Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash

For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37

When the hands of time opened on the clock at midnight to welcome in 2023, they opened to a milestone of fulfilled possibility thinking for London’s Pastor Stan Edwards. January marked not only another birthday for the 83-year-old preacher but also his 70th anniversary in ministry. Edwards, who has enjoyed 25 plus years ministering and counselling at London Gospel Temple, is also a distinguished international renowned teacher, a counsellor, a recognized sales and marketing authority a former parole officer, and an entrepreneur who has a heart for the needy, particularly the homeless.

Stan Edwards was born in the World War 11 war zone in Melbourne. Australia in 1940. The middle child of an older sister Roma and a younger sister Glenys, his father was an engineer and his mother a professional homemaker.

Edwards was born to be in ministry, specifically teaching. He started teaching his first class, a Sunday morning Bible study, to a group of younger boys when he was just 13 and enjoyed it. At 17 his father, who was active in the church, asked him to preach in the evening service. That he did not enjoy so much. About 10 minutes into it he started to feel nauseous and had to sit down and let his father finish the talk. The embarrassment was terrible, and he promised himself he would never do that to himself again.

But God had other plans and possibilities for the young Stan. For the next month his father encouraged him with inspirations of the little engine that could and to get back up on that horse after falling off. Against his better judgement, he did get back up about two months later and again 10 minutes into it he felt nauseous, and this time passed out. When he came to, he found himself in a back room with people touting all around him. To this day Edwards doesn’t get along with horses.

While God was developing his ministry, Edwards continued to pursue other interests. At 18 he decided to enter Esso’s 500-mile interstate bike race held annually in the middle of Australia’s often plus 100 degree hot summers. At the information centre where he would sign up, he met the world bicycle racing champion who took one look at the scrawny Edwards and told him to go home and take tricycle lessons before thinking about that race. Stan was challenged not only by the race but now by those words and set his mind to the possibility of entering and winning the race. In preparation, everyday he biked 100 miles and worked out hard at the gym physically and setting his mind to win making the possibility to happen.

As Stan and the other racers were flying down the hill in the city of Adelaide heading towards the finish line, Stan became aware he was in the lead by 20 feet. He had learned possibility thinking combined with focused hard work results in answered prayers. He crossed the finish line having won not only the race and the $500 prize, but also meeting the challenge, the first of many he would deal with in his life.

Edwards has always been in some ministry wherever he lived in the world. But he also worked gainfully wherever he lived. He has been particularly successful in printing and sales and marketing for a variety of notable companies.

Professionally Edwards’s mother saw the possibility first when she saw an advertisement for apprenticeships for printers. Stan spent six years apprenticing in his new career that would be the groundwork for not only a secular career and income, but later also his teaching ministry for which, as he still does today, he would be able to set up and print his own teaching materials for his 40-year School of the Spirit series and more.

Edwards had possibility dreams too that would take him literally off the ground. He started flying lessons at age 18 for no particular reason, other than he just wanted to fly. He could see the possibility. Through flying he met some life challenging experiences that taught him not only more about flying but also about the hand of God. He continued to fly first in Australia but also when he came to Ontario and continued to until he experienced some unnecessarily dangerous flights and became bored with the senseless danger of it.

At age 23 he married Flora who had moved to Australia from Scotland. While meeting her family in Scotland he spoke on the phone with his sister Glenys who had moved to Canada and was working as a nurse in Toronto. She suggested the couple visit her in Canada while they were in the area.

Edwards fell in love with Canada and moved to Toronto where he was soon ministering at Willowdale Pentecostal Church and working for 3M. Transferred by the company Edwards moved to Calgary where he ministered at Calgary Christian Centre. But false teaching was encouraging the pastor to expand into a mega church and Edwards didn’t feel good about that. In Edwards’ ministry life he is able to discern both possibility and something that looks like it could be a possibility. He agreed to disagree with the pastor.

At the same time God had plans to bring His relationship with Edwards to a deeper level and moved the family back to Australia where he would encounter the most spiritual life changing experience since he had met Jesus. He was about to meet the third person of the Trinity, Holy Spirit.

Back home, God called him to ministry at Immanuel Church, but he did not know Immanuel would minister to him until he was baptized in the anointing of Holy Spirit. The experience changed his life forever taking him to places with the Jesus he had never experienced or even knew about.

While the family was enjoying their time they soon felt the nudging they were going to move. At a service at Immanuel Church, a credible prophet spoke out a couple was being called into ministry in Canada. The pastor confirmed the prophecy calling out Stan and Flora Edwards.

With that the family returned to Calgary with the idea of returning to the Calgary Christian Centre but it was gone. That uneasy feeling Edwards had had about enlarging the church had been from God. The pastor had built the bigger church but the financial demands on the congregation and what appeared to be a mega church growth had resulted in the biggest church bankruptcy in Canadian church history.

It wasn’t long before friends in Calgary told them they were heading to London, Ontario and would they consider coming along. Situated close to Toronto which they had enjoyed they agreed and bought a house in London, sight unseen. Possibility thinking.

Shortly after the move Edwards met a young Paul Smith, son of then Senior Pastor Robert Smith at London Gospel Temple, and today Senior Pastor. They shared stories and a cup of coffee. A week later Edwards ran into father and son Smith at a restaurant. Conversation ended with Robert offering Edwards an immediate ministry position counselling and School of the Spirit teaching. That was 25 plus years ago. Edwards has worked at LGT full time, has started his own ministry CIM Canadian Interfaith Ministries and has presently semi retired teaching a School of the Spirit class at the church every Sunday.

But Edwards’ possibility thinking is not retired. Shortly after his wife passed, he phoned a friend of 30 years, he had not seen in 12 years since they had ministered together at a School of the Spirit special event, and invited her to catch up over a cup of coffee. Over the 30 years he had counselled her, ministered with her in CIM and they had become good friends, although she had returned to Montreal 20 years earlier.

This fall London Gospel Temple gifted Pastor Stan and I a marriage in September 2022. As one friend put it, "it is so kind of God to gift Stan and you each other love in the winter of our lives while we continue to minister in the ministry God has taken 70 years to create. Thank you, Jesus".