Food, Fasting and Faith

Food, Fasting and Faith

by Evangelist Lester Roloff (1914-1982)

Introduction

The poet has said, "I walked today where Jesus walked." It has been my privilege to walk with the author of this book over some of the new ground he has plowed in this little book. Some of it is completely new to me but spiritually reasonable. Of one thing I am sure: the author believes and practices his preaching.

Lester Roloff is a strange but refreshing interruption to this deadening sameness of our day. He is a non-conformist in a day of demanding conformity. He refuses to be dictated to by religious would-be leaders. He is like an Elijah in a day of compromising Obadiahs. May his tribe increase!

Conformity in religious or Christian circles has become a fetish or tin god to millions. Anyone who dares to be different is branded as non-cooperative and therefore frowned upon and avoided. John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, Martin Luther, Spurgeon, Wesley, and others belong to this holy band of non-conformists. Their day hated them, but history haloes them. So it is! "Enough if the Master I please." I believe this is the passionate concern of the author of this booklet.

Suffice it to say that what I have learned and practiced of the principles of the contents of the booklet has been a great help to me spiritually and physically. I pray the blessing of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit upon its message to our softening and decadent day.

Forward

But for the grace of God and Bible conviction that has constantly mounted for ten years, I would with fear and trembling pick up my pen to write this book. I make no claims to enticing words of men's wisdom, but trust that in the demonstration of the Spirit and power, we may write a very practical and helpful book. All I ask as I humbly begin this book, being confident that I have been forced to the very faucets of faith, is that it mean as much to you in its eternal truths as it has to me.

To me, it has been the difference between life and death and between at least a measure of success and failure. I am also aware of the thought that the truth of this book shall invoke the wrath of some and the misunderstanding of many. The medical doctor could raise a question to whom I would answer, "I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight," Matthew 11:25-26.

I Corinthians 1:26-29, "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in His presence."

I Corinthians 2:10-14, "But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the THINGS of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

The preacher may say that we have left our field and yet, I Corinthians 3:16-17 says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." I Corinthians 4:4, "For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but He that judgeth me is the Lord." I Corinthians 6:19-20, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." I Corinthians 10:31, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

Now, my friend, if we do not know what to eat or what to drink, how can we do all to the glory of God? God has seen to it that the best of things in life are free and simple. Sunshine and fresh air are free and easily accessible and yet, absolutely necessary to life. Love and friendship cost nothing, but are essential to joy and happiness.

The other reason I write this book is because for ten years, its truth has worked in my own life and ministry. After thirty-five years of sickness, two operations, treatment for ulcers and many lost days, weeks, and months, it is a sin for me to get sick when there is a way to stay well. We've just gone through an epidemic and scourge of flu, second to that of World War I.

With all the doctors and hospitals and miracle drugs, there still seems to be no cure for the common cold and flu and pneumonia. Think of the loss of time of pupils and parents and also the expense for medicine and hospital bills!

As I begin the first chapter in this book, I ask you to grant me two requests. First, give me an open mind, and second, give me credit for sincerely trying to write a book that will be practical and helpful to you and your whole family. Someone has said that success is learning to do what you don't like to do. Well, after this book is written, I'm bound to be a success!

Chapter 1

Food

I hope you read every line of the foreword in order that you might understand the spirit in which this book is written. I am convinced that four things are killing the American people – too much food, bad food, wrong combinations of food, and anxiety and worry which stem from an absence of faith and trust and wisdom that comes from God.

Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself, first of all, by eating the wrong thing and then by drinking wine. Daniel 1:8. The wise man said in Proverbs 23:21, "For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty." In that verse, he yoked the glutton -the man who eats too much- with the drunkard.

The Psalmist said that man is fearfully and wonderfully made. Man has never made a machine with a motor that would run 969 years like the heart of Methuselah. The human body is the only machine that will repair itself if given the proper cooperation. Man is not a mechanical machine, but a living organism and has innate wisdom that no other part of God's creation has been able to exercise.

The birds and chickens and other fowl change from summer to winter clothes without having to go shopping. The ducks and geese have a built-in radar that guides them safely to the south to spend the winter. The dog becomes his own doctor as he puts himself on a fast except for maybe some green grass, and licks his bleeding wounds with the healing salve that comes through his tongue. A dog's tongue is a very valuable member of his body, not only to be used to bark with, to taste with, to eat with, but it's his first-aid kit and also his air-conditioner. When you see a dog panting, he has his air-conditioner going, apart from which he would smother to death.

Physically, you can only be what you eat or at least what you assimilate and use of that which goes into your body. Doesn't it seem strange to you that the average parent knows more about the physical needs of the chicken in the pen, the hog in the lot, or the dog in the house than he does the needs of his own children? The average man knows more about the needs of his automobile than he does about the physical needs of his own child. America is the sickest nation she has ever been with heart trouble, cancer, leukemia, poliomyelitis, hepatitis, nervous disorders, and mental maladies. I believe much of it can be laid at the door of improper diet.

In the first place, who started the three meals a day? Most people feel that they are religiously bound to eat three squares a day, with coffee breaks and all sorts of supplements in between. God only fed Elijah twice a day and it probably wasn't too much of a ration because it was brought by a raven which of course couldn't have had too big of a baggage department. And yet, Elijah was a specimen of tremendous physical health who could outrun the king's horses.

Find out what your body needs and then in spite of the cost and criticism, stay with it to live longer and stronger. All of us are victims of a depraved appetite. We were born with that. That's the reason a baby will eat dirt, trash, roaches, pins, tacks – and sometimes the reason a baby does that is because he is craving something that he is not getting that his little body needs.

For thirty-five years, I lived (or rather died) on potatoes, meat, gravy, and refined sweets, my main excuse being – "I don't like it." Therefore, I turned down the fresh lettuce, the green beans, the English peas, and many other delightful and healthful things that came straight out of our garden. As a result, I was the sickest boy of the three in our family and baffled the doctors and was treated for everything except the right thing, namely, an improper diet.

Now don't get the idea in the first few sentences of this book that I am suggesting that you starve yourself to death or go on some unhappy diet. No sir. I'm enjoying eating now more than I ever have before, even though during the last ten days, as I write this book, I have eaten only one cooked meal. But it doesn't mean that I haven't enjoyed eating figs, dates, raisins, almonds, pecans, honey, apples, grapes, grapefruit, oranges, cashew butter, and almond butter. I feel fine and my weight is practically the same. If you have a normal body, you will have no weight problem if you'll eat right.

Now, friend, don't say that it doesn't make any difference about the needs of your body. To me, it would be just as foolish for you to be flying with me over the mountains of Arkansas and I look at the gauges on my panel and say, "Well, it looks like I'm about out of oil and gas, but it doesn't make a good deal of difference." Why, it would frighten you to death! Or when I land at the airport and tell the man to put some coal-oil into that high compression engine and some used oil in the crankcase. How far would you ride with me?

There's a manual that goes with that tri-pacer plane and the guarantee only holds as I go by the manual. Likewise, I believe God gives a guarantee with your body that if you'll go by His Word and wisdom, health can be yours. So if God tells you to burn 100 aviation octane, don't try to get by on 80. That plane is my flying temple and has already saved me over two-hundred eight hour work days. But on the other hand, my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and must be attended to according to His good pleasure.

That's the reason this book is important. One's body is only important in the sight of God and the light of the Word as it becomes the very temple of the Holy Spirit to be used as a yielded instrument to glorify our Father and to exalt the Name of Jesus. Therefore, these chapters on Food, Fasting, and Faith are not unrelated. Again, I say, the man who puts salt water in the radiator or sand in the crankcase is a fool, but not any bigger fool than the man who will put alcohol or dirt in his human system.

For illustration, a man will drive into a service station and ask for the best permanent anti-freeze to be put in his radiator, then will go next door and get a bottle of liquor and put it in his human system to enter the delicate lining of his stomach and pass through the blood stream to the liver to begin cirrhosis of the liver and paralysis of the brain. Have you ever heard a man say, "Well, I eat as much as I want of anything and as much as I can hold." All I can say is that you'd better take out some hospitalization and a burial policy to make it light on your family.

There have literally been thousands of people who have asked me, even with my limited knowledge, "Well, what can I eat? I want to be healthy. I'd like to be well and stay well. Where can I get information that would help me?" Therefore, I hope to give some practical suggestions in this book and I hope you will practice them.

Let us return to the simple things like God gives them. Even though we are all aware of the fact that man has poisoned the water system, the ground, and polluted the air, I still believe, in spite of the terrible conditions upon us, that with the right effort, man can have a large measure of health. The food situation is sort of like the Gospel. It's been decorated, advertised, and glamorized, but at the same time, it's been refined and de-lifed. It looks good, tastes good, and lasts longer without spoiling. The American people are sort of like the little bird when the mama bird comes home – he just throws his mouth wide open and apparently it doesn't make any difference whether a beetle or a bumblebee goes down his throat.

The cook stove is the murderer in your house. After our foods are poisoned, killed, cooked, fried, baked, boiled, stewed, mashed, hashed, and seasoned, we don't get much of the original good that was in them when they were harvested. It would be a wonderful start for you to take one day a week just to fast and, if necessary, drink a little unsweetened fruit juice or eat a piece of fruit. The body is about ninety percent liquid and therefore ought to have a lot of liquids, but liquids of the right kind.

People ask me, "Well, why don't you drink coffee, tea, or soft drinks?" I would like to ask, "Why do you drink them? Is there a health reason for it?" Now, I'm interested in being healthy because of the call of God upon my life. There's no demand for a sick body. People ask, "Don't you like them?" Why, of course, I like them and until sixteen years ago, I drank and indulged in all of these things, but let me remind you that it was back in my sick days.

Drink unsweetened juices. God put enough sugar in the orange and in the grapefruit and even in the grape juice. I eat grapes practically every day of my life. But let me remind you not to eat your fruits with your vegetables, meats, and so forth. Your fruit juices are your cleansers; your vegetables and vegetable juices are your feeders. Now remember, I'm not writing this book as a doctor and I'm not trying to introduce a sure cure for everything. I'm writing down some things that have been extremely helpful to me and if they can be a blessing to you, well and good.

I have gotten away from white sugar, white flour, and an abundance of meat, along with milk, which is mucous-forming and causes congestion, in my system, bringing on a sore throat and colds. In my opinion, the two most over-evaluated foods are meat and milk and yet, you hear the people say, "I work hard. I've got to have plenty of meat." "In order to be really strong, you must get plenty of meat," is the cry of the public, which explains, of course, along with advertising, the high cost of meat. But the average person overlooks the origin of the meat which comes from the alfalfa, the clover, and that which grows in the field. Why not go to the field and get it instead of straining it through an animal that goes through tremendous fear when it is killed. Then the meat is usually put on cold storage and goes through all sorts of packing processes and finally winds up in a skillet in hot grease, usually with white flour all over it. And then by the time you put your hot sauces or catsup on it, just what of the original value do you have left? Have you ever noticed the putrefaction of meat and the horrible smell around a meat packing plant?

The average American eats meat for breakfast, dinner, and supper. When you think of breakfast, ordinarily one thinks of bacon, eggs, toast, jelly, and coffee, or either a sweet roll and coffee. While I'm thinking about it, let me urge you to drink your fruit juices at least forty-five minutes before your meal so it will have an opportunity to do its cleansing. I have gotten away from drinking anything while I eat because the salivary juices have proved themselves to be so much better in digesting the food.

Now then you say, "Well, what am I going to do if I do not eat meat three times a day?" Just remember that egg yolks, cottage cheese (especially when it is homemade), avocado, nuts, and the right kind of cheese are very good meat substitutes. I have friends who haven't had a bite of meat in twenty years and are in perfect health. That's proof enough for me. Meat at its best is still greasy. Hog meat is especially detrimental to the human system. Chocolates and chilis and hot foods are hurtful to the system. You may know by this time that chocolate is difficult to digest and also bad for the complexion.

Maybe you are saying by now, "Well, what am I going to eat?" We'll come to that a little later on. The way people eat and under the conditions they eat can be just about as bad as the wrong kind of food. For instance, the family gets to the table and starts a family brawl and winds up in tears. That's a meal that ought to have been skipped. Eating ought to be done under very pleasant conditions. I'd rather eat one meal with my family, with all four of us happy, than eat a dozen with strife and misunderstanding. I think the wise man had it in mind when he said in Proverbs 15: 17, "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."

When the body is real tired, it is certainly not good to eat a heavy meal. One of the fatal faults of the American people is to eat late at night and then come in at midnight and fall into the bed dead tired. I can just hear the heart saying to the liver, "Well, old boy, we'll have to take the night shift tonight." Many people die with a heart attack in their sleep, or wake up the next morning and say at the breakfast table, "I feel like I've never gone to bed. I'm so tired and have a headache and I don't see how I'll make it through the day." or "I'm not hungry." Well, no wonder, my friend, the liver and the heart and all the other organs are still hammering away at what you ate at midnight.

Can' t you see the practical side of what I'm talking about? Sickness is no accident, neither is health. Sickness is an accumulation of poisons that the system could not get rid of. God has put every cleanser and purifier and eradicator in the human system that was necessary, but because of man's misuses and abuses, he makes himself sick. For instance, many of the poisons of the human system will go out through the pores when one perspires enough and yet, we find ourselves riding in air-conditioned cars and sitting in air-conditioned offices and living in elevator and escalator times. The proper exercise is essential to good health. A Russian Communist said the other day that the secret of his health was that he fasted and he walked wherever it was possible to walk.

Also, remember it is a lot easier to get that which is bad than that which is good. For instance, I go in a café, which I hardly ever do, and ask for a bowl of shredded wheat or some whole wheat cereal and ask for honey to sweeten it with and they look at me surprised and say, "We don't have any honey." To me, honey is a necessary natural sweet that ought to be in every home. Use it for sweetening purposes but don't cook with it. You usually have to get brown sugar and raw sugar at the health food store, but you can also use dates and raisins for sweetening purposes.

I get amused at people as sometimes I, as graciously as possible, refuse some offer of food or drink that I consider harmful and they look with sympathy and say, "I didn't know you had stomach trouble." Actually, since I stopped eating and drinking certain things, I have not had any stomach trouble. Oh, the sickness and pain, worry and depression and lost days of thirty-five years just because of bad food. Overstuffed, but undernourished, is the condition of the average American.

While I am dictating this book, I am here in the Wynnewood Hotel in Dallas, Texas. I just looked out the window and saw a man dressed in nice clothes walk out of a business establishment and get on a bicycle and ride toward home. Now, that's unusual, and yet, why should it be? He's in the open air and he's exercising his legs.

How you prepare your foods is important and we'll have more to say about this later. Your health is invaluable. It ought to be measured in terms of souls and spiritual usefulness. Get away from rich gravies. The word gravy comes from the word, "graveyard". I've had some very unhappy experiences with gravy, even though I used to be the gravy-maker in the big church feeds. When I was a boy, I had gravy every morning for breakfast, along with hot biscuits made with white flour and, of course, suffered with clogging of my system. I marvel that I lived for thirty-five years on such a careless and dead diet.

Now, if I haven't lost my readers, in just a moment, I want to give you some practical suggestions about what you can eat. But in order to allay your fears that you'll starve to death or become too weak to work, let me remind you that I can run a mile right now without stopping at an age of nearly forty-six. If you want to be healthy, don't be a pincushion for a hypodermic needle. Don't let your system stay saturated with chemicals that are foreign to the human body. Eat natural foods and use natural means for healing in case you become sick, such as fasting, the Word of God and prayer, and whatever liquids are necessary to cleanse your system.

For meat, eat fish, fowl, wild game, avocado, egg yolks, nuts, cheese, and cottage cheese, sunflower seed, and a minimum of other meats. Drink a lot of juices, always unsweetened, forty-five minutes to an hour before the meal, or a couple of hours after the meal. Everyone ought to have a vegetable juicer. You may say, "I can't afford one," yet, one trip to the hospital costs you from three hundred to a thousand dollars. My dad has spent over fifty thousand dollars on illness in our family and I've not spent five cents for drugs in ten years. If what I'm doing for God and others is as vital as I believe it is, nothing is too costly to keep me well enough to do it.

Let me bear a personal testimony about how I begin my day. I start with a great big juicy verse or a chapter of the Word of God. Then, before reading a number of chapters and entering into a season of prayer, I usually drink a big glass of grapefruit juice. If I cannot get grapefruit, I drink a big glass of lime or lemon water. If no juice is available, I will drink just a big glass of water. However, I usually see that juice is available. In my plane or car, I carry an icebox with all arrangements made for fruits and juices.

For breakfast, sometimes I will have chopped dates, figs, raisins, a banana, a piece of whole wheat toast or other good whole grain bread and honey, along with some nuts or sunflower seed sprinkled over the fruit. Or I may have a bowl of steel cut oats or whole grain cereal or other health food cereal that still has the life in it. Or many times, when in season, I have grapes, pears, apples, or fresh peaches, with nuts. Or I may have dried apples or apricots that have been properly soaked, mixed with some cashew butter or almond butter and honey, with nuts and various seeds, which make a delicious breakfast. And occasionally, if I eat an egg or maybe two or three eggs, I eat the yolks steamed slowly in butter in a covered pan or either poached, with toast and honey, or with toast and Fig Pep, which is a product made from black mission figs. Or during fruit season, I may have a cantaloupe or a watermelon. Sometimes I put a little cream, preferably goat milk, over my cereal and over the dates, figs, and raisins. Raw milk, of course, is better because it still has the culture and the life.

It would be well if you had the opportunity and the place to keep a good milk goat and a cow and your own chickens and feed them properly in order to have the right kind of food. Also, it would be wonderful if you had a little garden spot and would organically grow, without commercial fertilizers and poisons, your own vegetables and some of your fruits.

Right here, I must pay tribute to Mrs. Ira Page, of Raymondville, Texas, who with much patience, got me started to thinking and studying about the needs of my own body. I shall always be in debt to her for her many kindnesses and sincere interest in my ministry.

You may say, "Well, I travel a great deal." I doubt if you travel more than I do. I travel from fifty to a hundred thousand miles a year, but that presents no insurmountable problem. I'm here in the hotel where I've been since yesterday and I have ample food in the room such as honey, black mission figs, dates, raisins, almond butter, grapefruit, oranges, and Fig Pep. Friend, it's just a matter of whether you want to be well or not. Your health must be guarded and protected, and you're not wasting time or money when you are making an effort to stay well.

The thing that has amazed me is how little a person can eat and still feel good and go hard. Thousands of people have said to me, "I don't understand how you have so many ministries, make so many miles, preach so many times, and even live." Let me be quick to say, the first secret is the goodness of God and faith in Him and His Word. But on the human side, He certainly has blessed the efforts we have put forth in temple care.

Now, we would like to give you some practical suggestions to help you in your kitchen. It is most important that you have proper utensils. If you want to be at your best physically, you will discard all your aluminum pots and pans (and aluminum foil) and equip your kitchen with some good stainless steel utensils. I realize that this involves money, but in the long run, it will mean much more to you than the initial expense. These stainless steel utensils will last indefinitely and be just as lovely as when they were new.

We have already mentioned the value of a vegetable juicer. I would like to suggest one other appliance for your health kitchen that will be of great help – a liquefier or food blender. These come in a wide range of prices.

For maximum health, we need to eat as much of our food as possible in its raw state. However, our American people have become so accustomed to cooked foods that it is unlikely we will be able to get very many of you on a raw food diet. Proper food preparation, though, will be of great benefit to you and your family.

Get away from the habit of peeling such vegetables as carrots and potatoes before cooking them. Much of the food value in your vegetables lies just under the skin and is lost if they are peeled. Scrub them clean with a vegetable brush. In cooking vegetables, use just a small amount of water. By this, I mean just enough to barely cover the bottom of your pan, less than a fourth of a cup. Put your prepared vegetables in the pan, cover with a tight-fitting cover, and place on high heat just until steam begins to escape and then reduce your heat to as low as possible. BE SURE TO KEEP PAN TIGHTLY COVERED WHILE COOKING. Cook just until tender. Do not overcook your vegetables. The longer you cook them, the more of the food value you destroy. Do not use fat meats in cooking vegetables. Learn to enjoy the good natural flavor of the things you eat. Season vegetables AFTER cooking with a little butter, if desired, and vegetable salt (from health food store).

If you like cabbage, but find that it doesn't agree with you, try cooking it by this steaming method just until tender. You'll have no cabbage odor in your house and no indigestion after eating! We like sliced carrots cooked with cabbage.

Form the habit of tightly covering all food stored in the refrigerator.

One of the worst punishments we give our poor stomachs is throwing so many different foods into them at mealtime. Try serving just three items at your meals, or four at the most. You'll find that you will feel much better. And do make it a habit to have at least one raw food at every meal.

A salad made of lettuce, carrots, celery, avocado, boiled egg yolks, and sunflower seed with a little health food dressing sprinkled over with maybe some cottage cheese in it, makes a delicious and nourishing meal.

Recipes

The Following Recipes Are Included Below:

1. Mayonnaise
2. Whole Wheat Bread
3. Egg Custard
4. Drop Cookies
5. Brownies

Mayonnaise

Here is a recipe for making your own mayonnaise:

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vegetable salt
• 1 teaspoon boiling water

The first three ingredients and all utensils should be thoroughly chilled. Use a rotary beater or electric mixer. Beat egg yolks well. Add oil and lemon juice drop by drop, increasing the amount as the dressing thickens. Gradually add honey and salt during the mixing process, ending with oil. When all oil is used, dressing should be thick enough to hold its shape; if not, add a little more oil. Add the boiling water last to prevent separation. Refrigerate.

In the evening, a big fruit plate is a good light meal A big glass of unsweetened juice before you go to bed will be healthy for you. In serving nuts over fruit dishes, it is good to grind them briefly in the food blender that we mentioned earlier. They are more digestible this way and your body can assimilate more of the food value from them. Be sure to thoroughly chew all your food, especially nuts.

Get some whole wheat flour and make your own bread. Make every effort to get freshly ground whole wheat flour. I make a custard that I think is delicious and I'm going to ask Mrs. Gene Price, formerly Miss Frances Goodman, who has worked for us for many years, to give you the recipe for bread and also for the custard, since she actually perfected the custard recipe.

Now for the baking suggestions. There is nothing quite so delicious as a fresh loaf of home baked whole wheat bread. However, even though the temptation is great, be careful that you do not over-eat even of good whole grain products. Keep your diet well-balanced. Here is the recipe for whole wheat bread. If you like, you can replace part of the whole wheat flour with unbleached white flour. For other variations, try kneading raisins, chopped dates, cinnamon, or nuts into your dough.

Whole Wheat Bread

2 cups milk

Scald milk. Add butter, salt, and brown sugar and pour into large mixing bowl. Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup lukewarm water. Add dissolved yeast to mixture in bowl.

Add 3 cups of the flour. Stir eight minutes with electric mixer at low speed or 300 strokes by hand. Add remainder of flour and mix well.

Turn onto floured board and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, kneading in more flour if necessary.

Place in oiled bowl, cover with towel and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about one hour.

Knead down to original size, cover and let rise again.

Knead down, cut in half, shape into two loaves, place in oiled bread pans, cover with towel and let rise until dough begins to lift towel.

Bake in 350 F. preheated oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from pans and place on wire rack to cool.

For soft crust, brush with butter.

Egg Custard

Now the recipe for egg custard. You will notice that we use just the egg yolks.

• 6 egg yolks
• 3 cups milk
• 2/3 cup raw sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Scald the milk and sugar. Add VERY slowly to the lightly beaten egg yolks. Add vanilla. Pour through strainer into baking dish. Sprinkle the top with nutmeg or dot with butter. Place baking dish in a pan of hot water and bake at 325 until knife inserted in middle of custard comes out clean, about one hour.

We have done quite a bit of experimenting with cookie recipes, especially drop cookies, substituting unbleached and whole wheat flour. Here is one suggested recipe that you can try.

Drop Cookies

Mix together thoroughly:

• 1 cup soft shortening
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs

Stir in:

• 1/ 2 cup sour milk or buttermilk

Sift together and stir in:

• 2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

Add:

• ½ cup chopped dates
• ½ cup raisins
• ¾ cup chopped nuts

Chill at least one hour. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls about 2" apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 10 - 12 minutes at 350 , until, when touched lightly with finger, almost no imprint remains.

There is a preparation that you can get at the health food store that is a wonderful substitute for chocolate, called Carob Powder. You can experiment with your recipes using this Carob Powder in place of chocolate. As a general rule, 3 level tablespoons Carob Powder plus 2 tablespoons liquid ( milk or water) equals 1 square of chocolate.

Brownies

Try this recipe for Brownies:

• 2/3 cup sifted whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup chopped nuts
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons milk
• ½ cup butter
• 8 tablespoons Carob Powder mixed with 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup raw sugar or brown sugar

Cream butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs, salt, vanilla, milk, and Carob Powder mixture. Beat vigorously.

Sift the baking powder with the flour. Add flour and chopped nuts to mixture.

Spread batter in a 9 x 9 inch greased pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 . Cut brownies before they have cooled.

Hints for Health

Since sore throat and a cold, which results many times in flu or pneumonia, is such a common malady, let me offer you a suggestion or at least tell you what I do. If I feel a sore throat coming on, I immediately stop eating and drink only water or grapefruit juice until my system is clean again. It usually doesn't take over twenty-four or forty-eight hours until the sore throat is gone. Most people get sick like that in the winter time because they do not get sunshine and fresh air, but sit around in some old stuffy room, too hot from gas stoves that have already burned up the oxygen. Also, they do not take enough exercise in the winter time.

The television set has done plenty to damage the health of the people as they sit hour after hour. Especially has it damaged the health of the little children because instead of playing in the back yard or on the soft ball lot, they are sitting around watching television and many times in positions that are not good for developing the body. Excuse me for this, but I thought of it and I might as well say it – the Lord gave us one seat and two feet. Therefore He must intend for us to walk and stand more than He does for us to sit!

Now let me summarize the thing that I've been trying to say. Eat natural foods as much as possible. Don't over-eat. Stay away from things that may not be particularly harmful or kill you right away, but simply do not have any contribution to make to your over-all health picture. Paul says there are some things that may not be sin, but they are weights, and he suggested we lay them aside. Most people are trying to run the race of life weighted down with too much luggage.

22 Hints for Health

Eat uncooked food one day each week.

Chapter 2

Fasting

Jesus said, "Then shall they fast," Mark 2:20, Luke 5:35.

Let me begin this chapter by first suggesting that you not be afraid of this simple old Bible doctrine which has been neglected so long until it sounds new to the average person.

Big Jim Elliot, who was killed by the Auca Indians, said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." As in everything, the Bible is the final authority for or against any subject. Fasting is no exception. Moses fasted forty days at one time and then forty days at another before receiving the wonderful Word of God. Elijah fasted forty days and Jesus fasted forty days so we see a picture of the law, the prophets, and grace, which is the fulfillment of both the law and the prophets.

Even though eating is necessary, we would all agree that eating has gotten a lot of people into trouble. Eve ate the forbidden fruit. The flood was preceded by a people that were busy eating and drinking. The children of Israel, under Aaron's leadership, sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play and they danced around the golden calf. Isaac wanted one more meal and thereby sought to mix the carnal with the spiritual in giving the final blessing to his sons.

Eating and drinking is one of the certain signs of the soon return of the Saviour. Cafes by the thousands and even cafeterias are open twenty-four hours a day! The center of attraction in the average church is the kitchen and the dining room in spite of the fact that Paul said to eat at home. The Bible has nothing to say about eating at the church, but it has a lot to say about fasting. Yet, we practice the one that's not mentioned and poke fun at the one that is mentioned.

Let me first give you the Scriptural illustrations in the Bible concerning fasting and then some practical suggestions about how to fast and when to fast. The great revivals that we read about in the Bible were preceded by fasting. Nehemiah sat down and wept and mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. That was the beginning of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and the mighty revival as recorded in the 8th chapter of Nehemiah when the Bible was read and the people wept and repented, which brought about a holy day and the great statement, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10.

Look at Ezra 8:21, "Then I proclaimed a fast there ... to seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance." Verse 23, "So we fasted and besought our God for this: and He was intreated of us." In Isaiah 58:6 the fast is "to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free."

The old wicked city of Nineveh, with its teeming thousands, fell on its face to fast and revival came in less time than it would take to clean the streets of that city. The great prophet Daniel, with his long range vision, received his wisdom while fasting. "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession." Daniel 9:3. And then in verses 20 through 22, we find Daniel receiving the wisdom and understanding from the man Gabriel. Praise the Lord, Gabriel was caused to fly swiftly at the response of a man who would pray and fast and confess his sin!

Now remember, the theme of this book is not just to strengthen folks physically, except as it leads them to surrender their lives to Jesus for real spiritual service, which of course is reasonable. Again, let me say that the physical body has no essential importance apart from the purpose and design of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit. In the Book of Esther, we find that the entire nation of Israel was delivered from impending doom and death and destruction because Esther and Mordecai called a fast.

Now let's see what Jesus said about fasting. He certainly left no doubt concerning this great truth in that He fasted Himself. He simply warns us against hypocritical fasting, appearing unto men to fast, or bragging about a fast. The abuse of fasting has been seen in fasting unto men instead of unto God. Let me say right here that just separation from food, even though it may be a blessing to you physically and it will be, will not achieve spiritual purposes unless we fast unto the Lord.

One of the dangers in fasting is to go a day without food and then eat twice as much the next day to catch up. Another is to worry about yourself or be disturbed about your appetite and refuse to pray and read the Bible and think in spiritual terms. It would make the average person or home over if once a week the time it takes to cook a meal and eat it would be spent in Bible reading and prayer and real dedication. And then if the money that the meal would cost would be given to missions, it would be amazing at the amount of money that would be given to missions. I've asked our radio friends to just fast one meal a month and send that gift to help buy food for the alcoholics and drug addicts that have spent all in riotous living.

One of the reasons I know that fasting is right is because there is such rebellion against it, even on the part of church people. The average preacher pokes fun at fasting and prefers the subject not to be discussed in his pulpit. Jesus made two statements that would convince any fair mind that fasting is right when He said, "They will fast." And then on the other occasion, in Matthew 17: 21, He said to His disturbed and embarrassed disciples, after a stinging rebuke about their inability to heal the child, "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."

Look at that mighty revival book of Joel with its stirring call to repentance and the announcement of impending doom, calling the people to fast, including all the little ones – Joel 2. And then, my friend, if anybody ought to fast, the Gentiles ought to fast for these reasons: Simon Peter, a devoted Jew, was fasting when he got his call to go to the Gentile, Cornelius, Acts 10:20.

In Acts 13, we see the origin of the mission program beginning as the church fasted and the Holy Ghost said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." And as you know, Paul became the missionary to the Gentiles and magnified his office. Paul and the mariners, as recorded in Acts 27, fasted fourteen days. It was then that the angels stood by them in the night, saying, "Fear not, Paul . . . God hath given thee all them that sail with thee." And Paul said, "Be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." Fasting will help to carry you through the storm when it is linked with believing prayer.

We like to quote from the prince of preachers, Paul, but our flesh shrinks back when we read II Corinthians 11:23-28 in which we hear him say, "In fastings often." In Luke 2:37, Anna "served God with fastings." In II Corinthians 6:4-5, "Approving ourselves . . . in fastings." My beloved, these are enough Scriptures and examples to convince any skeptical doubter with a fair mind and an open heart.

The Psalmist said, "I humbled my soul with fasting." There's nothing that cuts away and burns away the proud flesh like fasting. Paul went so far as to say that the belly could become one's god and calls them the enemies of the cross. In Philippians 3:18, he said that there are many of them. Even though we may decorate, glamorize, glorify, spray cologne on this old flesh, Paul still calls it, "Our vile body." Philippians 3:21.

Oh, at the time we spend, and unnecessarily so, trying to pacify the flesh and the older the flesh gets, the more it takes to pacify it. When a baby is born, after a few weeks, any little old toy or rubber pacifier stuck in its mouth will make it happy. But as it grows older, it takes a little train, a tricycle, a wagon, a bicycle, a scooter, an automobile, and then instead of a rubber pacifier, it takes a cigarette or a cigar. No wonder Paul said, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing."

Now let's look at the practical side and make some suggestions. When should a person fast? How long should they fast? Should they drink anything while they fast? How should they break the fast? What should they do while they are fasting? These are good questions. Now let me try to answer them to your satisfaction. First of all, when should I fast? Well, I believe that is a personal matter. I would suggest that you fast one day a week. However, this would be altered by the burdens that come, the leadership of the Spirit, and the spiritual needs you may face.

Many times one needs to go on a semi-fast or maybe a fruit fast or natural food fast for a week just to tone up his physical system and give his body a chance to clean house. If I were to feel a sore throat coming on, I may fast three or four days. If I have an affliction of some sort that comes unannounced, I will fast and pray and read my Bible until it's gone and have God's people, of course, to pray for me and pray with me.

If God leads you to go on an extended fast, don't be afraid of it. Fasting does not cause weakness primarily, but it is the poison in the system that rises forth. For instance, if you go without your cup of coffee or cola drink, you begin to get a headache. That's your system crying out for what it has been used to getting. A Christian has no need to be a slave to a habit like that when Jesus breaks every fetter and sets the captive free.

John Wesley and other great Christians of all the ages have practiced fasting. He said when he felt his power waning and a coldness coming over his heart, he fasted and prayed a few days and God heard and answered. You know, it's strange, but we quote these great men of God as though they were some super duper creation when actually, they were made out of the same kind of dirt we are made out of, except they just lived surrendered and kept the flesh humble by fasting and prayer and obedience to God.

A complete fast is going without any sort of food or liquid, including water. Nineveh did that. Most of the time, I think it is good to drink plenty of water and by that I mean pure water. Sometimes unsweetened fruit juice is good for our systems and at other times a little taste of honey which is so pure and such a natural sweet that it does not interfere with the cleansing process of the system. Personally, I think it would be a very healthy thing for one to go on a juice fast for a number of days every once in a while, drinking fruit juices first and then going on to vegetable juices. At least, I've found it to be very helpful to me.

Again, let me say, it is not the amount of food that you eat, but the kind of food and the condition of your body when it receives it. I find that one meal a day is ample when you have the right kind of juices and fruits. I think it is well to rest and relax when fasting, especially on an extended fast. Walking in the sunshine with deep breathing is very helpful.

The question is raised, "What about my children?" Begin to teach them at an early age to fast and when hunger becomes acute, give them a piece of fruit or a glass of juice. Teach them what the Bible says about it, but don't give them milk when they are fasting. I found out after the age of thirty that I could learn to like anything if it was good for me. It is a matter of disciplining your appetite.

Let me remind you again that white flour makes a good paste. The devil has sought to take everything that was a symbol of Christ and corrupt it. For instance, bread. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." Look at the condition of the bread today. Jesus said, "I am the light." And so the beer company says, "Get the light idea." Even the liquor stores have lighted themselves up with plenty of light. The Word of God is pure. Now there is a beer put out that claims to be pure. Also, the Gospel is certified. There's a beer that is put out that says it is certified. No wonder Paul said that the devil appears as an angel of light.

When breaking a fast, be careful not to overeat. Eat a fruit salad or a vegetable salad. Vegetable salads can become the broom to sweep out the stomach. It makes fasting a lot better if the whole family agrees on it and would set up a time when they fast. But if the whole family does not, just exercise your will power and fast anyhow. Don't fuss and argue about it and certainly steer away from a self-righteous attitude or the spirit of condemnation upon those who will not fast because you certainly miss your blessing. When fasting becomes Pharisaical, it becomes sinful.

I think it is a sin to eat when we are not hungry, in spite of the old-fashioned suggestion, "Well, eat to keep from getting hungry." Eating when one is not hungry is like putting gasoline in the tank when the tank is already full.

In closing this chapter, let me urge you to pray about it and to begin to practice it and then notice the blessings, physically, mentally, financially, and spiritually that will be yours. Isaiah says you can fast and get the heavy burden loosed. Daniel fasted for wisdom. Nehemiah fasted for the rebuilding of the walls and a revival in Jerusalem. Nineveh fasted and was saved from destruction. I believe Pentecost was preceded by ten days of fasting and praying. The missionary program was launched after fasting. Jesus said there is a certain kind of ministry that can only go out by prayer and fasting. Paul fasted often. Two hundred seventy-six mariners were saved through the fasting and praying of one man. All of God's men of deeper experiences fasted – why don't we?

I believe there is no disease known to man but what the right kind of food, fasting, and faith, along with the Word of God, could heal. Disease feeds on the wrong kind of food. If cancer does not get its food, it will die. In our body are two kinds of germs – bad and good. If the bad are not fed, they cannot live. That's why I say you never catch colds – colds catch you. If these other faithful soldiers (good germs) are strong and properly fed, when the bad germs make the attack, they don't have a chance. We call this resistance against disease. Weather has nothing to do with your sickness or disease if your body is strong. It may precipitate a cold or spell of sickness, but it is never the cause of it.

In conclusion, let's practice what Paul talked about in I Corinthians 9:27, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

Chapter 3

Faith - The Key to God's Smokehouse

Four times in the Bible – Habakkuk, Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, we are told that "Now the just shall live by faith." Please read Hebrews 10:32 - 12:4 for this is the Pike's Peak of the Book. As I sit here and write this chapter, it looks to me like every door is closing and this is the most unusual experience in my twenty-six years of preaching. Yet inside there is a calm and a peace and an assurance. "My confidence in Jesus grows stronger every day, His grace I find sufficient to lead me in life's way." Therefore I cannot live under the circumstances or on what it looks like or seems like. That song keeps coming to me, even in this trying time and testing time – "The thing that you have prayed for is on its way and paid for." Oh, may God bless this chapter to my own soul, as well as yours, for the sake of the cause and the many ministries God has given us.

Communism, Catholicism, denominationalism, and modernism, with their feverish, futile and fatal efforts, are trying to take the place of a vital faith in a living God. Education, organization, reformation, amalgamation, and unionization are just as hopeless. The peace parleys and United Nations Conferences, the big talk of the National Council of Churches, are just as helpless as Ponce de Leon was in looking for the land of perpetual youth.

Faith lives in the high tower. Paul said to the Ephesian Church, "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." That old four star general who could prove his faith by his scars said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." Faith was his crowning virtue. Even though he lost his head, he kept his faith. In the first place, let me say that faith is not wishing, wanting, trying, hoping, striving, or even waiting. Most of these are enemies of real Bible faith. Let me give you some thirty things that came to me this afternoon concerning faith.

Thirty Thoughts on Faith

Faith is real. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Spiritual substance is the evidence of the only things that are real. Do you remember the story of the little girl on the mission field who pled with the missionary to let her go live with her in her home? The missionary said, "Honey, I don't have the provisions to take care of you. Let us pray and believe that someone from the homeland will send provisions." When the missionary had gone back across the hills to the little neighbor village where she lived, she found a letter with a check sufficient to take care of the little girl. She said to one of her converts, a faithful servant, "Will you go back across those hills and find that little girl and bring her?" In a few, moments, the servant left and then in just a few more moments he was back with the little girl holding to his hand. The missionary said to the little girl, "How did you get here so quick?" She said, "Well, Miss Missionary, I knew that if you prayed and I prayed and we both believed, I might as well get on my way and so I did." That' s child-like faith.

"If you had been living when Christ was on earth,
And had met the Saviour kind,
What would you have asked Him to do for you,
Supposing you were stone blind ?"

The child considered, and then replied,
"I expect that, without doubt,
I'd have asked for a dog, with a collar and chain,
To lead me daily about."

And how often thus, in our faithless prayers,
We acknowledge with shamed surprise
We have only asked for a dog and a chain
When we might have had OPENED EYES!

Can you hear Jesus asking His disciples these questions – "Where is your faith?" "How is it that ye have no faith?" "Oh, faithless and perverse generation ... If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove." "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."In this day when much of the work of God looks wilted and Christianity looks awfully pale, it is no time to retreat, but a time to retrench and retread and rewind, and even though we must be living in the days of the final apostasy, where faith has faded into form and lost its fire, I believe there can be something genuine when Jesus comes again. With Jesus interceding above and the Holy Spirit indwelling and abiding in our heart, there is no excuse or reason for failure. I keep hearing that song, "The thing that you have prayed for is on its way and paid for, so hold on a little longer, hold on." Yet, I've come to the place where I've had to confess to God that I couldn't hold on. He would have to hold me on. And my faith is unswerving and unwavering. I'm fully persuaded that what He has promised, He is able also to perform, Romans 4:21.

Brother Roloff's Testimony

Now, let me bear a personal testimony that I trust and pray will encourage God's people. My life of faith began one Wednesday night as I lay a very sick young man in the hall of that old ranch house in Navarro County in Central Texas. About ten o'clock that night I said, "Lord, if you're calling me to preach, I'll preach," and God gave me a real taste of peaceful sleep that I had not known in months. It was during the Great Depression and the times seemed impossible. After staying out of school a year following high school graduation and picking cotton in West Texas, I went off to Baylor University. I took my old milk cow to furnish milk for my board and room, and I had to guarantee three gallons a day. That was a step of faith!

My body was weakly and sick and one of the outstanding doctors in Waco recommended that I beat it back to the farm. However, my real ministry of faith did not begin until about eighteen years later when I began to take the Bible literally and believe that it meant what it said for today. It was about that time that I started reading it through each year on my knees and started believing God for my physical needs as well as the needs of the ministries into which he had led me.

Faith allows many tears and testings, but never puts up with a compromise. Faith constantly cuts away temporary pilings and is continually settling us on the pillars of eternal truth. Faith permits loneliness and heartaches and many misunderstandings. Faith is a pioneer. It keeps its subject constantly in the new ground. Faith is the Marine leathernecks making new beachheads. Faith demands a tough hide and a tender heart and a saw log for a backbone. Faith longs for only one thing, and that's the vindication of the Word of God.

We went on a two hundred and fifty watt radio station and got kicked off a few months later because we preached against liquor traffic, but the next day, we went on a fifty thousand watt station. Our church building burned down, known as the Park Avenue Baptist Church, six months after we bad been in Corpus Christi, and through much pressure and misunderstanding, we purchased the Furman Avenue site for fifty-five thousand dollars and built the Second Baptist Church.

There was a big corner of the property that belonged to the Sinclair Refining Company and we were hoping at a later date to get that when one morning my men came into the study and said, "They have started drilling holes for a Sinclair service station on the corner of our property," suggesting that it was too late to do anything. I said, "Let's pray." After prayer, I called New York City to Mr. Harry Sinclair's office and told them how disappointed we were and how much we had desired to have that property. At eleven o'clock, the men walked off of the job. And we bought another piece of property for fifteen thousand dollars and traded even with them for the property for which they had asked twenty-two thousand dollars. Oh, that was a real answer from heaven!

The old Park Avenue site that I was sincerely hoping to use for a day school was sold one night at the deacons' meeting while I was speaking at another church in town. When I went back to the deacons' meeting that had just concluded, one of the deacons told me that he knew I would be disappointed, but that the property was sold because they needed the money. The property consisted of 150' on Park Avenue, 250' on King Street with two houses, a two story garage, and a nice building that we called the Brotherhood Building. It had been sold for fifteen thousand dollars. But the next fall, through the kindness of Dr. Logan, we fixed up the old Brotherhood Building and started a Christian Day School with a kindergarten and first grade and, over a period of years, bought all that property and built the big brick building, over a hundred feet long, which housed the school and the Enterprises offices. It all seems like a dream and yet, simply a work of faith and labor of love.

May I right here say that this venture of faith was made possible through the patience, love, and confidence of Brothers Ben and Dale Davis. In thirty-seven years, the Park Avenue Day School was responsible for leading over a thousand people to Christ, teaching many precious children, and furnishing a place of service for consecrated teachers.

After seven years of a glorious Gospel ministry in the Second Baptist Church, and with a human desire to stay twenty years, the Lord, one night under Evangelist B. B. Crim's tent at Cuero, gave the order to cut loose and hit the trail of tent evangelism, a thing I had almost despised. And so, without a house to live in and without any money, we launched into a new ministry.

In just a little while, the Lord spoke to a layman in the Rio Grande Valley and told him to send us four thousand dollars as a loan for a down payment on a little frame home at 429 Naples Street in Corpus Christi. We paid back the loan in five years. He spoke to the friends of evangelism and our ministry, and in a little while, we had thirty thousand dollars worth of vans, a tent, and portable equipment which we used for over ten years.

Faith will allow no competition to Christ or the Word. "It is not mine to question the judgments of the Lord. It is but mine to follow the leading of His Word." When one questions the Word of God, the wisdom of God, or the goodness of God, he is immediately off of faith ground. When one begins to whine and murmur, complain and doubt, he is off the good old faith line. When one spends his time enumerating what he had to give up in order to live by faith instead of what he got by living by faith, he has missed the trail.

In 1944, one night in the deacons' meeting, I asked the deacons if they would be willing for me to launch out by faith on a fifty thousand watt radio station, fifteen minutes a day, five days a week. They said they would if I would have it understood that they would be released from any financial obligation. God honored that step of faith and it was not long until we were on six days a week for thirty minutes, and Sunday afternoon for one hour. But after eight years of glorious ministry and the building of a wonderful audience, we were told that we could no longer preach on this station because we were controversial. This was the severest and most sickening disappointment of our entire life.

Without a root of bitterness or a spirit of criticism, I relate this incident because I can see that Romans 8: 28 had its plow in the ground and also Philippians 1:12, "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel," even though it looked like we were in a complete blackout. Lifetime friends and schoolmates left us over night. This decision of the brethren was made public by the associated press in the newspapers and also in our church publications.

I was on the road in evangelism when the word reached me. I shall never forget the day in Henderson, Texas, when I made the announcement to the radio friends, with many tears. After the message, Mike Garcia, the Latin-American friend who traveled with me and watched the tent for a number of years, put his arms about me and pointed to the heavens and in broken English said, "Our Father will help Brother Roloff." I knew full well that He was the only one who could help me in that time of darkness.

Two years later, the station was sold and an unbeliever in Christ came and asked me if I would like to go back on to which I said, "Yes." So, for two more years we preached the Gospel, to be disappointed again by a letter saying the station was going to "total programming," which left the Gospel off. More time elapsed and I walked into the office of one of the owners and made request to go back on.

Now, in the meantime, I had to go to Alice, forty-five miles away, and Sinton, twenty-eight miles away, in order to have a radio ministry in my home town. The friend said they would like to have my contract and I agreed to borrow the money for a year's time in advance, but after weeks of waiting and no word, I walked into the studio and asked the reason why. I received this answer, "I'm sorry, but we have four beer accounts and they all said if you went on they would go off, therefore we must have their accounts instead of yours."

As I walked out of the studio that day, the Lord impressed me that He would give us that station. I walked rapidly to the my office and called my lawyer. I asked him to offer three hundred thousand dollars for the station to which he said, "Are you kidding?" I said, "I was never more serious in my life." I told him to offer just one thousand dollars as earnest money, cautioning him not to tell them who was buying the station.

I remind you that I didn't have any money at the time. Many of you will remember that we had just finalized a contract for one hundred thousand dollars for a broadcast on a Mexico border station which covered most of our nation and was being blessed of the Lord. (Mexico has since outlawed all religious programming.) This, of course, was a tremendous step of faith in itself, having to put up twenty-five thousand dollars every three months. But, oh, the letters and the testimonies!

In a few days, the lawyer said that he had a tentative contract for the 50,000 watt station for three hundred thousand dollars, with twenty-five thousand dollars earnest money. In no time at all, the Lord put into our hands the twenty-five thousand dollars, and in turn, it was put up for earnest money. The die was cast, the shore lines clipped, and the bridges burned. Another hundred thousand dollars had to be raised in three months and then the F.C.C. permit had to be given from Washington, D.C. God spoke to our friends.

The only thing personally I put into the station was five hundred dollars for five shares, and they were given to the Roloff Evangelistic Enterprises. The Enterprises could not buy the station. Other Christian friends bought the remainder of the stock and we named the station K.C.T.A. (Know Christ The Answer). So, on October 23, 1959, at five o'clock in the morning, we went on the air singing "In shady green pastures, so rich and so sweet, God still leads His dear children along." For two hours we testified and bragged on Jesus and praised His wonderful Name.

I feel like saying with Brother Paul, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." Romans 11:33-36.

The Alameda Baptist Church was a real project of faith. Some friends and I put up twenty-five hundred dollars on seventy-five thousand dollars' worth of land, ten and four-tenth acres, without a church, without an organization, and months later we started just a plain simple Bible church. In our first meeting that Sunday afternoon, October 24, 1954, under a tent at 3401 South Alameda Street, a little band of Christians gave hundreds of dollars to missions, which was their first offering. In a few weeks we started the Good Samaritan Rescue Mission, the first rescue mission in Corpus Christi, spending some five hundred dollars a month for the down-and-outs before we ever had a church building of any kind. But God gave us a beautiful brick building with a seating capacity of sixteen hundred. I preached grace and we majored in evangelism and God blessed.

Another work of faith was the City of Refuge, which was begun as an extension of the Good Samaritan Rescue Mission. It was a farm-type home for alcoholics, narcotic addicts, and people who needed spiritual help. Some friends who lived near Lexington, Texas let us use some property they owned there in the sand hills of Lee County. Without a stick of lumber or barbed wire fence or well of water or any sort of improvement, this city came into being. God vindicated this worthy cause, and some former alcoholics and drug addicts are now preaching the glorious Gospel of Christ that will deliver from alcohol, drugs and any other sinful habit. Since its beginning in 1956 this "City with a soul" has been moved three times, ending up in Corpus Christi on the People's Baptist Church property in 1979. Many men have come to this Home and have been taught the way of life and have "gone back another way."

The greatest step of faith concerning the ministry of the City of Refuge was when the Lord led us to move it to Culloden, Georgia. A friend in Atlanta, whose father-in-law had been delivered from alcoholism under our ministry, took me to see the place which was a beautiful 273-acre estate with a magnificent old antebellum home, a log cabin, a few other buildings, a lake and many stately pine trees. When I first saw it, I told my friend that it was "too rich for my blood." The selling price was $185,000. But the Lord reminded me that the greatest interest in our ministry at that time was from people and preachers who were located in that area of the country. I was traveling a lot and preaching in churches in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama and the Carolinas. I could see it being used, not only for the alcoholics and narcotic addicts, but also for a beautiful place for preachers and friends and supporters who lived east of the Mississippi to come and join us for Bible Conferences and Camp Meetings. They would also be able to see that phase of the ministry firsthand.

But not wanting to go into a heavy indebtedness, I gave up and then God gave me the assurance that He did want us to have this place and assured me that it would be paid for in cash. The price had been lowered to $108,000. I went to the bank that was handling the estate and gave them five thousand dollars as a down payment. A radio station in Atlanta donated nine hours of radio time to tell of our burden and the need and by July 4, 1965 we lacked $38,000. On July 5 we owed $10,000, which was due on July 16.

We were holding a camp meeting on the property and many precious friends came with their tents, trailers and campers. I had asked the banker to bring the note on the property to the meeting, because I felt the Lord would provide the balance due so that we could burn the note at the noon meeting.

A man and his wife walked up to me and handed me a blank check that had been signed and said, "This is for whatever you still lack." We were debt free! I still remember what that dear couple said. "We believe this place must be debt free to set men free."

This was another reminder of the truth of the Scriptures that we had claimed so many times, "Now the just shall live by faith," and "Without faith it is impossible to please God."

The home for ladies, which is currently the Jubilee Home, was at one time a part of the City of Refuge. Even while it was located in Lexington, Texas, ladies who needed deliverance from alcohol and drugs were allowed to come. They were housed in separate dormitories from the men. At the time they were transferred to Corpus Christi, they were called "The Help-Hers Home", and later the name was changed to The Jubilee Home. Many of the ladies who came to this home experienced miraculous changes in their lives.

The Lighthouse for delinquent and drug addicted boys was also a project of faith that the Lord greatly blessed. It was started in the summer of 1958 forty miles down the Intracoastal Canal from Corpus Christi. The first few years it operated only during the summer months, but due to the increasing need of helping boys and young men on a continuing basis, it became a full-time ministry. The Lord continued to bless as more and more young men and boys came and were delivered from drugs and alcohol. Some were sent by judges and brought by probation officers. Many of these fellows who came as young men are now in full- time service for the Lord. Because of the wide range in the ages of the fellows who came, this home was eventually divided. The Anchor Home for Boys took in boys, age 9-17, and the Lighthouse continued with the young men ages 18-25.

The Anchor Home, originally known as the City of Refuge for Boys, was also relocated a few times, due to the donation of properties from friends of the ministry.

The Peaceful Valley Home, which was located amidst the citrus groves in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas was begun in 1964. This was a dream come true, to be able to provide a place for older Christians who had retired but had a desire to be in a community of other Christians and still be of use in a ministry, if only to be a prayer warrior for the other phases of the ministry.

One of the most well known and nationally-publicized homes the Lord led us to start is the Rebekah Home for Girls. It was begun in September, 1967 in the home of some dear friends in East Texas when they took in a teen-age unwed mother who had called us for help. More and more girls began to call and come, and within four months the home was moved to Corpus Christi. It, too, was in two locations before we purchased the property on Old Brownsville Road, which was also another tremendous step of faith.

Realizing the need for a permanent location for the Rebekah Home for Girls, we located a 79-acre tract of farm land a few miles out in the country west of Corpus Christi. The Lord impressed on my heart that this was the location He would have us purchase. The cost was $97,000. When our friend, Alfred Edge, a realtor, was instructed to contact the owner of the property, he asked me how we intended to pay for it. I immediately replied, "Cash!" When he asked me when we would have the money, I answered "September 1!" The Enterprises put up $5,000 earnest money and Alfred Edge deducted his commission. September was only three or four months away. We prayed. On September 1, 1968 a check in the amount of $84,373.76 was written to pay for the property where the first Rebekah Home dormitory would be built. Within a few years the Lord added more sections of adjoining property, totaling 557 acres.

The People's Baptist Church was organized in 1969. The first building that was built on the property that had been purchased for the Rebekah Home was a two story red barn for a cow, some goats and other farm animals. The second story was used for a hayloft. Since the Rebekah girls were living in house trailers at the time, there was no place for the church to meet, so the hay was cleared out, some carpet put down, and chairs put in the second floor of the barn. The People's Baptist Church met for services in the "Heavenly Hayloft" until the the last of June, 1970, at which time the first dormitory for the Rebekah girls was dedicated. Other dormitories were later built on the property, along with a church building, cafeteria, school building, and other buildings. Radio friends and supporters from several states came during their vacation times to construct the buildings. By the summer of 1979 the City of Refuge, the Help-Hers (now Jubilee Home for ladies), the big Lighthouse dormitory, and the Anchor Home for Boys were all located on this property.

Due to the restrictions of the State Welfare Department regarding taking care of unwed mothers in Texas, they were eventually moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to a dormitory we built there on property donated by a Christian friend in that area. This home was named Bethesda, which means House of Mercy.

The last big step of faith that I would like to share with you is the starting of Regeneration Reservation which ministers to and works with the American Indians.

In 1981, Mrs. Ann Murphy, a missionary who had worked among the American Indians for many years, had heard of our Homes in Corpus Christi and the Lord had used the ministry of the Homes to transform alcoholics and drug addicts into responsible citizens as they became Christians and submitted their lives to the Lord's leading. A majority of the people she had been working with were alcoholics. She came to visit and to see this work firsthand. After sharing her burden for these desperate people with me, I accepted her invitation to go and visit her mission field. Upon seeing these people, many of whom were in jail or were lying around on the ground drunk, I made the statement to her, "May God forgive me; I never knew this existed. We can and we must do something!"

I returned to Corpus Christi with a definite burden for these desperate people who are precious in God's sight. In February of 1982 the Roloff Evangelistic Enterprises made a down payment on nearly 70 acres of land near the Apache Indian reservation at Fort Thomas, Arizona. This was named Regeneration Reservation and they continue to minister to all tribes of American Indians.

The radio ministry, the Family Altar Program, had also expanded to as many as 200 stations across the nation at one time. Again, I remind you of the wonderful way the Lord blessed the radio ministry and used it to raise up friends who were inspired to also trust the Lord by faith as they invested in lives by helping to provide the funds to build and operate the homes for people in trouble.

I do not know of a work in this land that is more worthy of your prayers and support than this ministry. We would like to say more, but it would take another book to write the glorious story of all the Lord has done through people and with people who have submitted to His leading by faith.

In closing, let me suggest that if you want to live by faith, don't run with infidels and people who question the Word of God. Second, read the Bible through every year. Third, practice and exercise your faith. Don't attend a cold, modernistic church. Keep your eyes upon Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. Memorize much of the Scripture and praise Jesus and testify for Him every day.

I find it as hard to stop writing as I did to start writing, but if this book has been a blessing to you, pass it on or get another one for a friend.

"Hold the fort, for I am coming,"
Jesus signals still;
Wave the answer back to heaven,
"By Thy grace we will."

Food, Fasting and Faith
(Brother brother Lester Roloff)