Earl Erickson

I thank God for His saving grace and the change He made in my life the night He made Himself real to me. When I look back some twenty-one years and see the state I was in that night, and see the crimes that got me into trouble, and then see how God’s hand has made such a change in my life, it makes my heart rejoice.

I know what home is. I had a good home at one time in Finland, but in my young days, I left that home and came to this country. I wasn’t here very long before a jail became my home. I was an organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) Union. I organized the loggers into the I.W.W. Union, and I got into all kinds of trouble in this country among the logging camps. I served time in city and country jails throughout this land, but jail bars never changed me. My heart became just as hard as the steel bars. When I came out, I was the same old sinner. I was one of the worst criminals in these western states. Praise God that I have the victory over that kind of a life. Praise God for the old-time religion that gets in a man’s heart and takes that kind of living out.

I was facing a sentence of ten to twenty years with a heavy fine when I committed another crime. I got arrested in Sand Point, Idaho under the Criminal Syndicalism Act, so I enlisted in the United States Army, but I deserted. I spent eighteen months in the Cascade Mountains hiding from the law. I suffered there. I got lost in a snowstorm for sixteen hours once and didn’t know where I was. I had no beacon light to guide me, either. Another time, I had a fight with a big black bear.

From there, I went to Albany, Oregon and hid among strange people, but God found me. He led me to the Apostolic Faith people who were holding a tent meeting in Albany. The law had failed. Punishment and everything else had failed, too. God’s mercy did not fail, though. He led me to that meeting. There, I proved that His mercy and His faithfulness are greater than any sin.

I went there to hear what these people had to say. There I heard that Jesus could save a sinner like me. The minister started to preach about anarchism and the coming of the antichrist. That brought conviction to my heart. When she finished preaching she said, “If there is anybody in this camp meeting who wants to get saved, but is afraid to make restitution, they don’t need to be afraid. There was a murderer who got saved and made his restitution and God delivered him; he didn’t have to go behind the penitentiary walls.”

I had never shed a tear until I met these people. After the meeting, tears started to roll down my face. I did not know why at that time, but I know now. God started to soften my hardened heart, and I began to see that crooked life of mine. It wasn’t a very pleasant picture.

I was one of the worst criminals in these western states. Praise God that I have the victory over that kind of a life.

That Sunday evening the sheriff was sitting in the very same meeting, across the aisle from me, opposite my seat. I knew that if he knew me I would not sit in that meeting for very long, because I was a criminal and an outlaw. I was a wanted man. I was afraid to show my face, because they would surely know I was a criminal, and I went out of that place to my room, but I had no rest because God was speaking to my heart.

It took eight days before I was willing to surrender to God. I am glad I ever came to myself. Alone in my room, I could hear these people praying. A Voice spoke to me and said, “Get honest with God.” I had an Apostolic Faith paper, so I started to read it. I read how a fallen woman found Jesus and got on her knees and cried out for mercy. I praise God that He gave me an honest heart so I could really pray. I went down on my knees and I promised God, with an honest heart, that I would serve Him as long as I lived. I said, “If I can only get that change and that peace in this heart of mine, I will go back and face the past—even if I have to spend the rest of my days behind the gray walls to do it, because I want that peace!” I was through with that old sinful life. God heard that cry and delivered me. I praised God that night, all night.

Towards morning, I thought about the restitutions that I would have to make and I was afraid, because I had committed such big crimes. A Voice said to me, “Don’t be afraid; I am the Judge over all.”

I am glad the greatest victory I ever had was that night on my knees when I prayed honestly and earnestly. It was a hard old fight, but I won the victory. I have peace and a change in this heart of mine. I went back over my crooked life. It cost me something; I had to face some awful crimes, but I made my vows good.

I went to the Federal Officer in Portland, Oregon and confessed the crimes that I had done. I told him I was a slacker under the first draft, an I.W.W. organizer arrested under the Criminal Syndicalism Act, a deserter of the United States Army, and in the last draft, I answered my questionnaire under the wrong name, the wrong age, and the wrong nationality; I had said I was from Sweden, instead of being born and raised in Finland. One high official shed tears as I confessed my crimes. Those crimes would have put me behind bars for the rest of my life, but God heard and answered. The Apostolic Faith people prayed, and God went before me and delivered me.

I also went to nine railroad companies and made it right with those people. The superintendent said I was the first man who ever came to his doors to confess out and pay back money for stolen rides. He said, “You must be from the Apostolic Faith,” and I said, “I am.” I had board bills and hotel bills from my past. God showed me I had to pay everything, and He gave me the grace to do it. My life was crooked, but God made the crooked places straight and the rough places smooth.

I have a clean heart and a clear conscience. I used to be a fighter, but God took that out of me and He gave me a pure and clean heart. He took that anarchist spirit out of me, and gave me a holy spirit in my heart. I work hard; today I put in eight hours and it was hard work. I have been carrying bricks for the last twenty years—have carried a good many thousand pounds on my shoulder—but I feel good. It is because I have peace and I have God in my heart. I praise God for the Blood of Jesus Christ that saved me from all my sins and keeps me every day.