"My new life in Christ. Finally I am happy to live up to my name Shelemiah, the priest who was made treasurer of the treasures" (Nehemiah 13:13). The name means "friend of God." One business in accounting has sustained me for 51 years.

After one of five surgeries, life changed. I felt the presence of hands–one the left and on the right–but I couldn't see who they were. They began to escort me from my bed. While leaving, I looked back at my bed and saw my body, yet on the bed, being carried upward toward a light. The darkness felt like link cotton.

All of a sudden, my escort stopped. Seven sheets of my life came before me. Being rebellious, I remember how I walked away from the call of God. All of a sudden, my escort dropped me. While falling, I heard crying, wailing, and all sorts of sounds. The longer I fell, the hotter it got. It felt like I was inside a microwave. While in this trance, I touched my left arm to see if it would fall apart. Here I began to plead for my life, "Please don't let me fall any farther."

"The Scriptures came to me of a man who went to a wedding who did not have his wedding garments on" (Matthew 22:11-14). While pleading, I promise the Lord, "i will say what you want me to say. I will do what you want me to do. I will preach what you want me to preach."

I can truly say, with the almighty, nothing succeeds like failure.