Prior to receiving the Holy Ghost in June of l978, I had spent the previous four years
working on a Master's Degree in Vocal Performance with a year in the midst on the road
singing professional opera. By the fall of l978, I had completed all the course work
for the degree with only the thesis and oral exams to remain. In fact, I had already
spent some time on the thesis off and on during the previous year, but I really had not
seriously pursued the finality of the degree because I was involved in numerous promising
performance engagements. However, after receiving the Holy Ghost, I thought, and I
emphasize, "I", surely God would expect me to finish
the Master's Degree. Well, for the next year, I wrestled with writing the
paper. I would have a meeting about every three weeks with the major professor about
a new portion of the paper, and after the meeting, my paper would literally appear to have
been through a blood bath. Then, Kathy went with me to a meeting with the professor,
and lo and behold, he said the paper was much better and hardly marked it at all.
The next time I returned, however, he not only red marked the new portion, but he went
back and marked some previous approved material!! It was absolutely
incredible!! I jokingly told Kathy, "I need to take you with me, so this
professor will pass my paper". Ha! I trust you understand, although you
may not approve of my writing here, I had never previously had any problem in English or
with any writing assignment throughout my entire school career. We really considered
the devil surely was opposing me, although since this was in the early stages of my
Christian walk, I really didn't totally understand that.
By the summer of l979, Kathy and I were married,
and other considerations and responsibilities were taking precedence. Yet, I kept
thinking, "I have got to finish this degree." It was then recommended by
the professor that I may need to get an English tutor. Now, I had never had a tutor
for anything in my life, but I decided to humble myself. I was given the best
English tutor in the department, a graduate assistant, who told me after several sessions,
"There is nothing wrong with this paper!", and she would change just a few words
of vocabulary to add some variety to the writing. Jack Turquette, who minored
in English, also proofed the paper more than once. Even Doyle reread it for me, and
all of them said they saw nothing wrong with it. So, I would take it to the
professor, and he would obliterate the paper in red ink. It began to be very
discouraging, and I began to ask God, "What is wrong here?" In the fall of
l979, I finally saw clearly the answer after I was told that I needed to take another
course to keep from losing status toward the degree, because of length of time it had
taken to complete the degree. Further, this course was only offered at ll:00 a.m.
during the week, and by now I was working full time during the day to support a new
household. It began to be apparent it may not be the will of God for me to continue
in school and finish the Master's Degree. Earlier, I stated "I"
thought God wanted me to finish the degree, but actually, I never really asked him what he
wanted. I just assumed he approved. After all, the majority of the world tells
us every one needs to attend college, but how many do we hear say that we need to ask God
about school or for that matter about any thing, especially if we are already in it, and
we have been successful at it, and everyone approves? Well, all of the above are
wrong because Jesus, our example, said in John 5:19, "The
Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things
soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." Also
in verse 30 he says, "I can of mine own self do
nothing:" and "I seek not
mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" Further,
he says in John 15:5, "without me ye can do
nothing." I'm not telling you it was easy to accept
immediately, because it wasn't. I could understand God not wanting me to get
involved in many of the world's activities, but school? Well, I soon swallowed my
pride, and that's all it was, humbled myself, went to the major professor, and proclaimed,
"I quit!!" He was absolutely astonished, but to my
amazement, I was full of peace and joy, and it was as though the weight of the entire
world had been lifted off of my shoulders. To this day, I have not missed it,
regretted it, nor needed it one bit, because it was obedience unto God. If Jesus is
our Lord, he expects us to obey him and do the will of the Father. So, if we want to
attend college or do any thing, we need to ask God what he wants us to do!
Again Jesus said in John 8:29, "for I do always
those things that please him."(the Father), and Hebrews 11:6
states, "without faith, it is impossible to please
him:", so Jesus obviously walked in faith to please God.
He is our example, and when we walk in faith like Jesus, we will only please the Father
too. Praise God!!
E-mail at terrym@terrymai.com
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In October of 1984,
God sent us to Israel. I remember explicitly how both Kathy and Doyle spoke to me
that I would love Israel, and that it would change my life. Well, not only did it
change my life, but the call to the ministry as Jesus spoke in Acts 1:8, "ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth." came into my heart
while in Israel. Up until this time, I had only assisted in prayer and gave verbal
testimonies a few times in church, but I had never taught nor ministered to anyone outside
my immediate family. After all, I was a singer and worship leader for God.
That was enough, right?! Wrong! God's power moved for all of us miraculously
in Israel, and I literally saw Acts 1:8 beginning to be fulfilled in my life even though I
didn't have a so-called ministry as yet. Three months later, I was privileged to
travel with Doyle, Patti, and Kathy to Africa, and again, we saw God's miraculous power
move. God made place for me to speak a couple of times, and I sang almost every
meeting. I remember a brother, Bartholomew Manjoro, encouraged me greatly in the
Lord when he said, "You see how the people here are moved by the spirit of God when
you sing, and most of them don't understand your language! Do you realize what you
can do with the anointing of God in America in the hearts of people who understand your
language?" Frankly, I had not, but God was enlarging my heart to fulfill his
call upon my life. When we returned from Africa, God moved us into a brand new house
that we had originally built(we thought) to sell, but God said, "That's your
house!" Well, who was I to argue with God? Ha! Three months later,
God said, "I want you to start a bible study in your home." Stupid me
questioned, "Who will come?" God was very gracious and gave me the name
of a man in the church. I called and asked him if he would be interested to come to
my home for a bible study, and to my amazement he replied, "Sure!" In
fact, everybody that God showed me to ask came, and for the next six months, we had over
20 people in our home every week to teach the Gospel. Then one afternoon in
mid-September, I was on my way home from a paint job and passed by Doyle's home, so I
stopped. I was astonished to learn that he had been praying about me that day and
wondered if I would be willing and ready to begin a fellowship in Denton, Texas, a
community about 45 miles northwest of Plano. I said that I was willing if Doyle
believed it was right, and God would make me ready. There were several families
from there who were a part of this ministry from years before, and he believed it was
right to minister to them there, and I should do it. I said, "Okay!", and
ten days later, Kathy and I were in Denton! So, one year after God spoke to me in
Israel, I had been to Africa, moved into a new home, began a bible study in that home, and
began as a minister in a new fellowship in Denton, Texas. With all this whirlwind
spiritual activity in my life, someone may think that I had become spiritually
mature. Actually, God was using all of this experience to deal with my heart, to
begin to believe the Gospel on my own, and to rely on God when decisions needed to be
made. You see, I had been nurtured,protected, and established in the foundation of
the apostle/prophet ministry for eight years by the faith in Doyle Davidson's heart like
Jesus did for nearly three years with his disciples. Now, when a decision arose
about what God wanted to do in our meetings in Denton, I couldn't turn to Doyle or call
him on the phone and cry, "What should I do?!" I had to hear God
myself. I remember one day going to the church to talk with Doyle. I went to
his office and was told he had just gone to the west side of the building. I went to
the west wing of the building, and he had just gone out the west door around to the east
side. I go out the west door and around to the east side, and he is driving away,
doesn't see me, and Jesus says, "Why don't you ask me?" No, it's not that
I don't listen or talk to Doyle anymore, because I do. It's just that during this
period of time, God was establishing my heart to trust in hearing him myself. You
see, I had told Doyle one time that I was going to hang onto him just like Peter did upon
Jesus. Doyle didn't say a word. Several days later, I was working in my
backyard raking and praying, and Jesus clearly chastised me
and said, "I had to leave Peter in the flesh once too!" I knew I had been
had, and God led me to repentance. In I Corin. 11:1-3 Paul wrote, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I
praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I
delivered them to you. But I have you know, that the head of every man is
Christ;"
I had a great deal of respect for Doyle as a man, but I had been taught
to understand that it was Jesus and the Spirit of God in him. However, even though I
knew that, I have come to realize it was not always easy to differentiate and accept, but
by the grace of God working the Gospel in my heart, I have.
Another backyard experience occurred in the Spring of 1986. We had been in Denton for about six months by now, and frankly, things were operating fairly smooth. I now know that it was God's mercy in the life of a new upstart in the Kingdom. As stated earlier, all of this experience was toward my perfection which is still being achieved. Anyway, the house that God gave us was built on the lot that had been used by the developers where the concrete mixers were located to build the streets. Consequently, there was about three to six inches of pebble rock about 1inch in diameter covering our backyard which measured about 7500 sq. ft. That may not sound like a lot until you have to rake it all. After about 3 months of laboring with this rock, I cried out to God in frustration, "Why did you have to give us a house on this lot?!!" He replied, "This is like your heart." I stood back from the pile of rocks I had been raking, looked at them, and soon realized this was another path of righteousness to deal with my heart(Psalm 23:3), and I began to give thanks. I said, "Well, at least they are broken in pieces and not one solid rock!" In Mark 4, Jesus taught the Parable of the Sower, and in verse 16 he explains, "And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake; immediately they are offended." Now, I could have foolishly rebelled and thought that this could not be me because I had been given position, responsibility, etc., but I knew my heart was not perfect, and God was ordering my steps to deal with those imperfections and to establish my heart in the Gospel of the Kingdom. In Psalm 37:23 it says, "The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." God told me over twelve years ago, "I'll never let you make a mistake," and I thought that was great! Then he continued, "as long as you keep your heart and eyes upon me!" I can honestly say he has performed exactly what he said as long as I do exactly what he tells me, and he has removed a bunch of those pebble rocks along the way as well. We are truly blessed to serve the ever living God, and I do not desire to do anything else. You know, his nature is proclaimed in Exodus 34:6, "The Lord, The Lord God, merciful, gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,". By working his nature in us, all of our iniquities are removed, and our sins are forgiven, and we are perfected or made complete by trusting in, relying on, and adhering to the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise The Lord!
E-mail at terrym@terrymai.com
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This testimony takes us back some 25 years to the beginning days of my walk with God. God was teaching me in those days about stewardship as Jesus states in Luke 12:42-44, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath." A steward is simply an overseer, caretaker, or housemanager, and God literally used houses, among other situations, to teach me and to prove me faithful in whatsoever he gave me. God began this principal with Adam, the first man God created in the Bible, in Genesis2:15, "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." In Luke 16, Jesus spoke a parable about the unjust steward, and then he said in verses 10-12, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's who shall give you that which is your own?" I got opportunity right away to be faithful in another man's as we leased houses for the first six years after we were married. Actually, if God had not led us to build and buy a house, we would still be in a lease situation. You see, God did another work in my heart during this time because I was compelled by "The American Dream" to own a house. As I was wrestling in my heart with this controlling spirit one day, God said to me, "What's the difference renting and paying interest on a mortgage?" I thought, "I don't know, but since you're supplying the money, Lord, and you don't seem to be bothered by it, why should I?" After that, I quit pursuing the ownership of a house and overcame the care of it.
From February, 1979 to January, 1985, we lived on four different leased homes. Each house was bigger and better than the previous house, but each house also needed complete maintenance to be done inside and out. God was also overwhelming my heart at the time to show me how He would bless anyone that would follow Him. The owner of the first house, which was a quaint 2-BR, wood-frame, cottage-type home, asked me to live in the house "rent free" and take care of it. At first I thought it was a joke, but I could tell the man was serious, so I agreed. He then proceeded to pay me to replace some of the wood siding and paint it completely. Frankly, I was astonished but overcame, and we were blessed to live there. The next house was larger but needed even more work. It needed complete painting, carpet in the living area because the previous resident used it to repair motors, and grass with virtually none in the entire yard. In fact, the only thing in the front yard was an area about 12 foot in diameter surrounded by rock with cactus, a steer skull, and more rock, and nothing but weeds around it. Well, we painted it for our rent deposit, the carpet was replaced upon request, and I cleaned out the "Southwestern exhibit"(Ha!) and planted new grass seed. Within four months we had a complete new lawn. It also seemed to provoke the entire block as all of our neighbors began to upgrade and maintain their yards, and I never spoke to any of them about it. However, it obviously had an influence on them. Actually, all during the time we were leasing, we never paid a deposit, which is unheard of here in Texas, but nothing is impossible with God if we can believe! I won't go into detail about the other houses except to say that as before, we took care of them as if they were our own homes, and as if each one was a gift from God! I know that is why God continued to bless us with a bigger and better home until finally He gave us a home of our own because we were diligent and faithful to take care of each one He gave us. I must add another purpose was to constantly enlarge my heart to believe Him. The primary purpose God deals with all of us is to change our hearts toward Him.
The "faithful" principle also carried over for me into the workplace. As I have shared in the past, God led me into the paint business. In the beginning, I didn't even know how to hold a paint brush(nor did I want to know, but God dealt with my rebellion!) nor anything about painting. As I overcame the rebellion and gave thanks, I learned quickly, became diligent and faithful on the paint jobs, and was soon relegated to chief sprayer. Shortly thereafter, the company contractor gave me his truck to work out of, and soon, he even turned some of the paint jobs completely over to me. After two and one-half years of faithful stewardship in the paint business for another man, God led me into my own paint business which He blessed exceedingly, abundantly above all I could think or ask. Finally, after consistently being faithful in my own paint business for nearly ten years, God literally dried up the paint business and led me into full-time ministry, and I am eternally grateful! We are to trust in, rely on, and adhere to the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ because that is the power of God unto salvation!(Romans 1:16) He continues to prove us faithful as we continue to grow and be established in the Gospel of the kingdom of God, which is the greatest gift of all.
E-mail at terrym@terrymai.com
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When I was growing up in church, I only heard about the gospel once a year at Easter. I was born again(they didn't call it that in the religious circles I attended) at age 13 at a church camp and not in church. I had no understanding that the gospel was the primary continuous principle to live life. I, like most religious people, thought that once you received Jesus, it brought salvation, and that was it. You see, none of us really knew what salvation meant. I was talking to a gentleman one time, and he stated that he believed the gospel was the foundation for faith in a person's life, which is true. However, like I was raised, there was no revelation of the power of God manifesting through believing that gospel, which meant he really didn't know or believe the gospel. It was just to live our best that as we continued to be good because we had acknowledged what Jesus did on the cross, it would help us to go to heaven. Well, salvation is more than just going to heaven. Paul spoke in IICorin. 6:2, "Now is the day of salvation!" If we continue to believe, the power of God is manifest unto salvation from now and forevermore. The only experience I had as a teenager was that once I had received Jesus, which is essential, there did not appear to be anything else to do, so why do we keep going? By the time I reached 30 years of age, God brought the realization that there was more to the gospel than I could imagine, particularly the power. How many times has the response been to Jesus died, he was buried, and he rose again the third day, "I've already heard that, so let's get on to some new and deeper thing!", when in actuality, there is no revelation of the depth of the gospel at all. I've been there, done that, and yes, I got to repent and believe the gospel.
During the first 30 years of my life in attendance at church, I always assumed the ministers spoke the truth, and I never checked for myself to see otherwise, which was my fault. I believed the stories in the bible were true, but no one ever told me or showed me by example the bible was applicable to my life now. It was a good storybook, and I didn't like to read or want to read, so it meant no more to me than a good status symbol to have sitting on the coffee table in the home. Rebellion?!! I know none of you had any of that! Isaiah 53:6 states, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;", and like most people, my way was the only way to me. Thank God for his mercy and grace! I recall when I began to be taught about reading the bible outloud, my thought was, "I don't even like to read, and you're telling me to read it outloud?", but by now I knew if I didn't, I would be in rebellion. So I read simply because I was told to read and not because I believed it would do me any good. Do you know what happened? Nothing, because I didn't believe it would! Then I determined to make a conscious effort to believe that when I would read the bible outloud, it would be a benefit to me, and to my amazement, things began to change. Also, I began to see things in the word of God like I had never noticed or seen. After God adjusted my heart to be willing to read, then I read in 1Timothy 4:13, "Till I come, give attendance to reading, exhortation, to doctrine." Reading the bible outloud while believing really is a benefit to changing our hearts! Furthermore, the more that I read, the more I began to see the gospel written throughout the Psalms and the New Testament in some form or another with words like "power", "restoration", "resurrection", or examples of God's power demonstrated with miracles, healings, devils cast out, besides the numerous accounts recalled that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again the third day literally written and spoken. I remember being prompted several years ago by the Spirit of God to do a reference line study of the gospel in the Book of Acts. I was astonished to discover in my bible that there was only one page out of the 28 chapters that did not have a reference to the gospel. If you can't see that, don't give up believing, because when I first started in this walk 27 years ago, I couldn't see the gospel on any page period. Thank God for his revelation of the gospel! Amen?! By now, I had already determined the importance of the gospel in any person's life, but the confirmation in the Book of Acts only enhanced what I had come to believe in my heart. The Apostles only continued in what Jesus had taught them in the beginning of his ministry in Mark 1:15, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe the gospel." and demonstrated in his life. I have come to believe that the gospel is the essenceto overcoming all things, because Romans 1:16 says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Further, Paul, who had knowledge, rank, position, and respect in the flesh, said in 1Corinthians 2:2, "I determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified."(the gospel) He said in Philippians 3:8 that he counted the loss of all things as dung that he might win Christ. He goes on in verse 10 to say, "that I might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Paul was speaking of being made perfect like Jesus, which Jesus had previously taught. Now, in the religious community there was always talk about being perfect like Jesus, but it was soon contradicted by someone who would interject, "Of course, no one can be perfect!" Well, Jesus said in Matthew 5:48, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.", so Jesus said we can be perfect, which simply means "complete". Nearly 25 years ago I came to the conclusion I was going to have believe Jesus over any other person because I could hardly find anyone who agreed with him even though they claimed to follow Jesus. Prompted by the Spirit of God, this determination came as a result of talking with many people who would quote Dr. this, or Rev. that, or Brother so & so, and I found my reply back to them became, "Well, Jesus said," etc. I recall about 20 years ago while attending a 3-day family celebration, discussion over many different issues always resulted with a biblical solution out of my mouth. Toward the end of the event, one of the family members, who was Spirit-filled with more years of experience, turned to me after one of my biblical answers and retorted, "Is that the only solution you know is the bible?!" My reply to him and another family member, who happened to be a minister, "Is there any other?" The minister family member just shrugged his shoulders, and that was the end of the conversation. Frankly, I was astonished at the question, but I was even more astounded at the answer that came out of my heart. However, I knew it was God building confidence toward him in all things through the gospel. Where is the gospel? It is written and revealed in our hearts by the Spirit of God. As the gospel continues to be established in our hearts, the more we begin to see it written throughout the pages of the bible, and the more it is manifest unto the fullness of the resurrected Jesus Christ in our everyday lives until we will be complete in Jesus. So, standfast in the gospel of the kingdom of God, and we will see the salvation of God in all things.
E-mail at terrym@terrymai.com
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I have shared numerous times over the years about my experience at the Western (Wailing) Wall on our trip to Israel in September of l984. I will express that God used this experience to convince me that he had called me into the ministry to serve him with my spirit in the Gospel of his Son. God sent us on this tour, and I was encouraged several times prior to the trip that it would change my life. That is absolutely a fact. This trip led by the spirit of God brought lasting changes in my life.
We traveled several days through the northern part of Israel, especially around the Sea of Galilee, where much of Jesus' ministry occurred. When we were coming down toward Jerusalem, I recall the road was extremely winding through what is known as mountains. All of a sudden, the terrain changed from virtually no population, to a completely populated city. We entered from the north on the east side of the city. We were coming down from the Mount of Olives, and I saw the massive wall of the "Old City". Immediately, tears began to run uncontrollably down my face as my heart was overwhelmed. Kathy asked, "Are you okay?" and I exclaimed, "It's real!" She replied, "Of course, it's real!" I retorted, "You don't understand, it's real!!!" God was filling my heart with His love for Jerusalem. I had heard about it previously, but now I was experiencing it.
The next day was full of scheduled tour events, and we concluded the day at the "Wailing" Wall (commonly known as the Western Wall). I recall walking up to a short retaining wall, and beyond that wall I was astonished to see a huge crowd of Jewish men and women praying with all their might toward the Wailing Wall. The women were on my right and the men on my left, also separated by a short wall. They obviously had been laboring in prayer for many hours from the visible perspiration on their clothes. At that moment, the Father spoke to me, "You see my people standing before you?" and I replied, "Yes." He said, "Because my people have not received my Son as their Lord and Savior, their prayers go to the wall, but because you have received my Son as your Lord and Savior, your prayers go over the wall. Pray for my people that they receive of my Son." Immediately, without considering where I was or what I was doing, I began to rejoice and praise the Lord singing in other tongues at the top of my voice. I soon realized that there were about thirty Jewish men standing in front of me that began to raise their hands and shout. I asked a lady standing next to me what they were saying. She rudely replied, "They want you to stop!" I turned motioning to them with my hands trying to apologize, because I was under the impression that I offended them by my worship. Without hesitation, they began to shout even louder, raising their hands toward me. I asked the woman, "What does this mean?" And she regretfully replied, "I was mistaken. They want you to continue." Actually, she wanted me to stop. So, I lifted my voice with all that was in me, and the Jewish men shouted for joy as well. We stayed there rejoicing for over thirty minutes. I reluctantly stopped when I was told it was time to get back to our tour group. Later, I realized they understood what I was singing in other tongues. This is described in Acts 2 when the disciples were baptized in the Holy Ghost, spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance, and Jews from all nations understood the Galileans speak in their language. Our tour guide's husband was a Rabbi, and he told us that on several occasions he heard us speak High Hebrew in praise which only the High Priests are taught to do. Obviously, that is what occurred and why the Jewish men became so excited when they heard me sing those songs of praise. As stated in the beginning, God performed this experience with me to convince my heart of His call on my life. Praise The Lord!
E-mail at terrym@terrymai.com
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