Page 127 - Evidence of Things Unseen

Disappointment, and an Illinois Miracle

he next day, June 26th, was similarly eventful. My wife had planned to get together with
Tour friend Barbara Barnes. Barbara called in the morning to say that she was at a gas
station and her car would not crank. She asked if we could meet her there and see if we
could help her. Tony and I hurriedly got in our car to go help her, and, to our amazement,
our car would not crank either. I did not think that this was merely coincidence for the
Spirit had spoken to me that Barbara’s husband Randy and I would one day be working
together in ministry. A few years back we were both picking muscadines and scuppernongs
(a type of large grape) in a local vineyard. The name of the vineyard just happened to be
JC’s Vineyard, JC being the preferred name of the owner. The Spirit spoke to me at the time
and told me that Randy and I would indeed be working together in JC’s (Jesus Christ’s)
vineyard in the future. Again, first the natural, then the spiritual.
As I was standing outside looking at my car that would not crank, and contemplating
this strange parallel between our two cars, the phone rang and it was one of the ministers
from the church we were fellowshipping with. He said he had heard we were having to
move, and he expressed his sympathy over this, and then he asked if I would be able to meet
with him and the other minister from the body that night. I told him I would be delighted
to do so. We arranged to meet at 7:30 P.M..
I was able to get my car fixed before the meeting as God sent a Christian brother over
to our house who paid for the part and installed it for me. It turned out that both our car
and the Barnes’ car had the starter go out on them at the same time. We later found out that
both cars were repaired and driven back home at nearly the same moment, around 5:30
P.M..
I went to the meeting that night, not having a clue as to what the ministers wanted to
speak to me about, though many guesses flew around my mind, all of which were wrong.
These men had been considering whether God had sent me to be a minister with them to
the body of Christ, and one of them had asked me a few weeks previously if I considered
myself Calvinistic in my beliefs. One of the five main points of Calvinism is ‘limited
atonement’, and it asserts that Christ died only for a remnant of the creation, and that the
majority of the creation will suffer unending torment in the lake of fire never to be
reconciled to God. It turned out that the ministers wanted to speak to me about my belief
that when God’s plan of the ages is complete all things whether in heaven or in earth would
be reconciled to God through the cross of Christ (Colossians 1:20).
This minister had been surprised to hear me state that I found fault with this point of
Calvinism, and I gave him a copy of the book I had written on the topic called God’s Plan
of the Ages. Both ministers had looked over the book, one very briefly, and they had both
concluded that the teaching of universal reconciliation was heresy. The meeting both began
and ended with them affirming their belief that it was heresy. We spent over three hours
discussing the matter, but were unable to come to agreement. I asked them what effect this
would have on my fellowship with them and I was told that I would not be allowed to hold
any teaching position in the church, nor would I be allowed to partake of the sacrament of
communion with them. I reaffirmed my love for both men before leaving, and I hugged both
of their necks.
In the span of two days, I found that I would have to move suddenly, and I would have
no opportunity to minister among this body of believers. A decision was set before me, and