Saints in a Serendipitous World

By Dr. Joseph L. Eddings

This is the triumphant story of a man who came from nothing but had everything. Joseph L. Eddings came from the poverty-stricken backwoods of Asheville, North Carolina, in 1935. He overcame so many obstacles in his life and still led hundreds of people to Jesus Christ. He overcame poverty, attempted murder, molestation, divorce, and even himself. The closer he got to the Lord, the closer the Lord got to him. Throughout all his trials and tribulations, he realized that the Lord had been walking with him his whole life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887934150

Book preview

cover.jpg

Saints in a Serendipitous World

Dr. Joseph L. Eddings Sr.

Copyright © 2023 Dr. Joseph L. Eddings Sr.

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2023

ISBN 979-8-88793-410-5 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-88793-415-0 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

To Edward Macully, Michael Porter Jr., Crystal Porter, Jason Dallas, Jordan Dallas, Hayden E. Holmes, Harlow E. Holmes, and in true agape love, my Christian friend, nurse, caregiver, and minister Karen Lynn Otto, ThD, of Promise Christian University

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

About the Author

To Edward Macully, Michael Porter Jr., Crystal Porter, Jason Dallas, Jordan Dallas, Hayden E. Holmes, Harlow E. Holmes, and in true agape love, my Christian friend, nurse, caregiver, and minister Karen Lynn Otto, ThD, of Promise Christian University

Chapter 1

Father, I thank you for creating me. Jesus, I thank you for saving me. Holy Spirit, I thank you for teaching me. One day, I just want to hear, Well done, my good and faithful servant (Matt. 25:21)! Being confident in this, that he who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6; Eph. 5:19), I come to you singing songs of praise!

Lord, I know they all have healing, 'cause you inhabit my praises! Songs are my companion. Songs lift me up. Songs have healing, and songs have taught me. Songs conquer all my fears—fear of dying, of darkness, and of the devil. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord God!

Jehovah Nissi: The Lord Is My Banner of Victory

Lord, I thank you for all the saints you have put in my life: my spiritual grandmother, Eddings, who is a witness and an encourager, and my great aunt Ruth, from whom I heard about Jesus! Now I had others who nursed me, who fed me, and who gave me a place to lay my head.

I had lots of great teachers, coaches, and spiritual leaders, such as Billy Graham, with whom I grew up just a few miles in Asheville—I heard God's invitation to come to Jesus at an early age—Dr. E. W. McCall, who taught me the MasterLife program, how to make disciples, and Chuck Swindoll's men's group Promise Keepers and his class Searching the Scriptures; pastor and teacher Jack Hayford's the Church on the Way, where we praise God in song; and John C. Maxwell, who modeled and taught me leadership.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for being my true teacher.

The Helper, The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (John 14:26)

Chapter 2

Welcome to the World of Serendipity

Is it a world of chances, choices and covetousness, and free will? Serendipity is when you meet a person who becomes your spouse because your train is late. That's the seventeenth law of the universe. Serendipity states that the universe bends in our direction by providing us with seemingly accidental circumstances that we call good luck. Serendipity is when one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.

The thrill of growing up, all the world before you, and growing with imagination is the most beautiful feeling in the world. I have a love for nature and the spirit of song in my heart! I love music, whether it's produced by nature or man or just in my heart. In my young life, I wanted and longed to be loved. I wanted to love someone.

Now this is a true story about two saints in a serendipitous world. Let's begin with the first: a tall black man and a tall, beautiful, blond white woman. He's seventy-seven years of age versus her age of fifty years. He's a California Democrat, and she's a Georgia Republican. He's an evangelist, and she's a-religious. Lastly, he's given two months to live by his doctor, and she is a vibrant professional nurse.

Growing up, I needed parental guidance, or mentorship. The models I had were, believe it or not, those in the black barbershop. There, the older men would hang out. As a young boy, you could hear every subject from sports to sex and the latest local news—all done with respect knowing there was a young man in the shop.

The barbershop became a refuge for black men to escape humiliation. There was no spiritual leader in my house. Every child longs for the feeling of belonging to a group or a family. There were periods or stages in my teens or early adult life when I chose not to obey my conscience when I had out-of-body experiences. It seemed as if I was looking down at my body, and I was always struggling to return to my physical body!

Falling from a great height was very common to the point where I didn't sleep, especially at night! But the Lord saw to it that I would have an angel in every step of my life. I have encountered and experienced angels in the physical many times in my life. We know saints are the Ecclesia, the called-out ones!

At a very early age, there was urgency, longing, and expectancy in my spirit! The revelation from God gave me a love for nature, and his inspiration was for me to love people, not things!

Chapter 3

Jehovah Makkeh The Lord Who Molds Me

On July 12, 2021, I realized that this was my eighty-fifth birthday! Praise God! Lord, I never dreamed I would reach the golden age of eighty-five. In fact, at this very moment, I wondered, where did all the years go? Lord, did I serve you? Lord, did I use my time wisely? Lord, did I fulfill the purpose that you created me for?

As I reflect on my life's journey this far, the Lord has been transforming me from day one to the present. I know that in Isaiah 43:21, it says, The people whom I formed for myself, that they might declare praise to God. I was formed to give you glory and honor, Jehovah Eloheenu, the Lord Our God!

Asheville, North Carolina

I was born on July 12, 1935, in Ashville, North Carolina. What a beautiful city—the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains, the fields of flowers, an array of flowers, in the spring, the trees that begin to blossom, and the sound of chirping birds. Chirping birds have returned! From the spring migration of birds, the cold winter has passed, and it's summertime! No more snow, and no more sweaters. More swimming, baseball, campfires, and muskmelons. The city begins to swell with tourists from all over the country and the world. I love the city of Asheville.

In my very, very humble beginnings, in my house—I said house, not home—we lived in three or four different run-down shacks, or shotgun houses. They had a lot in common—no central heating and no indoor plumbing, but we did have an outhouse. Lamplights at night in the summer were a mosquito's delight.

Due to freezing winter nights, Mom papered the cracks in the walls with newspapers to stop the freezing-cold air from coming through the cracks. We drew water in large broilers, 'cause the water pipes would freeze overnight.

There were one or two kerosene lamps, our only source of light at night. As a young child, every night was scary with gloomy shadows. Actually, when the wind blew at night, strange sounds entered a young child's imagination, which was a traumatizing experience! Darkness, ghosts, haunts, and evil spirits were in every dark corner! Those were some of my first phobias, which lasted almost a lifetime!

I had no father in the house, only my mom. No, I never said the word daddy! I became a bed-wetter, sometimes called a pissant. "Boy, if you don't stop wetting the bed, I am going to