I have known Ken Uptegrove for over twenty years and have seen
him develop from a serious Bible student into a serious Bible researcher. He has
great depth of insight into the Word of God. He cares about the local church and
the Church Universal. He is committed to the truth and will go to great lengths
to see it revealed.
This
book is a culmination of years of research into church history, Christian
theology, and Christian apologetics: research done in order to help make clear
the important things of God’s kingdom. He is careful to be sensitive to all, but
will not step on truth to please them. He has consulted me, and others, because
he wanted things not only to be clear but correct.
Ken
Uptegrove is a prophet and a visionary, not a prophet like Isaiah or Jeremiah,
but one who can still be called a seer. He is a person who is able to see the
kind of kingdom that God has for His people. Ken’s prophetic vision of recovery
is best described by Wellington Boone where, in reference to Joel 2:28, he said:
The
Lord has a vision, and by the Holy Spirit, He is pouring out His vision and His
dreams upon his people. When we dream, we are dreaming that which is in the
heart of God for His people as a part of the last day outpouring. God is
achieving His visions, plans, sights, and goals through a people whom He has
sensitized to Himself. He is achieving them through a people whose hearts He has
touched and who are embracing His purposes, a people who burn for Him so
intensely that they do not want to live for anything other than to see the will
of God fulfilled. They have gone even beyond wanting to just see it fulfilled
out in the earth. They want to be involved in the fulfillment of the ages, and
the culmination of God’s visions and dreams.
—
Wellington Boone1
This book demonstrates Ken’s involvement in the
prophetic vision described by Wellington Boone.
Ken challenges us to be overcomers in the Kingdom and
dares us to stretch our faith as far as we can. At the present time I am not
able to meet his challenge, and the challenge of many others, to fast for forty
days. Even so, I pray it may happen in my life. It is an attainable goal.
Too
many times teachers and other church leaders have called for overcomers. They
have said that overcomers are a special class of Christians — far ahead of the
rest of us. Consequently, many of us in the church feel like second-class
citizens. I think you and I will be encouraged to hear Ken’s definition of an
overcomer in this book: “The overcomers are not some special breed or class.
They are simply people from every generation who overcame the shortcomings found
in each of the seven churches. Because they overcame these shortcomings they
were promised wonderful privileges that are not promised to other Christians.”
I
recommend this book as a must reading for all Christians as we seek the Lord before His
Second Coming.
May
God continue to bless you, my brother,
Charles A. Schism, M.Div., Th.D.
Footnote:
1.
Excerpt from Visions and Dreams, an article by Wellington
Boone, published in The Morning Star Journal, Charlotte, NC,
Vol. 9, No. 3, 1999.
Was
that interesting? There is so much more in this chapter that you will
want to read. Is this a good time to order the book?
