The Biography and Testimony of Kenneth B Visscher
concerning his life experience in spiritual war and of wearing the armour of
the spirit found in Ephesians 6: 10 – 18.
Rejoice in the Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice.Let your
moderation be known unto all men. The Lord [is]
at hand.Be careful for nothing; but
in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.Finally, brethren, whatsoever things
are true, whatsoever things [are]
honest, whatsoever things [are] just,
whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever
things [are] lovely, whatsoever
things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these
things.Those things, which ye have
both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace
shall be with you.Phil 4:4-9,
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for
ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God
doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.That
which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.And moreover I saw under the sun the place of
judgment, [that] wickedness [was] there; and the place of
righteousness, [that] iniquity [was] there.I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous
and the wicked: for [there is] a time
there for every purpose and for every work.I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the
sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they
themselves are beasts.For that which befalleth
the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea,
they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for
all [is] vanity.All go unto one place; all are of the
dust, and all turn to dust again.Who knoweth the spirit of
man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast
that goeth downward to the earth?Wherefore I perceive that [there is] nothing better, than that a
man should rejoice in his own works; for that [is] his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after
him?Ecc 3.
How art thou
fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut
down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!For thou
hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in
the sides of the north:I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.Yet thou shalt be brought down to
hell, to the sides of the pit.Isa 14:12-15,
But thou art
cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, [and as] the raiment of
those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones
of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.Thou shalt
not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, [and] slain thy people: the seed of
evildoers shall never be renowned.Prepare
slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not
rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.For I will rise up against them, saith
the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and
nephew, saith the LORD.I will also
make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it
with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so
shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, [so] shall it stand:That
I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under
foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off
their shoulders.This [is] the purpose that is purposed upon
the whole earth: and this [is] the
hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul [it]? and his hand [is] stretched out, and who shall turn it back?Isaiah 14:19-27,
{
First, some scriptural doctrine which helps to understand part #4 of this
testimony }
The 5 “I Will’s” of man or the
carnal nature.
For thou hast said in thine heart,
~(I WILL #1)~ I will ascend into heaven,
~(I WILL #2)~ I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God:
~(I WILL #3)~ I will sit also upon the mount of
the congregation, in the sides of the north:
~(I WILL #4)~I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds;
~(I WILL #5)~ I will be like
the most High.Isaiah 14:13-14,
A depiction of Adam and his fallen
nature.
Son of man, take up a lamentation
upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of
wisdom, and perfect in beauty.Thou hast been in Eden the garden of
God; every precious stone [was] thy
covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the
beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle,
and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy
pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast
created.Thou [art] the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee [so]: thou wast upon the holy mountain of
God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.Thou [wast] perfect in
thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till
iniquity was found in thee.By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee
with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out
of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the
midst of the stones of fire.Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy
wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay
thee before kings, that they may behold thee.Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by
the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick;
therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour
thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them
that behold thee.All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee:
thou shalt be a terror, and never [shalt]
thou [be] any more.Ezekiel 28:12-19,
Most of the Christian world believes these scriptures describe the fall
of Satan and of the
Minions of hell who followed him in rebellion against God. However,
these verses are noted in Ezekiel 28:2 as: “yet Thou art a man”. In the
following testimony the carnal nature is being exposed, rallied together and
dealt with blow by blow from the corrective sword of the Lord. Part of the
spiritual war testimony stated herein is the learned obedience to the Lord and
His perfect will through great tribulation and deep dealings of the Holy Ghost
in the life of
Kenneth B Visscher. The testimony serves as an example of how the Lord
can expose hearts and deal death blows by the power of the all consuming cross.
It is also to be noted about these verses of scripture that every single
instance of a religious or spiritual deception, every case of a misaligned
faith, or a doctrinal slant that is twisted and is a copy of the true; in all
cases such waywardness stems from these verses. Pride and ego are the main
culprits in spiritual delusion as one makes a name and a place for themselves
as though they were pertinent to the things of the Kingdom of God. When a
person is delivered of such things through the vehicle of repentance they learn
very quickly that God is no respecter of persons, He holds all accountable for
their actions the very same way, and when they accept that truth they are
sorely scourged and chastised as Sons and Daughters of the Lord. They also
learn a greater degree of discernment than they had previous. In the life of
Kenneth B Visscher the Lord taught this alignment to His word and His will by the
continual assault in war from the forces of darkness that opposed his walk.
These forces combined themselves with Ken’s own pride and ego and carnal mind
to thwart him and to trip him up. Hence the concentration on “overcoming” which
came of such a testimony.
May part #4 of this testimony reveal the greatness of God in inner
dealings and how one can overcome all things through Christ at any given
moment.
(Testimony
continued from Part #3)
The years from 1978 to 1984 were the second years of
a series where the Lord jealously kept Ken unto Himself and gave him little if
any sideways fellowship with others. During those years Ken went from the age
of 22 to 29 just short of his 30th birth date and a year before
their second son Luke was born. Although communication with others did happen
due to his work and life in general, the fellowship that comes by way of the
cross of suffering was one Ken endured very much alone. It was in 1978 that Ken
married Janis and it was 1983 that their first son Joshua was born. Even during
those times of friendship with others, the actual heart depth communion of
heart to heart fellowship around the Lord was not known by Ken, it was the
second dearth of 7 years wherein the Lord held him alone. Three such times of
dearth happened to Ken and in each one the Lord instructed him on the will of
God and the times being ripe for prophecy unto God’s chosen people. But the
time of dearth in all three cases of the 7 year time spans also signaled the
righteous judgment of carnality in his life and of overcoming it day by day.
So Ken, at the age of 19 entered into carpentry
which was shared in part #3 of this testimony. The years early of carpentry
were very concentrated on the trade before the Lord interjected His working into
Ken’s life while his 13 years of carpentry were accomplished. On a side note,
Ken’s years of carpentry proved to be very laborious. He swung a hammer
weighing 42 ounces or two and a half pounds weight, went through 1 – 50 pound
box of nails every 12 to 14 hours of work, never used an air nailer as they did
not exist in those years and he built a house from foundation to lock up with
windows and doors in place every 4 days. Ken would hold 30 to 40 - 3 ¼ inch
nails in his left hand, the hammer in the right hand, would set and hit each
nail and with one blow the nail was gone all the way into the lumber. His
accuracy was precise and all during the 13 years of carpentry Ken never hit a
finger with the 42 ounce hammer. On one job Ken was required to wear a hard
hat. With every swing of the hammer the backside of the hammer would tap the
front edge of the hard hat. That was how close the hammer swings were yet not
once during those 13 years did Ken ever hit his head. The total number of
structures Ken built was 153, just like the number of fishes the disciples
pulled into the boat when the risen Lord stood upon the sea shore. Around 80%
of the homes Ken built were custom special order homes. In the city of Calgary
Ken was lead hand for seventeen 3 man work crews building houses at a very
rapid pace in that city. The last few years of Ken’s carpentry work were in
making cabinets and doing fine finishing work, again without air nailers. At
the end of 13 years to the day, the Lord had Ken laid off of a job and the Lord
said to him, “Now you will build my
house!”
Ken’s framing “crib axe” weighing 42 ounces
Kenneth B Visscher
carrying firewood
Ken and
Janis Visscher in Banff National Park (Expecting 1st Son)
Janis and her father
holding baby Josh
Three years after Ken started his carpentry work he
married Janis but he also began to be dealt with by the Lord in the area of
pride and ego relating to the verses of scripture above. There were 4 areas of
assault against Ken’s life during this time, one of which does not seem like an
assault as it came directly from the Lord, but an assault it was as the Lord
sought to slay this young man in the area of his ego so that he would one day
be an effective minister of the gospel in the world of men. The dealings of the
Lord were so intense that Ken often was in conversation with the Lord while
building that he did not even think of what he was doing as a carpenter, yet at
the end of a day the work done was a surprise. Other men who saw Ken work while
the Lord did an internal work were very surprised at the rapid pace at which he
worked measuring, laying out walls and buildings, assembling studs and plates,
joist systems and roof systems and stair building. But during much of this time
Ken’s mind was on the Lord, not on the work, the work just happened while the
Lord dealt with him in these 4 areas. It was said by Janis and the men that
worked with Ken that he did the work of 4 men all the time. Four times more
work was accomplished and completed in the same amount of time by Ken than by
others. All during this work Ken was shut alone with the Lord in the inner
recesses of his heart and the Lord was dealing blow after blow in judgment
against the “5 I Will’s” that were mentioned in the previous verses of
scripture.
~***~
Four Areas Of Father’s
Dealings
The four areas that the Lord had happen to Ken were:
1)The Lord Himself would come to Ken in grace and
mercy and would touch areas of his life that were contrary to the pure new born
spirit and which were of the carnal side of Ken’s life. The Lord actually came
to Ken as if He were Ken’s enemy, He came to seek out the hidden things in his
life, the areas of deep iniquity and sin and to expose them by the edge of the
sword of the Lord. These dealings were very hard.
2)The carnal mind of Ken would continually assault
Ken’s will to not follow the ways of flesh or carnality but to be pure. As the
Lord dealt death blow after death blow the carnal thinking mind of Ken was
exposed as fraudulent, but nothing Ken did was able to stop its power from
usurping Ken’s will to not fall into the works of flesh. He was truly in a
Romans chapter 7 experience. The Lord would allow Ken’s carnal mind to carry
him out into something while he hammered nails, and then would totally empower
the carnal ambition which took Ken out unto something that was pleasing to his
flesh instead. Back and forth this struggle went, the will of God and the flesh
of Ken.
3)The power and stroke of assault from enemy spirits
would assail Ken by the Lord’s command. The Lord would permit the enemy of
Ken’s soul, Satan and the minions of hell to assault Ken’s life in intelligent
determined warfare with the purpose of making Ken fall out of love with God.
This was done by the Lord’s permission and no one else, it was the Lord making
it happen by giving the enemy permission to touch Ken even as the Lord once did
with Job when He said that all Job had could be touched save his life.
4)That ignorance of the word of God would never be an
excuse. Ken studied the word intently during this 13 year time hiding the word
of God away in his heart and not allowing anything to deter him from seeking
out the hidden truths of scripture. Not only was the bible studied intently daily,
but Ken’s life from the age of 19 and 20 was reading one chapter of Proverbs a
day, there were 31 chapters in Proverbs so Ken would devour one chapter daily,
the whole book in a month at breakfast time for those full 2 years.
It is to be noted that at no time during this
dealing of the Lord did Ken ever have any “covering” of the ministry of man
over him. He did for a time go through a pride delusion concerning the United
Church of Canada (shared later in this testimony), but he never once came under
the power and control of a so called “minister” as they were ordained not of
God, but by man or man’s education systems. The Lord never allowed Ken to go to
any bible college even though he desperately wanted to, the Lord never permitted
him to put his feet under the desk of any other teacher other than George
Hawtin and Ray Prinzing and a few others who were father’s in the faith but
these men never became a “covering”. No one else could touch Ken as the Lord
kept him away from all other influences. The Lord said to Ken near the end of
his 13 years of carpentry work: “I have called you and ordained you, not with
the ordination of man, but with the ordination of the Holy Ghost!”. Here is an
exact quote of what the Lord said to Ken.
QUOTE: “And the joy of the Lord shall be thy
strength!! And the joy of the Lord shall set thee free and give unto thee, yea,
a newness of life that shall never fail thee!! For I am with you now and for
always, and I shall never leave thee nor forsake thee!! Fear thou not, but be encouraged; for I have
called thee as a minister of God. Yea, not ordained by men, but ORDAINED by the
Holy Ghost!! And I have sent forth my angel, yea to lay this fire upon thy
tongue to burn up the iniquity. For I would have thee to speak as an Oracle of
God, yea, as one that would speak only words of encouragement and comfort and
exhortation, yea, words of prophecy to lead My people in to that valley, yea,
that valley that will set them free, even Christ within them. Fear not My son,
but look only unto Me saith the Lord to bless thee."
END QUOTE
~***~
Cancel Ken’s “I Will’s”
~(I WILL #1)~ I will ascend into heaven,
For the first “I Will”. The Lord began to
systematically dismantle Ken’s previous heritage as to birth and blood line.
The inherited iniquities of pride and ego from both his Dutch and Ukrainian
heritage was touched so as to not be the controlling influence of his life. “I
will ascend to heaven” would not happen because of birth heritage! Others could
claim it but Ken could not! The Lord would not allow Ken to think his workmanship
or ability was due to his heritage nor that he had special place in heaven
because of it. Instead the Lord continually moved to humble Ken’s opinions of
himself and whenever Ken would think otherwise the spirit of the Lord would
wane from Ken making him aware of the quenching going on if Ken laid claim to
anything outside of the Lord Himself. Not only was the Lord touching the
natural area of carpentry workmanship, but Ken was not allowed to think he had
spiritual advantage due to heritage also, he learned during this 13 year period
of work that God Himself was all the family and all the heritage Ken would ever
have. Truly he left family behind and went on in the family of God in the
Kingdom of God even though he was not very aware of others around him that were
of the same heritage in Christ. An interesting side note of this time is that the
Holy Spirit revealed to Ken his great Ukrainian grandparents as being very godly
people who held Ken up to the Lord when he was an infant and gave him to
Christ. At this time there was a revelation given that one cannot pull
themselves “up” to the high things of the spirit unless the Lord draws them
there through first being broken and abased and crushed by the process of trial
and tribulation. Many things happened to Ken during those 13 years of carpentry
which caused him to be crushed beyond what one could even endure, yet through
it the Lord answered by dwelling in the high and the holy place with people
like Ken who first allowed this crushing to happen to them. Ken could not
ascend up to where the Lord was by his own volition or fleshly decision, that
ascending to God would only happen in relevance to how deeply the crushing
trials would happen to him. The crushing trials were very intense, some were
even life threatening including a brief bout of electrocution from a skill saw
when Ken’s feet were wet in the rain! But it was God all the way doing this
crushing work so no self ascension could happen.
~(I WILL #2)~ I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God:
Ken was not allowed to think of himself above any
other person at any time. He learned of the walk of one who would overcome, but
at the same time he learned to not have any pride of calling or of ambition.
His was a calling to be NOTHING before God and of NO REPUTATION. In areas of
work as a carpenter Ken would often do things, finish things and no employer or
tradesperson would know that Ken did it. He learned humility first in the
natural area of work in not having prideful “pride” over work, even though the
work was excellent, but he learned to not lay claim to it. He also learned to
not lay claim to pride of calling or knowing the Lord. The Lord during this
dealing of Ken not making a name for himself and ascending up to heaven by his
own ability or power had Ken realize the truth of the restitution of all
creation. That all mankind would know the saving power of Jesus and that He would
be head and King over all. During this dealing the Lord revealed the call to
the eternal Throne to Ken but never once was Ken allowed ego to develop over
the promise of this, instead it became as source of “service to others”; to
help them to come to the realization of the living Christ. While Ken consumed
lumber and nails, the Lord consumed him, and that consuming became a shining
light wherever Ken worked to others. Some hated this light and persecuted Ken
for it, others loved it and came to it. But of his own self he was not able to
say that he had this power of light and testimony and of the life of Christ by
his own ability or power. The Lord had to do it in him and through him. Ken
also was never allowed to “leave” the trade of carpentry to go to a bible
college or to go minister somewhere as if he were a ministry, he had to remain
in the daily “toil” while this dealing took place. Others went to bible schools
and began to do ministry, but not Ken. Ken learned how to not have jealousy
over others who seemed to be in ministry when this is what he wanted in life.
He learned the deep things of servitude rather than of self exaltation during
this 13 year stint of work in carpentry in building those 153 structures. In
the first Part #1 testimony on this discourse Ken revealed how the Lord
appeared to him when he was 7 years of age and how Christ put the mantle of
prophecy upon him. Ken was never allowed to know during those 13 years of
carpentry that this mantle was of the order of Elijah; in fact he FORGOT that
the mantle was there, the dealings of God in the inner areas of Ken’s heart
were that intense that adherence to calling would not be an excuse, it was obedience
to God and the processing of God that mattered. All else fell away for a time
including remembering what happened on that dusty road those years previous,
Ken was in the throes of being chastised and corrected daily and nothing else
seemed to matter at the time.
~(I WILL #3)~ I will sit also upon the mount of
the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Every area of Ken’s ego was now laid on the line
during this 13 year stint of carpentry work. He was not allowed freedom to go
minister, to go feed at shepherd’s feed troughs, to go be empowered by
fellowships of like minds, the Lord razed to the ground by fire every thought
of Ken’s that lifted him up to find a place of “comfort and peace” outside of
the workings of the cross. It was the Lord not enabling Ken to go be “joined”
to others that happened during this dealing of the 5 “I Will’s”. Fellowships
were attempted and ministry tried, but everything ended in frustration and
futility when any attempt was made by Ken to make a “name and a place” for
himself in the Body of Christ. The good part of this was that Ken learned to
trust Christ alone for his fellowship and his communion, to be where Christ
wanted him to be. The “sides of the north” speak of those who think they would
minister God’s wrath in judgment to the nations. But the Lord taught Ken that
He was a merciful God, one full of compassion and forgiveness and one who would
temper the iniquity found in nations with the mercy and love and grace of God
in restoring all things back unto Himself. During this dealing of this “I Will”,
Ken learned the scriptures necessary to understand that the Lord was ultimately
going to restore all things back unto Himself. So in this dealing Ken was
allowed no congregation, no place or name, no call or response to a calling. But
he was allowed to trust implicitly in Christ to be His portion. It was during
this time also that “pouting” over loss of standing and place came to the
forefront in Ken’s heart. He had a very “childish” notion that God had to
remove from him. It was during this “I Will” dealing that the cross became very
strong and persistent and powerful and that even the good and high and perfect
things in Ken’s life had to be consumed by the death process of the cross. The
cross became a very great reality, it started by being something he feared, but
later something he embraced. The sorrow for “self” soon gave way to the
searching out of “self” and the need to discover it and to lay it to the nails
of the cross.
~(I WILL #4)~I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds;
During this 13 years of carpentry work Ken delved
deep into the scriptures digging up from them many things of depthand meaning that tied together one part of
the word from another part of the word. Not only this, but several binders of
prophecies and visions were written over time. Even while Ken worked hammering
nails, visions or prophecies would come to him from the Holy Ghost and even at
times he would jot them down on a scrap piece of lumber or on the back of a
piece of cardboard and then later enter it into his notes. He had filled two
large boxes of prophecies and visions concerning the will of God and the heart
of God and of His Kingdom and of the Overcomers and their place in the future
world that was yet to come. However the Lord would not allow Ken to think that
he was something special or great because of it. Tempered with these many
revelations from scripture and prophecy and vision came persecution, hardship,
tragedies, accidents, falls, a myriad of things which kept Ken in a place of
having to continually “humble” himself to be delivered. God did not allow Ken
to think of himself more than he was but instead he had to abase himself down
to the lowest place and the most broken of places. It was there that the
heaviest and deepest anointing of God flowed and the word went forth into Ken’s
understanding unabated. Not only was Ken humbled and broken down by
circumstances, but he also learned to never suppose he knew anything outside of
the spirit of the Lord. He was allowed by Father God to fumble and make
mistakes in many areas all to learn that he was “nothing” and that without the
Father nothing could be accomplished or understood. For these 13 years revelations
visions and prophecies came in abundance but Ken was not allowed to make his
boast of them to anyone at all, he was kept in solitude through it all and was
never allowed to think he was above any other person.
~(I WILL #5)~ I will be like
the most High.
As time went on in carpentry, the work seemed to be harder, the difficulties more extreme, the ability more constrained. Ken knew the freedom of expression through his building abilities and now later on in the 13 year period of his ability in fine carpentry work and cabinetry. But the work just became very HARD for him to do. Ken became very frustrated that the free course of creativity he once enjoyed now came with grueling tests and trials. The things he once found easy, lifting a 110 foot long wall by himself or carrying four Douglas Fir long joists out on the top of an open wall, those things seemed to be HARD TO DO. It was not that Ken’s ability was diminished, it was that the Lord was teaching him that without the Father, Ken could do NOTHING. That included the heavy lifting work he used to do. Now he began to work with finer lighter elements of construction, but it all became more than a chore, it became grueling work. During Ken’s 13 years in carpentry he laid 515 sheets of arborite down with contact cement and built cabinets during his last year. He worked with knotless cedar and hard woods, built railings and mitered hard wood stairs, ceilings and entrances, even did fine tile work and concrete work. But it all seemed to fall apart during the last days of his 13 years as carpenter, all because God wanted it to fall apart! Ken LOST his ability to look GODLY. He instead began to look like a man who was all thumbs! The Lord so worked on Ken as to remove from him any ability of his own, it was a combination of the cross, frustration and inability that became the new norm. Ken learned that he could not even boast of his former excellent work as a carpenter, he had to be removed from all of it! Life became a drudgery, a hardship and then finally it all ended with being let go from a very well paid carpentry job on the very last day of 13 years, let go exactly 13 years TO THE DAY. At first this confused Ken as he had always worked freely, but now the work and the ability and the anointing on the work was all removed! Ken lost his carpentry ability in ONE DAY! Not understanding what was happening he climbed into his vehicle and began to drive home to his wife and son. It was then that the Lord said to him, “Now you will build MY HOUSE!”. The Lord does anoint Ken from time to time when something needs to be done in his house, but that is all, the anointing comes and goes by the will of the Father. Ken cannot “be” like the most High God! EXCEPT IF GOD WERE TO ALLOW IT! Such was the workings over 13 years of the 5 I will’s. Ken now entered his 30th year.
From there Ken did not know what was next, but the greater trials were about to begin, his pathway suddenly became fraught with great peril!
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