Chapter 3 "Who is Joe Gall?"

 In order for you to understand the "journey" you must understand the one walking the "journey" and the influences that have affected that "journey." Permit me to tell you a little about me, please. Again, this was written earlier and it reflects pages in my life and the tremendous heritage given to me.

JOE’S JOURNEY

At the time of this writing I have just retired from about 30 years of one form or another of “pastoring.”

Let me share a little more of my background so you can better understand the “journey” God took me on. Because of World War 2, when my parents lived in Holland and endured that terrible experience, an important fact about my heritage had been buried for the survival of my grandparents and parents. I was born from Jewish stock. That fact was hidden until my Mom shared it with her children when I was in my early forties. That put an important milestone into my “journey.” 

In my mid-sixties many things began to come together in my soul and spirit. While I was raised Roman Catholic, with my Dad and Mom heavily involved in ministry; my Dad was one of the early married deacons in that religion.  

I married my wonderful wife Suzette, at age 20, and she set another important milestone into my life and “journey.” From that point on, we began to “journey” together. We “journeyed” through the Catholic Charismatic movement, which changed us spiritually and in our soul. We became “hungry,” even desperate, to continue the growth in the spiritual realm we were introduced into. But the charismatic movement within the Catholic Church receded and the “teaching” had great limitations. 

Again, my wife was the adventurer and found a place that could feed our need for more teaching and understanding. It was called “Halleluiah Acres” and pastored by Dr. Mike Clark. For seven years we traveled back and forth over the 60 miles between us and our new church, and we fed on what was presented. Eventually Dr. Clark moved on to found a remarkable orphanage in Guatemala which today serves over 500 orphans. 

During this time we walked unscathed through bankruptcy as the business I headed up went belly-up and I eventually took a job at a local Christian radio station, KAJN in Crowley, Louisiana. I would spend some 15 years there and it was another milestone in my growth. During those 15 years I had opportunity to interview many of the movers and shakers in the Christian movement and got a more mature world vision of the “Christian” movement in the earth. As we came out of bankruptcy we came out on 17 acres of beautiful property in the country and were able to build a home/ministry center in the Egan, Louisiana, area, all for cash. We found the promises of God were true! 

The heart of what God had for me KAJN was embodied in the “Intercessory Prayer Time.” Mr. Barry Thompson gave me liberty to minister to a quarter of a million people every weekday afternoon for 30 minutes. While we prayed for needs that had been phoned in, I also shared from the Word and shared as led by the Spirit of God. At times the presence of God was so strong in that little control room that I was on my face on the ground. It was a season of grounding and growth. 

God also set my voice and my name in the listeners of KAJN for a purpose yet to be revealed. I still tell folks that I had the largest pulpit of any minister in South Louisiana! 

We had “prayer meetings” in our home almost as soon as we moved into the “Haven.” (The home/Ministry Center we were able to build coming out of bankruptcy.) We enjoyed powerful visitation by God’s Spirit in those meetings and they grew to about 40 people. That went on for several years until the Spirit shut it down. After the closing of the prayer meetings Suzette and I dragged our kids to church after church for about a five year period looking for a church that would allow freedom for God’s Spirit; and not finding it. The structure and programs of church after church overwhelmed the Spirit’s gentle draw.

Then in November of 1999 we had a visitation of the Holy Spirit in our living room and the next year I heard a command to “pastor” on the way home from KAJN on highway 90 just outside Crowley. After resistance on my part because of unfortunate experiences Suzette and I had in those prayer meetings, I surrendered to that “call.” I left the radio station to become a full-time pastor after I became convicted that only in that way could I provide a place where the Holy Spirit could move “as He would.” I saw that as only in that way could I assure freedom for God’s Spirit and freedom in worship and praise. 

The Haven Church took off well. However it experienced several traumatic “divisions” and never really grew. We were able to erect a church building, pay a small salary, and meet expenses. 

During this time Suzette felt the draw of God to Israel and the Jewish people and made two trips to Israel with Sr. Billye Brim. God set the Jewish people in her heart and called her to begin to intercede for Israel. At this time she began to study seriously in the Torah (first five books of the Old Testament). 

On the first trip to Israel, Suzette met Joe and Judy Lawler. Joe Lawler was a contractor who handled federal projects. Mr. Lawler eventually met with us and offered me a lucrative job (for an underpaid pastor!) as a project supervisor on one of his projects at the VA hospital in New Orleans. We had already been urged, by a financial teacher and prophet, to establish our finances for retirement. We felt this was the means God would use to speed that along. And it was. 

What we did not know is that the three years I spent in New Orleans, only seeing my family on the weekends, would be much more than just a pivotal time for our finances, it would be the time that God would change both Suzette and myself for the next season He had for us. 
 

Suzette continued her intense study of the Torah and God began intense change in me. Many of the twisted areas and thinking of my life was changed during that time.  Suzette says that my self-talk and self-esteem were totally changed. I began to appreciate my wonderful wife; our relationship totally changed for the better. 

After those three years I was ready to re-establish ties with my wife and family. I ”retired” from Mr. Lawler’s company; I went home and took care of my wife, who had several physical issues she was dealing with. Little did I understand that what I was “sowing” into caring for my wife, I would immediately “reap.” 

In March on 2011 my vision was attacked and several weeks later I was legally “blind.” In March and April of that year Suzette pulled away from the Haven church and converted to Jewish beliefs. She and boys made it official in August of 2011 and were totally separated from the Haven Church. They attended Temple in Lafayette and Lake Charles, Louisiana, and both the temple in Lafayette and the temple in Lake Charles immediately began to draw from her the results of her intense study of the Torah and the Hebrew language. 

This was traumatic for me personally and as full-gospel pastor! It caused me to examine deeply what I believed and make many adjustments in my thinking and in my life.

I found several areas about the Word and the person of Jesus that I had to reconcile and found myself in Christian apologetics at age 64! 

The things that have happened in my thinking during the time since March 24, 2011, to date, are not completely able to be described in words. My belief structure has been upended and, at the same time, solidified. It is only as I continue to study that the words are gradually coming to describe and codify what my spiritual eyes now see. One of the things driven home to me was the common “roots” and “beliefs” of the Jewish people and “Christian” people.

Next: Chapter Four: What happen while I could not "see"