In my last blog, you read about my Brother, Dr. Charles Fraley, and how he was caught in Satan’s web of deception.  Today you will read the conclusion of his powerful testimony and learn how he was able to overcome his spiritual defeat!  This is the continuation of the testimony of Dr. Charles Fraley…

A Lesson To Be Learned –

I am going to digress for a moment because there is an important lesson that anyone who claims to be a Christian can learn from my experience. Although God is merciful and long-suffering, there comes a time when He expects us to clean up our lives, and the sooner the better! Otherwise, He will have to do it for us, which may require walking through some deep valleys that we will not like. 

As a physician, I often had to assist Christians, including pastors and religious leaders, with personal problems. These are usually matters they do not want to share with others. Often it is secret sins that trip us up. It takes a humble Christian to admit he has a problem and to seek help. This is partly because many are too proud to admit they have a spiritual problem. When God says we are to come out of the ways of the world and be separate, He means that and for good reason. “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ ‘Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’ Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1).

Spiritual Defeat

I had been deceived by the enemy and fallen prey to worldly attractions. To deliver me from this, the Lord opened my spiritual eyes. When He did, I realized I had been walking in disobedience since finishing medical school. I was devastated. From my youth I had always had such a strong desire to serve the Lord.

I could not believe I had gotten so far out of the Lord’s will. But it happened! I had been active in church during this time. I had studied the Word of God and spent time in prayer, but my disobedience to a direct command from the Lord allowed the enemy to deceive me. After realizing I had fallen into deception, I began to seek the Lord with all my strength and with a true heart of repentance. I sought the Lord for a new filling of the Holy Spirit and the power to walk with Him according to His will as I had once experienced. I put forth every ounce of my being seeking God for seven months, studying the Word, meditating, praying and worshiping Him in a state of repentance. I also sought the Lord in regard to why so many Christians seemed to be living such defeated lives.

At the end of this time, my family and I went on a vacation. I had decided to spend this time fasting and praying—seeking the Lord—still in a spirit of repentance. I was determined not to stop until I knew that the fullness of the Holy Spirit had once again been released in my being. Halfway through the second week of our vacation, I awoke one night and knew the presence of the Lord was in the room with me. I began to have visions similar to the one when the Lord called me to become a doctor.

The first vision was that of a large head of a “beast” hovering over America. It was devouring Christians almost at will. The Spirit of the Lord showed me that this beast represented the power of materialism and pleasure in our country. It was swallowing up Christians by spiritually deceiving and then overcoming them through the influence of the materialistic and pleasure-seeking lifestyles that had developed in our society. Those Christians who were being overcome were hardly aware of what was happening.

I was convicted that this is what the enemy used to tempt, deceive and then conquer me in my spiritual walk. It was why so many had become apathetic toward the deterioration of the biblical standards in our country. This was also why numerous Christian families were experiencing major defeats, with thousands suffering hurt and pain.

I want to make clear that the Lord did not show me that it is wrong to have material things or enjoy wholesome pleasure. Rather, what He revealed to me was how the enemy is using our society to create an abnormal desire for material things and pleasure. He knows that if Christians become over-committed to everyday affairs, we will lose our spiritual discernment. We will no longer function as the salt of the earth and the light of the world, which we are called to be. Many of us fail to see that we are in the middle of a spiritual war that has produced self-centered, self-serving people. The attitude of the heart is the focus of God’s warning through this vision. The commitment of Christians to satisfying their everyday wants has taken precedence over their commitment to obey God’s standards. This is the sin that is taking us out from under the hedge of God’s protection and is diluting the power media—television, movies, press, Internet, etc., something the Christian community has never had to contend with.

That first vision of a beast hovering over America, attacking Christians, was confirmed by the Holy Spirit giving me several other visions of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures tell us the Holy Spirit always testifies of Jesus. In these I was shown how Jesus was willing to pay a tremendous price by going to the cross for the salvation of mankind. He was a disciplined person who would let nothing deter Him from His call. I was also shown the great love Jesus has for mankind, and that He was standing at the door of my heart, knocking, wanting to come in and re-establish the Lord’s will in my life.

All of these visions had a profound impact on me. Through them the Holy Spirit was showing me what had caused my deception, and that Jesus did not deserve the kind of treatment I had given Him. I could now see how I had become neglectful, disobedient and unfaithful. Through deception the enemy had me on a path of falling away from living a biblically based Christian life. 

Since the time of these visions, I have walked with a certain holy fear that has helped me follow His commandments. I consider it a great privilege to do so. It actually resulted in my following through with the Lord’s first directive to serve the people in Africa, which has been very joyful. My wife and I first went to Tanzania for a year and then to Kenya, where we served for 29 years. I recently was required to retire from the mission field as I had reached the age of 70. 

These spiritual teachings about deception that came from the visions the Lord gave me must be taken seriously. If we are not alert and ready— if we have become slothful in our commitment—we could be in for a big surprise as the events of these last days unfold. Not only that, but we may already be caught in the web of deception. The majority of Christians in America are not prepared to stand against the spiritual attacks that are taking place daily to control the hearts and minds of American people. 

There is no greater privilege than to know and serve Jesus. He paid a tremendous price for our salvation and has every right to expect that we would seek to fulfill the directive given to us in Romans 12:1-2. It reads, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God— which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Dr. Fraley’s Ministry 

This concludes my brother’s testimony. Before I move on, I want to add the following about how the Lord used him in Africa after his repentance and restoration. It’s a thrilling follow-up. 

Dr. Charles Fraley, M.D., and his wife, Marlene, R.N., served the Lord on the mission field in Africa for 30 years. He became the medical coordinator & executive director of a large health ministry in Kenya. His list of responsibilities was almost endless. He and his wife shared the love of Christ as he oversaw five hospitals and established more than 50 health centers and dispensaries throughout the country. 

Dr. Fraley delivered supplies, checked on patients and performed surgery. He assisted in administration, teaching of staff and encouraging each facility. His duties required him to spend many days away from home, traveling dirt, rock and sand roads. He also faced risk from African tribes and wild animals, which sometimes posed life-threatening dangers. In addition, when he went into the bush country, he lived as the natives, eating their food, and often sleeping in his vehicle or under the stars. 

He and his wife were involved in building a new hospital and establishing a nursing school on one of the largest mission stations of its kind in the world—the African Inland Mission Station in Kijabe, Kenya. It provides some of the highest-quality healthcare of any mission hospital in East Africa. The quality of training he helped develop at the nursing school is as good as any in Western civilization. All staff members in this health ministry must profess Jesus as Lord and Savior, and maintain high Christian standards. 

Dr. and Mrs. Fraley also assisted and worked with the Kenyan government in obtaining licenses for many of the long-and short-term missionary doctors and nurses entering the country. He participated with missionaries from different missions organizations in Bible study and prayer groups. He was the attending physician for missionaries of all denominations that came into the country, and sat on the Board of Mission for Essential Drugs for 10 years, an organization he helped establish to get medicines at cost for Mission Health Services. He served as board member and vice treasurer of the Christian Health Association of Kenya for 10 years. This organization was developed to serve all of the Protestant Health Services in Kenya, consisting of some 260 units. 

The president of Kenya asked the health ministries that my brother oversaw to take over a major health center in a remote area of the country among the poor. He agreed to do this, not only to meet the desperate needs of these people, but also because it would be a great opportunity to share the love and salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of the 57 health units under his direction minister to the poor and needy in remote areas. 

I have barely scratched the surface of all that happened over the years he spent on the mission field. God blessed them to lead a team of committed Christians to work with in developing these many ministries. Only the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit could have given a man the strength to accomplish everything he did. 

My brother and his wife are among those godly servants who forsook their family ties, material possessions, home and country to follow the call of our Lord Jesus to serve the poor and needy of the world. They labored selflessly, day in and day out, to share the love of Jesus. They stood the test of time in their obedience and faithfulness. 

Restoration and Revival 

Stories illustrating Satan’s use of deception can be counterbalanced by accounts of repentance, restoration and incredibly fruitful lives. This is not only God’s desire for individuals, but for our once-great nation as well. My constant prayer is for another moving of God’s Spirit that will touch the churches of our land, and in turn profoundly affect America for the good. As there were periodic times of revival in Old Testament Israel that saved a generation or even two, I believe this can happen in our day as well. For the sake of our children and grandchildren and countless lost souls who have yet to experience the healing touch of Jesus, I pray for a mighty spiritual reawakening that shakes our country to its core. Such a time of renewal would once again allow God’s people in this land the privilege of being salt and light as our Lord and Savior preached. 

The battle rages. What the outcome will be, I can’t rightfully say. I only know that the enemy is not going to back off in his attacks. Like it or not, we are living in a spiritual war zone. As with my brother, who came to his senses, some of you may find this to be a jarring revelation.

In the next blog, I will be discussing Jesus’ prophecy of deception in America.  These important warnings should be known by all, and especially by all Christians in America.

Watch for Part 1 of “Jesus’ Prophecy of Deception in America” on October 11^th, 2010.

Tags: America, beast, Biblical standards, Christians, commitment, conform, conquer, deceive, deception, Holy Spirit, idols, lesson, Lord's will, materialism, repentance, Revelation, sacrifice, spiritual attacks, spiritual defeat, tempt