Parts of my testimony may upset you but please read all of my it to where I finally come to know the full truth of God’s plan of salvation

I was brought up in the Methodist Church as my father’s family had been for over a century.  However, my father did not attend church on a regular basis but only on special occasions and the usual holidays. I remember many times I would skip Sunday school and use the money given to me for offering to buy candy.  Like my father, God was not part of my life and I had no fear of Him. 

I joined the military in 1973 and went to basic training not believing in God but had some weird belief that we were all spiritual beings who created our own worlds to enjoy.  I believed we could make our worlds to be whatever we wanted them to be.  Basic training brought reality to me quickly and in a harsh way and that belief was quickly dispelled.  (There, some guy with a strange hat kept yelling at me and all my wavy hair that girls were so jealous of was cut off. I remember asking myself “Where are all the beautiful girls, fancy cars and tons of money?”)  The loss of that belief left a huge spiritual void in my heart.

God had plans for a “seed” to fill that void.

A certain incident during my time in basic training became a very important turning point from my self-centered world into the God-centered spiritual world of our Lord and Savior Jesus.  That incident concerned one person I had befriended whose wife was a hemophiliac and was pregnant.  There had been a threat that at birth that either his wife or the baby would have died.  His wife had started to take medication that could possibly help her during child birth and she was being tested at the time to see if it would work.  My friend asked me to pray that the medication would work and both his wife and baby would be ok.  So I prayed something like this: “God, if there is a God out there, please let the medicine work.” Sometime later this friend had come to me very happy because the medicine worked and both the wife and baby were fine.

A spiritual seed was planted.

The Holy Spirit had really tugged at my heart at that time.  God was knocking on the door to come in and take up residence in that huge void in my heart. I had wanted God to prove himself to me and it bothered me enough that I made an appointment to see a military pastor. I had gone to see him wanting him to prove to me that God existed.  Many years have gone by and I am not positive of the exact conversation went but I believe I stated if God existed then He should prove it by doing something spectacular such as sending a lightning bolt down.  If I remember right, it was a clear day and a lightning bolt would have been good evidence of His existence.  To this day I cannot remember why but I started talking about the evidence God already had here on earth such as the miracle of the conception and birth of a child or a small seed growing into a giant California Sequoia Redwood.  I ended up convincing myself of His existence.  Well not really I, but it had been the Holy Spirit doing the convincing!  I left a changed person.  I had become a believer in God but I still had a long way to go.

The spiritual seed needed some watering.

I finished basic training but did not go on to any official military training school like the majority of my fellow basic trainees.  That was kind of odd because the job I had chosen required me to be able to be a proficient typist and I had never typed before in my life but God had plans for me.  I went direct to my first assigned base of Altus Air Force Base in Altus Oklahoma.  There I met a lot of people of whom some attended the base chapel and others the local Baptist Church. This Baptist Church had a “coffee house” ministry.  I made friends with a lot of those who worked on and/or attended the coffee house. I had enjoyed the fellowship however I was not yet saved.  I remember sitting at the coffee house and hearing the testimony of how and when people got saved.  It had become very important to me to remember the day I had got saved but could not do that because I had never done it.  I had become convicted of my need to accept Jesus and I decided to believe in Him and accept Him as my Lord and Savior and became a believer in Jesus.  I shared my new belief in Jesus to a military pastor who had been loosely associated with the coffee house.   This pastor told me that I should read the book of St. John first but skip the book of Acts and read the book of Romans.  He explained to me that Acts would only confuse me.  Well, I went on to read St. John and then Romans but then, either out of either curiosity or mischief, I read the book of Acts. He was correct, it did confuse me!  I had read in Acts chapter two that Peter preached that a person was to repent, be baptized in Jesus name and be filled by the Holy Spirit. It seemed it took more than just believing in Him.  But I still went on with the simple faith of all I had to do was confess Him as Lord and believe He died for my sins.  I knew John 3:16 and the Roman road well but what I didn’t know back then was what it really meant to believe in Him.

The spiritual seed was watered.

I had become basically a non-denominational believer in God for the next ten years or so but as I read my Bible over those years baptism became a focal point of many of my studies.  My beliefs progressed like this.  First I believed that Christians did not need to be baptized. That evolved into a belief that all Christians should be baptized but it was not necessary for salvation.  My next phase of believe was all Christians must be baptize.  At the end of my quest for truth I finally came to the realization that we must be baptized to become a Christian.

Now the seed needs some fertilizer.

During that 10 year time frame I had visited and attended many different denominations to fellowship.  I had been stationed in Hawaii during this timeframe and had worked as a counselor for the 700 club and done some evangelizing on the streets of Honolulu.  I was once invited to attend a United Pentecostal Church.  It turned out to be a terrible time for me.  They played the music so loud and had the microphone amplifiers turned up so high it hurt my ears and gave me a headache so I left. I also could not figure out how they believed that was worship as people were blurting out in some weird babbling and I could not understand what the preacher was saying.

1^st Corinthians 14:27 If one speaks in a language, let it be by two or three at the most, and in turn, also let one interpret.  28 And if there is no interpreter, let him be silent in the assembly, and let him speak to himself and to God.

1^st Corinthians 14:33 For God is not of confusion, but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints.

God even used that bad experience to lead me on to the understanding of what it meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Many months after that incident my wife and I were on the east shore of Oahu enjoying a nice military owned beach.  I had been in the water for a while when I had stepped on something and felt a sharp pain in my right foot.  I left the water and noticed that there was blood wherever I stepped with my right foot.  I then realized that I could not bend my right big toe.  By the end of that day I was restricted to a hospital bed with a lot of pain in my right foot.  I was told I had severed the tendon that flexed my big toe and they would have to operate to fix it.  The pain seemed to quadruple after the operation so I prayed and asked God if He would take the pain away and He did!  Instantly!  I was so happy I had started to praise Him but felt frustrated because I did not have the words to give Him the glory He deserved.  Then all of a sudden I started to speak in a language unknown to me and it frightened me so I stopped.  I again praised God for taking the pain away.  I had begun in English and ended in an unknown tongue but this time I remembered this verse:

Romans 8:26 And likewise the Spirit also joins in to help our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes on our behalf with groanings that cannot be uttered.

God had filled me with His Holy Spirit!

From that time on, God had placed several people in my life to move me closer to the truth.  I first heard the true gospel from an Apostolic individual I met while stationed in England.  He had asked me to come to a Bible study at his house.  There I heard the truth of Acts 2:38 for the very first time and was baptized in Jesus’ name in his bathtub.  (I remember he had been very concerned if there would be enough water to cover me.)  But I had not taken the truth to heart because I was not changed.  I remember very clearly riding home after being baptized and thought that if what I just heard was true then all those people who were in denominations that did not teach Acts 2:38 were going to hell.  I then remembered “many were called but few are chosen” and became extreemly depressed.  So depressed I wanted to kill myself right then by running at high speed head on into a huge tree I knew of on the road home.  But then the Holy Spirit brought to my mine the thought that if I killed myself that I would not be able to repent from that sin and would die in my sin.  I drove home having put the truth in the back of my mind.

The seed needed the soil around it tilled a little.

A few years later I was back in the US and traveling during some vacation time by riding on a military medical flight that was on what the military called a “milk run”.  (A “milk run” was when a flight made several stops along its route to pick up and drop off patients.)  I had had a sinus problem and after the second or third stop the cabin pressure changes aggravated my sinus problem and started a very bad nose bleed and they grounded me.  (This meant I could not fly until my sinus condition improved.)  I was walking about the air terminal when I started talking to a young man who worked there.  After a while he invited me to go to church with him that evening.  I accepted and it turned out to be an Apostolic Church where I once again heard the true gospel and was baptized a second time but I still did not fully accept the need for baptism.  Amazing isn’t it!  I cannot believe how thick skulled I was but God knew and His plan to bring me to the truth was not finished yet.  We now come to the final step in God’s plan to bring me to an understanding and full acceptance of His true gospel of salvation.

Finally, the seed spread roots and sprouts upward towards the one who planted it so long ago.

The year was 1988 and I am stationed back in the US at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico.  Back then I would have considered myself a Pentecostal believer but not an Apostolic Pentecostal believer.  I had been attending a church in the north section of Albuquerque were over 3,000 people attended.  I eventually felt lost in the big crowd and it was so far to drive to get there.  While driving around one day I found a small church very near home.  I stopped and chatted with the pastor and who in turn invited me to attend the church service that evening.  So I did.  I remember the next day telling a co-worker, who was a Baptist, that according to this pastor all we had to do is baptize people in Jesus’ name and they were saved. Mockingly, I said to my co-worker “let’s go out and start baptizing everyone in Jesus’ name so they can be saved”.  (Remember, I am very thick skulled.)  A week or so later, I met with that pastor again and this time he used an illustration that finally brought the message home to my mind and heart.  The pastor started in 1^st Peter 2 and showed me how that as the Ark brought Noah and his family safely through the dangerous flood waters to a new life. He then equated with how the name of Jesus’ brings us safely through the burial of baptism into a new life.  Now I finally understood!  I was baptized for the third time but with a full understanding in my heart that I must repent, be baptized in Jesus’ name for the forgiveness of my sins and be filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Finally!  I had studied for so long wondering what baptism was all about and I had finally found out.  I attended that church for a while.

Some weeds grow up around the seedling and try to choke it.

My many studies of baptism and salvation in the Bible revealed many other truths that seem to me to be no longer accepted by the church of today and that had a big effect on my walk with God.  One incident happened at that last church almost caused me to give up Christianity all together.  That incident came about because I had come to understand a particular doctrine of the Bible of which that the church violated. (The particular doctrine is not relevant to my testimony.)  I was shocked and my faith shattered.  I left that church never to return but I also went home and told my wife that I was giving up Christianity and my belief in God.  I had finally to come believe in what appeared to be the true gospel and found a church that supposedly taught truth yet they disobeyed the Bible.  I stated Christianity was just another religion and no different than Buddhism, Islam, or any other religion.  She said how could I say there was no God and Christianity was only a religion after all the things God has done for us and me.  That brought me back to my senses and I asked God for forgiveness and He did.  I believe that incident made me more focused on things I considered to be truths and what I would consider to be false doctrine.

My self-righteousness caused me to have a very up and down in my walk with the Lord that I was very ashamed of but I eventually asked God for and received forgiveness from Him.  I would say my biggest problem had been I did not stay in a church for very long because I would hear something that I felt was wrong and left to find another church to attend.  Of course something would come up at the new church or I would not feel like going and left.  Whatever the reason it was, it always boiled down to my flesh that made the decision.  For many years I was miserable and my moving from church to church had a profound effect on my wife and children.  My wife told me that she did not go to church with me because she knew that I would leave it eventually and she did not want to have to start all over again at a new church.  That was a hard blow to my heart and something that still haunts me to this day even though I have asked God to forgive me, and He has.  I have not forgiven myself.

I had many opportunities to attend various churches in my life because I worked jobs as a governmental contractor which had me living and working away from home.  I would come home on weekends but because of all the work I had to catch up on around the house I did not “have time” to go to church.  I worked contractual jobs in order to maintain the life style my family had grown used to.  My children and my wife were never without materialistic needs and wants.  What they did lack was the all-important father as spiritual leader of the house.   Now my wife, daughter, and son have disregarded or rejected the truth.  My wife is morally good and would be considered a “Christian” by most folks.  My son says he goes to church but not an Apostolic church.  My daughter loves the things of this world more than anything else and reads books filled with moral sin and violence and watches movies and videos of the same genre.

My irregular Christian walk and my lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life changed when I finally got a job that finally brought me home every night.  I have been working jobs that took me way from home for over 5 years.  I had failed my children as a father and my wife as a husband all for the sake of a materialistic lifestyle we had come to love.  God would soon change my heart towards all things worldly when I truly sought after Him.

Although the new contract job got me home every night, it was still a bit of a drive of 142 miles round trip every day.  God used the driving time to start softening my heart of stone.  I purchased an audio bible on CDs that I listened to them every day to and from work.

Hebrews 4:12 For the Word of God is living, and powerfully working, and sharper than every two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of both soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge of the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The seed struggled but triumphs over the weeds that tried to strangle it.

His word judged my thoughts and purpose of my heart.  I kept hearing things in the Old Testament that grabbed at my soul.  Also, in the New Testament I heard things and I wanted to know why we did not have them today.   I started asking God why.  My heart was overwhelmed with questions I needed answered but did not seem to get them.  I decided I need time alone with God - just Him and I.  I took a week off away from work and family and sought answers from God.  I wanted to know why we did not have the same powerful and loving church that is found in the book of Acts.  I wanted to know why the church did not take care of its own - there should be no true believer in need of the necessities of life.  I fasted and prayed and prayed some more.  Finally one day I “heard” the answer.  I do not to this day know how I got the answer but I did and God’s response was this:  “I haven’t changed!”  That simple statement changed my life forever.  I was acting as if God was the problem and the problem was with me all the time.  I am the one who is failing.  I am at fault - not only myself, but all true believers.  My heart was instantly changed to reject the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  I no longer cherished the things of this world.

Like Paul Harvey use to say “And now, the rest of the story.”

The validity of my changed heart was soon tested. I had several retirement related investments and other securities because of my diverse jobs and the desire to have lots of money available for retirement.  We were doing well according to the world but that all changed in October 2008.  Like many others we lost a bundle with the stock market crash of that year.  I estimated we had lost almost one fourth to two thirds some of our investments.  However, I had total peace and was not bothered at all by the loss.  After all Jesus said:

Matthew 6:31 Then do not be anxious, saying, What may we eat? Or, what may we drink? Or, what may clothe us?  32  For after all these things the nations seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.  33  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Not long after the stock market crash happen my daughter was backing out of our garage and caught the driver’s side rear corner of my pickup truck.  My daughter had come into the house and announced she had hit the truck backing out.  I had gone out just expecting a little dent or something and was quite surprised by what I saw.  The problem is she did not stop when she initially hit the truck but kept going and ended up doing enough damage on her car that the insurance company totaled it.  In addition she did over $2,000 worth of damage to my truck.  The old me would have “jumped” all over my daughter yelling and screaming.  Instead, I asked if she was ok and then said the insurance would pay for the damage and went back into the house.  Worthy of noting, is it took me over a month before I decided to get the truck fixed as it was drivable but did not look “pretty”.  I finally decided that if I want to be a good steward of God’s money that I had better use the insurance for which I have been paying for so many years.  I finally got it fixed.

Next on the list of things that God allowed to happen to me was I ended up being unemployed for seven months in 2009.  Some of you may find this hard to believe but I thanked God for my unemployment every day I remembered to do so.  Why, you may ask?  Well, I believe God’s word and the promises He keeps to those who obey Him.  You have read in Matthew 6:31 above that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness that God will take care of our needs.  So my faith tells me that if I am seeking as He asks then anything that happens to me God has either caused it to happen or allowed it to happen.  Either way He is in control.  What a change of heart.  I now experience the peace that God has promised and it is wonderful!

Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and by petition with thanksgivings, let your requests be made known to God;  7 and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Between looking for work and sleeping I studied the Bible with enthusiasm and made use of the time off to learn more about Him.  But something just was not right.  Long before I was laid off I believed that God had put on my heart a write a book on Christian faith but I kind of laughed it off as I felt I was no author.  I had toyed with the idea but never really got started because I did not think I had time until God fixed that for me.  That labor of love, the book, took from March till mid-June before publication.  The book is called “Are You Ready to Meet God?” with a subtitle of “Are You Really Ready” and is basically a compilation of many of my Bible studies and a tract God had given me.  I know the Devil did not want this book to be published as I had many problems and setbacks that I encountered.  I let some of them get to me for a short while but then I remembered what I believed and once again I felt the peace.  He is so good and worthy of all our praise.

Putting this book together with the studying and research it took soon enlighten me to more of what I was missing in my walk but also some of the false doctrine that had crept into the church.  I was very leery about my thoughts on the false doctrine as that had always been a reason I had used before to leave a church.  But that was the old me and the new me was seeking His kingdom and righteousness first and I would believe His word before I believe any man’s doctrine and pressed forward.  I once again become employed and but am still seeking God’s will for my life.  I still pray and ask for His guidance daily.

I truly feel that God caused my unemployment to give me time to compose the book and get it published.  I also wanted to have a website to make an electronic copy of the book available free to anyone and found a place to host site that was reasonably price and I tried to create the new website.  That did not go well but soon I came across a brother in Christ who developed the www.azusastreetriders.com website and others.  This new brother not only offered to create my website but also to host it free of charge as a support to the ministry and the www.alethesministry.net site was up and running in no time.  God is good indeed – professionally designed website and freely hosted!  People who visit the site can download the book free of charge or order a hard copy from the publisher for only $10.00 plus taxes and shipping.  I made the book available for free downloading in the following formats: Microsoft Word 2003/2007, Acrobat Reader, free OpenOffice, and even text so almost anyone can read it.

I was again attending the Apostolic church that I first attended when I arrived in Bloomington in 2001.  I became good friends with the pastor and we had fellowship many times until he left for take over the church in Tennessee were his father had  pastored.  A new vibrant young pastor was voted in and my life once again was in turmoil.  I had soon begun to deal with many issues in the church because of my belief that all of God’s word is for our edification and training. For many months I prayed and studied a lot to seek out God’s wisdom in those matters.  I talked with another pastor friend about these issues and he suggested that I write the new pastor a letter.  I eventually did write a letter and sent the following to the pastor of that church I was attending. (I have removed names prevent any embarrassment for that pastor or the congregation)

“To Pastor ­­­­_______________

I greet you in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.  Grace and peace to you from God almighty.

I have come to a point where I feel I must follow God’s lead to use the gifts He has given to me for His glory.

There have been several incidents over the last few months that I first took as being a shunning of me.  But God has since shown me that this is not so because I am striving with all my heart, mind and strength to be in His will.   I believe that anything that happens to me is either caused by or allowed by God as long as I seek His kingdom and righteousness first.  So the things that I perceived as detrimental towards me at first are instead beneficial to me in my growth in Christ.

Allow me to list some items that I believe God has used to show me that I am to move up to a new level of my walk with Him.

-       The church as vandalized and I found out about it from someone not going to _______.  I was never told of the effort going on to repair the damage caused by the vandalism nor asked to help.

-       It appeared to me that I was the only one willing to provide assistance to __________.  She was a challenge but also a blessing to me.  Yet when she died, no one contacted me to let me know.

-       I feel God is greatly using you to get the truth out, yet I still have felt I am not a member but an outsider to _________.

-       I have asked at least 3 times to have a talk with you about items in my life I felt were very important to my serving God.  Yet I was not contacted by you to have that consultation.

I know you have been under a lot of pressure being a new pastor and father once again.  Maybe God was making sure you could not talk with me as I desired by having me ask you when He knew you would be too busy and forget.

I have been dealing with the above listed items for several months now and much prayer and study has been performed by me to seek out God in this matter.  Then on Sunday the 14^th of March I believe God spoke to me through the story of Joseph in the Old Testament.  What transpired is as follows:  I just happened to turn on a Christian TV station in the morning and a pastor was speaking about Joseph.  This pastor showed that God was witnessing about Himself through Joseph as Joseph was esteemed highly as a man of God by those who knew him in Egypt.   Using God’s word, this pastor showed that although what we consider being bad things happen to us, God is still in control and is helping us to endure.  He went on to say our lives are not to be “under” circumstances but under God who is over our circumstances.  Thirty minutes or so after that program, I began to read the daily devotional that Pastor ______ gave us last year but I could not remember that day’s date. So I just read what was there when I opened it.  Lo and behold it was again about Joseph and how God allowed him to go through some harsh things to bring him finally to fulfill God’s will for him.  Soon after that, I then went to church at _________.   There I listened to preaching about Joseph again!

First the word by electronic means, then the word by printed media and finally the word by an Apostolic minister.  Brother, I do not believe what I perceived as bad happening to me was anything close to what Joseph endured.  However, if this was not God speaking to me about to endure and to bring me to a point where he will reveal his will for my life, then I do not know what would be!

The question I need to get an answer now from God is this:  Am I to stay with _________ or to go elsewhere?  Honestly, my first thoughts were to leave __________ but then that is what the “old” me would do.  But I do not feel this is the “old” me talking now.  I want God’s will for my life not my own. The items I listed above should have turned me bitter towards you and ­­­­­­­­__________ and at first I was indeed bothered and not attending church at __________ a few times.   But again I say, God open my heart to understand that He is in full control.

What I do may depend on what you have to say in response to this letter.  If I have sinned against you or any of my fellow believers at _________, I do not know of it.  If you have anything against me, let me know so I can repent of it and seek forgiveness.  If I have not sinned or have repented of any sin, then I ask you either tell me to stay at ­­­­­­________ because God has a mission for me or bless me and send me on my way and let God’s will be done in my life.  I truly believe that even your response to this letter will be according to His will.

I feel nothing less than true agape love for you and all who attend _______ church.  The only thing I love more is God and His truth.

Please respond soon in a return letter or meet with me soon.

I love you

Brother Rock

Alethes Ministry to the World

aka Harold J. Grimes”

After a couple of weeks I finally got a call from that pastor.  The conversation can be whittled down to his saying he has nothing for me in his ministry and wished me the best.  I said I love you and the people of the church and will come and visit some times.

Acts 2:17 “. . . and our old men shall dream.”

I then started going to a church of a pastor friend of mine.  All had been going well but soon I began experiencing false doctrine being taught and true biblical doctrine be ignored in church I was then attending and others that I had visited.  On the night of the 24^th of July 2010, I asked God if He still wanted me to attend my friend’s church and needed to know how I would determine what His answer was to me.  I then asked God if this could be the sign, if I go to that church Sunday and if they do not teach true biblical doctrine again, I would accept that as His answer to no longer fellowship with that church.  That Sunday two pastors spoke and both said things that were contrary to true biblical doctrine.  I was very sad and struggling with this answer as I am very fond of the previous pastor (who was my pastor friend who still participates there) and this church was small and losing people.  I asked God where was I to attend – what was I to do about fellowship?  I was very concerned because I did not want it to be about me again but all about God’s will.  Friday the 30^th of July 2010 I was in prayer because in my heart I wanted to be sure if I was not to go back to that church on Sunday.  In response to my prayer God gave me in a dream that night.  The dream goes something like this:

I stood before a very high mound of dirt.  However in my heart I felt that the mound was not really built of dirt as I first thought. Someone had excavated a huge hall into this mound and many people were mingling inside the hall.  I was thinking to myself how dangerous this looked and I was not going to go in there.  There had been two people standing to the left of me (I think I knew them). I was about to say to them how dangerous I thought that place was but when I turned to tell them but they had already entered the hall with the others and suddenly the mound collapsed upon them all.

In the next “scene”, I find myself on the opposite side of this collapsed mound and I had found a door into the mound.  The door had been distorted to a rhombus shape by the collapse.  I tried to open it but it was difficult because of the distortion.  After some struggling, I was able to finally open the door so I stuck my head inside and saw people running in panic up a broad elaborate staircase trying to escape.  I scooted in a bit further and yelled for them to come to the opening to escape but they would not listen.  Finally a few came over to the door and I told them to grab my hand and I pulled them out to safety.  I poked my upper body back in and called for more people to come to this opening and escape but they still would not listen.  After a while one more person came over and I told him to grab my hand and I would pull him through.  But he replied “the opening is too small and I would not fit through it.”  I said it only looked small and he should try it but he waved me off and ran up the elaborate stairs with the others.  I cried bitterly because they would not listen.  Then I awoke.

I did not attend church that coming Sunday but stayed at home and studied, prayed and pondered on the dream.  Sunday evening I felt that the meaning of the dream was for me to start a Bible Study that concentrates on true biblical doctrine as taught by Jesus and the Apostles and the not doctrines of man.  I asked God what I need to do to prepare myself for this as I did not feel worthy and He gave me these verses by just my opening my Bible to where a piece of paper had been stuck quite a while back.  Here is what I read.

Ephesians 4:17-32 Therefore, I say this, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk even as also the rest of the nations walk, in the vanity of their mind,  18 having been darkened in the intellect, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance which is in them because of the hardness of their heart,  19 who, having cast off all feeling, gave themselves up to lust, to the working of all uncleanness with greediness.  20 But you have not so learned Christ,  21 if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus.  22 For you have put off the old man, as regards the former behavior, having been corrupted according to the deceitful lusts,  23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,  24 and to put on the new man, which according to God was created in righteousness and true holiness.  25 Therefore, putting off the false, "speak truth each with his neighbor," because we are members of one another. 26 "Be angry but do not sin;" do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the Devil.  28 The one stealing, let him steal no more, but rather let him labor, working what is good with the hands, that he may have something to give to the one that has need.  29 Let not any filthy word go out of your mouth, but if any is good to building up in respect to the need, that it may give grace to the ones hearing.  30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed to the day of redemption.  31 Let all bitterness, and anger, and wrath, and tumult, and evil speaking be put away from you, along with all evil things.  32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, having forgiven one another, even as also God forgave you in Christ.

I am to apply to my life what I have learned of Jesus.  I must continue to put off the old man, renew my spiritual mind, and put on the new man what God created in righteousness and true holiness.  I must only speak the truth and I must not let the sun go down on my anger.  I need to watch my walk carefully to never give the devil an opportunity to make me trip up.  I am to watch my tongue and only say godly things that edify.  I am not to do, say, or think anything that cause grief to the Holy Spirit of God and more! Wow, what an answer to that prayer.

I sent an e-mail to some Christian brothers asking them if they could see if they can interpret the dream but I received on the 30^th of July but received no replies.  Then a few days later I felt in my heart that God provided me with the following full interpretation.

The mound is the Church and the layers of “dirt” – thousands of years of false doctrine that has piled up on the church.

The hall that was excavated and then collapse – Man vainly worships God in a church not founded on Biblical doctrine but built on the “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

The people who I think I knew – My delay in accepting His will for my life has resulted in family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and acquaintances falling for false doctrine and perishing.

The distorted narrow door – God’s strait gate that we are to enter in has been distorted to the eyes of men but still remains God’s only way to eternal life.

The door is hard to open – We are to strive to enter the gate. It is going to take work on my part to assist in getting the truth out to the world.

My opening the gate, entering, yelling, and reaching in to help – I am to start a Bible study on true biblical doctrine and not shy away from telling the truth.

My announcing the way of escape and no one listening – “Many are called”, “few that be saved”, “few there be that find it”, “them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”

The few who came through the door - Because “narrow is the gate, and constricted is the way that leads away into life, and few are the ones finding it.”

The broad elaborate staircase – “wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are the ones entering in through it.”

The one who refused – some will come to the study but not accept the truth and leave.

Within a week after this dream and its interpretation, I experienced the following:

The night of August 6^th 2010 I sat on the edge of my bed to pray instead of kneeling as I sometimes do and told God I did not know if he wanted me to kneel all the time when I prayed or not.  I finished my prayer and opened my bible to where that piece of paper of before was still placed.  I started reading Ephesians chapter three this time but near its end that same piece of paper had blocked some verses. Under the paper were these verses.

Ephesians 3:14-15 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 of whom every family in Heaven and on earth is named.

I got on my knees and bowed to the only true God of heaven and earth and asked for forgiveness and thanked Him for His kind mercy to me.

My friends, by now I know that God has called me to lead a Bible study that teaches only Biblical doctrine as taught by Jesus and the Apostles.

Well almost a month went by and I was not sure how this study was to get started but I did not put much of an effort into getting it going either.  I went to bed as usual and I experienced another dream that I did not understand its application to me at first.

The next dream from God.

I was driving a convertible with the top down up a windy road up the side of a mountain.  About two car lengths ahead of me was another vehicle but between me and that vehicle was a mountain lion.  I was thinking I need to keep this lion in front of me because I have the top down and if he got behind me he could have jumped in and have gotten me.  After driving up the mountain for a while the lion looked very tired and jumped off the road onto a ledge on the right side of the road and laid down.  At first I was relieved by this but then it came to me that once he was rested he would have been behind me and could have jumped me.   So I drove as fast as I could to get as far away from the mountain lion as possible.  But I went only a short distance and the road started to narrow down to the point I could not drive any more.  I had to get out of my car and start walking on a narrow ledge on the side of a cliff.  I kept worrying that the lion would soon get rested up and come after me as I was in his environment now and he could out do me in climbing cliffs.  What first appeared to be a very long way to go to get down the mountain somehow turned out to be only a few short steps and I was off the mountain quickly.

Now I was on flat land running as fast as I could but I ran I pondered about how fast a lion can run.  I had soon tired and saw a big tree and climbed as high as I could so I could to stop and rest.  But in my mind I remembered how mountain lions can easily climb trees.  This thought bothered me very much but then I realized that I had chased that lion with the car for so long that he was worn out and was still way back in that mountain resting and my way ahead was clear.  I looked back towards the mountain and the short distance I experienced had once again become the long distance I first saw when I started out on foot.

I felt that God had given me that dream because I had felt that the devil had been fighting me all the way in my obedience to write the book and to start the ministry for God’s glory.  God wanted me to know that I was not to worry about what the devil was up to but to go on with what work He has planned for me.  The devil is a defeated foe.

1^st Peter 5:1-11 I, a fellow elder, exhort the elders among you, I being also witness of the sufferings of Christ, and being sharer of the glory about to be revealed:  2 Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not by compulsion, but willingly; nor eagerly for base gain, but readily;  3 nor as exercising lordship over the ones allotted to you, but becoming examples of the flock.  4 And at the appearing of the Chief Shepherd, you will receive the never fading crown of glory.  5 Likewise, younger ones be subject to older ones; and all being subject to one another. Put on humility, because God sets Himself "against proud ones, but He gives grace to humble ones." 6 Then be humbled under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in time;  7 "casting all your anxiety onto Him," because it matters to Him concerning you. 8 Be sensible, watch, because your adversary the Devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking someone he may devour;  9 whom firmly resist in the faith, knowing the same sufferings are being completed in your brotherhood in the world.  10 Now the God of all grace, the One calling you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, you having suffered a little, Himself will perfect, confirm, strengthen, establish you.  11 To Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.

I repented and decide to put an advertisement in the local paper on Saturday and Sunday that went like this:

Challenging

Bible Study

Bible Study for those who fear God and believe all His word.  Day and time to be determined.  Free book with study.

E-mail brotherrock@

alethesministry.net or

call 812-345-6400

Well Saturday and Sunday came and went and no calls or e-mails.  Soon a week had gone by and nothing.  My mind began to wonder again if this is God’s will for me or just my own.  I went to bed but before I laid down I bowed down to the God of all creation and ask Him if this is really what he wants for me or was it only me.  The next morning I rise and go to read my daily devotional and realize I did not read it the day before.  I read with much joy in my heart the article but especially enjoyed David Jeremiah’s statement at the end:

The fact that God has a plan, not your knowledge of the plan, is the basis for your peace and hope.

Once again God gave me a direct answer.  I just love Him for this but I still felt so un-worthy.  I thought why me?  But now I say why not me!  God does not make mistakes and He knows I can do it than I should understand that I can do it too!

So I still am waiting for the Bible study to begin and I am still sowing seeds to be watered and God bring in the harvest.  My peace is in Him and His plan which will be worked out in His perfect time.

Well the new year 2011 is only a few days away and nothing seems to be happening with the Bible study.  I have called and left messages with people but did not receive a response. I have put in an advertisement via a free classified website.  I have thought about making a flyer to pass out but have not completed it as of yet.  I once again wonder if I am making this all up myself or is it really God’s will for me to do the Bible study.  I almost feel that people should come to me to ask about a study or something.  After all, if it is God’s will, then would He not then send those who He knows will respond to the truth of His word.  I wrote the book, I got a website, I advertised in the paper, I am advertising on the internet, I got a mail box for the ministry, I have prayed and fasted, I have asked for His assistance and yet nothing.  What am I doing wrong?  God is not the problem here, it is me.  My failure to comprehend what the actual problem is causes me to lose faith when faith is the only thing I have.   I ask myself how I cannot have faith after seeing all that He has clearly done for me and yet my flesh can say that I made it all up in my mind.  (Even religion is made up in man’s mind if it is not based upon a definite truth and faith.)

I have designed the flyers to deploy in January 2011.  If I do not receive a request for a Bible study from any of the sources described above by the end of February 2011, then I will renounce my perceived call into the ministry and go sit in the pew where I belong never to pursue a ministry again.  If it is God’s will for me to minister then I will do it full time and sell everything I have and give it to my wife and the poor.  I would have to leave my family behind and go on without them because they do not want to serve God in the way He wants us to serve Him - seeking His kingdom and His righteousness first in our lives.

Brother Rock

Alethes Ministry to the World

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www.alethesministry.net