the first place I got involved
After praying the "prayer" with Henry that day 42 years ago... and suddenly experiencing things I had never experienced before... that peace that settled over me... that voice that spoke to me... throwing my addiction to nicotine out the car window... realizing how something pretty dramatic had happened when miracles became a daily happening... impossible things just disappeared... I even went thru the whole next day without even one 4 letter word coming out of my mouth... not because somebody told me to stop... it was just gone.
After Henry had explained to me that when God really grabs hold of your heart.... the only thing you can do is go off to bible school and become a preacher ... I was young enough... Henry was 50 and explained the other option that he chose... to become a missionary.... after he had explained all that... the next thing I had to do was to get involved in a "good Church"....
The first place to get involved seemed pretty obvious to me... I visited the Church that Henry use to go to ... I didn't get very excited about that since nobody there seemed excited about anything at all... that was the first time I ever wondered about what was that all about... I mean... if Henry "sat there" right along with all these others who were "sitting there" and everybody was just kind of waiting for God to "really grab hold of their hearts"... then what kind of Christianity is that kind? I'll try not to get sarcastic and just move along to the next Church Henry recommended... it was another "independent fundamentalist evangelical Church in the Baptist tradition".... the folks there were all excited about the fact that I had gotten saved and would now be able to escape hell and go to heaven... they were also excited that I was all excited... they said it was good to see me "on fire for Christ"... they further told me "to enjoy this time because it doesn't last... and pretty soon you will calm down and be normal like the rest of us."
I determined almost immediately that I did not want to ever become like the rest of them.... but I liked the Pastor... he preached good sermons... I had never heard stuff like that before in the Catholic Church... or my other quick stints with the Baha'is and the Unitarians... so I stuck it out for a couple months until that wild ride I wrote about earlier on... when I went to Pennsylvania where I was Baptized in the Holy Spirit... that is a whole other story... but I was totally rejuvenated and excited again... I just couldn't hardly wait to see my Pastor and tell him what had happened...
I called him... made an appointment and ran over to see him.... just bubbling in my excitement... I told him I had just received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and received a prayer language to speak to God... I was speaking in "other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance..." He just sat there in stunned silence... finally he spoke... "Phil... I don't know whether to pray for you... or just feel sorry for you..."
I began to look for another Church.
:)
After Henry had explained to me that when God really grabs hold of your heart.... the only thing you can do is go off to bible school and become a preacher ... I was young enough... Henry was 50 and explained the other option that he chose... to become a missionary.... after he had explained all that... the next thing I had to do was to get involved in a "good Church"....
The first place to get involved seemed pretty obvious to me... I visited the Church that Henry use to go to ... I didn't get very excited about that since nobody there seemed excited about anything at all... that was the first time I ever wondered about what was that all about... I mean... if Henry "sat there" right along with all these others who were "sitting there" and everybody was just kind of waiting for God to "really grab hold of their hearts"... then what kind of Christianity is that kind? I'll try not to get sarcastic and just move along to the next Church Henry recommended... it was another "independent fundamentalist evangelical Church in the Baptist tradition".... the folks there were all excited about the fact that I had gotten saved and would now be able to escape hell and go to heaven... they were also excited that I was all excited... they said it was good to see me "on fire for Christ"... they further told me "to enjoy this time because it doesn't last... and pretty soon you will calm down and be normal like the rest of us."
I determined almost immediately that I did not want to ever become like the rest of them.... but I liked the Pastor... he preached good sermons... I had never heard stuff like that before in the Catholic Church... or my other quick stints with the Baha'is and the Unitarians... so I stuck it out for a couple months until that wild ride I wrote about earlier on... when I went to Pennsylvania where I was Baptized in the Holy Spirit... that is a whole other story... but I was totally rejuvenated and excited again... I just couldn't hardly wait to see my Pastor and tell him what had happened...
I called him... made an appointment and ran over to see him.... just bubbling in my excitement... I told him I had just received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and received a prayer language to speak to God... I was speaking in "other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance..." He just sat there in stunned silence... finally he spoke... "Phil... I don't know whether to pray for you... or just feel sorry for you..."
I began to look for another Church.
:)
