Abandoned Thirty Days In The Arizona Wilderness

What it took for me to prepare for this hour we are living in was a month in the Arizona Desert being pruned and beaten with the Rod of God.

When I was dropped off there I told the party that I was either going to die physically, or die to my carnal self. The other party was to return in three days with supplies, they did not return for 30 days.

The water went bad, I became deathly sick and was near death. I tried to dig a hole to protect what food I had from the scorching Sun, but the ground had a hard pan that was five feet thick and could not be penetrated.

The Rattlesnakes would come out of the Desert in a dead heap run right at me! This is not normal at all.

To try and escape the burning heat of the Arizona Desert Sun, I built a small booth made of dead branches from the Ocotillo Plant.

Whenever I would go and set under the booth, the Desert winds would come up and the dust devils would pound my little booth. When I was away from the booth, the dust devils never appeared.

In the area I was in there were hundreds of washes that were caused by the Monsoons a month earlier. One of these washes caught my eye and as I entered the wash I immediately came upon three large boulders in a row.

It is hard to describe all the beauty of this wash, the rose and milk quartz lined the banks, there were huge flat stones balancing on what was left of the sand under them.

There were several Joshua trees, Jack Rabbits and Cotton Tails. Packs of wild dogs and of course the Coyotes.

This location was so beautiful and really it felt quite Spiritual. So my next move was to build a Church in the wilderness. This would be no mere building with four walls to hide the Christian in from the World.

This would not be a physical building where the Christian so often goes it seems only for the purpose of having somewhere for their carcass to sit and wait for it to rot.

Oh no, this would be a very simple Church with no walls, a dirt floor, an open 360 degree view of the creation of God.

So, I began the project. I took milk quartz and wrote, " The Church " on the ground. I then took the quartz and built a large Cross next to it.

I then went on a hunt for a dead Joshua tree limb, I returned with one, this was set on large rocks and became my alter.

For several days I would return to the Church. I would pray, study and worship there. After this I would preach a sermon to the few birds and sometimes a Cotton Tail or two.

I returned there one morning, but this time the Spirit would not allow me to stay, he drove me away quickly. I could not understand at the time the purpose. But I soon learned that the steps of the righteous are indeed ordered of the Lord.

As I walked away from the Church I walked across one of several dirt roads. As I stepped out of the brush onto the road, a car passed by! A car? I couldn't believe it.

The man stopped and backed up. He asked what I was doing out here in no mans land. I told him I came out here by direction of God, to die.

I shared some things with this man and after I shared the Word of God, he hurried off. Looking back I have to laugh now. When he saw me I had a Bible strapped on my back, a walking stick big enough to slay a Bull, and my beard had grown out about five inches!

Back to the little Church. The Spirit spoke to me later that morning and said, " This is not the answer either. " " When will man understand that I do not dwell in any vessel but man? " " You are the Temple of God. "

This went on like this for 30 days out there. The encounters I had with the Lord have totally changed my life.

There is so much more to share but time restrains me. Dear Children of God I beg you to wake up, stand up, and look up!