Vol. 105-4 Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. — Jude 3

Approaching GodReverently, Prayerfully, Sacrificially, and Collectively

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WHEN I STEPPED onto the Portland campground for the first time in July of 1974 to attend camp meeting as a twenty-one-year-old new convert, many surprises awaited me. For one thing, I did not know what a camp meeting was! My expectation was that those in attendance would be roasting hot dogs and marshmallows around a huge bonfire while singing songs.

It did not take long to adjust my expectations and to grasp what a benefit it is to be a part of three church services daily. It actually worked to my advantage to be an uncomfortable newcomer, as that meant there were few distractions to keep me from the prayer meetings which followed each service. During those times of personal dedication and consecration, I came to realize that the Lord was teaching me and helping me to become acquainted with Him. When my one

week of unpaid vacation ended, I returned home to resume work. However, after

just a few days, the pull of camp meeting led to my return. Within a few more days, I experienced sanctification following a Bible teaching service. While being saved had given me power to live without my old sinful habits and appetites, sanctification put within my heart a continual spirit of praise and thanksgiving. The testimonies and sermons helped lay a foundation that has supported me spiritually ever since.

The content of this magazine is for the most part a product of the 2012 Portland camp meeting. From 1907 through 1919, camp meeting was held each summer in Portland at various rented locations. The current Duke Street camp-ground was first used in 1920. The meetings that year were held in a huge tent since the current tabernacle was not completed until 1921.

A common denominator of Apostolic Faith churches around the world is that we hold camp meetings. Whether attendees number a few hundred in Newfoundland, the Philippines, or the United Kingdom, or up to 50,000 in Faith City outside of Lagos, Nigeria, the results are the same. Individuals are saved, sanctified, baptized with the Holy Ghost, healed, and otherwise grounded in their faith. We pray that reading this issue of Higher Way magazine will yield similar results in your heart.

The Value of Camp Meeting

Higher Way (ISSN #1084-9807) is published quarterly by the Apostolic Faith Church, 6615 SE 52nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97206, U.S.A. and is mailed out subscription free. Periodicals postage is paid at Portland, Oregon. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Higher Way, Apostolic Faith Church, 6615 SE 52nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97206, U.S.A.

October—December 2012

Table of Contents

Darrel D. LeeSuperintendent

General

VIEWPOINT

Day to Day ............ 9 Evidence .............. 14Highlighting our Heritage ............. 21

Approaching God ..................................... 3My Story of Grace, Grief, and Gratitude ......6 Sermon Excerpts ....................................11Are You Going Nowhere? ....................... 17Finding My Father’s God ........................ 19

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It is important to consider how we are to approach God if we want Him to meet with us at this camp meeting. We find instruction regarding this as we look at how Israel was commanded to come before God.

At Mount Sinai, the Lord gave Moses the commandment concerning a central place where the people of Israel would come to worship. He said, “There shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes . . .” He went on to say that in that place “ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants” (Deuteronomy 12:11-12).

In the Book of Exodus, God spoke from the mountain giving instruction regarding how to build the Tabernacle and set it up. In Leviticus, God spoke from the Tabernacle giving instruction regarding how the worshipers were to use that sacred place and approach God.

From a sermon by Darrel Lee

Approaching GodA four-part instruction for coming

before our Creator.

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The principles we find in the Book of Leviti-cus regard-ing the proper approach to God are still valid today. They provide us with a four-part instruction on how we are to come before a holy God. First, we should approach the place where God meets

with His people reverently. We should approach prayerfully, and sacrificially. And finally, we should approach collec-tively, in company with other believers.

Whether we are here at camp meet-ing for one meeting or for the entire two weeks of services, if we apply this approach, we will obtain results.

Approach Reverently

Moses learned about approaching reverently at the burning bush. While he was out tending flocks in the desert, he saw a bush that was on fire but was not consumed. He turned aside to see what was happening, and he heard the voice of God saying, “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou stand-est is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5).

Wherever God is present is holy ground! When we come to the house of the Lord, we want to remember that we are coming into the presence of God, so we approach reverently.

In Leviticus 10, we read what hap-pened when individuals approached God recklessly. Nadab and Abihu came bringing strange fire before the Lord, and they ultimately perished. God said, “I will be sanctified [set apart as holy] in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified” (Leviticus 10:3). We are not approach-ing a politician or an important figure of this world. We are approaching the Creator of the heavens and the earth! We are approaching our Redeemer, so we want to approach Him reverently.

In Leviticus 26:2, the Lord com-manded, “Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.” The word sanctuary comes from a Latin word meaning “sacred” or “holy.” When our churches are ded-icated, they are set apart for a holy use. The prayer on the day of dedication for any church is that God will inhabit that place, that it will be a meeting place where God will dwell among His people.

In Leviticus 1:1, the meeting place was called the “tabernacle of the congregation.” It could be called the “tabernacle of the meetings” or “the tabernacle of the appointments.” God designed church to be a place where He could meet with you and me. When we came here today, we had an appointment—an appointment to meet with God.

The Tabernacle in the time of Exodus and Leviticus was a temporary structure, but a reverent approach is no less important in a permanent structure such as this. The Psalmist said, “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him” (Psalm 89:7). The prophet Habak-kuk said, “The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him” (Habakkuk 2:20). Then the prophet went on to pray a prayer, and in it he linked revival with rev-erence. He said, “O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid [in awe of God]: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years” (Habakkuk 3:2).

Can you imagine what would happen if there was a revival of rev-erence in churches throughout the land? It could lead to a revival of our spirits! In the New Testament, in the Book of Hebrews, we find a similar injunction. We are to “serve God accept-ably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28).

There are simple actions that each of us can take that will indicate our rev-erence. First of all, we should approach

the house of God as a sanctuary—a hallowed place. Here in Portland, we have a separate, dedicated part of our building that is the sanctuary. What-ever the design of the building, when a structure is being used as a church, we are not coming to an auditorium or a multi-use facility. We are coming to a place where we meet God, so we want to approach it as a sanctuary.

We want to approach respectfully rather than casually. That is why we dress up instead of dressing down. We are not just stopping by here on the way to the beach or the mall, or just before we go out into the yard or work on the car. This is our destination, and we are coming to meet with God Him-self. So we show our respect for Him by dressing suitably for that event.

We do not applaud for musicians who have a part in our services. We applaud for performers, but those who participate in our services are not per-formers; their purpose is not to enter-tain but to point us toward God. In a Gospel meeting (with some exception

for the children), we want to say “amen” rather than applauding.

God’s presence is why we say “amen” in our ser-vices. “Amen” is a Biblical term. It voices affirma-tion—it indicates “so be it” to what “thus saith the Lord.” We want to have zeal for what “thus saith the Lord.” In fact, when David delivered what the Bible refers to as his first psalm, he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever. And all the people said, Amen,

and praised the Lord” (1 Chronicles 16:36). Voicing our affirmation for the Word of God is one way we approach God reverently.

Approach Prayerfully

We approach prayerfully. When Jesus saw the Temple being desecrated by buying and selling, He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and chased out those who were making God’s house into a marketplace. He

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said, “Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Mark 11:17). Church is not the place to conduct business, talk politics, or discuss the outcome of yes-terday’s ballgame. We come to meet with the Lord! We are happy to see one another, of course, but we come to the tabernacle of the congregation to worship God. This is not a social event. We enjoy fel-lowship, but prayer is the target at the end of our services. Everything from the first notes of music to the final benediction has a destination in mind, and that destination is getting on our knees to meet with our Maker. Through the prophet Isaiah, God prom-ised that those who “keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me. . . . even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people” (Isaiah 56:4,7).

Approach Sacrificially

We are to approach God sacrifi-cially. In the first chapter of Leviticus, we find these words: “And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the con-gregation, saying, Speak unto the chil-dren of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sac-rifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord” (Leviticus 1:1-3).

God had designed a place where the congregation of Israel would meet with Him and would hear His voice, and He ordained that offerings be presented on a continual basis. This indicates that we are to bring when

we approach God. We are not to come empty-handed.

Oftentimes we encourage people to come to camp meeting expecting to receive. Let us come to camp meet-ing expecting to give, and give, and give some more! We live in a society where an entitlement mentality or the perspective that we are “owed” is common. We even hear that God

“owes” us one call. God owes us nothing! It is the grace of God that extends mercy to us. So we do not come to God’s house to see what we can get. We come saying, “Lord, what can I give?” If you come giving, you are going to receive what God would have you receive.

When we give to the Lord sacrificially, we bring something that costs us. The Israelites were to bring of their flocks or herds. They were not to go out and find a wild animal they could snare or cap-

ture and bring that to the Lord. That type of sacrifice would not have cost them anything. They were to bring a sacrifice from their flocks—an animal they had invested in—and they were to bring it sacrificially.

We are to offer voluntarily. Leviticus 1:3 says, “. . . he shall offer it of his own voluntary will.” When children are young, they are brought to the house of the Lord by the parents. When they get older, some come only because their parents require it. However, the day will come that they must make a decision to come voluntarily, and to come sacrificially.

Approach Collectively

Finally, we are to come before God collectively. Sometimes people say, “Oh, I don’t do the church thing. I like to go out into the mountains, or in the woods, or by a lake, to commune with God.” However, God has ordained that we worship Him collectively. He says, “This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the

c o n g r e g a t i o n before the Lord: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. And there I will meet with the chil-dren of Israel, and the taber-nacle shall be sanctified by my glory” (Exodus 29:42-43).

That was in Old Testament times, but in New Testament times the writer of Hebrews admon-ished, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). Jesus himself said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). What a wonderful promise! We know the Lord is with us here today, because we have come according to God’s Word.

The Results of Obedience

When the Children of Israel fin-ished the Tabernacle according to God’s direction, and approached Him in the manner that He had prescribed, there were results. We read in Exodus 40, “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34). The Children of Israel saw the manifestation of the power of God.

Having the glory of the Lord fill this tabernacle is not beyond our reach today. As the people of Israel obeyed and applied what God had said, they went away a blessed people. That can be our experience as well.

Will you apply this simple approach to God? If you do, you will see results. God will meet with you.

Darrel Lee is Superintendent General of the Apostolic Faith Church and pastor of the headquarters church in Portland, Oregon.

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God has been good to me all my life. I was blessed to be raised in a home where my parents took us to church

and taught us about God. Some of my earliest memories are of our family praying together. Every morning and night we gathered for family worship; seven children and my mom and dad. Some of those devotions would turn into prayer meetings where we really touched God and saw answers to prayer. God worked miracles and provided in our home so many times that I never doubted that He was real.

When I was seven years old we moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Dad felt a call to help in the church there. To move our furniture, we borrowed an old dump truck, which my dad drove with my brothers, and my mom and we four girls followed in a pick-up truck. The dump truck was open with no covering. It started to get dark and looked like rain was coming, and my mom was concerned about our furniture getting wet and ruined. She told us girls that we needed to pray that it would not rain. I remember seeing the tears stream down her face as she was driv-ing and praying, asking the Lord not to let our furniture get wet. As a young girl, I felt the urgency and cried right along with her. When it started raining, my mom never lost faith and kept on praying. It rained for quite some time, and so hard that my mom could

hardly see to drive, but we continued to pray. When we stopped, my parents were talking and my mom mentioned the rain. My dad said, “What rain?” They were driving right in front of us and not a drop of rain touched the truck that held our furniture! This was just one of many miracles that God performed for us.

Many times while growing up, I remember waking up in the night and hearing my mother pray. I would also get up in the mornings and see my dad praying down beside the couch. I knew they were praying for their children. As I grew older, I watched my older brothers and sisters and noted the mistakes that they made. Two of my older sisters left God out of their lives, making tragic decisions that cost them dearly. I knew I did not want to be like them. I wanted to have a happy Christian home like I had been raised in.

When her faith was tested, she found that God’s love never fails.

By Janelle Parker

MY STORY

OF

© Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com

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I always had a tender conscience and tried to be a good girl because I knew that I wanted to go to Heaven when Jesus returned. However, I could not point back to a time when God forgave me of my sins. When I was thirteen years of age, sitting in a camp meeting in Murphysboro, Illinois, I felt God calling after my heart. I don’t remember anything about the meeting other than the feeling that I needed to pray and ask God for forgiveness. I remember crying and feeling the peace of God wash over me; I knew that I had been born again. Understanding that I needed to continue on and pray for sanctification, the next night I went to the altar and asked the Lord to sanctify me, and He did.

Through the rest of camp I prayed, seeking the baptism of the Holy Ghost. About a week after returning home, I was lying in bed dreading the next day because school was going to be starting. I felt a heavy burden that I needed God’s help to be a Christian example at school, so I went to the living room and prayed. As I was praying, His presence became very real. The next thing I remember, I was lying on the floor speaking in a language that I did not understand. The Lord had filled me with the baptism of the Holy Ghost! My mom and dad had come into the living room, and were praying with me, but I did not even know they were in the room. That night, it was just God and me. That experience was what took me through the next four years of school. Without the Holy Spirit, I could not have made it.

Growing up in a small church can be a challenge when it comes time to choose a spouse. There were not any young men in our little church in Fort Smith other than my broth-ers, and I would get discouraged and wonder what God had planned for my life. The devil would come to tempt me and tell me that it was okay to date an unbeliever, but I remem-bered the mistakes my sisters had made. I knew that if I wanted a happy marriage and one centered around God, I could not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. I found out that it pays to wait on God and let Him do the provid-ing because He knows what is best.

One year, God sent a young man from Portland, Oregon, to Midwest camp meeting. One of the things that attracted me to Byron was that he prayed; I realized he was seri-ous about his relationship with God. We both knew that to make marriage work we needed to be in unity about the things of God, and we talked about the many differ-ent aspects of serving the Lord and realized that we were in agreement. We also had the support of our parents, pas-tors, and friends. He moved to Arkansas that winter, and we

were married twenty months later. As we started our mar-ried life, we had a wonderful time serving the Lord together.

I loved children and always wanted to have a family of my own, especially a little girl. We had our little girl fifteen months after we were married, and I thought life could not get any better. I had everything that I had always dreamed of having: a Christian home, a husband who loved me, and a baby girl. My life was fulfilled. We did not have much money, but we had God and that was all that mattered.

A couple weeks after our little girl was born, I realized I had a medical condition. I became very worried and had trouble sleeping at night. The devil would torment me, tell-ing me that I was going to die and asking who would take care of my family. My perfect life seemed to be slipping out of my hands.

One morning after a tormented night, I decided to go to the church and pray. There, I cried out to the Lord, telling Him that I could not live in fear anymore. I dedicated my husband and child to Him, believing that He knew what was best and that if I died, He was more than able to take care of my family without my help. I prayed until I felt a peace and assurance that all was well between me and God, and left the church that day with a confidence that my life was in His hands.

Within a couple of weeks my health condition cleared up, but God knew what was coming my way and I believe He allowed that situation to happen so I would consecrate my child to Him.

A few weeks after that prayer meeting, my husband left the house early one morning to go to work. I woke up a while later thinking that it was strange that our little girl was still sleeping. I did my morning devotions, and while I was praying I started crying but did not understand why. God was preparing me for the events that would happen that day.

After a while, I went to wake up our baby. When I pushed her door open, immediately I sensed that something was wrong. I walked to the bassinet and touched her head. It was cold. Then I picked her up and realized she was dead. I screamed and ran into the living room, and kept running back and forth. I did not know what to do. I could not reach my husband or parents by phone, but I finally called my sister, who lived a few blocks away. While waiting for her to come I went into my bedroom and threw myself across the bed, crying and saying, “Why me?” God’s Spirit spoke very clearly to me and said, “Do not question Me.” Immediately,

race, Grief, MY

STORY OF &G

ratitudeG

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I felt a peace and knew God was in control and everything was in His hands. Somehow, I was able to take a hold of that and realize that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).

It is hard to describe the feeling of hopelessness in knowing I could not help our baby girl. The process of a child dying in the home is lengthy and painful. The police arrived and then called for a detective. There was a long questioning process and checking our home to clear us of any wrongdoing. During this time there was immense grief, but at the same time, a peace that only God can give. Right away the saints of God started arriving at our home and were there to give help and comfort.

For days it seemed like the devil was trying to torment us and make us fearful, but we would plead the Blood of Jesus and the fear would leave. We just kept holding on to the prayers of the saints. The grief was so heavy that it was hard to pray for ourselves, but we could feel the prayers of the saints lifting us up.

There was also guilt involved, and the devil was there to make me feel that her death was my fault, and that it wouldn’t have happened if I had done things differently. But again, faith stepped in and I had to say, “God’s will be done.” Many times we would walk into the house and I would tell my husband, “Get me out of here.” I couldn’t stand to be in the house because the memories and grief would assail me. But I found the saying “Time heals” to be true. Grief still pops its head up at unexpected times, but God continues to give grace and healing.

Later, when I was expecting our second child, I started having terrible pains. At six months along, I thought I was going into early labor. After a restless night filled with pain, my husband took me to the emergency room. The doctors thought I had a case of acute appendicitis, but because of the risk of harming the baby they did not want to perform an appendectomy until they were certain. After several days of tests and continued pain, my appendix ruptured. I was rushed into surgery and was told that because of the rup-ture there was poison in my blood stream, and our baby might suffer brain damage. The pain also caused me to go into early labor, but we called for prayer and I was able to carry her to full term. For three months we dealt with the fact that she might have brain damage, and again we had to put our trust in the Lord and say, “Your will be done.” How thankful we were when she was born perfectly healthy!

A doctor told us that if you lose a child to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, there is a greater chance of it happening again. So when our second daughter was born, I was fear-ful every time I put her down to sleep. When she was about one month old, after she was in bed, I knelt and told the Lord, “I can’t live with this fear anymore. You are going to have to take it away.” Immediately I felt the fear leave and knew that God had answered my prayer. I was able to put

her in God’s hands and trust Him to take care of her. When we had our third daughter, again the devil tried to torment me, but once again I was able to entrust her to the Lord.

While raising our daughters, we saw God answer prayer in many situations. In times of sickness, financial difficul-ties, and important decisions, God was always there to lead us. There was one instance when our youngest daughter was in first grade and had an open sore on her arm. We did not know what it was but really wanted to trust the Lord. Every night my husband and I would go into our daugh-

ter’s room and pray for her heal-ing. One night, we just knew we had to get a hold of God about it. We called out to Him in despera-tion, and the next day the sore was clearly going away. We knew God had answered our prayer.

For thirteen years I suffered with terrible migraine head-aches, each one making it almost impossible for me to function. Over time, they came more often, and eventually I was having a

headache about once a week. I had been prayed for several times about it but had never felt a healing touch.

One night, while visiting my husband’s grandmother, I was stricken with a bad migraine. The pain was so severe that I could not stay in bed, so I went quietly into the living room and cried out to the Lord once again for healing. Immediately I felt God’s presence and knew that He had touched me. From that day forward, I have not suffered another such headache.

During our daughters’ school years we made several church-related moves. God always provided a job for my husband and good schools for our daughters to attend. He proved over and over that if we would seek first His king-dom, He would supply our needs.

Now I have had over thirty-five years to prove God. Have there been hard times? Yes, there have been. But we have experienced more joy than we ever thought possible. Any blessings I have came from God. I once told my husband’s grandmother that I was lucky because God had given me the desires of my heart. She told me that I was not lucky, but blessed, and she was right. Luck does not come from God, but joy and blessings do. Since I started my Christian walk I have never wanted to turn back or look for an easier way. I know that if I keep my hand in God’s, He will continue to lead and guide me on my Christian journey.

Janelle Parker is a member of the Apostolic Faith Church in Los Angeles, California, where her husband is the pastor.

We dealt with the fact that she might have

brain damage, and again we had to put our trust

in the Lord and say, “Your will be done.”

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DAY TO DAY

Doing “Whatsoever”A challenge to perform the fun and the not-so-fun as unto God.

By Karen Barrett

R ecently, I came across a refer-ence to a familiar verse in the Book of Ecclesiastes: “Whatso-

ever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Immediately my mind went to my father. If you were acquainted with Bob Green, you know he was a hard worker.

When I was ten years old, Dad went to work fulltime for the church in the maintenance department. However, even before he was on the church payroll, he was always occupied with jobs that came his way—both in the work of the Lord and in helping indi-viduals who had problems that a good mechanic could assist with. Did your

furnace go out? Bob Green was the

man to call.

Your car isn’t running right? Ask Bob to take a look at it; he’d probably be able to figure out the problem. Water heater leaking? Need input on an air-conditioning system? Is there new duct work to be installed, or some electrical work to be done in your branch church? It seemed there were always needs, but I never remember Dad showing the slightest hesitation in undertaking a task.

In the Ecclesiastes verse, Solo-mon instructed his hearers to work industriously because once a person passes from this earth there will be no more opportunity to do so. A similar instruction is found in the New Tes-tament, in Paul’s words to the Colos-sians: “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Colossians 3:23).

Notice that both the Old and New Testament

admonitions use the word “Whatso-ever. . . . ” I am struck by the fact that this word is absolutely inclusive. While we are still young, we figure out that some tasks we have to do are enjoy-able and others are . . . well, less enjoy-able! As a school-age child, I liked to “surprise” my folks by making them breakfast. (Actually, it probably wasn’t much of a surprise, because I suspect there was a fair amount of clanging and banging that went on as I pulled out a bowl to mix biscuits, a knife to cut the grapefruit, and a pan to fry bacon.) However, I was not nearly as enamored about cleaning up the kitchen after completing a breakfast-making project. When my grand-mother was staying with us, she would always offer to do the dishes because she said the dishwater warmed up her hands. And I was always more than happy to let her!

As an adult, there are still jobs that come my way which I enjoy doing, and others that are less attractive. No

doubt that is true for all of us. Could Solomon really have meant tasks that are mundane or repetitive? Does “whatsoever” encompass the unexciting, or the jobs that inter-

rupt our pre-planned schedule? I think it does, and I believe the clue to how to keep a positive attitude is found in the Colossians verse. What a difference it makes when we consider “whatsoever” we do as an act of service to the Lord! Suddenly, the ordinary takes on a bit of a shine, the mundane becomes purposeful, and the optional becomes enriching.

As I continued to ponder this, I thought about the types of tasks that might be included in the phrase “Whatsoever thy hand findeth . . .”

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Most commentators agree that the word “findeth” references tasks that are obvious and close at hand. They suggest that we do not need to look for some grandiose task or important ministry to do for God. Perhaps God’s plan is for us to speak to the children on our street rather than to address the teeming millions in China.

However, I wonder if “Whatsoever thy hand findeth…” doesn’t also include assignments that we were not looking for—perhaps they found us, rather than us finding them! I believe God purposefully places opportuni-ties for service in our lives, but those opportunities might not always be ones we would have chosen for ourselves. We may feel that we are not sufficiently qualified to undertake them. In fact, we may feel that surely God must have made a mistake! The One who knows us so well must real-ize that we could never get up and speak in front of that big group of people . . . or teach a class of energetic high-schoolers . . . or give our testi-mony at a mission meeting . . . or . . . . Still, we get back to that word “what-soever.” Sometimes God gives us tasks to do for Him that we don’t feel really align with our natural inclinations or abilities.

When we look at the people in the Bible who were called to work for God, we may have a tendency to think that they were kind of spiritual super-heroes. We assume that the prophets and apostles were supremely talented, amazingly accomplished individu-als, so naturally God could use them! However, when we study their lives, we find they were much like us. They were ordinary! Yet we repeatedly see in Scripture how God used “ordinary people” in extraordinary ways. That should be an encouragement to us when we find ourselves hesitant to undertake a task that seems beyond our abilities.

A preacher in our organization years ago used to say, “God’s call-ings are His enablings.” We can find

plenty of support for that statement in Scripture. When we say, “That’s impossible,” God’s Word says, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). When we think, “I can’t do it,” we can remember Paul’s statement, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). When we conclude, “It’s just not in me,” God says, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made per-fect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

My dad was never one to seek the limelight, and I am quite sure that he was far more comfortable dealing with projects than with people. How-ever, the work God gave him to do was not limited to mechanical chal-lenges. For years, he and my mom carried on a ministry among the sea-faring men who visited our city. Not only were these men strangers to my dad, but they often spoke and under-stood only limited English and came from entirely different cultural back-grounds than his.

Was it easy for Dad to step out of his comfort zone and labor in this way? I suspect it might not have been, at least at first. But he did it as unto the

Lord, and I know that God gave him a real love for this outreach. Dad not only visited hundreds of ships over the years to invite men to church, but he also invited them to our home, on pic-nics, and on countless outings around the local area. In time, my folks had “sons” around the world who looked to them as spiritual parents in the faith.

Finally, I thought about the verb “do” which appears in both the Eccle-siastes and Colossians verses. “Do” indicates action! Let’s be careful not to waste our allotted time here on earth. We want to be sure that we do not go through life spending the greatest part of our time and energy on what we want, or what interests us. Those aspects of life are fine in their place, but may God give us a vision of the work to be done for Him! May we find it in our hearts not to procrasti-nate, not to wait for a better time, not to expend just a minimum amount of effort, or to engage only in what is convenient. Rather, let us do “whatso-ever” we can in the service of the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—making each task a true work of the heart!

God knows each of us individually, even better than we know ourselves. He knows what calling we are best suited to do. We may not be called to preach like Paul the Apostle, but we all have a role to fill in the Gospel. Time is short, and we need to serve God the best we can while we have the opportunity.

Dad was one of many who have lived by the perspective that every act of service on this earth is an act of service unto God, and that can be our way of living as well. Let’s make sure that we apply ourselves wholeheart-edly to every opportunity God gives us, whether large or small. We want to live and work with eternity in view!

Karen Barrett is Office Manager at the Apostolic Faith Church World Headquarters in Portland, Oregon.

We repeatedly see in Scripture

how God used “ordinary people” in extraordinary ways.

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God’sRequirements

LIFE IS FULL of requirements. They are essential for safety, for travel, for our professions, for most all that we do. Out of interest, I looked at the website of the United States Navy SEALS. The listed requirements to be admitted as a candidate includes eyesight that can be corrected to 20/20, the ability do fifty sit-ups in two minutes, to swim five hundred yards in less than twelve-and-a-half minutes using the sidestroke, complete forty-two pushups in two minutes, and so forth. The site concludes, “The Navy SEAL train-ing program will stress you beyond your limits to make sure you’re worthy to serve with the world’s best fighting force. Be prepared, stay focused, make mature choices, and understand what you are volunteering for. Check out the complete Navy SEAL Training Program to see if you have what it takes to be a SEAL.”

Requirements such as these are meant to exclude, to weed people out. God also has requirements, but they are meant to include everyone. They are simple, for the Gospel is not complicated. Micah 6:8 says, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

The prophet Micah lived when the nations of Israel and Judah experienced a time of affluence. The Jewish people had let this prosperity get into their hearts, and they had withdrawn from the love of God. In mercy, God sent Micah to warn them. It was not as if these people did not know about God or His requirements. The prophet told them that God had showed them what was good and what He expected.

God has shown us also. The admonition through the prophet was to “do justly.” We cannot do justly until the Just One is living in our hearts. In order to truly love, appreci-ate, and follow the Word of God we must be saved from our lives of sin and have Jesus reigning in our hearts.

Continuing further, he said, “Love mercy.” The message was not to show mercy or to have mercy, but to love it.

Mercy can be shown out of compulsion, but if we want the Word of God to have free course among us, we need to love mercy. We need to forgive one another.

Then he concluded, “Walk humbly with thy God.” If we do not learn humility, we will learn humiliation. Pride causes people to make decisions independent of God—decisions about careers, whom to marry, where to go, and what to do. The Bible says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. If we want to stand as Christians, we must humble ourselves and keep under His mighty arm.

We know what God requires of us. We want to be willing and faithful to do it. — Olusola Adesope

ALL OF US have had notable days in our lives, and most of those days involved some planning. Recently in the United Kingdom, great plans and preparations were made for the diamond jubilee celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. There were thousands of street parties and motor boat parades on the River Thames. Two days of public holiday were granted for the four-day celebration. On Sunday, June 3, thousands lined up on either side of the Thames to watch the boat parade led by the queen and her family members. Then, just before the parade was to begin, there was suddenly a heavy downpour of rain, and many felt disappointed. However, in spite of the inclement weather, it was a notable day.

Today can be a notable day on your calendar, and one without disappointment. God’s Word says, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). God has given promises, and we can trust Him to perform them. This can be the day you have been waiting for. It can be the day of an encounter with God, a day of a new testimony because Jesus touched you. God will give salvation; He will give sanctification; He will give the baptism of the Holy Ghost; He will give healings and answers to our problems. We can stand on the Word of God and be sure that it will come to pass.

Sermon ExcerptsFrom Camp Meeting 2012

A NotableDay

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We are the ones who make a day spiritually significant. On Sunday, December 1, 1974, a group of people from the Apostolic Faith Church in Nigeria came to my college and preached the Word of God. It was the first time they had come to that college, and I did not know if they would ever return. I decided that would be my day. When I went on my knees and confessed my sins to the Lord, Heaven fell upon my heart and I received salvation. The Spirit of God came upon my soul and made it clear to me that my sins were gone. It was a notable day!

When God’s Spirit speaks to our souls, it is in a language we can understand, and we want to be careful not to harden our hearts. It is a trick of the enemy to tell us to wait. It is important to respond to God today. There is no assurance of tomorrow; it may be too late.

This day can be significant for you, a day you will never forget. God wants to bless you with true happiness and joy. God is ready to answer prayer for anyone who will earnestly reach out to Him. Why not open your soul to Him and let this be your notable day? — Isaac Adigun

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT of yourself as being a stranger and a pilgrim? A stranger is someone who is away from his own country and temporarily in a foreign land. A pilgrim is a traveler who does not intend to take up resi-dency where he sojourns. God’s people are strangers and pilgrims. Hebrews 11:13 says, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

Though I was born in Romania, I am privileged to live in the United States of America, and am blessed to have become a citizen. I love this country. But as Christians, we are strangers on the earth; this is not our land. We are pil-grims and are traveling. Our home is in Heaven. Conse-quently, we do not always fit in with the people around us.

About twenty-six years ago, my family emigrated from Romania to the United States. At the time, I did not speak English, and I did not fit in, although I desperately wanted to look American, sound American, and act American. On my first day of public school, I was a stranger and alone. One young boy seemed to be friendly. He spent time with me and taught me a new sentence. He prompted me to say it, and every time I did, he would laugh so I would too. I thought we were having a good time. It climaxed on the school bus as we were going home. He got everyone to be quiet and then prompted me. He had taught me to say, “Me no speak English.” The others on the bus laughed, and I laughed with them. It wasn’t until later that I learned they weren’t laughing with me, but they were laughing at me. I was a stranger and didn’t fit in.

If we have been born again, we will not fit in with those around us who do not serve Christ. Be careful if you fit in too well! The devil will come and try to seem like a friend. He will laugh with us if he can, but all the time he wants to make a mockery of our lives. He is not a friend; he is God’s enemy and ours. We worship God and stand for truth. Therefore, we walk as strangers and pilgrims on this earth, and people will notice that there is a difference. May God help us to honor Him and live in a way that is pleas-ing to Him, remembering that Heaven is our eternal home. — John Baros

IF WE COME TO GOD with a purpose to worship Him, He will hear our prayers. This is illustrated by the account of Philip witnessing to the eunuch. Acts 8:27-28 says, “Behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great author-ity under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.” Although we do not know a lot about this eunuch, we do know he had great authority and much financial power. More importantly, however, we know he

Purpose toWorship

Do You Fit In?

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had a desire in his heart to go to Jerusalem to worship God. What he found when he arrived there is unknown, but on his way home he was still searching.

The eunuch was reading from the Book of Isaiah, and it is interesting to consider what he might have read. If he started at the beginning, he learned about a God that is reasonable: “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18). On into what is now the sixth chapter, the prophet told about his own vision of God, of seeing the seraphims worshipping God and saying, “Holy, holy, holy.” Isaiah rec-ognized his own need before God, and he had an experi-ence that changed his life.

Chapter 7 speaks of a virgin who would bear a son called Emmanuel, and chapter 9 speaks about the “Wonder-ful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). When Philip arrived, the eunuch was at Isaiah 53:7, “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” This prophetic passage spoke of Jesus, the Son of God, and Philip took the opportunity to tell the eunuch the way of salvation.

The eunuch embarked on a journey with a purpose to worship God. He wanted to get close to God, and he was marvelously rewarded. When the Spirit caught Philip away, the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. Why? Because he finally had found the answer to what he had traveled so far to find. He had found the Lord that the Scriptures were speaking about.

If we come to God with the purpose to worship Him, we too will be rewarded. We must focus in on Him and expect to receive, knowing that He wants to work in our lives. Just consider what He did for the eunuch! — Byron Parker

JESUS CHRIST ACCOMPLISHED many things when He died on the Cross and then rose again. He gave His life so that we can be born again and have a hope of Heaven. He

suffered so that we can be sanctified holy. Through His death, Jesus also gave us access to God. “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” (Matthew 27:50-51).

Under the Law, the High Priest went once each year into the Holy of Holies of the Temple. It was a very sacred place, and he was careful to follow specific instructions. An animal was sacrificed for himself and another was slain for the Children of Israel. He took that blood and put in on the Mercy Seat and sprinkled it seven times before the Mercy Seat. The priest accessed God there.

Today the Holy of Holies still exists, and the Mercy Seat is yet available. When Jesus died, the veil was torn, showing that access to God was open to any who would avail them-selves of the opportunity.

We have access, but we do not just go marching in. We must enter with the precious Blood of Christ on our hearts; He made it possible. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22). What was hidden behind the veil is now open and accessible to all.

Recently as we were praying after a service, my prayer was, “Lord, come near. Come visit us.” The Lord spoke to my heart, “Andy, I am always here.” Oh yes, God is near!

Some years ago at our church in Roseburg, the prayer meeting after the service seemed to be ending. Then a young mother came from the back nursery. She knelt at the altar bench, and it was obvious that she needed something from God. We all began to pray for her. As I prayed, I began to lay my own burdens down before God. I prayed for my children, for my dad, about a work situation. As we laid our matters out before God, He filled that place with His glory. I have never felt so much like the Lord was standing right before us. My head was down on the prayer bench, and I was afraid to lift my eyes, that my mortal body wouldn’t be able to take it. It was as if the Lord said, “What do you need? What is it you want?” I couldn’t ask for a single thing. All those things had been given to God to get me to that place. My only request was, “Just don’t go away. Just stay with us.”

Access to God is available. Let’s take advantage of it. — Andy Chasteen

We HaveAccess!

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FIRST OF ALL, I give thanks to God for sparing my life. When I was a boy I had a deathly sickness and the doctors gave up on me. My father is a pastor, and he had to do a tour of the churches at that time. The doctors told him not to go on that tour because I was going to die, so he had to decide if he was going to do the work of God or stay with me. He decided to follow God. He told the brothers at the church that if I died, they should bury me, but he had to do the job that God had given him. At every church that he went to doing his work, they prayed for me. Every time he called to ask about me, the doctors told him to come back because I was going to die, but he continued doing what he was doing. After three weeks, when he finished that tour, he called the doctor, and was told, “Your boy is better. He is completely well!”

When I was sixteen years old I met the Lord and He changed my life. That night when He came into my life, He gave me a beautiful dream: I was in the United States in a church just like this and I was thirty years old. I asked my mom, “Why did I have this dream?” My mom told me that in the United States there is an Apostolic Faith Church. In February of this year I turned thirty, and now here I am. I can say that God is true, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen. — Octavio Gonzalez Valenzuela (Chimbarongo, Chile)

THANK GOD THAT while I was a sinner, He sought me and brought me into the Gospel. My own conversion story is a bit different from others. When I was in high school, I was walk-ing along the street and saw the back cover of the Light of Hope magazine printed by the Apostolic Faith. It was only the last page, but I cut out the coupon for requesting to be placed on

EVIDENCEthe mailing list, filled in my address, and mailed it to the Portland, Oregon, headquarters. They introduced me to the Apostolic Faith Church in Ibadan, Nigeria. When I got to that church and saw the people and felt God’s Spirit, it appealed to me. I give glory to God that on a Sunday in Septem-ber of 1979, the Lord saved my soul. After that He sanctified me and filled me with the Holy Ghost.

From that time on, I cannot tell all that the Lord has done for me. When I was in secondary school, in high school, and in the university, He saw me through. Just last year, I had a ter-rible sickness and God healed me. My wife was also afflicted with sickness. For almost four months, the people of God prayed, and God healed her. That is the power of God! I give glory to His holy Name. — Babalola Akerije (Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria)

WHEN I WAS EIGHTEEN years old, the Lord found me on a country road and let me know that if I were to wreck my little truck that day, I would go straight to Hell. I am glad that I made the choice to go to special meetings that year, where the Lord wonderfully saved me.

My blessings did not end there; they keep coming. Just six weeks ago I started having some really serious health problems. Several thoughts ran through my mind about what could be going on. I told my husband that we needed to pray because I was feeling so horrible. We decided it must have been stress, so I came to camp a few days early. I thought the stress would melt away because I was at camp meeting, but initially it got worse. I asked several people to pray that the Lord would touch me because I was in so much pain. You know, He won-derfully came down and touched my

body! I am so thankful that no matter what comes our way, when we cry out to Jesus, He is there for us. — Heidi Sletmoe (Grants Pass, Oregon)

I THANK THE LORD that I have the privilege to attend the 2012 camp meeting. First of all, I am so thankful that God saved my soul. When I was young, a man gave me an Apostolic Faith tract. As I was reading it, God talked to my heart and showed me that I needed to be saved. Shortly afterward I was invited to a church service and there I met missionary Harold Bar-rett. After the sermon, I went to the altar and I prayed, repenting of all my sins. I asked God to save my soul and He wonderfully delivered me from all sins. After three months I was sancti-fied and baptized with the Holy Ghost. I thank God for what He has done for me. I love each one of you, and my heart is very happy. God always leads me. For almost thirty years He has given me a victorious life and guided me, and I thank Him. — Ik Jin Choi (Taegu, South Korea)

MY PARENTS really loved God and told us the way to go. When I was ten years old, I gave my heart to Jesus. I can never forget that day. I felt like I was flying like a bird, because the burden of sin was taken away. The Lord has been with me for forty-eight years since then.

When I was growing up, I saw many miracles in my family and I learned to trust the Lord. One thing my parents taught me was to seek God’s direction. We did that when we moved from Finland to Norway over thirty years ago. For one year we prayed, and on the day we made the decision to move to Norway, I went to my boss at the

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PERSONAL TESTIMONIES OF THE POWER OF GOD

university where I was working and quit. We moved to Norway without knowing what the future might be, but the Lord provided work in my spe-cialty field in a miraculous way, and I have been working for that company ever since.

About six years ago while on a busi-ness trip, I was close to death with a heart problem, but the Lord spared my life. I have been in and out of the hos-pital a couple of times since then. One month before we came to camp meet-ing, I was in the hospital again. But I thank God that He was there, and today I am here. When it is the Lord’s time, I want to be ready.

I know that God is my Savior and my Healer. He helps me with every-thing, and I want to be a light so that my children will want to know the Lord because of my example. The Lord is faithful to do more than I ever ask Him. I thank Him with my whole heart that He is the good Lord. He is really wonderful to serve, and He lifts my spirits. Even though my heart is physically heavy and afflicted, it can be light in the sight of the Lord. The Lord is good and I love Him. — Keijo Kinnari (Royneberg, Norway)

EARLIER IN THIS SERVICE we sang a song that said, “I never will forget how the fire fell when the Lord sancti-fied me.” That song is so special to me because as a teenager I always won-dered how I would know when I was sanctified. I didn’t really understand that experience and it was always a question to me. One time I thought I was sanctified and claimed it, but I struggled with believing I had truly received it. The prayer of my heart became, “Lord, I want that fire to fall so I don’t ever have to doubt that expe-rience.” I wanted there to be a differ-ence in me.

One camp meeting, on the middle Friday, the whole thing just came to a breaking point. I had made many consecrations but there was one that just kept coming up. I thought, “Okay Lord, that is Yours.” Then it would come up again, and after a while I said, “Lord, have I not given that to You? Why does that keep coming up?” In the prayer meeting that day I gave it to the Lord as best I knew how, and then the Lord sanctified me. The fire fell, and it felt like waves of glory going through me! It was just amazing and I knew it was my sanctification. Then the very next moment the Lord asked for that one consecration again and it was like night and day: I did not want to have anything to do with that any-more! God showed me, “That is what I did for you—I sanctified you.” I am so thankful for what He has done. Later He filled me with His Holy Spirit, and He continues to lead me and help me grow. — Deborah Brenner (Portland, Oregon)

SOMETHING SPECIAL happened to me this morning: God saved me. And what a feeling it is! I have never expe-rienced anything like this before. My trip here from Hawaii was worth it! I thank God so much. I thank His Son for dying for me. But I’m going to get more. I love you from the bottom of my heart. I love you, God. [Testimony on 7/3/2012]

I’d just like to say the Lord has been so good to me. He blessed me, and I just got my sanctification. It’s a beau-tiful experience, and I’m never going to forget it. It’s going to stay with me the rest of my life. I hope I can come back [to camp meeting] again. I want to thank all the saints who have been praying for me and my wife. It’s incredible; I’m just overjoyed! I am just saying I love all of you, I love this

church, and I’m glad I came here. [Tes-timony on 7/6/2012]

God blessed me with salvation, gave me sanctification, and blessed me with the Holy Spirit. I am so thankful that when I came here He blessed me with all these good gifts. I will never leave Him. Now I will stay on the right path because I have the family of God. [Tes-timony on 7/10/2012] — Al Sifagaloa (Honolulu, Hawaii)

GOD IS SO AMAZING and wonder-ful; He deserves thanks and glory. When I was eleven years old, God saved me during a revival service in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, where I live. Later, I went to a youth meeting in Brooklyn, New York, and was sancti-fied. Then I began seeking for the bap-tism of the Holy Ghost. When I did not get through for a time, I stopped seeking, but became very frustrated with myself for not continuing to push ahead and seek for God’s graces.

Since coming here to the camp meeting, I have been seeking ear-nestly for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I said to myself that I could not do anything else until I got what I came here for. I went to the prayer room this afternoon, and God came down and wonderfully baptized me with His Holy Spirit. I want to give Him the glory and honor because He is so wonderful to me. Praise God! — Kristol Penn (Tortola, USVI)

THANKS TO THE LORD for what He has done for me. I am so grateful that God is in control, and He is worthy to be praised. God came into my heart and saved me just before I became a teenager. I had a rebellious heart, but He had the perfect timing to draw me to Himself and save me. He also

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WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

Acknowledge “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13).

Confess “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Repent “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all like-wise perish” (Luke 13:3). “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).

Forsake “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him . . . for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).

Believe “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begot-ten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

If you are a new Christian, write us and request the tract entitled, “Start-ing Out.”

www.apostolicfaith.org

sanctified me and filled me with power of the Holy Ghost.

God has been so good to me through my life. He has helped me through trials, temptations, and through my schooling. He has blessed me with my marriage to a good husband, and we have a wonderful son. The Lord has given me a job that I have had since I was seventeen years old, and He has helped me at work. I just want to praise Him and to serve Him with all of my heart. — Daniella Mocan (Sacramento, California)

I THANK GOD for His love and His mercy, and for the experiences of salvation and sanctification and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I had a struggle between receiving my salva-tion and sanctification, but in 1965 in the Brooklyn, New York church we had month of prayer in February. I went before the Lord all that month, but I did not receive what I was seek-ing. I was discouraged, but I did not give up. I kept on seeking God because I meant business. A week after that month of February ended, I received my sanctification and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Lord taught me that it pays to wait on Him. I have taken that concept through life and the Lord has blessed me. I just thank God and praise Him. — Monica Anthony (Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI)

THIRTY-NINE YEARS AGO on September 14, 1973, God connected me to this Gospel. The devil told me, “Get out of this place. These people are trying to hypnotize you,” but God humbled my heart. I prayed and Jesus saved me. It was a wonderful day! The joy of Heaven flooded my soul. My environment changed, my aspirations changed, and I knew this was the place

for me to be. I prayed and God sancti-fied me. A few days after, He filled me with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

It has been a wonderful time work-ing with Jesus Christ. He has healed me of diverse sicknesses. At one point in time the devil told me, “You are going to die,” but I said, “My Redeemer liveth,” and God came down and healed me completely. A few years later God called me into fulltime work for Him, but the devil told me, “You are going to be a poor person.” Well, I have found that it pays to serve Jesus.

Thank God for the privilege He has given me to be here at the camp meet-ing in Portland for the first time. It has been wonderful. I feel the power and presence of God here. I believe it is a foretaste of Heaven. By the grace of God, I want to walk with Him all the way and make Heaven my home. — Edet Bassey (Ikot Ekpene, Nigeria)

WHEN JESUS brought me into this Gospel and took my sins away, I was just a schoolgirl. I had not been raised in a Christian home, but I met people from this church who told me about salvation. I told God that if He would

save me I would give Him the rest of my life, and Jesus saved me! I was so excited about salvation that when I got back home (I attended high school away from home), I started telling my dad, “You have to experience this sal-vation!” My dad thought I was crazy and didn’t want anything to do with it, so I began praying for my father’s salvation.

I am grateful that we serve a God who answers our prayers. Fourteen years after I started praying for my dad, he gave his life to God and came into this Gospel. God not only saved him, but He sanctified him and filled him with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Then I started praying for my sib-lings. After about forty years, last year one of my sisters called me and said, “I am ready to come to your church,” and God saved her soul. At the begin-ning of this year, God brought another sister of mine to Himself.

I am so grateful for the power in the Blood of Jesus! It does not matter how long we have been praying. God answers prayers; He hears the call of His people. I am just so grateful to be a part of this Gospel, and I thank God for all He has done for me. — Antonia Schleicher (Madison, Wisconsin)

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In the Virgin Islands where I live, there is a sign emblazoned on the wall at the station where we go to

pay our telephone bill. It says, “If the path you are on has no obstacles, it probably leads nowhere.” There are some things you see in life that remain with you, and that is one message that has stuck with me.

Today I want to speak to you about nothing, something, and all things. The shortest and quickest journey anyone can take is to go nowhere by doing nothing. If we have a life with no obsta-cles, we probably are where the devil wants us to be. This path of the Gospel will have obstacles, but our goal is worth it! It is worth pressing through any challenges to reach that goal. We are encouraged by Philippians 4:13, which says, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.”

Nothing is dangerous. It might seem that you are harm-less if you do nothing. However, doing nothing harms your eternal soul because it means you have no spiritual accomplishments. There is no progress. You cannot build physical muscle if you do not do an activity which exercises that muscle, and that is also true in the spiritual realm. You will build no strength spiritually if you do nothing in the Gospel. You will have no stamina to persevere or endure.

You will not have what it takes to win the battle.

We heard a wonderful teaching during this camp meeting on overcom-ing and obtaining victory. However, we were not told that we could do noth-ing and still obtain victory. There is a mindset that says, “If I do nothing wrong, I will make it to Heaven.” How-ever, to make it to Heaven, we must do something right! If we remain in a state

of doing nothing throughout our lives, at our funeral they will have to say, “This one did nothing to benefit the King-dom of Heaven. He did nothing that led to eternal life with Jesus. He did nothing to live a clean life. He did nothing to help others. He did nothing to promote the Gospel.” Noth-ing is dangerous!

In Luke chapter 18 we find the account of a rich young ruler who came to ask Jesus what he needed to do in order to obtain eternal life. Jesus responded by giving him some-thing to do. Now, something is a neutral word; it can be good or it can be bad. The something we must do to obtain eter-nal life will be good. It will lead to a holy life. It will be righ-teous. Jesus told the young ruler, in effect, “Go and sell all that you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. And one more thing: come and follow Me.” This is

There is only one way to triumph

spiritually, and that is to do the right thing!

From a sermon by Michael Anthony

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an active Gospel. We cannot follow Jesus by doing nothing. If our goal is to get nowhere, we can achieve that by doing nothing. But if we want to make Heaven our home, we must do something. The rich young ruler went away from Jesus sorrowful because he did nothing about what Jesus told him to do.

One time at a funeral back home, the preacher said that there are a few good things in Hell. For one thing, those in Hell will have a good memory. They will think back to all the times they heard the Gospel call and refused to answer. They will remem-ber all the opportunities they had to do something for God but chose to ignore. There will be good sensory perception in Hell—those who are there experience terrible thirst and will feel the flames, yet they will not be consumed. The people in Hell will have good understanding. They will fully grasp that they are hopeless—that they will never get out of that terrible place. There will be a lot of good wishes in Hell. How those who are suffering in the flames will wish for freedom from torment! But one cannot get out of Hell. The abode of the wicked is just as eternal as Heaven is. We want to do whatever is necessary to avoid Hell and make it to Heaven.

To live lives that are acceptable to God, we must do something. We heard in a Bible teaching that Israel was instructed by God to keep His commandments. We must do the same. We must do what God commands us to do, and His instructions to us are found in the Word of God.

The founding fathers of this country had to do some-thing to obtain their goal of freedom to worship God. They had to fight the war of independence, but they were willing to step out and do that. We are the beneficiaries of what they did. Two and a quarter centuries later, we are free to worship the Lord because of the action they took. So when we do something for God, many times it is not only for ourselves but also for the generations coming after us. We must understand that to do nothing is not an option. We must do something in order to carry the Gospel forward.

One of the things we are instructed to do is to forget cer-tain things. Paul said, “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippi-ans 3:13-14). That is an action statement. In effect, Paul was saying, “I am going to do something. I am going to forget the past and press forward to my goal.” When we do some-thing, our minds determine our goal and then our actions follow through.

In another instance, Jesus instructed a father who had brought his son to the disciples. An evil spirit had been tearing the lad and throwing him into the fire, and he was foaming at the mouth. The disciples were not able to cast out the evil spirit, but Jesus came and told the father, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). We must believe if we are to receive from God. Faith is something that is necessary. When we

take hold of Jesus’ words and step out in faith, we get the blessing that we cannot obtain if we do nothing.

When we desire an answer to prayer, we need to take the correct actions to achieve it. Everything worth having is worth striving for. We must repent and believe to receive our soul’s salvation. We must consecrate and dedicate our-selves to God to receive our sanctifica-

tion. We must travail in prayer for the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. Those experiences do not come by doing nothing. Nothing leads us to nowhere—nowhere in the physical realm and nowhere in the spiritual realm. If we want to get somewhere with God, we must do something.

Do not wait for another time. This is your opportunity! If we do what God has said, He will give us all things that we need spiritually. Praise God, “All things are possible to him that believeth.” When we get down before God, we should remember that He is a Strength-Giver. He is a Healer. He is a Deliverer. He is a Peace-Giver. He is a Joy-Restorer. He is the One who brings broken relationships back together. He is the One who restores the son and daughter to their father and mother. He is the One who saves marriages. He is the One who gives direction. When it seems like there is no way to go, He is the One who will make a way. With God all things are possible!

If we have the fire of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, doing nothing should simply be impossible. Jeremiah tried to do nothing, and he said it was like a fire shut up in his bones. Sometimes the challenges that face us are difficult, but when the battle is over, we shall wear a crown.

To wear that crown we have to turn away from doing nothing and do something—the right thing. Believe the Lord today and get to a state where you can say with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Michael Anthony is District Superintendent for the Apos-tolic Faith work in the Eastern Caribbean, and pastor of the church in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI.

This path of the Gospel will have

obstacles, but our goal is worth it!

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Philip Inyang, father of the author of this testimony, was born in Ikot Enwang, Nigeria. According to the custom of the area, his parents offered sacrifices on his behalf to protect his life, because he was an only child. However, after attending Sunday school in one of the churches nearby and learning that God was the only One who had the power to pro-tect, he refused further sacrifices on his behalf. To the surprise of his parents, he soon began to enjoy perfect health.

One day in 1935, Philip received an Apostolic Faith tract titled, How to Become a Disciple of Jesus Christ. Though he did not read the tract right away, after he finally read it for the first time, he read it again and again, sometimes in tears. He was dissatisfied with the church he attended and finally decided to start a separate fellowship. In 1940, he constructed a small house for prayer. He wrote to the Apostolic Faith Headquarters, and in 1951, Reverend Timothy Oshokoya of Lagos, Nigeria, visited Philip and invited him to the 1951 camp meeting in Lagos.

In later years, Philip testified about his first prayer service in Lagos: “I pretended to be praying and stayed very long at the altar of prayer. I was the last person to leave. A brother came to me and asked

how it was with me. I told him that he saw that I left the altar bench last, and that should prove to anyone that I was saved. I thank God that this brother did not leave me. It was the second day that I sincerely prayed and God forgave me of my sins. Soon after that, God sancti-fied me and gave me the baptism of the Holy Spirit.”

Philip Inyang served the Lord faith-fully from that day forward. He was determined to teach the Bible doctrines as upheld by the Apostolic Faith organi-zation, and to instruct his own family in the truth. Over the years until his death, he was instrumental in establish-ing branch churches in many areas of Nigeria, and eventually became the Overseer of the Apostolic Faith work in Eastern Nigeria.

His son, Samuel, visited the Portland camp meeting in 2011. In the following testimony, Samuel tells of the tremen-dous impact his father’s godly life had upon him.

God gave me the great privilege of being born into a godly home. My father was a com-

mitted Christian before I was born, and the leader of the Apostolic Faith work in the eastern part of Nigeria

and Cameroon. He taught my siblings and me how to pray, how to trust in God, how to read the Bible, and he taught us godly virtues. In my early years I did not take these teachings seriously, but instead just considered them a normal way of life.

On my birthday when I was twelve years old, I was angry with a member of our household and caused her to be punished. When my father learned about this, he disciplined me, and then explained that God has an even greater punishment for people who disobey Him. He said that the only way to escape God’s punishment was to be saved from sin. A man from a neighboring town was meeting with my father that day, and my father had the three of us go to the altar of prayer at the church. He said this must be the day of my salvation. I knelt and pretended to be praying, thinking my father would soon leave me alone, but he did not. When I became hungry, I decided to look for a way to sneak out. As I lifted my face, my father was praying with tears, and the other brother was also. Their tears touched my heart and it melted. I said, “Lord, if this salvation they are talking about is true, and You can change somebody’s

Finding My Father’s GodCareful instructions and prayer led Samuel to salvation when he was just a child.

By Samuel Inyang

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life, and You can save today, let it be my day of salvation.” That day, Jesus came and washed my sins away. Oh, I cannot explain the joy I had in my heart. Immediately, I rushed to my mother and confessed that I had been telling her lies. I found the member of our household who had been pun-ished and begged for forgiveness.

When I thanked my father for what he had done, he said, “That is just the beginning. If you will humble your-self and pray, the Lord will sanctify your soul.” My concern was that the joy of salvation might diminish if I prayed for sanctification. My father said, “No, sanctification will make the joy to be greater.” I believed him and quickly went to prayer saying, “Lord, I understand there is sanctification. As You saved my soul, also sanctify me.” It was not long before Jesus applied His Blood the second time and sanc-tified me. I was very happy.

At school the next day I told my teacher, “Sir, kindly forgive me. I have been gossiping about you and also did things that the school authorities forbid. God was not happy with me, but He has saved my soul. So I want you to forgive me also.” The teacher embraced me and said he had never seen such a thing before. He asked about the church, and I invited him. That Sunday he came, and before long the Lord saved his soul, and he became a worker in the church until his death.

Soon I began seeking God for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. One Sunday as I was praying that the Lord would heal my Sunday school teacher who was sick, the Holy Ghost came upon me and I began speaking in another language. I was a little con-cerned, wondering if this was truly the experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, so I told my father about it. He suggested that I could go back to God and ask Him to confirm that experience. I rushed back to the altar and my father came with me. Even before I asked God to confirm the gift He gave me, I began speaking in another language again. It was the experience of the baptism.

From that time God helped me to live for Him in a fuller way. He

prompted me to invite my peers to Sunday school, and many of them came. Parents also sent their children to church because they saw Chris-tian qualities manifested in my life. Thanks to God, many of those people are now workers in this church.

Not long after that my father was called to Heaven. In the last Bible dis-cussion we had, he told me he was not sure if he would survive, but that I should always keep Psalm 37:25-26 as

my pilot verses. “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.”

As the eldest of my parents’ six sur-viving children, I have had to pray those verses and ask God to provide, but He always has. When my father passed away, I did not know if I would be able to finish Primary school, yet God made a way and also took me through Secondary school. Then I began working in government ser-vices, and the government of our state sent me to a university.

God has been faithful to give me direction in life. At one time, a lec-turer at the university arranged all the paperwork to take me to America, where I thought that life was very comfortable. We were at the airport and our luggage had been checked in when there was an attempted coup

in Nigeria. Immediately, the airports, seaports, and all borders were closed, so our luggage was brought back to us. The lecturer said to me, “We will wait awhile, and when this situation is over, we can start off on the journey.” But I told him, “I am not going.”

Meanwhile, the people from our church had heard that I was plan-ning to leave Nigeria, and someone had rushed to the airport. As I was leaving the airport, he saw me, and arrangements were made for me to journey back home to Ikot Enwang. It was the opening day of the annual camp meeting convention when I arrived there. The people of God were happy to see me, and the fellowship was good. God blessed my soul, and I told Him, “No more going anywhere; I want to serve You and give You my life.” Now I understand that if I had moved to America, I might not have continued serving the Lord. God had a brighter future for me and pre-vented the trip.

At the appropriate time, God had the right wife for me and He has blessed our family with three boys. God has healed me of illnesses, under-taken when I was seriously injured in a traffic accident, and miraculously protected me.

It gladdens my heart that even though my father was called to Heaven when my siblings and I were still young, all of our family is in the Gospel and serving God in one capacity or another. My mother, all my brothers, my sister, our children, and our grandchildren are happy that God has answered prayer and kept us in the faith. It is not by our might, but the Lord has done it. We are looking forward to the day we will meet in the Rapture.

S a m u e l Inyang serves as the Over-seer for the A p o s t o l i c Faith work in the Uyo District of Nigeria.

My concern was that the joy of salvation might

diminish if I prayed for sanctification.

My father said, “No, sanctification will make the joy to be greater.”

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Highlighting Our Heritage

Decades after they were saved, this faithful couple continued to rejoice in God’s goodness to them.

By Scotty and Phoebe Ross

Scotty Ross tells his story:

Being raised by divorced parents and hearing nothing of the Gospel

in either home, I grew up in ignorance of what God can do. I lived with my mother for a couple of years and then with my father. In my mother’s home I learned about card playing, theaters, and dancing. In my father’s home, it was astrology, philosophy, and trying to live right.

During World War II, I enlisted in the Army and there I met a man who I knew was different. He hummed in the mornings while we shaved, and he had a sparkle in his eyes. He would often invite me to church, but I told him it was no place for me. It was during this time that God began to talk to my heart. Everything I was doing to try to enjoy life began turning empty and flat. I would say to myself, What is wrong with me? I feel terrible. A voice would answer every time, “You have to change your way of living.” This conversation took place time and time again. I told myself that if I ever got out of the Army, I would quit every sinful habit I had learned there.

I thought I would die in the war, and the Lord began to be very much on my mind. Then, while I was on the island

of Iwo Jima, the announcement came that the war was over. I looked up to the sky and said, “The Lord must have something for me, because I am still alive.” My family met me at the train depot, and the first question I asked was, “Where is Granddad?” I had been told that he was a preacher, and it was on my mind to ask him about God. My mother’s reply was, “Your grand-dad passed away just a few days ago.” So that avenue was closed.

For a time I went back to school, but after a year I returned home to take care of my mother when my stepfather was killed on the job. A man at work asked me to double date with him, his girlfriend, and her younger sister because he had no car. I didn’t think much of the idea, but went anyway. I was pleasantly surprised by my date, Phoebe, and within two months we were married.

Her folks were holding Gospel meetings in their home for her grand-mother who was ninety-six and unable to leave the house. They invited us to join them. I didn’t want to go to church, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt because it was in their house. It was there that the Spirit of God got hold of me and wouldn’t let go. I began to pray in their home, and in my home,

Our Hands in God’s Hand

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We had put our hands in God’s

hand, and He held us up through it all.

and in their church, and anywhere that I could.

One Sunday morning I was ready to give up; I just wasn’t getting through. Right then that same voice that had talked to me before said, “Have mercy on me a sinner.” Immediately I began to repeat that prayer, and before I got half-way through, Jesus came into my life and made a change. I had tried in my own strength to quit my sinful habits, but I couldn’t. However, Jesus took them away in a moment! There was no more trying to quit, and no more desire to do any of those things. I wanted more of God, I wanted to go to church—and the services were never too long.

Soon I found myself praying, “Lord, I need something more, but I don’t know what it is.” I prayed that prayer many times. The Lord answered it about a year after He saved me. I was lying on my bed one night when I had a vision of a searchlight coming down. It came right to the foot of my bed. Inside that light was an ordinary chest of drawers with three drawers. The middle one was open and I could see that it was full of white clothes. They were so beautiful it made me long to have them. Then the light disappeared and I wondered what it all meant.

A short time later, during a cottage meeting, I was asked to start the ser-vice by reading something from the Bible. I began to read, but suddenly I said, “I don’t care what the world says or thinks, I’m going all the way with Jesus.” Down came the Spirit of God and everything in and about that room disappeared. I saw the Scrip-ture, “Ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1). There was a peace so strong I thought I could walk on it. I didn’t know what this great experience was, even though Jesus had shown me the vision of the clean clothes, but I knew I had received two definite works and I could not let go of either one of them.

The Lord could have told me what this second experience was, but instead He led us to the Apostolic Faith Church in Chehalis, Washing-ton. There we heard testimonies in every meeting, and it seemed that they were all about sanctification. What a

wonderful blessing. What a relief. Now I could tell about it too.

The Lord told me to seek the Holy Ghost. After that it should have been easy for me, but I kept expecting an experience like I had before. Gradu-ally I learned that I had to believe what God was giving me was the answer to the prayer. God did His part many times, but I kept waiting for something different. When I finally said, “Lord, I believe this is it,” it was. He filled me with joy unspeakable and I received the witness. As I left the church that night, I was singing, “My wonderful, wonderful Lord.” Someone entering said to me, “You must have received your baptism.” God had done it, and I am still thanking Him for it.

I know that someday Phoebe and I will see our wonderful Lord and have continual joy and peace.

Phoebe Ross tells of her conversion:

My parents were both Christians, so I had the privilege of being

raised in a godly home. There were eight boys and seven girls in our family. We lived on a large farm in Washing-ton, where we enjoyed lots of love.

Mom and Dad saw to it that we were in church on Sundays. We had to walk three miles to catch the bus, and then return home by bus after the services. On Sundays, we would attend the morning service and then go again on Sunday night, after we had done the chores and milked the cows.

I was saved in that home at the age of ten, during the family gathering for Bible reading and prayer. Some times when my uncle came to visit us, we would have a meeting in our own home, as he was a minister. We loved to listen to him preach for us. By the age of thirteen, I had received all three experiences—salvation, sanctification, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost—and I was a happy little girl.

However, a little later in my teen years, Satan got a hold of my heart, and I started to listen to the other young people at school. When I was sixteen, I told my mother that I was not going to church anymore. I left home and moved to Chehalis, Washington,

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You may obtain additional information about these doctrines, and learn about our publications in foreign languages by writing to the Apostolic Faith Church at 6615 SE 52nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97206, U.S.A. or visiting our website at www.apostolicfaith.org.

Before these magazines are sent out, they are always prayed over for the healing of the sick and the salvation of souls.

A Statement of Bible Doctrine

The Divine Trinity consists of three Persons: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost, perfectly united as one. Matthew 3:16-17; 1 John 5:7.

Repentance is a godly sorrow for and a renouncing of all sin. Isaiah 55:7; Matthew 4:17.

Justification (salvation) is the act of God’s grace through which we receive forgiveness for sins and stand before God as though we had never sinned. Romans 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Entire Sanctification, the act of God’s grace whereby we are made holy, is the second definite work and is subsequent to justi-fication. John 17:15-21; Hebrews 13:12.

The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is the enduement of power upon the sanctified life, and is evidenced by speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. John 14:16-17,26; Acts 1:5-8; 2:1-4.

Divine Healing of sickness is provided through the atonement. James 5:14-16; 1 Peter 2:24.

The Second Coming of Jesus will consist of two appearances. First, He will come to catch away His waiting Bride. Matthew 24:40-44; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. Second, He will come to execute judgment upon the ungodly. 2 Thes salonians 1:7-10; Jude 14-15.

The Tribulation will occur between Christ’s coming for His Bride and His return in judg-ment. Isaiah 26:20-21; Revelation 9 and 16.

Christ’s Millennial Reign will be the 1000 years of peaceful reign by Jesus on earth. Isaiah 11 and 35; Revelation 20:1-6.

The Great White Throne Judgment will be the final judg-ment when all the wicked dead will stand before God. Revelation 20:11-15.

The New Heaven and The New Earth will replace the pres-ent heaven and earth, which will be destroyed after the Great White Throne Judgment. 2 Peter 3:12-13; Revelation 21:1-3.

Eternal Heaven and Eternal Hell are literal places of final and eternal destiny. Matthew 25:41-46; Luke 16:22-28.

Marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman that is binding before God for life. Neither person has a right to marry again while the first companion lives. Mark 10:6-12; Romans 7:1-3.

Restitution is necessary, where- in wrongs against others are righted. Ezekiel 33:15; Matthew 5:23-24.

Water Baptism is by one immersion “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Matthew 3:16; 28:19.

The Lord’s Supper is an insti-tution ordained by Jesus so that we might remember His death until He returns. Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

Foot Washing is practiced according to the example and commandment Jesus gave. John 13:14-15.

We believe in the divine inspiration of the Bible, and endorse all the teachings contained in it. Following is a summary of our basic doctrines.

where I got a job and my own apart-ment. In a short time, I began going to the movies and running around with a wild crowd.

In spite of my rebellion, there were a few things I would not do. Dancing was one of those things. My friends also tried to get me to smoke and drink with them at the parties we attended, but thank the Lord, I would not touch such things.

Sometimes I would go home on the weekends and my dad would ask me to go to church with him. I always told him no, but my parents never quit praying for me, and God dealt with my heart. I was miserable! At times I would cry when I was alone in my apartment, and other times I would quote Bible verses and sing the hymns our family had sung around home, trying to recapture the peace I had felt as a child.

I am so thankful that my story does not end there. God kept talking to me all the time. I tried for eight years to find something that would make me happy again, but all the time I knew down in my heart where I should go to find it. One Sunday morning God got a hold of my heart once more. In prayer, I finally surrendered every-thing to Him. That was a wonderful day because I found happiness again. How my parents rejoiced that their prayers had been answered!

I have had a wonderful time serving God since that day. My husband and I went through some rough waters when our children were sick at differ-ent times, but the Lord was with us. We had put our hands in God’s hand, and He held us up through it all.

After more than forty-five years of serving God, I look back and see the many blessings He has given us. It has been a good life, and I thank Him from the bottom of my heart.

Scotty and Phoebe Ross came into the Apostolic Faith Church in Chehalis, Washington, after Scotty heard a street meeting held by the church in the Cen-tralia Park. They embraced what they heard, and Scotty was a minister for many years in Chehalis. In their later years they moved to Woodlake, Cali-fornia, where they lived until they each passed away.

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