Larry Wood
Who Am I
I am a Bible Teacher, pastor of a Home Church, the
same kind that Paul and the apostles used for Bible Class when they were
not welcome in the Synagogues, those institutional facades of self-righteous
legalism and hypocrisy. I am also an Internet evangelist, which means
I am forever spreading the good news about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
the hope of mankind. I discover people who want to know God and communicate
the gospel to them so they can make the greatest of all decisions to believe
in Jesus Christ and receive the free gift of everlasting life!
Roots
I am part American Indian from four generations back.
I always discounted this until the Dog Soldier kept popping up. I
came from the backwoods of northwest Florida where I worked in the fields,
picked peas, loaded watermelons, shucked corn, and hunted and fished in
the creeks and rivers. I'm from so far back in the woods that when
I went to interview for a job in Minneapolis, the cab drivers sat spellbound
just listening to me talk.
I fell in love with school from the first day.
It was the most wonderful experience of my life - something I carried with
me throughout life. I never lost my love for scholarship. I
had a first grade teacher who taught me to read, a fourth grade teacher
who taught me manners and love of the Psalms, a fifth grade teacher who
taught me to write a report, a sixth grade teacher who taught me to love
poetry, a seventh grade teacher who taught me academic discipline and another
who taught me to diagram sentences, a ninth grade teacher who taught me
English grammar, a high school math teacher who may be the greatest teacher
on earth, a band director who taught me to love good music, and a
host of other teachers who taught me principles of leadership, physics,
biology, literature, and even one who tried to teach me Spanish.
I was active in high school athletics and played varsity football - halfback.
I also punted and kicked extra points, two of my favorite things.
Higher Education
I attended Chipola Junior College and then the University
of Florida where I received a BS in Electrical Engineering. I spent
a year in graduate school with a major in computer hardware and a minor
in software. Then I attended the Florida Bible Institute where I
received my first instruction in theology, Greek and Hebrew. One
of my professors, Emerson Pent, had been in Youth for Christ and was one
of the early evangelists along with Billy Graham. He had studied
under Pettingill, one of the consultants on the Scofield Bible. One
of the students, John Graham, introduced me to the tapes of R. B. Thieme,
Jr., and I studied the Jeremiah tapes as a senior research elective.
Work
At the beginning of summer vacation from the eighth
grade, I was at home ready to enjoy a wonderful summer of swimming in the
local pool and reading novels from the library when my dad walked in and
expounded, "What are you doing sitting around here! Why don't you
get out and get a job!" These were not questions. My dad did
not ask questions. So my life was forever changed. First odd
jobs, then into the watermelon fields, and life was also work.
At eighteen I got a job with the Highway Patrol,
where I worked for six years (midnight shift as I went to college).
During this period, I did my part to defend our nation against those who
sought to destroy it through the racial riots of the late sixties and the
anti-war protesters of the Viet Nam era. While my buddies were dying
in Viet Nam, I had to contend with the civil rights activists, the Black
Panthers, the Iron Cross motorcycle gang, the prison riots, and natural
disasters. In spite of it all I still think a young man should serve
in either the military or law enforcement before entering civilian life.
Then I joined NASA in 1971 where I worked for
25 years. I was on the team that built the Launch Processing System
for the Space Shuttle, which is one of the worlds most complex real-time
control systems. I was responsible for system analysis, simulation,
verification, and configuration control. Upon completion of the system,
I transferred with it to the Shuttle Engineering Directorate to prepare
application software for Shuttle processing.
Our NASA/contractor team successfully launched
STS-1 on April 12, 1981, the anniversary of the beginning of the War Between
the States. The work on the Shuttle was a very complex systems analysis
and management task. It demanded technical insight and dedication.
The Shuttle pressed technology to the limit. The Space Shuttle was
the world's first reusable space transportation system, and the price we
paid to make that happen was unbelievable. I
retired from NASA in January, 1997.
Spiritual Life and Ministry
I have studied under the faithful teaching of my right pastor, Reverend
R. B. Thieme, Jr., Berachah Church, Houston, Texas since 1972. I
study from tapes but have been fortunate to frequent Berachah Church while
on temporary assignment in Houston.
I have served with other veterans of spiritual warfare in the defense
of this nation against communism from the Soviet Union. I was with
those spiritual warriors who were sent to the front every time our nation
suffered a gap in the wall of defense. There were the confrontations
both overt and covert, terrorists and spies, and at times war (Granada,
Panama, Desert Storm). There were also the threats from criminality
and government corruption. There is currently China with millions
of suffering peasants.
I started teaching Bible Doctrine in December, 1994 to a Home Bible
Study. I put up a Website in July, 1996 and have become active on
the Internet. The Internet is the domain of Satan, the ruler of the
world, but it is also a powerful means of communication. Demonism
is obvious on the Internet and those without sound doctrine will not survive
against the powerful forces of evil. The Internet is just the latest
front in the war for the hearts and minds of mankind. The devil is
there but so is the Lord. The fight is for the souls of mankind -
those who are doomed to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire unless someone
reaches them with the gospel.
The world of today has brought me to a paradigm shift that can handle
the current spiritual warfare which is an all-out attack upon marriage.
It is interesting that this first occurred in the Garden of Eden, then
before the flood, and now it is happening again. The web page on
Marriage Culture is all about the new paradigm for spiritual life.
The threat that we face is beyond nationalism. It isn't the nation
that is in danger. It is the culture, the foundation of all nations.
No area of human life is immune to the danger and no stronger testing has
ever been given to the defender of the faith. If you think you understand
Marriage Culture, perhaps you should read it again. It is not a trivial
exercise in journalism. It is an entirely new paradigm for deployment
of Bible Doctrine in a lost and dying world.
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