Excerpt: A policeman stopped by one evening and asked if I would go with him. They had a bad situation in a motel across town. A man was holding another man at gunpoint, threatening to kill him over a woman, and promising to take his own life. He had asked for a minister. When I arrived, Bob told the man that he had a preacher.

The man shouted out, “I want to hear him talk.” I told him who I was. He said that just last month he had come and heard me preach. After courteous exchanges, I said that I needed to come inside the room to talk to him. I walked in without his answer.

There he stood, holding a large-caliber revolver up to the side of this man’s head. I called him by name and walked over to their sides. The man in the chair was trembling, and with a quivering voice he told me that he didn’t want to die. The man with the gun reassured me that he was going to blow the man’s brains out and then kill himself.

I calmly said, “Well, if you’re going to die, let me pray for you both before it’s over.” I asked for God’s mercy and told the Lord to be kind when He dealt with their wretched souls, and that I didn’t want to see them go to hell. I never closed my eyes. I literally was watching and praying—with good cause. In a moment, with both of them weeping, I reached out and took hold of the barrel of the gun, and I slowly pushed it to point toward the floor. I kept on praying in the Holy Ghost, and he released his hold on the pistol. When we walked out of the motel, the policeman, Bob, commented that I was either the craziest man that he knew or the bravest.

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Edwin Harper

Bishop at Apostolic Life Cathedral

With 50 years of ministerial experience, Bishop Edwin S. Harper, D.D. serves the ministers of the WV District UPCI with respect, wisdom, and compassion. His years of pulpit, public, and private service reveal a mountaineer conscientiously serving others with continued honor and distinction. Along with his faithfulness in ministry, he is a devoted husband of 46 years to his beloved wife, Sharon (Kitchen) Harper, a loving father to three girls (Danielle, Heather, and Holly), and an affectionate grandfather to three boys (Elliott, Jyles, and Pierson).

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