Two Business Friends Meet Again, Around Jesus Christ

In 1968 I was in my office at 121 Veterinary Hospital in McKinney, Texas. My secretary came into my office and told me there were three men in business suits in the reception area that asked to see me.

“What do they want?” I asked her and she replied, “They want to talk to you.”

I didn’t ask her to send them in but stepped out into the reception area. One of them I knew, the second one I had heard of, and the third one introduced himself as Bob Cavnar.

I had been told about a feedlot with pens that would hold 12,000 feeder cattle, owned by Meat Producers, Inc., and that the president of the company was Bob Cavnar.

So that day, I wasn’t completely surprised by the visit. Bob told me a little about himself and his earlier years and we discussed my earlier years to a lesser degree. He informed me that the two people with him represented some cattle operations and he told me he wanted me to be the veterinarian for the feedlot in Melissa, Texas.

“Mr. Cavnar,” I said, “I am not a feedlot veterinarian, I am an equine practitioner.”

Bob replied, “I’ve heard all about you and I know what you are, but my representatives tell me that you are willing to say, ‘I don’t know what this problem is but I will try to find out,’ and that’s why I would like for you to be our veterinarian.”

It was actually a friend and colleague, M. Allen Anderson, who had told Bobbie about me and my practice.  He was the President of The Premier Santa Gertrudis Association in Texas. He was a friend of Winthrop (Win) Rockefeller, owner of Winrock Farms of Arkansas, whose Santa Gertrudis herd was well known. Rockefeller served as president of the International Santa Gertrudis Association and also Governor of Arkansas.

Allen Anderson knew my work, not only attending horses but also cattle. He was very fond of me, telling me once “I love you more than I do my own sons.” I didn’t really know what to say to that. Anderson made arrangements to host a field day for Future Farmers of America (FFA) boys and Vo-Ag teachers at his N Bar A ranch near Frisco, Texas and he asked me to be one of the speakers. He had 250 hay bales set up on a hillside for seating, which would accommodate 500. I enjoyed young men and they did me, and I talked to those kids for about thirty-minutes about cattle and horses and the livestock industry.

 Anderson was impressed with my knowledge and ability and he had no hesitation to recommend me to Bobbie Cavnar. It was just the devil exalting me, but Jesus in me kept me from being pushed to speak about a cow, what I was confident to say about a horse.

Bobbie and I talked for some time that day.  I was a very busy veterinarian, very busy, and my initial thought was that I just didn’t have time.  I recall it was in the hot summer, so it must have been July or August, and as I was considering everything, I thought, “You know, I could be a consultant and visit every Friday, 1:00 to 2:00 pm.  I could drive my air-conditioned Pontiac down each feed-row and watch the cattle eating, and never get out of my car.”

I was an equine practitioner, but I loved to watch cattle eat. They are so humble; they are so serious, and yet so calm and contented when they are eating. So I said, “I will be glad to be a consultant and check your cattle every Friday and if I see something that I need to attend to, then I will devote time to treating that.  I’ll work by the hour, unless I have to involve myself in some treatment or medication.” I also informed Mr. Cavnar that his technicians would administer all medications.

It was actually a selfish, enjoyable time for me, to spend one hour a week, observing cattle. After about three or four months of enjoying my observation for pay, I arrived at the feedlot and they said, “Doc we have a problem.”

 “What’s the problem?”  I asked.

They explained, “If you make too much noise, these calves faint; some of them go into convulsions.”

Well, that meant I had to get out of my cool car and get a closer look. It was a nice operation; the pens were all metal pipe construction, beautifully built. I was quite agile and climbed up to the top rail, swung myself over, landing into a pen of about 125 head of cattle and immediately about half a dozen of them fainted.

So I went to the next pen and did the same, swung over the top rail, landing in the in the pen and more fell out with fainting and convulsions. I went through about four or five pens, and in every one of them, about half a dozen of the cattle fainted and some had convulsions.

I was not afraid of what I saw, even though I was not a feedlot veterinarian. I just wanted to find out what was wrong. Interestingly, not one of the calves had died and that encouraged me.  Bob Cavnar was a very nice friend to me, he knew my reputation and he had confidence in what I would find out.

I thought initially it might have something to do with the ration, what they were eating. I talked with veterinarians and Bobbie called PhDs and experts in the field to arrange phone conferences.

I talked to a feedlot PhD. out of Arizona and he was no help. I talked to Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Georgia, Colorado State, Iowa State, University of Minnesota, Kansas State, University of Missouri. I consulted with Quaker Oats, other food suppliers and I found no one with any answers. Bobbie arranged a phone call with a PhD from California, who was at the airport between flights. Everything he suggested I had to tell him I had already tried that, and in exasperation he finally said, “Look, I’ve got to go. I’m glad this is your problem and not mine,” which told me he didn’t know either.

I talked to the head of the bacteriology Department of Iowa State University for several hours and he encouraged me greatly. I then talked to a man in Greeley, CO, C.R. Mackey, and he said to me, “You are an equine practitioner and you’ve taken this job on? You’re the boldest man I’ve ever talked to.”

I told him, “I’m the biggest fool you ever talked to.”

As I said, I was a very busy veterinarian and I also had many other commitments. I was president of the North Collin Water Supply Corporation.  I was a partner in a corporation which owned an arena. My partners were a vice-president of a construction company in Dallas, a secretary of a large motor-freight line company, a man who was the president of four small banks and vice-president of another.

In 1968 I had bought a fifty acre farm in north Texas and moved my American Saddlebred operation to that farm. I installed horse fence to build two, five-acre pastures to keep my mares and foals. It was on this farm where Hail to Genius was born, foaled by my mare Patty of Oaks. Hail to Genius won runner-up in the halter class at the Texas State Fair.

I was also one of five veterinarians for the Texas State Fair.

It was God that involved me in the corporation that owned an indoor arena. I was initially a silent partner with 20% of the shares, and I wanted to keep it that way, but later, due to extenuating circumstances, it was necessary for me to be named as president and it was all for God’s purposes in my life. The arena would seat 3500 people.  We hired a manager and produced rodeos, calf-ropings, horse shows, wrestling matches and concerts, including Willie Nelson.

Through the wrestling matches, I met and became friends with Jack Adkisson, a football player and graduate of SMU who became a professional wrestler known to most by his ring name, Fritz Von Erich. He and Johnny Valentine were one of featured matches in the arena.  Jack and I had a number of personal conversations about our lives, we trusted one another. At one point he and I discussed another business proposition, and he told me he would go in with me 50/50 if it was just he and I, however if the others were included, it would be 51/49.

With all I had going on, an afternoon driving and looking at cattle, watching them eat, would be a very pleasant interlude. Later I would look back and see that God was in all of it, including the day I met Bobbie and agreed to sign on as a consultant, thinking it would be an easy, enjoyable afternoon every Friday—never expecting the kind of problems that developed.  God surely used it in convincing me He might be talking to me. And all during that time, dealing with the feedlot and all of these other activities and investments, God was talking to me—the Lord was riding with me in the right front seat of my car, asking me, “When are you going to preach the gospel?”

One morning I went to the feedlot to see Bob Cavnar and learned he was no longer with the company.  Not long after that, we resolved the issues plaguing the cattle, the company hired a general manager and I soon resigned as their consultant.

Just a few months later I was driving down US-75 and I’ve shared many times my words to the Lord that day:

“If this is you that has been bugging me all these years, if you will sell my shares in this corporation (the arena) I’ll do whatever you ask.”

The next day, He did just that.

Two weeks later, again driving down US-75, the Lord said, “Sell your hospital and practice and obey me,” and after some weeks and months of wrestling with my soul, and by the grace and mercy of God, I sold out, January 2, 1970. I drove away, not knowing where I was going or what God had planned for me.

After selling 121 Veterinary hospital and my practice, I heard about a man leading a church group named Bob Cavnar. A lady had been attending his meetings, and told me about them and him, and I asked, “What does this man look like? This was in 1973, and when she told me I thought, “My God, could this be the Bob Cavnar that I worked with at the feedlot? Someone I had gotten to know and we became trusting of one another to a degree?”

 I learned he had a meeting at the Moody Coliseum at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas and by now I’m thinking, “This has got to be Bobbie.” So I went to a meeting at the Moody Coliseum, and sure enough, Bobbie was leading the meeting. I felt encouraged to meet somebody that I knew in the flesh that was leading God’s people. After the meeting, I went to look for him. I walked around in the Coliseum and in the hallways and finally asked, “Does anyone know if Bobbie Cavnar has an office here?”

“Oh, he’s right down the hall.”

I walked in and Bobbie said, “Doc is that you?”

 I said, “Bobbie is that you?”  I had many conversations with Bobbie during those months in the feedlot and obviously God was dealing with each of our hearts. When we met again at that day, one of the first things he said to me was, “Man, that feedlot was full of demons!” I said, “You’ve got that right.” I knew that here was a man in the Charismatic Movement, that I knew well in the flesh, a man I had great respect for and the respect was mutual.

Following that meeting and during the next year, I met with Bobbie at his home in north Dallas, not far from Midway.  He told me he believed Satan had taken over America, and he was considering moving his group to British Columbia. He never did, but Satan certainly tried to push him to. I spent two hours talking with him one day and he said, “Doyle why don’t you pray, and if you think its right, come join me.”

Bobbie was born in 1924 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  He was a decorated Air Force pilot and received the commission of colonel at age thirty-three.  After 22 years in the Air Force, he retired in 1964 and went into private business. He held executive positions in two companies, one of those being president of Meat Producers, Inc., a D.H. Byrd & Co. Enterprises, subsidiary. As mentioned above, Meat Producers, Inc. owned and operated the feedlot facility at Melissa. Texas.

He became involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the early 1970’s, receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit in Ann Arbor, Michigan in May 1970.  He later became involved in the discipleship/shepherding movement through Ralph Martin of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Bobbie’s son James had joined with Ralph Martin’s Catholic discipleship group in Ann Arbor and had introduced the two men. Bobbie later founded a group called “Christian Community of God’s Delight”, in Dallas, Texas, a group that belongs to a world-wide association of lay communities, formally recognized by the Vatican and their local bishops.

In May 1971, I, along with my wife and daughter, committed myself to a three day fast to seek a right way according to Ezra 8:1 and at the end of that fast, God sent me to Opa-Locka, Florida in 1971 to manage a small animal hospital for eleven months. While I was in Florida and before returning to Texas, I was at a meeting in Ft. Lauderdale where two young men from Juan Carlos Ortiz’s ministry presented the Discipleship “plan”. Charles Simpson and Bob Mumford brought those teachings into the Charismatic Movement after they had heard the teachings of Juan Carlos Ortiz.

Charles Simpson, Bob Mumford, Don Basham, Derek Prince and Erin Baxter later formed a group known as Christian Growth Ministries and these five men were known as The Fort Lauderdale Five. I became well acquainted with all these men except Erin Baxter; especially Derek Prince, who I knew well, we were friends. I spent many afternoons in his and Lydia’s home in Florida.

I returned to Texas in 1972 and soon after, I received a phone call from a friend who told me Charles and Bob were going to divide Hollywood, Florida at Sheridan Avenue, one taking the north side and the other would take the south side. I knew that wasn’t God and said so.

I was seeking a right way, and that day as I drove away from Bobbie Cavnar’s home, I knew in my spirit it was not right that I join him in his work. I knew he was deceived and I couldn’t in any way, walk with him. But to see him and spend time with him again, and see that God was dealing with his life was an encouragement to me.  He was a friend and colleague from my years walking in the natural who maybe had some understanding of what God was doing in my life when so many others thought I might have lost my mind.

The last time I saw Bobbie Cavnar was at the El Fenix on LBJ Freeway. He was always a friend—kind and encouraging and though he was deceived I loved him and still do.  The last I knew about him, he was doing television in Russia for the pope. Bobbie went to be with the Lord in 2002.

A year or two after Bobbie had asked me to consider joining him, I was convinced that the Discipleship movement was not of God. I humbled myself for six years, not wanting to miss God, willing to be corrected. I received much persecution from prominent religious leaders in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex and the Fort Lauderdale Five, because I wouldn’t allow them to rule me. I had sold my practice and hospital at the direction of God and God had led me every step I took and when they told me I had to be submitted to someone, I told them I was, to Jesus Christ.

I tried the spirits whether they be of God or not and when I knew it wasn’t God, I walked away. You can read more about my overcoming the discipleship movement on my website.

January 1971, a year after I had sold my hospital and practice, God gave me a vision:

“In January of 1971 I laid down in bed about 10:30 PM to go to sleep when suddenly before my eyes I found myself standing at the water’s edge.  The water was crystal clear and I could see the bottom was covered in small brown pebbles that went out for about 10-12 feet. At that juncture was a clear line of demarcation, the water became very blue, deep blue. I was reminded of the water I saw in the South Pacific in 1953.  I raised up, sat up in bed, shook my head, everything remained the same, the vision didn’t go away.  I stood up and the scene never left me. I thought this must be a vision of God.  As I looked up and out the water as far as you could see was deep, dark blue just like the water in the South Pacific Ocean.  In a few minutes I was able to go on to sleep.  The next morning I began to pray and ask the Lord what the vision meant.  About 11:00 that morning it came to me by the Spirit, “You are about to enter into deep water, and if you look to the left or look to the right or listen to any man you’ll drown.” 

By the grace and mercy of God, I was not “gathered by men” although many tried.

A few months after I sold my hospital and practice, and to be frank, I was struggling with what I was going to do, I happened to be in Texas and stopped by M. Allen Anderson’s home. His wife came to the door and when she saw me, she said, “Doyle!” She treated me like family; they both had always treated me like that. I said, “Mrs. Anderson, is Mr. Anderson here?”

“Doyle, he’s dead,” she said.

I was stunned. She explained to me that his doctors thought he ought to take up jogging and one day he fell over dead.

Every person that I might be tempted to look to for help or counsel, God took out of my life, and M. Allen Anderson was one them.

It will be forty-five years in January since that vision of standing at the water’s edge. It was instruction to me then and those words remain faithful to me today and I can boldly say, “The Lord is my help.”

Hebrews 13:6

…The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Bobbie was a friend of mine, a pleasant humble man and he, like myself, knew many people of importance; but it doesn’t matter who you know. What matters is:

Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, emptied himself of all his creative ability and was born of a woman, made under the law of Moses; that he might redeem the world through his death burial and resurrection?

I am an apostle of Jesus Christ, not by the will of man, but by the will of God and no man can come to Jesus except the Father draw him. The Father, Jehovah, brings us to Jesus that we might believe on the one that gave his life for us and that He could bring us to one accord—one heart and one soul, that being the Church, the Body of Christ .

You will have to believe on Jesus, who paid the price for us to be reconciled back to the Father, Jehovah, if you ever expect to be with the Father and submitted to Him throughout eternity.

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:3)

My prayer for the world is that they will humble themselves and receive in their heart, Jesus Christ the Son of God from the beginning, who laid down his life for mankind, that we might become sons of God.

God Bless,
Doyle Davidson
Servant and apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ

Posting Index

North Collin Water Supply Corporation

The first meeting for what became the North Collin Water Supply Corporation, was held at the Melissa High School at Melissa, Texas, and the intent of the first meeting was to have a discussion about rural water supply for the area. The meeting was called by some of the local residents that lived near Melissa. When we arrived at that meeting, we learned they had already chosen a seven member board.

Edith McIntyre, a woman who was known in the community and who was from a prominent family in the area, attended the meeting. When we learned that they had already chosen a board, she stood up and said, “You all have chosen a board and we never had a chance to vote. I recommend you abandon this board and you elect this man sitting right here as president,” and she pointed to me. And guess what? They did. I became president that night and asked some from the group they had previously chosen, to join me. This meeting was prior to the June 26th meeting addressed in the McKinney Weekly Democrat Gazette, June 30, 1966 edition, which lists myself and six others as directors and I was also president although the paper didn’t list the officers.

McKinney Weekly Democrat Gazette June 30, 1966

Following the meeting reported on, in the June 30th edition, we held several meetings and during those meetings I indicated to them that I preferred surface water rather than drilling wells and there was a great deal of discussion of the matter.  A number of those on the board with me wanted well water and I presented the reasons why I believed surface water was the better alternative.

First and most importantly, if we purchased surface water from the City of McKinney, it would take less operational personnel; we would be free of any maintenance issues.

If we drilled wells, we could anticipate equipment failures at some point and residents would be without water until repairs were made and we would bear the expense of the repairs.

Contracting water from the City of McKinney would require them to fulfill the contract and they would have a much greater means of supplying  the needs of the community than we would.

This is how I presented my recommendations to contract surface water and frankly, I could not see we had an alternative that would provide an uninterrupted water supply for the long term.  After much discussion from others we decided to hold a meeting to vote on the issue, drilling wells versus contracting surface water with the City of McKinney. I had already talked with McKinney and they had agreed to supply water to us.

At the meeting to decide the issue, all seven members of our board were present, including myself. Three members voted for drilling wells and three voted for surface water. As president, I voted to break the tie and I voted in favor of contracting with the City of McKinney to supply our water—the motion was passed.

The next morning when I arrived at my office, one of the board members was standing outside crying. He and three others had agreed to defeat the motion to contract water from the City of McKinney and when he arrived at the meeting, one of them had decided to switch their vote. The three were very unhappy but I held firm with the outcome of the vote and the November 7, 1967 news article in the Courier Gazette reflects that the McKinney City Council had signed a contract to supply water—about  a million gallons per month—to the North Collin Water Supply Corporation.

The Courier Gazette November 7, 1967

God was with me that day. This was a powerful move of God and I want to give glory to Him. Jesus Christ wanted North Collin Water Supply Corporation to purchase their water from McKinney and He changed that board members heart and he voted accordingly.

Proverbs 21:1:

The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

Doyle Davidson
First president of North Collin Water Supply Corporation

Posting Index

A Work of Righteousness - 1989

Wrestling with a Principality

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. I John 5:4

Bringing Lazarus to America. In 1988 I received a letter from a young man in Zimbabwe. He was requesting that I bring him to the United States to attend our bible training school. After considerable praying I knew it was the right thing to do. As it turned out God was leading me in a righteous path to overcome the Immigration Service of the US Government. You see it needs to be noted here that we wrestle with principalities (governments), powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. The church needs to understand it is the highest authority in the earth, with Jesus Christ being Lord and having preeminence over all things. So it was necessary that I overcome the Immigration Service of America; that was primary purpose for bringing Lazarus here.

I was warned by the American Embassy in Harare that males from Zimbabwe only wanted to come to America to marry an American woman and become a citizen. It is regretful but that is exactly what Lazarus did. This was done for me to overcome a part of the government of the United States.

First of all I asked my congressmen, Dick Army to help me. After two weeks his office wrote me a letter and said they could not help. God directed me to go to the Immigration Office myself, in the Federal Building in downtown Dallas. This was a real entertaining experience, frankly speaking. On the way to Dallas, I had a prayer, “Lord, give me an ear!” I arrived at the Federal Building and went to information. As I began speaking the person turned their head and held their ear toward my mouth, “giving me their ear”. They started writing on a piece of paper and directed me where to go next. This happened in four different offices. Finally I was at the right place, made my request, and they informed me what I needed to do. They then told me to come back three days later on a Friday and pick up the necessary papers.

I went back to the Immigration lawyer on Friday and requested the documents. He told me they were in a downstairs office. I knew in my spirit he was lying and didn’t intend to give them to me. You see the Spirit of God in me knows when you are lying. God hates a lying tongue, Proverbs 6:16-19,

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

I said to him, “You told me you would have them (the papers) so I want you to keep your promise and give them to me.” I just stayed in front of his desk and reiterated, “I am going to give you an opportunity to keep your promise.” Frankly he was one angry lawyer, but I would not be moved. Finally he ended up giving me what I wanted. He called someone downstairs and after some period of time the papers were prepared and delivered to me. It was going be a bureaucratic run around, but one needs to understand I walk in the Spirit of God and whatever God tells me to do, I will do it and I will always be successful. I have over forty-one years of proof of what I just said.

Lazarus arrived two weeks later. We furnished him a place to live, clothed him and gave him a job at the ministry while he attended the Christian Training School.

Later, I called Dick Army’s office back and spoke to his office manager. I told her that I was able to get Lazarus here and she replied, “How did you do that?” I told her, “God told me to do it.” She affirmed, “Well, God speaks to all of us but we won’t listen to him.” I thought to myself, “Woman, how right you are!”

Moving the Mission. In August of the previous year we closed the mission in McKinney but began renovating the West Side of Water of Life Church to house it here. We reopened it this year here in Plano. We purchased a large cooler so we were able to give away refrigerated items, such as milk, butter, and cottage cheese. Clothes and other items were given away being donated by people from Water of Life and others. We served around 144 families a week, and averaged about $75,000 in food a year.

We built a new parking lot with an additional one hundred parking spaces.


More years of "A Work of Righteousness:"

1980               1989               1998               2007
1981               1990               1999               2008
1982               1991               2000               2009
1983               1992               2001               2010
1984               1993               2002               2011
1985               1994               2003               2012
1986               1995               2004               2013
1987               1996               2005               2014
1988               1997               2006

Posting Index

Interpretation of Tongue - November 30th, 2015

November 30, 2015 11:00 AM Livestream Broadcast

Interpretation - Doyle Davidson (Tongue given by Kathie Davidson)

Transcript:

The word is nigh thee even in your heart and in your mouth, that is the word of faith which I preach, that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Instructions following interpretation:

My friends, you need to believe that; that’s the gospel of Jesus Christ, that gospel is all that’s going to keep you in the days ahead. We are living in very difficult times; the world is chaotic, the spirit of sorcery is out to destroy the whole earth but if you will believe this gospel, get it in your heart, believe it, trust in it, adhere to it, you may walk upright in victory in the earth. No one can move the gospel in a heart of faith. No one can move you when you believe the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. My friends, this is the only salvation on this earth today and all that ever was here. Jesus brought the gospel to us, he walked in it, he preached it, thank God, and you’re going to need it because tribulation like you never heard is coming to the earth, it’s already here, it’s beginning to advance.
Posting Index

Samuel Gorton

Samuel Gorton is a 9 th great-grandfather of Doyle Davidson on his mother's side. His exact birth date is not known but it is believed it was around 1592, in the town of Gorton, England. He wrote, "I was born in the town of Gorton, old England, where not only I but also were the fathers of my body for many generations."    Family historians write that Samuel's father Thomas was a husbandman (a tenant farmer) and possibly involved in other trades. Other historians believe he was a merchant trader, so it could have been both, as was suggested. It is believed Samuel was apprenticed as a clothier in Manchester around the age of nineteen and that he didn't leave home until the age of 25 or 30. He married Mary Maplet sometime before 1630 and at this time he was well established in the clothing trade. An interesting note about his wife Mary was she could read and write, which was unusual for a woman in those times. She came from a well known, affluent family.    Her grandfather, John Maplett was a distinguished clergyman.  Her father John was a haberdasher (merchant in men's clothing), a trade similar to Samuel's and may be how they met.  One could surmise that raised in such a genteel environment, Mary must have been a woman of character, strength and courage to have survived the challenging life she had with her husband. They eventually had nine surviving children, and most of those were born under very difficult frontier conditions. Samuel was not formally educated at any of the celebrated colleges of England and he wrote, "I was not bred up in the schools of human learning; and I bless God that I never was". He was instructed by tutors and received a classical education from them. Being studious, he became an accomplished scholar, more than ordinarily skilled in the languages and learned English law. He was raised in the Church of England, commenting on this fact in his writings. On one particular record of him while he resided in London he is described as "Samuell Gorton, clothier" and also as "Professor of the ministries of Christ."

He and his younger brother Thomas, Jr. and their families joined those migrating to America in 1636. "He yearned," he writes, "for a country where he could be free to worship God according to what the Bible taught him, as God enabled him to understand it". He was accused of leaving London because of an unpaid debt, which he denied in writing, "I left my native country to enjoy the liberty of conscience in respect to faith towards God, and no other end." Upon arriving in Boston, he and others like him found the new rulers had established over that colony, a new church government as strict and severe as the one they had left in England.  The Massachusetts colony was Puritan. Those who didn't agree with the governing authorities lost all privileges as a citizen, to vote or own land.  The freeman's oath had been changed from the government of King Charles and was now to the government of Massachusetts.  Magistrates were empowered to fine or imprison all persons that didn't attend their church meetings, and no one could be admitted to the freedom of the commonwealth who gathered in any other church meeting; no one could inhabit the colony without being examined and licensed by the magistrates and anyone who settled in violation of these laws were commanded to leave.  The orders were enforced with severe penalties. "He discovered that the liberty which he sought was not here; that the practice here was far short of the profession as he understood it, and the liberty which they practiced was only a liberty for themselves and not for their other fellow Christians". Within about two months from the time of his landing he took up his residence in Plymouth, intending to make that his home.  The Plymouth government was somewhat more liberal than Massachusetts colony.  The Pilgrims did not require of the settlers that strict conformity to their church as Massachusetts did. Their freeman's oath was to King Charles; their governor was chosen directly by all the freemen, and they recognized the franchise rights of nearly all settlers.

At the time of Gorton's arrival in Plymouth, the annual election was soon to take place.   The church party was pushing for the same government that Massachusetts had. Many citizens were quite alarmed because Massachusetts had a representative government which made all the decisions, and they feared citizenship would be granted only to a few strictly qualified church members.  The church party prevailed but Gorton had become the most determined leader of the people in opposition to the church system.  He and his family faithfully attended the regular church services, but he also held meetings in his home for the instruction of his family and others began attending, which offended some in the community.  A widow who he had employed as a housekeeper was accused of smiling in church, and Gorton went to court to defend her in her place. When he arrived with the information to show that the offense was not recognized in English law, he was charged with deluding the court because he kept his housekeeper from coming.  He had to return to court to defend himself for defending her.  The sixteen men that the court depended on for the trial and orderly proceeding, in Gorton's defense, voiced their disapproval by not being present.  They were all fined.  "The magistrates" Gorton asserted, " should not be made parties and judges; the place of a persecutor was not in the judges seat, but "down where a persecutor should stand;" and he called the people to witness how their liberties were abused.    He was "sentenced to depart from Plymouth, his home, his hired house, his wife and children, and to be beyond the utmost bounds of it within fourteen days."   It was during winter, one of the most severe recorded in which many colonists were frozen and perished.  He walked to Aquidneck Island to Pocasset, which was the first settlement on that island.

Gorton again became entangled in disputes with the local governing authorities, which had been set up much like the one they had left in Massachusetts.   His objections were that those who administered it observed not the laws of England, of whom they were subjects, nor the rights they provided for her subjects, that they had received no grant of sovereignty from her, nor were they ruling by the permission of a majority of the people, but had set themselves up as rulers and were governing by their own interpretations of laws from the Bible.  Gorton was a student of the law. His library that he brought with him from England contained the standard authorities, and he understood his own and the people's rights better than did the judges and elders. With Gorton leading the group, they ousted the ruling government and set up one under English law.  It was the first government in the colony, organized like our government today.   They were then under a compact which swept away the whole Puritan policy.  It was a model government.  They changed the name of the town to Portsmouth, and they held regular meetings monthly.  But there were those who resented the interference and found a way to accuse Gorton. The same snare that had been used in Plymouth was set up at Portsmouth, again using Gorton's servant.  Gorton went to her aid and ended up in court himself.  He protested against the unfairness and illegality of the proceedings and ended up being publicly whipped, according to an eye witness account.  Gorton and others who were leaders of his party (some of who were the original purchasers of Aquidneck) abandoned the island and went to Providence. 

Before Gorton arrived in Providence the people there had been engaged in land disputes for about three years.  Roger Williams' land grant was divided into two parts, the whole of it being called "The Grand Purchase of Providence" and the west part "the Pawtuxet purchase."   William Arnold and his son Benedict Arnold (great-great grandfather of the traitor, Benedict Arnold), son-in-law William Carpenter and Robert Cole claimed the Pawtuxet purchase, and they did not allow newcomers in their settlement to be landholders.  There was an on-going dispute between Providence and Pawtuxet. When Gorton and his friends settled in, they had no personal difficulties with anyone.  Not wanting to be drawn into the dispute, they withdrew from the early settled portion of Providence and purchased a claim from Robert Cole.   During the fall and winter of 1641 and 1642, Gorton and his five associates from Portsmouth, plus two from Providence, built houses and worked to provide for their families.  The Pawtuxet group was not pleased and considered they were illegal settlers.  Benedict Arnold wrote a complaint about one of the settlers' cattle, signed it along with a small number who were in agreement with him, and headed it as a "petition of the people of Providence", which was not true.  It was unofficial and unknown at the time to the whole of Providence and only represented the petitioners.  He sent it to the Massachusetts magistrates who advised them to put themselves under jurisdiction, "and then we would have a calling to protect them".  This petition initiated the Massachusetts Bay colony extending its jurisdiction beyond its chartered limits.   Gorton and his friends regarded this as a flagrant act of usurpation.  The Arnolds and their group stirred up a controversy that lasted sixteen years.  The Massachusetts colony not only wanted to bring that area under their control, but they also wanted to stamp out what they considered to be heretical doctrine of the Rhode Island settlers, and this gave them the means to do so. All the Pawtuxet settlers were notified that any disputes among them would be settled by the courts at Boston.   William Arnold delivered the warrant to the people as one of Boston's newly accredited officers. Massachusetts colony then sent him along with other officers to Miantinomi, the Grand Sachem of the Narragansetts Indians to demand he come to Boston, deny the sale of land he had made to Roger Williams and submit himself, his tribe and their lands to Massachusetts.  He appeared, but would not deny his sale to his friends at Providence, defended his rights and refused to submit anything to Massachusetts; thereon, the court forbade him to sell land without permission and ordered the disarmament of his people.

One of Gorton's friends who had moved to a Dutch colony encouraged Gorton to come there. Gorton thanked him but told him he could not be subject to a "foreign prince".  Gorton and eleven other men purchased Shawomet December 1642 from Miantinomi determining to settle far enough from the other settlements to be out from under Massachusetts' jurisdiction. This stirred up Massachusetts further, that Miantinomi disregarded their orders and sold land to the "heretics". The little band of settlers were brought face to face with all the power of the larger colony.   Gorton and his colleagues now had to choose between civil liberty and bowing down to this arbitrary power and going into their courts to be tried and judged and maybe punished.  They chose the first. They addressed the court with a letter and two statements stand out: ...."But the God of vengeance unto whom our cause is referred, never having our protector and judge to seek, will show himself in our deliverance out of the hands of you all..........."We will not be dealt with as before we speak; in the name of our God, we will not; for if any shall disturb as above, secret hypocrites shall become open tyrants and their laws appear to be nothing else but mere lusts in the eyes of the world,"  and they concluded, "Countrymen, (we can but call you so), though we find your carriage to be far worse than these Indians."

After Massachusetts had asserted her claim it became evident to other settlers that their independence, their only guarantee of rights of religious freedom, could not be maintained without a charter. They acknowledged Gorton's theory of security and a stable government and joined in petitioning the English government for a charter for government. The people chose Roger Williams in February of 1642-3 "to seek this favor and protection from the mother country."  The group at Portsmouth had already sent a committee to secure a patent for Aquidneck Island (which included Portsmouth and Newport), and Massachusetts had two agents in England making efforts to secure a patent for the Narrangansett territory, including Providence, Shawomet  and Aquidneck Island. Williams' departure was just in time to prevent it being patented to others.  At this time, the colonies of Massachusetts, New Haven and Connecticut made an alliance, termed a United offensive league and defensive league against heretics and the Indian tribes who would not submit to their governments, Plymouth being brought into the alliance later. Miantinomi again was solicited to go to Massachusetts, and even when threatened that the sale of land to Gorton and his partners should cost Miantinomi his head, the Sachem would not denounce his loyalty to his Rhode Island friends. It wasn't long after this that he was captured and killed by the rival Mohegan Sachem, Uncas, at the instigation of the Massachusetts colony.  Massachusetts then seduced two sub-sachems under Miantinomi's rule to bring their areas under Massachusetts' jurisdiction. This was brought about by the Arnolds, who had been selling those Indians arms and gunpowder in the past.  After numerous threatening notices to the Providence and Shawomet settlements and their replies to not comply with their demands, forty soldiers under the command of Captain Cook, Lieutenant Atherton and Edward Johnson were dispatched to Providence. The women and children fled from Shawomet, into the woods, Gorton's wife being one of those.  The wives of John Greene and Robert Potter died from exposure in their flight. The men fortified one of the homes and prepared for a siege.  The soldiers ransacked their homes and seized all their cattle, (which they turned over to Arnold).  The soldiers were four times in number of the settlers and besieged them many days.  The settlers did not fire one shot, not wanting to harm their countrymen.  Seeing that they would have to yield, the settlers agreed to accompany the officers to Massachusetts, provided they might go as "free men and neighbors."  They were seized and marched through all the towns on the way to Boston.  The arrested men were Samuel Gorton, Randall Holden, John Wickes, Richard Carder, Sampson Shotten, Robert Potter, John Warner, William Waddel and Francis Weston.  Richard Waterman and Nicholas Powell also surrendered themselves and appeared at the trial of the rest of them.   (John Greene and two others escaped). The only complaints registered against these men, were by the ministers and magistrates.  The trial went on for weeks. The men were condemned as blasphemous enemies of the Lord Jesus and were sentenced and imprisoned, barely escaping the penalty of death by the refusal of the people to agree in the judgment of the elders.  They were all sentenced to be confined to hard labor, in irons in different towns, Gorton at Charleston, the entire winter.  They were eventually set at liberty because the general public did not approve, and it was public opinion that brought about their release.  Francis Weston died from the hard conditions.

They were banished from all Massachusetts' jurisdiction, which they considered extended to Shawomet as well.   When Gorton and his companions returned to the island, the Indians welcomed them with great joy.  Gorton, because of his treatment of the Indians, his treatment of Miantinomi, (whom had been captured and killed by Uncas of the Mohegans despite Gorton's pleas for his release), he had the highest favor with the Indians that any white man had ever had.  They sought Gorton's council and submitted themselves and their dominion to the King of England.  In this one act, this little band of men thwarted what Massachusetts colony thought was their final conquest of the Rhode Island area. Samuel Gorton, John Greene and Randall Holden, having no other recourse, due to the continual harassment of Massachusetts, left for England in 1644 to "to preserve to souls and the liberties of the people."  They took with them the papers of the Narangansett Indians' submission to the government and King of England. Roger Williams had returned that same year with a charter for Providence Plantation, which included the towns of Providence, Portsmouth and Newport.  Shawomet hadn't been settled at the time Williams had left for England. Gorton spent four years in England to secure a patent and protection from the harassment of Massachusetts colony.  His petition was later titled and published as "Simplicities Defence against Seven-Headed Policy."   Massachusetts sent Edward Winslow to England to defend their petition. John Winthrop (who became governor of Massachusetts)  wrote that upon Winslow's arrival in England, he had a day appointed for an audience before the Earl of Warwick and the Commissioners of Plantations to state their case. Winslow had great advantages in business through his assistant Massachusetts agents and counselors and official friends, and was described as a "Hercules".   Gorton, unaided and almost alone, had the "herculean talk".  Added to the Massachusetts array of influence and talent against him was the claim that came from the committee from Aquidneck Island and the other opponents of the charter, the Arnolds.  In but few instances did man ever defend a cause so successfully against such an avalanche of assailants and assaults, having such unfair advantage of him.   Gorton's friendship with the Earl of Warwick was a positive influence in the case for the Providence Plantations. The result of the trial was the refusal by the Parliament Commissioner to Winslow of every one of his requests and the granting of those of Gorton.  They also issued a second letter to Massachusetts, admonishing them to confine their jurisdiction to within the limits of their sole patent. An interesting note: During this time, Massachusetts colony was a favorite of Cromwell (head of England) and they had favor that no other colony had, one of those being exclusive control of the only printing press, which was at Cambridge. *1   Many things had been written, published and distributed in the colonies and also in England, about Samuel Gorton.  They sought to discredit him,  going so far as to attack his character with false statements before he ever arrived in England to defend the cause of the Providence Plantations. 

One historian is quoted as saying: the government that had originally been formed on Aquidneck Island by Gorton/Hutchison and associates at Portsmouth "operated like leaven in diffusing itself through the minds of the masses and formed the nucleus out of which ultimately sprang the Declaration of Independence."  At the close of the government code appears these words: "These are the laws that concern all men, and these are the penalties for the transgression thereof, which by common consent are ratified and adopted throughout the whole colony; and otherwise than thus what is here in forbidden , all men may walk as their consciences persuade them, everyone in the name of God; and let the saints of the Most High walk in the colony without molestation, in the name of Jehovah their God, forever and amen."

The Rhode Island group continued to have difficulties with their Massachusetts neighbors and the Coddington/Arnold group, but the small group of men continued to guide the "State" through every hurdle.  These men gave their lives to serve the people, to see come to fruition a government of civil liberties and freedom for all people.  They believed the government should concern itself with civil affairs and had no business dictating how men should believe.  They abolished life servitude, and it is the only legal enactment abolishing slavery that was passed in those early times in any of the colonies.  They were a refuge for all those banished from the Puritan colonies for their religious beliefs.

As stated, Samuel Gorton was a figure much maligned by early writers. Gorton's enemies had years to spread their opinions of this man and his teachings through the written word, because they controlled the "press". *2   A press controlled by the government is very dangerous and a threat to the very freedom of a nation. Adelos Gorton writes: "I have read almost every word that is legible of the records of the colony from its first settlement till after the death of Gorton. From the first establishment of the government he was almost constantly in office, and during a long life there is no instance of record to my knowledge of any reproach or censure cast upon him, no complaint against him, though history furnishes abundance of evidence that there was no lack of enemies to his person, principles or property.  This can hardly be said of any other settler in the colony of any standing....the whole tenor of his life shows that he was conscientious, sincere and in all matter of fact, honest and truthful.   The community in the midst of which he lived, trusted and honored him to the last, and few testimonials to integrity of character are better than this.  It is a remarkable circumstance that he always retained the affection of his neighbors and friends.  He was their chosen representative to the Assembly in the years, 1649, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65 and 66; served a number of terms in the Upper House, Corresponding to the present Senate; was Associate Judge of their highest court, and was their President or Governor from 1651-1652."  Samuel Gorton died on December 10, 1677 at the age of eighty-five.

The majority of these men that settled the area of Rhode Island separated from the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies, either voluntarily or by banishment, because of their religious beliefs and commitment to liberty for all men. Samuel Gorton was a  leader not only in civil affairs but also in spiritual matters.   Gorton's writings speak of what he believed and practiced. He wrote and published: Simplicities's Defence ,  An Incorruptible Key, Composed of the CX Psalme, wherewith you may open the rest of the Holy Scriptures, Saltmarsh , The Common Plagues , and Antidote Against Pharasaical Teachings .  He left an unpublished manuscript named A Commentary on the Lord's Prayer .  Doyle has read much of the, An Incorruptible Key and has noted that Gorton had a brilliant mind and certainly had knowledge of the entire bible.  He notes Gorton's statement, "..... If there be a righteousness before that whereby he is made righteous, it is not the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ, he is yet in his sin. If there be a spirit before that by which he is illuminated, it is not the Spirit of God, received by the hearing of faith, but a spirit of delusion, arising from the works of the law." 

One who reads about the life and character of this man, Samuel Gorton, might see the parallels to the life of his descendant, Doyle  Davidson.   Samuel Gorton devoted his entire life in the new country to resisting those who purposed through civil authority to impose their religious beliefs on all who came. Gorton and others knew the only way to preserve freedom of worship was to have a separation of church and state, which to them meant that government had no right to dictate a person's beliefs. The authorities brought Gorton before the courts time after time, seeking to rid themselves of him, even to have him killed. God surely upheld him, each time making a way for him to escape.  Wicked men not only desired to destroy Samuel Gorton and his associates, but overtake all the settlements of that area.   If they had succeeded, a very different government would have been established. Any person who has followed Water of Life Ministries is aware of the persecution that has come against Doyle and his ministry. From the very beginning, religious leaders sought to discredit him, silence him or bring him into subjection. Despite the attacks, he was never moved from what he believed God had called him to do, nor did he allow them to rule him. Did not the press and the courts set out to destroy Doyle Davidson and his ministry in 2004?  Yet they did not prevail. God ministered these words to Doyle in 1970, from 1Cor10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. " God has done that in every situation, because Doyle never stopped believing the gospel, which was performed on the cross at Calvary.

The reference or source for the information in this writing is from the book, The Life and Times of Samuel Gorton, by Adelos Gorton .  It was published in 1907 and is no longer in print.  Modern historians and genealogists have used this book as a source for their information.  Adelos Gorton's birth date is listed as 1848, however I haven't been able to find any personal information about him. The book has a tremendous amount of information about the lives of the early settlers in colonial times and for anyone who is interested in the early history of this nation, it would be a great book to read.  Though time has prevented me from reading the entire book, I appreciate the history that has been compiled and preserved by this author.  The source title below, is a direct link to the book on-line.  The following is a quote from Adelos Gorton from the introduction of his book:

"That all the principal facts belonging to the history of Samuel Gorton and his companions and the affairs with which they were associated, that are necessary to an understanding of them and a  correct judgement regarding them, have never been given, alone, not with others, in one unbroken collection, and the desire expressed by many that these truths from every source should together shed their light upon these subjects, are the reason above others that have prompted their gathering and issuing in this volume."

"In this, an essay is not intended, nor a discussion of subjects or opinions, but the setting in order before the reader the various pertinent accounts and records; some of which when alone are misleading, others which explain the truth with fairness, many of which were written to defame the men and decry the measures they upheld, few of which were written to extoll them, and many which when recording events, have long laid unread and unpublished.   We have in this, followed the originals of the writings, quoting in full as many of them as were not precluded from this by their great length or the amount of their irrelevant matter; then endeavoring to as closely bide their phrase as permitted by the required abridgement of them.  We have been sparing with our words of either praise or blame for those who have taken part in their transactions; giving  rather the facts, to show whatever is due them."          ~Adelos Gorton

Samuel Gorton's homestead, Warick

1 The first printing press in the colonies was started in late 1638 at Cambridge, Massachusetts by the widow of   Rev. Jose Glover and Stephen Daye whom Rev. Glover had hired from England.   (Rev. Glover died on the voyage to New England).

2 Page 75 and the Intro. of The Life and Times of Samuel Gorton:  They (Massachusetts) had exclusive control of the only printing press (that at Cambridge) in America for nearly twenty years, with licenses prohibiting the publication of any book or paper not approved by them.  For want of a sufficient population, it was not until 1709 that a printing press could be maintained in Providence or the island.

Sources: The Life and Times of Samuel Gorton by Adelos Gorton 1908

Contributed by Kathryn Currier w/assistance

You can watch and listen to Doyle Davidson and Paul Peters read and discuss Samuel Gorton here:



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William Bradford

"He was indeed a person of a well-tempered spirit, or else it had been scarce possible for him to have kept the affairs of Plymouth in so good a temper for thirty-seven years together… The leader of a people in a wilderness had need be a Moses, and if a Moses had not led the people of Plymouth colony, when this worthy person was their governor, the people had never with so much unanimity and importunity still called him to lead them." ~ Cotton Mather

William Bradford was born in the obscure village of Austerfield and baptized on March 19, 1589/90. After his father’s death in 1591, (William was just a year old) he lived with his grandfather till he too died in 1595. His mother died when he was seven. He was then sent to live with his Uncle Robert in Scrooby, a small village in Nottinghamshire five miles from Austerfield and about 150 miles from London. He was taught husbandry and although he had little opportunity to receive a formal education, he taught himself Dutch, French. Latin, Greek and Hebrew; (the latter two in order to read the bible in its original form). He eventually inherited property in Bentley from his grandfather’s estate and other property from his father’s estate. He shares in his writings about being sickly and was thankful for it, because he believed it kept him from the vanities of youth and made him fitter for what he would afterwards undergo. When he was twelve he began reading the scriptures and they made a great impression on him. It was at this time that he became acquainted with Mr. Richard Clifton’s ministry, a small group of non-conformists, which was about a dozen miles from where he lived and he walked there every Sunday to attend the church services. He joined the congregation and became close friends with William Brewster. (often the meetings were held at Scrooby Manor, where Brewster lived.). As Bradford began to see how the Church had become perverted, he set himself by reading, by discourse, by prayer to learn whether it was not his duty to withdraw from the communion of the parish-assemblies and engage with some society of the faithful that should keep close unto the written word of God, as the rule of their worship. The wrath of his uncles, nor the ridicule of his neighbors turned upon him, could divert him from seeking to obey the scriptures. His answer to all who tried to dissuade him was:

"Were I like to endanger my life, or consume my estate by any ungodly courses, your counsels to me were very seasonable; but you know that I have been diligent and provident in my calling, and not only desirous to augment what I have, but also enjoy it in your company; to part from which will be as great a cross as can befall me. Nevertheless, to keep a good conscience, and walk in such a way as God has prescribed in his Word, is a thing which I must prefer before you all, and above life itself. Wherefore, since ‘tis for a good cause that I am like to suffer the disaster which you lay before me, you have no cause to be either angry with me, or sorry for me; yea, I am not only willing to part with everything that is dear to me in this world for this cause, but I am also thankful that God has given me an heart to do, and will accept me so to suffer for him."

The group resolved, with joint consent to remove themselves to Holland, however they weren’t allowed to go in peace. "The strong arm of the law barred every harbor and vessel against them." At the age of eighteen, Bradford, along with others was captured and imprisoned. Because of his youth, he was soon set free. They eventually ended up in Leiden, South Holland, described as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Here he learned frustian (frieze) weaving and began the manufacture of corduroy. He returned to England briefly to sell his inheritance at Bentley in 1611. He married Dorothy May on Dec. 10, 1613 and they had a son, John.

The times were hard in Leiden and Bradford wrote:

"…they fell to such trades and employments as they best could; valuing peace and their spiritual comfort above any other riches whatsoever. And at length they came to raise a competent and comfortable living, but with hard and continual labor.

Being thus settled (after many difficulties) they continued many years in a comfortable condition, enjoying much sweet and delightful society and spiritual comfort together in the ways of God, under the able ministry of Mr. John Robinson, and Mr. William Brewster, who was an assistant unto him in the place of an elder, unto which he was now called and chosen by the church."

Bradford wrote of the reputation the people of this congregation had with the Dutch, because they weren’t driven out of Holland when they set sail for America:

"…that it was their own free choice and motion, I will therefore mention a particular or to show the contrary, and the good acceptation they had in the place where they lived…..but if they were known to be of that congregation, the Dutch (either bakers or others) would trust them in any reasonable matter when they wanted money. Because they found by experience how careful they were to keep their word, and saw them so painful and diligent in their callings; yea they would strive to get their customs and to employ them above others, in their work, for their honesty and diligence."

In 1620, Bradford now 30 years old, sold his house in Leiden, and he and his wife Dorothy joined the group who set sail for America on the Mayflower. They left their son, who was four, with the group who remained in Holland, most likely because of the hardships of the voyage. Tragically, when they first arrived in America, Dorothy fell from the deck of the Mayflower and drowned.

Bradford was involved in the planning of the voyage to America. Government permissions, financing, ship hire and provisions had to be resolved. It is written that he shouldered many administrative responsibilities; record keeping, correspondence with financial backers and negotiation for a patent to give legal permission for a settlement and an indeterminate amount of details. When they arrived in America, he was one of those who helped draft the Mayflower Compact. After the death of Plymouth Colony’s first governor, John Carver in 1621, William Bradford was elected governor. He held that position, except for five, one year terms, for the remaining 36 years of his life. It is written that fourteen of those terms he served without pay. By 1623 the ships Anne and Little James arrived and Bradford wrote:

"…they brought some very useful persons…some were the wives and children of such as were here already. And some were so bad, as they were fain to be at charge to send them home again next year…"

Among the new arrivals was Alice Carpenter Southworth, a young widow with two small sons. She became Bradford’s second wife. His second marriage appears to have been happy. His last will and testament describes Alice as "my dear and loving wife". She provided a home for Bradford’s son who had been left behind in Leiden, and she and William had three children of their own, two sons and a daughter.

Bradford carefully preserved many notes and documents, which he later included in his journal that we know as, Of Plymouth Plantation. His writings give account of the years before they departed for America, their reasons for leaving their homes, their voyage and the early years of Plymouth Colony. The journal is the history of the first 30 years of Plymouth Colony and is considered the single most complete authority for the story of the Pilgrims and the early years of the Colony they founded. He was not only author and eyewitness to those early years; he was a leader in the community. The survival of the community was in large part due to his patience, wisdom and courage; yet he doesn’t speak of himself in a predominant role, though it was he who provided so much of the leadership through all their hardships.

Cotton Mather wrote of him:

"….let this one piece of self-denial be told for a memorial of him, wheresoever this History shall be considered: The Patent of the colony was taken in his name, running in these terms: To William Bradford, his heirs, associates, and assigns. But when the number of the freemen was much increased, and many new townships erected, the General Court there desired of Mr. Bradford, that he would make surrender of the same into their hands, which he willingly and presently assented unto, and confirmed it according to their desire by his hand and seal, reserving no more for himself than was his proportion, with others, by agreement. But as he found the providence of Heaven many ways recompensing his many acts of self-denial, so he gave this testimony to the faithfulness of the divine promises: "That he had forsaken friends, houses and lands for the sake of the gospel, and the Lord gave them him again." Here he prospered in his estate; and besides a worthy son which he had by a former wife, he had also two sons and a daughter by another, whom he married in his land."

One cannot read the journal written by Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation and accounts others wrote of him, and not see that God was with this man and he made him for those hours. The words Bradford had as a young man for those who tried to turn him from what he believed was God’s plan for his life, seemed to be prophetic:

"…yea I am not only willing to part with everything that is dear to me in this world for this cause, but I am also thankful that God has given me an heart to do, and will accept me so to suffer for him."

Sources: PilgrimHall.org., Life of William Bradford from Cotton Mathers Magnalia Christi Americana

 Written by Kathryn Currier

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A Work of Righteousness - 1988

My Mercy Will Not Depart

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. I Thessalonians 4:13

Continuing a Good Work . We continued with the mission in McKinney. In February we leased a church building on Wilcox Road, which was further south of the original location and in a better part of town. We had a separate building off the sanctuary that we used for the food pantry. We fed around two hundred families a week. We also held church services there on Sunday afternoons along with the services in Plano, I did both.

In August we closed the mission in McKinney but began renovating the West Side of the Plano Church to reopen the mission there.

COD. I ordered over $40,000 of Sony equipment for our television ministry. It was to ship to me COD (Cash On Delivery). The first shipment arrived unexpectedly two weeks early. It came with the COD of almost $18,000. I had to look in three accounts and add them in together, but God is always faithful and there was enough to pay for all of it.

Adding the Second Year of Bible Training School. Frankly after teaching several years of the Bible Training School I saw the need for more time to teach God’s people. As I prayed about this the Lord said to go on with the second year. We began the second year in the fall, meeting in the morning while the first year school continued to meet in the evenings. Sixty-one enrolled for that first class. We taught from the books of Hebrews, I and II Peter, The Epistles of John, and Galatians. I also taught “Jesus the Man,” and “There is a War.”

God’s Mercy on Jim Clark. Jim Clark was one of our piano players and had been for about four years. Jim was a well-known and liked manager of Mervyn’s department store. He had talked to me sometime before about his homosexual problems. In late October Jim asked to talk with me after bible school was over. He and I sat down on the ledge of the northeast corner of building. Jim talked to me about his sin. He said, “Doyle, no place has ever been able to help me and if there is any help it’s got to come through you.” He continued, “If God doesn’t deliver me I’m going back to San Francisco and I’ll certainly go to hell.” I prayed for the Lord to intervene into Jim’s life. That Friday he was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with AIDS. He never had a chance to sin again. He was in the hospital for about a week to ten days and I visited him every day. The last day I was in his room he couldn’t talk, but he pointed to a tablet and I handed it to him with a pen. He wrote, “I am not afraid, I am ready to go home.” That night he passed away.

Jim Clark

People came from New York, California, and Florida to Jim’s funeral. His family came from Illinois. His father asked me, “Did he make a full confession?” I replied, “Yes, sir!” I was asked to do his funeral of course, but God was most certainly dealing with my heart. I asked God, “What am I going to say?” He answered, “Tell them where he’s at! I replied, “Well, where is he?” God said, “Turn to Hebrews 12 and I’ll show you.” And I did, Hebrews 12: 22, 23:

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

I stepped up to the pulpit. The sanctuary was full of sad faces, many were standing along the walls, slumped down, looking dejected. I began sharing how Jim Clark had a sin that he couldn’t overcome, and I spoke what he had told me before he went to the hospital and how God forgave him and set him free and shared the last words that he had written to me. As I continued to speak those people in that sanctuary began to sit up and look at me. The looks on their faces became pleasant and pleased. Afterward the district manager of Mervyns came up to me and said, “Pastor, many of us came here today with heavy hearts, and your words comforted us and made us very happy to know where Jim Clark is.” This was probably one of the most difficult sermons that I had to deliver because of all the demonic activity that was in this sanctuary but as I spoke those satanic forces began to recede. It turned out to be one of the most joyful messages I have ever delivered. I thank God for his word that his mercy would never depart from this house because I had obeyed him because I know where Jim Clark is at; he is with the Lord.

James R Clark, 1947-1988, an inspiration to all that knew him.

More years of "A Work of Righteousness:"

1980               1989               1998               2007
1981               1990               1999               2008
1982               1991               2000               2009
1983               1992               2001               2010
1984               1993               2002               2011
1985               1994               2003               2012
1986               1995               2004               2013
1987               1996               2005               2014
1988               1997               2006

Posting Index

A Work of Righteousness - 1987

Feeding the Poor

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. 2 Corinthians 9:8, 9

The McKinney Mission. In March God directed me to start a mission in McKinney. We leased a concrete block building on the East Side. We gave away food once a week and we also taught and prayed for the sick. We would put together a week’s worth of staples; bread, crackers, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, canned soup, etc. People from Water of Life Ministries would make an “assembly line” with the different products and put them into a box to give away.

I saw God do miracles in that building. One night in particular a woman came up to me that had a withered left hand. Before I could even pray for her, God took her arm and it appeared to me that He rotated it in such a way that was not possible for an arm to move. It frankly alarmed me. But when she put her hand out, her hand had become normal. I said, “What happened to you?” She replied, “When I got a divorce I got bitter.” I responded back to her, “God just had mercy on you and restored your arm. Don’t be bitter anymore.”

This building was located in an area that the McKinney police would not go over there except by twos. Water of Life people, including their children, walked the streets with no fear. I knew one of the police officers and he was amazed that we were not afraid. It was a testimony to him that we served God.

God Brought Lisa to Walk with Me. One morning in August God spoke to me by His Spirit with a strong anointing on the words. That anointing remained on me for one hour. God gave Lisa to me as my second wife. It was a time for the Lord to begin separating certain people from my ministry. She was a stumbling stone to those that were appointed. I Peter 2:7, 8 “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.” Lisa rebelled against the will of God and I do not even know where she is at today.

Coming a Great Deliverance. I was out jogging in Fairview one afternoon in September. I jogged by an automobile parked alongside the road that had a lady in it I knew. As I jogged by she said, “I want a hug!” I answered back as I continued jogging, “I don’t have time to give hugs!” As soon as I said that the Lord said to me, “Yes, you do!” So, I just jogged in a circle and came up to her door which was open, sat down on the edge of the seat to give her a hug and the gift of prophecy came up in me. The Lord spoke, “As Joseph’s brothers sold him into bondage so have your brothers and sisters put you into bondage but there is coming a great deliverance.”

Note: When Kathie D and I were working on the year 1986 and writing about all the ministers of Word of Faith Satellite I began to sense and overcoming of the spirits they walked in. To put it plainly, things lifted off of me that they had spoken with their tongues during their teaching. This is part of the great deliverance. I’m still overcoming words that were spoken by teachers from their own spirit and a vision of their own heart. Ezekiel 13:3, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

Respecter of Persons. Here is a story that might help you. In 1987, my father was scheduled to undergo surgery in Missouri, where he lives. The doctors were going to use a balloon technique to clear some blockage in his coronary arteries.

Although I knew in my spirit that the operation was not serious, there was a tremendous pressure in the spirit for me to go to Missouri. My father was nearly 80 years old, and the doctors had told him that he might die during the procedure.

The spirits in the doctors and in my family tried to frighten me into going to Missouri. The Father of spirits, the One in heaven who directs my steps, said to stay in Texas. I told my family, "When God tells me to come, I'll be there."

While they were running tests on his heart, the doctors discovered a tumor in my father's kidney and said the kidney would have to be removed surgically. God said, "Go," and I went.

A close friend of mine, a man I consider a brother in the Lord--and I do not consider everyone who calls himself one a brother--volunteered to fly me to Missouri in his plane, and we decided that it was the will of God for him to do so.

We left McKinney, Texas, flying north, and about the time we crossed the Red River, we ran into a series of thunderstorms. I am not a pilot, but I have been in a lot of airplanes, and I had never seen anything like it.

Thunderstorms would form directly in front of us. We tried to go over them and around them, but every time we headed for an opening in the clouds, another storm would form in front of us.

After about 30 minutes, I began to pray. I knew that I had been resisting evil spirits and obeying God by not going to Missouri sooner, but I also knew that God had sent me when I finally went.

As I sat there, God said to me, "Have I ever sent you anywhere that you did not arrive? I said, "No, Lord," then I relaxed and watched my friend try to fly around those clouds.

A moment later, God said, "He'll have to go under those thunderstorms to get through." I sat quietly, because I was not flying the airplane, and I have enough sense to be quiet when someone is operating something I know nothing about.

After 15-20 minutes, my friend looked at me and said, "I believe I am going to have to go under these clouds." I said, "You have the mind of God, because that's what He told me about 15 minutes ago."
We went under the storms, found some clear flying, and headed north. In the process of avoiding the storms, we had drifted much farther east than either of us had realized. We arrived over a city and looked at it. I saw the interstate highway and a river, and I thought it was Tulsa.

We flew above the interstate for a few minutes, but I did not recognize any of the towns below us. That was strange to me, because I knew that highway like the palm of my hand.

My friend looked at the map and said, "These towns are not on the right side of the interstate." I said, "This is not the right interstate." As it turned out, instead of Tulsa, the city we had flown over was Fort Smith, Arkansas.

After we realized that, the plane ran out of fuel. In the process of avoiding the thunderstorms, my friend had forgotten to switch the fuel tanks. We were flying along smoothly, and suddenly the plane coughed once, then died. That was the first time I had ever been in an airplane that began sinking, but that one did.

My friend handed me the microphone and said, "Take this." I did not know what he was preparing to do, but I knew that I was going to look for a field to help him direct the plane down, because I knew God had told me that I was going to arrive where He sent me.

I was not afraid. I had no fear at all, whether anyone believes that or not. I thought that, at the worst, we might be detained a short time in one of the fields below us, because the engine was not running, and I knew that plane was not going to stay in the air very much longer.

Whatever my friend did, the engine started after two or three attempts. The engine would start, and the plane would lift up a little, then the engine would die--start, lift up, and die.

On about the third try, the engine began to run. Once we were settled, I asked him, "What happened?" He said that he had forgotten to switch the fuel tanks. Then we landed and found out where we were.

We flew on to Missouri without any more problems, but I could not understand all the confusion we had been through. I attended my father's surgery, which went fine, and the day after the surgery, my friend and another pilot returned for me.

They flew up from McKinney, and they were going to pick me up at a small airstrip near my sister's house, where I grew up. It would have been very convenient. The weather stopped them, however, and they had to land about 60-70 miles away.

They rented a car and came to pick me up. We drove to the airport, boarded the plane, and started back to McKinney.

The flight back was totally by instruments. Much of the time, we could not see anything but clouds.

I sat in the plane praying, and the pilot radioed for instructions about landing in McKinney. The air traffic controller told him that the cloud cover was too heavy for us to land in McKinney, and that we would have to land in Addison, Texas.

I kept praying as we continued toward Addison. We had to fly over McKinney on the way to Addison, and as we passed over McKinney, the clouds suddenly broke open, and we could see the sun shine through.

The pilot said, "I'm going in right here," and we landed in McKinney. Actually, we needed to land in McKinney, because I had to be at church for a service.

I was puzzled why the trip had gone the way it had--why there had been so much confusion, even though each time I had needed something to happen, it had happened. I began to pray, but I could not hear any answer from God. In fact, I did not hear His answer for a day or two.

The entire trip was set up by Him, however, and He finally showed me why. The next day or so, I was talking with my friend. We were talking about the trip, and he said, "I consider you important cargo."

Immediately, James 2:9 came to me, and I said, "And that is sin." To consider someone "important cargo" is to be a respecter of persons, and that is sin.

The body of Christ is full of people who are respecters of persons. No person is important to God, unless he or she is obeying Him. There are no important people. There is no one higher than another. If we obey God, we are important to Him. If we do not obey God, we commit sin.

God taught me a valuable lesson on that trip. James 2:9 says that a respecter of persons transgresses the law. The penalty for transgressing the law is death. That is frightening, whether you know it or not.

You say, "Doyle, we are not under the law." I agree, but if we are respecters of persons, we put ourselves under the law. The Holy Spirit will not lead us to be respecters of persons.

The problem with the church is that religious people cannot read. They do not want to read. They want to glorify someone in the flesh and not glorify the Father in heaven.

You might as well know now that if you are going to walk with God, you will have to lay your flesh aside. You are not going with God in the flesh, because He will not go with you.

You do not want to be a respecter of persons. The day you become a respecter of persons is the day you commit sin. And that is the day you become separated from God. You are open prey for the devil.

The church does not know that being a respecter of persons is sin. The church thinks that drinking is sin, that dancing is sin, and that smoking is sin. The church does not know that it is sin to give a man in a $1000 suit a front row seat, and to give someone with long hair, dirty blue jeans, and sandals a seat in the back. They do not know that is sin.

Sin is sin. It does not matter what sin it is, sin separates you from God. Never think that I or anyone else is important to God. I am a servant of God, and that is the only importance I have.

If, when I humble myself and obey God and let the Spirit of God flow through me, that is important, fine. But do not ever think that you are so important that God could not do without you. He did without an entire generation of Jews.

This has become a lesson about humility, but the church needs to hear this. Religious people think they are important to God. They will tell you they are.

I am telling you that you are only important to God if you believe Him and obey Him and serve Him. If you will do that, He will honor you. But if you disobey Him, you are not any more important to God than any other sinner. You will simply be cut off from Him.

The Authority of an Apostle and Prophet to Deal with a Man’s Life. In the mid-80’s a man that was attending Water of Life Church came to me and said that the Plano Police were investigating him about child molestation. I answered, “Well, are you guilty?” He responded, “No”. “Well, if you’re not guilty, you have nothing to worry about,” was my response. He came three or four times with the same information and each time I asked the same question and I got the same response. My answer was always the same, “If you’re not guilty, you have nothing to worry about.”

Before the trial began there was a meeting with this man, his attorney, and me. The District Attorney worked an agreement and offered this man in my presence ten years probation if he would confess his sins. The man said, “I’m not guilty.” I said in the presence of both of them, “If you are not guilty, then God will deliver you.”

Then I heard that he had been indicted. They had a trial and it ended in a hung jury. I knew the district attorney well and I asked him if he were going to re-try this and he responded, “Yes.” I still didn’t believe the person was guilty. In 1987 they had the second trial and I was called as a witness. When I arrived at the courthouse no one instructed me where to sit or not sit, so I sat down in the back of the courtroom and listened to the other witnesses. I saw later that God had a purpose for all of this. It came my turn to testify so they put me on the witness stand, and swore me in. An attorney asked me some questions, but every time I would try to answer the district attorney would object and objection would be sustained. After some time the Spirit of God in me had heard enough, and the Lord said out of my mouth to the judge, “Your honor, I would like to discuss this in your chambers.” He said, “Now?” I answered, “Yes sir.” And he replied, “Let’s go.” So we went to his chambers. I remember part of the conversation in that I told the judge they were not allowing me to answer questions that other witnesses were allowed to answer. Understand when God wants to confuse people he will confuse everyone, but I was not at all confused. The judge started saying to me how he knew our system was not perfect but it’s the best we have. I answered with what God was saying, that there was only one system that was just and that was the Lord’s, the judge of the whole earth. After a few minutes more of dialogue the judge said he was going to suspend me as a witness and I could sit in the back of the courtroom to watch and I could testify in the sentencing.

He was found guilty and during the sentencing phase this man’s attorney asked me if this man got out of prison, would he be welcome back into my church? My response was “What kind of a question is that? People attend my ministry that have sinned, been forgiven, and now they have a right relationship with God.” And I went on to say that that’s what I was trying to tell every one yesterday and I was not allowed to testify. The judge stopped me and stated, “If I let you continue, you are going to chastise this jury!” I responded, “That is not true, that is not my job.” My testimony was finished.

The man received a sentence of 99 years.

I was not satisfied with the results. I could not understand how a human being could be offered probation and refuse it, when in fact he was guilty and he knew it. God was showing me the wickedness of the human heart. I set myself to pray and understand what in the world was going on. I know how to pray and James writes, The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And I wanted to know the truth.

At 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon after much prayer, God spoke to me with these words; “He would not acknowledge his sin to you because he would not even acknowledge it to me.” That settled it with me, the Word of God is all I need.

A few days later I received a phone call from the jail in McKinney saying the judge had set a $25,000 bond pending appeal and would I bail him out? I thought they were kidding because I had been told that 20-99 years was not bondable, but I established that it was true, a bond had been set. I borrowed some stock from a friend, a $50,000 certificate for collateral and they let him go.

I picked him up and brought him to the church. I told him on the way, “God has given you an opportunity to repent.” He replied, “I’m not guilty.” I warned him again, to not play with God. He said again, “I am not guilty.” I brought him to a prayer meeting that was going on at the church, but he never would change, so I let him go. The next morning I received a phone call from the authorities in McKinney. They said there had been a mistake, this man has to be brought back to jail. I called the man and said, “Come on, lets go, you have to go back to jail.” You see I don’t need handcuffs or guns, I have authority. He came to church; I picked him up and took him to the McKinney jail. When they saw us coming in they encompassed us with officers, handcuffed him, and returned him to jail. What was interesting was a friend of mine and I were blamed by the judge for causing him to make the mistake. He was very angry, but it was God that confounded him and caused him to make the mistake.

A few years back this man was scheduled for early release. It came into my spirit, “No, you will not let him go!” and his early release was cancelled.

This man’s name is Victor Hornel and this is a link to his information:

http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/inmates/victor-edward-hornal/769518/

Jack Turquette was involved with the bonding.

Sometime after this man was incarcerated, Jack Turquette, who had connections in the court house and jail system, called me and told me that the judge in charge of this sentencing had another case before his court and during the trial someone ran from the courtroom and jumped over the railing, fell three or four floors, and was killed.

With God’s provision, we carpeted the Fellowship Hall, hallways, offices, and nursery.

Steve and Terre Brown took over the Denton Church.

More years of "A Work of Righteousness:"

1980               1989               1998               2007
1981               1990               1999               2008
1982               1991               2000               2009
1983               1992               2001               2010
1984               1993               2002               2011
1985               1994               2003               2012
1986               1995               2004               2013
1987               1996               2005               2014
1988               1997               2006

Posting Index