Recently, a minister and his wife from Canada were in our office for deliverance. After the sessions we had some conversation and I was asked, maybe for the hundredth time, "How did you get started in deliverance ministry?"

Boy, that’s a long and involved story including many, many miles, hundreds of prisons and thousands of lives...but I want to share a "significant" part of that answer with you.

I was preaching at the Federal Correctional Institution in Three Rivers, Texas. The medium security prison is located about halfway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi just off Interstate 37. This is a medium security complex of about 1,400 inmates. My friend David Pequeno served as the chaplain there. There was something very unusual in the chapel service that evening. A uniformed correctional officer was seated among the inmates worshiping with them. That just never happens. If there is an officer present, it is because he has been assigned to the chapel.

It is very unusual for an officer to mingle with the inmates. I found out later that he was off duty and studying to become a Federal Prison Chaplain. His name is Warren Rabb. After the service, he told the officer on duty that he would escort me to my car, that he wanted to talk with me.

MY LIFE AND MINISTRY WERE ABOUT TO BE CHANGED

When the service was over this officer came up to me and shook my hand. Walking across the prison grounds, I recall the evening was brisk and the sky was so clear and crisp. It was one of those "perfect evenings." Officer Rabb told me of his call to the ministry and of his desire to become a Federal prison chaplain. We visited some more after reaching the prison parking lot and after we prayed together, I headed back to Corpus Christi to the south. Officer Rabb headed toward his home in Beeville to the east. I stopped at a convenience store for a soft drink and a snack before getting on Interstate 37 to drive back to Corpus Christi, where I was staying.

As I pulled up at the convenience store-service station, unknowing to me, Officer Rabb pulled in right behind me. Before I could get out of my car, he came running over and told me, with great excitement, that God had given him a vision about me and he "had" to share it with me. He said, "I would have followed you all the way to Corpus to tell you about the vision." He was so excited, I could feel and sense that God had spoken to him. This is what he told me:

"I saw you standing in this big black pot and there was oil bubbling all around you, not boiling, just bubbling. All around the pot there was a sea of people, as far as you could see and they were all sick. The stench of their sickness was nauseating as it went up to the heavens. Then the oil began to bubble up and cover you, and as it ran from your head and down your arms and touched the people, they were healed! Get ready brother, God’s fix’in to pour it out on you!"

I cannot adequately describe what I felt. It was like I was just bathed in God’s glory. While he was sharing the words with me, I sensed the Presence of God’s Spirit stirring in me. I knew these words were from God. But I didn’t know what to do with the words from the vision. As I drove back to Corpus Christi tears continually moistened my eyes. There was subdued excitement in my spirit

I had seen thousands receive Christ as Savior, perhaps one hundred thousand or more, but I had never seen anyone healed or delivered of demons.

I HAD BEEN TAUGHT THAT SPIRITUAL GIFTS HAD DIED OUT

Actually, what I had been taught was contrary to the word given to me by officer Raab. I had been taught that the gifts of the spirit had died out with the apostles. I had been taught that the gifts would cease ‘when that which is perfect had come’ … (1 Corinthians 13:10) and that this meant God’s Word. Since we have God’s Word, then there is no need for the gifts of the Spirit to operate . . . that’s what I had been taught. I wish I had not been so blinded to scriptural truth and so heavily influenced by religious tradition...missed some of the greatest truths! I didn’t know how to make this happen. I didn’t know how to give altar calls except for salvation. I would find out I didn’t need to know.

AS YOU EXTEND YOUR HAND, SO WILL I EXTEND MINE

Not long after this incredible experience, I was back in that same area of the state preaching at a state prison in Beeville. The unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is named The Garza West facility. About 500 inmates were in the gym that night and perhaps as many as two-thirds of the men had answered the altar call. When the service was over, the men returned to their seats and were called back to their housing area by dorm location. As they filed out in single file, one of the men stepped from the line and approached the chaplain.

I had noticed this young man during the service, he sat on the front row and he stared at me as though he "saw something". There was sort of a look of wonderment on his face as I ministered. The chaplain brought him over to me and said, "This inmate has a word for you from the Lord, something the Lord showed him as you preached."

He still had this look on his face. He said, "Sir, God told me something to tell you." He while you were preaching, I saw something and God told me something to tell you." He moved beside me and asked me to stretch my arm forward, straight out toward the now empty seats. He placed his arm on top of mine and said, "God told me to tell you that as you extend your hand, so will He extend His." He seemed puzzled, like he was just passing a message. "Do you know what that means, sir?" "Yes," I told him, "Yes, I do. Thanks for sharing that with me."

When I left the prison that night, again, the Holy Spirit of God just seemed to just cover me. It is so Holy that it is very difficult to share. Tears again filled my eyes simply from the glory of His Presence. I knew God had spoken to me again and I am just unable to describe how humbling this was and is to me...I am sharing this with you because it’s still happening and I wish every believer could experience "more" from God.

Just For Jesus,

Don

A few weeks ago some new friends gave me a bulldog puppy…"Ellie" .

Dolly is warming up to the new addition and we all wish you a Merry Christmas. Blessings.