The following story provides a shining example of putting our faith in
God, testifying before the rulers of darkness, and standing until He
comes.
by Apostle Wild Bill
Monday evening I was pulled over by a man dressed in a State police uniform for driving with expired tags. I stepped out of the car, looked at the plates and said, "Those tags aren't expired; they're dead. There's no contract on them."
Next, he asked to see my driver's license or I.D. I told him I didn't have any I.D. and was in the process of revoking my license, but I wanted to do it lawfully. I told him my name, but he didn't believe me. It seems he puts more reliance on a computer printout, than in a man's word. He tried to identify me on their computer, but couldn't.
The officer kept trying to intimidate me, but I patiently explained that I was obeying Jesus Christ. I told him I could not honor a driver's license anymore because the State isn't my master, Jesus Christ is. He told me I was under arrest and proceeded to haul me off to jail. The policeman kept asking me questions, such as, "Where do you work?" I didn't answer his questions. Instead, I asked, "Why won't you let me serve Jesus Christ? Isn't this a Christian nation? Aren't we supposed to be able to serve our God? Congress shall make no law, not even a little law, regarding the free exercise of religion. I want to serve Jesus Christ and that's what I'm doing. You can't make me change my mind."
When we arrived at the jail, deputies quickly began confiscating my personal property. I would not sign the property list form. I wouldn't sign anything. I did not submit to mug shots or fingerprinting. Every hour or so for the next six hours they tried to persuade me to submit to processing. If I would just submit I could go home, they said. I told them I must serve Jesus Christ and kept on praying.
During my jail stay, I abstained from their food and water and did not wear their jail clothes. I was very grateful to my family who had a Bible delivered to me when they found out I was in jail. It let me know they knew where I was. I had not telephoned them and the jail had previously denied that they were holding me.
At 1:00 p.m. the next day (Tuesday), I went before the judge. He told me if I wouldn't submit to fingerprinting, I could just go back to jail and rot. The District Attorney had no charges against me.
Tuesday night I was still in the holding tank. The jailers attempted to break me down by offering a warm room with a color television, mattress and telephone if I would just submit to them. They told me a man had just been sentenced to 90 days for disobeying a judge. "You'll probably be in here for a long time."
I said, "You can keep me in jail, but Jesus Christ is in my heart and I am free. You guys are the ones in jail, not me. You might walk on the streets, but you're so tied up in the system, you're not free. You can hold me in here as long as you want. As long as I have Jesus Christ, you can't take my liberty away."
This confounded the jailers. Some of them started getting interested in what I was saying. As we continued to discuss the word of God, I believe some of these men were changed. One deputy questioned me about Romans 13. He said we are to obey the higher authorities - we're supposed to obey government. I said Jesus Christ is the higher authority. He's the One I obey.
The next morning (Wednesday) I was feeling pretty good. I would smile, read the Bible for awhile and then lay down. At about 2:00 p.m., they came to me and said the judge had changed his mind - I was being released. I had spent less than three days in jail.
As I was being released, they tried to hand me two traffic citations, but I wouldn't accept them. They finally decided to give them back to the officer who issued them. I thought that was a great idea.
They wanted me to sign the release papers. "I didn't sign in and I'm not signing out," I said. I began to wonder whether they would send me back to jail, but they went ahead and released me. To my surprise, there was God's hand. My family was out in the waiting room. They had come to visit me, but now they would take me home instead! +++