Permit me to introduce you to the gospel box cart. It was my home for five years. My gear was locked up inside it. Where I went, it went; and where it went I went with few exceptions through those years. The signs on its box were four sided at all times pointing four ways at once while the top of the gospel box cart was professionally messaged too.
This gospel message box was pushed into the face of oncoming traffic at the danger of the messenger's life, yet he lived to tell you this story. And no matter where he goes in this Country whether it be North, South, East or West; the story is always the same.
I was "DESPISED AND REJECTED" by church leaders everywhere who feared I would steal their congregations away with the zeal of the Bible truths I lived and represented. Thugs tried to rob me in the darkness of night. Pedestrians sighted me pushing the sign cart and though I must be selling something. Police fell on me like predators looking for Bibles for sale.
Trouble became a way of life for me to seek my way out of continually.
If a husband brought me to his home to bless me, his wife would rush me on my way for fear I would turn her man into an impoverished disciple for the sake of the Gospel and leave her with the burden of paying the bills.
Many a parent felt the same way when they saw me with their sons.
The Christian who would give a substantial donation to build the physical church when solicited would hardly consider giving an unsolicited gift for the good of the spiritual church when they saw my poverty even though the Lord was using the wayfaring man to feed them spiritually.
Few doors opened for fear of him becoming a financial burden.
Many other Christians thought my beliefs or I must be deficient to produce such a lifestyle while others seeing with more objectivity, thought it was wonderful what God was doing in my Life, but they had their own burden to bear and saw no need to help me bear the greater responsibility of sowing the good Word of God in public even though it is every believer's duty to promote the gospel.
There were times when I walked up to a church door and found it locked against my entry while services were going on. On other occasions pastors preached against me and the use of the gospel push cart with its message while I was seated with their congregation to worship the Lord with them in my travels.
When I began using amplified vehicles, they preached against their use too, although I never showed any intent to take their congregations from them and usually only made random visits to any particular church, so neither the pastors nor the congregation know anything about my beliefs.
There were times when I left a church building after the service and discovered a small donation slipped inside it. The giver did not want their right hand to know what their left hand was doing as the Scripture says and also did not want to be seen giving to anything to someone despised and rejected by their church.
When you take up the cross of a living sacrifice, you must expect persecution from hard core sinners, but it stunned my mind how Pharisees like those in the time of Jesus and Apostles, stood in the pulpits of this great nation and how God's people whom I dearly love; could be in so much darkness in regard to the practices of holiness and the need for messengers of the gospel to be supported in the work.
As years passed us by, it became increasingly clear the time had come when "THEY WOULD NOT ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE, BUT WOULD TURN THEIR EARS FROM THE TRUTH." Churchmen who do not read their Bible cannot obey what is in it nor is their zeal charged up as it should be to promote faith in Christ! Instead they are choosing the fashionable doctrines promoted by ear ticklers to fill the church pews in their services.
America is well on the way to the Apostasia of the Church spoken of by Saint Paul. This I saw in my gospel travels up and down this great Country over the decades as the Lord keeps me going and coming in his work.
The gospel box cart was a marvel of engineering. God provided the original design from a brother which was then improved upon over time as it continued to be upgraded by eight or nine others including myself. You can see it was a handsome box cleanly painted and tough so it came away with nothing more than a few scratches when some youngsters in a park pushed it down a long cement staircase with the intent of destroying it.
The exterior box cart had messages on all four sides, and an interior message board for smaller up close diagrams.
Inside the locking lid of the gospel cart was room for a sleeping bag, water, a little food, and water, Bible and Concordance, a few reading books, and a change of clothes, towel, shampoo, and other hygiene items and an autoharp in a sheath.
In these latter times, the foundations have been destroyed for preaching the Gospel. Vehicles drove by at high speeds with their windows rolled up and music filling their vehicles so they hear very little from outside with so much noise inside. So the little push cart with "REPENT, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND" on the front of it was pushed into long lines of traffic so many drivers could see the message John the baptist preached to Israelites in his day as a Prophet.
The secret power of the message is the anointing. When the anointing filled and overflowed me, the kingdom of God was at hand; and the Lord was able to speak through me. And there were times when souls were saved or a word of wisdom might be given.
A box cart was the answer for the wayfaring man who believed then and now that Jesus literally meant for his disciples to WALK IN THE SPIRIT and not ride until such time as they can no longer walk. In this way wayfaring men can hope to master the forgotten art of walking in the Spirit to manifest the divine nature in "VESSELS SUITABLE FOR THE MASTER'S USE." And so, this website library of instruction in the Light God gave me to preach the Gospel; has been provided for you to fulfill your potential in Christ.
The gospel box cart design looks quite simple, but it is not. The height is critical. It should be sized so the person pushing it is able to walk upright. The box cart you see in the photograph above had custom machined handlebars and rear axle a machinest designed and installed.
Combination locks are better on the lid in case of robbery. Keys can be stolen, but the memory of the combination is locked away in the head of the owner of the box. Furthermore, there are many wearing badges with as much respect for your rights to preach the gospel in the public as they have for an ant beneath their feet. And they will take the keys out of your pocket to open and search the contents of a gospel cart even though they have no probable cause nor legal right to do so. So combination locks are better.
The first set of rear wheels was found stashed in the garage of a neighbor when we were experimenting to find out what might work. He was a fellow who gathered things along the way as he ran his lawn maintenance route. He was kind enough to contribute them to the gospel cause and when they proved to be good for the box cart, and were worn out; replacements were ordered by phone to be Federal Expressed for a hundred dollars a wheel. They were good for two to three thousand miles.
A solid made of iron wheel was initially used for hundreds of miles on the front of the box cart, but it caught in ruts unannounced and the entire box cart would fly into the air like a mule kicking and pull me and itself over into an embarrassing situation with contents spilling out.
Its replacement was an air filled rubber tire acting as a shock absorber over bumps on the sidewalk while eliminating the constant noises a solid wheel made.
Spare tires and inner tubes were on board the box cart for years but the tire was so well made it never required servicing of any kind.
Meanwhile, the box cart was pushed along sidewalks in fifteen to twenty cities where pedestrians and drivers could read the Bible messages on it from almost any angle. Since I lived outdoors to preach the Gospel for sixteen years, five of them while pushing the Gospel box cart; it was on duty 24/7 as an advertisement. If someone came upon my camp in the night, they would see the John the Baptist message. If I took a break inside a fast food restuarant to study my Bible and minister to people inside, the message on the box cart spoke to customers coming and going.
The reason so much emphasis is placed on my being a wayfaring man (Isaiah 35:8) is the difference in purpose. A street preacher is usually employed and housed. A street preacher witnesses and preaches a few hours a week at the most without "HUNGERING AND THIRSTING AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT" to read the Word and preach, pray and praise God in the anointing. The wayfaring man sometimes preached fifty hours a week and stayed up all night in what the Apostle referred to as "VIGILS".
Some of the more aggressive and committed street preachers organized from home offices and traveled at their own expense around the country to preach what I call the parties. Marti Gras, the Grand Prix, the Oscars, etc. And though there are huge crowds at some of these events along with the Media, the multitudes are not there to have their fun interupted by someone shouting at them about the judgment of God and what miserable sinners they are. So those preachers of contention mentioned in the Scriptures make a bad name for the gospel and ought to be avoided.
The anointing of the Lord manifests the fruit of the Spirit of divine Love, Joy, Peace, along with all of the virtue of Christ so a vessel suitable for the Master's use does not condemn sinners to a hell they don't know for sure exists. Preachers of contention usually do not have ears to hear, so you are wasting time trying to convince them there is a better way. If they see you are not armed with their carnal weapons of evangelism and participating with them, they will condemn you for lukewarmness and unfaithfulness toward the Lord and will not hear entreaties from bystanders telling them they are turning people off to the gospel.
There is a tremendous difference in having Jesus working through a completely set apart disciple and a Christian passing out tracts or preaching in the flesh. There were times when the power of God in the wayfaring man was so strong individuals committed their life to God immediately and others exclaimed wide eyed that I was an angel of God.
The Lord tells us in the Holy Scriptures: "THE SOWER WENT FORTH SOWING THE WORD," of God, not his religious opinions.
During the years the Gospel was proclaimed up and down the United States and down into Mexico, the Lord blessed the wayfaring man to partake of his divine nature. as well as preach, pray and praise God in the Spirit of the anointing. The beauties of holiness kept him motivated to continue in the path. Treasures were stored up in the Spirit that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things God has prepared for those who love Him.
"THE LABORERS ARE FEW".
Poverty was a constant companion. There were months where the amount of cash on hand did not amount to more than twenty dollars. Showers were extremely hard to come by. If Christians donated anything from their resources, it was usually a hand me down. If they provided a little food, it was hastily prepared. Seldom was I invited into the homes of believers lest I become a regular burden to their way of thinking. Any attempt to teach secular believers a better way was resisted immediately. After all, who would want to learn what the Lord has taught me so they could be impoverished and their faith challenged like mine?
The police were not always respectful of the wayfaring man's freedom of religion. Any rights he ought to have enjoyed were disregarded time and time again as he moved on from one jurisdiction to another, and from one city to another.
Two officers literally stole the box cart by ordering a flatbed truck to haul it off to the police department and store it as non-evidence. A Chistian lawyer threatened the City Attorney with a big money law suit and the sign cart was returned the same day.
The wayfaring man pushed the sign cart eight to ten miles a day, six days a week preaching, praying and praising God along the way. In the holiness lifestyle, the disciple does not tell jokes or talk the world, but his focus is only on God and his Word. Many times there were visitations of the Spirit particularly at the end of the day when he was weak, and the Lord became strong in him. We are told in Holy Scripture: "MY STRENGTH IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS,". (2 Corinthians 12:9)
So while street preachers were eating on their missions, the wayfaring man was hungering and thirsting after righteousness that he might be filled with the Spirit of the Lord.
"THE GREAT MYSTERY OF GODLINESS" will become better understood in the world to come when the Lord of glory rules and reigns upon a war free earth to teach his people his ways.
Meanwhile, if you wish to be first among God's people, you will have to be last among them. "FOR MANY OF THE FIRST SHALL BE LAST, BUT THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST." Jesus taught. If you wish to be honored in the world to come, you will have to be "DESPISED AND REJECTED" in this world. If you wish to enjoy "UNSPEAKABLE JOY" you will have to become a "MAN OF SORROWS" in this world like Jesus who said "OH WICKED AND PERVERSE GENERATION, HOW LONG WILL I BE WITH YOU?"
Seek the Lord for his perfect will in your life and do it as perfectly today as is possible and tomorrow you should be able to do even better. Set about in the conquest of your darkness of self that you might enter into the Light of Christ doing his perfect will.
And if you happen to encounter one of those extremely rare wayfaring men in this world, consider seriously what his needs might be. Jesus just may be walking in him to preach his Gospel. And if you find yourself desiring to embrace him or to shake his hand, remember you are not supposed to touch the Lord's anointed lest you quench the Spirit of holiness.
The links below contain WAYFARING MAN DOCUMENTS recovered from the hundreds produced in those years of outdoor living and ministry. Since he was traveling and was not stationary with a headquarters, and was dealing with people on a transitory basis rather than as a shepherd ministering to the same flock weekly, and since the wayfaring man was constantly outside in the storms; many of his documents were destroyed or are in the possession of those who have no present contact with him. Yet we have a few on hand for your edification and believe they will provide a more vivid picture of the work that went on for so many years.
May God bless you mightily. Amen.