The following Wednesday evening, I went with Helen to a mid-week service at the Pentecostal church. I felt a bit uncomfortable at first, as I was not accustomed to this type of worship – people were raising their hands and calling out words of praise as they openly worshipped Jesus. But afterwards when I returned home, I noticed that I was feeling noticeably less depressed than before I had left the house. The next day, I purchased my first Bible – a King James Version. On Friday, Helen accompanied me to my first Bible study with the pastor at the church. I learned how all the prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testament were fulfilled by Jesus in the New Testament.
The eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, fell on a Wednesday night that year. This was my third visit to this church, as I had not yet attended on a Sunday. Usually I felt guilty on the Jewish high holidays because I did not attend synagogue services. Now, here I was, in a church! I thought this to be a bit ironic.. The service turned out to be considerably different from the first two I had attended. While prayer requests were being given, several people approached the altar for prayer. This is a common occurrence, however, tonight this portion of the service was lasting a long time. As more people approached the altar, and the praise singers kept singing, I sat in a pew feeling something I had never felt before. I began to cry as I asked God to help me to accept Jesus as Messiah. I was finding it so difficult to “cross over,” having been taught all my life to believe that Jesus was nothing more than a rabbi – a good man who wanted to help his people when they were under Roman oppression.
One of the ladies sitting near me in the pew reached over and placed her hand on my shoulder. This gave me a sense of comfort. She later told me that she had felt a “nudge from God” in her spirit to do this. Helen had gone up to the altar area, but now she was back in the pew. She asked me if I wanted to go to the altar. She said I didn’t have to go if I didn’t want to, but she had felt a “nudge from God” to ask me. “Yes,” I said, “I want to go.” I wanted to repent and ask God to forgive me for my sins. I had told Helen earlier that day that I wanted what she had. I wanted the Holy Spirit to dwell inside me. I wanted to feel the same joy that was so evident in her.
Helen went with me to the front of the sanctuary. I knelt down at the altar, told God that I was sorry for all the times I had sinned against Him, and asked for His forgiveness. As I continued to pray, several women stood behind me and urged me to stand up and raise my hands and praise God. These women placed their hands on my shoulders and prayed for me. I did not know really how to praise God, for I had never been taught how to worship and praise Him. I did feel a sense of relief, because I had repented of my sins and accepted God’s forgiveness. Now, the next step was to be baptized in Jesus’ name so that God would fill me with the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:38 says “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (KJV). I thought I needed to be baptized first, before I could receive the Holy Ghost. Nevertheless, I continued in my attempts to praise God.
After several minutes, I began to feel my lips and tongue becoming sort of limp. The pastor told me to yield to what I was feeling, because it was the Holy Spirit. I began to mutter the word “Hallelujah,” which seemed to flow from my mouth without conscious effort. The people who were standing around me encouraged me to continue to praise God, so I kept saying “Hallelujah” and whatever words of praise I could think of to say. I yielded my tongue to allow my speech to be controlled by God rather than by myself. Then I heard myself utter some words or syllables in a language that I did not know. I felt myself becoming somewhat numb and it was getting difficult for me to remain standing. Some ladies helped me down to the floor, and there I lay for several minutes. I felt a sense of pure joy along with a feeling of inner peace. Never in my life had I felt like this before! Later, I learned that I had been “slain in the Spirit” after having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. How awesome is the God we serve!
The eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, fell on a Wednesday night that year. This was my third visit to this church, as I had not yet attended on a Sunday. Usually I felt guilty on the Jewish high holidays because I did not attend synagogue services. Now, here I was, in a church! I thought this to be a bit ironic.. The service turned out to be considerably different from the first two I had attended. While prayer requests were being given, several people approached the altar for prayer. This is a common occurrence, however, tonight this portion of the service was lasting a long time. As more people approached the altar, and the praise singers kept singing, I sat in a pew feeling something I had never felt before. I began to cry as I asked God to help me to accept Jesus as Messiah. I was finding it so difficult to “cross over,” having been taught all my life to believe that Jesus was nothing more than a rabbi – a good man who wanted to help his people when they were under Roman oppression.
One of the ladies sitting near me in the pew reached over and placed her hand on my shoulder. This gave me a sense of comfort. She later told me that she had felt a “nudge from God” in her spirit to do this. Helen had gone up to the altar area, but now she was back in the pew. She asked me if I wanted to go to the altar. She said I didn’t have to go if I didn’t want to, but she had felt a “nudge from God” to ask me. “Yes,” I said, “I want to go.” I wanted to repent and ask God to forgive me for my sins. I had told Helen earlier that day that I wanted what she had. I wanted the Holy Spirit to dwell inside me. I wanted to feel the same joy that was so evident in her.
Helen went with me to the front of the sanctuary. I knelt down at the altar, told God that I was sorry for all the times I had sinned against Him, and asked for His forgiveness. As I continued to pray, several women stood behind me and urged me to stand up and raise my hands and praise God. These women placed their hands on my shoulders and prayed for me. I did not know really how to praise God, for I had never been taught how to worship and praise Him. I did feel a sense of relief, because I had repented of my sins and accepted God’s forgiveness. Now, the next step was to be baptized in Jesus’ name so that God would fill me with the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:38 says “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (KJV). I thought I needed to be baptized first, before I could receive the Holy Ghost. Nevertheless, I continued in my attempts to praise God.
After several minutes, I began to feel my lips and tongue becoming sort of limp. The pastor told me to yield to what I was feeling, because it was the Holy Spirit. I began to mutter the word “Hallelujah,” which seemed to flow from my mouth without conscious effort. The people who were standing around me encouraged me to continue to praise God, so I kept saying “Hallelujah” and whatever words of praise I could think of to say. I yielded my tongue to allow my speech to be controlled by God rather than by myself. Then I heard myself utter some words or syllables in a language that I did not know. I felt myself becoming somewhat numb and it was getting difficult for me to remain standing. Some ladies helped me down to the floor, and there I lay for several minutes. I felt a sense of pure joy along with a feeling of inner peace. Never in my life had I felt like this before! Later, I learned that I had been “slain in the Spirit” after having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. How awesome is the God we serve!
The following Sunday morning, I attended church service and was baptized in the precious name of Jesus. This too, was an awesome experience! The water in the baptismal tank was rather cold, because the heater had not been turned on earlier. I did not want to postpone my baptism, so I told the pastor to go ahead with it anyway. I had also told him about my fear of having my head submerged under water. I was held underwater for only a second or two while the name of Jesus was invoked over me for the remission of my sins, but when I came back up, I was unable to catch my breath. The pastor, recalling what I had told him about my fear of being underwater, said to me, “You’re all right.” As soon as I heard this, I felt the water get very warm. This warmth started at my feet, and worked its way up to the top of my head. It felt like being in a hot tub! I knew that this was the fire of the Holy Spirit. I began to speak in “tongues.” I can still remember “rolling” my R’s (like “R-r-ruffles have r-r-ridges”), which I cannot consciously make myself do (believe me, I’ve tried). Other than that, I have no recollection of what I said. I know without a doubt that it was the Holy Spirit that gave me the utterance.
