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  • Communion

    Dear John,

    I wanted to take the time to write down the communion testimony Jesus blessed me with today. I felt too good today to try to tell it!

    I received the baptism of the holy Ghost in October 1985, and I received it with joy. Over the next 11 years I would pray and talk to Jesus and he would touch me and give me beautiful testimonies. But like many who are in Christianity, I could not fully understand the depth of the blessing of being filled with the Spirit.

    I had been taught that in order to have communion with Jesus, I was to partake of the communion ceremony that was performed at certain times during the year at church services when the congregation together received crackers and grape juice in His name. I loved doing that because I longed for communion with Jesus.

    In 1996,  I was watching a Christian tv program which was telling about a famous missionary who had lived in Africa for many years. He loved Jesus so much that he would have communion every day; he set aside time each day to eat his crackers and drink his grape and spend special time with Jesus. He said it was available to anyone who desired communion to do that same thing. I wanted to do that, too, because I loved the thought of being able to have daily communion. Jesus used that program to touched my heart because he knew I desired real communion with him more often than just a few times a year. He was telling me I could have sweet communion with him every day!

    I went to the grocery store and bought a small package of crackers and a small container of grape juice. From a sincere heart I told Jesus I longed for him. I put my crackers up on the top shelf of a kitchen cabinet and my juice in the back of the refrigerator. Each day for months  I would find a quiet time with Jesus when Tim was at work and baby Jeremiah was asleep. I would get my cracker and juice and talk to Jesus from my heart.

    Throughout the fall of 1996, I had been asking Jesus to let me hear and recognize his voice. Tim had begun going to some of the home prayer meetings of the saints held at Pastor John’s house. Tim never put any pressure on me to go, but by the end of the year, I found myself telling Jesus that even though I had had some very hurtful experiences with church religion and those in authority there, I was willing to put all my eggs in his basket again and go with Tim to the home prayer meetings. And when I went I learned about true communion in the holy Ghost and the fellowship of the believers with Jesus.

    Real communion is not in ceremony, but it is in Spirit and in Truth with the blood of Christ flowing from Jesus through the body to cleanse, strengthen and bring joy. He is the bread of life. And fellowship with Jesus and the body can be had anytime we yield ourselves to the power of God. Jesus did not suffer and die to institute a dead ceremony of passing out bread and juice, but he sent back the holy Ghost so we can have a real relationship with him, we can eat and drink of him, and live, and we can have perfect communion with him every day!

    Love,
    Bess

  • Notes from the Last Meeting

    Hi Pastor John,

    There were so many good things said last night at the meeting that I had to go back and re-listen and transpose some of what you said, so that I can refer back to it, and share it, too.

    “If you’ll wait on God, He can handle it. He will lead you.  You’ll feel the right thing, and there’s no pressure to do anything or not do anything.  There’s no pressure.  There’s just life.  Rest in the Lord and live.  He’ll bring it to pass.  He’ll take care of the situation.  Pray to stay alive and don’t fall into the trap of form.  If you do, something wrong is going to seem right because it fits the pattern in your head.   And something God does may seem very wrong because it doesn’t fit the form.  We’re not here to celebrate form; we’re here to celebrate the Son of God and what He’s done for us.” 

    “The will of God is right now.  You won’t find it in a book; you’ll find it in the Spirit.  What will make Him happy right now?  What will satisfy God and please Him right now?  Whatever you feel in your heart from the Spirit of God, whether to be still or to speak.  Whatever.  There’s just no form to go by.  There’s no form in Heaven. And when it’s in the Spirit, it accomplishes something.”

    “Obedience to God will yield the results you’re after.   Waiting on the Lord, you’ll get there.  But do it in God’s way and in God’s time.   Most people who get off the right track with Jesus are trying to do something they think is good.  Wait on the Lord.  David was waiting out there taking care of his father’s flock, playing music, learning how to use a sling, just waiting on the Lord.  God chose to use David, and he had just been waiting, doing what he was supposed to do.  God said, ‘I’ve got something I can use that guy for.’  Just go about your life and live.  Don’t feel any pressure to do anything.  Just do what you’re supposed to do.  Do your job well, do your schoolwork well. ‘Wait on the Lord and He will bring it to pass.’  He may leave us on the shelf…  If he wants to leave me on the shelf, that’s fine as long as He’s happy with me.”

    “If you’ll patiently follow the Spirit, love the truth, treat people right, walk in the Spirit, you’ll end up with a whole life of testimonies.  Be patient.  Just go through this life trusting God, waiting on the Lord, or moving when He says move, getting still when He says be still, because the time will come when He’ll bring it to pass, and it will be worth it.”

    Thank you for feeding us.

    Love, 

    Anna

  • Catholics Started the Religion of Islam?

    Pastor John,

    I heard a man tonight say that Catholicism purposely “invented” the religion of Islam with the plan of using it to raise an Arab army to “take back the holy land for the mother church.” He went on to say that Islam outgrew the Catholic’s ability to control it so the plan failed.

    I’ve never heard of that. Is that recount of history right?

    Thank you,

    Jerry

    =========

    Hi Jerry.

    That sounds far-fetched to me.  It sounds like a theory invented by someone who hates Catholicism.

    At the same time, we have to ask what difference does it make if that theory is true?  When I read the Koran in college, I saw that Muhammed must have been acquainted with the Bible, but his knowledge of it was poor.  Some of his facts were wrong.  But in the big scheme of things, the origin of the religion changes nothing about the present situation.  There are still over a billion Muslims on earth.  And Islam still won’t save a soul, no matter how it started.

    My personal belief is that God raised up Islam (by whatever means) in order to put a stop to what had been, up to that time, the steady spread of Christianity. It should not surprise us if He used Christians in that process; it was the greatest world power at that time.  It might be an interesting historical study to pursue, but it really doesn’t matter, and it feels as if to pursue it much at all would be a waste of time.

    I have never heard anyone say that Catholicism starting Islam.  So, thanks for that.  It’s good to know what’s out there.  But I don’t think it is true, and even if it is, it is of very limited value.

    Thank you for the question.

    Pastor John

  • Creation

    Hey pastor John,

    The last few days, I have been thinking about Evolution and Creation.  I had the best time talking to Jesus about it.   Here’s some thoughts from that conversation! 

    The world did not just happen to come into existence, and I did not evolve from the flesh into being God’s child.  Jesus came and created a new heart in me.  He created new thoughts and new feelings!  I grow in those new thoughts and new feelings and understanding, but it has nothing to do with that old fleshly nature.  The flesh has no part in any of the new creation Jesus has made me into.

    Christianity and Evolution go hand in hand, don’t they?  They both want to leave Jesus out and drag that old flesh along through it all.  They both leave God’s creation out!  They want the flesh to have a part to play somewhere.  It really does leave out the love and care of God, just like you say.

    It’s wonderful to my soul to know that God had Jesus make every little detail of this world and every little detail in us too! 

    Beth D.

  • Montanus

    John,

    Wouldn’t Montanus have had some followers?  I am thinking that if not, he would not even have been mentioned in early Christian writings.

    And as for Tertullian (c. 155 – c. 240 AD), was he against or for Montanus?

    Thanks,

    Wendell

    =========

    Hi Wendell.

    Yes, Montanus had many followers, probably even more than his detractors admitted.  But I am a little uncomfortable referring to them as “followers”, in the usual sense.  I believe they were just people like him who enjoyed with him the Spirit-filled way of life that he stood for.  We know by our own experience how Christians will label as heresy any truth of Jesus that exposes the folly of their religion, and will try to make those who love the truth appear to be cult members following a deluded man.

    Interestingly, although Christians eventually settled on the name “Montanism” for the Spirit-filled way of life that Montanus preached, they at first labeled it by another man’s name (I can’t recall that man’s name right now).  They just kept throwing mud at the truth until something stuck.

    As for Tertullian, he was at first a devout and well-known defender of the emerging Christian religion, but he somehow came in contact with some folk (we do not know when or how) who were Spirit-filled.  Tertullian was then converted to what Christians call “Montanism”.  I suspect that he was just converted to the real Jesus, that is, baptized with the holy Ghost, and then started acting like Montanus and others, speaking in tongues and worshipping “in spirit and in truth”.  Scholars all say that from that point, Tertullian’s writings reflect the change.  If the apostle Paul had a label for that, it was “true holiness”.

    Pastor John

  • On Experiences: Zoli

    Pastor John,

    The topic of feelings and experiences has been brought up a lot lately.  Today, while I was spending time in prayer, I was reminded of a powerful experience I had many, many years ago.

    It seems that it was the summer of 2002 when I went to a youth camp with my church’s youth group to Lake Balaton. We were staying at the youth pastor’s summer house, and one of the highlights of the camp was supposed to be the water baptisms, which was done in the lake itself.  I and two or three others were baptized that week, but the baptism itself was quite a let down for me.  Although the only real reason I agreed to do it was because people in the church, whom I respected, said this is what every Christian does, and it’s an expression of my obedience, I still expected it to be a memorable experience.  But when I eventually got dunked under water, and came back up, I felt absolutely nothing!  In fact, I felt emptiness.  “This was it?” I thought as I was walking out to the shore in my wet white T-shirt.

    The youth camp itself was still a sweet time overall, due to the times of worship, Bible study, and the conversations we were having throughout the week, but the real highlight came on the day of the baptisms, but later, in the evening, while we were having a bonfire.

    As we were sitting there, singing, chatting about God (and probably other things), all of a sudden I started feeling the presence of God in such a real way that I’m in tears and at the verge of trembling simply by recalling it.  I literally felt as if God was sitting there with us by the fire, and it was so real, so powerful that I just couldn’t keep it to myself.  I spoke up: “Can you all feel it?  God is here with us! He really is here, I can feel it!”  I only vaguely remember what the reaction of my fellow “youth groupers” was.  They didn’t share my feelings; they couldn’t really say anything; they didn’t really understand what I was talking about.  It was one of many moments during my years as a christian when the “vibe” I was feeling from my fellow believers was that I am taking God just a tad bit too seriously.  As they say, I was going a little over the top. 

    When I went to Bible College (first as a student, then, later, to serve there), both times my expectation was that I would finally be around people (24/7) who want God just as much as I do.  Both times, I ended up leaving the campus, practically, because I was taking the Bible (and the things of God) too seriously.  I just couldn’t reconcile my feelings with what that place was all about, but more importantly, what it WASN’T about.  Despite all the mental gymnastics I did to convince myself to stay, my feelings (that is, God) proved to be stronger.  Praise God!!

    But back to the bonfire.  The only verbal response to my testimony that I remember came from my youth pastor, Szilárd, and it was something like this: “Zoli, this is great.  Remember this moment and hold onto it, because there aren’t many of these in life.”

    As I recall Szilárd’s words, I have two feelings about it.  One is that he was right: It IS essential to our spiritual health and growth to cherish the experiences that we receive from God.  They WILL save our life!  But my other feeling is that it came from someone who did have his own experience or experiences with God, but doesn’t know life in the Spirit.  I now know, due to the mercies of God, that life in the Spirit is just like David described the “path of the righteous”; it’s like “the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”

    I am thankful, beyond words, for the experience of Jesus baptizing me with the holy Ghost 12 years ago.  I love what I had received from God before that and all the experiences I have had since then.  I love the feelings I received from Jesus in March of 2022 and the spiritual blessings he blessed me with in the past almost two years.  BUT I wouldn’t want to go back in time to the time of my holy Ghost baptism, to 2022 or even just a month ago.  Life is communion with the Father and the Son TODAY (right now!), and our past experiences won’t do us any good.  In fact, those very experiences will condemn us if we don’t stay faithful to the end!  God help us!

    And Szilárd was wrong.  If one follows Jesus (the real One!), wonderful experiences and touches from God won’t be rare.  They will become our life, or as Sister Beth put it, we will become “addicted” to it. 

    God, may we be just that –– addicted to your ways, addicted to your life, addicted to your righteousness.

    Zoli

  • Old Testament Class

    I have been up talking to Jesus about the Old Testament class.*  I was thinking about our big final exam coming up, and I thought about what I have gotten out of taking this class.  How would I answer that question if I was asked this time around.  I began to tell Jesus what I thought was the answer, but what he flooded my heart with is so much better.

    When I took this course in 2013, it was my introduction to who my Father is.  It was also the introduction to who my brothers and sisters are, an introduction to fellowship.  I remember Sue asking me then what I had gotten out of the class before our final exam in 2015, and I was just amazed at how loving God was.  I had never heard any of God’s story, and I remember loving the God I was learning about.

    Now, 10 years later, I am a whole new heart, with new feelings, new thoughts and new understanding.  I am an example of that holy love that I read about then.  I am part of God’s holy work.  I don’t have human words for what I feel. 

    Ten years later, all I see is the faithfulness of God.  He told me ten years ago to watch the fruit.  Look at what He did in these ten years!  I wish there were words.

    Beth D.

    * https://www.goingtojesus.com/gtj_otcourse-1010.html

  • Tithes and Offering

    Good morning,

    I was reading the Thought for the Morning for January 12* about tithes and offerings.  I was thinking about the Moral law verses Ceremonial law, and that tithing is a moral law.  In the Lutheran Church, I attended, there was a set time in the service to take up the offering.  Four ushers would march to the front, and the pastor would present them with the two collection plates.  Then they would start at the front pews and passed the plates down the pews, and the one on the end would hand the plate to the next row until everyone had been passed the plates.  Then the two head ushers would take the plates back up to the pastor, who would turn and present them to the altar and make some statement (I can’t remember the exact words).

    When thinking about that, it dawned on me that they even made Tithes and Offerings into a ceremony.  And even with that, they were still stealing from God because no one was truly tithing (the tenth); they were just putting in whatever they felt they could afford or wanted to do.

    I was just thinking on these things and feeling very thankful this morning that Jesus called me out of Christianity!

    Doris Wms

    * Going to Jesus.com – Tithes and Offerings

    ** https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_books.html?tname=tando

  • “On Feelings”

    Pastor John,

    Hi!  When did you write the BLOG, “On Feelings”?
    Jenny

    =========

    Hi Jenny.

    In the original document that I came upon, I was still using the word “church” to refer to the body of Christ.  That, along with some other things in the original text, let me know that it was over 20 years ago that I wrote that BLOG.
    Pastor John

    On Feelings

    One of the intriguing doctrinal developments in the past century is the oft-heard exhortation to ignore our feelings. “Don’t go by feelings,” we are told; “just take it by faith.” When one goes hunting in the Bible for similar exhortations, he returns to the camp with an empty bag. There is no such animal found in the Scriptures.

    Feelings are a precious and integral part of the kingdom of God because feelings are part of life as God has created it. We all feel because we are made in the image of God, who is “of tender mercy” and who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities”, though He be “angry with the wicked every day.” God feels, and He wants to create in us His feelings and thoughts, which He does by the holy Ghost that Jesus purchased for us. Even those who are dead and gone from this life feel things, whether they are in Paradise or in Hell. Jesus leads us to God through our feelings, as Paul said: “Godly sorrow produces repentance (2Cor. 7:10). And Jesus made it very clear that without repentance, a man will never see God (Lk. 13:1–5).

    Ministers warn their flocks not to go by their feelings so that they will pay no attention to how empty these ministers’ doctrines make them feel. Jesus said, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled,” but men say, “Deceived are they who hunger and thirst for anything other than what we’ve told them they have.” Peter said that the saints rejoice with “joy unspeakable and full of glory”. Where do you see such joy now? When is the last time you were in a gathering of the saints in which the joy was so great that it was virtually inexpressible?

    Jesus felt grief, and he poured out his heart to God with “strong crying and tears.” On other occasions, he “rejoiced in spirit”. The Philippian jailor was moved with fear of God’s wrath, and then, after he was baptized with the holy Ghost, he “rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.” We are exhorted by Paul to “rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” Whence, then, comes this strange notion that one’s feelings are not to be trusted or given expression? What is left as a guide if feelings are removed from the picture? “The Bible,” some will answer. But to what does the Bible guide us, but to God, who first grants us the feeling of remorse for sin, and then relieves us of the burden (a feeling) of guilt, and gives us peace (a feeling)?

    There are even those who suggest that there is nothing for us to go by at all except the Scriptures, that God no longer communicates with man, except by what man reads in the Bible! One such denomination purchased space in my hometown newspaper some years back which proclaimed that the Bible is all we need for salvation. Think of it. No experience with the Lord. No feeling of communion with the Father. No guidance from the Spirit. Just you and your Bible, you and lifeless pages made from dead trees and ink, covered with the dead skin of a dead animal. Should you trust your eternal destiny to something you can hold in your hand? Will you be saved from the flames of eternal damnation by something which itself can be burned up? Jesus spoke to this issue when he found some of the leaders of Israel trusting their souls’ destiny to the Scriptures. He said, “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me, and you will not come to me, that you might have life! (Jn. 5:39–40).

    The Bible cannot give life because the Bible itself is dead. Paul was referring to the Holy Scriptures when he wrote, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2Cor. 3:6). This means, for example, that Paul’s letter to the Corinthians kills, and his letter to the saints in Rome kills. Paul said so. But the holy Ghost which Paul had, and which the Corinthian and Roman saints had, gave life to both him and them. This is what Jesus was teaching in John 6:63 when he said, “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The things that I am telling you, they are spirit, and they are life!” It is the Spirit, not the Bible, that will raise up God’s saints from the grave (Rom. 8:11). The Spirit is life, Paul said (Rom. 8:10), and it makes us alive to God’s thoughts and feelings now so that we might be found worthy to live with Him forever.

    Without the holy Ghost, every religion is false religion; without the holy Ghost, every sermon is a lie; and without the holy Ghost, every man is a hopeless sinner. Without the holy Ghost, there is no righteousness of God, no peace with God, and no hope of salvation.

    Ministers warn against “going by feelings” because they feel intimidated by the life that God’s Spirit brings to people. The greatest threat to every ministry of man is the life of the holy Ghost. It is no wonder that such ministers strive to keep people from it! The liberty and joy and zeal that the Spirit brings exposes every man who has no credentials from heaven. Many a soul has gone to a minister with a feeling of not being right with God, only to be told not to go by how he feels, but only to trust the Bible – as interpreted by that minister.

    It is a tragedy that multitudes – billions – are being told that they are prepared to meet God in the Judgment when they are not. But the twist which makes it so frustrating is that many of them have feelings of a spiritual need, and when they ask for help, they are told to ignore what they feel and trust the Bible – again, as interpreted by their pastors. God help us reach people with the good news that there is a holiness they can know about! Their longing is for something that is there, that is real, waiting to be believed and felt – and Jesus has it!

    Jesus did not come to start a religion so dead that men have to tell you when you have If you can’t feel the spirit that a minister tells you that you have, trade it in for the one that’s alive! Dead spirits can do nothing for you. The Spirit of Christ brings eternal life into your soul. Why, when it enters your heart, it starts off by making a sound through you so that you and others may know you have it (Jn. 3:7–8; 1Cor. 14:21)! How many times have we heard people say after receiving the holy Ghost, “For years, I felt there had to be more to God than what I knew.” And to get that “more”, they had to overcome a thousand ministers telling them to ignore their feelings.

    “Don’t go by feelings”?!? How absurd! Paul said that “the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). Peace and joy are feelings! The fruits of the Spirit, listed in Galatians 5:22–23, are essential to the health of the body of Christ, and what are these fruits? “Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, faith, meekness, self-control.” Now, how in the world are you to know that you have joy unless you feel it? Should you wait for a man to tell you that you’re happy? And how are you to know that you love, unless you feel it? Are you going to wait for a man to prove it to you by quoting scriptures? Listen to what Paul said about those who are past feeling: “Having their understanding darkened, being aliens to the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the dullness of their heart, [they], being dead to feelings, have given themselves to licentiousness, to perform with insatiable desire every kind of uncleanliness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard him and been taught by him, for truth is in Jesus (Eph. 4:18–20). Notice, please, that Paul said the end result of denying feelings is a descent into moral wickedness.

    God wants us to feel it when we are not on the right track. That is our safety. Men cannot keep God from doing that for us, but they will attempt to persuade us that listening to our feelings indicates a lack of faith in the Bible – as they teach it.

    Beware, my friend. Any man who would tell you not to listen to your feelings would have you to listen to him rather than to God.

    On Experiences

    A strange doctrine which has gained some vogue in recent decades is the doctrine which warns against “going by experience”. You won’t listen to very many sermons before you’ll hear a warning not to depend on your experience. Is this not exactly what the serpent persuaded Eve to do in the garden of Eden? Did he not say, in effect, “Do not make your decisions based on your experiences with God, but on what I tell you about God”? Is that not exactly what happened? Eve had walked with God on the earth; she had talked with Him; she and Adam had been the beneficiaries of incredible blessings. They had been created in God’s own image, given dominion over an earth of great beauty and peace. They had experienced God’s love and care beyond human expression. But Satan, through a cunning use of words, persuaded her to make a foolish, fatal decision –– based on his lie, rather than what she herself had experienced with God.

    “Not go by experience”?!? How can anyone not base his life on experience? What on earth is not an experience? Being taught not to go by experience is itself an experience, and if there is an experience which one should not be led by, it is that one. We all begin our earthly journey as fools (Prov. 22:15). If we don’t learn from experience, we cannot grow. Then why do some men teach against “going by experience”? The answers are simple. They do so because (1) They have experienced no ordination from God and (2) the doctrines they teach cannot be confirmed by experience. Therefore, they tell their followers that (1) God no longer bears anyone witness, if he ever did (i.e., “trust me, not God ”), and (2) experience is an untrustworthy guide (i.e., “trust me, not yourself”).

    In seminary, one of my professors told us, “Brethren, if your doctrine is contrary to the facts, it is time to get a new doctrine.” I thought that was an astute observation, but it is one that seems to be lost to both the liberal and conservative side of the religious spectrum. Left-wing professors of theology deny the reality of the life of the Spirit on philosophical and psychological grounds, ignoring the fact of human experience with the Spirit’s baptism and its consonance with the Biblical record. Right-wing fundamentalists deny the power of the holy Ghost, ignoring the testimonies of many who have come  from their own ranks. Let’s be honest. Both groups of Christians are just too proud to confess their need of a Savior who lives and offers an experience that sets men free from pride. All their erudite, philosophical protestations on one end and Bible-thumping denunciations on the other are “red herrings”, thrown onto the road in order to divert the bloodhounds of conviction.

    God has enough precious souls of every economic and social background who have experienced and testified of the power of the holy Ghost that no honest person anywhere can reject it. “Whosoever will” may come if he will humble himself to Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. God is an equal opportunity forgiver.

    My dear friend, if you have been blessed by God with the holy Ghost, you need never be ashamed of the wonderful experience you have had. In the kingdom of God, it is a dignified thing to feel the blessings of the holy Ghost, to raise your hands, jump for joy, and “speak with the tongues of men and of angels.” You are blessed by what you have experienced, for all that really matters is that Jesus is pleased with you. What is man, God once asked, “whose breath is in his nostrils! For wherein is he to be accounted of?”

    When you take your first step toward the experience of new birth, when you kneel alone and sincerely ask God that first question, the things you will feel will not be the result of a psychological weakness. It will be the result of doing something Jesus has wanted you to do for a long time. And if you continue to follow those feelings, your own experience will teach you that it was the right thing to do.

    Those of us who have managed, by God’s grace, to follow His call, are pulling for you.

  • Sunday Morning (January 12, 2024)

    Pastor John,

    What a wonderful, wonderful meeting it was on Sunday morning! I feel like it was the best one I have ever been a part of, but then, I’ve felt like that quite often in the past two years  : )

    The things I saw, heard and felt during the meeting brought up some thoughts and memories in me. 

    1. After Brother Billy stood up and started, well… “preaching”, it stirred up a testimony in one person, which then stirred up something in someone else, and the whole thing was just sweet and glorious. I loved Sister Beth’s testimony, followed by Brother Keith’s response and then Sister Tracy walking in the middle, letting the Spirit testify through her, and everyone having an amen in their hearts and on their lips, standing up and raising their hands. I loved seeing all of you blessed under the Spirit. Thank you, God!

    So, this whole “scenery” reminded me of something Paul said to the Corinthians: 

    “When you come together, each of you has a song of praise, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let everything be done for edification (…) Let two or three prophets speak, and then let the others judge. And if a revelation is given to another sitting there, let the first one be silent. For you can all prophesy, in turn, so that all may learn and all may be encouraged” (1Cor 14:26, 29-31).

    I feel like this is exactly what happened on Sunday morning. Everything in order, and all for the edification of the Body. Not because you carefully followed some words written on a piece of paper, but because the Spirit was in charge, and he is not a spirit of confusion, but of peace.

    1. The second thing that I was reminded of, by a number of the testimonies (including Brother Keith’s, Brother Brad’s and Sister Diane’s), was how, after God touched my life through a powerful, life-changing, dream-like experience back in 2000, I started looking for a church to attend, so I could somehow get “more of God”. And, naturally, I first went to the local Catholic church, but the way that turned out was not what I had expected.

    I walked up to the church building, expecting to meet the priest, so I can ask him questions, etc., but to my surprise I found no one there, because it was not “mass time”. I could still enter through the big main door into a small location with a Jesus sculpture on the one side and a bulletin board with various announcements and information on it; but the main part of the church, with the pews and the altar in it, was closed down with a metal gate with bars on it.

    I can’t remember how it happened, but the big wooden door behind me got shut while I was in there, and as I was ready to leave, I realized that the door handle wasn’t a regular door handle from the inside, but some kind of mechanism and I needed to figure out how to open the door with it. But… I couldn’t. I was trying for minutes before I gave up, and then I started thinking: What now? First, I thought I might need to wait there until the next mass (I had no cellphone at the time), but that seemed nonsensical, so I ended up trying one or two more times until finally I was able to open the door and get out.

    I can’t recall the exact feelings I had, but one thing was certain: I wasn’t gonna go back to that place anymore because it was such an unpleasant experience.  I can’t remember if it lasted for 10 or closer to 20 minutes, but I was feeling trapped, and somehow I knew that it was a sign from God that it was not the path for me to take.

    Knowing what I know now about “The Church”, it makes even more sense what and why God did what He did then, at the very beginning of my journey in the faith.

    I thank God that He ended up leading me to a church where they taught me to appreciate and respect the Bible, to read it and study it for myself, because eventually that led me to realize that what they teach about the baptism of the holy Ghost is not right, which then led me to you all.

    I hope you all will have a wonderful week.

    Zoli

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