doing anything of His own initiative to satisfy His need for food. He was not worried that His Father would let Him starve to death. He knew that if He sought the Father’s will above all else, that the Father would take care of the necessities of life.

Christ refused to be driven by His appetites. He refused to give Himself over to the beast’s urging to consume, even when He was hungry. He subdued and ruled over the beast. He buffeted His body and kept it under subjection. We are told that after Satan left Yahshua that the angels of God came and ministered to Christ’s needs. God already knew how and when He would provide sustenance for His Son, and the Son had such peace and confidence in the Father’s love for Him that He was willing to wait, knowing that the Father’s will is always the best and highest good for us.

Let us now look at another event in the life of Yahshua. During the entire span of His ministry Yahshua never owned a house. He never had a ministry center, and He was content to sleep wherever the Spirit led Him to sleep. Sometimes He slept in the open fields. Sometimes He slept in the stern of a boat on a pillow. At times He slept in a bed in someone’s house such as in the home of Lazarus and Martha and Mary. When a man approached Yahshua and said that he desired to be His disciple, Yahshua responded in this way:

Matthew 8:20

Yahshua said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

I think it is significant that Yahshua contrasted His divine way of life to that of two beasts, the foxes and the birds. Beasts demand some type of home. They want a nest to live in, or a nice den in the earth. So too do many men and women demand such things. They may say to God, “I will be your disciple as long as I can have my nice home and furnishings. As long as I can have my nice bed to sleep in at night I will follow you.” But look at the words of Christ to one who would be His disciple. He said that He could promise no such thing, for one who lives to do the will of God is content with whatever God decides to provide for them. In effect Yahshua was telling this man to count the cost. If this man had to have a home, like the beasts demand a home, then he could not truly be Christ’s disciple, for Christ revealed that His life was focused upon pleasing the Father, not upon pleasing self.

Am I beginning to sound heretical yet? Are you beginning to feel fear rise up within you at what God might truly require of you if you were to surrender all to Him? You may think, “God does not really require that I be willing to give up all, and I see no one around me doing so,” but again let us allow Christ to be the measure of all things. Listen to His words:

Luke 14:33

“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

These words of Christ come immediately after He spoke of counting the cost of discipleship. Bearing the image of the divine nature comes at a great cost to the flesh and the natural man. This is why Christ said that all who would follow Him must take up their cross. The cross is an instrument of death, and the beast must be slain, even the beast that thinks it only normal and necessary to have its own private nest, or den.

We may ask, “How did the apostles and the early church understand this matter? Did they too give up all they possessed?” I am glad you asked. Let us look to the Scriptures to see.

Acts 4:32-35

And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them... For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

During the first few years after Christ’s ascension, and following Pentecost, a remarkable work of grace was seen among the saints. They were extraordinarily delivered from the beast nature. They manifested the divine life to an amazing degree, and because of this they appeared as great lights in their world. Of their reputation we read, “The people held them in high esteem” (Acts 5:13).

I want to urge you to consider at length the Scripture above for it reveals perhaps the most profound evidence of God’s ability to transform the lives of men than any other testimony or miracle of the New Testament. A large number of men and women who had formerly been enslaved to the beast nature, and who had lived as consumers, were transformed into givers. Before salvation it was their nature to gather material goods to themselves, and after salvation it was their nature to be free of all ownership and all claim that anything was their own.

Notice the scope of the words used “NOT ONE OF THEM claimed that ANYTHING belonging to him was his own.” Hallelujah, the beast nature that crawls on its belly and eats the dust of the earth was slain! I know of no greater evidence of the complete transformation of the saints by the power of the Spirit than these words. They were gloriously set free from self! No one claimed that anything they possessed was their own. They truly began to esteem the needs of others more highly than their own needs. They began to manifest love of the brethren, and because of it all men recognized that they were Christ’s disciples. They loved God and the children of God rather than material possessions.

It can be said that these early saints were so captivated with a love of Christ and a desire to do the will of the Father that material things simply became unimportant to them. What they had formerly held onto with great tenacity, and guarded with great jealousy, was no longer precious to them. When the love of Christ and the brethren came in with such power, the love of other things died. When an immense yearning to do the will of the Father gripped them, a desire to do the will of self was put away.

The church today does not manifest this same selfless attitude, this contentment with whatever the Father would give them, at the time and in the way that He chooses. Instead the church rides upon the beast as a great harlot who has many cravings for the things of this world. She longs to be clothed in fine garments and to be adorned with many jewels. The saints are given to a pursuit of houses and lands and cars and furnishings and clothes and rich foods and pleasure and entertainment, and they say “God wants me to have these things and to spend my days collecting whatever my heart desires, laboring for things that will perish,” for the cunning of the beast has deceived them.

Consider the words of the apostle Paul:

Philippians 4:11-13

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

I Timothy 6:8

If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

Hebrews 13:5

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have...

The mark of the divine nature is contentment, not coveting. Paul said, “Having food and covering, with these we shall be content.” He said he was content in whatever circumstances he was in. The bottom line is that those who bear the divine nature are satisfied with whatever provision the Father chooses to give them. They are not living to satisfy self. They are living to do the will of the Father. They are not given over to the pursuit of worldly things. They are not in debt that they might own today what they crave, but do not have the money for. They are marked by their generosity and their selfless giving. They do not claim that anything they possess is their own, for they have surrendered all their possessions to God.

I must add a few remarks here for the sake of clarity, for I know that some might misunderstand my words. I am NOT saying that in order to bear the divine nature that all saints must embrace poverty and get rid of their houses and lands. What I AM saying is that they must be willing to do so if it is God’s will for them. Paul said that he knew how to be content with poverty (humble means), but he also knew how to be content with prosperity. The heart of the matter is just what has been stated repeatedly, the saints must be content with allowing God the Father to choose what HIS provision is for them, and to be at rest with HIS timing and HIS provision. They cannot demand their own way.

In this writing I am focusing mostly upon the beast nature’s demands to have homes and lands, etc., for this is what the majority of saints have given themselves to pursue. There are not many who go to excess in the opposite direction, demanding that they live in an impoverished way, treating their bodies very strictly and denying themselves all pleasure, but this too is error.

Colossians 2:20-23

If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) -- in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

There are a small minority of saints who have erred in the opposite direction of the majority. This minority glory in their self-abasement and severe treatment of the body. Paul says that such things have an “appearance of wisdom,” for it appears that they are not serving self, but God. Yet Paul reveals where the error lies in these saints as well. He states that these are not truly wise for their appearance of wisdom is based in “self-made religion and self-abasement.”

These ones, whom Paul equally condemns with those who give themselves over to the pursuit of pleasure, are missing the mark for they are still SELF directed. They are not content to wait upon God and to receive WHATEVER He has for them, but they will only receive poverty and self-abasement. Paul said he was content with poverty, but also with prosperity, with hunger and with being filled, with suffering need and with having an abundance. Those who are conformed to the image of the divine are content with what God chooses for them.

To be sure, most saints are erring on the side of covetousness, not self-abasement, but both are equally sinful for both originate in self. Those who are mature reflections of Christ have crucified the flesh and self and they live to do the will of God. They are content with whatever He provides and they will not stretch out their hand to satisfy their natural appetites apart from the will of God. Neither will they refuse to receive what God would provide for them in order to glory in their self-abasement.

Discipleship is surrender to the will of another, and this surrender of the will is where the cost of discipleship lies. There is a high cost to discipleship, and for this reason Yahshua urges all who would follow Him to count the cost. He promises no man or woman houses and lands, but He would urge all to be content with whatever the Father chooses for them. This then is a real sticking point. Can you be content with whatever the Father chooses for you, or do you have certain requirements, desires, wants, or demands that are non-negotiable? Will you say to God, “I will give you a part of my life, but I reserve a portion of it?” Remember, Christ said that no man can serve both God and mammon.

Yes, these things are radical, and the early church was very radical, and they shone forth as a brilliant light for a season. The beast suffered a mortal wound, but the wound has healed and the beast has returned and has offered the church a ride on its back.

Revelation 13:3-4

I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?"

When Christ was crucified and rose again Satan received a mortal blow. The early church subdued and ruled over the beast nature. They were completely set free from a slavery to their natural appetites. They were transformed from consumers to radiators of light and life. They knew the glorious liberty of possessing nothing but Christ. However, the saints failed to continue subduing and ruling over the beast nature. They began to worship the dragon, Satan, the serpent, once more. By cunning he convinced them that they could be disciples of Christ while allowing the beast to live. He convinced them that the beast would even carry them to their goal and they could live harmoniously with the beast nature.

There are many carnal interpretations of what this passage from Revelation 13 speaks. Many prophecy teachers see the beast as some political ruler who will arise and make war against Christianity, but let me declare that the beast has been present for the entire duration of Christianity and he has waged war with many saints, and few have overcome him. Many are the saints who have been defeated through great deception and cunning, as they have failed to subdue and rule over the beast nature. They have believed that they could live for self and for God, that they could offer God a portion of their lives while maintaining a sizeable piece for themselves, that they might find pleasure and satisfaction in the offerings of the world.

Are you willing to allow the Spirit to shine a light upon your life, upon your spending habits and your accumulation of the goods of this world? Are you willing to give up all your possessions should Christ require this of you as He did of the rich young ruler? Would you be content with food and covering, not even demanding that which the beasts have, your own nest, your own den? Christ admonishes all to count the cost before declaring that they will follow Him wherever He would lead. If you would bear the image of the divine, then the nature of the beast must be ruled over and subdued.

Many cling tenaciously to the things of this world, to possessions that they own, for they do not know a love of Christ and of the brethren that should make such things appear pale in comparison. If you are not wholly captivated by Christ, you will be captivated by lesser things. On the other hand, if your love of Christ is pure and unadulterated, then the things of this world will be as nothing to you. You will not covet them, or spend your life, your time, and energy in pursuit of accumulating matter.

Christ came to set men free, and those whom the Son sets free are free indeed.

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Joseph Herrin
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The Testimony of Boris Sorokovsky - Part 2

It was a drastic, terrible time in Russia from 1933 on. Many millions of people died. The Lord saved them from the great war and the second world war which took twenty million people from Russia and the Ukraine. That's a big number. Six million died in the Ukraine from starvation in 1933.

Whatever the Lord promised them, everything came to pass. He delivered them from their country, from starvation and from those troubles which the Lord promised, even from the war.

They did not hear about it until the late forties, because there was no communication. There was no radio. There was no mail going through China to those very desolate areas in the mountains. They never knew there was starvation in Russia which took away many millions. They never even knew. They never heard there was a war until the letters started to come and some communication when the communists came to China in 1948.

Russian trucks started to come to China. They became friends and then the news came. There was starvation in Russia and in the Ukraine and there was war which took many lives. But these simple people were protected, and saved of the Lord, and led out from the area of calamity, and were saved, and were living a very, very, blessed life. They were in the land of plenty, because it had very rich soil and the Lord blessed the fruits of their labor. Of course they weren't rich in the way of American standards. No! They were still simple farmers, but they had their cattle and they had their milk.

That brother who lost his house, built a good house in China, and he had lots more cows, and lots more horses. So the Lord, for his obedience, returned much more than he lost in Russia. He would have lost it the next night, anyhow, except for obedience to the Lord and His voice. He was repaid richly because the Lord is faithful and willing to bless His people, if they obey His voice and follow Him.

So then, this was just very brief. I'm omitting many, many events, many miracles and situations which happened in Russia, which happened in China, which we were a witness of.

While our people were in China, while it was yet free, while it was before communism, the Lord was speaking to our people already. "My children, China is only a stopping station for you. I will lead you out into a country of milk and honey. I'll lead into a free country where milk and honey is flowing and there you will meet many people who bear My Name, but do not serve Me as they ought, according to My commandments. And you will testify of My power and My commandments and of My Will for them."

That was the Lord saying to our people as they were praying that the Lord will be leading them out to another country yet. The Lord also said that the government will change in China. The Lord said there will be great trouble yet in China also. The Lord said that His people should prepare to move out.

So by 1947 the Lord moved out from China, most of those five hundred members to the Philippines. They went across from west China to east China, then to the Philippines, and then to Paraguay and then to America. Most of the group left by the next commandment of the Holy Ghost to move out and to carry on the Gospel.

There were about thirty families left in China and our family was one of them. In 1948, a year after the first group left, the revolution took place and China became red. They became friends with Russia. Then, of course, the same thing that was in Russia, started in China. In Russia it took sixteen years for the communists to get strong, to confiscate peoples properties, to crush the people's will. But in China it took a very short time.

Within four or five years they forced the majority of the population onto collective farms. They confiscated properties and there were many shootings and many killings. If you had four cows, you were an enemy of the people. You were gone. They just take you on a truck and take you outside of the village and just shoot you. As simple as that. Life was very cheap in China and in Russia.

So of these things, we were a witness, and of what was taking place in China during the hard times. And of course, the number one thing, again the same as in Russia, was that they started to fight against God, because that was their main ideology. We will build a happy society. We will build a new world without God. We don't need God. There is no God. The number one thing that they started to do was to persecute the church and faith of Jesus Christ.

Our brethren were subjected to severe persecutions and most of the ministers were taken into concentration camps; camps of hard labor; camps going deep into the mines, and working on small rations. Being harassed, being beaten, and some of them were given a life sentence.

The communists said, "We will never let you go any place." Our people had said to authorities and to the people, "God is going to lead us out to a country of milk and honey. We will not stay here. We will go away from here."

Of course, unbelievers were mocking our people and the authorities said, "We will never let you go because you're in our hands. We'll do what we want with you. We'll never let you go. We'll rot you in prison. We'll kill you all, but we'll never let you go."

But our people said, "We will trust the Lord. We'll trust our Living Lord who promised us and He'll lead us out."

People had to go through very big trials and persecutions in China. There was poverty, there was rations and there was a very big need economically, and of course our people were also in very dire need. To receive 800 grams of oil for one month per person, that's all you could get, and a very meager ration of rice. People just could not survive on that ration but thanks to God our people were able since it was a mountain area.

Our people were able to go into the mountains and hunt. They were bringing some fowl and they were bringing some wild game, so nobody starved in China in spite of starvation and death of the Chinese and Turkish population and many other people. But the Lord preserved. People were praying in China nightly. There were prayers all over town. There was a praying church in China, because brethren would get up quite often at four or five o'clock in the morning and gather for prayer. They'd pray for a couple of hours and then by eight o'clock they'd go to work. And then at night they'd pray right through town.

They'd gather in home groups and pray and seek face of the Lord. "Help, Lord. You promised us. Lord, you deliver us, Lord you'll help us." And the Lord was comforting them. The Lord was revealing to them what the authorities will do and what will happen. So the Lord, by the Holy Spirit was revealing the things to come and the people were comforted. Eventually, slowly, people were comforted by the Lord.

As the time drew on, the Lord moved our people across China by groups, or by a single person, or by a single families. He moved them about seven thousand kilometers into the city of Shanghai, which is about a ten hour ride by train from Hong Kong, if you've heard of Hong Kong. So that's where Shanghai is. It's eight million people.

So the Lord slowly led all the people across into the city of Shanghai, and of course on the way the Lord led them too, as it wasn't allowed to travel. It wasn't allowed to leave town even as I shared. You had to have four stamps on a piece of paper, the reason of going, where you were going, and when you would come back. All those have to be stated on paper, and you put your signature down. You have to go to four different offices before you leave town.

Yet, the Lord led our people out on foot, on horses, and then later on, by trucks and on trains. From the middle of China people traveled to the city of Shanghai and eventually everyone of those who were people of faith, people of prayer, people who wanted to walk closer to the Lord; every one of them left to the free world.

That is, they left to Hong Kong and then they were released by the authorities, even though they were threatened. The Lord opened up the doors of the bamboo curtains and every one of them was led out, including the brethren who were prisoners! They were released and they were taken to Shanghai and released to the free world. So our people came to a country of milk and honey.

Yet that wasn't a stopping place for us, because way back in China during the persecution time when my mother was fasting and praying, God told her that we will be in Canada. That was fifteen years before it took place, so we knew that eventually our family will be in Canada. We were there in the city for several years. We left China in 1959 and came to Australia. Ten years later, in 1969, the Lord told us to go to Canada. We landed in Vancouver as we came by ship from Australia to Canada.

There were many, many things on the way as the Lord led, miraculously provided, protected and saved, right across China. To travel across China, the communists watch after you, catch you and then they send you back. They threaten you with prison and they harass you. It's a very difficult thing to do without God. But with the Living God that was all possible. Every one of them was led out into free world.

Read chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians. This Scripture is for our instruction, for our admonition, and for our warning also. What happened with Israelites? They were an example for us. But this is all written for us who will reach the end of an age as believers of the new Christian era. And so the Lord said that they did this and they perished. They did that and they perished. Remember like the apostle Paul, being moved by the Holy Ghost, he related what the Israelites did, how they went to idol worship, how they murmured, how they fornicated, how they did the different things that they perished for. So God said through the Holy Ghost, through the apostle, for our Christian age, that it is possible, by being the people of God, it is possible by being a believer, it's possible by being led by God yet it's still possible to fall away even to the extent that your name maybe and can be stricken out from the book of life. There is such a danger for believers!

So then, what happened with our people as they came to the free world. Their eyes were really running in all directions - what a blessed country, what abundance.

We lived on meager rations in China on the verge of starvation, even though our people did not starve. They lived in very big need, but never starved. When they gave only one meter, if I remember correctly, one meter of material, that's about three and a quarter foot of material for the whole year. That's all you can get. When everything was rationed and you have a great need, all of a sudden when you come to a free world, your eyes run in all directions. Now what is this?

This is paradise on earth. Such a blessed country, such an abundance of things, such an abundance of materials, and you name it - like food and whatever else.

Our people were really excited and they started to build their houses. They started to get jobs and they started trying to get the dollar and things like that. Slowly, bit by bit, those everyday prayers started to be less and less, and less frequent, and the church, as such, lost the spirit of prayer. Eventually, as people of God became more rich and more blessed by the Lord, which the Lord promised to them (but Lord did not tell them to do what they did).

The Lord told them to still be engaged in the Word of the Lord and be a living witness and testify and share the Gospel with all those who were in those countries of freedom; in countries of plenty. That was the commission the Lord had given them. But of course they forgot the commission and they got caught up with the cares of life. With building good houses, beautiful houses. Before that house wasn't big enough anymore. They would build a bigger house with more bedrooms, with more carpet, with more beautiful ornaments.

Before you knew it, the things of the sisters became very, very colorful; very beautiful. What happened to the church of Russia and China in free world? I'll share with you very openly, what happened. God commanded His people to walk in the old commandments and subjects of the Word. Our sisters were very, very modest. Walking soberly and shamefaced in Russia and in China. And I remember how my grandmother was adorned. She was a very plain woman. She was dressed very modest. One color dress and that was commanded by the Lord. She had a head covering, and the brethren were very modest.

But in this country of plenty there was such an abundance, such a variety, such beauty; the Babylonian beauty. And before you know it, our sisters started to get more modern and their covering moved back and back and back.

Very soon there was just a little fluffy thing here on the back of the head. A little net, kept with two pins to the hair. Then one of those days our sisters eventually lost those pins someplace in the drawer. The wind blew this latest covering away and our sisters were left without the covering and they loved the world.

The brethren loved the world. Before you know it, they went into a very modern way of life, more or less equal to the western world. Australian and Canadian churches more or less mingled and totally mixed with the world. But what happened?

The Lord was warning our people even in Australia and in Canada, "My children, you walk in My Obedience, in My Holiness, as I have taught you by the Holy Spirit and by the Word. Walk in it and be obedient, and repent!"

The Lord was calling our people to repentance by the Holy Ghost, by visions, by revelations and all those things. Out of many people, a few were still faithful to the Lord, like the older generation. Our grandchildren are out of the fourth generation now. As generations went on people drew away from the Lord and eventually what happened? The Holy Spirit departed from most of our churches in the free world. The miracles and wonders departed; the spiritual presence of the Lord; the glory of the Lord. The glory of the Holy Ghost, and manifestation of the Holy Ghost, departed. The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, which were operating in Russia and in China, departed. The church lost everything.

Of course, God always had in Bible days of old, a remnant church. Not everyone, but the majority of people, loved this world. The lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes took control and our people actually happened to repeat the example or the experience of the Israelites which came to the promised land, the land of plenty.

As we read in the Bible, while Joshua was there and the elders, those people who remembered the miracles of the Lord, the Mighty Hand of God, Who led them out from Egypt, through the wilderness with miraculous leading, while they were alive, they were teaching and bringing the people to remembrance. While they were teaching the nation, the people were walking with the Lord. They knew the Lord.

When Joshua died, when the old people died, when we read that there were several generations past, then there came a generation which knew not the Lord. They started to love this surrounding world. They started to love the things of this World. They started to bow to those gods of the surrounding nations and they bowed to Baal and Astoreth. And so, basically that's what happened with most of our people.

God has pronounced many times, a severe judgment on our people if they will not obey, if they will not obey the Lord. If they will not repent. God will judge them in this country of milk and honey.

As it stands, in the majority of the churches, the work of the Holy Ghost and the signs following have more or less ceased. It just became a regular church, with many programs, and with many, many different activities, busy up to here; turning this big religious wheel of man-made activities, man-made rules, and stuff like that. They brought many traditions into the church which were not in the Word of God at all. They thought they could fill the void. We lost the presence of the Holy Ghost. They try to fill the void with activity and big commotion and big noise.

Some of the churches, are trying to supposedly show that the presence of the Lord is with them. They started going to commotion and some of them, our people, even move around and dance and jump and clap their hands and make a big noise.

Now that's nothing to do with the reality of Scripture. That's nothing to do with the real presence of God. That's nothing to do with the real power of the Holy Ghost.

Just read Christ's teaching. Just read the apostles experience. Now did they have flesh? Did the apostles jump around in the flesh and try to fake the experience. No they didn't! They were busy. They were empowered of the Holy Ghost. Yes! There were signs and wonders; real signs and wonders of Holy Ghost, but they had no time for fleshly things.

So, I don't find my Christ jumping around and clapping in the temple or whatever. I don't find the apostles in the worshipping place jumping around with the flesh and clapping and dancing. I don't find that in scriptures, because the authority of Christ's teaching or the apostles is the final authority for me.

To make long things short, our people have repeated most of the experiences of the Israelites when they were brought into the promised land. We were some of them. We were young people yet. I was 19 and my wife was 18 when we came to Australia. We were full of life and energetic. We were working in the church very hard. We were busy up to here. Then, so slowly, what happened?

The brethren took care with building one house, two houses, and then two jobs, and then sent their wife to work to get more dollars. They get better carpets and this and that, and before you know it, they have all been caught up in the materialistic efforts.

Their prayer life went and was replaced by meetings, and conference, and this and that, and church activities. And I was busy too. Yet the Lord, by His mercy, was calling. He sent His prophets to my family and the Lord rebuked me and told me, "Repent. Start searching the scriptures and turn to the narrow way." The Lord was warning me personally, several times in Australia. I had no time to search the scriptures because I was busy doing church work. I was busy supposedly doing God's work. I was an ordained minister and I was doing this and that. I was a secretary. I was a youth director. I was leading the choir. I was mixed up in printing, and things like that. I was busy. I had no time for prayer. I had no time for repentance. I had no time for Word of God. So finally, Lord caught up with me in Canada.

Canada is more plentiful even than Australia. So, we happened to be on a farm and we got into a big farm and got into big debt. We were working eight hours on the farm and eight hours in construction. I'm a carpenter by trade, so we were really trying to make a big dollar very fast, sixteen hours a day, trying to really get going in this country of Canada. Even my mother said "you have a good base".

The Lord then sent me one last warning. The Lord sent a prophet from another city, a person who was still walking close with the Lord. The Lord brought that person from far off. Then while we were praying for the night, the Lord told me specific things that I was guilty of, like we had become very worldly. The Lord revealed the secrets of my heart and the Lord told me the last warning. A stern warning to repent, and if not, He was going to judge me.

Then that person went away. I find in the Bible that the Lord sent prophets of old to nations. He sent to individuals, to warn them and to call them to repentance, and I find that Biblical. Even today God is a Living God. He's still on the throne, and He can still teach people of God. He can rebuke them and call them to repentance.

He's the same Living God which was working in Russia and in China. He's still living in Canada and America and all over the world. If we are only willing to actually believe the Bible.

I was still very busy and that didn't help. Then one night the Lord showed me a warning; showed me a vision that I was walking on a broad road. It's a very wide road, and I see that road was going down. It was getting darker and darker. Then I see there was a turn to the left a bit and then as I walking, I see myself walking down that road, and I understood that road - a broad road to hell.

With being busy, and doing all the church work that I did, it didn't matter to the Lord. I was walking a broad road, because I loved the world, and I was living more or less a way of my own doings, a way of my own will.

I had no time for prayer; searching like people in the apostolic days. They were in prayer daily. They sought the face of the Lord. They were sent by the Holy Ghost. They did the will of the Holy Ghost.

We read that Peter went by the Holy Ghost to certain places. Philip was sent by the Holy Ghost to different places. Philip dropped the big revival in Samaria and he went to the empty road. Who did it? The Holy Ghost told him to go. God told him to go to the empty road. The work of the Lord was done.

Look at the apostles Paul and Barnabas. While they fasted and prayed, the Lord sent them off to the mission field. It was the acts, not of the apostles, but the acts of Holy Ghost, as I read in my Bible.

The problem is that when people depart from the Lord, they start to replace the work of the Holy Ghost with their own works; with their own supposed programs and so on.

And so the Lord did not care how busy I was in church work. Like many churches I had a man-made program; so busy with missions, with printing, with radio, with this and that, but I lost my prayer life.

There are no prayers in the churches. There's no prayers in the houses. There is no real, Bible-like presence of the Lord. There is no real Bible-working of the Holy Spirit in the churches today. Why? Because the churches are asleep today in America and Canada. And I was one of them.

The Lord had mercy upon me. He showed me that, and then all of a sudden, there was a Voice as I saw myself walking down that road. There was a Voice coming down, if I'll just proceed on and turn around the corner that'll be a point of no return for me. And then I saw myself throw my hands in the air and crying, "Have mercy upon me Lord." Then I turned around and then that's finished.

So the Lord had given me a final warning for my life, because I had had several warnings in Australia. One warning, and very stern warning and call to repentance to go on back to the narrow way. The narrow way, brethren, is a narrow way, that I'm going to share that with you very briefly. It's a really narrow way if you want to taste it. It was a very narrow way for Christ, for the apostles. If you want to mean business with God, it becomes a very narrow way, here in America and in Canada. But many people will not want to pay the price of the narrow way in the churches.

Then the next day, I should have been killed. God wanted to judge me. Only by the mercy of the Lord am I still alive. I was working on a steep roof. My brother and I were building cottage homes and A-frames for people on construction. It was already getting close to winter time and sometimes there was snow on the roof. We were roofing with shingles. It was a very steep A-frame roof. We were young and strong and we were very able and smart and we were working like monkeys on the roof. We did not build scaffolds like normal carpenters do. They build scaffolds around and they build scaffolds as they go up. We didn't. We just nailed a two by four on the edge of the roof. On the edge which is only about an inch and a half wide and we would walk on those two by fours like running back and forth and doing the roof shingling.

We have piles of shingles here on the little rope on the dolly from the pitch of the roof. Then we pull it up as we go up, and we nail another two by four right across the roof and we just walk on it and nail the shingles.

We came in the morning. It was quite slippery. There was snow on the roof and so when I was working along, I was quite high on that roof. It was a two story building. When I turned to take some shingles I slipped. My leg slipped and then I was falling face down.

The owner of that lot had cut down the trees around the foundation of the house leaving stumps four or five feet high and five to six inches in diameter. Usually when we cut down trees in British Columbia we cut them close to the ground. I do not know for what reason he left them high. Maybe it was specifically for me.

When I slipped and was falling, I saw I was falling right on one of the stumps. I remember I was crying, "Lord have mercy upon me!" My hands were up like I saw myself in the vision, then I remember no more.

I struck that stump with the full force of my chest. By the law of physics, with that height and with my weight I should have been killed. I should have been pierced with that stump. It was only the mercy of the Lord, which was a miracle of God, that I was left alive.

I passed out and my brother told me he dropped down and he looked at me. I didn't have signs of life and I was out for a little while. Then he called for an ambulance which took me to the hospital. When they X-rayed me, there was just a big, black spot, but no ribs were broken. Nothing was damaged inside. I knew it was only the mercy of the Lord and His miracle that saved me from death! It was His last warning. His last call to me to repent and to come on the narrow way. That was the turning point for myself and my family.

God told us to go into the Word and to pray daily. We had morning prayers, studied and searched the Word of God in the morning for an hour or more, and in the evening for quite a long time. The Lord told us to repent of many things as we searched the Word and found what we were guilty of. The Lord opened our eyes.

After we repented, and then only, the Lord started to talk to us personally. The Lord started to talk to us in visions, in dreams, with a voice and He talked from the Bible, instructing us, teaching us, correcting us, and bringing us to that narrow way and narrow walk.

We found out that the Christian life is not just a life of going to church. It is not just dropping a few dollars in the collection plate. It will involve all your life. Nothing less. It will involve your pocket book. It will involve every area. It will involve your hidden parts. Your pride, your haughtiness, your thoughts. It will touch your tongue, it will touch your tastes in life, it will touch your desires. It will touch your habits. It will touch the whole inner life.

The Lord taught us also that it has to touch the outside. Many Christians say, "Oh! I'm saved, praise God. The Lord is with me. I'm filled with the Holy Ghost, and it doesn't matter how we look on the outside."

No! That's the preaching of the devil. Just read the New Testament and find out. There's a strict commandment of the Lord that we are living epistles, being read of all men. (2Cor. 3:2) Men do not read our hearts. They say that we are under grace, that we are not under law, therefore it doesn't matter how we appear outside as long as we are pure in heart.

Yes! It matters! It is a commandment of the Lord in the New Testament. The Lord told us by revelations that it is His will. That we had better change our outside appearance.

We had to clean our house of many things, the worldly things. We had to clean our garments. My wife had to change her garments; myself also, and our children.

It was no problem for our daughters to wear mini skirts. No problem. Why? Our daughters were eleven and twelve when we came to Canada. It was a known thing - everybody was doing it. America was doing it. America is a Christian nation. America is supposed to have the Holy Ghost in the churches, everybody claims.

In the apostolic church they believe the Lord. They believe in the Holy Ghost. God is with them. They are saved and on the way to heaven. They are to be raptured at any time. That's the claim of all the churches.

I found in the Word of God that we are saved by grace. (Eph. 2:5) That is true. We are saved by grace for the holy works, for the holy deeds, for the holy life, for a life of righteousness, for a life of separation from this world, from lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.

My wife had to find a covering for her which flew away in this free world. I had to change my garments. She had to also. The Lord showed us we had to be separate from the world, inside and out.

I was really pleased when we visited one church. I saw of some of the girls very modestly covered, right to the feet. That's how God showed me when we were reading and praying. Sometimes the Lord teaches us in visions.

I prayed, "Lord, our people are backslidden. Lord I don't know what the difference is now. Lord show me how holy woman should be dressed." And Lord showed me that the holy woman was covered from top to bottom. Not any length of the legs to be exposed. Man also - man is not to walk in shorts or whatever.

Yes! Much is written about nakedness. Much written about shamefacedness and sobriety. It covers all areas of life.

The Lord was teaching and instructing us. After several years, the Lord started to send us to different churches and then to different countries to share the message of repentance, the message of the last days. The warning to the sleeping church. The church must wake up and get ready to meet the Bridegroom because He is coming. The church is not ready. She's asleep and she needs to wake up!

The church has to start repenting, if need be, in sackcloth and ashes. Let's try the Old Testament method. If we don't, we cannot really repent. Let's try that for a while. Just put old, torn clothes on us. Let us put on ashes from the woodstove. Let's try that. See if we can really repent and really dedicate our life to the Lord.

The churches today need repentance. They need the cleansing of the Holy Spirit, cleansing by the word. They need a holy, dedicated life for the Lord. That is the message that we've been sharing for many years now since the Lord turned us to Himself.

As soon as we turned to the Lord we started to walk differently and talk differently. Now our relationships, our companionships and our taste in conversation has all changed.

Our people started to say, "Oh well! You're so special! You're so holy! Your wife looks like a grandma. What's happened to her?" and on and on. The whole force of hell were let loose on us and our family when we spoke the Word of the Lord, saying this is the will of the Lord and we need to repent.

We talk about the mercies of the Lord. The Lord has spared us only by His grace and mercy. I'm nothing. If the apostle Paul was a sinner, the filthiest sinner of all, then I'm one also. The Lord has shown us that there is a place in His Will for us to be; to be sanctified by the Word and by the power of the Holy Ghost; to be cleansed and be a living epistle, being read and known of all men.

Therefore as we go around different churches and places in the countries ministering this message of repentance, the message of holiness, the message of separation and dying to the world, the message of reviving prayer in the churches.

The message of waking up is not a very popular message. Very few people will receive the message. But there are a few people who receive, accept and they start to think about it. They start a prayer life. They start reading the Word of God. They start to check their homes, and they start to check their lives. Even for the sake of a few, I think that it's worth it to share the message of the last days.

Whenever the Lord tells us to go and minister, we go and share the Word wherever the door is open. Denomination has no barriers for me. We go to any church that invites us to minister and share the message.

The Lord says that the midnight hour is upon us. The Bridegroom is coming! Wake up and trim the lamp! Get ready to come out and meet the Bridegroom! That's the message of the last hour.

The hour is coming also when great tribulation is coming upon the world. This time, not only Russia, but the whole world is going to experience this great shaking and sifting. I'm sharing with the American people.

Brethren, do you really believe the Bible? Do you ever ask for the Holy Ghost? I mean in the Bible way? I'm sharing with you brethren. Get ready for the big shake up and persecution. There'll be great sifting on the threshing floor as our Lord Jesus Christ will come to threshing floor. He'll start shaking that wheat. He'll start separating the wheat from the chaff.

We, who were in China, know what that means. When we were harvesting the wheat, workers would bring in a very large pile of many sheaves. It was brought to the threshing floor on a horse cart. My father prepared a big circle on the floor. We would roll it down with a very smooth roller and we would pour water on the dirt. We did this over and over until it was a rock hard, bone dry, threshing floor.

My father then broke the sheaves apart and laid them about a foot thick all across the circle of the threshing floor. Then my father put me or sometimes my brother on a horse that was harnessed to a kind of drum with corrugated sides. The drum was made out of stone, about a ton and a half in weight. We rode on that horse round and round and that corrugated stone drum beat the wheat and knocked the kernels of wheat from the sheaves. It takes lots of beating for this to happen.

Then my father used a pitchfork to separate the chaff and the straw from the wheat kernels. A big pile of straw is put to one side. There is still a big pile of chaff and wheat mixed. This he leaves in a big pile to the side of the threshing floor.

At four o'clock in the morning, when the breeze starts to blow, he gets up. He takes his wooden shovel, a very wide shovel, and he scoops up this chaff and wheat together. He throws it in the air and, as the wind blows the chaff away, the pure wheat falls on the ground.

That's what is going to happen according to my Living Christ and His Word. That is going to happen in the last days with the church. Many, many, many sheaves are going to be brought to the threshing floor and there'll be a great beating and shaking. Finally a great wind will blow away the chaff.

Only the pure wheat, the elect ones, will be gathered into the storehouse of the Lord. That's how it is. It will not be the majority. It will be a minority, because from that big pile which was harvested from the field, only a small pile was left on the threshing floor.

That's exactly according to the Word. According to the Holy Spirit and according to the revelation of the Holy Spirit. That is what is going to happen with many churches which are going to be shaken by the Lord in the last days.

So therefore, this is the message concerning the last days as the Lord tells us to share. It is the message of repentance. The message of waking up. The message of trimming the lamp and getting ready.

In China, of course, we did not have electricity. It was a very simple life. So we have bear fat in the saucer or some kind of a lard. Then mother would twist a wick, a roll of wick, on the bottom of saucer and then on top of that she puts some lard or fat. Then she smeared the end of the wick into the lard or fat and then she lights it. That's how we had light. Our homes worked with that light from the small saucer with the wick burning.

Eventually from the burning of the fat and lard a residue forms. It becomes longer and longer. Before you know it, that oil cannot come through that black tar stuff and then the light starts to get dim, to flicker, and eventually if we didn't trim the lamp, it extinguished itself. So to me it's a very clear message that the church of God today has to repent and to trim the blackness, the blackness of sin; the blackness of corruption; the blackness of modernism; to trim the lamp. That means to repent and clean up the life inside and out, and get ready as a holy church, without spot or wrinkle to meet the Lord. That's the call in the Word of the Lord.

As we go about we share this with people, with whoever will receive us. We also have a cassette ministry, we have over a hundred cassettes, ninety minute tapes in the Russian language that we share with the Slavic population all across the land, in many lands including Russia. We send quite a few to Russia and many people are thanking the Lord that they have a message about the last days.

That message of the last days and the message of repentance, and preparation for the church is not a popular message, but there are people who appreciate it and they say please send us more. Russia is starving for the real message of the last days, and so as much as we can, we share with the people in Russia.

Even though we did not go personally to Russia we have many friends there. We have good communication with people in the underground church in Russia who are suffering persecution.

So brethren, we read the Scripture here in Luke, chapter 18. This particular parable has several messages. In the last days the people of God have to come to the point of such fervent prayer that they cannot be denied. They have to really bombard heaven with their prayers. The churches in America have to organize house meetings all over the place; prayer groups bombarding heaven. "Lord, Lord, talk to us Lord. Teach us Lord. If need be, chastise us Lord. Lord teach us and get us clean. Lord, clean your church and get us ready. Lord empower us with your power of the Holy Ghost that we will be able to stand in those very terrible days to come."

In Russia, even though that church was knocked out, it had to learn the power of prayer in order to withstand the onslaught of the enemy. Only by the power of prayer, by the power of fasting, the holy life and separation, the underground church of Russia was able to survive.

Many churches are dead in Russia. They have had a form of godliness but deny the power. They compromised because there was great pressure they couldn't take. They compromised and became co-workers and collaborators with the KGB. They were kind of a smokescreen for the western world. They served as an illusion that Russia had freedom of worship and that there was no persecution, because America could see the churches. But, the churches were full of government workers.

A brother with whom I was traveling one time was sharing about all of this and much more. He said that the KGB literally installed their workers as pastors and ministers in those dead churches who had form of godliness but had no power of God. And they could not stand - and it's no surprise.

Remember Peter when he was only in the flesh? He was with Christ, he was taught of Christ, he had seen miracles - but Peter was yet in the flesh. In the flesh he could not stand the pressure and he was afraid. He got scared when the real heat came on.

When Christ was taken as a prisoner, the apostles dispersed. They ran around all over the place. Peter said, "I don't know Him. No! No! I wasn't with Christ." Why? He had no power of the Holy Ghost in him.

Christian churches here, if they don't pray through; if they won't go into sanctification by the holy Word and the Holy Spirit, and if they don't get into the experience of the Living presence of God like in the days of the apostles, they will not be able to stand.

The Holy Ghost told to us in Canada that many people, and many churches, will deny God left and right when the great tribulation comes. People will deny the Lord, because they are playing too much church - Churchianity. They are playing religion, but they have no power from the Lord. They will not be able to stand when the time comes. So therefore this is the message that the Lord is telling us here in this particular parable.

The very fervent prayer represents that widow. She just kept on pestering the judge to protect her and help her. And God says, "If the judge can do so, will not God do so if His elect will cry to Him day and night?"

Today we need a church which will be a crying church. Brethren, teach your people to cry. Teach your people to weep before the face of the Lord. My Christ wept. The apostle Paul wept with many tears. The men of old, they wept. They cried. Jeremiah cried. Isaiah cried. The church in Russia during revival cried. The church in China, I remember, the brethren cried at nearly every prayer. That was not only a praying church, but it was a crying church, which really means business with the Lord. They were really pouring their hearts out.

America does not want to cry. People want to laugh in churches. Sadly the preacher stands there and makes jokes and anecdotes from the pulpit and people grab their stomachs and they laugh to their hearts content. At the end of the service they praise the Lord. The Lord blessed us. The presence of the Lord was with us. I'm sorry, it was more like the presence of the devil, because the devil has his own - those comics on TV, and all over the place. Now the devil has comics right in the churches. Everybody wants to laugh. They want have fun. They want to have laughter. Nobody wants to cry anymore in churches.

So this is the call of the Lord. We read, "Will not God," just before Christ comes, "Will He not defend His elect, those who cry to Him day and night?" Yes! He will definitely defend them. So then this is the will of the Lord for the church for last days before the coming of the Lord.

If you believe the coming of the Lord is close, if you believe the coming of the Lord is at hand, then this is the message. Church of God, let's learn to pray. Let's learn to cry out to Him day and night. The Lord will then be able to visit God's people. He will empower them with the power of the Holy Ghost like in days of apostles. He will get that church ready.

I read in my Bible, in chapter 25 of Matthew, when the time has come for the wife to meet the Bridegroom. I read that she made herself ready. She was working on the earth and she had a job to do. Yes! That will be the church that will enter in. That will be the elect. There are many that God has called in the churches, but only the elect will enter in to the Holy Supper. I read this in the parables as well as in the book of Revelation.

This is the call of the Lord to me, to my people and if you will, it's the call of the Lord to American churches. People of God, find your priorities. Either your God is a Living God, the God of the apostles or your god is a god of the dollar or a god of the belly. You have to decide.

So many people do not like my messages, but it's not of me. God told me to speak straight. I share this with everybody. The Lord told me to speak straight and not to beat around the bush so that people may not misunderstand me.

So then God calls us to repentance and to revival. God calls us to prayer. God calls us to watching and praying all because Christ said for the last days, "Watch therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all those future tribulations and to stand before son of man." Luke chapter 21 verse 36.

So then may the Lord God bless you and may the Lord help all of us as people of God to really find our priorities. Really mean business with God and come into the Living presence of the Lord, the God of the prophets of old, and the God of the apostles. That's the only true faith that we read about in the Bible and find with the exact same experience that the Lord wants His people to have in the last days and in the last generation.

So may Lord bless you and help us all.

In my infirmity I invite you all to prayer. Let us bow down before the face of the Lord and cry unto Him, "Lord." If you can, do it the apostolic way, let us pray with one accord. If you cannot, if you are ashamed, it's your business. I'm not pushing anybody, but the church in Russia, the church in China prayed with one accord, with one voice, "Lord, help us. Lord, deliver us. Lord, bless us. Lord visit us."

The Lord was faithful to fulfill His word and did visit the church in Russia and China when they were willing to pray and be obedient. So may the Lord God bless you abundantly and richly and stir up the spirit of prayer in churches as you minister. So let us bow down before the Lord.

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

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

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