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Sitting on the Fence
Sitting on the Fence, Middle Ground, The best of both worlds
As our scripture today reads in Mt:6:24: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
For a long time I was happy just sitting on the fence. It was what I thought was the best of both worlds. I did what I wanted to during the week and on Sabbaths I went to church. Went out Friday and Saturday nights, but I went to church on Sabbath. It was easy and I was happy or so I thought.
I believe I was twelve when I told my dad, and I told him with attitude, because that was what I was full of when I was twelve. I told my dad to stop pushing his religion on me. The weird thing after that was that my dad then gave me the choice. And of course being the rebellious child that I was I stopped going to church.
I always believed that there was a God and I always believed that Jesus existed.
I got married, two years later got pregnant. I was getting better after that. Starting going to church more. I wanted to give my life to God. But I would be giving up so much. I didn’t want to stop going out, drinking, partying, what would people think of me, they would call me a holy rolly. I made fun of people like that.
But God knew my heart and he knew that I wanted to give my life to him, and he knew of someone dear to me that would help him.
I was seven months pregnant when we found out that my dad had cancer. Suddenly my whole world turned upside down, how could this happen. I didn’t know what to do. I turned to God, begged him to help my dad. He was a good man and always did everything for everyone else and expected nothing in return. I started going to church more, prayed every night. But then my dad got better and I began to go back to the life I had before. I went back to sitting on the fence.
But I wanted to change; I wanted to be a better person, a better mother, a better wife a better daughter. And I tried, but I had to just give up so much.
It was two years later, two weeks before x-mas when my dad came to my house unexpected. I had to hear that horrible news THE CANCER WAS BACK.
WHAT, WHY WAS THIS HAPPENING, HE IS SUCH A GOOD PERSON, HE DID SO MUCH, during his first treatment he never missed a beat. He only missed one day of work, he held up all of his duties with the church and at the time he was head elder so he had a lot of responsibility. I didn’t understand why this was happening.
I knew my life was not going the way I wanted it to. But I didn’t think God wanted me. I knew better, I was raised better than that, I didn’t think I had a chance. But how could I expect God to help me when I wasn’t willing to help myself. How could I ask God to help me when I wasn’t willing to give him anything in return?
I was frantic this time, searching everywhere for the answers. I would get my Bible out looking for something. I wanted my dad’s faith, but I was so far gone. One late night, I was searching for an answer. I was talking to God, asking him to help me. I picked up my bible, the first page I turned to, had one verse that seemed to stick out of the page, as if it were the only thing written on that page, it was:
Matthew14:31: And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
I felt as if God were talking to me. Saying you know me better than that, why do you doubt me, why would you doubt that I would not help you, why would you doubt that I would not want you?
I started to read more and ran across a different scriptures that read:
Mt:17:20: And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Mt:6:8: Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Mt:21:22: And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Mt:7:7: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Mt:7:8: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Lk:12:28: If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
I had heard these verses over and over growing up but only now did I understand what they meant.
Was that me, but I believed there was a God, I believed that Jesus was the son of God.
But you know you see so may people theses days that go to church or get involved with certain things in church just to say that they paid their dues.
They act like serving God is a chore and something that they rather not do. But they have to do it.
There is a difference between believing that Jesus exists and believing in Jesus.
Jn:3:16: reads. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Believeth IN HIM. You can believe something but not believe in something. Believing in Jesus is what transforms you. Believing in, trusting in, having faith in, accepting him. That is our acceptance of Jesus.
When we are sitting on the fence are we really believing in Jesus, are we really believing in God.
Or are we just doing what we believe is required of us.
Believing in Jesus is what will give us eternal life, not just believing that there is a Jesus.
When you believe in Jesus, when you accept him into your life, the Holy Spirit takes over and you become a different person. The things that you thought were so hard to give up, you wonder why you thought you could not live with out it
I don’t know if that is why my dad got cancer. But sometimes I wonder.
I can almost see God telling satan to try to turn me. Make my dad sick, it will only send her straight to me.
Like in the book of Job, God’s humble servant. That is who I think of when I see my dad. He praised God through everything.
Some times God has to knock you on your knees.
1Pt:1:7: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
God knew that my dads faith was untouchable, and he knew that I needed just needed to be pushed off of the fence that I was already facing in his direction.
My dad and I were talking about everything one evening. About him getting sick and maybe he got sick because God knew it would bring me back. My dad said that he would go threw it a thousand times if it would bring all of his children back to God.
These days I speak with God every few hours as opposed to every few days.
My life isn’t perfect in fact sometimes it is harder than it was before. But I know that I am not alone, God is always with me and I try to make sure that I include him in every aspect of my life.
For me it is so much more than just paying my dues, making sure that I go to church of Sabbath, going to church is only a small part of my relationship with God. It is allowing him control of my life, to put things in his hands, He never said that it would be easy, but he said that he would see me through the storm.
And I no longer consider myself sitting on the fence.
By Patricia Vincent
Restoring Gods Truth
PRISON
Why do bad things happen to Good people
Prison is not a Sermon, it is about people who are trapped within there bodies. It is my hope and desire that when you finish reading prison you will come away with a better understanding of how life is for people who are not the world’s standard of normal.
A man I know Story:
I know a Guy who is in Prison and has been there for a quite a few years. A very nice guy on the inside but was doing things he should not have been doing and was court tried and convicted. This happens sometime when we are younger and following the wrong people or the wrong group. We tend to do what they are doing to show off or just to show we are one of them. This mans life will never be the same, but he does have a choice of being able to change it. To amend for what he has done and to learn a lesson from it, then let it make a different in his future.
While he was in Prison I thought about him and his life being in there. He was always in a small jail cell with bars, locked in with no means of escape, day in and day out for many years, him and four walls all around him. Some days he was aloud to go out side in to the open yard just to get away from his small cell. But in reality outside was nothing more then just a bigger cell will a high fence and razor edge barbwire on top. Even though he was on the outside he was still locked with in with no way of escape
There were other times when trouble happened; why because that is the way it is when you are locked within something. He would find himself put into solitary confinement, nothing more then just another cell but a whole lot smaller. Here was where he could think about everything that happened and why his life was in the mess it was in, it was a place of deep depression a place he did not want to come back too.
After a while he would be let out and was able to go back too his Cell. Even though it was still in prison it was better then the solitary confinement and it was a place where he has learned to be comfortable. His cell room in prison has become his place of safety and security a place where no one could hurt him. After a long time he had finish his time in prison and was let go early on good behavior.
I thought long about this and realized that there are many different type of prison. The story above is just one and it is true, but there are many others types of prisons that people live in everyday. People who are sick also live in prison, just why we don’t know, it is just the way life deal with us.
You see we too have our cells that we live in; it too has four walls all around us and we are locked in a sick body and can’t get out. We are held against our will because no one wants to be sick, we are trapped but with in our bodies. Sometimes we cry out but only to be misunderstood by people on the outside, they look in and see us but can’t understand what we are going through on the inside.
You see to someone who is sick our cell can be a place of loneliness, pain and suffering and place where there is no hope, only despair. Some days we are let out but only to a bigger cell outside, just like in a Prison there is still a high fence with razor edge barbwire on top keeping us locked in with no way of escape.
There are also times when we are locked away in to solitary confinement; this is so hard for people on the outside to understand. They can’t see through the doors of our life to know what we are thinking what we are feeling what we are seeing and why we are in despair. Depression can become very lonely, very deep, very dark and the longer you are there the deeper you sink. It is a place where no light comes in a place where all hope has vanish, a place of torment of mind, and no one understands it not even medical doctors as they see it only as a medical condition.
My Friend’s Story:
There was a young man and his wife I was giving Bible studies to, there had two beautiful children and one on the way, a very Lovely family. The man in the prime of his life was told he had MS and little by little it was taking away his ability to be what the world called normal. Both of them were very interested in learning about God and so they ask me to help them, being an Elder in the church I am honored to help people know the God I serve.
One night when I went over to there home I could tell that something was very wrong. Because of the man disability he ask his employer if it would be possible for them to build a ramp so he could get his wheelchair up to the office building easier. The next mouth he was let go from the place of work, they said it was nothing to do with his sickness they were cutting back; strange he was the only person let go.
His thoughts were “how was he now going to be able to take care of his family who is going to hire him with MS and in a wheelchair”. We had prayer, sometimes when things are going bad you need to let God in and take control. We continued having Bible studies but he was becoming more and more depressed at times and did not know what to do.
The man Mother and Father had gotten devoice when he was just a little kid and his mother always used him as a tool against his Father. But after he grew up he found that his father loved him very much, they had a very good relationship. He called his dad and told him all that happened and that he just did not know what to do.
His father could tell how depressed he was becoming and told his Son sometime you need to just get away. He told him to come out and spend a few weeks with him, don’t worry about your problems they will all be there when you get back. So the man decided he would do just that, his Dad was going to buy the ticket so why not just get away.
When his mother found out that he was going to spend sometime with his father she blew-up on him and told him all kinds of hurtful things. Never did she realize all she was doing was pushing him further and further into a deep deep depression.
When a person is in Prison with in his body people all around must be very carful how they speak and what they say. One little word can be the difference between a soul in despair and desperation that leads to death.
The man went into his bed room all by himself and sat on the floor, the words of his mother kept playing over and over in his mind. The walls of his prison life was closing in on him and in his deep depressed mind Satan was telling him to just get it over with. He took down his gun and was pointing it at himself asking what good is it for me to live. In his mind he did not want to die he did not want to kill himself, but in a deep depressed state the mind does not think right. Over and over all he could hear in his mind was his mother telling him how no good and selfish he was just like his Father.
His Wife heard the sound and knew what he did, she call 911 and went into the room he was still alive and crying he said I did not mean to do it I pulled the trigger by accident. They both prayed and she told him just ask God for forgiveness and so he did, he was taking to the local hospital where he died 3 hours later.
Oh how killing can words be to someone locked away in there body, locked away from the world, locked away because of there sickness and diseased body. Oh how hard it is for someone who has a good body to understand what we go through in our everyday life of suffering and pain. I know that someday I will see this man again in heaven and in a body never again to feel the curse of sin. Some may said no he committed suicide he will not be in heaven, judge no man for only God can hear the faintest cry coming from a soul in anguish asking God for His mercy and forgiveness. God knows where we are and who we are, even the thief who died on the cross next to him Jesus forgave in the last mins of life.
My Story:
I have been fighting Cancer and the side affects of the treatment a little over 12 years now. They say if the Cancer don’t kill you the treatment will, this is so very true as I am dying not from the Cancer I had but from it’s cure.
I find that no one truly understands what people go through who have been told they have some type of illness, all the pain, the stress, the depression, the feeling on loneness. Most people will come up to you and most of the time say the wrong thing, they don’t mean anything wrong they just don’t know what to say. Most of the time it is better to just say nothing and give us a big hug, it says more then words could every say.
I like most people don’t know why I got Cancer, bad things happen to good people, I did not eat meat, I was a vegetarian and took very good care of my body, if I seen a doctor it was just for an annual check-up. I remember the first time I got sick, I got Dysentery while working in Africa then I got Malaria on top of it because my immune system was so weak. My health went down hill from then on. Two years later I came down with NPC a Cancer of the of the nasal passageway the uppermost region of the pharynx (“throat”), behind the nose
I did the Radiation treatment for it, it almost killed me, but I got better, then 17 months later I was told I have a recurrent of the same Cancer. My Caretaker Wife and I was devastated by the news, I was still a young man and still in pretty good health. We did the treatment again this time with Radiation and Chemo, it was like taking a second trip to Hell and all I could say is why me Lord, why me.
One early morning I was laying in bed, my Wife was still sleeping. In my mind I was talking to God about all of this and just could not figure out the reason why. My Wife and I were the only two people in the house as our children had grew-up and moved out. It was then that I heard a Voice say “I Love You” it was like no other voice I ever heard. I was not afraid but my body was shaking uncontrollable all over. I recognized the Voice and said Lord why, why if you love me are you letting this happen again, the voice said again “Remember I Love You” and then He was gone.
I laid there for almost an hour before my body finally stopped shaking; I got up and decided to read my Bible. When I opened my Bible it opened to the book of Isaiah 38: 1 talking about King Hezekiah who was sick, I read it and prayed thanking the God I served. We finished Radiation and Chemo only to hear a few months later that my NPC Cancer came back a 3rd time, but this time my Caretaker and I decided no more treatments I was too weak and my body too sick and rundown. I asked her to let me go home to Honduras to see all my family one last time before I die this was back in 2006. While there my older brother took me to a place on the main land where they did herbal treatment for people with cancer, I was against it but said OK why not, God blessed it and I am still alive 10 years later.
A few years ago I went swimming while in Honduras and got water in my left ear, the ear I have 1/3 of the ear drum missing. I started having a lot of pain and could not figure out why. When I got back to the US I went to see my Cancer doctor, he did a MRI and told me I have a large tumor in the back of my head and needed to get back on Chemo right away or I will die. My Caretaker Wife said no we are going to get a second opinion and so we went to MD Anderson. They did another MRI with a PET scan and said I have a lot of problems but no Cancer. I ask them why then am I hurting so bad by the left side of my ear and head, they said possible side affects from all the treatment I had.
I lived in terrible pain for the next 6 months, my life was going down hill and no one knew why, I was trapped once again in this sick Prison body and dyeing slowly oh how I prayed to get out and be free and healthy again. I seen doctor after doctor and ran all kinds of test but nothing came back. I started having problems with my eyes and then started having episodes of blindness on and off; I prayed oh lord please don’t let me go blind.
Then my Caretaker Wife who is my God sent companion said, let try the Chiropractor maybe he can help a little with the pain. I brought a copy of the MRI we did when I first came back from Honduras the one the doctor said showed I had cancer again. I knew he would not adjust me with out seeing if I have a spinal problem from all the treatment and where the Cancer was in my body. We were talking about all my problems when the Chiropractor said what are your doctors doing about this Mastoid Infection you have. We both looked at each other and said what Mastoid Infection, he then showed us the MRI and where it said bad Mastoid Infection. We could not believe what we were reading. I have an infection on the left side of my head, I am in pain on the left side of my head, and none of my doctors who all looked at the MRI said anything about a Mastoid Infection. Did they miss this or something?
We went back to MD Anderson as I was no longer using the Local Cancer doctor who told me I had Cancer. And the ENT at MD Anderson said no I don’t have a Mastoid Infection, I said the MRI said I do and I had it for almost 7 months now and it is getting worse. All he did was to look at me and say you don’t have a Mastoid Infection, we did not know what to do after that. We prayed and I found another ENT while there in Houston, we made an appointment with him, I told him nothing about my having NPC Cancer. When he scoped me he said man you are infected really bad, I might have to do surgery to cleaned some of this out. He then asked about all the scar tissue in my nasal passageway. I then told him I had a cancer there about 6 years ago but all my PET scans show I am clean now.
He put me on some very strong Antibiotic for two weeks and said come back in three weeks we will look at it and see if Surgery will be needed. After two weeks most of the pain was gone, I was able to get off of all the hard pain pills. When we went back to see him he was very up-set and saying you have Cancer I need to know where the cancer is I need to see all your PET Scans I need to know the location of the Cancer. I said hold on doc, I told you I no longer have Cancer; you told me I have a Bad Infection in may nasal area. No, No, No he said I need to know about your Cancer. I looked at him as asked did you by chance get my MDA chart, why are you going on like this I have an infection. With that we left his office, my Wife and I could not believe what we just went through, why the switch from infection to Cancer. All of this was just putting me into depression as I could not find one doctor I could trust, it would set me back and sometimes all I could do was to cry. Why Lord, why if you love me why can’t I find a doctor who cares.
I had to trick a few other doctors into giving me some more Antibiotics, by then I started feeling good again, almost back to my old self. I felt like for the first time I was getting released from this Prison I been living in the passed 9 months. Wow it felt so good, my strength started to come back my health started to improve I started to gain weight, I could walk with out the need of someone to hold me up, I was free at last. All because a Chiropractor could see what my Medical Doctors could not see. Finally after searching so long and living in pain God lead me to an ENT who really cares and has been a answer to all my prayer.
I was doing great for about a year but then started having some side effects from the Mastoid Infection I had; I had hopped that they would go away but they did not. More and more the tissue on the left side of my face was giving me problem at the same time I also started having problem with my intestine not working. It was like I violated parole and found myself now back in Prison, the same 4 walls, the same depression, the same pain, the same not feeling good, it was all there waiting for me.
A few months later my bowel stopped working, I would back-up with the worse constipation you could imagine. I went to every type of doctor I could; just trying to find an answer, I tried all there medicines and nothing worked, the only help I got was in doing enemas and colonic butt washing. I was getting deeper and deeper in depression as nothing seams to help me. I was trapped in this Prison body of mine again with no way out locked in solitary confinement and praying to God pleading for Him to help me.
There was times when Satan would put thoughts in my mind of just killing my-self and getting out of this pain and suffering I was in, just get it over with no one really cares about you, your are old, sick, and in the way. He would try and pull me down as deep as he could in this prison cell, as I would fall to the floor he would kick me and just hold me there. All I could do was to pray, my God my God please help me I know you are there.
My mind was going back and forward, why me Lord what did I do, but even in my deepest depression somehow I could feel I was alone, but not fully alone, this is hard to explain, you have to live it to understand it. I would cry out because I new it was God He was right there with me and my mind remembered the words He said. I love you, remember I love you; these words now kept playing over and over in my mind. Then I would remember reading about Job in the Bible and the trials he went through. He was a righteous man, he took care of all the poor in his town, and he gave of his wealth to others that were in need. Yet God let Satan afflict him, why, because God knew Job, he too questions God at times, but he never lost his faith in all his trials.
Job 1: 20: Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, 21: And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. 22: In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Some how as all this would play in my mind I would find myself coming out of my deep depression and just sitting there with words on my lips, thanking God and remembering that He loves me too. I still have some very hard times; I am still having problems with extremely bad constipation and having to use enemas every time I use the bathroom. I lost my ability to swallow and so now I live on a Peg tube, it is very difficult living in a world where thing smell so good but you can’t taste it or even put it into your mouth. I am now lousing my voice and not able to speak much. I love to preach more then anything but Satan has took that ability away from me, so now I write my sermons out and post them on the web.
God has turned Satan evil into a blessing as there are more people now reading my sermons then ever before. Luke 7:23: And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
I found I may still live in this prison that seams more like a dungeon at times, but I also found that I am never never alone in here. Matthew :28:20: I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, Amen. When I read in Fox book of Martyrs now I better understand how many of these people who were put into dungeon and tortured for what they believed could go to the burning flames singing and praising God. He was right there beside them holding there hand. When I am down and depressed now I reach up and hold on tight to Gods hand, I still live in this world and I am still tormented by Satan everyday in this prison body. Yet God gives me the strength I need one day at a time and when I need it the most, He never failed me yet and He never will.
Many people live in prison because of many different things in life; we can’t judge them by what we see on the outside. They are people who are hurting, people who need to be told you are not alone; but too many times we are busy with our own problems to help them. They just slip away and no one sees, they go on with there hurting day in and day out, they look normal but they are in prison on the inside, hiding in there own little world. If left in this condition Satan will take full control of them.
I have found that the rich more then any other group live in this prison. Why is this so hard to believe, they have all the money in the world all the toys that money can buy, but they live in despair unhappy on the inside. That is because the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6: 10: For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. With out God in there life they too fall hopeless under the vice of Satan. Money can buy you anything in this world you want, but it can’t buy you eternal life in the next, only Jesus can do that.
I understand a lot more about Gods love for his creation then I ever did before in my live. We all failed his first little simple test of who you believe, God or Satan. Obedience to his Law was a blessing, it was designed to keep mankind happy and healthy, God never wanted man to be sick or unhealthy, that was the cause of disobedience and sins. He seeks now to bring us back to Him and is preparing a place for all who will believe and put there trust in Him. John:14:3: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. All He asks is that we be obedient to his Laws as a sign of our love back to Him. John:14:15: If ye love me, keep my commandments. This is why He let’s us go through the fire of suffering and pain; it is to refining us, to wash out all the impurity and stain of sin. So that one day we can again live a life with no Prison walls, no depression, no sickness, and no SIN.
Mt:21:21: Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Only by faith in God and in His Word can we be saved, someday all that we have gone through will seam so petite a thing in comparison to what Jesus did to save us.
Romans: 8: 35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36: As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37: Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39: Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is nothing that can separate you from Gods love, except your choice to not let Him in. Satan will do everything he can to block out the love of God in your life. He will cause sickness, illness, depression, even death to a love one, all to get you to blame God and separate you from His love. Just remember what Paul was telling you in Roman, nothing can separate you, only your choice not to believe.
Life is sometimes like a prison cell we get locked in with no way out, but even in this prison Jesus will shine his light of love on us through a window or crack in the wall if we are willing. This prison is only temporary when you compare it to eternity with Jesus, and I know someday I will meet all of you there in Heaven. We are like a flower we start off in a dirty patch of ground on this dusty old Earth, but in the end we will bloom with the beauty of Gods love for eternity.
I know who I have believed in, and I know and believe His promise that He will one day came back to take us home to live with Him, its a sure thing. I know that whether I am alive or Sleeping in the dust of the Earth, that I will hear His voice coming and saying well-done thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy lord Mt: 25: 21.
I still worry a lot about what will happen to me and my Wife when I can no longer work. Will I have to give up my home how would I be able to pay for it, what about other things I need, how will I be able to pay for them. I don’t know the answer to all this but this I do know God will make a way for me He always did and He always will.
Miracles; do you believe in miracles: A pray of faith can do a miracle all by itself. Our bodies were designed to heal themselves but because of sin we lost the one key ingredient “the Tree of Life”. But even with that missing the power of people praying together for the common good of one can still make a miracles come through when God blesses it, don’t give up, never give up, Jesus is right there with you just believe.
Who ever you are that may be reading this, you may be going through some very tuff times in your life. Maybe everything is just fine in your life but you just don’t feel normal and don’t know why, it is like there is something missing. Put all your cares in the Arms of Jesus, I know it is not easy, but the more you get to know Him the easier it will be come.
Oh my friend I pray that you will Remember this Hebrews: 11: 1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. We have not seen it yet but it is true, because Gods word does not fail.
It is by His grace that I have been able to continue living, preaching, and writing, about His love and what He did for me. Not that I am any better then anyone else, I am just a simple fishermen following in the foot prints of my savior. I too like everyone else am waiting because I know soon; very soon He will come back for all who have believed and put there Faith in Him. My pains and suffering will someday all be in the past that is the faith that keeps me doing His will.
I pray asking Gods blessing on all who will read this and hope it helps you in dealing with someone who is going through illness in there life.
Sunday Feb 17, 2013: a good friend of mine lost his battle with Cancer. He was a good Christian man with a beautiful Caregiver Wife and Chidden who he left behind. He is sleeping now in no more pain or suffering, resting from all his labor. I look forward to meeting him again when we hear the call of our Masters Voice saying well done my good and faithful servants; enter into the joy of the Lord.
Friend I hope you will join us there on that morning, my friend Larry and I will be wearing our new bodies with no scars of this old world.
We will be the ones singing O victory in Jesus, My Savior, forever. He sought me and bought me With His redeeming blood; He loved me ere I knew Him, And all my love is due Him, He plunged me to victory, Beneath the cleansing flood.
May the God of our faithful Fathers who through faith believed in His grace and love be with you until we meet in God kingdom. Friend if you too are living in your own prison don’t give up, just believe. When you are down in pain and hurting beyond belief just remember He is there beside you holding on. This life is short in comparison to what Jesus has planned for all who believe, just give it a try. I know how hard it is because I too been to hell on my knees a few times and surrounded by Satan and his evil angles. But while in pain, in suffering, in despair and depression my hand was holding tight to my King, my Lord, my Savior, my Friend and my Brother Jesus.
Up-date:
God is so good so very good to those who live by faith. This week for the first time in two years my bowels have come back to normal; only by a miracle could this have been possible. God is still in the business of doing miracle when we believe and have Faith in Him.
Up-date 10-22-2013
God is still in business
Yesterday I did a swallowing test again but this time it did show a little improvement. While I still can swallow or eat like a normal person I am able to sip and swallow very small amounts of water. What the test showed is that the back of the tongue is no longer moving to close off the air way into the lungs. While this is not a good thing it has also become a blessing, in the past the back of the tongue would only move half way and would allow food and water to drain off into the lungs; better known as “Aspiration”. Now with the tongue being stuck and not moving at all the doctor was amazed because when swallowing water it has found a new root around the stuck part of the tongue down the throat by-passing the air way into the lungs. They are sending all the finding from the test to my ENT and suggesting that I be giving the OK to start swallowing very small amount of water again, Wow miracles do still happen. Paul said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
God bless you all as each of you go through your trials in life. Remember this life is only a step in stone to a better one with my Lord my savoir and my friend Jesus. Don’t give up hope put your faith in Jesus He is right there with you alway.
If you are going through some tough times in your life dealing with some disease contact me at this web-stie I want to pray with you.
Up-date September 5, 2015
Hi everyone
It is hard to believe that I am still alive in 2015 and all I can say is God has been very good to me. I was in Honduras for a few months to visit my brother and get some time alone with God. There is nothing better for your health then to live in a tropical garden that does not use any type of poison on any of the fruit trees. I lived on Mangos, Papaya, Pineapples and Star Fruit, the entire time I was there, just walk outside pick it off the tree and put it into my blender so I can put it down my PEG tube. I really enjoyed it and I am looking to go back again soon.
I am still having problems from all the radiation 10 years ago, my breath smells very bad and there is nothing I can do about it. Also been having a lot of bleeding back in the nasopharynx area, the tissue is so damaged from radiation that it will not heal, so it bleeds all the time. The other problem is not being able to swallow so at night when I am sleeping some of it goes into my Lungs and gives me pneumonia. But by faith I keep moving on and doing all I can as God give me another day.
Please keep my friends in your prayers; I have a friend named Debby who is fighting for her life. She has a little different type of cancer then I had but cancer is bad no matter where you have it.
Thank you
In God’s workshop
Elder Tim McNab
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Up-date December 9, 2015
God has been very good to me this year, I was able to see our 7th grandchild come into the world and to be a part of her life, that is truly a blessing.
I am still having problems bleeding from the dead scar tissue in the sinus where I had all the radiation and nothing I do seams to help it. I am also still having pain in the sinus and on the left side of the face and ear, but God gives me the strength I need each day. I have also notice that my attitude is effected by the weather. On days that are warm and sunny, I feel very good, and on days that are cold and raining I feel bad; Glad I have a computer for the Rainey days. I had to retire this year after 25 years with same company, work was a big help to me as it was a place I could go and concentrate on something else besides all of my problems. We sometime don’t understand how blessed we are to have work every day, it helps our body stay in shape, one reason why God gave us the Sabbath one day out of seven so we can rest.
Thank you all for your support and prayers.
Elder Tim
Cancer Survivor only by His grace.
Restoring Gods Truth Ministries
The Truth and Nothing but the Truth
To Tell the Truth was an American TV panel game show back in the 1950 era
The show features a panel of four celebrities attempting to correctly identify a described contestant who has an unusual occupation or experience. This true character is accompanied by two impostors (Fakes) who pretend to be the true character. The celebrity panelists question the three contestants; the impostors are allowed to lie but the true character is sworn “to tell the truth”. After questioning, the panel attempts to identify which of the three challengers is telling the truth and is thus the true character.
Three challengers are introduced, all claiming to be the true character. The announcer typically asks the challengers, who stand side by side, “What is your name, please?” Each challenger then states, “My name is [true character’s name].” The celebrity panelists then read along as the host reads aloud a signed affidavit about the true character.
The panelists are each given a period of time to question the challengers. Questions are directed to the challengers by number (Number One, Number Two and Number Three), with the true character sworn to give truthful answers, and the impostors permitted to lie, deceived and pretend to be the true character.
After questioning is complete, each member of the panel votes on which of the challengers they believe to be the true character, either by writing the number on a card or holding up a card with the number of their choice, without consulting the other panelists.
Once the votes are cast, the host asks, “Will the real True person please stand up?”
Life is not a game it’s for real, and being able to tell what is the truth from what is not the truth can be the difference between life and eternal death. So today we are going to find out what Truth is and what it is not.
Let us Pray!
__________________________________________________________________
What is Truth?
Many people have asked this one single simple question. In our world today it is hard to find the answer to what truth is, why because everyone says they are telling the truth. The Bible says there is a way that seams right unto a man, let’s read it
Prov:14:
12: There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
It is simply saying you can think you are Right you can think you have the Truth you can keep telling yourself it long enough that you will start to believe it. But what does it say will happen but the end thereof are the ways of death.
You see apart from God everything is nothing more then a Lie.
Remember Gods Truth is 100% Truth, Satan also uses Truth but he mixes it with a little Lie. So if something is not 100% pure Truth then it is a Lie no matter how much Truth is in it.
When Jesus came why did he not pick the Religious leaders of his day? Why did he pick simple men and at that Fishermen and Tax collectors to be his disciples.
The Religious leaders of Jesus time were the men entrusted with keeping the Truth, the Holy Scriptures, the Canon or Torah as it was called. They were the men who studied the Holy word of God day in and day out, they knew it back to front, page by page. They could repeat entire books of the Bible from memory.
So why did Jesus not pick any of these Truth keeper. Maybe because they were so well educated he could not teach them anything, because they had formed there own opinion. After all they had the Scriptures right there in front of them right, so how did they miss the Birth of Gods Son, maybe he did not come the way they thought he would. Did they miss reading this in the scriptures or did they just misunderstand what the scriptures said.
I find that is the same with many of the great Religious leaders today, they have there own opinion there own belief there own teaching of what the Bible says.
Mark:7:7: Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
How is it that the Religious leaders today teach the doctrines of thereChurch over what the plane Truth of what the Bible says?
Look at how the Bible describes the Religious leaders in Jesus time. Rich, well dressed, well educated, living in the move eloquent homes, and I am sure they road in the best cart and pulled by the best donkeys of the day.
Today our Religious leaders are just about the same, rich, well dressed, well educated, living in the move eloquent homes, and drive the best Cars made.
Now think, how did Jesus and His disciples live, how did they travel, what did they ware,
Lets Look at Matthew 2:
1: Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2: Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3: When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4: And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5: And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6: And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
So the Religious leaders knew that Christ, the one who for 1400 years had been prophesies of coming to save them, was finally born, but they did nothing. Wow the Son of God born in a little town like Bethlehem and no one who was entrusted with keeping the Truth and telling others was there.
What happened how could they miss something as important as the birth of the Son of God. Easy He did not come the way they believe he should come, they were teaching something different, they were teaching the commandments of men.
What does the Bible say Truth is?
John:17:
17: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
So the only real Truth is Gods Word
What did we just say was Truth; God Word right, lets Look at John 1:
1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2: The same was in the beginning with God.
3: All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4: In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5: And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Truth is that God loved His creation so much that even after he knew how we would treat Him, even after he knew we would spit in His face, and nailed Him to a Cross. He still decided to come and die in our place. Why to save us, what love God has for all who believe in him.
10: He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11: He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Satan can take away your health, he can take away your seeing your hearing your eating your ability to walk and feel well. He can take away everything; except he can’t take away the Truth of God word, because it is Gods character and like him it is Holy because God is holy.
Romans 8:
35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36: As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37: Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39: Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
To tell you the truth I am not a Theologian I am not one of the great school learned scholars of the Bible. The truth is I am only a simple man with a simple faith, kind of like the disciples in Jesus day a simple fisherman.
It has been right at 2000 years ago that our savoir came and died for all of us. He left a massage of Love and how we should treat others. People who followed Jesus were called Christians why because they followed His teaching and they acted just like Jesus, so they were called Christ Like people.
Acts:11:26: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
When we look back at History we see people who called themselves Christians being anything but Christ Like. We see a legacy of killing in the Church all because someone would not go along with the traditions the Church was teaching. Because someone wanted to believe what the Bible said over what the Church said.
Why because anytime the Church is backed by the State and laws are made to enforce the Churches teaching you will find persecution. The Bible said that a time is coming
John: 16: 2: They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
The scriptures here are talking about people, leaders in the Church. The ones who clam they have the truth, putting others out of the Church and putting them to death because they refused to accept anything but the Bible Gods words as Truth.
Matthew:24:9: Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
If the so called Religious leaders would just humble themselves to the Word of God and study the Bible from Genesis to Revaluation and do as the Bible says to do in Isaiah:28:
10: For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
They would all come away with only one Truth and that is Gods Truth not mans
But God knows there heart, He knows that many will never come to know the truth just like the Religious leaders in his day, He could teach them nothing.
Matthew: 7:
21: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
I never knew you, how sad. The Great men of our world the men that many people trusted to hold the Truth dear but were nothing more then fakes. Many people will be lost with them all because they too never took the time to let the Bible intrepid itself. It was too easy to just put that responsibility in the hands of Pastors or Priest so we could feel good and do what we wanted to do. I never knew you Jesus will say to them
Look at what Paul said would happen to the Church after he was gone. That men will rise up he called them grievous wolves, why because they would not care for the Church nor would they teach the Truth.
Acts:20:
29: For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30: Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Today people don’t go to Church for the Truth, they go to get a feeling, and if they don’t like the feeling they get in one Church they look for another. Truth has nothing to do with it; they are looking for a Church of convenience one that fits there life style not God.
People I tell you if we are to find what the Truth is then we need to look to and only look to Gods Holy Word, for it will never lie.
First look at Isaiah: 8:
20: To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
If what you believe, what you think, or what you hear from you Pastor, does not agree with what the Bible is teaching from cover to cover then it is a lie it is not the Truth. Truth is 100% anything less then 100% even if it is 99.9% truth and just .01% Lie, it is a Lie.
Look at Jesus own words in the book of Matthew Chapter 5:
Mt:5:17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mt:5:18: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. He is not talking about laws made by man but the Ten Commandment law giving by God and wrote with his own finger on stone.
Lk:16:17: And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
Gods Law is his character when you talk about His law you are talking about God. The only part of the Bible that God did not let man write was His Ten Commandments; God did that with his own finger, and right there on the 4th commandment God said Remember, Remember my Sabbath day. But the Religious leaders today are saying don’t worry it is OK to forget what God said to Remember and wrote with his own finger. We are all New Testament Christians and we keep Sunday because Jesus rose up from the grave on Sunday. The only problem with that is that no where in Gods word Old or New Testament does it say God changed his day of Worship. Sunday is an old pagan day of Worship the day the pagans worship the Sun God, not Jesus.
Look at what Jesus was telling the Religious leaders in John:7:19: Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?
The Religious leaders got so far away from how to keep the true Sabbath that when Jesus who gave them the Sabbath came they wanted to kill him for not keeping it there way. The same is today we have again gotten so far away from the Truth of Gods Holy Word that this time as the Bible predicts the Religious leaders will make a law to Kill all who keep the Truth of Gods Holy Word in place of there false day of Worship.
Rv:12:17: And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
This is not non Church people here this is the Church ran by Satan killing God true worshipers who keep the commandments of God and not man. The same way Satan used the Religious leaders to kill Jesus he will again use the Religious leaders to put to death Gods people.
Rv:14:12: Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
If you are in a big Church organization today I suggest you find out what the word remnant means. It does not means Big is means Small there will be at the end only a small group of people who keep the Truth of Gods Holy word and obey His Commandments, his Ten Commandments not his nine Commandments plus Sunday.
Don’t be mislead by the so called Religious leaders of today and don’t be mislead thinking because you are in a big Church you are safe. The truth my friend is not popular, tell someone the truth and they will not believe you, tell them a lie and they will take it to the bank.
The Bible tells us that God true Church is not the large multitudes of people, they are the few. Today people want God in there lives but at there convenience and at a time when they can fit him in. The problem with that is God doesn’t work that way. God has giving man a day, a special day, a holy day, a day that God said I will be there with you. Why is that day holy, what makes it holy look at Exodus 3: 5: And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
It is holy because God is there on the Sabbath day with His true Church, His true people who worship Him on the day he said to come and worship.
Remember John 1:
1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus is God, Jesus was the one who gave us his Sabbath, he was the one who wrote it on stone with his own finger and said he came not to change Gods law but to fulfill Gods law.
If you want to do something to remember Jesus, do what he told you to do to remember Him. Luke:22:
19: And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Nothing about Sunday there.
Have you ever read this scripture in the Bible in the Old Testament, take a look at it. Isaiah 66:
22: For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23: And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
This is a prophecy of Isaiah that has not yet come true, why because God has not yet created the new heaven and the new Earth.
Now read Genesis 2:
1: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2: And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3: And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
If in the beginning God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy and in the End when he recreates the Earth new we will all again come to Worship him on the Sabbath day. So if in the beginning we worshiped on the Sabbath and in the Earth made new we will be worshipping on the Sabbath. What day should we be worshipping on now Saturday the Sabbath or Sunday?
And if Saturday the Sabbath is Gods true day of worship, who are you truly worshiping on Sunday the day of the Sun-God. Look at Daniel 7::25: And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
People the most High is God, and God is telling us that in the end times (the days we live in) this false Church these false Religious leaders will lead the multitudes away from Gods Truth. To the point they will wear out the saints (Kill), and they will think to change Time and Law. Who’s Time, Who’s Law, Gods Time his Sabbath, Gods Law his Ten Commandments.
Remember there is no sitting on the fence, if you are not on Gods side you are on Satan’s side you cannot server God and serve Man
Lk:16:13: No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
What day was Jesus Disciples in Church teaching look at Act 13:
42: And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.
43: Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
44: And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
Acts:17:2: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Acts:18:4: And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
The Disciples were not teaching that Sabbath was now Sunday they were teaching on the Sabbath long after the Crucifixion same as they were while Jesus was here on the earth.
Look at what the Matthew Henry’s Commentary said about the Sabbath: “The form of the fourth commandment, Remember, shows that it was not now first given, but was known by the people before”.
Here also Jamieson-Fausset-Brown said: “Remember the sabbath day—implying it was already known, and recognized as a season of sacred rest. The first four commandments [Ex 20:3-11] comprise our duties to God—the other six [Ex 20:12-17] our duties to our fellow men; and as interpreted by Christ, they reach to the government of the heart as well as the lip”
Look at how decepting Satan will be, the Bible said in Revelation 16 that in the end times devils will be performing miracles in order to deceive people into believing it is the Spirit of God.
Revelation 16: 14: For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
How will you know the different how will you know the Truth. Read Isaiah:8:20: To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
You can’t go by someone working miracles because they could be doing miracles with the spirit of devils. I have had Cancer in my life and I live everyday in pain and suffering from the terrible side affect from all the treatment. I prayed many of times for God to heal me but he has not. I had people tell me they know of a Spirit healer who can cure me. A Spirit healer, who’s Spirit I question, I would rather be slayed by a God who loved me then to be healed by a Devil that hates me. Beware of Religious leaders and people who clime they heal in the name of Jesus by slapping you on the head backwards.
What does the Bible say Truth is John:17:17: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. If it is not in the Bible and does not agree with the Bible from Genesis to Revelations it is because there is no truth in it.
There is no excuse to not know the Truth of Gods Word, like I said before I am only a simple fisherman I am not one of the learned Religious leaders of our day. I praise God that in my simple mind and simple faith, I read his Truth the way his Holy Spirit teaches it and not man.
If nothing else please remember this !
In the garden God Himself said to Man:
Genesis 2:
17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Satan in the form of a snake said.
Genesis 3:
4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
It was all about one thing who is telling the Truth.
In our time again God said Remember My Sabbath Day and keep it holy.
Genesis 20:
8: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Satan again in the form of some of the worlds top Religious Leaders is saying it is OK to forget what God said.
Who do you believe is telling the Truth
Remember Gods Truth is 100% all Truth, Satan also uses Truth but he mixes it with a little Lie. So if something is not 100% pure Truth then it is a Lie no matter how much Truth is in it.
Read the Bible you don’t need some Religious leaders to explain it to you. Just pray asking God to let his Holy Spirit come and lead you into all Truth. What is Truth, Gods Holy Word is Truth, the Truth and nothing but the Truth.
God Bless you as you seek to know and understand the Truth of God Word.
Elder Tim McNab
Restoring Gods Truth Ministries
The Soldier and his Sword – Desmond Doss
Desmond T. Doss stood by his convictions under ridicule and enemy fire. As he continued to honor God throughout WWII, God honored him with the highest honor America can bestow. He would not drill or train on Saturday, the Sabbath. He would not carry a gun because he believed all killing was wrong. He wouldn’t even eat meat after seeing a chicken flopping around with its head cut off.
Some of the stories he recalls actually would have branded him a klutz rather than a smart, practical, and honorable leader. He did learn many valuable lessons during his childhood, though, that shaped his thinking and perhaps caused him to react the way he did during his time in the army.
Desmond Doss (February 7, 1919–March 23, 2006) was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor and one of only three so honored. He was a Private First Class (at the time of his Medal of Honor heroics) in the U.S. Army assigned to the Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. He died the same day as another Medal of Honor recipient, David Bleak.
Desmond refused to kill, or carry a weapon into combat, because of his personal beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist. He thus became a medic, and by serving in the Pacific theatre of World War II helped his country by saving the lives of his comrades, while also adhering to his religious convictions.
His Medal of Honor was earned by the risks he took to save the lives of many comrades.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Private First Class, United States Army, Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division.
Place and date: Near Urasoe Mura, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, April 29, 1945 – May 21, 1945.
Entered service at: Lynchburg, Virginia
Birth: Lynchburg, Virginia
G.O. No.: 97, November 1, 1945.
Citation:
He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet (120 m) high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machine gun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back.
Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them 1 by 1 to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On May 2, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards (180 m) forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards (7.3 m) of enemy forces in a cave’s mouth, where he dressed his comrades’ wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On May 5, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer.
He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet (7.6 m) from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards (91 m) to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire.
On May 21, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man.
Awaiting the litter bearers’ return, he was again struck, by a sniper bullet while being carried off the field by a comrade, this time suffering a compound fracture of 1 arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards (270 m) over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.
Read more about Desmond at DesmondDoss.com
He is the subject of the award-winning documentary, The Conscientious Objector, with interviews with Doss as well as some of the soldiers whose lives he saved.
A True Story of An American Soldier, documentary film.
Infantrymen who once ridiculed and scoffed at Desmond’s simple faith and refusal to carry a weapon-now owed their lives to him. Director Terry Benedict tells Desmond’s incredible story through the eyes of the men who witnessed this humble man’s heroic acts. Winning the respect of his fellow soldiers, they recommended him for the highest honor America can bestow on one of her sons-The Congressional Medal of Honor.
Read the incredible story of a man who stood by his convictions under ridicule and enemy fire. As he continued to honor God throughout WWII, God honored him with the highest honor America can bestow. Written by Frances M. Doss
D5 Creation
