Written by Larry E. Wolfe (blog compiled by Brian A. Wolfe)

Just a few years after the Samuel Wolfe family picture was taken the Wolfe’s built a church, there in Greenpoint, called ‘the Chapel’.  Samuel and his oldest son, my Great-Grandpa’ A. J., lead this effort in constructing the independent church where all could worship God freely apart from any denominational ties. This was their stated purpose for building ‘the Chapel’ being established in 1907.  The sturdy building still continues to be used to this day.

However, this interesting story of the circumstances that surrounded the building of  the Chapel was told by Molly Meck Long, a long-standing member of the Chapel, who lived to be 101 dying in 1995. She gave the following account to my oldest brother Warren.

At that time, about the turn of the century, the Wolfs were meeting for church services in Sattazahn’s Lutheran Church on alternating Sundays when they were ‘locked out’ of the building much to their surprise one Sunday morning.  Having been barred from using the Lutheran church building, they then began meeting in the one-room schoolhouse just up the road.  But allegedly, one of the men from Sattazahn’s Lutheran Church ‘spit tobacco juice’ in some of the school books causing much consternation.

While investigating the source of the tobacco juice, the guilty party was determined by the brand of tobacco used somewhat exclusively by a certain man from Sattazahn’s.  So, the Wolfs, after losing the use of the schoolhouse for something they did not do, decided to build the Chapel just across the road from the one-room schoolhouse.

Another expanded version told by local historian Francis Ditzler whose family also attended Sattazahn’s at the time goes like this. The historian said that Sattazahns called a new Pastor and the Wolfs and Ditzlers wanted a Calvinist teaching Pastor or Reformed because the church is Lutheran and Reformed but they instead called another Lutheran Pastor.

He said the Wolfs and Ditzlers met downstairs during Sunday School teaching the Reformed doctrine or Calvinist. Then they started meeting in the Ditzler home where they ran a butcher business just up the road. When the numbers grew they moved to the schoolhouse and henceforth the two stories become one because Molly Meck told Warren why they got kicked out of the school.

However it happened the result was an independent church was established which taught the Word of God every Sunday and the Wolfe’s who remained in the valley supported it faithfully.

Not all Wolfs stayed in the valley as Edwin Martin Luther Wolf  left the Greenpoint area before all these events  took place moving sometime around the turn of the century to Derry Church which would later be named “Hershey” after the ‘chocolate man’ Milton S. Hershey.  My wife Betsy and I visited Wolf Bus Lines in York Springs as we were pretty sure the founder was in our line of Wolfs. We struck it rich as we discovered that Edwin’s grandsons Bradley and Edwin were still at the helm of the business. They provided the below Wolf family picture and directed us to their ‘Uncle’ Walter Wolf who lived in Lebanon PA. Walter gave us the following account concerning things he recalled about his immediate family.

‘My oldest sister Elizabeth was born in 1902 in Derry Church which was later named Hershey. My father Edwin made ice cream for Milton S. Hershey.  One of the flavors he specifically made for him was onion.  Now, Hershey didn’t just want the onion juice to flavor the ice cream, he wanted the onion in it too, all chopped up, the whole onion! My Dad later moved to York Springs when Milton S. Hershey established a creamery there. He worked for him for a while and started an automobile dealership, garage and bus service.

We began in 1926 with a seven passenger Pierce Arrow and a Flint sedan. We took school kids from the country to York Springs. In the 30’s we went to Johnstown and bought two used school buses. Then we started charter work to ball games in Philadelphia and Baltimore.  Then my sister Elizabeth took over the business. I drove bus for thirty years.’  He went on to tell us various stories of ‘Uncle Al’ (my Great-Grandfather) and ‘his boy Clarence’ (my Grandfather), as Walter still had an extremely sharp mind at 88 years of age!

It was through ‘Uncle’ Walter’s first-hand knowledge of his aunt and uncle’s on this family photograph that we were able to identify some but not all of the Seven Sons of Samuel.  It wasn’t until my wife and I visited the cemeteries of the Chapel and Sattazahn’s Lutheran Church, that we were able to narrow down the names.

We do have this later photograph taken right around 1939-40. This general time frame was chosen due the late 30’s look of the cars shown on the photograph, also, they would not have been picnicking during the war which started in late 1941, and Edwin, one of the five brothers shown on the photograph, died in May of 1942.

The five brothers are standing by the roadside in the grove across the street from Grandpa’s store with their sister Annie.  In order from left to right you see Samuel Jr. (or Sammy as we called him), Charles, Annie, Edwin (E.M.), Alfred Jacob (A. J.) and Walter Loy (a half-brother), with David (nicknamed Wooly), the only other living son, being absent.

David ‘Wooly’ Wolfe who remained in the Greenpoint area, also had seven sons, Albert, Harry, Francis, Charles, Paul, David Jr. and Lester.  He was father to five daughters making an even dozen children, which was quite a large family even in those days. Albert died in 1939 at the early age of thirty-three, leaving his only child Albert Jr at age nine to grow up fatherless, but with Grandpa David and six uncles nearby, he must have had plenty of good instruction.

David’s Grandson, ‘Popeye’ (Albert Jr.), so nicknamed because of his once ever-present pipe, lived on the old homestead of Samuel and Ellomanda where Samuel Jr. lived, which ‘Popeye’ purchased in 1961 when Samuel Jr. died.

‘Popeye’ had five children, Dennis, Scott, Judy, Connie and Cindy. He was the only descendant in David’s line that we knew personally, having bought many a Christmas tree from him over the years.  But, I’m sure with all of ‘Wooly’s’ children there must be many more of our relatives scattered throughout the central Pennsylvania area!

So whats with the Wolf Vs Wolfe spelling you might ask???

The Wolfe’s that stayed in the Greenpoint area added the ‘e’ to the end of their name for some unknown reason. However, my ‘educated’ opinion (through cemetery study and other various and sundry info) points to the likely probability that the ‘e’ was added by certain Wolfs to distinguish themselves from another family of Wolfs that might have been members of Sattazahn’s Lutheran Chuch.

Knowing that there was somewhat of a division or conflict between the Wolfe’s and some of the people at Sattazahns, A. J., David (‘Wooly’), and Samuel Jr., who are those Wolfs who remained in the Greenpoint area, might have decided to set themselves apart distinguishing themselves from this other group of Greenpoint Wolfs by simply adding the ‘e’.

We do know that they added it before February of 1902 because A. J. and Kate’s infant daughter Grace has the ‘e’ on her tombstone.  In addition, all of the other Wolf families, with the exclusion of one family which is buried at the Chapel, are buried at Sattazahns.  Samuel and Ellomanda did not take the ‘e’ as far as we know, but the only proof we have of that is the engraving on their monument at their gravesite.  Edwin, who moved out of the area before the above mentioned division/conflict occurred, never added the ‘e’ while the choice of the other two brothers, Henry and Charles, is not known.

See the final  Wolfe Pack Story – Chp 4

Where we will get into more detail about the Warren A. Wolfe (our father’s) family history.

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By Larry E. Wolfe (Great Grandson of A. J. Wolfe pictured lower right)

During the 1950’s, in the early years of my life, it was my great joy to spend time in the summers at the store with Grandpa’ and Grandma’ living in somewhat of a dreamland with all the candy and goodies my stomach could hold, not to mention the story-book beauty of the large, outdoor goldfish pond, the towering multi-story Martin birdhouses, the acres of gorgeous flowers Grandma’ would plant, the huge pines, shrubs and lush green grass as thick as a carpet, the farm animals including a big beagle named Jackie and an overgrown Easter rabbit (which I unknowingly ate!) and the meticulously kept buildings, painted dazzling white with dark green trim and a summer-house which housed a grand old pump organ.

The lovely two-story house was complete with working shutters, an artesian spring in the cellar, the dumb-waiter full of pies that sprang up out of the cold cellar into the kitchen at the touch of your foot, the beautiful open stairway with turned wooden spindles painted white, which led to ‘my’ bedroom on the west side of the house, where I would awake and just gaze out the window at the wonderful panorama of all of my marvelous, childhood wonderland!

A. J. and Kate’s first-born was a son they named Clarence, who was born on December 21st, 1899 just ten days before the turn of the century, making Samuel and Amanda proud grandparents. On the twelfth day of September 1901, A. J. and Kate’s daughter Grace was born only to pass away just months later on the second day of February 1902.  She is buried in Sattazahn’s cemetery beside her aunt and uncle, Samuel and Amanda’s unnamed infant son and their young five-year old daughter Victoria May.  Grace was A. J. and Kate’s last child, so their son Clarence, my Grandfather, grew up as an only child.

Clarence married Harriet Zimmerman who was a classmate of his and without a doubt the best looking of the young ladies in their class.  Grandma Harriet, as her then aged eyes sparkled, gave me a vivid account of her wedding day’s memorable events.

Being married in the winter of 1920, in Lebanon, they returned by train through Jonestown to Lickdale, and then boarded a horse and sleigh, riding on through the cold evening and heavy snow along the Swatara Creek, turning left onto the winding snow covered road into Greenpoint, and then turning right just past Grandpa’s store, onto the ‘back road’ to Pappy and Mammy Zimmerman’s (Harriet’s grandparents) home, where they lived during the early days of their marriage.

This must have been quite a memorable and romantic ride for these two newlyweds. They were certainly a handsome young couple, as their wedding photograph reveals. They later had three children, Warren (my father), my Uncle, Clarence Jr. (we always called him ‘Uncle Junior’) and my Aunt Kathleen.

Although I never got to know my Grandfather Clarence, as he died in October of 1945 ten months after I was born, my Dad, Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Junior told me he was a good and gentle man, having a butcher shop at his home, and later working for Bethlehem Steel in Lebanon, Pa.

At one time Grandpa’ Clarence considered the possibility of learning the ‘funeral business’ because the Bavers, his Grandma’ Amanda’s family,  had a prosperous funeral home in Hamburg, Pa. which Grandpa’ Clarence could have ‘worked into’. But, he just was not interested, as my Dad recounted the story to me, only a few years before Dad died.

The beautiful home where Grandpa’ Clarence and Grandma’ Harriet lived, is gone now, but the memories of the beautiful Victorian furnished parlor where ‘all humans’ (especially kids) were forbidden to trod, the huge floor model radio in the living room with the big round dial and ‘countless’ buttons, levers and knobs that could ‘pull in China’ on short wave, (would you believe the Chinese district in New York City?), the full length, front porch with the retractable striped awning and the hedge we kids jumped through (though we were told not to).

There was a long, narrow stairway off of the kitchen which led to Uncle Fred and Aunt Lulu’s second floor apartment where us kids could find refuge among the familiar cigar smoke smell of Uncle Fred’s stogies. He always had his pencil engraved tablet containing box scores with all the specific details of the Phillies baseball games next to the radio and the overstuffed bristle chair where he routinely planted himself when he wasn’t at the Greenpoint ‘Hosehouse’ (getting a drink). The coal stove had small orange-colored mica see-through windows in the door which fascinated us kids as we watched the coals burning within.

There was a bubbling creek behind the house where we spent summer days catching crawfish and whatever else we could get our hands on and a gigantic pine in the right corner of the front yard (where Dad hid when he played ‘hooky’) by the meandering country road that we walked, during the mid-fifties, a  few miles to the one room schoolhouse, unless  ‘Butchie’ (my older brother Warren Jr.) and I were playing ‘hooky’! It was the same one-room schoolhouse across from the Chapel where the ‘Wolf clan’ met some fifty years earlier for church services!

See Wolfe Pack Story – Chp 3

Where Larry tells the story of how a group of believers left Sattazahn’s church and founded the Greenpoint Chapel!

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By Larry E. Wolfe (Great, Great Grandson of Samuel Wolfe)

While visiting ‘Wolf Bus Lines’ for the first time to talk about our mutual family tree, I was given this 8-1/2 x 11 family photograph which revealed some new and  significant things about my Great-Grandfather, Alfred Jacob Wolfe (seated last on right), and his immediate family.

We always thought he only had four brothers and one sister due to another photograph we have, but as you can see there was a total of seven brothers and one sister.  Although only seven sons are shown in this family photograph of Samuel (1850-1931) and Ellomanda (1851-1928) Wolfe’s family, taken about five years after the turn of the 20th century, they also had an unnamed son who was born on January 10, 1882 and only lived to January 15th.

In addition they had two daughters, Annie, seated at her father’s right hand, and Victoria May who died at a very young age, almost fifteen years before this picture was taken, when she was only five years old, on the twenty-eighth day of January, 1891. This was quite an eventful year for Samuel and Ellomanda who would eventually give birth to a total of twelve children, for their youngest son, Irwin, was born just eight weeks later on the nineteenth day of March, eight days after Samuel’s forty-first birthday and just four days before Amanda’s fortieth birthday.

However, this last son, the ‘baby’ of the family also died at a somewhat young age, when he was only nineteen, in 1910, and was buried where his father, mother and older brother Samuel Jr. would later be buried, for they all appear on the same monument in ‘the Chapel’ cemetery located in Greenpoint, Pa..

This was a hearty, God-fearing family as Walter Wolfe inferred.  Walter, born in 1910, is the Uncle to the ‘Wolf Bus Line’ boys, Bradley and Edwin, who sent me to see him, in order to get some good first hand Wolf family information. Walter, who is one of the two sons of Edwin (standing first on left), told me that all the boys (Samuel’s sons) worked in the coal mines.

But, we do know that some of them also went in other directions, because the oldest of the seven, Alfred Jacob, my Great-Grandfather, also known as A. J. or ‘Allen’, seated next to his mother, first, made a living teaching music lessons on horseback, riding north from his parent’s homestead in Greenpoint, Pa. into the populace coal mining towns of Tower City, Lykens, Wiconisco and then east to Pine Grove and Suedburg.

It was in Suedburg that he met his wife to be, Kate Klinger.  Her father was co-owner in a mining operation with the father of a man, that I knew and spoke to first hand, named Eddie Rehrer, whose first wife A. J. had taught piano lessons.  A. J. was a hard-working entrepreneur, later building a profitable business, A. J. Wolfe’s General Merchandise in Greenpoint, Pa. just down the road from his parents place.  His father, Samuel, was a stone mason and handily cut building stones for A. J.’s barn foundation from one huge boulder found in the nearby mountainside.

This weather-worn barn still stands there in Greenpoint just west of the recently renovated house, store and warehouse, although the upper barn floor has since been removed and the roof replaced due to fire damage. The foundation is still as sound as the day it was built, revealing the craftsmanship and fine masonry skills of our patriarch Samuel, to be sure, a hard-working man.  A. J. continued to travel in the same areas he had taught music lessons, only now he was bartering with the farmers for their fresh produce, eggs, chickens and livestock in exchange for his ‘store-bought’ goods.

His route included the people who lived ‘in front of the mountain’ all the way up through Manada Gap where Eddie Rehrer’s sawmill and tavern were located.  A. J.’s store and ‘huckster’ business was a vital necessity for the families of Greenpoint and the surrounding area, including the coal miners who depended on him for carbide, carbide lamps, overalls or ‘uniforms’ as ‘Uncle’ Walter called them, work shoes, you name it and Grandpa’ had it!  His store continued to deliver groceries up until he died in 1956, utilizing, during the last years, a new dark green and black  ’53 Dodge pickup, that Hurly Donmoyer, Aunt Kathleen and I would ride in ‘when they kept it on the road’.

During the 1950’s, in the early years of my life, it was my great joy to spend time in the summers at the store with Grandpa’ and Grandma’ living in somewhat of a dreamland with all the candy and goodies my stomach could hold, not to mention the story-book beauty of the large, outdoor goldfish pond, the towering multi-story Martin birdhouses, the acres of gorgeous flowers Grandma’ would plant, the huge pines, shrubs and lush green grass as thick as a carpet, the farm animals including a big beagle named Jackie and an overgrown Easter rabbit (which I unknowingly ate!) and the meticulously kept buildings, painted dazzling white with dark green trim, a summer-house which housed a grand old pump organ, the lovely two-story house complete with working shutters, an artesian spring in the cellar, the dumb-waiter full of pies that sprang up out of the cold cellar into the kitchen at the touch of your foot, the beautiful open stairway with turned wooden spindles painted white, which led to ‘my’ bedroom on the west side of the house, where I would awake and just gaze out the window at the wonderful panorama of all of my marvelous, childhood wonderland!  Walter told me of the memorable summer vacation days he too spent there in the 1920’s, staying at the store with ‘Uncle Al’ as he lovingly referred to my Great-Grandpa’.

More on the Wolfe Pack Story in Chapter Two here: Wolfe Pack Story – Chp 2

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My brother, Evangelist Larry Wolfe is a Chaplain in a truck stop in South Carolina. His “MO” every morning is to set up in a booth in the attached McDonald’s, open his Bible and laptop computer and seek the Lord’s direction on what the Lord would desire him to write about that day in his daily devotional. He also preaches to truckers that come to his mobile chapel and He sends out his devotional 7 days a week to a long list of Truck Drivers he has assembled over a number of years. Copied below in its entirety is his devotional from yesterday.

OUT OF THE PIT

by Evangelist Larry Wolfe

The saying bandied about by many, including Drivers, “Isn’t that the pits” is a good way to begin today’s message, for there are a lot of things “That are the pits” including what is happening to our nation as the mainstream media, politicians and many people are being hustled into believing that its OK to let our borders wide open and allow criminals to promote human trafficking, drug trafficking, illegal voting etc your know the rest.

Politics is not my bag so to speak, but in the position The Lord has put me here at The McPilot dealing with Drivers, that topic comes up repeatedly and so it was this morning when two Drivers came in almost simultaneously. So, we engaged in small talk, but The Tube was blaring a bunch of lies about the shutdown and our conversation went south, descending into politics which is not the reason The Lord put me here, but a man has to defend what he believes, no? Well, it was informative, but it was definitely “The Pits”!! Speaking of the pits, The Lord has delivered us out of a number of pits starting with the first one below:

–Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it, from the pit of corruption. Isaiah 38:17

–God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be The Propitiation for Our Sins. I John 4:9,10

–Who is a God like Thee, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retains not His anger for ever, because He delights in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:18,19

–O LORD my God, I cried to Thee, and Thou hast healed me. O LORD, Thou hast brought up my soul from
the grave: Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Psalm 30:2,3

–When my soul fainted within me I remembered The LORD: and my prayer came to Thee, into Thy Holy Temple.
Jonah 2:7

–I waited patiently for The LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up . . . out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon A Rock. Psalm 40:1,2

–Blessed is the man whom Thou chasten O LORD, and teaches him out of Thy Law, that Thou may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. Psalm 94:12,13

–And the fifth angel sounded…and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. Revelation 9:1,2

But, the final pit is one that God will use as part of His Day of The Lord judgment of the planet and those people who have rejected His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ! Even after The First Plagues are well on their way, the Bible tells us: “Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” (Revelation 9:21)

Which tells me that they did have the opportunity to turn to God, for His mercy endures forever, but they refused, continuing in their “Rebellion which is as the sin of witchcraft” (I Samuel 15:23), and witchcraft will be rampant in that Day, a Day of Chaos on Planet Earth!

Check it out, Drivers, Its in The Book, written in Black and White, God is right now digging “The pit for the wicked” including anyone who rebels and refuses what His Only Begotten Son has accomplished on The Cross, paying for the sin of the world! (Read: I John 2:2)

Chaplain LEWolfe http://www.prewrath.com I-85 Exit 35 SC ‘McPilot’ Stop in, and please pray for Revival!

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When I was very young I had an affinity for trees. They lined my paths, they were mysterious, something to climb to see far off views in the distance. They were living jungle gyms where secret treasures could be found among their leaves and needles.

 (picture by Artist Aaron Pocock)

They were hideouts where a boy could sneak beneath their branches away from weather or wind or to climb up and up into make-believe places far away from the human struggles in which I lived.

God made trees and every year within their bark they show a ring of life. Rings which record history over decades, waiting over scores of time patiently standing in the same place, never moving to the right or left but reaching ever higher, wider and bearing fruit which is of course their ultimate purpose. As God said…

“See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. (Gen. 1:29)

We love trees. We adorn them with lights and from time to time God provides his own decorations!

 

We bring trees into our homes as we celebrate the birth of the Savior of the World.

 

We adore and even worship the kaleidoscope of colors which trees provide streaming across mountain ranges and lining our yards, lakes and streets!

The birds and other creatures of the forest find sustenance and shelter in the branches and trunks of trees….. so is it any wonder that the God of the universe who created all trees would take a lonely tree, and show his maximum display of love for his highest creation, you and me, by displaying his One and Only Son there? Yes, on a tree, on a hill called Calvary, through a Savior named Jesus, I found salvation. Yes, I’m proud to admit I love Jesus…. and trees!

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Do You know Jesus? I mean really know him, because He changed your life kind of Knowing Him! Do you remember when the light came in and the darkness went out? When the burden of your sins, the weight of it all washed away like a cleansing rain… that kind of Knowing Him.

I know you may be religious, go to church, try to live a good life, give to the poor, volunteer for good causes, watch your mouth around the preacher, celebrate Easter and of course Christmas!

But do you know that Christmas… was eventually followed by a battered, beaten, thorn wearing, agony stricken, Savior hanging on a cruel Cross? And for what?? FOR YOU!!! Here’s my story of how Jesus found me!

Can you believe it? God hunted me down until He cornered me in a little cabin in the mountains! Here’s how it all started. I was born into a family poisoned by alcohol and my parents and five brothers were all caught in a downward spiral of destruction. I was often separated from my brothers since our mother was repeatedly hospitalized with nervous breakdowns. It was during one of these times in my grade school years living with my Aunt and Uncle that they took me to a hymn sing and God made his first move. I distinctly recall hearing of Jesus for the first time and it was simply that He loved me. It was the thread of hope that kept my life from unraveling. The Bible says when your father and mother forsake you the Lord will take you up, so the hunt was on!

As a teenager, I was at a friend’s house and his cousin who played the guitar was visiting. I joined in with the singing and he asked me to be the lead singer in his rock and roll band. I agreed and for the next three years the hunt continued, as God was by my side protecting me as we performed before many drunken crowds in bar rooms, night clubs and college fraternity parties. One day our lead guitarist announced that he was “saved” and had become a “born again Christian” as God continued reminding me of His power and presence all around me.

After the band broke up I married my teenage sweetheart but unfortunately God was not a part of our marriage. Four years later with two young sons we struggled to make ends meet. God still cared for us and sent another messenger to me, my oldest brother, who was a Christian. He told me sincerely about his faith in Jesus when I was working part time at a gas station. He told me of the wonderful changes in his life since becoming a Christian and asked me to receive Christ as my Savior. I said I would think about it and shrugged him off, but the hunt was intensifying!

My wife and I decided it was time to take our boys to church so we went to a Bible church near our home. Unknown to us God was again at work because they were having evangelistic services and we heard the Gospel message more powerful than ever! At the end of the service it was as if God was calling our names to respond to the preacher’s invitation to receive Christ, but instead we grabbed our boys and left thinking we would never return, but God was obviously tracking us down!

You would think He’d give up on me by that time, but He didn’t! Then my best friend’s marriage fell apart and I saw the tragedy hit him full force. My brother invited us to his hunting camp and we thought it would be a good idea to get away from it all for a weekend. What I didn’t know was that God was waiting for me there and He was moving in to close the deal!

We spent the day enjoying God’s creation and then sat around the fireplace that evening. My brother began to point my friend to Jesus as the answer for his broken marriage and the Holy Spirit used his words to finally corner me! I saw again how my sin was the problem and how it had separated me from God. I realized His care for me over so many years and that His Son Jesus died to pay for my sins. I remembered all of the times He tried to reach me but I ran from Him. He had patiently sent people and situations into my life to get my attention all along the way.

We went up to the cabin bunk room and continued to talk of the Lord. I told my brother that I felt the Lord working in my heart, tracking me down as He had in the past. He said that I didn’t have to be in church to receive Christ and that I could do it right there in the cabin. I finally stopped running. I remember lying on my bunk in the darkness thinking of the times I turned away from Jesus and in a simple prayer I told him so. I said, “Lord Jesus, there are so many times I have said no to you but right now I ask you to come into my heart and life, forgive my sins and make me your child”. I invited Christ into my life in the best way I knew how and He came in! He forgave my sins and gave me eternal life! He transformed my life into a new creation. I couldn’t believe I had waited so long! Praise the Lord, the hunt was over!

Is God hunting for you? If you are reading this message He certainly is! The Bible says Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Do you remember times when God got your attention and pointed you to His Son Jesus? Did you say yes to Him or are you still running? The Bible says “For all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Do you realize you are a sinner who needs a Savior? It also says “…the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”(Romans 6:23) The good news is “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and He was buried and rose again on the third day.”(I Cor.15:3, 4) Are you willing to turn from your sins and receive the eternal life Jesus is offering? Receive Him today, He is hunting for you! If you have received Jesus as your Savior as a result of reading this story please let me know.

Find more detail to my family and story here: Brian’s Beginning

 

This is a shortened version of my brother Larry’s testimony but is well worth the read!

It’s full of blessings from the Lord. Larry was a Chaplain at a Pilot Truck Stop on I-85 in SC.

My life changed drastically after The Lord saved me. Before, I was running from a violent motorcycle gang, before, my mind was consumed with evil being drenched continually with alcohol and drugs, causing me to live outside of the law, at times, running with the most raucous bunch of men. Then, I was building custom motorcycles living life on the edge. My slogan was “If you’re not living life on the edge you’re taking up too much room.” So, madness at the max ruled! But, The Lord in His great mercy wherewith He loved me, intervened, and now, all of the above are gone and my life is like the one: “Who hearkens unto Me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” (Proverb 1:33)

–Lord, Thou hast been Our Dwelling Place in all generations. Psalm 90:1

–He that dwells in The Secret Place of The Most High shall abide under The Shadow of The Almighty. Psalm 91:1

–Abide [dwell] in Me and I in you. John 15:4

–His Truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4

–Your life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3

–He that touches you touches The Apple of His Eye. Zechariah 2:8

–God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear. Psalm 46:1,2

–If ye abide [dwell] in Me and My Words abide [dwell] in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7

Now, I have great reason to be thankful, for, I am quiet from fear of evil, now, the Lord is my Dwelling Place, now, my life is hid with Christ in God, now, I am called The Apple of His Eye, now, God is my Refuge and Strength, now if I abide [dwell] in Christ and His Word abides [dwells] in me, I can ask and it shall be done! Am I blessed or what? And, if you know The Lord, you too, can claim all of these precious promises, and more! So, Rejoice in Jesus!!

Chaplain L.E.Wolfe http://www.btmi.org I-85-Exit 35-SC ‘McPilot’ Stop in, and please pray for REVIVAL!

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The Way to Heaven here: Guaranteed Reservation in Heaven!

TODAY it happened: I finally have a Bible like Gleason’s. Gleason was one of the best Sunday school teachers I’ve ever had. He had a way of weaving together everyday life and the Bible. I wanted a Bible like Gleason’s.

Obviously, he had the best reference Bible available. His vast knowledge of the Bible poured out of his as he taught. As he started class each Sunday morning, he would clutch his Bible in his right hand. One time, a page fluttered this way and others floated that way.

The cover was worn off. Gleason’s Bible was falling apart from use. However, Gleason could teach our class as he did not because he had a particular study Bible but because he studied the Bible he had.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is full of living power. We can experience this spiritual power as we read the Bible and let its message sink into our soul. Then when trouble comes and we search for answers, the Bible will lead us to life-giving insights. The more we read our Bibles, the more wear and tear they show.
So today it happened. After 30 years of use, the cover of my Bible fell off. Finally I have a Bible like Gleason’s.

Feed the White Dog!

It was in the days of new beginnings for the Christian School movement. In 1977 Susan King was tasked to educate 15 precious lives in K thru 2nd grade all in one class at the fledgling Blue Mountain Christian School for that first tenuous and exciting opening year. Would it work? Would this new experiment get off the ground? A lot would depend on the teacher, in fact it all would depend on her! The eggs were all in one basket, so to speak. It was almost like the traditional “One Room School” where tenacity, resoursefulness and true grit (and a LOT of Faith) would be applied in every school day.

But as we know, she made it work and in the succeeding years left an indelible impression on scores of children for all of eternity. Three of them were our sons Eric, Daniel & Jason and they all recall fondly those early years. The school went on to add a full complement of grades and still operates today thanks to a lasting foundation that Susan helped to build. And that’s the Susan we knew and loved. A mainstay, strong faith, serving, loving, making things work for those around her.

Raised as her brother John said, “In an idyllic” setting as the oldest of three children to Jack & Dorothy (Tottie) Allison, Susan lived a blessed life with a strong Christian testimony and went on to marry Steve, the love of her life, and they would have three beautiful girls, Abigail, Allison & Amanda and one grandaughter Miya.

Never a negative word, always a ready smile and even throughout her battle with Cancer and future complications, she demonstrated an almost inhuman optimism and unheard of tenacity as she faced daily trials. But Susan would want me to give the credit to her Savior the Lord Jesus Christ in Whom she placed her faith as a young girl, and into whose presence she stepped on June 14, 2018. Ushered into Glory with a new body, shedding the old, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears, free at last for all eternity.

Susan’s daughter Allison shared a bit of her struggles over the past 6 years just prior to her passing:

It has been a long and difficult journey since my mom was first diagnosed with stage 4 colon/liver cancer in January 2012. After procedures, chemotherapy, major surgeries, more chemotherapy, radiation, and more, she was able to overcome cancer and has been cancer free, but all of those things took a major toll and left her with small for size liver syndrome as well as many other health issues to battle, and a diminished quality of life. Even so, we are grateful for these 6 and a half years we did not know we would get to have with her back in 2012.

This past year especially has been extremely difficult, as approximately one year ago she had to begin going to dialysis 3 times a week, was in and out of the hospital on a continuous basis, and her end stage liver and kidney disease continued to progress making her weak, frail, malnourished, and sick. The last few months have been a physical and emotional rollercoaster mixed with hope and heartache, as even when the end seemed inevitable on numerous occasions her fighting spirit continued to miraculously overcome every bleak obstacle.

We would like to thank everyone who has given us love, support, and prayers. It means more than we can say. We ask for continued prayer for comfort and peace for my mother, my family, and those who love her dearly. We rest in the assurance of her lifelong faith and the peace that passes all understanding, knowing and rejoicing in the glory that awaits her.

None of us knows what tomorrow may bring but we know Who holds tomorrow in His hands and that is our Savior and Creator the Lord Jesus Christ! The curse of sin and subsequent diseases still walk this Earth, and no matter the person or the life lived it will ultimately one day knock on our door, barring the Lord’s return to meet Him in the air. So we must be ready at any moment to meet our Savior. Are you ready?

Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

He also said, “But to as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12)

And finally, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

For those of you who shared her Faith Susan would want you to rejoice today in that salvation with the accompanying promise of an eternal reuinon one day. If you are still holding back she would beg you to believe today in her Savior, to leave the skeptics and lies of the enemy of your soul and place your faith in Jesus today while there is still time, and then one day experience with her all the glories of eternity!

Sixty Four years on this earth seem so short but oh just think of eternity, the world of forever! There was a reunion in Heaven this morning and what joy there must have been with those who have gone before!  As the song recently taking christendom by storm says, “I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by His side. I can only imagine what my eyes will see, when His face is before me. I can only imagine….” (from “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me)

I thank God for my cousin Susie’s faith in Christ which she placed in Him as a young girl. It is because of that Faith and my Faith in Jesus that I can truly say without a doubt, “See you on the other side my beloved cousin!”

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I watched the movie “Darkest Hour” this weekend. It renewed my passion for standing up against evil. Winston Churchill was about to go along with the appeasers and the weak-willed politicians in his government in potentially negotiating a supposed truce with Hitler. He was badgered on all sides, even his King was not sure of his competence. His closest advisors began to waver. He began to second-guess his convictions. But then he went out among his people, those he was elected to represent and found out that they were brave, patriotic and defiant and willing to give their lives for FREEDOM!

He returned to his fellow politicians SO inspired and renewed, that he inspired THEM with such a rousing speech of action and defiance against evil that they made a complete turnabout and willed to FIGHT ON! We know the result… Western civilization was saved and EVIL was ultimately defeated. We live under the umbrella of that inspiration!

Evil is still all around us and it will attack and destroy the good, the faithful, the virtuous. The Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. It still takes men and women of God to defeat evil. Our families are worth defending, our schools, our towns, our communities, our country and most of all our FAITH.

I remember over 25 years ago a group of us in our community stood up for righteousness and for the proper education of our children in our public school. We were overwhelmingly elected to lead, and then God led us to implement programs and policies that set a new course, that included instructing and forming not just the minds but the hearts of our student population. We established “In God We Trust” as our number one “Time Honored Tradition”. We implemented a “Code of Ethics” and taught our students 10 virtues to mirror in their daily lives. That legacy lives on and the baton is now being carried by others.

How about you? Are you leading? Are you impacting your family, your world? The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, our Lord Jesus Christ lives and reigns today and he offers, forgiveness, salvation and inspiration to go and preach the Gospel, to change lives, to heal the sick and brokenhearted, to change your world. To shine as it were a light so that all can see.

Fight On!