Chapter 66

     John and I started going to Billings to promote our direct sales products and met a man through the woman I had met at camp.  Don was very ill but was a hard-core believer in God’s Grace and was praying for healing.  Such spiritual fortitude in a man I had never seen before.   

     Don invited my new friend, the woman from camp to come see a man, Mike Williams, who would be speaking on Grace at a hotel convention room as he didn’t speak much in churches.  She called me and asked me to go with her as she wanted to see what I thought of his teachings.  

     I showed up that first night and the first thing Mike stated before he got started was that starting at 7:00 p.m. he would not go past 11:00 p.m. no matter what.  I was hoping for an hour or so but this kind of took me back a bit.

     He began to teach with his focus on God’s Grace and explaining the gospel and its relationship to Grace.  He called his talk, “The Gospel Revolution”.  This was the very best teaching I had ever received and was very much along the lines of what I had come to believe.  Very much different from what the Assemblies of God taught.  He taught till 11:00 p.m. and true to his promise he quit at that time.  Not only did the time fly, but no one there wanted him to stop.  It was just amazing.

     Mike was teaching for five days that week, and I called Lori as well as John and Cheri, told them what I had seen and asked them if they wanted to come over the next night.  They did.

     That week went so well and as Mike’s schedule was open the next week, we invited him to come to Bozeman.  We got the word out and about thirty of our friends showed up for the meetings. 

     On one night after he finished at 11:00 as usual, no one spoke or moved for almost an hour.  The profound peace of the Lord was so strong in the room, no one wanted to interrupt it.

     We also asked a pastor friend of ours to host a night at his church where we had more people show up.  We asked the pastor afterward what he thought.  He stated he could find nothing wrong with his doctrine, but he could never let him speak in his church again as some of the people in his congregation opposed the teachings.  

     His church had broken away from our Assemblies of God church and very much believed that a Christian could lose his salvation, where Mike did not.  He then went on talking about some of the people that the Lord had touched during the meeting, one of which had a major life-changing experience. 

     We bought his tapes, and I used them for years to minister to help others.  Everyone returned the tapes stating that they had a profound effect on their lives and greatly appreciated them.  These meetings were life-changing for Lori and I and helped us in our life.

     I saw Mike a few years later but his talks had changed, and I did not agree with some of his new views.  Sadly, he had strayed from some basic doctrines of the church.  I have not seen him since.

     Since then, Lori and I have come across Joseph Prince who has a ministry that is similar to what Mike used to teach and very much focused on God’s Grace only more in depth.  We appreciate his ministry very much and highly recommend it to others.

     Our church in Bozeman hosted a Valentine’s Day dinner for couples in the church.  The guest speakers were a couple who spoke on healing and deliverance and how it influenced their lives.  They then invited anyone who wanted personal ministry to schedule a time with them.  Lori and I took them up on their offer.

     We went and it was one of the best personal ministry time we had ever had.  They helped us to understand how the enemy attacks us by using different open doors in our lives, helping us close those doors and getting rid of the dark spirits that were taking advantage of our weaknesses.

     It had a huge effect of completely defeating certain attacks in our life instantly and put us on the right path to overcoming some other issues.

     Through the years we have helped many others by duplicating what we have experienced, come to know, and walk in understanding of. With the help of our gifting, God had used us to bless others, which we are grateful of being able to do.

     This type of ministry along with what was known as  Theophostic Counseling, which is today called  Transformational Prayer Ministry, has helped me greatly throughout the years.  I highly encourage others to seek help of this kind.  It will increase your ability to ward off the enemy and help others.

     The children’s pastor of our church got paid half of what the other pastors did, while his wife worked beside him full time for no pay. They were extremely good at their job and were the most appreciated children’s pastors we had had in twenty years. 

     The senior pastor came to me informing me that they were behind on their bills and wondered if I knew of any way that they could earn a little extra income on the side.  An opportunity came available that would catch them up in just a few months and they started working a few extra hours a day with gratitude.

     A couple of weeks later the pastor announced from the pulpit that the children’s pastor had found a part time job, and the church was cutting their salary in half.  This was also how they found out that their income had been cut. 

     Lori and I found this to be extremely deceitful and disappointing.  This got Lori and I looking around for another church, settling on a new Vineyard Church that had just started up.  With our firm belief in grace and eternal salvation I still have never been to an Assemblies of God Church since.