Hi all,
Leading Barb to the Lord
Barb and I genuinely liked each other from the start. We make each other laugh, and we laugh alot, even now after all these years. We love nature, and spent many dates talking of building a life together, children, discipline and all the things a young couple should talk about as they get to know one another. One of those things I talked to her about was the Lord.
Many of our dates, for the first 6 months especially, were us sitting on a sofa in her basement, with me countering every argument she had against believing in God. She was an atheist when I met her, and worse, she was into some very dark things. But over the fall and winter of 1974-75 she had seen the Father's presence in my life, and about Jesus. One day when she was all alone she said:"God, if you're real, and what John says about you is true, then you better prove yourself now...." She said immediately there came a cloud, a saturating presence of His unconditional love upon her, and she knew that she knew Jesus and the Father were real. She never looked back. She has had a heart for righteousness, repentance, and holiness from the start, and is as zealous now as she was then.
The summer I graduated from high school (Barb was a year behind) me and 2 other guys went to a lake cabin for a fasting retreat to baptize each other in the lake. It was that weekend I first heard the voice of the Lord. The Father had spoken to me many times, but I had never heard Jesus before. The last song on one side of Nancy Honeytree's 'Evergreen' album had a song written by Larry Norman, entitled; I am your servant.
I struggled with self-image, and couldn't believe the Lord could ever use me for anything.
I put my life on the altar so to speak, yet again, asking Him to use me if He wanted, though privately I didn't see how that could be. As "I Am Your Servant" was ending like a loud speaker in my whole being He said:"I love you John." I was so startled I responded:"I, I, I love you too Lord." "Turn to John 14:27." "Now Lord?" "Yes, now."
I did:"Peace I leave with you; Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Don't let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful." I knew at that moment, as impossible as it sounded, He had accepted my offer to serve Him in any way He wished.
Both Barb's family and mine had ties to Indiana University so where we went to school was pretty much predetermined. In August of 1977 I was starting my sophomore year there, and Barb was just starting her freshman year. I lived in a fraternity and she in a dorm, separated about 3 miles (4.8km). In September she was in my room as we prayed about our futures. We now knew we were called into ministry and a 4 year degree held no allure, but we were being obedient to our parents.
As we prayed she saw a vision of herself standing with the Lord facing mountains.
He put each hand on her shoulders and turned her around to see the prairie before them. It was full of wheat, and each head of wheat was a human face. At the same time I was prophesying what He was telling me. He said He wanted us to go to Boulder, Colorado, which is at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. He also said:"Your dad will cut off the money over Christmas break. I want you to spend time fasting and praying, and I will teach you many things." Then privately to me He said:"You may be married next year at this time."
She left my fraternity at 12:30a, and I walked her to the door then watched until she left the house property, stepping into the street and onto a sidewalk. She called when she got to her dorm, excited, for she said 2 big angels walked her home. She said they were wearing baggy pants and robes, and people went way around her when she came upon someone walking on the same sidewalk. She said the second she put her hand on the door to her dorm, they left.
Just as the Lord had said, dad cut off the money at Christmas break. I found myself living at home in January 1978 a 19 year old college dropout, fasting, praying, attending prayer meetings, laying hands on anyone with any need of healing. The Lord had focused on teaching me about healing during that time, and I became known as the 'guru' of the neighborhood. Barb continued to finish out her freshman year at Indiana University. By February my mom was very frustrated with me, a healthy and hungry 19 year old fasting and praying, and she went to the Lord 2x in those 90 days, and each time He told her, "Be patient. It is of Me."
In March, sensing my time of fasting and prayer was drawing to a close, I proposed to Barb, and we set a September wedding date, according to the Word of the Lord 6 months earlier. So there I was, unemployed, without a car, living at home with my mom, and set to be married in 6 months. Barb's parents thought we were nuts, mom observed.
In April mom came home from a prayer meeting at church and said;
"The Lord spoke to me. You're supposed to fly to Tulsa, Oklahoma." She got on the phone with her travel agent, and arranged a flight for the next morning. It happened that fast. I flew out with $9 in my pocket (all my money in the world) and my mom's credit card. I rented a car, found a motel, and the only 2 things I had heard of in Tulsa was Oral Roberts University (ORU) and a Bible school called Rhema, which had started 4 years earlier. I applied for a job at ORU but felt a heavy hand becoming ever heavier as I continued writing on the application, so I didn't complete it, and walked out of the office. I then went to Rhema, where they were taping a TV show with a teacher named Kenneth Hagin and I sat in on that as part of the audience. I knew nothing of Rhema.
That night with no direction and down to $7 in my pocket I got down on my knees and prayed, asking the Father what He wanted me to do. I saw a vision as if I was hovering above a river being blocked by a set of gates. The gates then opened and a rush of water flowed out, and floating on the water were the letters spelling 'Charlotte.' Then it ended. I called mom and asked what was in Charlotte, and she said it is in North Carolina and there was a ministry there called 'The PTL Club'. She said our neighbor Betty had told her earlier in the day she had been vaccuming her house when the Lord stood at the end of her vaccum cleaner and said:"I'm sending John to The PTL Club." Mom said, 'Charge it', and the next day I was on a plane from Tulsa for Charlotte. Working there would put me about a 15 hour car drive from home.
I walked into the employment office at The PTL Club and told the woman the Lord had told me to come there, and she looked at me like she had heard that about 1,000 times before. She said there was a hiring freeze and they weren't hiring. But still, I asked what job to apply for, and looking at me like 'didn't you hear what I said', but said:"Go over there and pray about it", as she pointed across the room to a table. I did, and the Father said:"Put down 'Tour Guide'." So I did, and walked back over to her.
She looked like she had seen a ghost.
She said; "While you were over there the Lord spoke to me and told me to hire you. Wait just a minute." She disappeared into the office for a few minutes, then came back saying she had just gotten word they were hiring 2 tour guides. That led me into an immedate interview. Then they saw my major at Indiana University was "Recreation and Parks Administration", which got me a to 2nd interview with the Director and Assistant Director of the "Heritage USA" part of the ministry.
It was a large development which is today occupied by other ministries. Back then it had a campground, amphitheater, cabins around a lake, and so on. I was hired on May 8, 1978 as a 'Park Ranger.' Putting 'Tour Guide' got me in the door, and I learned about the ways of the Lord. He is shrewd and wise in business. Putting down 'Park Ranger' would not have gotten me the job, but all the Lord intended by me applying for Tour Guide was just to open the door for His real intention.
Through the years I've learned He would have me take a job that wasn't what I knew He had for me. But I've learned by experience quite often He needed me to get hired, so once hired He could move me to where He wanted me to be all along - but He has to work with the free wills of people. Many Christians turn down jobs the Lord led them to because it wasn't what they thought He wanted, not realizing He was just trying to get them hired so He could move them once on the job.
Why Tulsa?
August of 1978 was a month before our wedding, and I was in prayer as the Father taught me about being a husband, how to treat my wife, and so on. Almost as an afterthought He added:"By the way, the reason I sent you to Tulsa is I want you to go to Rhema next year." I was stunned, as I had wondered why I had gone to Tulsa a few months earlier in April.
I called my mom immediately, who happened to be having lunch with a friend she hadn't seen in weeks. She told her friend what the Lord told me and she replied:"Last night when I was praying, the Lord told me He is sending John to Bible school and He wants me to pay for it. Tell him to send me a letter of acceptance and I'll pay for the whole year." (I did, she did)
Barb and I were married in September of 1978, knowing by the next summer we would have to move to Tulsa. But that year at The PTL Club was a good 'newlywed year. We started our life together a full day's drive from our parents, which was very healthy, lol.
Next week; Chris being born with brain damage, and a miracle or two along the way.
Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected] or [email protected]
Leading Barb to the Lord
Barb and I genuinely liked each other from the start. We make each other laugh, and we laugh alot, even now after all these years. We love nature, and spent many dates talking of building a life together, children, discipline and all the things a young couple should talk about as they get to know one another. One of those things I talked to her about was the Lord.
Many of our dates, for the first 6 months especially, were us sitting on a sofa in her basement, with me countering every argument she had against believing in God. She was an atheist when I met her, and worse, she was into some very dark things. But over the fall and winter of 1974-75 she had seen the Father's presence in my life, and about Jesus. One day when she was all alone she said:"God, if you're real, and what John says about you is true, then you better prove yourself now...." She said immediately there came a cloud, a saturating presence of His unconditional love upon her, and she knew that she knew Jesus and the Father were real. She never looked back. She has had a heart for righteousness, repentance, and holiness from the start, and is as zealous now as she was then.
The summer I graduated from high school (Barb was a year behind) me and 2 other guys went to a lake cabin for a fasting retreat to baptize each other in the lake. It was that weekend I first heard the voice of the Lord. The Father had spoken to me many times, but I had never heard Jesus before. The last song on one side of Nancy Honeytree's 'Evergreen' album had a song written by Larry Norman, entitled; I am your servant.
I struggled with self-image, and couldn't believe the Lord could ever use me for anything.
I put my life on the altar so to speak, yet again, asking Him to use me if He wanted, though privately I didn't see how that could be. As "I Am Your Servant" was ending like a loud speaker in my whole being He said:"I love you John." I was so startled I responded:"I, I, I love you too Lord." "Turn to John 14:27." "Now Lord?" "Yes, now."
I did:"Peace I leave with you; Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Don't let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful." I knew at that moment, as impossible as it sounded, He had accepted my offer to serve Him in any way He wished.
Both Barb's family and mine had ties to Indiana University so where we went to school was pretty much predetermined. In August of 1977 I was starting my sophomore year there, and Barb was just starting her freshman year. I lived in a fraternity and she in a dorm, separated about 3 miles (4.8km). In September she was in my room as we prayed about our futures. We now knew we were called into ministry and a 4 year degree held no allure, but we were being obedient to our parents.
As we prayed she saw a vision of herself standing with the Lord facing mountains.
He put each hand on her shoulders and turned her around to see the prairie before them. It was full of wheat, and each head of wheat was a human face. At the same time I was prophesying what He was telling me. He said He wanted us to go to Boulder, Colorado, which is at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. He also said:"Your dad will cut off the money over Christmas break. I want you to spend time fasting and praying, and I will teach you many things." Then privately to me He said:"You may be married next year at this time."
She left my fraternity at 12:30a, and I walked her to the door then watched until she left the house property, stepping into the street and onto a sidewalk. She called when she got to her dorm, excited, for she said 2 big angels walked her home. She said they were wearing baggy pants and robes, and people went way around her when she came upon someone walking on the same sidewalk. She said the second she put her hand on the door to her dorm, they left.
Just as the Lord had said, dad cut off the money at Christmas break. I found myself living at home in January 1978 a 19 year old college dropout, fasting, praying, attending prayer meetings, laying hands on anyone with any need of healing. The Lord had focused on teaching me about healing during that time, and I became known as the 'guru' of the neighborhood. Barb continued to finish out her freshman year at Indiana University. By February my mom was very frustrated with me, a healthy and hungry 19 year old fasting and praying, and she went to the Lord 2x in those 90 days, and each time He told her, "Be patient. It is of Me."
In March, sensing my time of fasting and prayer was drawing to a close, I proposed to Barb, and we set a September wedding date, according to the Word of the Lord 6 months earlier. So there I was, unemployed, without a car, living at home with my mom, and set to be married in 6 months. Barb's parents thought we were nuts, mom observed.
In April mom came home from a prayer meeting at church and said;
"The Lord spoke to me. You're supposed to fly to Tulsa, Oklahoma." She got on the phone with her travel agent, and arranged a flight for the next morning. It happened that fast. I flew out with $9 in my pocket (all my money in the world) and my mom's credit card. I rented a car, found a motel, and the only 2 things I had heard of in Tulsa was Oral Roberts University (ORU) and a Bible school called Rhema, which had started 4 years earlier. I applied for a job at ORU but felt a heavy hand becoming ever heavier as I continued writing on the application, so I didn't complete it, and walked out of the office. I then went to Rhema, where they were taping a TV show with a teacher named Kenneth Hagin and I sat in on that as part of the audience. I knew nothing of Rhema.
That night with no direction and down to $7 in my pocket I got down on my knees and prayed, asking the Father what He wanted me to do. I saw a vision as if I was hovering above a river being blocked by a set of gates. The gates then opened and a rush of water flowed out, and floating on the water were the letters spelling 'Charlotte.' Then it ended. I called mom and asked what was in Charlotte, and she said it is in North Carolina and there was a ministry there called 'The PTL Club'. She said our neighbor Betty had told her earlier in the day she had been vaccuming her house when the Lord stood at the end of her vaccum cleaner and said:"I'm sending John to The PTL Club." Mom said, 'Charge it', and the next day I was on a plane from Tulsa for Charlotte. Working there would put me about a 15 hour car drive from home.
I walked into the employment office at The PTL Club and told the woman the Lord had told me to come there, and she looked at me like she had heard that about 1,000 times before. She said there was a hiring freeze and they weren't hiring. But still, I asked what job to apply for, and looking at me like 'didn't you hear what I said', but said:"Go over there and pray about it", as she pointed across the room to a table. I did, and the Father said:"Put down 'Tour Guide'." So I did, and walked back over to her.
She looked like she had seen a ghost.
She said; "While you were over there the Lord spoke to me and told me to hire you. Wait just a minute." She disappeared into the office for a few minutes, then came back saying she had just gotten word they were hiring 2 tour guides. That led me into an immedate interview. Then they saw my major at Indiana University was "Recreation and Parks Administration", which got me a to 2nd interview with the Director and Assistant Director of the "Heritage USA" part of the ministry.
It was a large development which is today occupied by other ministries. Back then it had a campground, amphitheater, cabins around a lake, and so on. I was hired on May 8, 1978 as a 'Park Ranger.' Putting 'Tour Guide' got me in the door, and I learned about the ways of the Lord. He is shrewd and wise in business. Putting down 'Park Ranger' would not have gotten me the job, but all the Lord intended by me applying for Tour Guide was just to open the door for His real intention.
Through the years I've learned He would have me take a job that wasn't what I knew He had for me. But I've learned by experience quite often He needed me to get hired, so once hired He could move me to where He wanted me to be all along - but He has to work with the free wills of people. Many Christians turn down jobs the Lord led them to because it wasn't what they thought He wanted, not realizing He was just trying to get them hired so He could move them once on the job.
Why Tulsa?
August of 1978 was a month before our wedding, and I was in prayer as the Father taught me about being a husband, how to treat my wife, and so on. Almost as an afterthought He added:"By the way, the reason I sent you to Tulsa is I want you to go to Rhema next year." I was stunned, as I had wondered why I had gone to Tulsa a few months earlier in April.
I called my mom immediately, who happened to be having lunch with a friend she hadn't seen in weeks. She told her friend what the Lord told me and she replied:"Last night when I was praying, the Lord told me He is sending John to Bible school and He wants me to pay for it. Tell him to send me a letter of acceptance and I'll pay for the whole year." (I did, she did)
Barb and I were married in September of 1978, knowing by the next summer we would have to move to Tulsa. But that year at The PTL Club was a good 'newlywed year. We started our life together a full day's drive from our parents, which was very healthy, lol.
Next week; Chris being born with brain damage, and a miracle or two along the way.
Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected] or [email protected]
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