WPC Blogs

My story continues:  I graduated High School, started college, and like many young people do, drifted away from my faith.  Okay, drifted doesn't really describe it accurately.  I stopped attending church, became a groupie of a local new wave/punk rock band that spent way too much time at various dance clubs (bars) at the Jersey Shore, drank to excess, shaved half my head, and basically behaved badly.  Several years later I recognized I did not like the direction I was headed and began returning to my faith.  In 1988 I moved to Washington State and within a year began attending a small non-denominational church.  In this church I found people who reminded me of the folks I had known in High School all those years before.  They had that same undefined quality about them that reflected a deeper relationship with God than I had experienced in my own life.  The services allowed a great deal of freedom for manifestations of the Spirit, with speaking in tongues, interpretation, prophecy, healing, words of knowledge and words of wisdom happening often.  At the close of each service members would come forward for prayer and would sometimes fall to the ground during the prayer (slain in the Spirit).  Seeing all of this as part of an official worship service was new to me.  After attending for a few months, I approached the Pastor, desiring to be re-baptized (I had been baptized as an infant) as an outward expression of my re-commitment to Christ.  He agreed and in July of 1989 I was baptized by emersion in Heart Lake.  I continued to seek more of God in my life and not long after that while singing songs of praise in worship, I began to sing in tongues (a language I had not learned and did not understand).  The feeling of God's presence in the room and within me was so strong, joyous and generated such a love for God that I can hardly describe it.  I did not feel possessed, out of control, or less myself.  In fact it was as if I was more myself than I had ever been.  My spirit was in perfect tune (not my singing, just my spirit) with God's and all I wanted to do was stand there and praise Him all day long.  The song ended and I stopped singing but the joy and love of God did not go away.  And I knew that God had given me a way to deepen my relationship with Him, a gift that from that day to this enriches my prayer life, increases my joy in the Lord, and overwhelms my heart with praise of His grace and love.  I believe this gift is available to anyone who desires it.  For some, you may already experience God in a deep, intimate, satisfying way and feel no need for anything more; for others, you may long for more of God in your life and this manifestation of the Spirit may be your answer.  Pray, seek God, ask and He will answer.

Next week we begin our study with the very first mention of the Spirit, Genesis 1:1-2.