My son Darren, Grace VanPatten, and I were talking in the church office the other day. I was telling one of the stories about what the Lord had done in my life. Darren said, “Dad, you should write some of these stories down.” I said I’d take a stab at it. So here are some of those stories. Some of them may seem “a little out there.” But true, as I remember them. I refer to these things as God’s miracles. Some are little miracles, some, not so little. Let me begin with the greatest of all miracles, when God transfers a person from spiritual darkness to His marvelous light… forgiveness, and salvation from sin and its penalty, eternal death.
The Lord began to draw me and my wife Donna during my third year of professional baseball. My brother-in-law, Richard Lindsey, was a man who believed in Jesus. He served in the Navy, on a nuclear submarine stationed on the east coast. I was playing baseball in the Carolina League, in Virginia. Shortly after meeting him for the first time he asked me if I was going to go to heaven when I died. I thought, “What kind of a question is that?” I said, “Yes.” He then asked me, “How do you know?” After a long pause, I had to say, “I don’t know.” They would continue to witness and share their faith with us. It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t the time for me to trust, to believe in Jesus.
Two years later, after being traded to the Mets, I was playing on the west coast. One of my teammates was a Christian man named Rick Baldwin. One road trip he told me all about Jesus. I liked Rick, he actually became a good friend, but I just did not believe in Jesus Christ. It still made no sense to me. It’s interesting, at the same time I went from the east coast to the west, my brother-in-law and his wife were also transferred to the west coast, to Mare Island Navel Station. And they continued to have a godly influence in our lives. God never gives up.
After playing six years of minor league baseball, I found myself “released,” which means I was fired from baseball. I began working at Cuesta College, in San Luis Obispo. My job was caring for the baseball and football fields and the surrounding grounds. I worked with a man named Dave Webster. He was a Christian. He was actually a missionary with the Navigators, a Christian ministry that worked on college campuses. He would bring teaching tapes for me to listen to. He would run with me after work. I remember him giving me a little card with the following verse written on it. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). It seems funny now, but at that time I didn’t understand what it meant.
The other man that worked with us was not a believer in Jesus. He would make fun of Dave and Christians in general. I began to see a contrast between a believer in Jesus and a non-believer. Even though the non-believer was funny and intelligent, my respect went to Dave Webster. Yes, Dave was also intelligent, but much more serious in his attitudes. The Lord was drawing me. But I did not believe or trust in Jesus as a result of our conversations. It still made no sense to me. As I look back, I certainly see how the Lord was drawing me to Himself. But the following story did not help the draw.
At the very same time I was making extra money as a referee for a Church basketball league which played once a week at the Cuesta College gymnasium. I would referee three games, and get home about midnight. The first two games both went into overtime. So when the third game also went into overtime, it was already midnight. It was late. So I told the scorekeeper to set the clock for three minutes, instead of the usual five minutes. One of the players came up to me, very angry, and said to me, “You can’t do that. We want five minutes, not three.” I was tired, and stubborn, and would not change the time. He continued, “I’ll have your job for this.” He continued speaking harsh to me, but now he began poking me in the chest with his finger. If I had ever done that while playing high school, or college basketball, they would have thrown me out of the game. So I said to this man, “If you hit me again with your finger, you are out of the game, and out of this gym.” Remember, this is a church league. He could not contain himself. He continued in anger poking me. I then booted him out of the game. He wouldn’t leave. I told him that if he would not leave, I would forfeit the game to the other team. He finally left the gym. The score keeper said to me, “I’m sorry for all this. He should know better.” I asked, “Who was that?” He said, “He’s our pastor.” But even though this incident was at the same time God was drawing me, this did not have a negative influence in my life. As I look back on it from my present perspective, now myself a pastor, I know that pastors are just men. We all must battle with the sinful flesh (Galatians 5:19-21).
After this, my wife Donna wanted to go to church. I resisted for several weeks. But we finally went to the Atascadero Bible Church. She just thought it looked good for families to go to church together. So, in our minds, that’s why we went. God had a completely different reason. I remember sitting in the back. I didn’t know any of the songs. I have to admit, I was uncomfortable there. Then Pastor E.B. Claud began to speak. I found myself drawn to what he was saying. He was teaching the Bible, verse by verse. The pastor was also telling us about Jesus. The same Jesus that Richard, Rick, and Dave talked about. Guess what? Something happened inside of me. I had to go back the next week. We’ve been going back for 34 years now. I found myself actually believing in Jesus. More than that, I was falling in love with the Man who took away my sins penalty. I remember having a great desire to learn what the Bible said. I remember praying and saying, “Lord, I want to know what Your Word says.” He began answering my hearts desire. Jesus also began doing some other interesting things in our lives. Here are some of those stories Darren asked me write down.
At the very same time of our transformation, which means, our believing in, and trusting Jesus Christ, something else wonderful happened to me one evening. During my baseball career, I began having epileptic seizers during my sleep. Maybe from being hit once too many times in the head. But in our Atascadero apartment, on Olmeda Street, strange things were happening to me. Every night I would wake up. After opening my eyes, everything appeared to be yellow. My heart would be racing. I felt like I had just sprinted from home plate to third base. I also felt fear and panic in my mind. I hated to go to bed each night, not knowing what would happen that night. One evening Donna was tucking Dan to bed, while I was in the living room fretting. I don’t really know how to explain what happened next. I’ll do my best. Don’t think I’m nuts, but the best way to explain it is I just experienced a whole bunch of love while sitting in that chair. I felt an intense amount of love inside me. But it wasn’t me. It was wonderful. Nothing I had ever experienced before. I remember getting up, going into the bedroom and helping tuck Dan into bed. Then as Donna and I walked out of the bedroom, that love was still so intense, that I remember placing my hands behind Donna’s legs to actually help her walk out of the bedroom. It sounds strange now when I think back on it, but that love didn’t want her to walk by her own strength. I believe that was a little taste of God’s love, and how He, so much, wants to help us, in every aspect of our lives. Even to the point empowering every step we take. Oh, by the way, that night I slept all night long. I never again experienced those weird things happening to me. “Thank You Lord.”
My job ended at Cuesta College. Chris Key, a new friend of ours from the Bible Church, who also owned Key Termite, asked me to work with him one day killing termites. Being out of work at the time, I said yes. After the days work, he asked me if I could do this for a living. I thought I could do it for a little while. He said the only way he could hire me was with a government grant which would pay half my salary for the first year. I prayed and asked the Lord for that grant. As I was driving to the government building in San Luis Obispo to apply for this grant, I had a peace within me. As I inquired about the grant, the lady behind the desk told me she didn’t have any grants left. They were all being used. I told her, “Thank you anyway.” I was disappointed. I said to the Lord, “Well, I guess You have a different job for me.” Just as I turned to walk away, her telephone rang. And just as I opened the door to leave the building, she called out to me, “Young man, come back here.” She told me the phone call was from a person who just quit the program, and turned his grant back in. She said she would give it to me, and I can begin work tomorrow. I have learned there are no coincidences in God’s kingdom. “Thank You Lord.”
We rented a little house in Atascadero. The house didn’t have a cooking stove or a refrigerator. We didn’t have the money to buy them, so we prayed and asked the Lord for help. From an advertisement, we found a very cheap stove located in a warehouse. It needed some work. It was set up for propane, not gas. When I went to pick it up, the man at the warehouse asked me if I would take something else off his hands. It was a refrigerator. He just gave it to me…free. “Thank You Lord.” Donna’s dad turned the stove into a gas cooking stove. Our faith was growing.
We needed a car. Yes, we still didn’t have much money. So we prayed and asked God for a car. Our friends asked us if we had found one yet. “No, we’re praying.” They said, “The car is not going to drive into your driveway.” In other words, you have to go find one.
Meanwhile, my mother, living in San Luis Obispo, was driving past a gas station on Laurel Lane. She knew the owner. As she was driving by she saw a car with a sign in the window that said, “$700.00.” She turned around and asked about the $700. car and if she could show the car to her son. The owner said, “Yes, but how did you know I was asking $700 dollars?” Mom said, “I saw the sign in the window.” The owner said, “There’s no sign in the window.” “I saw it.” my mom said. They went and looked at the car, and there was no sign. But the owner was asking $700. for the car. My mother took that car and drove into my driveway. We were able to make very reasonable payments. “Thank You Lord.”
The car was a Buick Electra. It was a big boat that floated down the freeway. Everything actually worked on the car except the defroster. I could never get any air to blow out of it. One rainy evening Donna and I offered to drive a carload of pregnant ladies to San Luis Obispo. Something else about that car, the trunk leaked. After a few rains, I actually found a fertile harvest of green grass and mushrooms growing in the trunk carpet. As we took off, with all that breathing and moisture in the air, I found there was just as much water on the inside of my windshield as on the outside. Add the bright lights from the opposite traffic, and I, and everyone else simply could not see out my front windshield. I told the ladies my defroster never worked. I tried to wipe it with a cloth. Nothing worked. I couldn’t see. We asked God for help. Directly after our prayer, that defroster came on. Not only came on, but was blowing very hot air. Everyone became very silent. And very quickly the warm air dried up the moisture. “Thank You Lord.” By the way, that defroster never worked again after that. Do you think God actually did that for us? Let me just say, if it wasn’t God, then we were seeing some incredible coincidences.
One morning I, and my seven year old son Dan were in the field behind our rented house. He had a mini bike. We made a little track for him to ride. But we just could not start that little motor. I pulled that engine cord, and pulled and pulled. I did everything I could think of. No, there was one thing I didn’t do. Pray. Why is it that we often wait until there are no options left, before we pray? I said, “Dan, let’s pray. ‘Lord will You help us start this motor?’” The very next pull that motor started. “Thank You Lord.”
One day our family decided to go to the Mid-State fair in Paso Robles. One thing I dislike about the fair is trying to find a parking place. Is it alright to ask the Lord for something like a good parking place? We asked. At this time they still allowed parking next to the front entry. Now that area is reserved for busses only. As we were slowly driving past the front gate, a man popped out and stopped my car. He came up to the window and asked if I wanted his parking place. YES! He pulled out and I pulled in. Not only was it a good parking place, it was the very best parking spot at the Mid State Fair, right next to the front entry. “Thank You Lord.” Coincidence? Luck?
One day, on my job for Key Termite, my friend and I were doing a termite inspection in Arroyo Grande. The young mother’s toddler was crying. His little face was hot and red with a fever. She called her husband to come home, who just happened to be a doctor. My friend went under the house to inspect for termites, while I crawled into the attic. We agreed to be praying for the young boy as we were crawling. About twenty minutes later when we went back into the home. The child was no longer crying. He was no longer red with a fever. As a matter of fact he looked perfectly happy. More than that, he was playing with his toys, having a great time. At that point the father drove up. He rushed in only to find his son happy as could be. The mother said to her doctor husband, “I don’t know what happened. He just got better.” My friend and I were able to tell them why we believe he was better. “Thank You Lord.”
One day we were taking a lunch break while fumigating a house in Santa Maria. This is the process of covering the house with tarps to kill Drywood termites. An older man came walking across the street. He was complaining about everything, about our government, complaining about taxes, complaining about… etc. He asked me what I thought. I said, “Sir, do you really want to know what I think about these things?” He did. He sat down on the curb next to me and I told him about the state of mankind as a result of sin. I told him there’s a God who can change that. I pulled out a gospel tract and began to explain to him the truth about man’s state of sin and separation from God. I told him about Jesus Christ and what God accomplished through His Son’s death on the cross. He was listening intently. I read to him a prayer which was written in the tract. He told me, “That’s a beautiful prayer.” I asked him if he would like to pray with me. He didn’t want to there at the curb, but asked if he could take the tract home. I said, “Sure.”
The next day we were taking the tarp off the house, when I heard this man coming across the street calling to me. I came down from the roof. He asked me if I had any more of those little booklets. I asked him why. He told me he read the tract and prayed and talked to the Lord. He then took the tract to his next door neighbor. He read, believed and prayed. Then they both went to the next neighbor. The same thing happened. My chin dropped. “Thank You Lord.”
Another day in Santa Maria, we were doing a fumigation. The next door neighbor came over to talk to us. He was a retired Army Major. I believe these are divine appointments. God’s drawing process. Just as He drew me to Himself, He continues to do the very same thing in other people’s lives. These meetings are not by chance. Once again, the Lord opened up a door for us to talk about our testimony and Jesus Christ. But this Army Major would not listen. We offered him a gospel tract, but he would not take it. Later we prayed for him. The next day we returned to remove the tarp. As we were about to leave, he came out to talk to us once again at the sidewalk. The wind was blowing that day in Santa Maria. As we were talking, I noticed something blowing up the sidewalk, past his house, all the way to where we were standing. It stopped at this mans feet. My friend Doug and I couldn’t believe it. It was a gospel tract. He reached down, picked it up and put it in his pocket. He wouldn’t take the gospel from us, but we figured an angel must have blown it up the sidewalk, and he took it from him. We didn’t know where that tract came from. Just another day on the job. “Thank You Lord.”
One day I went to a house in Atascadero to look at what the home owner thought might be termites. She was right. The owner of Key Termite at that time was a Christian man named Mickey Maxwell. He gave us permission to share with people about Jesus. I scheduled with the home owner to come back in a couple of days to take care of their termites. But before I left I handed to her a gospel tract and asked if she might read it. She took it. When I returned to do the job, I asked her if she had a chance to read the booklet. I later learned she was 97 years old. She turned to me. The only way I can describe it, is this lady, probably 5’ 2” tall, weighing 100 pounds, walked up to me, 6’6” tall, weighing in at 230 lbs., yelling, cursing, and screaming at me, and actually backing me up. She was so red in the face, and angry. I was praying, “Lord please don’t let her have a heart attack.” To put it mildly, she didn’t like Jesus. And just at that moment, a senior citizens van picked her up. As I was preparing to treat the termites, the house keeper was in the adjacent kitchen area doing the dishes. I asked if she had heard all that. She then came over to me and began the same tirade. Wow, I thought, “It can’t be me. They don’t even know me.” She went back to the kitchen area, and I began drilling and treating the Subterranean termites, thinking, what did I get myself into here? I was learning about spiritual warfare in my church. I was wondering if this could be that. Were these demons screaming at me? I remember praying a foolish prayer. It went something like this. “Lord, if You want me to use my spiritual warfare authority here, then have her drop or spill something.” Kind of like Gideon’s fleese prayer. Then I thought to myself, that was a dumb prayer. I said, “Lord, forgive me.” Thirty minutes later, I was just about finished with my job when the housekeeper came from the kitchen, walking through the living room past me, carrying the garbage bag from the kitchen. The garbage can was out by the street that day. And guess what happened? She dropped the garbage bag and spilled it all over the living room carpet, next to me. It took me a few minutes to remember what I had prayed. I could hardly believe it. I didn’t know what it meant to use your “spiritual warfare authority.” But as I was leaving, she confronted me again. She said to me, “I know who you are.” But she didn’t really know me. I’d never seen her before. What did she mean? All of a sudden I knew what she meant. This was most likely a demon speaking through her to me. Yes, the evil spirits know who believers are. We are indwelt with God’s Holy Spirit. And He’s greater than evil spirits. He’s almighty God, the Spirit. The third Person of the Trinity. I answered back to her, or to the evil spirit, “And I know who you are. ‘Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.’” I told this lady about Jesus but she turned and left the house. I never saw her again. As I was leaving that house, I remember being so encouraged, so excited by the power and total control that God had in that situation. “Thank You Lord.” We are to proclaim the gospel and leave the results with God.
One day we were to fumigate a house in Atascadero. We pulled up to the house. It had a tall chain link fence around the property. We had the key to the house, but we did not enter through the gate. Why? A mean German Shepherd dog was barking, frothing at the mouth, desiring only one thing…to chew up some termite men. The owner was not home, so we just waited for awhile. It looked like we couldn’t do the job that day. That dog just would not shut up. He was absolutely going wild. I thought to myself, “I wonder if an evil spirit could do this to a dog?” I remember that Jesus cast demons into some pigs one day. I know this sounds a little silly, but I thought I would use some of that “spiritual warfare authority” here, and see what would happen. So I looked at that mad dog, and said, “Satan, if you’re causing this dog to respond to us like this, then I command you to stop. Leave him alone.” Instantly, he stopped barking. And the dog’s tail literally curled under his hind legs, and he walked away, to the back yard. We just looked at each other. We could hardly believe it. We didn’t believe it, because we would not enter through the gate. But where was the dog? What actually happened here? Eventually, we mustered up enough courage to slowly enter through the chain link gate, ready to sprint back through the gate at a moments notice. The house had a large back yard. When we finally looked back there, we saw the dog laying in front of his dog house, located about 200 feet behind the house. We completed the fumigation. And once again we were astonished by what had happened that day. “Thank You Lord.”
Now you know why some people thought I was nuts when I would go to church each Sunday and share some of my experiences with them. Jesus has not changed. We do. His presence, power, and promises are always with us. He desires His children to seek, and desire Him above all things. Let me stop here with two passages of Scripture.
Psalm 27:4 One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.
Matt 6:31-34
31 "Do not worry then, saying, "What will we eat?' or "What will we drink?' or "What will we wear for clothing?'
32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
9 years ago
