<strong>of</strong>When I changedmy confession, the,image in my mindchanged. Whenthat happened, mycrops flourished.Golden raysshimmered on thehorizon with the promise<strong>of</strong> sunrise as <strong>Charles</strong><strong>Capps</strong> stepped out <strong>of</strong> hisfarmhouse into a morningstill muggy from rain.Stopping, he closed his eyesand drank in the aroma <strong>of</strong>the world washed pristineby the night’s storm. Dewclung to the leaves likeglitter in the morning light.by Melanie Hemry
Why anyone would choose to spend his life inside an<strong>of</strong>fice with recirculated air was beyond <strong>Charles</strong>. He lovedsmelling the rich earth and feeling the breeze on his face.While some people vied for the view from a corner <strong>of</strong>fice,<strong>Charles</strong> enjoyed a sweeping vista <strong>of</strong> fertile fields and lushgreen trees in his corner <strong>of</strong> the world.God had created <strong>Charles</strong> <strong>Capps</strong> to be a farmer, <strong>of</strong> thathe was certain.From childhood he’d never wanted another life. Inschool, his eyes had looked with longing out the classroomwindow. He hadn’t wanted to waste his time writingpapers and learning literature—things he’d never use.His classroom was the fields...his desk a tractor...histeacher the Lord.The only thing that tugged his heart away from thefertile delta farmland near England, Ark., had been thesmoky trail <strong>of</strong> a jet or the lazy loops <strong>of</strong> a crop-dusteroverhead. As a boy, every time he looked up to the sky andsaw an airplane, he had said, “One day I’m going to fly.”Earth or sky, it didn’t matter. So long as he logged thehours <strong>of</strong> his life outdoors he was a happy man.Except when he saw sights like this.Stepping into his cotton fields, <strong>Charles</strong>’ happinessturned to despair as he scanned a failed harvest. He’dplanted his cotton deep and the field stood in water. Thecrop had rotted.“I knew it!” <strong>Charles</strong> said, kicking the toe <strong>of</strong> his boot inthe soggy mess. “I knew that crop would rot in the field!”The Power <strong>of</strong> SeeingFor two years in the late 1960s, the bad and the goodran side by side for <strong>Charles</strong> <strong>Capps</strong>, with losses on onehand and gains on the other.“I farmed 800 acres <strong>of</strong> fertile land and didn’t makeenough money to renew my driver’s license,” he says. “Iwas so poor I couldn’t pay attention! No matter how Iplanted my crop, I lost it.“But I also traveled as a layman for the Assemblies <strong>of</strong>God Church and taught on personal evangelism. In themid 1960s I worked with Loren Cunningham at YouthWith A Mission. One summer I flew Loren to severalislands in the Bahamas chain in my Twin Comanche tovisit those who were witnessing for Christ and prayingfor the sick.”Working to expand the kingdom <strong>of</strong> God, <strong>Charles</strong>’spiritual life soared while his crops and his financesspiraled downward. He had no idea what to do aboutit until 1969 when someone gave him a copy <strong>of</strong> abook written by <strong>Kenneth</strong> E. Hagin titled Right andWrong Thinking.The book’s straightforward practicality appealed to<strong>Charles</strong>, so he ordered a tape message by Brother Hagin.Impressed by what he heard, he attended one <strong>of</strong> Hagin’smeetings in Shreveport, La.Back home, <strong>Charles</strong> walked out to the hangar behindhis house. His airplane sat tied down in front <strong>of</strong> it.Exercising, he walked from one end <strong>of</strong> the airstrip to theother. Then he circled the airplane from one side andwalked around the other.Why did you walk around that side <strong>of</strong> the plane? <strong>Charles</strong>heard the Lord ask.The question stopped him in his tracks. He had noidea why he had walked that direction, but the answermust be important. Pondering the question, he realizedhe had done it that way because, in his mind’s eye, he hadseen himself do it that way.In a flash he understood.We do what we see ourselves doing.The Power <strong>of</strong> Saying“I’d heard Brother Hagin teachon confessing the Word,” <strong>Charles</strong>explains. “So I got a yellow sheet<strong>of</strong> paper and wrote my ownconfessions based on Scripture.Every day I walked around myland declaring, ‘The Lord is myShepherd and I shall not want.Christ has redeemed me fromthe curse <strong>of</strong> the law. For povertyHe has given me wealth. Forsickness He has given me health.It is true unto me according tothe Word <strong>of</strong> God.’”At first, the confessions seemed not only illogical butdishonest. He wrestled with the seeming contradiction.How could he truthfully confess abundance and no lackwhen he had no money? “Lord, these confessions seemlike a lie,” he said.How can you lie saying what I say? God answered.“That made sense to me so I went right on confessingthe Word,” <strong>Charles</strong> recalls. “I made those confessions forabout a year before anything changed; and the first thingthat changed wasn’t my finances. It wasn’t my crops. Itwas what I saw in my mind’s eye. I saw myself rich. I wasstill broke, but I felt rich.”<strong>Charles</strong> always rented the land they farmed. Now, in thelight <strong>of</strong> his new revelation—and in spite <strong>of</strong> his finances—<strong>Charles</strong> knew he needed to rent more. He prayed andreleased his faith, asking God for additional land.SEPTEMBER '11 | BVOV | 9
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