Pentecost Holiday

This weekend, according to the Orthodox church, is the celebration of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is brought to the people and as we all remember from NT, the people begin speaking in tongues in Acts. Well, to celebrate this weekend our church has planned a Fire Conference. There is a guest speaker from Florida whose main ministry is bikers. He preaches on the streets of Florida and administers healing.

I'm a skeptic at heart. I grew up in typical United Methodist fashion with no HS moving the people during worship. People didn't raise their hands and they certainly didn't speak in tongues. We rarely had alter calls. As we were preparing for the conference, we talked about our own experiences with the HS. I admitted that I didn't have much experience with people being slain in the spirit or speaking in tongues. I've never seen someone healed. It all made me kinda nervous. But I've always wanted to see that side of the HS. I believe that God can change people. I believe that miracles happen but I had never witnessed one. I wanted to see the way that God could move his people.

As I tried to prepare myself for the conference, I prayed that God would open my heart and mind to the things that the HS could do. I wanted my heart to be open to receiving the HS. I wasn't praying to speak in tongues but to feel God touch me with the HS. Like I said before, I'm a skeptic. I didn't think that the HS could really infuse people. Tonight, I became a believer. I prayed that my heart would be open and God answered that. While we were singing our worship songs at the beginning, I found myself beginning to cry. The songs are all in Greek so I don't really know what they are saying but I sing along anyway. I started to cry but could not identify why I was crying. As the speaker began to speak, each time someone went up to receive healing I would begin to cry again. One woman went forward to receive healing on her eyes. She had been seeing spots and it blurred her vision. The speaker pointed at me and asked me to come forward. He said, "I received a word from God that you needed to see the healing of her eyes. Put your hands over her eyes and say these words." The tears would not stop flowing. The woman was convulsing but remained standing. God healed her eyes. God answered my prayer. I saw people receive the HS.

I'm still processing through a lot of this. We have another service tomorrow night. I hope the Lord continues to open my heart and I see his healing power again. I'm excited to see the people who received healing tonight. One lady was blind in one eye and she began to gain some sight in it but it might take some time still.

God is changing me. I don't know the complete reason or ways yet but I feel a change. Maybe it is to help my skepticism.

Sorry for unloading but it is a lot to process in one evening.