Athen Slawson died while standing at the foot of his bed a little after 9 PM, May 27, 2010, ending a life that touched so many around the world. Some of you knew Dad very well, while others only knew him through the medium of mail, e-mail or telephone. I wrote the following tribute for his memorial service, and I feel it only proper to send a copy to as many as possible with whom dad had been corresponding over these last years. I send this in hopes of providing insight into the life of my father, and perhaps to help bring closure.
It was just a few weeks ago that I arrived to talk to Dad when he told me the Spirit had asked him to call and pray for a certain individual. These were special times for Dad and me, so I sat down close so we could talk. He told me how his night had gone and how he had had the same dream three times. In his dream he was told he was to call a certain person and pray for them. This person is someone with whom I am acquainted but have never met. As we sat and talked I learned he was supposed to pray for him so that “healing could begin,” but the strange thing was he had not been told when he was to call. Dad asked me if I would look up this person’s telephone number, this may seem strange to you, but the Spirit rarely gave dad contact information. Of course I said I would, but because this person lived out of state I had not made any headway yet by the time I went to see Dad the next day. The first thing he said to me when I arrived was, “oh by the way, right after you left yesterday someone called me and now I have that phone number we need.” It was four days before I saw Dad again; I know it’s hard for him to go that long without company so I arrived early. It was about 7 am Sunday morning when I knocked. Dad was up with the phone beside him. He told me that he had dreamed the same dream one more time and in this fourth dream he was told when, and today was the day. After the call I could tell that Dad was conflicted, he was relieved because he had finished the task but he was disappointed because it did not go according to the dream.
Approximately thirty years ago the Lord needed a messenger, someone who would inform the world of the things that were about to take place. Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Amos 3:7. From the list of potential messengers with the credentials for the job, God chose Athen Slawson, not because he was righteous, not because he was eloquent, but because he was willing and available.
I know that there are many people with whom God communicates, and I do not wish to detract from these wonderful individuals, but for this particular task, the one that began in the fall of 1979, certain qualifications were required.
The regular school system that we have, did not prepare Dad to be this messenger. Rather it was the fact that after he finished school, he allowed the Lord to take control of his education that prepared him for this work. Athen Slawson’s credentials are as follows. He had knowledge of and was able to show proficiency in the elementary school subjects as taught by the reformers Luther, Knox, Wesley and Campbell. Also he holds a high school diploma graduating with honors in the subjects, The Sabbath, The Sanctuary, and The State of the Dead and how they are interdependent one with the other, as taught by Miller and White. After high school he enrolled in a college course taught by Professor Houteff, graduating with a degree in Kingdom Science. He then enrolled in another course taught by Professor B. Roden graduating with a degree in Kingdom Law. Additionally, he enrolled in a two year post graduate course taught by Professor L. Roden on the subject of the Godhead with special emphasis on the gender of the Holy Spirit. Lastly he was tutored by the Holy Spirit Herself.
The message the Lord had for this time was a message concerning Kingdom Law. More specifically it was a message explaining the means by which Adam’s lost inheritance would be redeemed. The Spirit began by reminding Dad that God is a God of love, a love that is so deep and complete that to understand His love for us we must realize that this love is woven into the very fabric of the essence of His Being. Additionally he was reminded that God is a God of Law and order. This Law, is not just a reference book setting on a shelf in the law library of Heaven, rather it is also an integral part of the character of God, as it too is woven into the very fabric of His essence.
With this review work firmly established the Spirit began to explain that Adam’s lost dominion would be redeemed using the law of the “Kinsman Redeemer” found in Deuteronomy 25:5 and illustrated in the story of Ruth and Boaz. Next the Spirit began to convey a specific phrase, this phrase was repeated over and over, sometimes it came to him in a dream, sometimes as a vision and sometimes as he would tell me, “it was spoken audibly in a way that seemed to fill up my whole head.” Usually this phrase came with a panorama of background information that would take days or weeks for dad to assimilate. Those of you who count Dad as a personal friend will have heard this phrase from Dad’s own lips, but for the rest I will say it now. “Jesus Christ is going to have a Righteous Harvest.”
Over the years the Spirit asked Dad to talk to specific individuals. For some it was just to reassure them that the Lord loved them. For others it was to inform them of a particular task the Lord had for them and to invite them to answer yes. I must say that I do not truly understand how the information was transmitted to my Dad so he would know with whom the Spirit wanted him to talk. More often that not, he was not given their name; rather he was given information by which he recognized them when he saw them or when he heard them speak. As you can imagine this came with its own set of problems and tasks, and it gives me insight into the story when God sent Samuel out to Jesse’s house to anoint the new king. As you will remember, Samuel did not even know which son he was there to anoint, but the Lord made sure he anointed the right one. Fortunately or shall we say providentially, Dad was not intimidated by titles, status or position. Also as most here can attest, Dad did not know a stranger, he would talk with anyone. So whenever he met someone with whom the Spirit had acquainted him, he walked right up and talked to them, as one child of God would talk to another child of God.
For those of you that remember my father speaking to you, calling you or writing to you, to tell you that the Spirit had “named” you as someone he was to invite to carry out a particular task, that is exactly what he meant. …The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1) If the task you were invited to labor on has not yet been completed, please do not dismiss it, for we are told …Your work, my work, will not cease with this life. For a little while we may rest in the grave, but, when the call comes, we shall, in the kingdom of God, take up our work once more. {7T 17.4}
After the Sunday AM call I told you about, I visited dad everyday. Thursday May 27th when I arrived, Dad asked me if I had brought my computer. This surprised me because it has been months since we had worked together on the computer. As we talked I found out he had dreamed that I came and turned on the computer and read “hard sayings” to him from it. I asked Dad what these hard saying were about and why would there be hard saying on my computer about me. He answered that he did not know what the sayings were about, but they were not about me; they were about him.
Dad died that evening. I will miss you dad.
Sincerely
Keith Slawson
Question: Who are you, what is your real name?
Answer: My real name is Athen Slawson. I am the second son of K. and M. Slawson who were lifelong members of the Seventh Day Adventist church. My grandparents on both sides were also Seventh Day Adventists making me a third generation Adventist. In school I had a difficult time reading and dropped out at the beginning of high school. I found and married an Adventist young lady and raised my family in the truth of the Third Angel’s Message. We attended church regularly and camp meeting every year. The Lord opened and closed doors in my life and in this way led me into fellowship with students of the Bible and in time I began to learn about the message of the Kingdom of Glory and its Laws. Next I learned about the Second Adam and Eve.
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