In my enthusiasm for the Holy Spirit - the witness of Jesus on earth -- I just couldn't contain myself. I somehow rounded up a bunch of friends from the local evangelical church and invited them to one of the conference meetings. They were nice folks, loving, but always struggling. By there own admission, they were saved, but each one confessed that they didn't seem to be going anywhere with God. Religion for them was boring and bit dry. They had been told that tongues were of the devil, and that any worship of the Holy Spirit and not about Jesus, was a cult.“Do you believe God?” shouted a loud and fiery preacher from the platform; right in the midst of worship. There was such a sense of the need to repent, that I hit my knees as soon as I found a seat. Closing my eyes, I quietly cried out, “God forgive me, God forgive me! Oh Jesus, please forgive me.” I wasn't looking around me—it was me and the Lord right then. A few minutes later, when I felt a release, I stood to my feet and I noticed that hundreds were on their knees around the sanctuary. Except for an Anglican mass, I had never seen such a sight.
The meeting went on going between worship and preaching, to prophesying and praying, and back to preaching again. The air was filled with anticipation. I hung on every word, every note expecting something to happen. What, I didn't know.
At the first of many altar calls that evening; a couple that I was with went forward. The husband asked for healing for his a lung disorder. As the presence of God came on him, the preacher asked him to recite the sinner’s prayer. He just began to cry as he mouthed the words.
“Are you full of the Spirit?” she asked. “You know, God won’t give you a scorpion when you ask for an egg.” She continued. “Do you want to be full of His spirit, His Holy Spirit?”
He barely eked out a “yes,” and the power of God caused him to lean forward 45 degrees to the floor. As he started to speak in tongues, he just hung there, almost suspended in thin air.
“Now do you want to be healed?” she asked.
“Yes” he said, and hit the floor, overcome by the power of God.
The preacher leaned over and grabbed his hand, “Get up and run! Show everyone what God has done for you tonight!” She exclaimed.
He got up and ran around that sanctuary! “I can breath!” he shouted as he took his victory lap down the center aisle. People clapped and gave God praise as he returned to the seat next to me.
Next it was his wife’s turn. They had been trying to have a baby for nearly five years. One of the ministers laid hands on her belly, and shouted. “I break the curse of bareness over your womb!” She fell to the floor.
A few weeks later my friend’s wife was sick in the mornings and went for a pregnancy test. The doctor determined, not only that she was pregnant, but that she had conceived the day of the conference! We laugh about it every time we bump into each other. Because of his healing that night, they went home and believed God for her miracle.
I am working on a new book which I hope will be available sometime in the early Spring. These previews are rough drafts of stories and biblical insights that I'll be including.
4 comments:
Tell more about your book. Are you done with it ? What is the name of it ? I really like that picture you posted of the flames with the person in it, its powerful.
The title is yet to be determined-- maybe "From Darkness to Light", it is not finished, nor proofread or edited... however; I do have almost all the material typed and organized. It is a matter of choosing stories, ordering the chapters so that there is a flow and polishing the language-- very much unlike my off-the-cuff blogging.
Interesting story David. As it is an excerpt I'm curious about the original context. What is week's entry meant to illustrate?
Ron, thanks for the comment. It is from the chapter "Rekindling the Fire - The Holy Spirit in Action"
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