James Cook

I want to thank God for this marvelous Gospel that came to a little Indian village in Neah Bay, Washington. I thought I was a Christian already. I was ordained to be an elder in the old Indian Shaker religion, but I found out it took more than eldership papers to reach the Kingdom of God. I thank God found victory.

My greatest downfall, even after I was ordained, was my temper. I tried to get rid of it, but as soon as something came my way that didn’t suit me, I would lose my temper again. One time I was cranking my car, so I could go to work. The car wouldn’t start, so my temper getting the best of me, I kicked the radiator with my cork logging boots. The next week I had to fix the radiator. That is the way things went.

I had started out as a young man in a little village in Jamestown, Washington, going the wrong way. I got into the whiskey habit at an early age—about sixteen—and from then on this Indian went from bad to worse. From the time I was a young man I thought I had the answer to everything. I was a “wise guy” looking for trouble. If I didn’t find it, I went looking for it. One day while walking down the beach with a friend, I saw a man up ahead of us and jokingly said, “I am going to shoot him behind the ear.” I pointed my gun at him and shot thinking the gun was empty. There was a shell in it, and the bullet went right past his ear. At the time I thought that man was lucky, but after I got saved, I realized that I was the lucky one.

I thought if I could just get out in the world and make my way I would be satisfied. When I moved to Neah Bay, there was one thing on my mind, and that was to paint the village red with sin. I spent my money on a life of sin; I got drunk every payday, I went to shows, and I played baseball on Sundays. I was the noisiest man on the team.

In 1939, several Shakers came into contact with the Apostolic Faith Church in Port Angeles, Washington. They were saved and began attending services. I well remember that time in Port Angeles when I attended a service. I heard the testimonies of the redeemed of the Lord. I heard the call of God. I didn’t only hear it, I did something about it. I raised my hand for prayer, and then I made my way down the aisle just a broken man, not only in soul, but in body also. I was on crutches, but I did not go down there because my body needed patching up. I went because on the inside, I was broken up and needed patching. God had the remedy that night.

Surely I was one man who needed prayer. I knelt at the altar for the first time in my life, and I prayed an honest prayer. God heard it. He didn’t tell me like I had told Him for years, “Wait for a more convenient season.” Instead, as I knelt there with tears streaming down my face, God pardoned every sin I had committed, not only against Him but against mankind. He flooded my soul with the peace of Heaven. When I stood up, I was a free man. What a change from the life I had lived!

I thank God that He had mercy on me. He helped me to take my stand for Jesus when I went back to my job in the woods. I worked in a logging camp with a bunch of tough men, but at the end of the day that love of God was still burning deep in my soul. Everyone knew of the change God made in my life. He also sanctified me and baptized me with the Holy Ghost and fire.

I have so much to be thankful for. I thank God that my wife got saved at the same time I did, and for years we served the Lord together until He took her home. I thank God my household was one hundred percent Apostolic Faith. It was wonderful to come home and find peace and joy where there was once trouble, turmoil, and heartache because of the sins I committed.

There have been trials and afflictions, but down through the years, God has been with me. One time my grandson lay in a hospital bed in Seattle, Washington. He had a tumor, and was given tests and x-rays for a week. Then one day, the doctor pulled my daughter aside and asked, “Do you have any praying people in the family?” When she answered, “Yes,” he said, “That has to be the answer.” My grandson was healed.

I would not exchange this salvation for anything the world has to offer.