"For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. . ." Numbers 23:9

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THE MOUNTAIN MESSENGER

January 2006
Volume 3..........................Number 1
Crum, West Virginia

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"They’re Alive . . . They’re Alive!!! Can’t You Hear The Church Bells . . . The Church Bells Are Ringing!!!"

By James E. Farley

Just after mid-night on January 4, 2006 people began streaming out of the Sago Baptist Church building where they had gathered to pray and comfort one another. Thirteen men had been trapped in the Sago Mine at Tallmansville, West Virginia for almost two days.

Seeing and hearing the people, Fox News veteran reporter, Geraldo Rivera, made his way up the hill toward the church house. People were cheering and yelling "They’re Alive!" Geraldo tried to get them to tell him who was reporting that they were found alive. Church bells began ringing . . . there was joyful crying, smiles on all faces, people laughing and rejoicing . . . embracing one another and literally jumping for joy! Geraldo ran to one of the family members and asked the young girl who her father was. He asked her what she was hearing. Through tears of joy she said, "The church bells are ringing!!!" Others chimed in . . . "Can’t you hear the church bells . . . They’re Alive!" At the church building a crowd broke out in singing "How Great Thou Art." Many could be seen with hands outstretched toward heaven, exclaiming "Thank you, Jesus!"

But sadly the reports were not true. It had been "unofficially reported" at the church house that the men had survived. It seems to have been started by an individual who was at the command center. He had overheard part of a conversation from the rescue team to the command center. The rescue team in the mine had found the group of men, and were checking for vital signs. They reported this to the command center where the man was gathered with several others. This man THOUGHT he heard that all the men were found alive, so he got on his cell phone and called some family members gathered at the Sago Baptist Church building. The man’s report to those at the church house was NOT TRUE, but the false report began to quickly spread like wildfire . . . It spread throughout the gathered crowd . . . throughout the close knit mining community of Tallmansville . . . then, via the national news media (live and on the air), it spread throughout the nation and the world.

Newspapers throughout the country took the false report and ran with it. As a result morning papers all across America had headlines like "ALIVE" . . . "MIRACLE IN THE MINE!" . . . "ALIVE, MINERS BEAT ODDS!" etc. But it was FALSE . . . false . . . all were dead with the exception of 27 year old Randal McCloy, Jr. who was taken to the hospital in Morgantown, WV and was in critical condition.

When the truth was known, newscasters on all the networks scrambled to make some sense of it all. One said, "Someone overheard something and they have gotten the facts all scrambled." Another said that the "euphoria was misguided." Still another reported that the initial news "had this mining community rejoicing . . then sadness . . . sadness and outrage . . . a moment of jubilation quickly turned to sadness."

West Virginia Governor, Joe Manchin, tried to make sure that the news was correct. He was in the church house with the families, and heard the euphoric shouting. He turned to aids in his detachment and asked if it was true . . . "Do we have any confirmation?" The answer came back to the governor. "No sir, we have no confirmation of this news." Governor Manchin stated that he and his team were "trying to figure out what was factual." He stated that "the rafters were coming down . . . the bells were ringing" in the little church house. People were overjoyed . . . the governor and his aids were trying to get some factual confirmation. Still, the governor admitted that he got caught up in the excitement and euphoria that the false report brought about. He said that he expected he was going to see these miners coming out of the mine. But then he added, "This is a horrible situation . . . just a gut wrenching situation."

When the truth was finally reported chaos broke out in and around the church house. It is reported that a fight broke out when one family member tried to get to a coal company official during a fit of rage. A dozen West Virginia State troopers from their SWAT team were detached and stationed around the church building. The Red Cross reported that people were "breaking down and suffering panic attacks." Several people being interviewed spoke angrily . . . openly and boldly about suing the coal company

I am not suggesting that anyone callously and maliciously spread this false news. Whoever started the false rumor may very well have had the best interest of all at heart. However, the fact remains . . . IT WAS STILL FALSE!

False Information Can Cause People To Be Moved . . . Even To Rejoice . . . Just As Quickly As The Truth Can!

It is obvious that people can hear a lie, believe it, and be moved to react to it as if it were true. In fact, lies are as powerful as the truth if they are believed. They can cause people to rejoice or to mourn.

Remember when Joseph was betrayed and sold into slavery by his own brothers? Remember the lie they told their father? They took Joseph’s coat and dipped it in goat’s blood. They told their father, Jacob, they found the coat and did not know whether it was Joseph’s or not. This misinformation caused Jacob to say, "It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces." Jacob mourned Joseph’s demise for many years . . . BUT IT WAS A LIE! (Genesis 37:31-36). Joseph was still very much alive!

A lie, when believed, can indeed move people to rejoice or to mourn. This is why the lie is Satan’s most valuable and most often used tool. By just inserting one word into what God had told the first couple, Satan changed everything. God had told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for the day they ate of it they would surely die. Satan simply said, "You will NOT surely die." (Genesis 3:4). Eve believed it and then so did her husband Adam. They ate of the fruit of the tree, and therefore sinned, because they believed a lie!

Oh yes, Satan is a liar . . . in fact, he is the father of lies! (John 8:44). He still uses them to deceive and cause people to be lost eternally. Furthermore, he has "ministers" who help him in his ungodly work. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). We must not be ignorant of his devices. If we are he will gain the advantage over us. (2 Corinthians 2:11). Do not be deceived . . . he is working today just as diligently as he always has!

Another good illustration of these truths can be seen in I Kings chapter 13. The kingdom divided when Jeroboam took ten of the tribes and formed a new government . . . with a new priesthood not from Levi, new places of worship, new feast days, etc. He devised these things "of his own heart" and it was sinful! (I Kings 12:25-33). Jeroboam himself began to offer sacrifices upon the altar he had built. In chapter 13 we read of a "man of God out of Judah" coming and cursing Jeroboam’s altar and his false worship. God had charged this "man of God" not to eat or drink, and that he was not to return by the same way he came. (13:9). But there was "an old prophet in Bethel" who went to the first prophet and ask him to come home with him to eat. The first prophet repeated the charge that God had given to him. (13:14-17). But the old prophet said, "I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. (I Kings 13:18-19). As a result of the first prophet believing the lie and responding in a false way, disobeying God, a lion killed and devoured him!

As tragic as the disaster at the Sago Mine was . . . and as sad and disappointed as the people were when they heard the truth . . . Just imagine how terrible it is going to be for people to go to a devil’s hell because of "misinformation" from some of Satan’s ministers! Think how angry, sad and disappointed some are going to be when they hear "Depart from me . . . I never knew you . . . Take just a few minutes to read and digest what is written in Matthew 7:15-29.

Like West Virginia’s Governor Manchin, we need to be people who want to know "what is factual." But . . . be careful, for if we are not careful, we too can be deceived and lured into euphoria by false reports and misinformation. Many among the denominations are rejoicing in falsehoods told to them by their preachers. They have been lied to concerning what one needs to do to be saved . . . and what one needs to do to stay saved. They have believed these lies of Satan and, like the folks gathered around the Sago Mine, they rejoice in these false reports!

Friends, the place we need to go in order to GET THE FACTS about what a person must do to be saved . . . and what we need to do in order to stay saved . . . IS THE WORD OF GOD . . . THE BIBLE IS RIGHT!!!

In all of the issues of THE MOUNTAIN MESSENGER I have listed GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION with the Scriptures listed for you to look up and read. PLEASE read this right now and look up each and every passage I have listed for you there.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (I John 4:1).

Friends, if we can help you in any way concerning these most important matters, please contact us. You may write to me at the address listed in this issue.

James E. Farley -To Contact Jim by email, click here