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Francis Harper Message 09/28/2018
Dear Ones,
My banker, Kenner Swedberg, once said to me; “Francis, people never change.” Later, as I pondered upon his statement, I thought, if people never change, why should I continue to preach? I continued preaching because I had witnessed the lives of people being changed when they have embraced the truth being taught and preached by faithful servants of the Lord. Paul wrote: “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them who believe . . .” Christ is the power and wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:23).
Years later I met my former banker, as I was visiting a patient at the VA Hospital in Omaha. He was dressed in a black suit and was wearing a clerical collar. He had become a preacher! I reminded him of his statement that people never change. He had proven that people can change, by the changes in his own life and his decision to become a minister of the gospel. Years ago, in the horse and buggy days, a man was quoted saying, “After my baptism and becoming active in the church, even my horses noticed a difference in me.”
I have called Phikal, Ilam, which is located in Eastern Nepal, “the village of the mighty change.” We have witnessed lives being mightily changed in this small town. Basanti Bishwa Karma and her three daughters were being sheltered in a dugout area under Pastor Pushkal Gadel’s home. She had been married to an alcoholic who had run away with another woman, leaving his wife and their daughters to fend for themselves. Basanti was also an alcoholic. In addition she was a Hindu prophetess/fortune teller and the habitation of demons. I was not aware of her past history until after Basanti and her daughters were baptized on March 27, 2008. During her confirmation, Basanti began to jerk and laugh. I recall Dr. Roy Cheville speaking of “the jerks.” This was a common occurrence during the days of the great revivals in our country. I had not witnessed such behavior in all my years of ministry. As we continued to pray the evil spirit departed and was replaced by the Holy Spirit. Proof of the invisible presence of the Holy Spirit was manifested when Basanti gradually relaxed and began to quietly shed tears of joy and peace. Ten years have passed and to my knowledge Basanti has never been troubled by the evil spirits since the day of her deliverance. People of the community have been amazed by the changes they have witnessed in the lives of Basanti and her children. Basanti has become a saint who is “valiant in testimony;” a seeker for lost souls!
Keshan and Indira Sundash have also experienced a mighty change since the day of their baptisms on March 27, 2008. We visited their home on April 20, 2014. It was clean, well organized and neat. Indira said before she was baptized she was jaundiced and often experienced severe sweating. I had been told they had formerly lived like animals. They drank alcohol from 3PM to 3AM. They fought with each other and their neighbors. Keshan was employed by a tailor making shirts. He could make only four shirts in a day. Now he makes seven each day, has his own business, provides employment for four others, and he serves in the priesthood. “. . . this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes” (Matthew 21:44 IV; 21:42 KJV). In the presence of the Holy Spirit lives are changed, including our own.
My Love to All
Francis Harper
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Be Ye Transformed
“. . . be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God is” (Romans 12:2).
The apostle Paul called Demas a “fellow laborer” in a letter to Philemon, (verse 14). Evidently Demas and Luke, the beloved physician, were with Paul in Rome, (see Colossians 4:14). Later Paul writes: “. . . Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica . . . only Luke is with me” (2 Timothy 4:10-11).
Paul’s statement: “having loved this present world,” describes most of us who call ourselves the followers of Christ today. We also love the present world and far too often we are conformed to this world! As has been asked before, if we were arrested and taken to court for being a Christian would they find enough evidence to convict us? We may be like a chameleon; a lizard, who has the unusual ability to change the color of his skin to conform with his environment!
We are called to be non-conformists; peculiar people. Jesus came “that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). He came to assist us in our transformation, or our conversion. Paul described this process: “And he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore, henceforth (from now on) live we no more after the flesh; yea, though we once lived after the flesh, yet since we have known Christ, now henceforth live we no more after the flesh. Therefore if any man live in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:15-17).
The transformation of our personalities from selfishness and pride to humility and love, is called a mighty change in Mosiah 3:3. After King Benjamin had spoken to his people he asked if they believed his words. They answered: “yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken to us; And also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”
Alma wrote of his father’s response to the words of the prophet Abinadi: “And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you, that this is all true. And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts; and they humbled themselves, and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved. And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, . . . have you experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (Alma 3:29). And today, September 28, 2018; I ask you the same question. Have you experienced this mighty change in your heart?
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