The main theme of the message brought to my father by angelic messenger was the sacrifice of Jesus. God also shared with dad that one of the highest priorities - one of the closest things to God's heart - was the family.
With God's aid and grace, daddy had put many families back together through the years and he cherished his own family so much.
The next story is representative of the many people whose marriages were touched by God thru the yielded ministry of my father. The first part of this story of Jim and Susan Olson was told in the book Angels on Assignment. In brief, Jim was number thirty-four of the list of 120 events, people and dates that dad brought back with him from his visit to God's throne room.
Jim had sold out his life to Satan as a satanic priest. The Lord had given dad his name and even let him see Jim. On God's designed date, he came to the church and daddy recognized him, greeted him, and told him to come into his office. God saved him, blotted out all of the old evil that was in him, and gave him new hope and new victory.
Soon after, dad received this letter from him. Here are some excerpts. "As I related my life to you on April 9, 1977, you didn't seem surprised at anything I said, it was as if you already knew. I discovered later that you did, because my name was on a list you had received from the throne room of Almighty God. You had been expecting me and it was no surprise to you that I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.
"My life had been a series of ups and downs. I was raised in a parsonage and had been to the altar many times, but somehow I never completely surrendered. I became a medium and minister holding seances and giving readings. Controlled by demons, I had sunk as low as a man can go.
"As I tried to break away from this life, I lost my home, my dignity, and then my family. I had no place to go! My home became infested with rats that could not be killed! I called my mom and dad in Idaho and found that they still loved me. I left the spiritualist center and came to Idaho ... and like the prodigal son ... was welcomed home. In a short time, the Lord gave my family back to me and my wife and I took a trip to Hawaii. We met a couple there from Boise who invited us to your church ... PRAISE THE LORD!
"There is a white flag that now stands in my office. It reads ... I HAVE SURRENDERED." (signed by Jim Olson) However, Jim and Susan's story did not end there. As Jim shared with me the rest of the story, I realized that God's tremendous love for all of us, no matter where we are or what we have done, is illuminated to us once again, as Jim recaps the miracle-working power of God in his life and in his marriage in spite his failures. The following is taken from our interview: "We went along for awhile doing great. We were witnessing, but we wouldn't believe in the Holy Spirit. When I heard prophecy, it scared me to death because of my past involvement with the occult. This worried me so much, that finally Susan and I stopped coming to church. Then we started drinking again, and after all the evidence of the supernatural power of God in our lives, we split up and I moved in with another woman. Normally, this would have destroyed a pastor who had received a list from heaven with the name James Olson on it combined with God showing him everything about me. It should have totally blown his faith in God. A guy comes in, gets saved, his story is written in a book, and then he's right back into what he came out of. But Pastor Buck never gave up. He told me later, "I believe God. God had told me about you, but it's His business and He'll handle it." During this split-up, Susan was baptized in the Holy Spirit, but I had given up. This had been my final commitment, and I couldn't keep it. Pastor Buck told Susan "I've never seen as much faith as you have! When God releases Jim from you, you'll know it!"
"I remember one night, I was drunk and called her from a bar. She took authority in the Holy Sprit and said, "Jim, I want you to come home!" And I did! I got in my car, but I told God, "Okay, God, You're going to have to watch me until I get home!" When I pulled in I was a mess.
Susan persuaded me to come and see pastor, and you know, he loved me just as much in that messy condition as the first time he saw me. He never condemned me. I had made up my mind that I was thru, but I had come to see pastor because I figured I owed him that much respect. We talked awhile, then he asked me if I would do something for him before I left. I loved him so much I said I would. He said, "Would you pray for Susan?" I couldn't believe my ears. I had told God that I didn't want anything more to do with Him, and Pastor Buck wanted me to pray for my wife! The authority of that man was such that I did.
"Well, I moved back home, but I was so messed up, a jangle of nerves, sick of sin, I wanted to kill myself, but I was afraid of going to hell. I was sure that I had committed the unpardonable sin. We once again found ourselves in pastor's office. I said, "Okay, pastor, I don't know what you can do!" He sent Susan from the room, then he laid hands on me and through the name of Jesus cast out three demons. I started laughing with joy, the tears running down my cheeks. I could not stop. I was free. From that moment I started completely over, my sins forgiven.
"A few weeks later, at an altar service, I remembered pastor often saying, 'Just look up into Jesus' face and smile!' So I looked up and said, 'God, You've got to do something for me ... give me something!' BAM! I was baptized in the Holy Spirit like someone dropped a tub of hot water all over me. From that time, nearly two years ago, until right now, I've had ups and downs, but I've never broken my commitment nor have any desire to because I've been saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit. I am glad Pastor Buck lived long enough to see me grounded. I never met an individual who influenced my life like Pastor Buck. Not because he was a namby-pamby man. He was a man's man, but he had the gentleness of Christ. He acted more like Christ than anyone I know. Pastor Buck knew where I was coming from. He taught me that when God looks down on me, He has to see me through Christ. He always said, 'You're gonna make mistakes, but God looks beyond the flesh, and looks down into the "want to" inside.' I always get excited when I tell people about my pastor and how he knew God. You know why he could preach God's nature? It's because he knew God's nature firsthand, and he knew it long before he had these visitations. That's why he was allowed to have them ... because he knew what God was really like prior to this and believed it! To anyone who is skeptical at all, I know it's true. I was a part of it!"
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