HE JUST WANTED "TO KNOW GOD"
Dr. Shafer's earliest memories are of growing up on a farm in a rural part of British Columbia, Canada. He was the middle child in the family with two older and one younger siblings. His father was a genuine man of faith. He was a clergyman with some very strong held beliefs about faith in God, religion and the bible, which he passed on to his children.
Dr. Shafer was a child prodigy of sorts. As a small child his greatest desire was to know God personally. He loved the bible. He always had a bible close to his bed even before he could read. He loved to listen to his father read from the bible. From the first moment he could read, he had an insatiable desire to learn. His greatest joy was to read the whole bible from cover to cover. By the time he was 12 he had attempted to read the bible through several times. He really wanted to know God intimately, just like the Bible writers did.
At the age of three, when no babysitter was available, he began spending many of his days in the classroom of a church sponsored religious school, along with his older siblings. It was a primitive country school house where all eight grades were housed in one room. His mother was the teacher. Even though he was not a formally registered student, he loved to learn. He often sat quietly while his fertile little brain hungrily absorbed many of the lessons taught to the older students. He always seemed to be more interested in the bible classes than anything else. He especially liked the lessons about the child Prophet Samuel who heard God's voice and talked to God personally . He also was spellbound by stories about faith, love and the miracles of Jesus the Christ.
From an early age he was groomed by his parents to be a minister like his father. He received all of his education, elementary through College at church sponsored institutions. However, His seminary experience was much like that of Clarence Darwin, the father of evolution, who completely lost his faith in God and the Bible at Seminary.
All his life, he had wanted to really know God. He entered the seminary thinking, if God was to be found anywhere it would be here. He really believed with strong faith that while attending Seminary, he would find God and learn how to know Him personally.
When Dr. Shafer entered Seminary he was a young man of great faith. However, after studying under the higher critic theologians, he became cynical and confused. When he finally graduated Seminary in 1959 with a MA in pastoral counseling, his faith was all but destroyed. Instead of finding answers, he only had more questions and doubts. He had not been able to know God personally there either.
For many years he searched for answers that made sense. He studied at higher learning institutions. He served as Pastor for several churches. He owned and operated several businesses. Then one day at the age of 59, he experienced an event so dramatic and awesome, it literally changed his life forever. He actually had a real life encounter with God, just like some of the bible characters. His fascinating book titled "Will you Please let Me handle it?" relates the story of his long and often painful journey, and how he succeeded in learning how to really and truly find and know God personally.