Good Enough: Discovering the Secret of Your True Identity

By Dr. Harry E. Coffman

Harry Coffman lived much of his life not feeling good enough, being burdened with doubt and condemnation of his past. In this book, Good Enough, he tells about his life journey.

Because of a shocking event, Harry found something was wrong with his beliefs. For years he had been a believer and knew he had been forgiven. His prayers were going unansweredwas it God or me? There had to be something wrong with me. During the three years living in minor seclusion, studying and praying, suddenly by revelation he discovered he was good enough! Since that time marvelous things have happened in his life. He sees the grace and blessings of God and is able to live what was accomplished through Christ on the cross. I am free!

>p>Whatever your background, experience, or belief, you will find healing and redemption in this story of one man discovering his true identitythe identity God had in mind in the beginning.

Now, with an open mind, begin this wonderful adventure discovering your true identity, knowing you are good enough will enable you to more fully experience the blessing of God in your life as never before!

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 2, 2011
• ISBN: 9781450275941

Dr. Harry E. Coffman

Dr. Harry E. Coffman gave his life to Christ in 1962. In 2000, he founded the Springs of Living Water Fellowship in Oregon, where he still lives with his wife, Roberta. He has ministered extensively all over the United States and overseas and has a DD, PhD, and Doctorate of Professorship.

Book preview

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my wife, her love and support cannot be measured, and for that, I am forever grateful. To my children, Stacia, Felicia and Benjamin. My encouragement and inspiration has been my granddaughters, Chelsea, Ashleigh, and Marissa, and my grandson, Preston.

To Dik and Jolande for their hospitality during my stay in the Netherlands and for their suggestions and help in compiling the manuscript.

I am indebted and grateful to each of the many close friends who have given their support, critiqued the manuscript, helped me edit, and kept me on track.

A grateful thank you to Barry, Shawn, and Brandon for your lives, endurance, example, and love. Without little Brandon, I would not have the fire in my belly to question, Why? This inspired me to take massive action to find out what we were missing in our beliefs. Brandon’s life was not in vain, and his story will produce new life and hope in thousands—and someday, Brandon, I will get to personally thank you.

To my publishers, thank you very, very much for your help and going the second mile to help me.

Contents

Dedication

Endorsements

Foreword

Introduction

Part 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Part 2

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Conclusion

Appendix

Endorsements

In my clinic, numerous patients have received healing care for their problems. My practice has been established on spirit, soul, and body health principles. As a physician, I have successfully witnessed many patients’ recovery by the power of the Creator. I have worked with my patients with my whole heart and strength. However, deep inside of me, every day, without knowing what it was, I had been longing for something more and more.

When I encountered the message in this book, I found that something that I had been longing for. I tried it out, and it rewarded me with a refreshing taste. I realize that I am becoming braver in utilizing the treasure of heaven.

The message in this book reminds me of historical figures impacting the course of this world. One of them is Apostle Paul. With his new revelation through a new message from Jesus, he became a whole-world visionary, which he did not mind dying for. This was a foundation of our current Christianity.

The other one is Martin Luther. The new message in his time was able to set people free from old bondages. The message set a stage for generations to grow more fully in Jesus Christ.

Now is the time to finish the work and the race. The message in this book will help people to prepare individually and provide the glue to unify His people to complete the commission.

Dr. Derrick Kim

NaturoMedicine Center

Tigard, Oregon

As you read this amazing book, you will find Dr. Coffman’s adventures mixed with revelations and truths that keep you on edge throughout the entire book! This is the discovery of the nuggets that are life-changing insights that will transform your life and help you to understand the true character and heart of God. The goodness of God is unveiled, breaking off all the untruths and wrong doctrines that have been prevalent over the years in the church. I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I have.

Marc Buchheit

NW Regional Director IAHR (International Association of Healing Rooms)

Codirector with his wife, Lydia, over Healing the Northwest and International Ministries

Shelton Hospital Chaplains, Counselors,

Business Owners, NW Worship Furniture LLC,

Shelton, Washington

Foreword

How the Message In This Book Blessed Our Family

The day my dad called me to ask me to forgive him was a defining moment in my life that couldn’t have come at a better time. The phone rang. Normally, I didn’t answer the phone for fear that it may be creditors or a stalking ex-girlfriend. I would screen my calls by letting them go to voicemail. Not knowing why, this time, I answered. I am glad that I did, because it was a call that would change me forever!

I was in a personal crisis; I was lost and felt like giving up. I had all but stopped talking to my family and my closest friends for fear and the perception that I would be preached to and judged. I already knew that my actions and lifestyle didn’t measure up to the rules and religious regiment I was raised with. I didn’t need to be judged; my guilty conscience was already doing a good job of that. I had grown very cynical and judgmental toward Christians, and I didn’t want to have anything to do with them or the church. I had become tired of this pattern of continually asking for forgiveness and strength for the same thing over and over again—and yet again falling to that same temptation. I was tired of always feeling like a sinful wretch, and I had let those failures and shortcomings put a wedge between God and me. In my mind, God felt a million miles away.

I didn’t say much during that short conversation. My dad asked how I was, and as usual, I said that everything was fine, when in reality, all hell was breaking loose inside of me. He proceeded to ask me to forgive him for raising me out of the law, and he said that, at that time, he and Mom were just doing what they thought was right. He asked if I would be open to looking up scriptures, such as I John 3 and Romans 3 and reading about the transformation that he and my mom were experiencing—to read those scriptures with an open mind and not from my religious upbringing and cynical mind-set. I heard love, life, and freedom in his voice and knew that this was a changed man. I forgave him that day, no questions asked and no looking back.

After the phone call, I opened my Bible and couldn’t believe what I read! Had these words always been there? If so, why didn’t anyone teach me this stuff when I was in Sunday school, youth group, Christian high school, or Bible college? Why had I been beaten over the head with a sin-conscience mind-set that had kept me in bondage all of these years? But I learned who I truly was that day—a new man, justified, whole—not because I follow the endless lists of dos and don’ts or that I have to be on a continual treadmill trying to earn and qualify for those things, but because of the living words my dad said and what I read in those scriptures. I don’t think that I would have been open to this message if it were not for my parents’ example and my dad’s phone call. I have taken on a new identity—one that isn’t fear or law based, but one that is secure in knowing who I am in God and how grateful I am for His sacrifice that has made me whole and filled me with His endless possibilities. I was technically saved when I was five years old, but for the first time in my life, without an altar call or soft music playing in the background, I felt saved, whole, and good enough—set free from the bondage of sin once and for all.

Whatever your background or experience with God is, whether or not you are a Christian, you must read this book. It is filled with the truth and life that you’ve been waiting for. Let the words come alive and fill you with freedom. It is written by a humble man with only one desire—to serve others at the highest level. It’s time for you to be unleashed with the living truth that will set you free!

—Dr. Benjamin Coffman

Introduction

This book was birthed when I was four years old. My first memory was coming eye to eye with death. Even then, God our Father had me in His hands and had destiny for me.

Everyone who knows my past and who has watched me grow without ever giving up has encouraged me to write a book. However, I found it very difficult to write about myself. God gave me a divine appointment with a couple in the Netherlands—Dik and Jolande Bijl.

Two years ago, I was in the Netherlands on my way to Israel. I told Dik how difficult it was for me to write about myself. He replied, I have a solution for your problem. That caused me to sit up and listen for the solution he had. He said, My wife, Jolande, is a great author. I will send her to your home in the US for seven days. She will take notes, ask questions, and record your story. She will come home and write your book.

That is exactly how the book came into existence. She did write it. Two years later, it is completed. There are very few people I know that are people of their word. To Dik and Jolande, from the gratefulness of my heart, I say thank you!

We have completed the book with the help of my wonderful wife, who has fine-tuned the manuscript many times. Benjamin, my son, has kept me on target for schedule and word. As well as my daughters, Stacia and Felicia who, have cheered me on, saying, Go, Dad!

In the first part of the book, I will take you on my journey. I will not present my life as an autobiography in chronological order. I will tell snippets of my life to illustrate and demonstrate the message of the book. The second part of my book will be a practical help for you. The principles mentioned will be applicable to your own life. I will end with an inset of scriptures for the purpose of meditation and reinforcement.

Now, I invite you to come with me on my journey and allow it to open more or new vistas to you.

Part 1

My Personal Journey to Righteousness

Chapter 1

How I Became a Believer

When I was four years old, I remember my mom chasing my drunk, alcoholic dad out of our house with a big, old butcher knife. I was standing by my crib, screaming and crying uncontrollably, because I was very frightened. My mother came running to me and angrily spanked me with the same butcher knife. Since that terrifying night, I don’t remember ever seeing her angrier than she was with my dad. Thinking back, this is my first childhood memory.

Another time, she almost cut off my thumb with the same knife. Now, I am getting ahead of the story. My mom was a small, wiry woman, barely weighing one hundred pounds, and she was timid in some situations. However, she could hold her own and was not afraid to tackle any situation. No man or creature big or small could intimidate her. She could build or repair anything, including building the little log house we lived in.

I don’t remember very much except being beaten many times, sometimes until I was unconscious. Living in a little log house in Cave Junction, I remember being tied to oak trees in the blazing southern Oregon sun without food for three or four days. Then, every time I brought a report card home, I would inevitably receive a beating and promptly be sent to my bedroom without any food. Emotionally, I was frustrated, terrified, and I felt unloved and unwanted. I felt alone against everyone in my world.

I never knew what action she might take. Often, as we were sitting at the dinner table, she would suddenly hit me in the face with her fist. Apparently, I did something that agitated her. What did I unconsciously do? Was I chewing food while talking with my mouth open? Did I have my elbows on the table? I never knew why I was being reprimanded and never received an explanation. Once, I reached across the table for the butter instead of politely asking for it to be passed to me. Immediately, she picked up the dreaded butcher knife, which she always kept within reach, and she whacked my thumb, almost cutting it off. Today, I still wear the scars on both thumbs from this and another attack from that horrid knife.

My whole childhood was lived in fear of the pain being inflicted on me. Often, I slept under my bed for fear that she would come and start beating me with her belt or anything handy. I could do nothing right and was yelled and cursed at all of the time. The one thing she incessantly said was, You are just like your dad. Because of her hatred for my dad and for men in general, her anger was always directed toward me—never toward my sister.

None of this helped my self-esteem or self-image. Besides the abuse, my peers made fun of me. My red hair, freckles, bucked teeth, and less than up-to-date clothing (due to lack of funds) gave my peers an excuse to enjoy taunting me.

When I was fifteen, I lived with my mother and sister in Phoenix, Arizona. At the middle school, I met Joe Guzman, who soon became my best friend. I was always hanging out at his house, enjoying the family atmosphere and his mother’s homemade tortillas and frijoles.

One day after having been beaten severely for some unknown reason, something snapped in me. It was then that I made up my mind that I would never allow myself to be beaten again by my mother or anyone else. As a result, I decided to run away. My plans were to catch a train to Happy Camp, California, where my uncle and aunt were living. There, I would be able to work in the woods with my cousins. However, that well-devised plan never came to fruition.

Instead, I decided to hang out on the streets of Phoenix for several days, sleeping and eating wherever. I hadn’t been in school, at Joe’s house, or with the Mexican gang that Joe and I ran with. That raised a question in Joe’s mind, and he was determined to find me. First, he went to my house