CHAPTER 18
The lives of Mike and Gene were going exactly the way they had planned. But, sometimes the Lord puts something in your path that brings a person back to reality. Two weeks after Mike and Gene finished with their college and they were thinking of the different offers from prospective churches, they received the bad news. Mr. Bishop was rushed to the hospital and within two hours, he was promoted to glory.
The worldly things that Mr. Bishop had, he gave to Mike and Gene, which included the old spooky mansion. The mansion was one of the largest built in Washington at the turn of the century. Mike and Gene decided the best thing to do was to give it to the state. They had a petition signed that made the mansion an historical site. Within one year after the death of Mr. Bishop, thousands of people were visiting the mansion every year.
One of the agreements they made with the state of Washington was that one dollar from every visitor would go to a special fund which no one knew who owned. At the end of the year, that special fund was taken and all the money that had been set aside was given to the law firm of Jaspher & Jaspher. The lawyer would then make a check out to the person, company, or corporation that Mike and Gene had designated to receive the fund. Ultimately, the fund would be given to the Bible College. The reason it was set up that way is because Mike thought for sure, if the State knew where he wanted the money to go, they would refuse to make the old mansion an historical site.
The church had the memorial service for Mr. Bishop and there were a number of preachers that came forward and told about the different things that had happened in his long life. There were many stories from the time while he was considered one of the greatest preachers that every lived. Next came the story of the fire and the misery of losing his family. The good things that he had done and the things that he accomplished seemed to be worthless without his family.
The pastor said, “Year after year, living in the mansion and not seeing or talking to anyone made Mr. Bishop desire death. However, he knew he could not commit suicide, so he wallowed in his misery.” As the pastor continued with the story, people started to see, for the first time, the terrible life he lived and the grief he suffered.
After the story of the fire and how he met Mike and Gene, then came the story of the rest of his life. More stories were told and as each story became more and more exciting, people saw Mr. Bishop for who he really was, that being a great soul winner for Christ. Even as he was dying, he was still witnessing for the Lord.
Mr. Bishop knew that he was not in very good health, so he had written a letter and left it on his desk. The letter explained how he was given a second chance in delivering the Gospel to a lost world. He told how he caught Mike and Gene in his library and how scared they were and how Mike convicted him of not telling people about Christ. He stated that there are a lot of people like that in the Christian community. They get saved and then for some reason, they just stop telling others about Christ.
They make up all kinds of reasons for not sharing the Gospel, such as their wife and children were lost in a fire and when you lose your family, a person loses the will to live.
One excuse after another is explained away until the person starts to believe the excuses. He said that when a person accepts Christ as his or her personal Savior, they must continue to tell others about Christ dying on the cross for their sins. If a person stops telling, it may be that a large number of people will go to Hell because of what you did not do. When a person loses a member of their family, that does not mean that it is the end of the world, it just means that you must continue without them. You should not give up. That is one of the tricks of the Devil. If he can convince a Christian to stop telling about Christ, he feels as if he has won the battle.
The funeral was one of the largest that anyone could remember. The last to speak about Mr. Bishop was Mike. He told how Mr. Bishop would sit and talk about all of the things that he would do with Billy Sunday and other great preachers of that time. He, also, told of the great tent revivals that were held and how hundreds of thousands of people each year accepted. Mike made it very clear and plain what was expected of the old time preachers.
He also made it very clear what was expected of the new breed of preachers that were coming from Bible colleges. He stated that the Gospel must be explained so that a small child can understand and accept. The memorial service lasted two hours, but it seemed to fly by.
At the grave site, there were a few words for the great preacher and then his casket was placed in the ground. Each person that walked by would drop a handful of dirt on the casket. The last two to walk by was Mike and Gene. Mike and Gene knew that Mr. Bishop was in Heaven and, if he could come back, he would not want to. They both were rejoicing that Mr. Bishop was walking the streets of gold in Heaven and worshiping God Almighty. After the funeral, things were back to the way they were before. Mike and Gene would continue to look for a church that needed an old time preacher to preach the simple message of the Gospel.
Oh, there was one thing I almost forgot to tell you about the funeral. When the funeral notice was placed in the newspaper, one person that saw the notice was James Kelley. James had known Mr. Bishop all his life and when he saw the notice, he asked if his son David would like to go. David said he would like to go and he thought that maybe his son would like to go, also. David’s son, George (Peggy Sue’s future husband), was excited about the funeral because he had read and studied about the old time preachers that had tent revivals and how thousands of people were saved through the messages they presented.
George was curious about the calling that he had. Sometimes, he would wonder if he would be a preacher, or an evangelist, or did the Lord want him in the mission field? There were so many questions for a young man in Bible College. The one thing that he did know was that Mr. Bishop was one of the greatest preachers ever and now he was gone. He wondered to himself about the void that was left by Mr. Bishop.
Mr. Bishop had been considered a GIANT in the Christian community and now, with him being dead and other great GIANTS in the Christian community dying off, who would take the place of these GIANTS?
James accepted the Lord when he was nine years old. He remembered the times when he and Abe Bishop were young and did a lot of things together. (Since James was Mr. Bishop’s age, to him, Mr. Bishop was Abe. Abe was short for Abraham. You see, Mr. Bishop’s name was Abraham Joshua Bishop. Most of the time, he was called Abe, but sometimes in his life, he wanted to be called Josh.) They would go swimming at the creek or they would hitch a ride with someone and go the two miles down the road to the river. At the river, they would go fishing or swimming. It all depended on how they felt.
After both were married, James moved down the road about twenty miles. When his son, David, was born, he explained what it meant to be saved and at a young age, David also accepted. James had no idea that his grandson, George, would be what he had always admired in Abe Bishop. Abe Bishop was a man that would present the Gospel to thousands upon thousands of people. You see, when George was born, David wanted him to know about the Lord. As soon as he could understand that he was a sinner, George accepted Christ. That was when he was six years old.
David did believe in Christian Schools, but he felt it was best if George went to public schools. The one thing that David did do was to read all the stories of the Bible to his son, and he also told him that the Lord was going to use him in ways that were beyond his wildest dreams.
When George heard about the death of Mr. Bishop, he pulled out some of his old magazines and read about the great Bible preachers of the past. On page twenty two was the story of Mr. Bishop. He was standing with Billy Sunday and Hyman Waul. The article told about Mr. Bishop and the things he had done and how many people they thought he had lead to the Lord. The article was one of the most fascinating articles he had ever read. When he finished, he prayed that the Lord would show him what his call would be in the ministry. He had n
o idea that the Lord was going to show him, at the funeral, what he would do for the Body of Christ.
After that little prayer, George thought about some of the stories his grandpa would tell him about himself and Abe. One story that George would never forget was the story about a flimflam man that came into town one year and tried to steal money from the church.
Each year, the town had a cook out. At the cook out, women would bring pies and cakes to be sold to the highest bidder. There were other things to eat such as watermelons, honeydew melons, and there was plenty of smoked beef and ham.
The flimflam man came into the town and told the preacher he had a way that the church could make a lot of money. He had some cards and on each card, there were one hundred numbers. Behind three of the numbers, there would be a marker for a five dollar bill. There would, also, be a marker for a ten and twenty dollar bill. The flimflam man said that if they would buy one card, they could sell each number for a dollar. The final result would be that the church would make sixty five dollars.
Abe, or Mr. Bishop, had seen the same thing before and knew how it worked. Once the card was sold to the church, a young man would buy five numbers. The first number would be a loser, but the second, fourth and fifth numbers would win. The church would lose thirty five dollars.
As the flimflam man talked to the preacher and Mr. Bishop, Mr. Bishop told the preacher it was a pretty good deal and they should buy one card. The deal was made with one exception. Mr. Bishop talked the flimflam man into taking the money and paying out the winners. The church would pay him ten dollars for taking care of all the money. The flimflam man thought about it and decided he could make one hundred dollars rather than the thirty five he had planned on making.
The flimflam man knew what all the winning numbers were and his young accomplice would pick the ten and twenty dollar winners before anyone else could. Also, after the money was taken up, he and his young apprentice would leave town with all the money.
Mr. Bishop wanted to inspect the card and see if it was just like the one he had seen before. It was exactly the same. At the booth, the flimflam man was taking dollars from anyone that wanted to try their luck. His young helper was seventh in line. Mr. Bishop had already told James (George’s grandpa) what number would win. When James gave his dollar, he said he wanted number 12. Behind 12 was the marker for ten dollars. The flimflam man had to pull ten dollars out of his own money and pay for the marker. Behind James was another friend of Mr. Bishop’s. He said he wanted the number 77. You guessed it! It was the marker for twenty dollars. To the chagrin of the flimflam man, he had to pay twenty more dollars.
Standing right in front of the flimflam man’s young helper was Mr. Bishop. Mr. Bishop took the number 52. If you are thinking it was the number for the five dollar marker, you are exactly right. Mr. Bishop received his five dollars and that was the first and last time the flimflam man was flimflammed. Oh, all the money did go back to the church and the money was used wisely. Although Mr. Bishop knew gambling was wrong, he felt he needed to teach this man that he should not try to cheat God or anyone else. He used it as another way to witness for the Lord.
Getting back to the story of the funeral, George was listening to everything that was said about Mr. Bishop. One thing they said was about the great tent revivals of the twenty’s and thirty’s that Mr. Bishop was involved in.
All of a sudden, it seemed as if a light came on in George’s head. George knew he wanted that same kind of success. He wanted to be an evangelists that had nothing but tent revivals. He started thinking about the size of the tent and how many chairs he would need. It seemed as if there was one thing after another coming into his mind. Well, it was. The Lord was putting one thought after another in his mind and before the funeral was over, he had everything planned. However, the Lord had His own plan for George.
As you already know, George and Peggy Sue’s eyes met at the funeral and they would be married during their last year in school. Also, the Lord worked things out for Mike and Gene. They had been looking for a church and the Lord used the funeral services as a stepping stone for the churches that would call them.
At the funeral, there were men from two local churches who were looking for senior pastors. When they heard that both Mike and Gene were looking for churches, they knew it was the Lord leading them to the funeral so these two young men would be called as senior pastors to take their churches.
Now, let’s see what happened to Mike and Gene and see how the Lord led both of them in finding a church. We’ll also see how He was going to let them present the Gospel.
Gene wanted to find a church so badly he could feel it in his bones. If he could just find a church, he and Sandy could set a date for their wedding. Often, just when you think that nothing is going to happen, it happens. Gene went to the mail box and inside was a letter from the First Baptist Church of Fellowship, which was just ten miles down the road. The letter stated that they wanted him to come and candidate for the position of senior pastor. Gene was so excited he called Sandy and told her the good news. Sandy didn’t seem too excited, but then she told him she was as excited as he was, she was just teasing him. She explained that she knew that the Lord was going to provide a church when His timing was right. She stated that she knew they had to be patient and wait on the Lord’s timing. His timing was always perfect. “When the Lord’s timing is right, He will accomplish His will.”
The excitement was tingling through Gene like a little kid in a candy factory. The second thing that he did was to call Mike and give him the good news. Mike was just as excited as Gene, because he had also received a letter from one of the local churches about coming to candidate for the pastoral position. They both could not believe their luck, but as you know, they both knew it was not luck. The Lord wanted them to be very close so their children, once they were born, would be just as close of friends as they were when they were young.
The following Sunday, Mike was scheduled to preach at the First Haven Community Church. He decided he would give a message on the requirements of Heaven. It was far from the best message he had, but he knew that every preacher that candidates always gives the best he has at first and that was not what Mike wanted to do. He knew that if he gave his best, the church would not be expecting anything better. However, if he gave something less than the best, the church would always be anticipating something better. That is what Mike wanted to do. He wanted to give a better sermon week after week.
He also wanted to guide and direct the church so the people would mature at a steady pace. Mike had seen many churches rush ahead and within four or five years, the people were burned out and ready to find another pastor. That is not what Mike wanted to happen.
Gene would preach in two weeks and his message would be out of Jude. He would show what “religious” men look like and how they resemble the real McCoy. They have the talk and the walk and they even act as if they know a lot about the Bible. These men are called apostates. They have everything, except salvation. Sometimes, these men even think they are saved, but down deep, they know they are spreading lies and false teachings or they really don’t believe what they are saying. Many did it just for the money.
Both Mike and Gene were questioned about the things they believed and what they saw in the future for the church. Mike wanted the church to grow through evangelism, but not so fast that it would outgrow its space. Gene on the other hand wanted a church that was witnessing for Christ. He felt that growth would come, if the members were witnessing and telling others about Christ.
Both boards made up their minds and Mike and Gene were both asked to be the senior pastor of each church. As soon as Gene had the good news, Sandy set the date for their marriage. Remember, as I told you earlier, Mike had already married Mary Jane Culpepper.
With Mike and Gene living so close, it meant that when their children started to come into the world, they would be just like t
heir parents. They would grow up together and they would go all through school together and maybe they would even go to college together.
Mike and Gene had their hearts set on presenting the Gospel to anyone and everyone that wanted to hear the simple message. Many people were going forward each Sunday morning and accepting. The numbers were small to begin with, but week after week, the numbers kept getting bigger and bigger until both Mike and Gene thought that a real revival was in their area. They were not mistaken about the thought of revival. There was one of the biggest revivals going on in the Northwest that anyone could remember.
The revival was not only being seen in the churches, but the Lord was working through George Kelley, too. During the last two years of Bible School, he had bought a tent and chairs. On the week-ends, he was going from one community to another, preaching that Christ died on the cross to save the world. People were getting saved and the fire was catching on all over the Northwest. Mike and Gene, both, would prosper from the preaching of a man on fire for the Lord.
The fire that George was building lasted for years in his ministry. The old time tent revivals started out very slowly, but with George’s success, more and more preachers were turning to the tent revivals just like the old times. There were great preachers presenting the Gospel at tent revivals all over the country. However, all of the tent revivals died off, except for George’s. You see, television was taking over. People were losing interest in sitting in hot tents when they could sit at home in an air conditioned home with their drinks and food on each side of their chair.