Shore Leave In Naples

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

I was up in Wisconsin visiting family,  from my mother's side of the family. She was born and raised in Central Wisconsin, In a little town called Wautoma. We stayed with my Aunt and Uncle Jerry and Nancy Mankowski, who are still living on the old dairy farm.

One afternoon on the kitchen table Jerry is telling stories about his Navy days. He served for the USS Wadleigh in the fifties. The Wadleigh was a small destroyer. Jerry told us a story about when he got shore leave in Naples, Italy.

This was not long after World War II and all the devastation that entailed! Jerry in a couple of friends with the town in Naples. They got a hotel room for three days and two nights for only ten dollars! It was a very nice hotel. But after World War II, not a lot of tourists were going to Italy because of the war devastation.

Jerry and his friends partied in the town and had a nice supper that evening. They said the meat and their food tasted kind of strange. After the shore leave was over, They started talking with some of the guys on the ship. They said a lot of restaurants in Italy are still using dog and rat meat in their food. 

Jerry and his friends did not understand how poor the Italians were after World War II. In order to get by they would use marginal meats and just not tell anybody about it. The mayonnaise would make no mention of what type of meat it actually was! But that's okay It didn't kill him!

William James Roop

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Drew's Meeting With God

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

I was offloading my one and only load for the day, at Goodman Manufacturing. I deliver to them all of their Freon, that they use for the factory for the manufacturing of their air conditioners.

Drew and I were talking, well mostly Drew was talking. Drew is a middle ages white guy who is about anti-government as they come! They told me a story about his encounter with God. This happened years ago when he was twenty-seven years old, he is about fifty today. 

He testified to me, "I got up early in the morning my wife was still asleep, so I got up and made coffee, and went out into the garage. That's when I heard the voice of God. It was a very soothing voice, but at the same time, very authoritative."

He started talking to Drew and Carrie not a conversation. At this time Drew was a very conservative Christian. So he was wanting to discern the spirit. So he said that this is a false spirit! "I rebuke it in the name of Jesus Christ," he proclaimed!

The voice said, "I cannot rebuke myself." So Drew was convinced this was the voice of God! This voice told him that he would be a teacher later in life. Drew said this was his first and only supernatural experience with God.

William James Roop

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

Booze Under The Rumble Seat

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

The great things about visiting relatives is that you can ask them questions about your family history. And you can hear the stories that your parents didn't want to tell you!  That's the good stuff!

My Uncle Jerry is at the kitchen table where he tells the stories. He told me about my grandfather, and now he ran moonshine for Al Capone crime family in Chicago during the wild thirties.

My grandfather had a Pontiac coupe with rumble seats in the back. Underneath the rumble seats was a large empty area. You couldn't see what was under the rumble seat when the rumble seat was closed. That made a great hiding place for booze!

So my grandfather would drive from South Chicago, to a coffee shop somewhere in North Chicago, where he would park across the street, and park his car in the direction that he was wanting to go, which would be south. That told the mobsters that they needed to load full bottles of booze to go south

My grandfather would sip coffee coffee shop until the manager would come out and nod his head. That meant that he was ready to go. So my grandfather would leave the coffee shop, get into his car, and head south to South Chicago where he would stop at another coffee shop.

At this coffee shop he would park across the street pointing north, telling them that he had full booze to be unloaded, and needed to be reloaded with empty bottles. After he was done for the night he grabbed two or three hours sleep and go to his daytime job shoveling loose asbestos! No mask, no breathing air, no nothing back in those days.

My grandfather was paid five dollars a trip by the Capone crime family. That made ten dollars a night total. Making ten dollars a night during the Great Depression in the thirties was a lot of money! That was back in the days when people would try to sell an apple for a nickel! So if you were making ten dollars a night, you are making good money!

When Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion by the Untouchables, and put in prison, my grandfather decided it was time to get out of town. So my grandparents bought a dairy farm in Central Wisconsin, and settled down as a country farmers. He farmed  for the rest of his life, and we were sitting in the kitchen table in the old family farmhouse.

William James Roop

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

Swimming In The Mediterranean

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

I was up in Wisconsin with my wife and mother, visiting my mother's family, who still lives up there. We were staying with my Aunt and Uncle, Jerry and Nancy Mankowski, who are still living in the old farmhouse.

One afternoon we are sitting around the kitchen table telling stories. Jerry was telling about his old Navy days back in the fifties.  He served on the destroyer USS Wadleigh, DD 689. Wild board that ship they went on a Mediterranean cruise.

They stopped in many ports throughout the Mediterranean when they were there. One of the places they went was off the coast of Israel and Lebanon. Country of Lebanon was having political issues. The USS Wadleigh was assigned to cruise, very slowly, at only five knots an hour, up and down the coast of Lebanon and Israel.

Those two countries are very small so going very slow is not a problem. While they're sailing up the coast, the captain ordered crew swimming! That means the crew can take turns jumping into the sea for a swim. Times of cruise swimming was very popular among the crew. It was also very rare for that captain to give that order. 

Uncle Jerry has a lot of stories from his Navy days, it seems it was a good memory for him. I can understand that I spent four years in the United States Air Force in the eighties, and I have lots of good memories from those days as well.

William James Roop

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Cooning Melons

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

I had flown up to Wisconsin with my mother, and wife, to visit my mother's brother, my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Nancy.. We did a lot sitting around and talking the whole week. Life there is very slow!

One afternoon we were all around the kitchen table telling stories. Jerry was telling most of the stories since he's a good storyteller. Both Jerry and my mother both told a story of them cooning melons from the neighbor.

The neighbor across the lake reported my grandfather had a gun that he not was allowed to have. The sheriff came by the farm and confiscated the gun. Ever since then my grandfather and this neighbor across the lake was on bad terms.

So two of his kids, my uncle Jerry and my mother Bernadine, both teenagers at the time, decided to coon some of his melons. That neighbor had twenty acres of watermelons, just on their saw the lake from the family farm.

So that summer they would go by rowboat across the lake and coon some watermelons. Cooning is going at night, and to the fields, and stealing fruits of a farmers crop. In this case it was watermelon.

They would row in the rowboat across the lake, take some melons, and as they rowed back across the lake, they ate the melons and threw the remains in the lake. So they had the fun of stealing the melons, eating the melons, and then getting rid of the evidence down to the bottom of the lake.

Sounds kind of bad, but those are just country kids having a good time. The twenty acres of melons produced thousands of watermelons, and a handful didn't make any difference. But I imagine it was lots of fun rowing across the lake at night.

Have you ever cooned watermelons or anything else? Can you tell him us about it in the comments section? If you enjoyed this story, you can click on the "follow" button at the top of the page to catch all future stories.

William James Roop

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

They Are Always Looking Up

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

My mother, my wife, and I flew  to Wisconsin, to spend a week with my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Nancy. They live in small town called Wautoma, in Central Wisconsin. They live on the old family farmhouse.

We were all sitting around the kitchen table and Jerry was talking about ice fishing. Ice fishing is a very big activity here in Wisconsin.

Because of ice fishing rules in Wisconsin is no more than three holes and one pole per hole. Well you have one hole in three poles. They guys around there always cut out three holes with one pole and one tip-up per pole. So one fisherman can only have three tip-ups at a time.

They told us that the game warden can drive the top of the hill, and from his car with his binoculars, look to see how many tip-ups you may have. If you have too many tip-ups, you'll get a big fine!

He told us they us live fish on the hooks, and let them flop around. He said the big northerns pikes that they like to catch, just sit at the bottom of lake and look up all the time. They're always looking up. Because that's where the sick fish go. When fish that are sick, they swim to the top of the lake to get more oxygen. Those big northerns will swim up and eat them!

So they put their bait in the water connected to a tip-up. When the fish swims up take the bait, the tip up will be pulled up. When you see your tip-up go from laying down, to straight up, you know you have a fish at the end.

You then walk over to the hole, grab the tip-up, and then hook the fish really good. Very slowly, pull on the line, and pull the fish up out of the water, and up through the hole. Then you're free to save the fish, or eat it on the spot.

Fisherman in Wisconsin have these little wooden shacks that are heated, have TVs, and radios, and they pull them on the ice. So while they're waiting for a tip-up, they can hang-out comfort. They have portable stoves for heating or cooking their freshly caught fish.

Have you ever been ice fishing? Can you tell us about it in the comment section? If you like these stories, and want to catch on again you can click on the follow button I could talk with the page.

William James Roop

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Care and Dying 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Signs All Around

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

I was up in Central Wisconsin this summer visiting family and friends. I was with my mother and my wife. My mother was born and raised there and still has lots of family there.

We stayed with my Aunt and Uncle, Nancy and Jerry Mankowski. One day I was walking down to the old milk house with Jerry. We were going down to his windmill to drink some water. When he started telling me about his predictions for winter.

You said the berry bushes were full of berries. He said the bushes are all berries late in the summer, he'll know we'll have a cold winter this year.  You sit at the squirrels and muskrats are busy and late summer That's also a sign of a cold winter coming up.

Jerry also showed me the ants on the ground. He said look at the ends how they're building around the wall around their nest hole.  He said when the ants do that you can expect lots of rain coming up soon. He said that they are preparing for it now.

Jerry said you just have to look around and you can see the signs of coming rain or of a coming hard cold winter. He said the signs are all around you just have to keep your eyes open to it. Tell me the Indians did that for hundreds of years, the signs are there for us as well.

William James Roop

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Ascension

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

I received this in a text from a friend.  He found it on the net.

When will the church be taken up to heaven in the face of great tribulation?

The Answer:

The timing of the church's ascension to heaven is one of the most controversial issues among Christians today.  There are basically three theories about this:

!.  Before the tribulation (the ascension of the church to heaven will take place before the last tribulation)

2.  In the midst of the tribulation Seeds.

 3.  After the tribulation (the ascension of the church will take place after the last tribulation).

4. The fourth doctrine is commonly known as "before the wrath" which is a slightly modified version of the second doctrine (the doctrine of the church being raised in the midst of trouble).  First of all, it is very important to know the purpose of the last trouble.  According to Daniel 9:27, there is still a period of seventy "weeks" (seven years) to come.  And Daniel's Seventy Week Prophecy (Daniel 9: 20-27) speaks entirely of Israel.  This will be the time when God will focus on Israel in particular.  In the same way, the seventy weeks, the last tribulation, must be the time when God will deal with Israel in particular.  Although this prophecy does not explicitly indicate that the church could not exist on earth at that time, it does raise the question of why the church needs to exist on earth at that time.

The most important Scriptural reference to the ascension of the church to heaven is 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18.  This passage states that all living believers and with them all believers who will be resurrected will meet the Lord Jesus in the air and will be with him forever.  God lifted his people from the earth

The term "church ascension" is used to refer to the English term rapture.  After some verses, the Apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5: 9 "For God hath not ordained us to wrath, but to be saved through our Lord Jesus Christ."  The book of Revelation, which primarily deals with the last days of the tribulation, is a prophetic message about how God will send His wrath upon the earth in the last tribulation.  It is contrary to the nature of God to promise believers that He will not fall into wrath and then leave them on earth to go through the wrath of the last tribulation.  The fact that God first promises to save Christians from wrath seems to be linked to these two events and then promises to raise His people from the earth shortly thereafter.

Another very important reference to the time of the church's resurrection is Revelation 3:10 in which Christ promises to save believers in "the hour of trial" that is to come on earth.  This could mean two things: either Christ will protect believers during trials or He will save believers from trials.  Both meanings are correct according to the Greek word translated "from".  However, it is important to know what believers are promised protection from.  And this is not just a trial, but a "time" of trial.  Christ promises to keep believers safe from the time of trials and tribulations.  The purpose of the last tribulation, the purpose of the resurrection of the church, the meaning of 1 Thessalonians 5: 9 and the interpretation of Revelation 3:10 all clearly support the doctrine of "the resurrection of the church before the great tribulation."  If the Bible is interpreted literally and consistently, then the doctrine of 'before the tribulation' is more in tune with the teachings of the Bible than any other doctrine.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

Cold, Sparkling, Clean Water.

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

I was just recently up in Wisconsin visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Wautoma, Wisconsin. Nancy and Jerry Mankowski live on the old family dairy farm there.

Jerry and I one morning we're walking out to the old milk house. Behind the old milk house, and the chicken coop, is a windmill he bought in Indiana and had shipped up to him in Central Wisconsin. He wanted to show me the windmill, and drink some water from it, since the water there is ice cold and very clean. He had the water tested a few years ago. They told him Jerry whatever you do don't get rid of this water. There's absolutely nothing in it except water.

Most people reading this will think that's kind of strange. But with all the decades of chemicals whether industrial are farm related. Most of the drinking water in this country has some type of impurities in it. This world is a world of chemicals! Chemical residue is in the city, as well as in the  countryside. Where I live we get a yearly report of what's in the drinking water. There's lots in our drinking water that isn't really water.

His report came in said that his water from that underground well is absolutely pure water! That windmill pumps up cold sparkling pure water. That stream of underground water runs north to south. It runs by the old farmhouse, close to the chicken coop, and then runs to Beans lake, A couple hundred yards away.

He filled up a canning jar of water and drink some. Then he gave some for me to drink. The water was absolutely ice cold! It was good and refreshing to drink! Water that is very rare today!

William James Roop

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

The Snapper And The Goose

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

I was up in Wisconsin visiting family and friends. My wife and I, and my mother, we're staying with my mother's brother, Jerry Mankowski and his wonderful wife Nancy.

One day we're sitting around the kitchen table telling stories. A favorite hobby of my Uncle Jerry.  Well the stories he told us was about the snapper turtle and the goose. That's because we had gotten on the discussion of whether snapping turtles, snap only at people.

Jerry said he was on his rowboat on beams lake going fishing. Jerry today lives in the old farmhouse. And things like is just the cross the hill. Jerry and Nancy, years ago, used to live in a log house on Bean's lake. He had a couple of rowboats, and he had a couple of dozen geese, that he had around to be watch dogs.

A flock of geese will tell you very quickly if some stranger is around. It will make a terrific noise! What day Jerry was on his rowboat fishing. When he saw a goose bobbing up and down and squawking! He couldn't understand what was happening, so it kept watching.

The juice got pulled under the water and then Bobbed back up again! This happened a couple of times until Jerry finally seen the intruder. He saw a very large snapping turtle briefly long surface of the lake. That snapping turtle was trying to pull the goose under the water to drown it.

Before Jerry could row over there, the goose was gone! The snapping turtle achieved his purpose, and pulling the goose under the water and drowning it. Jerry made the assumption that the turtle when then eat the dead goose.

I know that Jerry saw What he had seen. I personally know nothing of snapping turtles. I don't know what they just eat grass or they eat meat as well. Someone here is reading this story and knows, feel free to comment in the comment section.

William James Roop

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Grandma And The Outhouse

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

My wife and I were up in Wisconsin, with my mother, to visit her family who still lives in the central part of the state. My Aunt and Uncle, Jerry Mankowski still live on the old family dairy farm.

One day while we were there, we were sitting around the kitchen table, with Jerry telling stories. One of the stories he told was from his childhood. Getting a whipping for bad behavior!

Uncle Jerry with a couple of his friends were in the lilac bushes next to the house. The old outhouse was behind the farmhouse and in view of the lilac bushes. One afternoon me saw her grandma walk out of the farmhouse and go into the outhouse.

They had a long piece of rope with them in a lilac bushes. If I like bushes with hollow inside and was the playhouse for all the kids. Jerry and his two friends quietly snuck out and wrapped the rope around the outhouse! They tied the rope together where Grandma cannot open the door to get out! 

Grandma was able to see who was guilty through the air holes of the outhouse! Grandma was a big woman It was able to push the door open against the badly tied rope. When grandma finally got free, there was now hell to pay!

Unfortunately for Jerry there is a willow tree close by, so Grandma always had the selection of dried willow branches to choose from! She calmly selected a very nice sturdy branch, and used it to get effect on Jerry's behind!

Even though Jerry got a really severe whipping that day, It was good for him. A good whipping  now and then, makes for a fine man later. Today, it is one of Jerry's treasured memories, and he still laughs about it today.

William James Roop

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Revelation

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Here is an article that I found on the internet. I hope that it will be helpful to you.

   
The Chronological Structure of the Book of Revelation
By Samuel Whitefield -November 13, 2021

The book of Revelation can be approached as a chronological story. Viewing it chronologically helps to make sense of the various parts of the book. Like many Old Testament prophecies, there are details in these sections that are in some ways similar to ancient prophecy, but when we look at all these sections together they do not match any moment in ancient history.

When the book of Revelation is viewed chronologically, there are four parts in the structure of the book of Revelation, with the fourth part being the largest consisting of five chronological sections in which the events occur in sequential order.

Part 1: John’s calling to prophesy about the end times (Rev. 1). John gave truths about Jesus’ majesty that formed the way he prophesied about the end times. These truths are also to equip us.
Part 2: Jesus’ seven letters to the churches (Rev. 2-3). The instructions Jesus gave to these churches about overcoming sin also give insight into what the end-time church must overcome.
Part 3: Jesus takes the scroll (Rev. 4-5). Contains the earth’s title deed and His plan to cleanse it. Jesus takes a seven-sealed scroll from the Father. The scroll represents the title deed of the earth and the battle plan to judge, cleanse and prepare the nations for Jesus’ rule over all the earth, while bringing the church to a mature bride who partners with Him in the plan (Rev 6-22).
Part 4: Jesus’ plan (Rev. 6-22). Includes Great Tribulation judgments against the Antichrist. Jesus reveals His main storyline of love to cleanse the earth of evil. His plan is seen in five chronological sections describing the main storyline of the 21 judgment events (seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls) that are released on the Antichrist’s empire in sequential order.
After each chronological section, an angel explains to John why the events just described are necessary. The angelic explanations function as a parenthesis that puts the storyline on “pause.” They answer questions arising from the chronological sections: Why is God’s wrath so severe? What will happen to the saints? Angels explain to John what happens to God’s people including what Jesus will do to help them, and what the Antichrist will do to persecute them.

Five Chronological Sections of Jesus’ plan (Revelation 6-22)
The fourth part of the book of Revelation, Jesus’ plan, consists of five chronological sections. These sections include both events that are chronological and angelic explanations where John is given context and further information about the events and the spiritual dynamics associated with them.

Chronological Section #1 (Rev. 6) – The seal judgments against the kingdom of darkness. Angelic Explanation #1 (Rev. 7). The church receives protection from judgments and falling away.
Chronological Section #2 (Rev. 8-9) – The trumpet judgments against the Antichrist’s empire. Angelic Explanation #2 (Rev. 10-11). The church receives direction by increased prophetic ministry.
Chronological Section #3 (Rev. 11:15-19) – Jesus’ second coming royal procession and the rapture leading to Jesus replacing all the kings and top governmental leaders on earth. Angelic Explanation #3 (Rev. 12-14)—the Antichrist’s violent confrontation with the saints deserves Jesus’ judgment and the replacement of all his evil governments. At the seventh and last trumpet (1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52; Rev. 10:7), Jesus will rapture the church and travel across the sky in a royal procession so that every eye will see Him (Rev. 1:7). After this, Jesus will enter Jerusalem and stand on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4).
Chronological Section #4 (Rev. 15-16) – Bowl judgments destroy evil infrastructures in society. Angelic Explanation #4 (Rev. 17-18). The seduction of Babylon’s evil religion will permeate and infiltrate all the structures of society, requiring that Babylon be totally destroyed.
Chronological Section #5 (Rev. 19-20) – Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Rev. 19:11-21:8). Angelic Explanation #5 (Rev. 21-22). The restoration of all things, Acts 3:21, (Rev. 21:9-22:5).
11I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns…15Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them…16And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS…19I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him… 20Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet…these two were cast alive into the lake of fire…21The rest were killed with the sword… 20:1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2He laid hold of…Satan, and bound him for a thousand years3…so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished…4I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them…they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 19:11-20:4 NKJV)

While the book of Revelation can seem intimidating to study, the study of the book can be made much easier with a basic understanding of the main themes and symbols accompanied by an overview of the structure of the book. While every student of this book has some outstanding questions and there is some mystery to how the Lord will complete His redemptive purpose, the book of Revelation also includes a very unique command to “keep” the book and finishes with a strong warning about altering the book (Rev. 1:3; 22:18). These unusual warnings tell us that God intends for us to study the book in such a way that it affects how we live. With some basic tools that help us approach the book we can study it and receive from it the benefits the Lord intends us to receive.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

The Hut's On Fire

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Here is a little story about faith and the Providence of God, that I found.  I am sharing this to you to help you in your walk with God.

They only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Everyday he scanned the horizon for help, but none seem forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of Driftwood, to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost! He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger!  He cried out, "God! How could you do this to me?" 

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary  man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied!

It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God!

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Care and Dying 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Dumpster Love

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

My wife and I, and my mother flew up to Wautoma, Wisconsin, to see my Aunt and Uncle, and other relatives my mother has of there.

We had a great time sitting around visiting, drinking coffee, and just enjoying everyday. One morning, my Uncle Jerry Mankowski, said he needs to go to the dump. He had a couple small bags of trash.

Tell me that the dump opens at eleven in the morning. He wanted be there by at least quarter till to get line. He said that there usually a long line at the dump. So I was kind of expecting dozens of people in line down the road.

We walk down to his pickup truck and throw a couple bags in the back. We drive down to the dump about twenty miles an hour. Tell me small country lanes that's probably fast enough. The dump wasn't very far away. Wautoma is a very small town in Central Wisconsin. 

We got there and we were third in line! When the dump finally opened, for the grand total of six cars line! Even though we were third in line it took us a grand total of ten minutes to be in and out! We waited at the gate longer than we were in the dump.

While we're driving around to the dumpster, Jerry tells me a story. He said a few years ago he was dumping the trash. The middle age to elderly lady pulled up behind him, to do the same. She struck up a conversation with him. She said she was looking for a boyfriend and want to know if he was interested!

He thought it was kind of funny that this woman was interested in him. I kind of laughed and said that's a great story. But to myself I told knew that this woman was just looking for a rich old man. She was looking for someone to leach money off. Small town problems same thing reflect big town problems.

William James Roop

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

What Is Sex Sin?

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

“So the line had stuck in my head. “Sex,” I was pretty sure, meant whether you were a boy or girl, and “sin” made Aunt Jan's very angry, but what the two together meant I could not imagine. And so, seated next to Father in the train compartment, I suddenly asked, “Father, what is sex sin?”

He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case from the rack over our heads, and set it on the floor.

“Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?” he said.

I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.

“It’s too heavy,” I said.

“Yes,” he said. “And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.” - from The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom.

We are asking our children to carry loads that are way too heavy for them. They should not be forced, as children, to see and feel the world through the lens of adults. Innocence is worth protecting and worth fighting for. We need to do our part as parents and caregivers to carry certain things for them until they are old enough to bear the load. We must make sure they are receiving education, and indoctrination.

Copied from a friend.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

A Pocket Full Of Suckers

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

I was up in Wisconsin this summer, visiting my Aunt and Uncle, Jerry and Nancy Mankowski. I still live on the old dairy farm, in the central part of the state.

Jerry was telling me that he felt very very sluggish for a long period of time. Then you can barely move around. So he went to the doctor to see what the problem was. At the VA clinic they gave him a lot of different tests.

The VA clinic gave him a complete physical and running a bunch of tests including blood test. They discovered that the problem was low blood sugar. Is blood sugar wasn't low all the time and it would just spite down at certain times of the day.

Dr showed him all the test results and charts. They didn't think he needed medication. The doctor told just to keep them suckers in his pockets!  They just told him when he feels a little sluggish to suck on a sucker to add a little sugar to his blood.

That's a nice homegrown remedy for an occasional medical ailment. If your blood needs a little sugar, A nice sucker should do the trick!  Don't need expensive medications, from multi-million dollar pharmaceutical companies. You just need to sucker now and then. But don't we all!

William James Roop

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

The Linen Burial Cloth

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

The gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face that Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes, The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Early Sunday morning, well it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away for the entrance. She read and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, The one in Jesus loved. She said "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, And I don't know where they have put him!"

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He's stupid and logged in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Did Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrapping slide there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus in was folded up and lying to the side.

Is that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, You have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. Call the napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, In every Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant said the dinner table for the master, He made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, And then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, in the server would not dare touch the table, until the master was finished.

Now, if the master were done eating, He would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, The wadded napkin bench, "I'm done."

But, if the master got up the table, and folded his napkin, And later beside his plate, The servant would not dare touch the table, because... The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

Jesus Christ is coming back!

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

Only In South Louisiana

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

My wife and I bought an RV for our future ministry needs. We will be renting out all three of our houses, and living in the RV full time, to travel for ministry, church to church.

My wife and I are very excited It's exciting to start a second career but also very exciting to work for the Lord. We bought the RV late morning, in Patterson, Louisiana.  We then drove to the DMV to register it with the State of Louisiana.

We had an appointment for two-thirty and was there a few minutes early and they let us in. While we're standing there waiting for the registration paperwork to be made out, my wife and I overheard two women talking in the office.

The two women were talking about being on their fishing boat, and fishing all day! My wife looked at me said, "only in South Louisiana will you hear two women talking about fishing!"  Most places in the world that's a conversation for men. 

But South Louisiana is where the Cajuns live! Cajun women can fish just as well as their husbands can fish! Everybody here has a boat, or even a couple of boats! And most people hunt and fish. That's just part of the Cajun culture here in South Louisiana.

Well the registration finally got typed up and we had to pay over thirty-three hundred dollars! I was in shock about the price on the taxes. Thirty-three hundred dollars a lot money to me! As my wife was writing out a check, I whispered to her if we had enough money in the bank account. She assured me that we did!

The RV cost forty-thousand dollars, and the tax rate was 8.9% on recreational vehicles. But what can you do, taxes or a part of life, and their only going up! I guess if I want to drive on the roads and bridges I need to pay the taxes to support them.

Do you have any interesting Cajun stories you can share with us? If you do, you could tell us in the comment section. If you enjoyed this story you can click on the "follow" button so that you can read all future stories.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Care and Dying 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

A Calf In The Snow

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

My uncle Jerry and I were sitting in his living room talking and telling stories. I went up there to visit family and friends this summer. My mother is from there and she still has lots of family there. I escorted my wife and my mother there also.

Jerry was telling me a story about how a neighbor cow had her calf. He said he always provided a warm place with straw or his cows to calve her young. Jerry said that was all wrong and he shouldn't do it that way. He said that makes the cows weak and sickly their whole life.

You said back in the day they would let the cows have their calves outside in the snow and the cold. He said by doing that the cows would grow up stronger and healthier. He said the cows that were born in the winter were always the healthiest cows that produced the most milk.

And he went on and said the cows born during warm weather always had health problems and didn't produce as much milk. My uncle Jerry grew up on this dairy farm and led this area as a life. He knows a lot about dairy farming. I'm from the city and don't know anything about it!

Weather this is true or not I do not know. But it does make a lot of sense. If you're born and grow up and harsh conditions you tend to be tougher and stronger. This is even the case with humans. If anybody has a pity on this please leave a comment in the comment section.

William James Roop

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Volunteer Stories 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 

Linen Garments

Hello Everyone.  Praise the Lord!

The tombs of the Pharaohs in Egypt show that linen was used for burial cloth, and its seeds were considered crucial to the afterlife; as a result, linen seeds have been found in the tombs. The Biblical account of Joseph in Egypt shows that he wore fine linen garments and was embalmed (mummified) in the usual Egyptian method after his death (Genesis Chapters 41-42 & Chapter 50). By New Testament times, linen was still being used for burials, as seen the case burial of Jesus in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23 and John 20.

The Israelites in the wilderness, after fleeing Egypt were instructed by God to make linen garments for the priests, and to weave the tabernacle curtains with twisted linen fibers of red, blue and purple to make the design of the cherubim, as well as plain linen for use as curtains surrounding the Holy Precinct (Exodus Chapters 28, 31, 35, 36, 38 and 39). Linen was used again in the curtains of the Temple built by Solomon (I Kings 10, II Chronicles Chapters 2 and 3), some of which was imported from Egypt. Solomon also used linen for his bedding (Proverbs 7:16). Ezekiel Chapter 44 describes that in the future temple built by the Jews in Jerusalem, the priests will again wear linen garments.

Linen was a symbol of purity in Biblical times, and it is recorded in the prophets that angelic beings appeared, wearing fine linen garments (Ezekiel Chapters 9 and 10; Daniel Chapters 10 and 12; and Revelation Chapter 15). Revelation Chapters 15 and 19 also records that saints, slain as martyrs, are clothed in fine linen. Words such as “pure” and “clean” denote that the symbolism of righteousness as well as holiness was attached to the wearing of linen. The symbolism of filth and spiritual distance from God is seen in the example of the garments of the Priest Joshua, as Satan rebukes him for standing before a Holy God wearing filthy linen garments (Zechariah Chapter 3).

Ancient Jewish sources note that when the priests had unremovable stain on their linen garments, or the garments had excessive wear, the garments were torn into strips and recycled for use as candle wicks. This fact is displayed in Isaiah’s commentary, where linen candlewicks are described (Isaiah 42).

Jesus’ parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, details what some scholars believe to be the ‘typical’, unconcerned, linen-clad rich man, oblivious to the plight of poor, hungry and sick Lazarus.

Levitical law prohibited the weaving of linen fibers with wool- at least for the average people (Deuteronomy Chapter 22); only the High Priest had garments of linen and wool. Biblical scholars speculate that the reason God prohibited the mixing of the fibers, is that linen represents the plant kingdom, and wool represents the animal kingdom, with ritual sacrifice. It is thought that God looked upon linen as untainted by blood; no one has to slay an animal to get linen fibers.

There were two types of linen garments: the rough, unprocessed linen garments of the poor, and what the Bible describes as “fine” or “pure” linen of excellent quality, which only the rich could afford. Isn’t it interesting that the martyrs of Revelation are wearing “fine” and “pure” linen; even though it can be assumed that the martyrs were relatively poor at the time of their deaths!