Defining Moment
Yesterday was an aniversary celebration for me. 16 years ago, on December 6, 1990, I had a spiritual experience that changed my life. I knelt in the front of an empty church sanctuary, emptied myself and asked the Lord to take over my whole life. Praise God, He did!
That day, He filled me with his Holy Spirit.
He overflowed me with His love.
He settled my soul with peace.
He lifted all my heavy burdens.
He washed away all my interior cobwebs.
He fired me up!
That day, He gave me the gift of Evangelism -- and I have been helping folks come to faith ever since.
I came to Hayward Wesleyan Church a few months later, as a direct result of this experience. It was, indeed, a defining moment in my life and ministry.
Yesterday, to celebrate, I had of day of joyful, prayerful, soulful, Scriptural, poetic solitude. I spent it in Ashland so I would be free from interruption. First, I prayed at the Black Cat Coffee Shop, then I had a powerful time at Northland College's Dexter Library where I read about the Haystack Prayermeeting which resulted in great revival and missions. After that I spent a couple of hours at the historical society archives, perusing the letters, sermons, and personal books of L. H. Wheeler.
In one letter to his parents (April 3, 1840) he wrote: "Holiness of heart and life is what renders christians emphatically the light of the world."
Shortly before he left on his voyage to the Ojibwa, a missionary mentor sent this reminder: "Don't forget that holiness is a most important requisite for Christ's missions."
Amen brothers!
What a day! What a celebration!
That day, He filled me with his Holy Spirit.
He overflowed me with His love.
He settled my soul with peace.
He lifted all my heavy burdens.
He washed away all my interior cobwebs.
He fired me up!
That day, He gave me the gift of Evangelism -- and I have been helping folks come to faith ever since.
I came to Hayward Wesleyan Church a few months later, as a direct result of this experience. It was, indeed, a defining moment in my life and ministry.
Yesterday, to celebrate, I had of day of joyful, prayerful, soulful, Scriptural, poetic solitude. I spent it in Ashland so I would be free from interruption. First, I prayed at the Black Cat Coffee Shop, then I had a powerful time at Northland College's Dexter Library where I read about the Haystack Prayermeeting which resulted in great revival and missions. After that I spent a couple of hours at the historical society archives, perusing the letters, sermons, and personal books of L. H. Wheeler.
In one letter to his parents (April 3, 1840) he wrote: "Holiness of heart and life is what renders christians emphatically the light of the world."
Shortly before he left on his voyage to the Ojibwa, a missionary mentor sent this reminder: "Don't forget that holiness is a most important requisite for Christ's missions."
Amen brothers!
What a day! What a celebration!
I too love to remember what God has done in my life, how He swept into my heart and washed away the darkness and empitness. It seems so often that I talk to teenagers or adults who do not believe that God wants or is able to forgive their sins. They believe that they have done too much wrong, for God to forgive them. But thanks be to God, I am here to testify that God does forgive our sins. He overlooks all of our wrong doing.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to reflect on what God has done in all of our lives. We should do it more often.