Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. James 5:7
Laying the Ministry on the Alter. The year began with a $100,000 payment on the property due on January 10th, but myself and the ministry had purchased the oil stock valued well over that amount several months before. It was at this point I made a great mistake. This was a major event that would teach me something about my faith. The oil company sold in November of 1982 and was to close on January 10, 1983. But on the 7th the bank in Midland Texas, where the purchaser of the oil company had a seven million-dollar line of credit, went into receivership. The oil company was unable to sell and Water of Life Ministries lost $123,000. When the oil company announced it was being sold and I was to receive the money in January, I stopped believing because I thought I already had it. I have learned from this experience not to stop believing whatever God has given you to do until it is in your hands.
I couldn’t make the payment. There wasn’t $100,000 in this group of people. As I recall I paid $52,000 toward that payment between January and April, at which time foreclosure papers were filed on the building. It would be finalized in May. The Church of Christ announced to their congregation that “these poor people are going to lose their property.”
Seven days before the foreclosure was finalized a man received a large inheritance from his grandfather’s estate in an amount well over what he was expecting. He then in turn gave Water of Life Ministries a check for $50,000. It paid the $100,000 in full.
I then went to a bank with which I did business as a professional and borrowed enough to pay off Pitman Creek Church of Christ. The banker said to me frankly, “I won’t lend any money to a church, but I will lend it to you.”
This act of God, saving the property from foreclosure, proved to me that God was with this ministry.
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| Aerial view of Water of Life Church, Plano taken in 1983. |
The teaching began with the Gospel and It’s Benefits. After that I taught the foundation found in Hebrews 6: 1,2:
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
The course was called, “Foundation Faith” but we covered each of the principals separately; Repentance from Dead Works, Faith Toward God, The Doctrine of Baptisms, The Doctrine of Laying on of Hands, Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment.
With the inception of Water of Life Christian Training School we began making the teaching tapes available.
God spoke to me later with these words, “I will pour out my Spirit through Water of Life Christian Training School.”
Receiving Satellite. During the summer a man came over from Word of Faith Outreach and shared that God had told him to install a satellite receiver at a church in Plano. He went on to share that none of the churches he approached would have it. I replied, “You haven’t asked me.” He responded, “You wouldn’t take it” “You don’t know that” I said.
I went on a seven day fast and on the sixth day the Lord directed me to take it. It was installed and working with no cost to the ministry. We began taking Word of Faith Satellite once a month beginning in September.
When I came to Plano there was a group that joined with me that had a spirit with them which had one intent and purpose, and that was for me and my ministry to fall. None of these people are with me at the time of this writing.
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
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