Vol. 108-3 Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. — Jude 3 Open the �le in Illustrator. Click on the bottom right color swatch and change the CMYK values. Then save as an eps �le and place in InDesign.

“By love, serve one another”

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WHEN IVON WILSON began to be interested in Hazel Frymire, he invited her to go with him for dinner. She turned him down due to a scheduling conflict, explaining that she needed to attend a Gospel workers’ meeting. Brother Ivon recognized that this young lady was putting God first. He knew a woman who made a choice of that nature would make the kind of wife he hoped to have. Later, they were married and served the Lord together for over sixty-five years.

In Brother Ivon’s testimony (page 21), you will read that when he was a teen-ager, a gust of wind had caught the sail of his boat and jibbed it across the deck, knocking him into the water. A couple of years ago, he showed me that spot on the Willamette River in Portland where he nearly drowned. Although he had been reared in a God-fearing home, Brother Ivon related that until then he had no thought of becoming a Christian. However, that incident caused him to con-

sider eternity, and ultimately, to give his life to the Lord. In 1950, not long after he was saved, Brother Ivon began working full time for the church. He continued to

do so in a variety of capacities until his passing a few months ago. One Thursday not long after Brother Ivon and Sister Hazel were married, he

asked her, “How would you like to live on the Lower Light?” The Lower Light was a missionary vessel owned by the Apostolic Faith organization at the time, and it was suggested to Brother Ivon that the boat needed a caretaker. Sister Hazel asked, “When would we go?” and Brother Ivon’s reply was, “Monday.” She was indeed the kind of wife he had hoped for! They moved to the Lower Light and lived on that boat for nearly eight years, helping take the Gospel message to vil-lages up and down the coast of British Columbia and Alaska.

That willing response to help out wherever God led was typical of Brother Ivon. His entire life revolved around serving the Lord in the Apostolic Faith work. About a year before his passing, when Brother Ivon’s health was failing, it was arranged for him to video his thoughts about serving God. He spoke in glowing terms of God’s faithfulness and the miracles he had witnessed through-out his life. He expressed gratitude for his upbringing and how he was blessed by having served God in our church. May his testimony in this edition of Higher Way magazine inspire all of us to faithfully serve the Lord.

An Example of Serving

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.

July—September 2015

Table of Contents

Darrel D. LeeSuperintendent

General

VIEWPOINT

Day to Day .............9 Evidence .............. 14 Today’s Youth ...... 17Highlighting our Heritage ............... 21

Choose the Way of Integrity .......................3Introduced to a New Life ...........................6 “By love, serve one another” ....................11Something Was Missing ...........................16 Three Aspects of Holy Living ....................19

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CHOOSE

The Epistle of James was writ-ten to “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,” the Early

Church which had been dispersed by persecution. Those in authority were intent on destroying the Christian believers and their message, but in this letter James instructed the embattled followers of Christ to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations” (James 1:2).

Sometimes the word translated temptation refers to the trial of our faith, as it does here; at other times it refers to the testing of our integrity. James spoke of both in this epistle. In verses 1-11, he addressed the trying of

The Way of IntegrityWe can succumb to the wiles of Satan, or instead, we can resist and triumph

in temptation.From a sermonby Darrel Lee

our faith. As Christians, our faith will be put to the test—we are engaged in spiritual warfare against a very real adversary. However, James also spoke

of the end result: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temp-tations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, want-ing [or lacking] nothing” (verses 2-4).What a promise!

Trials of our faith are for our good. We “count it all joy” when we accept whatever comes our way as from the Lord, because we know the end result—that we will mature into complete and fully balanced lives of holiness. God is not caught unawares when trials occur in our lives. We may not have seen them coming, but

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He did! We must realize that God has a reason in mind when He allows our faith to be tested through a trial. Satan has a purpose: he wants to bring us down. However, God has a purpose as well: He allows trials to build us up.

After addressing the trial of our faith, James went on to speak about temptation in the sense that it is the testing of our integrity. We read, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (verse 12).

When we think of Christians yield-ing to temptation, we think of back-sliding. Backsliding is not necessary. The Lord saves us with an intention to keep us. Occasionally we hear people relate that sometime after they were saved, they began neglecting to read the Bible, to pray, or to go to church, and they lost their salvation. While it is certainly important to stay in close touch with God and His people, we cannot “lose” our salvation like we lose our car keys. We do not lose salva-tion: if it is gone, we have given it away.

We were saved by taking deci-sive action. We counted the cost and weighed the pros and cons. Even if we did not intellectually figure it all out, we sensed that we were being weighed in the balance and found wanting. Something was not right inside; the way of sin was no longer pleasant. We were under conviction through the graciousness of God. We experi-enced godly sorrow for the wrongs we had done, and disgust toward the sin in our lives. At some point we deter-mined to turn away from our sins and turn toward God. That was repen-tance! The Spirit of God was drawing us to Himself—something that only the Spirit can do. When we prayed with all of our hearts and yielded our lives to God’s control, He gave assur-ance that He heard our prayers. He came into our hearts, forgave our sins, and we were saved.

Just as it took decisive action on our part to be saved, it takes decisive action on our part to backslide. We do

not accidentally backslide. We do not misplace our salvation like we mis-place a wallet, and wonder, Where did it go? In order to backslide, we must consciously choose to turn away from God and turn back toward sin. It is not easy to backslide!

We do ourselves no favor when we base our salvation on how we feel. Some days we feel really good while serving the Lord, and some days we do not feel so good. Sometimes our faith is strong, and sometimes we feel burdened or disheartened. If we base our salvation on feeling, we may feel we are saved today but not saved tomorrow. The Word of God says the just shall live “by faith” not “by feel-ing.” It does not matter how we feel! The Lord may have allowed us to feel like He is nowhere around because He wants us to lean on Him or seek

His face more earnestly. Remember, James said, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.” Hanging onto our faith in the times when we do not feel a great deal of emotion is part of

enduring.In verse 14, James

went on to speak of how a person is tempted through lust. We think of lust as being evil.

However, in the original Greek, the word used is

a neutral term not imply-ing good or evil, but simply indicating a strong longing

or desire. It implies susceptibility.

God made us human crea-

tures, and there are c e r t a i n

aspects of our human bodies, such as our physi-cal appetite for food, that want to be pleased or satisfied. The enemy of our souls often tempts us through these areas of susceptibility where we are especially vulnerable. He appeals to the natural human desires and appe-tites that God gave us.

By stating that “every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (verse 14), James was not giving an excuse for failure. God permits temptations to help us gain spiritual strength, but He does not entice us to evil. His whole plan of redemption was designed to deliver us from evil! In verse 13, the Apostle cautioned, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.” After reading that warning, insert the thought of susceptibility into verse 14: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust [imply-ing susceptibility] and enticed.”

Here is an example of susceptibil-ity to a temptation that is not sin. I have a penchant for ice cream. I love ice cream! However, I have found that a penchant for ice cream is a problem when one is trying to keep weight in check. When I would dish up a bowl of ice cream for myself, it was a big

We do not misplace our salvation like we misplace a wallet,

and wonder, Where did it go?

In order to backslide, we must consciously

choose to turn away from God.

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bowl. My wife, Debbie, would tell me, “Just get a smaller bowl,” so I tried that. I would get a smaller bowl and eat that smaller bowlful—and then dish out a second bowlful. Finally several years ago I told Debbie, “Just don’t buy ice cream.”

Satan preys upon our suscepti-bilities based on our natural human desires and appetites. However, when Adam and Eve yielded to temptation in the Garden of Eden, they were not simply giving in to a normal, physi-cal desire. In yielding, they were dis-obeying a direct command of God. He had established one boundary for Adam and Eve: they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were not even to touch it. Eve was deceived by Satan. She was enticed by physical hunger, the fruit’s appealing appearance, and by her desire to be wise—all areas of suscep-tibility—and she thought it would be good to have knowledge not only of good, but also of evil. That is what sin does; it deceives, it entices, and it promises what it cannot deliver.

Satan preys upon our susceptibili-ties in order to entice us to sin. The God of Heaven allows the enemy’s attempts in order to provide us with opportunities for spiritual growth. If we are obedient to the Lord and sensitive to His Spirit, we will grow stronger through temptations. We will develop, we will learn. Even after we are saved and sanctified, we need to grow spiritually. Sanctifica-tion is instantaneous and eradicates our carnal nature, but our human nature and appetites remain. Spiritual maturing begins in our human nature when we are saved, and continues as a developmental process throughout our lives until we leave this world. And one way such growth happens is through resisting temptation.

Joseph’s actions in the house of Potiphar are an example of resist-ing Satan’s attempts to prey upon one’s human susceptibility. When Potiphar’s wife would have seduced Joseph to evil, he knew one thing: he had to get out of there. He fled! That is what we must do when temptation comes. We must not dabble with it or contemplate it or weigh our options.

This isn’t ice cream. This is life and death! We can succumb to the wiles of Satan, or we can resist and use the temptation as a stepping stone to spir-itual growth.

When David was on the roof of his house and saw Bathsheba, he chose a different response than that of Joseph. David had a moment of deci-sion. Would he preserve his integrity by turning and leaving the scene of temptation, or would he linger? He chose to linger and in the end com-mitted sin, as did Bathsheba. When we face a time of testing, we must get off the rooftop! We had better choose the path of Joseph.

How would our integrity be proved without testing? Jesus himself was tested. We read in Matthew 4:1 that He was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” It was a divine appointment. When Satan appeared on the scene, Jesus was at a point of physical weakness. He had fasted for forty days and nights and was hungry. However, Jesus over-came temptation whereas Adam suc-cumbed. Through God’s power, we can overcome as well.

Hebrews 2:18 tells us that Jesus became our great High Priest because “in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour [come to the aid of] them that are tempted.” He will help us in our hour of trial. We

learn to flee when we can flee, but we also learn to plead the Blood of Jesus. The enemy cannot stand against the Blood. Revelation 12:11 tells us, “And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.” We can look to Jesus and find strength to overcome.

Like Adam and Eve, and Joseph, and David, and Jesus Christ himself, the decision is ours. We can choose to tri-umph in temptation, or we can choose to succumb. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus prayed, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). Although God will not lead us into temptation, the enemy will come along and attempt to pull us in that direction. However, God will deliver if we look to Him.

In his epistle to the scattered believ-ers of the Early Church, James went on to state that God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. Then he provided a formula: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you” (James 4:6-8). That is how we overcome temptation. We submit ourselves to the Lord and ask Him to help us be governed by Him rather than our passions. We ask for His strength to resist being influenced toward evil by the susceptibilities of our human nature. As we subject ourselves to God and resist the devil, God will draw nigh to us and help us. And at the end of life, we will rejoice because we will receive a crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love Him.

Do you love the Lord? Are you determined to serve Him? Recognize that you are engaged in a spiritual warfare and that you will face times of temptation and trial, but look to Jesus. He will help you overcome. If you stand fast, one of these days He will give you a victorious entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, whether it be by the Rapture at the last trump, or by the way of the grave. There is victory in Jesus!

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

We do ourselves no favor when we base our salvation on how we feel.

Some days we feel really good while serving the Lord,

and some days we do not feel so good.

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As a young child I really wanted to be good, but as hard

as I tried, I just couldn’t. My troubles seemed to get worse in my teenage years. When I was almost thirteen years old, we lost our home to foreclosure and became homeless. Our family was broken up and within a couple of years, I was living in rural Idaho sharing one bedroom with seven other family members. The transition was not easy for me.

I had always believed there was a God and assumed that made me a Christian, but at

seventeen years old, I started to wonder if God was just a myth. I decided to quit trying to be good, and began doing terrible things just to try to satisfy something within me. Of course, this did not make me happy. By age nineteen, I thought maybe the thrill of doing something radical like robbing a bank was what I needed, and I had some crazy ideas of what to do.

About that time, a new girl was hired at the travel agency where I worked and we became friends. One day, she invited me to church. I had not gone to church in a long time and

Introduced to a New LifeThe witnesss of a friend at

work helped her find the change she desperately

needed.

By Cecelia Morgan

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thought maybe that was the change I needed, so I accepted her invitation, and soon started attending regularly with her.

My friend’s life condemned me. It was not what she said as much as how she lived. She was so different from me! When I asked her about it, she said that in her opinion, Christian meant “Christ-like”—it meant someone who emulates Christ and patterns her life after the Bible. I knew that was not me.

On January 13, 1995, at the close of a church service, most of the people knelt to pray, and my friend asked if I would like to pray with her. I wanted to look like a “good Christian,” so I agreed. Soon, my friend’s mother and several others came over to pray with us. We were there for about two hours and I could not believe that anyone would pray for me for so long. I thought, Wow, they must really care about me! Then I realized that if they loved me that much, God must really love me! After all, Jesus was the One who died on the Cross for me. At that moment, the pastor’s wife said, “Jesus died on the Cross because He loved you so much. Now let His death be for a purpose. Let Him wash away your sins. Let Jesus come into your heart.”

After that, I really prayed from my heart. I did want God to come in and I felt badly that Jesus had suffered on the Cross for me. Calling myself a Christian but still living with sin in my life didn’t seem right, so I gave my heart to the Lord and asked Him to forgive my sins. It felt like a burden lifted from my shoul-ders, and I knew God had saved me.

The next morning I woke up and thought, Oh no! How am I ever going to be able to do this? There were sinful habits in my life that I knew I couldn’t just suddenly get rid of. Immediately, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “That’s why I saved you. You can’t do it on your own; You need Me.” Before long I realized God had changed my desires, and I no longer wanted to do the wrong things I had done before.

Shortly after my salvation, my friend told me about a deeper experience called “sanctification.” I had never heard that word before and had no idea what it meant. My friends at church tried explaining it to me; they showed me a few Scriptures that referenced it, and used analogies to try and describe it in an understandable way. However, it didn’t make sense to me at all.

After praying about it and also doing some research, I knew that sanctify meant “to make holy” but I didn’t know how that could translate into an actual experience. I read every verse in my Bible’s concordance and every church publication available on the topic, but it was still a foreign concept. I yearned for more of God but couldn’t figure out how to receive something that I couldn’t grasp on an intel-lectual level.

Eventually, I simply didn’t want to go another day with-out having whatever the Lord had for me. Late one night I prayed, “Lord, I don’t care if I understand what this

Calling myself a Christian but still living with sin in

my life didn’t seem right, so I gave my heart to the Lord and asked Him to forgive my sins.

experience is; if You want me to have it, I want to be open to receive it.” I put off going to bed, praying as I did chores around the house instead. Finally, at 12:32 a.m. on Febru-ary 8, the Lord helped me open my heart enough to receive that experience.

The next morning, I started doubting if the experience of the night before was real, and wondered if I had just been tired and overly emotional. I was not living in a Christian environment at the time, and often felt like the things I could not avoid hearing and seeing were searing my soul. However, that day (and in the days that followed) it seemed there was an invisible shield protecting my heart and soul and I knew for sure that I was sanctified.

When I called my friend to tell her that I had received my sanctification, she told me about yet another experi-ence—the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This experience seemed more under-standable than sanctification. I had seen television programs about speak-ing in tongues and was intrigued by the idea. I wondered what language I would speak and if someone would interpret what I said. My thoughts were very self-focused, but I started to research and pray about this experience as I had regarding sanctification. Somehow the Lord helped me to keep an open heart and blessed me in some wonderful

prayer meetings. Though I had only been a Christian for a few weeks, I was growing and learning a lot about God and Christianity.

By February 12, there was a wonderful prayer meeting going on after church. As I was seeking for my baptism, I felt I had prayed, and pleaded, and given everything I could to the Lord, and didn’t know what else to do. After praying for a while, my friend and I sat and observed others pray-ing. One woman in particular caught my attention. She was also seeking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but her prayer was very different than the ones I had been pray-ing. She wasn’t pleading; she was simply telling the Lord that she wanted to be a stronger Christian, to have His will in her life, and to receive the baptism to help her in what-ever capacity of His work He wanted her to be in. Then she began praying in another language and I realized she was receiving the baptism.

At that moment, the presence of God was so strong that I wondered if He would ever be so close again. It was also suddenly clear what God wanted from me. I went back to the altar and my prayer became, “Lord, use me as Your instrument—fill me so I can be used for Your glory.” In a moment I also started to speak in another language. It was quiet and without any of the pomp and circumstance I had imagined, but it was perfect. I had never felt God’s presence so close—it was as if He had physically touched me as He filled me with His Spirit. Speaking in a language unknown to me was simply a confirmation that I had received this magnificent experience.

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The Lord has remained close to me, and brought me through some challenging times. Not long after I became a Christian, my dad committed suicide. Some people become angry with God in times like that, but I learned to lean on Him. I prayed He would heal my heart and be my father since I no longer had one. He helped me overcome that traumatic situation and gave me a strong spiritual founda-tion for other trials that would come.

In May 1998, God blessed me with a loving, godly hus-band, and after a few years we were ready to start a family. However, I had some physical problems and after many months of tests and treatments, the doctors said it would be nearly impossible for me to conceive. At first, I begged God for my own child, but at some point realized I would rather have God’s will than my own, so I began to pray, “Your will be done.” After becoming increasingly frustrated with the infertility medications, we eventu-ally decided to give up that process. We would have a child naturally or else look into other options such as adoption.

A couple of months after I had gone off all medication, one of the specialists I had been seeing called. He said that according to their most recent test, if by some miracle I were to become preg-nant, there was a fifty percent likelihood it would be a tubal pregnancy, and thus endanger my life. When I told him I had just taken a test and believed I was already pregnant, he expressed concern and told me to make an appointment for an immediate ultrasound. I felt so helpless and afraid!

As soon as I hung up the phone, I went to my knees and prayed, “Lord, Your will be done. The doctors aren’t the authority on life; You are.” In His still, small voice, God com-forted me and let me know that my prayers were answered and I would have a baby boy. Several months later, Theo was born. Two-and-a-half years after that, Rider was born. God blessed us with not one, but two healthy sons!

The next few years were challenging but wonderful. I loved motherhood and the Lord helped me find a way to balance family and career by working from home. Then, a couple of years ago, I started having a series of health prob-lems—severe swelling and pain in one leg and then the other; horrible migraines, one of which made me lose some of my short-term memory for several days; and physical and mental exhaustion. After many tests, I was diagnosed with an inflammatory auto-immune disease and began taking medicine to manage it.

However, I continued to get worse, spending many days in bed. Some nights it was so difficult to breathe that I won-dered if I would wake up the next morning. I wondered if I would live to raise our boys. The doctors continued to run tests, but they couldn’t figure out why my condition was not improving. When I told one doctor that it felt like there was a lump in my throat, she scheduled an ultrasound.

Meanwhile, I felt like a failure as a wife and mother. I didn’t have strength for anything beyond the most basic

I felt so helpless and afraid! As

soon as I hung up the phone, I went to my knees and

prayed, “Lord, Your will be done.”

necessities. Our boys were eight and five years old at the time, and very active. They would ask me to play with them or take them outside but I was always too tired. Yet, I didn’t want to make a big deal of my condition, so I was hesi-tant to ask for help or even prayer. Finally one night, I had another tear-filled conversation with the Lord. This time I just told Him I wanted to be in the center of His will no matter what that meant—even if my family would have to go on without me.

A few days later, my doctor suggested I stop taking the auto-immune medicine for a time. Day by day things seemed to get better. I could breathe without as much diffi-culty and my energy began to come back. In the meantime, the throat ultrasound showed beginning-to-mid-stage

thyroid cancer. It turned out I’d been having a severe allergic reaction to the auto-immune medication. However, the difficult breathing that resulted was the only reason an ultrasound was ordered since the size of the cancer was not big enough to block my throat. The allergic reaction had helped the doctors catch the cancer early on, and they scheduled surgery right away.

For months, my husband had been encouraging me to ask for prayer, and I finally let a few people know about my situation. When I confided in our pas-

tor’s wife, she asked if I wanted a minister to pray with me at the hospital. How could I refuse? Just before surgery, a minister, his wife, and my husband prayed over me and I felt as if Jesus was right there in the room with us. It kept me calm during the hours I had to wait before the surgery began. As they rolled me into the operating room, the song “Christ Liveth in Me” went through my head and I knew I wasn’t alone.

In April 2015, I was declared cancer-free. Though I still deal with the effects of the auto-immune disease and the after effects of cancer, I’m so thankful God has given me more time as a wife and mom. I also have renewed purpose to live in a way that glorifies the Lord. I want our children to see Jesus in me and experience Him for themselves.

It has been over two decades since I gave my life to the Lord. I’ve found that being a Christian doesn’t stop bad things from happening to us, but it sure makes dealing with them a lot easier. Having God in my life is like wearing a life-jacket while swimming in a river—waves may crash over me and there may be rocks to navi-gate around, but He will keep me afloat through it all. I’m so grate-ful for the Lord’s presence in my life. My desire is for His purpose to be fulfilled in me.

Cecilia Morgan is a member of the Apostolic Faith Church in Portland, Oregon.

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DAY TO DAY

God speaks to us in various ways. Are

you listening?

Communication . is more than just speaking; it involves listen-ing as well. By making an effort

to listen while communicating, we can benefit in almost every aspect of life. It can make all the difference in our personal relationships, work environ-ments, and most importantly in our spiritual lives.

God has gone to great lengths to communicate with mankind. This is because He loves us, and wants to help each of us come to the knowledge of salvation, experience a personal rela-tionship with Him, and then grow spiritually. If we are listening, we will hear God speaking to us in a variety of ways such as through His written Word, by the Holy Spirit, and through other people who He puts into our lives. By examining how He uses these methods to communicate with us, and then how we respond to His com-munication, we can more effectively understand His specific instruction and will for our lives.

God communicates through His written Word. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul listed some of the ways in which He does this. He said, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is

profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Why? “That the man of God may be perfect [complete], throughly furnished unto all good works.” The word doctrine in this verse refers to the set of teachings that come directly from Scripture, so through His Word, God provides (or commu-nicates) the foundational principles that we live by.

God also reproves and corrects us through His Word. When we do some-thing that God disapproves of, we may experience an uncomfortable feeling when reading the Bible. Every word can seem to highlight our error until we make it right. It is never pleasant to receive a rebuke from the Lord, but He does it because He loves us and does not want us to get hurt. When my children were young, if I found

one of them playing with matches, I didn’t say, “Oh, that is so cute!” I was able to see the danger that lay ahead—that he could get burned—so I spoke quickly and firmly. Also, I took the matches away and said, “Don’t touch those again; they can hurt you!” God communicates the same sentiment to us through His Word.

In the 2 Timothy account, Paul said Scripture is profitable for correc-tion or straightening one’s path (the word correction comes from the Greek epanorthosis meaning “to make straight”). It provides a right under-standing when we get confused by conflicting arguments around us and don’t know which way to go. When this happens, we can take the opinions on either side of a debate and compare them to the Word. If one of them con-tradicts Scripture, then we know it is not of God, and must not entertain that thought any longer. Scripture is also profitable for instruction in righ-teousness. It is the practical “how to” of Christian living. There is nothing in the human experience that Scripture does not speak to. When we are unsure whether an action is right, wrong, or simply not expedient, we can search

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Some years ago, when I went to visit one of my friends, his parents, whom I had never met, were at his house. Intro-ductions were made and his dad shook my hand . . . and didn’t let go. After a few moments, I became uncomfort-able, so I tried to pull away. However, he just gripped a little tighter and leaned in and asked, “When are you going to stop running?” I had not told anyone that the Lord had called me to preach. Later, when the opportunity arose, I asked my friend, “What have you been telling your dad?” He replied, “Nothing.” In this situation, God had used that godly man to remind me that I needed to deal with His call.

Our response to God’s communi-cation. It is amazing that the God of the universe wants to communicate with us, but it will not do us any good unless we reciprocate, and the primary way we do that is through prayer.

A good way to open communica-tion with God is by thanking and praising Him for all He has provided. This brings God’s presence and bless-ing. The Israelites experienced this when they brought the Ark of the Covenant into the newly completed Temple. We read in 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, “It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in prais-ing and thanking the Lord . . . then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.” When we come before God in prayer with an attitude of praise and thanksgiving, we can be sure He will meet with us.

We look to God for all of our needs, so part of prayer is bringing Him our petitions, but we want to do this in the right way. 1 John 5:14-15 says, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing

according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, what-soever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” Sometimes it is difficult to know if what we desire is in accordance with God’s will. However, if we will lay the request before Him while setting aside our own thoughts on the matter, and listen for His communication to us, God will make His will clear. Then, when we know our request is in align-ment with God’s will, we can pray unhindered expecting an answer.

If we have brought a request before God and have not received an answer, we can ask again. Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” This verse has also been interpreted as, “Ask, and keep asking; seek, and keep seeking; knock, and keep knocking.” In His own time, the Lord always gives a response, so we should persevere until we receive one. It is possible to overlook an answer when it is not what we are expecting, or it is simply to wait. However, if we will employ listening in prayer, God will help us to hear the answer.

The most important communi-cating we will ever do is with our Creator. In Isaiah 46:9-10, He said, “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand.” God knows all things, the past and the future, and when He says something, it is established forever. Therefore, when He speaks, we would do well to quiet ourselves and listen.

Pierre Hancock is pastor of the Apostolic Faith Church in Los Angeles, California.

Sometimes God uses other people to reach us when we are trying to sidestep what He has to say.

the Scriptures with an honest heart. God’s Word is alive; it will always speak to us.

God communicates by the Holy Spirit. When I received salvation, no one had to tell me the transaction had taken place in my heart. The Holy Spirit bore witness with my spirit that I was a child of God, just as it says in Romans 8:16.

After we are saved, the Holy Spirit leads our lives on a daily basis. In John 16:13 we read, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” One example of the Holy Spirit’s leading was given in a testimony during one of our church services. A brother said he was driving home from work one day when he felt a compulsion to take a certain freeway exit and go a different way than his usual route. At first he thought, This is silly. Going that route will add at least an hour to my commute. Then the Spirit spoke to his heart again, but a little more insistently this time. The third time, he realized the Lord was communicating with him and he took the exit. Not too long after, he heard on the radio that there was an ava-lanche above the road he would have normally taken. It pays to listen to the Holy Spirit when we feel that tug at our hearts.

God communicates through others. In 2 Samuel 12:1-13 we read the account of God sending Nathan the prophet to King David with a par-able to help him realize that his sin with Bathsheba was known to God. Nathan relayed that a rich man, who had many flocks of sheep, took the one little lamb, a family pet, belonging to a poor man. When David became indig-nant and asked who did this, Nathan replied, “Thou art the man” (verse 7). Sometimes God uses other people to reach us when we are trying to side-step what He has to say.

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“By love, serve one another”

We would probably all agree that we like to be served. That is one reason we like

going to restaurants—there we do not have to wait on others or even our-selves, but someone else will serve us. And when we go, we prefer careful and attentive service. We like waiters who do not just give a minimal effort, but who do their best to make sure we get everything we want.

The idea of being a servant is not popular among many in today’s soci-ety. Most people prefer being served above serving. Yet Jesus modeled just the opposite: He was a servant of all. When He came to earth, He chal-lenged the norms of the society He lived in, and His example is still radi-cal in our day. He knew the tendency of mankind was toward self-interest, and He gave us an example in stark contrast by modeling and teaching servanthood. He willingly laid aside His own rights—all the splendor and the wonders of Heaven—and took on the form of a servant. That is what He calls us to do as well.

The definition of servanthood is “a person who performs duties for others; a devoted and helpful supporter or follower.” Yet to understand the Bibli-cal meaning of the word, we must look at the life of Jesus. He set the standard of servanthood, for of Him God said, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delight-eth” (Isaiah 42:1). Jesus, our Lord, was

God’s Word instructs us,

Are we obeying that directive?

From a sermon by Marjorie Reid

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a servant of God! His entire life was centered on serving others from a heart of love, thereby fulfilling the pur-poses of God.

We get a good view into the servant heart of Christ in Mark 10:35-45. In that account, James and John asked to sit on Jesus’ right

and left hand in His glory. Jesus responded, “Whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and who-soever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” Jesus told them plainly that His kingdom would be nothing like the ways of the world. The attitude of the world is to lord over others and to act like their master. In Christ’s kingdom, we know there is only one Master who is in Heaven, and that makes all of us His servants! Jesus’ kingdom is about serving, and even the Son of Man himself came to serve.

The world will notice when we have an attitude that is not interested only in what will benefit ourselves, but in meet-ing the needs of others. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Good works will never get us into Heaven, but they are a product of real salvation. They are what we were cre-ated to do and we need to be sure to fulfill that responsibil-ity. Wherever we go and whomever we come into contact with, let us show God’s love by serving others with the good works we were created for.

We read in 1 Peter 4:10, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stew-ards of the manifold grace of God.” God has given every one of us a gift, and it is our responsibility to minister it to others. The next verse tells us why: “That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” Whatever talents or abilities we may have, we want to use them for God and to help others as He directs, that He may be glorified. When we truly love and serve God, we don’t even want any credit for ourselves—we want all the praise to go to Him! The closer we get to God, the more natural it is for us to reach out to others with love and to have a servant’s heart. We will have a heart that is like the Son of God, wanting to serve, to give, and to go the extra mile that more people might know of God’s love for them.

The Word of God tells us to “do good unto all men, espe-cially unto them who are of the household of faith.” If we

are especially good to the household of faith, we are going to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. When some-body is hurting, we will be there to lift them up. Everyone goes through hard times, even the children of God, and for us it is so comforting when a brother or sister comes alongside to strengthen and help us. That person may not even know we are burdened, but God will lay it on their heart to say, “I’m praying for you,” and it is a wonderful encouragement.

Acts 16:14 speaks of Lydia, a woman who had a desire to serve the saints of God. It says that after she was baptized, she “constrained” the brethren to come to her house so she could serve them. Is that our desire? Do we feel compelled to serve the saints? Doing so is a privilege! Some might say, “That’s just not for me. I’m not really outgoing. How could I serve people?” I’ll tell you how—with love. And love to do it! Yes, there are many things we feel we cannot do, but if we have Jesus’ heart we will do our best anyway. When it is done with love and as a servant, it will minister to others and work and we will be blessed as well.

Part of our service is to pray diligently for those in the ministry. God’s Word tells us that they watch for the souls of their congregations, and that is not a light thing. Our min-isters want to serve others, but they need saints to uphold them in prayer, too. May God help us feel that weight and to pray earnestly for them. We might not understand every decision our leaders make, but we can take our questions to Jesus with a humble heart while we pray for them.

Galatians 5:13 teaches us, “By love, serve one another.” That instruction is all inclusive; it means we are to serve at church and also at home. If we do not have a servant’s heart in our own homes, serving others is not going to work so well anywhere else, because we are our real selves at home. When we are caring for our families, we want to do it with a servant’s heart. For example, over the years, I’ve let my husband know that it is not a difficult task for me to cook for him. If I’m going to be away, I freeze meals for him to eat while I’m gone, and I love to do that. I know he appreci-ates it, and it’s my privilege to do it for him.

In Ephesians 5:22-33 Paul instructed husbands and wives how to treat each other. He said wives should rever-ence their husbands. Reverencing your husband is part of serving. To the husbands he said, “Love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” That means serving your wife even before you think about your own self. None of us were born perfect and we all have flaws, so it will not always be easy to serve each other. But when it becomes difficult, in love we can choose to serve anyway, as Jesus did.

Good works will never get us into Heaven, but they are a product of real salvation. They are

what we were created to do.

Higher Way 13

God’s Word also instructs us to love our children and our children’s children. I was blessed to be raised in a home where my parents served their children. I witnessed how my mom would treat the ministry when they would come to our home, and she treated her children the same—with love. She gave everything she could give. In the days when there wasn’t central heating and the bed would be cold at night, my dad would iron our sheets for us so we could get into a warm bed. That was how my parents were; they each had a servant’s heart for their children and I’ve never forgotten it.

When we lead our children with a servant’s heart, it is easier for them to follow. We teach them Bible stories and that is good, but the Bible stories come to life when they see Jesus in us. They might not fully understand the Gospel, but they can know what love is all about if they have been served in love. When we show them God’s kindness and patience, and speak with words of affection at home every day, it will touch their hearts.

Everywhere Jesus went, He showed compassion in word, in deed, and in action. He did not only go to the wealthy or the prominent; He also ministered to the outcasts. He loved them and He served them. When we are following Jesus, something in our hearts will constrain us, too. Jesus visited the lonely and the shut in. He stopped for the poor. He fed the hungry. He had time for the children. He had very little in terms of material possessions, but He had a servant’s heart. We might think we have nothing to give, but if we have Jesus we do have something—we have love and com-passion to share, and if we need resources, God will provide that too. When we minister to others with a servant’s heart, God will make a way for whatever is required.

Jesus showed the importance of dedication and com-mitment in servanthood. How deeply was He commit-ted? All the way. How long was He dedicated? All the way! We cannot be dedicated just on Sundays, or only when it is convenient. We need to be committed every day of the week, and do whatever our hands find to do with all of our might. We are not serving God because we have to; it is our choice. We do it because we love Him, and our attitude should reflect that. There is a limit to what we can do, but many times we can lay aside ourselves and choose to be a servant. That is what Jesus did; even when He was so burdened that He sweat as it were great drops of blood, He laid Himself aside and obeyed what God was asking of Him. Whatever God might be asking of us, we can pray, “Lord, I’m unworthy to be a servant of the Most High God, but I want to serve You! Help me to lay myself aside and do what You have called me to do.”

Looking at Jesus’ life, we also see that He demonstrated the necessity of prayer. Sometimes He prayed all the night long. He prayed when the going was good, as well as when things got rougher than any of us will ever experience. At His most difficult time He prayed in the garden of Geth-semane, and once more we see the evidence of His ser-vant heart. He could have chosen not to go to Calvary, but He prayed, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). A servant must submit to his master and Jesus was an example of that. He was faithful to the end. At times when it is painful or when we do not understand, through prayer we can find the strength to submit to God and be faithful to Him.

My father set an example of how to go above and beyond for others. On one occasion, he was traveling in central Newfoundland and on his way home he saw a lady and her little child on the side of the road trying to hitchhike. My dad had a heart of compassion so he stopped to pick them up, and he changed his direction in order to take them where they needed to go. When they were getting out of the car, the Spirit of God spoke to his heart and told him to give them five dollars. My dad only had five dollars to get home, and this wasn’t in the days of credit cards or cash machines. He was several hours away from home, but he had a ser-vant’s heart. He gave the lady his money; no doubt she was in need. She looked at him and said, “God bless you.” She was already giving glory to God!

Before he went home, my father also stopped to see the church brethren. When he went in to greet one of the older brothers, that man slipped ten dollars into my dad’s hand. My dad said, “Why are you doing that?” and he said, “I just want you to have it.” Then my dad went to greet the brother’s wife and she slipped him five dollars! By that time my dad’s soul was overflowing. God had blessed him abun-dantly, and it was because he had a servant’s heart. That’s how God gives—He blesses you over and over, and it makes you want to give Him even more!

Jesus said in Luke 22:27, “I am among you as he that ser-veth.” Can we say that? Are we known to others as servants? To live the life of a servant, we must humble ourselves before God and invite Him to be Lord of our lives. Servant-hood may not be what the world wants, but it is what we want. Our prayer is, “Lord, I want to serve. Let me be Jesus’ hands and feet extended today.” Thank God that He gives His children a servant heart. He wants us to show that to the whole wide world! Let’s determine to live what Jesus modeled as servants of the Most High God.

Marjorie Reid is pastor of the Apostolic Faith Church in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.

We might think we have nothing to give, but if we have Jesus we do have something—we have love and compassion to share, and if we need resources, God will provide that too.

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EVIDENCEWE SOMETIMES SING a song which says, “What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought, since Jesus came into my heart,” and that surely is my testimony. The Lord did make a wonderful change in me, and that change has lasted for a long time.

I am so glad for the day God trans-formed my life because I was a young boy who was miserable in sin. I had trouble getting along with other kids in the neighborhood; I had a whole lot of issues on board, and I knew I was headed for trouble. Many times I tried to turn over a new leaf as the Lord would convict me of things I had done that were wrong, but my efforts to do better accomplished nothing. I am so glad for the night that I prayed and the Lord made the change—He turned me right about face and gave me peace in my heart. It was wonder-ful! The next day it was like I had to get re-introduced to myself because of the transformation that had taken place.

That has been a long time ago, but God did such a good job that I have never wanted to turn back. This Gospel works! I am so glad that I have been able to serve Him all of these years. I appreciate the church services, the testimonies of what God has done for others, and the Word of God that we hear preached. God has been so good, and I want to serve Him for the rest of my days. — Norman Hall (Portland, Oregon)

AS A CHILD I always wanted to serve the Lord, but I was raised in a back-slider’s home and did not know about salvation. We dressed modestly and could have passed for Christians as far as our looks were concerned, but we were not Christians in our hearts.

When I was sixteen, my grandfather got very sick, so we moved to Grants

Pass, Oregon, to be with him. We wanted to attend church and had two choices, but Dad said he would only go where my grandfather went, and that was the Apostolic Faith. We came and I kept hearing that I needed to get saved. I did not understand what that meant, but finally after three weeks, I put it in God’s hands. I said, “God, this is what I need, so please give it to me,” and He did. Then He helped me give my first testimony two hours later at a young people’s meeting in Medford, Oregon. That was fifty years ago.

God also sanctified me and gave me the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I have needed those deeper experiences through the years. Following God is not always an easy path, but it is worth it. I have relatives in Heaven whom I want to see again, and I am doing all I can with God’s help to make it there. — Winnie Wright (Portland, Oregon)

WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN, I gave my heart to the Lord—and in the words of a song we often sing, “Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.” That night when I prayed I had no idea what the rest of my life would look like, but I am so thankful that the Lord has been there every step of the way.

Over the past year-and-a-half, I have done a lot of traveling. In four-teen months, I made thirteen trips to Europe and one trip to Asia. I am so grateful that through that time of travel, the Lord was with me. Many times while in Europe I would watch our Sunday morning service at 7:00 at night on our church website, and my heart felt so connected to the Lord. It was such a blessing! I can still picture the apartment I was in and how the Lord would bless me.

There were many times during my travels when I needed to lean upon the

Lord. The hard part was not the travel-ing but the actual work. While it was very exciting, it was also incredibly dif-ficult. Many times as I would be star-ing at my computer, I experienced sort of a “blank page syndrome.” I would think, What do I do now? And I would pray, “Lord, help me! Give me an idea, bless my creativity.” When I was just exhausted, I would pray, “God, give me strength.” And time and time again the Lord blessed and answered prayer.

That chapter has come to an end, and now there is a big question: What is next? I am a person who likes to engineer what is next. I am not one to passively sit by, and the Lord is kind of working on me to sit by and let Him have control. That is not always easy for me to do, but I am so thankful that I have the confidence that whatever is next will be in His will and He will take care of me.

It has been a long time since I made that commitment to the Lord when I was thirteen, but I am so glad my jour-ney with Him is still ongoing. — Yvonne Wilson (Portland, Oregon)

AS I LOOK BACK over my life and think about what God has done for me, there is so much praise in my heart. I am thankful I was born into a Chris-tian home, and that I had a mother who knew the value of taking time to pray with her children. She taught us out of the Word of God and made sure we knew right from wrong. However, even though I had that wonderful her-itage, at the age of sixteen, I realized that I had no peace in my heart. I loved to play football, and there were other activities I greatly enjoyed, yet when I pillowed my head at night there was no peace.

On July 4, 1971, during a camp meeting service, I finally went to the

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PERSONAL TESTIMONIES OF THE POWER OF GOD

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

altar of prayer. I prayed an honest prayer and said, “Lord, I want peace in my heart.” Praying that prayer was the best decision I ever made in my life! In just a few moments of time, peace and joy came into my heart.

God gave me a wonderful wife and we have had forty-one blessed years together. Sometimes I meet people who are amazed when they find I have been married for forty-one years. I say, “It’s not a miracle, it is God. He put that love in my heart.”

Serving the Lord brings joy. When I played sports as a young man, I never wanted to be in second place—I wanted to be in first place! With the Gospel, I feel like God has put me in first place. I see people around me in this world today who are trying to go through the motions of being a Chris-tian, but the defeat and the turmoil in their lives is apparent. I am thank-ful I have found victory in serving the Lord. I love God with all my heart, and I am so grateful for what He has done for me. — Lee Spakowsky (Spokane, Washington)

AS A CHILD, I had Christian parents who brought me to Sunday school and church. As an adult, I am so thankful for that careful, godly upbringing. Today was my uncle’s funeral, and the minister who spoke talked about how he remembered seeing my uncles and my dad come to church services with my grandma. My grandmother was a widow; her husband died when her three sons were young, but I am thankful for her faithfulness in teach-ing them about God and bringing them to church. Now my dad and uncle have passed on to Heaven, but their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren are coming to church and love the Lord.

I’m thankful that what keeps us is more than just a heritage—it is some-thing real that God does in the heart. I was fourteen when the Lord showed me that I really needed to know for sure that I was saved. The Lord spoke to my heart on the first day of camp meeting. I prayed several times after services, and one night the joy of the Lord came into my heart. It was such a wonderful experience! Through the years God has given me so many blessings and I am truly grateful. — Sue Martz (Richmond, California)

GROWING UP, I had a big advantage in that I was brought up in a Chris-tian home. We read and prayed every day—that was a habit in our family. We did not go to school without read-ing the Bible and praying first. We didn’t go to bed without reading the Bible and praying again. And that was a huge blessing, even if I did not always recognize it at the time. It was shown clearly to me that serving God was the right way to live.

At the age of nine, at my first church youth camp, I was saved. Looking back, it seemed like a really easy deci-sion to make. It seemed obvious that being a Christian was the best way. But as you grow up, when you start to see people living a different lifestyle, you have to figure out if this is really what you want. I am so thankful that God solidified that desire and purpose in my heart to serve Him. It became more than a decision I made as a little kid, but it was something I wanted to stick with and be a part of my whole life. Going through high school and through college, it remained very clear to me that this was what I wanted.

I am thankful that now, as an adult with a family of my own, God is still with me every day. He blesses me beyond anything I could ask for and more than I deserve, for sure. He has given me a job that I love, a wonderful Christian wife, an awesome family, many friends, and a great support system here in the church. The list just goes on and on.

I am so thankful for the decision I made when I was nine, and by God’s grace, I want to see Him in Heaven. — Gary Sletmoe (Portland, Oregon)

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From the time I was a little girl until gradu-ating from high school, I attended Catho-lic schools. My family was not especially

religious, but I was baptized in the Catholic Church and we went to services on Sundays. Growing up, Catholicism was all I knew about God or church.

My family was well off, and as a child I wanted for noth-ing. In fact, my mother went to great lengths to give my sisters and me whatever we desired. I had friends and went out with them, and my parents did not prohibit me from doing anything I wanted. In a sense I had everything, but at the same time I had nothing. Once I was alone at the end of a day, there was an emptiness inside of me that I could not get away from.

One time that empty feeling became especially over-whelming. I was so upset that although I was barefoot, I started running down the street on a gravel road. I kept running hard for about a mile and a half, trying to get rid of that empty feeling. That day it seemed as though some-thing inside of me exploded. Nothing could console the deep pain I felt.

At the university I studied dentistry in a class of about fifty students, and we all worked together daily. Life at the university was normal until one young man in our career group invited all of us to church. He never missed an opportunity to talk about the Lord. Even though he lived an hour away, he would offer to pick me up at my house for church services and bring me home afterwards. I always said no, telling him, “I belong to a different church. I don’t want to visit your church.” Yet he never tired of inviting me.

One day, when I was nineteen years old, that feeling of sadness overwhelmed me again. I had gone out with some friends and should have been happy, but afterwards I felt the same pain inside. It seemed nothing could satisfy. I thought, Well, I don’t have anything to do. I guess I’ll call my classmate and tell him he can pick me up for church.

The moment I entered the church building that evening, something happened. It was like my fears were shattered, and I let my guard down. The Lord dealt with my heart, and I realized He was what I had been longing for. When the preacher stood up, it was as if he knew why I was there and what I was searching for. He declared a message that com-pletely fit my life. At the altars of prayer I opened my heart to the Lord, and He saved me! He changed my life that day, and it was amazing. I found what I had been searching for when I gave my life to the Lord.

The first days after I was saved were wonderful as the Holy Spirit started to lead me. My eyes were opened. In the past I had not cared about other people’s needs, and felt no remorse if I spoke to

others in a mean way or made people feel badly. After God came into my life, all that was different; I valued people for who they were. My life had changed!

As I became more established in the Gospel, the Holy Spirit showed me that I needed to be sanctified, and I began to consecrate my life to God. My need seemed too big to overcome, but I yielded myself completely and kept pray-ing. One night I turned on my radio to some worship music and cried out to the Lord. The Spirit helped me as I prayed, and God did the work. He sanctified me and I could see the difference afterward. Sanctification transformed my inner-most being, and increased my hunger for more of God.

Eventually, the classmate who had invited me to church became my husband. His father is a pastor, and for years the whole family had gathered weekly at the church to pray together. After we married, my husband and I joined them. One evening, as we were driving to the family prayer meet-ing, God started to deal with me. I began worshiping the Lord and praising Him. When we arrived at the church, my eyes were closed but I walked directly to the altar and got on my knees. As I worshiped the Lord, the Holy Spirit came down powerfully. My praises grew stronger and then sud-denly the Lord changed my language. I tried to pray again in Spanish, but I couldn’t because the Spirit had control of my tongue. I had such happiness inside because I knew I was surrendered to Him! On the drive home, the Holy Spirit was still speaking through me, and He spoke in many different languages, not just one. Even as I went to bed that night, He still continued. It felt like God poured out as much of His Spirit as I could possibly hold that night.

The gift of the Holy Ghost is a blessing, but it doesn’t come alone. It comes with the call to work and serve the Lord. God has given my husband and me three beautiful children, and now we are serving God together in an area of the capital of the Dominican Republic where there is great need. We have a small ministry that is growing, and the Lord is helping us. Without Him, I would be nothing. I depend completely on Him and my life is hidden under the hand of the Lord. I am so grateful to Him.

Leidy Ureña Pichardo attends the Maquiteria Apostolic Faith Church in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where her husband is pastor.

SomethingWas MissingShe thought nothing could fill the void in her heart . . . until she accepted a friend’s invitation to church.

By Leidy Pichardo

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Today’s Youth

I was eighteen years old when God said to me, “You have debated this and run from this decision long

enough. You have to decide tonight if you are going to continue serving Me or try things on your own. Will you surrender your life to Me tonight?” I had been running from this decision for a few years but that night God had me cornered, and I knew the question had to be answered before I left that chapel.

My testimony really begins eighteen years before that night. I was privileged to be born into a wonderful Christian home, and was brought to church and taught about God from before I can even remember. I had Christian parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins; the list went on and on. It was much more than just hearing about serving God; I saw what living a daily Christian life looked like. All of this information and these examples did not make me a Christian, but it did allow me to choose to become a Chris-tian at a very young age.

When I was young, our church had “watch night” services to celebrate the end of one year and the begin-ning of a new year. Those evenings always included fellowship, food, vari-ous activities, and a concluding prayer

time from a few minutes before mid-night until a few minutes after. When I was six years old, one of the activi-ties was a film about the crucifixion of Christ. My dad was responsible for the projection of the movie and I was in the control room with him. After it was over, I asked him why Jesus had to die. He told me Jesus died so we could be saved and go to Heaven. That answered my question but cre-ated another. So then I asked my dad if I was saved. He looked at me and said, “Well, have you asked Jesus into your heart?” I realized that no, I had never prayed that prayer. Dad took out a metal folding chair and set it in the middle of the room. While everyone else knelt to pray until the New Year started, I knelt at that chair and asked Jesus if He would come into my heart and save me.

With the simple faith of a child, it only took a moment and I knew that

Jesus had come in and made a differ-ence. I was too young to comprehend the theology involved, but I knew something had happened. When we came downstairs from the control room, while standing under the wall mounted tithes box (that’s how small I was!), I told our pastor, Brother Carver, that I had been saved that night.

Not long after, the Lord sanctified me while I was praying with my grand-mother, aunt, and father. Then before I started high school, after a summer of seeking the Lord, He blessed me with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Life and my Christian walk were going great.

Then there was high school. I began to see and learn about a lot of things I had not known previously, and I started to wonder if perhaps my life had been overly sheltered. Maybe I had been taught a skewed version of reality and everything I had learned was not

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accurate. I also began to crave indepen-dence—not only independence from my parents’ rules but also from God’s rules. The devil repeatedly told me how much fun everyone else was having, and that serving God was stopping me from living life to the fullest.

Some of what I learned at school made me wonder if Christianity was false. However, no matter what I heard, I simply couldn’t believe that. I knew that I had touched God, and in addition I had seen far too many Christian lives lived out consistently—day in and day out, in church and out of church. It didn’t matter what any teacher said; I could not accept the idea that Christianity was false.

However, the allure of “freedom” was a bigger challenge for me. I did not like feeling that I was somehow miss-ing out. I knew God required a Chris-tian to live a holy life, but I was not certain that I still wanted to submit to the requirements of living that way. I can remember even wishing I had been born somewhere else. I thought perhaps if I had never been taught about holiness, then I could have done more of what I wanted and still make it into Heaven. This became a major battle for me, especially during my senior year of high school. I purposely tried to move to the very edge of the Gospel and do as much of my own thing as I could while still remaining a Christian.

Every year our church has a week of special meetings during March, and the spring of my senior year, we had a pastor staying with our family. One morning he came out to breakfast and told us that the Lord had showed him that someone nearby was in a very serious battle for his spiritual life and was teetering on the brink of being lost. That statement ruined my break-fast because I knew immediately that person was me. I tried to ignore it and

push the decision off, praying enough to keep my salvation but not enough to take care of what God was asking for.

Soon after graduation, I bought a newer car. Halfway through the summer I was driving three of my friends in a very reckless manner, and lost control of the car. We slid into oncoming traffic and then off the side of the road. After skidding for nearly a quarter of a mile on two wheels through the gravel, we came to rest

against a large tree. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured. The Lord had protected all of us from what could easily have ended in a fatality.

Shortly after that wreck I went to our church’s youth camp. During that week the Lord continued to talk to me. Finally on Thursday night He cornered me up. He told me that He had let me debate and run as far as He would let me go. I had only kept my salvation because in my heart I was too scared to completely let it go. But I was really trying to serve two mas-ters and do a large percentage of what I wanted. God told me that night I had to decide what I would do with my life: Would I truly surrender and leave it in His hands or would I take it and try to run it myself? I knew that I could

not waffle anymore. I would leave that chapel building one of two ways: com-pletely sold out to God or no longer a Christian.

I could not deny the truth of the Gospel and I told the Lord that I would serve Him—not because my parents served Him, not because a minister told me to serve Him, and not because He had saved me at six years old. I would serve Him as an adult and con-tinue to give Him my life because that is what I wanted to do. The Lord came down and met me that night in a way that was just as powerful and real as any of the three basic Christian experi-ences I had received as a child. When I walked out that door, I knew the battle was over. I had decided which side I would stay on and re-surrendered my life to God.

In the years since then, I have become more and more thankful for my Chris-tian heritage, and that by God’s grace I never turned away from following Him. I’ve found that the principles of the Gospel, and even the standards of our church, are not rules to hold us down; they are guidelines to show us where we are supposed to be. If we follow them, our lives come out better, we are happier, and we have less stress. The simple peace and joy of a life sur-rendered to God are worth any price.

God’s way has always worked out to be the best. I’ve found that through school, on the job, getting married, buying houses, and just day-to-day sit-uations. Sometimes life takes different turns than we may expect, but I know God has a plan and that all things will work together for good because I am surrendered to Him. I am so thankful the Lord helped me to make the cor-rect choice that night.

Trent Paulsen is a minister of the Apostolic Faith Church in Portland, Oregon.

After skidding for nearly a quarter of a mile on two wheels through the gravel, we came to rest

against a large tree. Amazingly, no one

was seriously injured.

Higher Way 19

A wholly sanctified person is one who has been conse-crated or set apart to serve God and is cleansed from his sin nature. Though the cleansing work of sanc-

tification is accomplished in an instant, spiritual growth should continue throughout a Christian’s life. There are many aspects to this maturing process. For example, Scrip-ture teaches that God wants His people to be holy in their relationships, in their wills, and in their thoughts. The Lord can help us be pleasing in His sight in each of these areas.

Holiness in Our RelationshipsRelationships were established by God. He ordained

marriage, He instituted friendships, and He gave guidelines to govern these matters. Most of us have many relation-ships—we have spouses, children, grandchildren, teachers, friends, and employers and co-workers. God’s desire is that these relationships be a blessing and encouragement both to ourselves and others.

In order to have holiness in our relationships with others, we need to have a close relationship with God. It is good to stop for a few moments now and then to tell the Lord that we love Him. One time I was at a Pump It Up play facility for children with one of our little granddaughters. She wanted me to go with her in the inflatable structures—through the tunnels, down the slides, and so forth. I’m con-siderably bigger and heavier than she is, so it was a bit hard for me to navigate. As we were going through the obstacle course, she stopped and came over and gave me a hug. That was special; it was evidence that we share a good relation-ship. It made me think of my relationship with God. Do I spontaneously let the Lord know from time to time how much He means to me?

We do not always have a choice in our relationships, but when we do, we want to choose individuals who will help us toward Heaven. The Scriptures tell us, “Be ye not unequally

yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14). In Bible times, oxen were yoked together to do farm work. If the animals were going to accomplish anything, they had to be headed in the same direction. Amos 3:3 asks, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Who are we yoking ourselves with in our relationships? If we are going in one direction but the other individual is pulling us another way, we will be hindered.

This does not mean that we should become recluses. No, God wants us to be His witnesses in the world. However, we must be careful whom we choose as close friends. We want to separate ourselves from sin and its influences, and avoid putting ourselves in a position that would tarnish our testi-monies or compromise our principles. Our close associates should encourage us in our walks with the Lord.

God’s Word tells us how we should conduct ourselves in our relationships with others. We read, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). Think about the Golden Rule and treat others as you would like to be treated. It is also essential to be forgiving. If some-one has done something to us that is difficult to forgive, the Lord can help us.

Here’s an exhortation that goes against human nature a bit: “In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). We want to consider what is best for others and to help them out where we can.

What helps build good relationships? Qualities such as honesty, reliability, selflessness, faith, and love are vital. What hinders good relationships? Differing beliefs about Bible doctrine, diverse values, a critical spirit, negativ-ity, self-promotion, contending for one’s own way, and inconsistency could be on that list. We do not want those

hree Aspects of Holy Living

We want to make sure that all of these areas are consecrated to the Lord.

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characteristics in our lives, or in the lives of those we choose to be among our close associates.

God has put relationships in my life that have encour-aged and blessed me. My mother was only with me for the first nine years of my life. The night she passed away, she was praying at the foot of my bed. I appreciate that memory, and I believe God is still answering her prayers today. Then my grandma came and filled the gap in my life for a while. She was there to help out, and she encouraged my siblings and me in the Lord. There was a man named Brother Herb who prayed across the altar from me when I was saved many years ago. Later in his life, he could not see well. One time I saw him come out on the deck of his home, look toward the heavens, and praise the Lord from his heart. It inspired my soul to see someone who was going through a difficult time continue to praise the Lord.

On Sunday mornings when we come to church, at times the burden of the day is on my heart. When the church people begin to gather with smiles on their faces and eager-ness to serve the Lord, it encourages me. The encourage-ment we receive from one another is priceless. It is the family of God working together for the sake of the Gospel. When we follow the guidelines of the Word of God, have godly relationships, and work together, everyone benefits.

Holiness in Our WillsOur will is defined as “the power of choosing one’s

own actions; the act or process of asserting one’s choice; to decide; bring about.” Jesus was the supreme example of yielding His will to the Father’s. In Gethsemane He prayed, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). As we think about our lives, can we pray that same prayer? Can we say, “Not my will but Thine be done” from our hearts? May our purpose be to surrender our wills to the One who is able to make us what He wants us to be.

F. B. Meyer, a pastor and author who lived from 1847-1929, described how God brought him to the place of total surrender. While in prayer he visualized a ring of keys that represented all the aspects of his life. He gave them to God, and the Lord asked, “Is this all of them?” He admitted, “No, I have one more. There is one little closet in the corner of my heart that I want to control.” The Lord replied, “If you do not trust Me in all, you do not trust Me at all.” As Dr. Meyer resisted handing over that last key, he felt the Lord receding. In desperation he cried, “Lord, I’m not willing to give this up, but I’m willing to be made willing.” God brought him to the point of full surrender.

That is what God does. Perhaps we want to hold onto something the Lord wants us to give Him. When we relin-quish it, He often gives us something so much better. Maybe what we are hanging onto weighs us down and hinders our work for the Lord. Let God have it! When we give Him what He asks for, the blessings will come.

A few years ago, I worked in the scrap metal business. Scrap aluminum was melted in a furnace so the impuri-ties could be separated out and the liquid metal poured into molds to form ingots. Often, the Lord may add a little

“heat” to our lives so He can remove the impurities and mold us for the work He wants us to do. As we allow our-selves to be purified and then poured into God’s mold, we can take the form that God has designed for us. We become usable by yielding our wills to God

Our destiny is in our choice. Will we yield and choose God’s way or not? Isaiah 1:19 says, “If ye be willing and obe-dient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” It is important to have holiness in our wills—to surrender to the Lord and follow His bidding.

Holiness in Our ThoughtsDoes it matter what we think? Yes, it does, because often

our actions are the result of what we have been dwelling upon. We need to be careful what we think about. Suppose we wake up in the morning and say, “Oh, it’s going to be a terrible day—I can feel it in my bones!” What kind of day will we have? Very likely it will be just what we anticipated. It would be better to think like the Psalmist, who said, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). We can choose to think posi-tively because God is on His throne, Jesus came to save sin-ners, and He said He would never leave or forsake us. God will help in our trials and tests. He is good and faithful, and that is why we can rejoice and be glad.

The Bible says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Having the mind of Christ means aligning our minds to the principles of God’s Word—to love what He loves, to hate what He hates, to uphold what He upholds, and to reject what He rejects.

It takes vigilance to maintain a godly mind in this world. The devil will try to distract us and get us interested in the ways of the world. Romans 12:2 exhorts, “And be not con-formed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renew-ing of your mind.” We must conform our lives to God’s Word. We do not want to be pressed into the mold of the world, but rather into the mold that God desires. We want the thoughts in our minds to be acceptable to the Lord.

The Bible tells us what to think about—things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report (see Philippians 4:8). God has promised to keep in perfect peace the person whose mind is stayed on Him. Do we keep our minds stayed on the things of God? Let us input the things that are edifying and pleasing to the Lord. Daily we must make a vigilant effort to be careful. It is not just a moment of surrender regarding our thoughts, but it must take place on a moment-by-moment basis.

When we consider the Word of God, we want to know it in our minds, stow it in our hearts, show it in our lives, and sow it in the world. We need to know it in our minds if we are going to get it into our hearts. It needs to be in our hearts and minds if we are going to show it in our lives. And that is necessary to sow it in the world.

Our desire is to hide God’s Word in our hearts and serve the Lord continually. May He give us holiness in our thoughts, in our wills, and in our relationships.

Kent Thompson is pastor of the Apostolic Faith Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Higher Way 21

Highlighting Our Heritage

A near fatal boating accident

caused this man to consider where he

would spend eternity.

By Ivon Wilson

As I awoke that beautiful July morning, the thought raced through my mind that I would

take my boat out for a sail after work and have an enjoyable evening on the river. Little did I know, that very night I would narrowly escape death.

A short time later, with lunch pail in hand, I started for the door. As usual, my mother asked me, “Ivon, are you coming to church tonight?” I gave my customary reply, “No, I will be taking my sailboat out.” My thoughts were more like, Mom can you ever lay off? However, I didn’t speak those thoughts because I had a sincere respect for my Christian parents.

I had smarted off to my mother once. I said, “How do you know you’re going to the right church?” She looked me right in the eye and said, “When our ministers pray, God answers.” I had been healed several times, and there was no question in my mind that God had healed me, so that ended the conversation right there.

There was no excuse for the sinful life I was living. My parents lived godly lives every day of the week, having made their choices years before to serve God wholeheartedly. They had

owned a homestead in South Dakota and had been very successful at farm-ing, but they were troubled because there was no Sunday school for my sister to attend out there on the prai-rie. They received Gospel literature from the Apostolic Faith Church and in time God led them to sell out and move to Portland, Oregon, to be a part of this work at the headquarters location.

My father had a wonderful crop that year and it seemed a poor time to move, but they knew this was what God wanted. As they prayed, God showed my father the day to hold the auction—right in the middle of har-vest. Neighbors wondered if my father had lost his sanity. They said, “Nobody will come to your auction and you won’t get what your stock and equip-ment are worth.” But Dad was sure of what the Lord had showed him and flyers were printed for the auction.

The night before, a heavy rainstorm came and soaked the fields so much that the farmers could not get into them to harvest. With nothing else to do, everybody came to the auction. And my dad got top price for his stock and equipment!

Spared!

22 Higher Way

I grew up knowing this event as well as many other answers to prayer. I planned on getting right with God sometime, but that day out on my sail-boat, it was far from my mind. At 4:30 p.m. I left work and headed for the moorage. I owned a twelve-foot sail-boat and had spent a lot of time get-ting it painted and all fixed up. Now, the wind was fair—just perfect for a good evening sail.

I climbed on, lowered the center board, cast off, paddled out from the float, and hoisted the sail. The wind was warm on my face as I tacked down the river with absolutely no thought of God or eternity. But though I was as carefree as could be, God was watch-ing the whole scene.

On my return around eight o’clock, I approached the float to secure my boat. I got up from the stern and moved toward the bow in preparation for tying up. Just as I was moving past the sail, a gust of wind caught it on the other side and jibbed it across the boat. It struck me—and seconds later I found myself struggling in the water.

My work clothes and shoes weighed me down, and I had no life preserver on. Many times in situations like this, a boat will move rapidly away from the person in the water. I was facing death.

People sometimes think, If I ever get into a life and death situation I will pray—but prayer never entered my mind. The only thought I had was that I didn’t want to drown. Even though I didn’t pray, God spared my life and allowed the boat to stay close to me. I got hold of it and crawled back on board. I didn’t give God any of the credit at that moment, but a short time later I came to the realization that God had spared my life.

Camp meeting was in progress at the Portland campground, and a few nights later I attended an evening ser-vice. I had no real thought of giving my heart to God, but God was draw-ing me. Sitting in the service, I paid as little attention to what was going on as possible. Tuning out the service was not too difficult, but trying to turn off the conviction that God was placing on my heart was an entirely different matter. I began to think about eternity and my never-dying soul.

As soon as the closing prayer was finished, I left the tabernacle and went out to the street. I wanted to get away from the Voice of God, but that was impossible. I walked, God talked, and the devil fought. God let me know that if I had drowned in the river I would have gone straight to Hell. I realized that this was my night to pray through to salvation. I had been getting further away from Him and deeper into sin all the time, and that night the battle raged. I walked and walked. It seemed as if I walked for hours.

Finally, right there on the street, I gave up. I decided to go back to where the saints of God were praying and see if I could get saved. When I arrived at the church, the prayer service was still going on, but the devil had a grip on me and I couldn’t get up the courage to go forward to the altar of prayer. I stood watching, unable to move, and wondered if I had gone too far to be able to pray.

Then I noticed one of the brothers talking to two boys about my age, a little ways from me. It was clear that he was talking to them about going to the altar and getting saved. I thought if I stayed right where I was, he would come over and say something to me.

That was a wise decision, because as soon as he was finished talking to those two, he headed straight for me. He said, “Ivon, don’t you want to pray?” At other times when people had asked me to pray, they had been met with a rebuff or some smart answer, but this night was different. I had paid the price in my heart and I was “coming home” to God.

I don’t know that I even answered the brother. I just turned, and we walked down to the altar area together. There, some of the saints of God gath-ered around and began to pray with me. I asked God to be merciful to me, a sinner, and He saved my soul. I liter-ally felt the burden of sin leave. Tears of joy flowed down my cheeks, and those about me began to praise God and sing hymns. What rejoicing there was around that altar of prayer!

I did not join a religious organiza-tion that night, turn over a new leaf, or shake the preacher’s hand to be saved. What I did was pray an honest prayer,

I wanted to get away from the Voice of God, but that was

impossible. I walked, God talked, and the

devil fought.

Higher Way 23

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.

and God did the work in my soul. He picked me up out of the life of sin I was living and transformed my life.

In the days and weeks follow-ing, I learned that salvation worked! Although I was still in high school, I was employed in a machine shop that summer. God helped me to go back on that job with the same men that I had run around with in sin, and live for Him. No more blasphemy came out of my mouth, and I didn’t get angry with the machinery in the shop and throw tools around. That fall I returned to Benson High School for my senior year, and there, too, I lived a victorious life. It took God to make that possible.

After I was saved, God helped me make restitution for the wrongs I had done. What a good feeling to know everything was clear between God and me, and me and my fellow man!

The Lord has directed my life from that time on. About a year after my conversion, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy. I went into the service a Christian, and God kept me with the victory. During my time of duty, I received a letter from the church telling me that a vessel had been purchased for use in missionary activities in the Puget Sound area, and up in Canada and Alaska. God drew the consecration from my heart that I wanted my life to be one of service for Him, and I had the privilege of being part of the crew of that vessel for a number of years.

As I look back over the years, I see so many blessings God has given me. I want to live in the center of His will—to see people saved, the sick healed, to encourage those who are discouraged. Today there is a hope of Heaven in my heart, and I do love the Lord.

Ivon Wilson was called to the minis-try in 1952, and assumed his first pas-torate in 1967 in Yakima, Washington. He also pastored in Denver, Colorado; Grants Pass, Oregon; and Port Angeles, Washington. In 1984, he began full time work at our headquarters office min-istering to the sick, grieving, and shut in. Rather than retire, he continued this work for nearly thirty years, and is remembered by many for his prayers and encouragement. He passed away in March of 2015.

Listen to Camp Meeting Sermons!

IF YOU ARE UNABLE to attend an Apostolic Faith camp meeting in person, visit our website at www.apostolicfaith.org. You will be able to view webcasts of the services from the 2015 international convention at our headquarters in Portland, Oregon, as well as listen to audio files of sermons given at some of our other camp meetings. They are sure to encourage and inspire you to a closer walk with the Lord. You will also be able to download archived sermons, listen to special musical numbers, read news articles, and view photos of the camp meetings in our online photo gallery.

Visit our website to sign up for a free subscription, renew a current subscription, or browse through past issues in our archives.

Higher WayThe free Christianmagazine.