Prelude
There has been a time in almost all our lives, that we have heard the statement “God is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Unfortunately, there are some that do not believe that, or they have forgotten that this statement is true and can be seen in everyday life. It is seen through miracles of healing and through the amazing sites of nature around us that cannot be explained except they are made possible through the hand of God. The question that will be asked in this story is, “What if God showed his mighty power to you in an extreme biblical way, as he did with some of the prophets in the bible?” Would you believe or would you still doubt? This story is going beyond miracles and salvation, that are more easily accepted by people and having you think about the unthinkable or unbelievable power that God has. Although, some may say this is a fictional story, this is still possible by our God and is meant to make you wonder, “What if God did this in my life?” If you do not mind, let us take a journey with a man that grew up believing in the Power of God, went by the wayside, slowly came back to the truth as a prodigal son, and then is shown the true Power of God in a “God of Yesterday kind of way.” So, hold on as we travel from the future to the past and back on an adventure of Believing that God is the same Yesterday, Today and Forever.
Chapter 1
Awakening in an unfamiliar place
Hello, my name is Uriah Joseph and I am about to take you on a journey of a young man who has been an interest to me since my beginning of being a Biblical Historian. The word of God has been around a long time and has been woven in some form or fashion into every society. Although, it has been changed at times and has been forgotten or neglected by some; the truth stands that God is still the same. So, I want to introduce you to a man named Aaron Whalbring who found out firsthand that God is the same yesterday, today and forever!
As children, people often hear of the miraculous and amazing Bible stories that some have accepted as fables, tall-tales or as unbelievable farfetched stories. These stories have become Hollywood productions and Best-selling novels; which have tried to water down the fact that the Bible is real, written by people inspired and used by God. Aaron Whalbring was about to find out how much God is the same today as he was in the Bible times; as he laid his head down on his bed to sleep.
Aaron woke up on a cot within a dark leaky tent in what seemed like the most out of touch jungle in the world. The smell of fresh leaves and the sound of raindrops tapping against these leaves made the jungle idea even more dominant. He thought to himself, “this has to be a dream because I was just asleep in my bed.” Aaron was about to find out that God had placed him there while he was fast asleep, just as he had done in others’ lives in the past, for a purpose. He placed his head back down on the rain-soaked cot to the sounds of insects chirping in the night hoping to awake back in the comfort of his own bed and home. This is when he heard a voice within hisself saying, “You have finally come to a place where you are ready and able to complete the task I have had for you since you were born and I have done it in a way where people have doubted and has become untruth to these doubters.” Aaron quickly arose from off the cot and fell to the side of the cot on his knees and said, “Lord, my heart is willing, but my flesh still doubts.” The strong sounding but calm voice replied, “Believe in me and I will guide you through this path that I have laid out just for you. Leave the past behind and focus on the future that has been planned for you since your birth.”
Aaron realized that this was not a dream and that God is the same God that he was in the Bible, from the stories he had read about in Genesis through Revelations. He had prayed for his past sins to stop haunting him and that he could finally follow the will of God. His heart was willing and longing for this ever since he turned from following the world, but his flesh was holding on to the memories of the world along with the scars of worldly and sinful living had placed within him both spiritually and physically. The bible states a fact that we often see in our walks with God and that is “…the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Meanwhile, back in the place where Aaron laid his head down to go to sleep; his roommate (which was his cousin Renee) awoke to a different feeling around the house than usual. She awoke to the fact that her cousin was no longer in his bed or in the house; there seemed to be an emptiness that she could not explain. His keys, phone, wallet, and medicine bag were still in his room where he always left them. The medicine bag was very key because of his heart condition, which he believed God had healed, still required he take his medicine twice a day and some meds as needed. Also, both cars were still parked out in the driveway where they were the night before. Besides all this, it was Saturday which was the day that they went site seeing ever since they moved to the beautiful mountains of East Tennessee. After a while of worrying she began to frantically make calls with no success of locating her cousin, friend and roommate. Aaron’s parents along with her parents were called and told the situation. They traveled two hours to help look for Aaron. Although it had not been forty-eight hours, they still looked all over the small mountain and lake community that they lived in.
His uncle Dean was walking around the woods near the town looking for Aaron when he heard from God, as he was praying for a successful attempt to finding his nephew. As the brisk wind blew through the tall trees, the voice of God in his spirit calmed the anxiousness that was building up within. Dean then rushed backed to the house where Aaron’s parents Eugene and Rose, along with Dean’s wife Gwen were just returning from driving around searching the town and outlying areas. As they sat in the living room, Dean told them what he had heard in the woods as he was praying for the successful search of Aaron. With tears rolling down his face he stated this one statement, “Be not afraid, he has gone to do my work and will return a new man greater than the past man you have loved.” Their flesh was still weary over this fact, but their spirits were comforted. Although they were comforted by God’s word, their flesh still searched for their son, cousin, and nephew through the police, pamphlets and the news outlet. This was all going on as Aaron had awaken in an unknown jungle and was beginning his journey in a “Old-time Biblical Way” to do the will of God.
Here I go again, getting ahead of myself. Let us start back at the beginning of this young man and his family’s life…
Chapter 2
Growing Up Believing
Aaron Whalbring was brought into this world by a white woman who had him by a black man. This is important to the story because of the struggles, opportunities, and advantages that being mixed between two races had brought and will bring to Aaron’s life. His mother’s brother and sister in law, Eugene and Rose, had adopted and raised him as their own. They were young, One God, Jesus name, plan of salvation believing people who raised Aaron in a Pentecostal/Apostolic faith type of lifestyle. At two years old his mother Rose witnessed him praying at the altar with real tears rolling down his face and the Spirit of God surrounding him like an angel covering the young man with the wings of compassion. This may have started as imitation but went beyond that into something different and real. This was the first instance known of that Aaron was meant for something great in the Kingdom of God.
Throughout his younger years, Aaron attended and participated in the church while being enticed and tugged at by the world. A social life with kids at school, the beginning of an age of video games, television, sports, girls, and especially music started to pull at his heart strings to draw him away from the things of God and the plan that God had planned for his life.
For years this struggle continued as he tried to balance the line between church and outside the church as happens to many of us. It was harder for these enticements to take a complete hold on him because he had to constantly go to church and be involved in what was going on within the church. He had his parents, church family and his church friends to help keep him involved in the church and to keep him wanting to live for God. On the other side of the coin, Aaron was outgoing and popular in school. This came from a knack of being able to make friends easily and from being an athlete in sports. Fitting into his surroundings was one of the things that made this struggle harder by trying to fit in with the world and the will of God. This struggle continued in his life until he graduated High School.
Chapter 3
The Falling Away by the Enticing Sounds
At the age of 18, Aaron deciding to leave his small town and join the military. He packed his bags and went to church camp one last time before heading off to Texas where he would take part in bootcamp for the United States Air Force. This is where the things of this world started to drag him away from path that God had planned for him.
Bootcamp was not as bad for Aaron because there was no free time to get into trouble or worldly things. He still prayed and, on most Sundays, marched with a group of fellow soldiers to church. After bootcamp is where Aaron started to slip away by going to the base club on Saturday nights. The music, dancing and girls became something that Aaron started to want more of. Music started to become a big part of Aaron’s persona as he started to become known as one who knew almost every song, one who could rap and sing, write songs and a good dancer. He had a collection of music that spanned from country and bluegrass to rock to R&B. Listening to music became is go to in expressing how he was feeling and when he wanted to feel something.
Love songs gave him emotions of a lustful and sexual nature; where rock and rap gave him a feeling of anger or hype. When he was sad or lonely, he would put on some country or some Alanis to slip further away into his sadness and depression. Although, some may say music cannot make you feel a certain place; it started to take Aaron away from the word of God to the way of dance clubs, drinking, smoking, strip-clubs, gambling and the wiles of lustful living.
Think about it for a moment; what is always playing at bars, strip-clubs and parties. Also, we have what we call “porn” music which is associated with pornographic movies. Every movie or television show has theme music. Music sets moods and prepares an individual for what is about to happen. So, you cannot tell me, and you especially cannot tell Aaron that music cannot affect a person emotionally, physically or spiritually.
Aaron knew that he was slipping away when a Smokie Norfolk song came on and tears started to roll down his face, but he continued in the ways of sin. He listened to music when he was happy, sad, lonely and angry while having a different playlist for every type of feeling or emotion that he wanted to cater to.
As you can see, music has always had big part in his life, which will help you understand why what happens to Aaron next in the jungle is so important. Follow me from Aaron’s past back to jungle where he awoke miraculously from his comfortable bed to the cot somewhere in Africa.
Chapter 4
A Children’s Ministry in the Jungle
Back in the leaky tent in the jungle, as Aaron reflected on his younger years of being a part of the church and how worldly music started to pull him away; he heard the most majestic sounds he had ever heard. It was music, but it was music that produced a feeling of joy and want that he had never experienced before.
There are spirits and feelings attached to every sound, word, beat and song. If you do not believe that, take a moment and listen to some song or sound. Think about what is really going on within you when you are listening to it; something inside you happens whether it is a feeling, emotion or change in your demeanor. God loves worship and praise which we do by songs, praise, dancing, and making noise. Also, the Devil is aware that music means something; and if you were the enemy, wouldn’t you use that to your advantage? Therefore, music played a big part in Aaron slipping away from the church, the will of God, and why this sound was so enticing to him.
Aaron followed the beat of what sounded like someone pounding on a tree stump and the whisper of a hummingbird singing in the wind. As he made his way through the vine filled thick jungle he came to an opening where the sound became louder and clearer. This is where he saw a tribe of people dressed in clothes made from leaves such as he had seen in movies only. They were singing and worshipping where the words he could make out were “Jehovah” and “Jesus”.
As he stood there amazed of what was going on in the opening of a thick and beautiful jungle, they continued worshipping unphased by his presence amongst them. They seemed to worship harder as he entered the clearing and they saw him. That is when a man approached him and with broken English said, “Welcome Sendeling Aaron,” which is translated into “Welcome Missionary Aaron.” Aaron was overwhelmed with confusion as the man introduced himself as Prince Hakani Aslum and told him about his tribe here in the jungle.
He began to tell Aaron about this African village in the jungle that was a hundred miles from any form of civilized cities or other tribes. Prince Aslum spoke about how he was sent to a University in South Africa to learn English and to return to tribe to lead them. Then he began to tell how the tribe had never heard anything about Jesus, but how someone appeared to them telling them that if they worshipped the true God, that one would be sent to them to teach the children of the tribe the plan of salvation. As he passed an old beat up Bible that he received at the University to Aaron and said, “That man we were told about is you Sendeling Aaron.”
It had been a week of hard work of building a schoolhouse and church building where Aaron would teach the word of God to this tribe, especially the children that will run and be the elders of this tribe. He saw an eagerness and willingness to learn that was not affected by the wiles of this world, because they had no electricity or other “pleasures” of this world to distract them which was new to Aaron because he was used to the distractions of the world through television, radio, people and everyday city living.
Coming from a background in secondary education teaching culinary arts to high school students after his time in the Air Force, had prepared Aaron for teaching and guiding the young people as well as the older ones in this village. His day began every morning with prayer and reading the Word of God. This morning devotional started out with about ten children and twenty-five adults. Considering the village was made up of three different families (for the reason to limit the inbreeding of the population) that totaled a population of one hundred and eighty people. So this devotion time started out with ten percent of the population that later rose to all one hundred and eighty villagers starting their morning with this prayer and bible study time.
After the morning devotional time that ate a little to give them strength for the day. After breakfast everyone in the village, young and old alike, had a job to do for about two hours. These jobs included everything for the village to survive such as fishing, hunting, gardening, making clothes, building, etc. Aaron’s job was to prepare his daily lessons for the young people and plan the evening dinner. After the work time the children made their way to the schoolhouse while the adults continued their daily duties. Aaron taught the children the basics of life such as reading, math, communication, life skills and the skills that the villagers have taught him to ensure they survive after the elders’ time on this earth were through. Then the village ate and rested for an hour before returning to daily task. The children went to the church house after lunch for bible lessons and prayer. Some of the adults that were done with their daily tasks would also attend the afternoon church service. After the bible school part of their day, the village would participate in various activities until dinner time. Dinner was a time of fellowship and breaking bread followed by a nightly devotional of prayer and bible reading.
Six months had passed and the teaching of the children both in life skills and bible study had resulted in sixty percent of the village receiving the Holy Ghost with most of them being children. At the end of six months they plan to have an evening worship service to praise God for all he had done in these six months. Towards the end of the evening, Prince Aslum came to Aaron and whispered in his ear, “Thanks for doing the will of God.” Aaron simply said, “God is great” without knowing what was about to happen.
The worship went on for hours and at approximately midnight the whole village was speaking in tongues as they all received the gift of the Holy Ghost and were baptized in the jungle river. Aaron then heard a small still voice say, “The next awaits.” Aaron passed out and when he awoke, he found himself in a whole new place.
Chapter 5
Realizing that God is the same yesterday, today and forever
As Aaron awoke, he found himself away from the small jungle village he was getting used to as was now in a more civilized and bigger community. As he wandered the city he was led to a church in the middle of the city where he was met at the front door by their local pastor. The pastor said to Aaron, “Are you the one sent to tell us about what God has done in your life and to teach us the Plan of Salvation?” Aaron said, “Yes, but we must prepare for a big revival first by witnessing and ensuring the crowd for the revival involves the entire city!”
As they prepared for the revival by witnessing and planning Aaron had now been able to communicate with his family to let them know he was okay and what God had been doing in his life, which sparked a revival within his family.
Finally, the revival had begun, and Aaron preached about the Plan of Salvation and the Acts 2:38 message all three nights. On the fourth night, almost the entire city was either at the city square revival or watching the revival on television since it was being televised. Aaron was used and led by God to preach Acts 2:38 and the Plan of Salvation one more time. He ended the message with explaining what God had done to him in a biblical way that people just did not believe in anymore. As he said the following words at the end of his message, the Holy Ghost fell like it did on the Day of Pentecost on the entire city square, saying “GOD IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER!”
Conclusion
Although this story is a fictional depiction of a true story, I hope that it opens your eyes and pricks your heart to search the Word of God to find these miracles in the Bible. Once you start studying the word of God more, I pray that God reveals to us that he is the same now in the 21st century as he was in the bible and that he has never changed. I also pray that this story helps us realize that faith and giving our lives to the will of God instead of the worldly pleasures that this world has to offer is what we need to be striving towards. Let us remember that GOD IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER!