God Plans Ahead and Has a Sense of Humor!

From: Kent Hovind
Sent: July 21, 2010
Posted:
To: Jacob Miller
Subject: God Plans Ahead and Has a Sense of Humor!

Dear Jacob,

You were unwittingly an answer to prayer last night. It’s a crazy story of God’s providence and sense of humor. Let me explain.

Yesterday, July 20, at 8:00 a.m. my name was called on the prison loud speaker to come to the office—seldom a good thing! I have three pro se motions into the court, any of which could set me free, and so I hoped it was the call to go home. It wasn’t.

They said, “Pack your stuff. You are going next door to “the hole.” When I asked why, they said (in typical BOP Bureau of Prison fashion) “We can’t tell you.”

S-o-o-o-o-o I packed all my books, files and manuscripts and personal belongings into 2 duffel bags and was taken next door to the medium security prison to go to the SHU—Special Housing Unit—a.k.a.—the hole. After spending nine hours in a holding cell with no bathroom, I was put in room 119 in the hole.

Knowing it could be weeks before I saw my property again, I asked seven guards for a Bible. None of them had one or would get me one. Throughout the long day in the holding cell I prayed several times for God to supply me a Bible to read while they s-l-o-o-o-o-w-l-y figure out what to do with me. Apparently, I’m not in trouble, but am probably being moved. You never know for sure when you are in prison.

Knowing that I would not get my Bible for weeks, and that the BOP book cart would probably only have NIV’s or other modern translations which have thousands of problems (See Seminar 7), I prayed for God to specifically provide a King James Bible for me.

I had only been in the room about thirty minutes when they brought mail. That is another miracle in itself, that mail came to the hole the first day! In the mail for me were three books from you, Jacob. A Cruden’s Concordance (for which I was also praying, because I had loaned mine out at the prison camp and forgot to get it back in my haste to pack), a book about Free Masonry, and a 1611 Edition King James Bible! I was s-o-o-o-o-o happy God answered my prayer s-o-o-o-o-o fast! I opened it to read a passage I’d been thinking about all day, and quickly realized that this was really a 1611 KJV before English spelling was standardized in later editions. For example, the word “he” is spelled “hee” and “hie” in other various places, as well as lots of other ancient spellings.

I have always wanted to own and read the 1611 version, but it struck me as funny that God answered my prayer e-x-a-a-a-c-t-l-y as I had prayed! I said, “Real funny, God! You gave me what I prayed for alright. I guess I should be more specific next time and ask for the standardized spelling too!” God and I had a good laugh. Then I realized that God had to have spoken to your heart weeks ago in order for those specific books to arrive right on time!

Thanks for the books and thanks for being sensitive to God’s voice. The whole incident reminded me that He is working on a much bigger picture. I can sit back and relax and read the book I’ve wanted to read for years while I “wait on the Lord.”
The passage that had been on my heart all day reads like this in the Bible you sent. Pfalmes XLV 1:10 “Be stil, and know that I am God: I will bee exalted among the heathen. I will bee exalted in the earth.”

I don’t know how long I’ll be here (the man across the hall has been in the hole for over a year!) but as I stay in this cell twenty-three hours a day; comb my hair with a plastic “spork”; write with a 4″ rubber pen; and eat some cold french fries for supper; I’ll be continually reminded of God’s wisdom and providence as I read the books you sent.

Thank you, Jacob!

In Christ,
Kent Hovind

P.S. The Web Site http://www.bop.gov/inmate_locator/index.jsp will list my location and address for those who wish to write. Mail really helps when you are in prison, but I may be slow to respond for now as there is very limited paper, envelopes, and stamps when you are in the hole. And no, those cannot be sent to me. I must buy them through the prison system. I’ll answer mail when I can.