John's One-on-one Ministry
in the Word of God
Feb. 21, 2000
NOTE: Those of you who are local, mark your calendar for March 5, 6:00 P.M.
in the basement of the Manti Public Library (about 25 N. Main).
I just wanted to let you all know of an amazing experience we have had down
here in Manti in the past two Sunday evenings.
There is a man named John who a local Christian church has sponsored to
come and do some ministering here. I think he lives in Glenwood Springs,
Colorado at present. He has traveled all over the world and knows several
languages. He has a beautiful spirit and happy glow about him. Accentuating
his black features, he wears his long hair in beads, hundreds of beads. He
dresses very cleanly. A splendid person, he is.
The way the program has run in the past is they sing worship songs for
about an hour or more, punctuated with some preaching by a local minister.
Then they have a meal, and turn the time over to one-on-one ministering by
John.
He has the gift to be able to see into a person's heart and give them a
word of prophecy or of healing or of comfort -- whatever is most needful. It
is uncanny how powerfully he speaks to the soul as he stands face to face,
holding the person's hands in his, looking them in the eye. No two people are
the same. Each hears an individual word or blessing, some taking many minutes,
some more brief.
Last week he told the story of how this gift came to be.
He was in Pocatello in a tiny airport, waiting for his plane to arrive.
Another plane came, and a stewardess-like lady got off and came into the
lounge. She informed him that his plane was going to be delayed and that he
could take this plane instead, for they had one extra seat. He turned her
down, saying that he was fine, enjoying the book he was reading, and in no
rush. She milled about the desk for a while, then as departure time for that
plane arrived, she walked toward the door, asking him again if he didn't want
to take this flight. Again he said, "no thank you, I'm fine." As she
was about to leave through the door, she turned around, walked right up to
him, leaned over, and said, "This is your last chance. There is one seat.
Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"
That got his attention. Something inside him told him he had better take
her up on her offer.
She stamped his ticket and they walked on the very small plane, and he took
the one empty seat.
In flight, he wanted to thank the lady who helped him out. He walked to the
front, and peered into the cabin where the pilots told him he was not to
intrude. He said he was looking for that lady, and they said there was no such
lady on the plane. He argued with them, telling them that she had stamped his
ticket and walked on the plane with him. They looked at each other as if
thinking this man was very weird ("we have a live one on our
hands!"). Again they asked him to leave the cabin, so he went to the back
of the cabin thinking she might be in the bathroom. He knocked on the door,
again garnering some strange looks as the sign read "unoccupied."
She was nowhere to be found.
Once in the Denver airport, as he got off his plane, he saw a great deal of
commotion in the airport. Upon inquiring as to what the commotion was about,
he was informed that the plane he was to have taken had gone down, killing all
on board.
That got his attention. He knew God has spared his life for a reason.
From that day forward he has had this gift so that as he sees someone,
words come to his mind that he needs to tell them.
His words to me last night were completely in line with what happened this
past week in my life. They were a great comfort as well as encouragement in
what I am to be doing.
His words to my wife were likewise right on. We both recorded his words to
us when we got home.
This guy is for real.
I just wanted to share this, both to increase your faith that this is a day
of miracles, as well as in case any of you can make it down here in a couple
of weeks to experience him for yourself.
I'm looking forward to Lynn Ridenhour coming sometime soon too, for he has
some amazing gifts of the spirit as well -- tongues, prophecy, comfort. For
those of you who don't know of him already, he was a Baptist minister for 38
years who converted instantly to Mormonism upon reading the Book of Mormon.
http://www.greaterthings.com/Ridenhour
Love,
Sterling
