All my life I have believed in the Authority, Truth and Accuracy of the Bible. As a boy I learnt from my father, who was the General Superintendent of the Elim Churches, that 'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,' (2 Timothy 3:16-17, KJV).
Coming up for 16, I was in the Fifth Form in Selhurst Grammar School, Croydon; it was to be my last year before I left school. I remember that year very clearly; for our weekly religious lesson, we had a master who was what one might call a ‘modernist’. He denied that the miracles in the Bible happened; he didn’t even believe in the miracle of Creation but leaned to Darwin’s theory of evolution. This upset and annoyed me very much, because I had been brought up to believe in God as Creator of Heaven and Earth and to accept the Bible totally – with all the miracles.
Week after week I challenged him on the Authority and Divine Inspiration of the Bible. One of my favourite texts was, ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration from God.’ Every week I would counter him with Scripture, and if I didn’t know the answer I would go home and ask my father, who could always find the correct verses to help me. The boys in my class seemed to enjoy this, as we were the only class in school that never followed the curriculum; the whole Scripture lesson consisted of my arguments with the teacher. At the end of just one term, he came to me and suggested that we start Bible study and prayer in the school. I’m sure that he had accepted Christ, as every lesson I always brought in a clear call to salvation. Later I also found that two boys in the class went on to become preachers of the Gospel.
Night after night in those days, after my mother had gone up to bed, my father and I would wash up the supper dishes. I would ask him questions, he would give me the answers. We debated the finer points, like ‘once saved, always saved’? And ‘what happens to those who die without ever hearing the Gospel’? To which my father simply replied, “David, that’s YOUR job – to preach the Gospel.” I am forever grateful to my father for the firm foundation he gave me in Biblical Truth. Fads and movements come and go, but my father never departed from the Truth of the Word of God.
We should live as the early Apostles did: preach the Gospel, heal the sick. We are still writing the Acts of the Apostles today. People are distressed; there are earthquakes, changes in weather patterns, and wars; but these were all predicted by Jesus in Matthew 24. I am more concerned about preaching the Gospel and seeing people saved. This year, 2025, I’m celebrating 75 years in ministry. But I am not stopping. I don’t believe in retiring, but ‘refiring’ – I am always seeking a new Fire from God. We all need a renewed fire, but an ‘old-time’ revival, we need a new power, but the ‘real’ God. Will you be the one whom He will call again, through the fire of the Holy Spirit?
Yet God promised in His Word, that He would pour out His Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17) – not just the light showers of the first Pentecost, but the heavy rain that brings in the last abundant harvest of souls (Joel 2:23-24) before the ‘great and terrible day of the Lord shall come’ (Joel 2:31; Acts 2:20).