The Past or The Coming Future Read online

CHAPTER 2

  The breeze was cool on my face as if we had just had a spring shower. I thought back to when I was a small boy, how I loved the rain, and the smell in the springtime. I wondered if the people in this community ever thought about the simple things that Jesus provided daily, or did they just take them for granted? I motioned with my hands to ease it down so I could start my teaching session.

  The outside theater, in which we were seated, was built almost 200 years ago. The theater could seat 144,000 people. The way the theater was constructed, the speaker could be heard from any seat, without shouting. The most memorable time this small group recalled was the time when Christ came to speak. The people were spellbound. They did not know what to say or what to do when Christ was finished. They sat there amazed that God would come to their small town and speak. Every year, everyone was required to go to Jerusalem for the worship of Christ at the temple, but for Christ to come here was a real honor. Now I would begin my teaching session from that same platform.

  “I want to take you back to the time just before I became a Christian. I was born May 9, 1957, in a small town in Oklahoma by the name of Perry. Perry was just about an hour north of Oklahoma City. After high school, I went to Oklahoma University where I received my degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1979, I went to work for Union Petroleum. My job was to look for places where the company might drill for oil. I usually worked in southern Oklahoma and Northern Texas. One day in mid April I was working in the Turner Falls area, when I was bitten by a diamond-back rattlesnake. I was rushed to the hospital, given anti-venom serum, which I did not know I was allergic to, and almost died. I was told that I was in a coma for almost three days. I remember opening my eyes once to see a beautiful blond woman in white standing over me. I thought I was in heaven. I later found out it was one of the nurses.

  “After I came out of the coma, I guess I did what everyone who comes close to death does; they say they will do anything if God will heal them. When I made that statement, I really did mean what I said. I asked one of my friends, who had witnessed to me previously, and I knew was a Christian, if he would have his pastor come see me and tell me what I must do to be saved. The next day my friend’s pastor came to my room. I explained to him that I wanted to be saved.

  “First, he told me I was a sinner and in order to be a Christian, I must admit I was a sinner.

  “Second, he said I must believe Christ died on the cross for my sins.

  “Third, I must believe Christ was buried and rose again the third day, and finally I must ask Christ to come into my heart.

  “The pastor directed me to John 3:14-18. I told the Lord I was a sinner and I wanted forgiveness of my sins. By faith, I believed what the Bible said. The pastor led me in a prayer, and I accepted Christ as my personal Savior. After that day, I began to read my Bible daily, and I also started going to church. I was not going to back down from the oath I had taken on my death bed.

  “I worked another four months for Union Petroleum, and at the beginning of the school year I enrolled at Dallas Theological Seminary, majoring in Greek and Hebrew. I had no idea what the Lord had planned for my life, but wherever He would lead me, that is where I would go." In 1984 I received my master’s degree in Greek and in Hebrew. The seminary asked if I would be interested in teaching there and I said I would love to. While I worked as a professor, I was also working on my doctorate. In 1986, I was married and I also received my doctorate in Hebrew. I did not know everything that had happened to me up to this point in my life was setting me up for what would happen later in my life.

  “My wife Joan and I had three children, two boys and a girl. When Joan told me she was going to have our first child, I was so excited I could hardly speak. I felt the same excitement for each of our children. We decided to give our children Biblical names, you know, common names like John, Paul, and Mary. When our first boy was born, we named him Jeremiah John and called him Bo for short. Our second son we named Samuel Jason, but called him Bubba, because he was big. Our little princess, Beka, was really Sarah Rebecca. When our Beka was born, Bo was four. They were all close enough in age to enjoy each other and give us lots of joy. My wife stayed home with them for those early years. Having three children ranging from seven to three is a real handful.

  “On April 4, 1996, I was teaching my class as usual, when the door opened, and in walked the president of the school. He said, in an uncanny tone of voice, that there was a gentleman in the hall who had to see me immediately. I opened the door and saw a highway patrolman standing there with that look that makes you know something is wrong. The patrolman asked if I was Steven Lawrence Wilson. I said I was. He asked if my wife’s name was Joan. I said, in a solemn type of voice, 'Joan is my wife’s name.' He said there had been an accident and asked if I would go to the hospital with him. I did not want to ask if anyone was hurt, for I already knew the answer.

  “When I was seated, I asked him how serious the wreck was. He looked at me and said everyone in both cars was gone. I couldn’t believe what he had just told me, so I asked. ‘You mean my wife and children were all killed?’

  “I thought policemen were supposed to be strong like John Wayne, never showing any emotion. Well, he looked at me, and with tears coming down his face, he said they were all killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver. He said he had three children of his own and if he were to lose any one of them, he would be heartbroken. That was the most terrible moment in my life. But when I had to identify my family at the hospital, I could not control myself. I cried and cried.

  “I wanted to die, but I knew there was a reason for what had happened. It took me a long time to get over losing my family. To get my mind stable again, I started working on my doctorate in Greek. In the spring of 1999 I received that doctorate degree. I decided I would put all my efforts into the work of the Lord.

  “On April 1, 2000, I received a telephone call from Dr. Ben David Kent at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Dr. Kent informed me there were only a handful of men in the world who had a doctorate in Greek and Hebrew. He said the university needed a Greek and Hebrew scholar to teach students with high IQs. The university would pay me $52,000 a year, the expenses of an apartment or house, whichever one I wanted, plus a car. I had never been offered so much, just to teach. I knew the Lord had to be in it. It was He who made me work so hard to get a doctorate in Greek and Hebrew and allowed me the time and full concentration to obtain them. I decided the Lord must be leading me to Jerusalem.

  “I had studied what the Bible says about the end times and I thought we were very near the end of the age. If I was wrong about the rapture, maybe the church would have to go through the tribulation and, if so, the Lord must be leading me to Jerusalem to protect me. I told Dr. Kent I would take the job. All I needed to know was when I should be there to start teaching. He said school would start on July 1, so that would give me three months to get packed and have all my affairs in order before I left.

  “The three months went by so quickly I couldn’t believe I was on a jet bound for Jerusalem. I wondered what it was going to be like to walk where Jesus walked and to see the things that most people only see on TV.

  “The flight was over before I knew it, and I heard the voice of the stewardess say, ‘Buckle your seat belts, we are about to arrive in Jerusalem.’ When I stepped off the plane, I really thought I had made a mistake coming to Jerusalem. I looked around and everywhere there were soldiers with machine guns. It looked like Israel was at war. I walked through the terminal, and at the front door I looked around and saw a man with a sign that read, ‘Dr. Wilson.’ I walked over to him and said I was Dr. Steven Lawrence Wilson. He said he had a car and he would take me to my apartment. The apartment was nice, not large, but not small, just about the size I needed to be happy.

  “I could not believe what I had just heard; I asked if it was true or just a rumor? I was told it was true, but until I saw Paul A
. Messenger for myself, I would not believe he would be teaching here also. Dr. Messenger was the foremost Christian leader in the world. His headquarters were located in southern California, in a ten-story building. It was rumored he was giving everything up to come to Jerusalem to teach at the university. On July 1, the entire faculty met in the big conference room so we could meet each other. Dr. Kent introduced each member of the faculty and then said it was with great pleasure he would like to introduce Dr. Paul A. Messenger. I couldn’t believe I would be teaching with a man of his stature. Dr. Messenger was the founder of ‘The World Council of Religious Beliefs.’ I met Dr. Messenger and told him how happy I was that he had decided to come to Hebrew University to teach.

  “The next day, the students started filling the chairs in the room. When the bell rang, I introduced myself and said this was my first year at the university. The students all seemed a little shy except for Michael D. Glispbe. I looked at the paper work the office had given me which stated he had an I.Q. so high that it could not be rated.

  “After the first day of classes, I went to the office and asked about Michael. I was told the test scores only go as high as 200 on the I.Q. scale, and they assumed his could be as high as 350. After I left the office, I noticed Dr. Messenger was talking to Michael. They acted as if they were old friends.

  “The next day I started to teach the structure of the Hebrew language. After class, Michael asked if he could talk to me about my method of teaching. He informed me he did speak Hebrew, but his grandmother never taught him how to read or write in Hebrew, but he wanted to learn all he could, even if it meant he had to work late at night to learn. I was impressed with his enthusiasm and asked, ‘Any time you can come to my apartment we will study so you can learn more? He said he would enjoy doing that once a week.

  “The first night Michael came over, I thought I could cover a lot of material, but things did not work out the way I had figured. Before I had a chance to begin teaching, he asked if I was a Christian, since I was from the United States. I told him I was a Christian; however, being from the United States did not make a person a Christian. When Michael asked a question, it seemed as if he already knew the answer to the question before I gave it to him.

  “He said he was very interested in Eschatology. He asked if I could give him some information on the end times. I said I would be delighted. I told him that sometime in the future there would be a man called the ‘Antichrist,’ who would come on the world scene and try to force everyone to take a mark or a number, 666. I told him the Antichrist would probably take scripture out of context and make it say what he wanted it to say. Michael asked if I could give him an example. I said I could give him one good example how the Antichrist might take a verse out of context.

  “I stated, ‘At the mid-point of the tribulation, the Antichrist will go into the temple and proclaim himself to be God. He may use Isaiah 14:13-14 to prove he is God, but he will have to take it completely out of context.’ Michael was very eager to learn how one could take those verses out of context, so I showed him how it is done. In verses 13 and 14, one might say, ‘I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars, I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I am God.’ I told him how people will take a little bit of a verse and not the whole verse, to make it say anything they want it to say.

  “Michael seemed bewildered with the verses I gave, and I asked him if there was something wrong. He said, ‘Those verses are verses that God should use all the time to prove he is God.’ I showed him in verse 12 that the verse is talking about Lucifer. Michael became very dogmatic and said, ‘It refers to God.’

  “I decided it was best to stop the lesson at that point. Michael was increasingly agitated about the verses I used.

  “The next day Dr. Messenger came by my office to ask how I was doing. I told him the day had gone very well. He said he was a little concerned about something I had told a student, and maybe it would be best if I not get into Christian subjects. I asked who the student was, and he said it was Michael Glispbe. Dr. Messenger said that Michael was convinced that I took two or three verses out of context to prove my point. I informed him, ‘I did not take anything out of context; I was showing him how people can take verses out of context to prove their point.’

  “Dr. Messenger suggested it might be better if he took Michael under his wing and work with him privately. I replied, ‘That’s a good idea; probably Michael can learn a lot more under the greatest Christian theologian of our time.’

  “I thought about Michael that night and decided I would see what classes he was taking and what his major was. The next morning before classes began, I looked at his class schedule. I was amazed to see he was taking 27 hours and he did not have one major, but three. One major was Computer Programming, the second was Chemical Engineering, and the last major was Laser Technology.

  “When a person is excited about his job and loves what he is doing, it seems like time just flies by. That’s the way it was with me that first year. The school year went by so quickly. Before I knew it, it was mid-April. School would be out May 1. There was a two-month vacation, and school would start back up on July 1. Dr. Messenger had taken Michael under his wing, and the two could be seen everywhere together. I talked to Michael from time to time but it always seemed he did not want to get into any deep discussions about anything. On April 30, I saw Michael and told him I would see him in July. He said this was the most productive year of his life. He indicated he was going to work with Dr. Messenger for the next two months, and if everything worked out he could be the richest man in the world within the next ten years.

  “On May 3, I boarded a jet to go back home. During the flight I had a chance to think back about all the things I had done this past year. Working with Dr. Messenger and meeting Michael Glispbe were two of the high points. But probably the highest point of the whole year was being in Jerusalem. The places and things I saw would leave a lasting impression in my memory for the rest of my life.

  “It was good to be back in a small town atmosphere. There weren’t many things to do in Perry, but it really didn’t make any difference, I was home. I decided I would go to Dallas for four or five days and see some of my old friends and professors.

  “After visiting four or five of my friends, I went to the seminary to visit Dr. Charles H. Hale. Dr. Hale asked how I liked Hebrew University.

  “I said, ‘I really enjoyed teaching and sharing the knowledge I received from the seminary.’ I mentioned the one student, Michael Glispbe, to Dr. Hale, how his I.Q. went off the scale. I also said there was something about him that was very unusual.

  “Dr. Hale said, ‘Unusual like what?”

  “I told him I did not know--- there was something that made me feel uncomfortable. After a lengthy conversation, Dr. Hale asked if I would like to have supper with his family. I accepted without a hesitation. This would be the first home-cooked meal in almost a year.

  “Dr. Hale was the only professor I could talk to on a first-name basis. He wasn’t Dr. Charles Hale to me, he was Charlie. Charlie was about 15 years older than I was, but he acted more like a brother than a teacher. On the way to his house I had a chance to lean back and let my thoughts go back to college. The next thing I knew I was being shaken by Charlie, saying we were there. I apologized for falling asleep. ‘The long trip over and the last few days must be catching up with me.’

  “There was another car pulling in behind us. Charlie said, ‘That’s my mother and father.’

  “When I stepped out of the car, I noticed how young they looked, but realized they must be pretty old. I was wondering just how old Charlie’s parents were, so I decided to ask him. He said his dad was somewhere around 80 and his mother, ‘Well she is close to Dad’s age.’

  “While we were eating, I noticed it was getting a little dark outside. Charlie’s wife Judy said, �
�Looks like a big storm is moving in.’

  “All of a sudden the rain started, and within seconds pea-size hail was coming down. The pea-size hail turned into golf ball size, and the rain was coming down in buckets. Judy decided she had better turn on the TV to get the forecast, but the sirens went off before the weather man came on the screen. ‘There must be a tornado on the radar.’

  “As we headed for safety, I stated, ‘It’s a comfort to know if one was to die in a tornado or some other accident, he or she would be ushered into heaven immediately.’

  “There was dead silence when I made that statement. At first I thought the tornado was right on top of us; I was wrong. Tom remarked, he and Debbie didn’t believe in all that religious stuff.

  “I never thought for a moment they weren’t saved. With Charlie being a professor at a Christian University, I thought for sure his folks would be saved.

  “The weather man said there was a hook on the radar, but it was gone now, so they canceled the tornado warning. Charlie invited me to stay over and we would go back to the seminary the next day to get my car so I could return to Perry. Lying in bed that night, I thought of how hard it would be to be a Christian most all your life and not have your parents saved.

  “The next day I said good-bye to Charlie and said I would keep in touch with him from Jerusalem. He replied that next summer I must come back and visit and tell him all the exciting things that occurred over that year. As I left the seminary, I felt a loneliness, similar to the kind of feeling I had when I lost my family.

  “It took me about four hours to get back home to Perry, and upon my arrival I found a UPS package inside my door. The package was from Michael Glispbe. Inside the box were pictures of him and Dr. Messenger at the headquarters of the World Council of Religious Beliefs. Michael said how great it was to be in the United States of America and how free he felt. He said living in the Middle East with all the problems ‘makes a person want to live somewhere else.’ He said next summer he would like to come and visit me in Oklahoma, if it could be arranged.

  “The two-month vacation was almost over. In one week I had to be back in Jerusalem for the new school year. What a great summer I’d had, and if everything went the way I had figured, the next school year would fly by as quickly as the summer.”