My Story--the Sifting

Proclaiming to you!

1 John 1:1 NIV84

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

So what we are talking about to night, I have heard, seen with my eyes and have touched! And throughout my story, I want to proclaim the Word of life!

Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians 6:12 NLT

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

1. Not against flesh and blood

This is not a human battle!

2. Evil rules and authorities of the unseen world

The terms rulers and authorities stresses their position and authority.

3. Mighty powers in this dark world

This addresses their strength. It is foolish to think that we can take on these formidable foes. And it emphasizes the darkness of this world.

4. Evil spirits in the heavenly places

This gives some people problems! The thought that evil spirits can be in the “heavenly places” but that is the story of Job. In Job 1, we read:

Job 1:6–12 NIV84

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

One of the things that we need to understand is that in Hebrew the word translates Satan means accuser or adversary. In Revelation 12:9-10 we read:

Revelation 12:9–10 NIV84

The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.

When I went into spontaneous ventricular fabulation, for all intents and purposes I died. I had no heartbeat, and I stopped breathing. Clinically, I was dead. When people hear my story I am often asked if I saw heaven. Honestly, I wish I had seen heaven because I long to see Jesus. But my experience was much different. In Luke 22, Jesus tells Peter that Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. The word, asked could be translated demanded. So it is possible that Satan came before God and demanded to sift Peter and the other disciples.

Now, I honestly believe, like Peter, God allowed Satan to sift me. What my family experienced was vastly different than what I experienced. When people hear my story, some of them think I am crazy. Other people suggest that the things I experienced were a result of the sedation or the medication that I was given. What I can tell you is this story, my story, is as real as anything I have ever experienced!

In Job 1, we read:

Job 1:6–8 NIV84

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

Now stop for a minute and consider this verse. Satan comes before God and God asks him if he has seen God’s servant, Job. God says there is no one like him on the earth. Now, look at Satan’s response to God.

Job 1:9–11 NIV84

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Satan asks God to turn against Job, His faithful servant. Satan says, “Stretch out YOUR hand. . .” Now, James 1 tells us,

James 1:13 NIV84

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

To understand God’s we need to continue the story. Look at God’s response to Satan in verse 12.

Job 1:12 NIV84

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Over the next few verses, we read that Job lost everything. His children were gone! His oxen were gone! His sheep were gone! And his camels were gone! Everything that marked Job as a godly and wealthy man disappeared on one fail swoop! And Job did NOTHING wrong! In fact, look at Job’s response to his lose.

Job 1:20–21 NIV84

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

I love his response! Even in the pain of loss, Job chooses to honor God! Now when you thought it could not get any worse, Satan comes back before God and they have another conversation about Job.

Job 2:1–6 NIV84

On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

This time, Satan goes and afflicts Job with all kinds of painful sores. Job now suffers physically! And he finds himself sitting in a pile of ashes, scraping the sores with broken pieces of pottery, just to get some relief. That is when his wife comes and says:

Job 2:9 NIV84

His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Now do not miss this! His wife believes he should get it over with, just curse God and die! But Job does not see it that way! He responds to his wife by saying,

Job 2:10 NIV84

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job says she is speaking like a foolish woman. By the way, the word translated “foolish” can actually mean “immoral.” In effect, Job is telling his wife she is talking like a prostitute.

As I said, the ups and downs that my family experienced while I was fighting for my physical life were different than what I experienced. You see, I experienced a spiritual battle. A battle that was worse than I have every endured before! Remember the first part of our Bonus Verse? Jesus warns Peter and the rest of the disciples by saying:

Luke 22:31–32 NLT

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”

Now, I am not saying that I am Job, the most righteous man mentioned in Scripture. And I am not saying I am Peter, one of the greatest apostles in the New Testament. Yet, I believe, like Peter, God allowed me to go through a “sifting” of sorts. As Satan sifted me, his goal was to get me to deny Jesus Christ! But instead, his sifting pulled me closer to Jesus than I have ever been.

The Siftings

When I crashed, I went through three distinct and separate siftings. Throughout the New Testament there are significant events that come in groups of three. Jesus was tempted three times in the wilderness. Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. And Jesus restored Peter three times after His resurrection.

The First Sifting

My first sifting took aim at my desire for worldly success. Throughout my life, I have suffered from an inferiority complex. I thought most people were better than me; or smarter than me. I would cover-up my inferiority with arrogance or a “know it all” attitude. It should not surprise us to discover Satan knows our weaknesses. Likewise, it should come as no surprise that in the first sifting Satan would exploit my longing for worldly success and significance.

In the first sifting, I saw all my accomplishments. I watched these accomplishments flash before me. This sifting attacked all the ways I have served the Lord. Helplessly I watched as Satan attacked them one-by-one and appeared to destroy them. I saw my counseling practice, the church in which I serve, and fire department in which I volunteer, the camp where we live, and my family were all threatened!

Satan told me all I had to do was to bow to him and all my problems would disappear. All I had to do was to pledge my allegiance to him. With this “simple” act, Satan make sure I would experience worldly success, and significance. But I could not do that! I was a child of God. I had already given my allegiance to Jesus. So, my response was, “No, I serve Jesus, I serve Jesus alone!” When I made this confession, I was not prepared for what would happened next.

When I confessed Jesus as my Lord, I experienced evil’s extreme hatred for God! I watched Satan turn that hatred on to my world, and there was nothing I could do to make it stop. Helpless, I watched as one-by-one each of my endeavors came crashing down. I watched as everything I value, and love was destroyed! My say counseling practice crumbled. I watched the church crushed with dissension. The fire department in which I volunteer experienced catastrophic loss of property and life. And the camp where we live was shut down. Even my family faced destruction! As I watched, the reality began to set in, there was NOTHING I could do to stop the devastating destruction. There I sat, with a front row seat. All I could do was sit and watch! I hated to see the devastation. I longed for it to cease. But I there was no way I could deny Jesus. There was just no way!

Remember, Proverbs 16?

Proverbs 16:3 NIV84

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

According to this verse, success does not depend on me. And according to this verse, Satan cannot thwart God’s plan. Success, all success, depends on the Lord! Yet, Proverbs 16 says I must commit what I do to the Lord. I must be faithful to Him!

Heartbroken, I cried out to the Lord. I wanted to understand what I had just experienced. How could my faithfulness to the Lord end in destruction? As I cried to the Lord the sifting ended abruptly! As quickly as this first sifting began, it disappeared. And for a brief time, there was relief. But that relief would be short lived.

Second Sifting

The second sifting took place on a large boat. In fact, what I could see of the boat made me think of a huge cruise ship. I found myself sitting on a couch, with a lady sitting next to me. She was too close for comfort! Scantily dressed the woman was haggard, so I did not find her the least bit attractive. Still, she was doing her best to be seductive. Every instinct inside of me was screaming to run! Run away as fast as I could run. But I could not move. No matter how hard I tried, I was completely unable to move! Over and over again, I tried to move away, only to feel an oppressive weight holding me in place. So, there I sat, incredibly uncomfortable, beside this lady dressed like a prostitute. Sitting there, the only thing filling my thoughts was my sweet, wonderful wife. I could not help but think, “If Deann saw me, she would kill me!” Still, I could not move away, I was stuck!

As I sat there, I began to notice that different kinds of people were moving about the ship. I also noticed the wall across from me was not a wall, but it was really a giant vending machine. This huge machine was filled with anything and everything a person could desire. It was filled with diamonds, jewels, gold, RV’s, boats. . .anything you could imagine, and anything you could desire! Sitting there, a demon came and told me I could have ANYTHING I wanted. All I had to do was bow down to Satan and the demons.

I was offered a beautiful RV. But I told the demon that I serve Jesus and Jesus alone. To this, the demon responded, “Remember preacher, payback’s a bitch! Payback’s a bitch!” With that the first demon stomped off. The next, demon offered me a beautiful ski boat. The likes of which I have never seen. But again, I told the demon that I serve Jesus alone! And again, the demon warned of my impending payback. Over and over, I was approached by various demons and offered the desires of my heart. Each time I would give the same response, pledging my allegiance to Jesus! And each time, they would sneer and jeer about the payback I would receive! No matter what happened, my response was the same, for all I could say was, “NO! I serve Jesus and Jesus alone!” Each time my words were met by an angry demonic response threatening to destroy me and my life.

To forget my fear and discomfort, I began watching the people around me. I saw person after person run to the huge vending machine, then standing in front of their heart’s desired they would bow down to the demon and receive their “valuable” reward. As soon as they grabbed hold of their reward, the person and the reward crumbled to dust. Unable to move, and refusing to bow, I was left there in my discomfort. Left there to cry out to the Lord, “Lord save me!” Once again, as quickly as the sifting came, it disappeared. For another moment there was peace.

The Third Sifting

The third sifting was more severe, and fearful than the previous two. The first two siftings I faced alone. The third sifting was different. The biggest difference was the fact that my wife was with me. I desperately wanted to protect her, but I quickly discovered there would be no way I would be able to keep both of us safe. Another difference was the structure of the siftings. In the first sifting I had been a passive viewer of the events. Then, in the second sifting I was both a passive viewer of some events, and an active participant in other events. In the third sifting my wife and I were both active participants. For you to understand the horror of this sifting, I need you to have a mental picture in your mind. Take a moment and picture in your mind a scene out of a Charles Dickens novel. Picture with me the dark, dingy, and dangerous parts of London in the 1800’s. Picture the kind of place where you would see the thugs, and wicked people freely living. That is the scene in which I found myself. But, as I said, this time I was not alone. My wife, Deann was there with me. Besides our surroundings, the first thing I noticed were the powerful, menacing, huge, ugly, demons. They were all around us, surrounding us. As they came closer the began grabbing and pulling at me. I was suddenly aware that these demons were also grabbing and pulling at my wife. No matter what I did, I could not protect myself from their assaults, and worse yet, I could not protect my wife! We began to run, but every path of escape was quickly cut off. As we frantically ran to escape the demon’s grasps, one demon succeeded in grabbing me. He spun me around, snarling at me. As he stared down at me, he commanded, “Bow down to me or I’ll knock all your teeth out!” Trying to see where my wife was, and gripped with fear, all I could say was, “Knock them out. I serve Jesus and Jesus alone!” This was not the response he wanted. Yet, the name of Jesus overpowered him. He fell back and gave me the same response that other demons had given. Sneering at me, he growled, “Just remember preacher, payback’s a bitch!” Then he staggered away, repeating his warning over and over, “Payback’s a bitch! Remember, payback’s a bitch!” I grabbed Deann’s hand and together we began to run. As we ran, we were attacked at every turn. Demons on every side, clawing, and snarling at us. There seemed to be no escape. Scared, overwhelmed, and trapped we both began to cry out to Jesus! All we could cry was, “LORD save us!” As darkness surrounded us, and our hope for finding a way out began to fade; as Deann and I continued to call out for Jesus to save us, I saw something! In the moment of despair, when all hope was lost, I saw the face of my son.

Out of nowhere, I was suddenly staring into the face of my youngest son. He looked at me as though he was looking through me. As I stared back at him, he could see the fear gripping my heart. That is when I heard him say, “Dad, it’s okay we’re in Dallas.” With those quiet, comforting words I was pulled from behind the curtain which separates the realm we see from the spiritual realm. The siftings stopped. The demons, the fear, and the confusion all disappeared. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and I was filled with peace! For the first time in five days, the torment stopped. Everything in my unconscious world was quiet.

My family tells me at that moment, they saw the peace come over my face. They thought I was relieved because we were not in our local hospital in Paris, but that was not why I was relieved. No, I was relieved because the demons were GONE! The torture had stopped. Peace had come!