Volume 7: Seasons Change

Black Cat Island on Lake Winnipesaukee (New Hampshire)

    We had met a family in Chicago during the tent revival with TLR. Shane and Julie Good and their 9 kids were somewhat of an anomaly. They lived in a converted school bus and had a Youtube channel called The Bus Life. So outside looking in they are an interesting family. We spent a little time with them in Chicago, but after the event in New Hampshire we stayed behind to follow up with the locals with them. From there we decided to take a break from ministering to rest and spend time as a family. Shane and Julie had a YouTube follower who had a house on an island where celebrities had homes. It was pristine real estate that we had the privelage to visit. The person who invited us was Mike Colclough. We spent a generous amount of time swimming and fellowshipping with each other and him. It was a wonderful change of pace from the constant travel and work; we could finally rest. You can see the episode of our time at Lake Winnipesaukee. 

    As we talked with Mike, we got on the topic of baptism. He had a history with the Lord, but had never been baptized before. We walked him through repentance and even forgiving his father who had been abusive in the past. Even their relationship wasn't the best. He had a sister who died on the mission field and His dad blamed him for it. As we talked and prayed, it led to him wanting to be baptized and lay everything down. He had been baptized before, but he said he didn't understand it and wasn't all in. It was a formality or a symbol. But after He was baptized this time, he said he laid everything down and he started experiencing freedom more and more as the days went on.

Mike getting baptized to Jesus

    So even in a time of resting with family, God is still at work. That is why Paul tells us "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2). Our time of rest was over and we left New Hampshire. We made our way to Pennsylvania to the home of some people we met in New Hampshire, Jeff and Diana. We were still living out of (not in) our van from house to house ever since we left North Carolina. Shane and Julie mentioned they knew a person who had an RV in Kentucky at an ex-amish persons house. So we decided to slowly make our way there from Pennsylvania.

    

    We arrived at the home of our now good friends Lavon and Marla Miller to see our potential new home. It was a 1995 Country Coach Magna. It looked newer than that, inside and out. Our ex amish friend Lavon was not the owner of the Motorhome, but was selling it for our soon to be friend Dave Larsen. I talked to Dave about potentially purchasing it from him. I told him our circumstance of living by faith. He said we could agree on $20,000 and I could pay it off as I could. So he let us take it for free and pay it off whenever we could! What an open door from the Lord. Family life was a bit hard to sustain living house to house and having no place to call our own. The Lord had provided a place for us! Hannah and Julie promptly cleaned it up and made it ready for us to move in. Little did I know that our travels up to this point would pale in comparison to where our new home would travel.

 

    Changing course back to Lavon's family. The Lord had something in store for them. They were raised  Amish and new nothing but that until the Lord put a hunger in Lavon for something more. Through a certain number of events he ended up at a three day event called the Emmaus Walk. During this weekend he encountered the love of God in a way that he never had before. The Lord quickly took him from a life of religion to a relationship with Jesus. This slowly influenced his whole family and his wife and children were exposed to the Gospel. He and his wife were baptized shortly after and their oldest daughter wanted to as well. She also wanted to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. So a few days after we got there we took her to the river and baptized her there. It was a beautiful moment of surrender and when she came out of the water she cried out to the Lord. She did not receive the Holy Spirit at that moment because God had an order he wanted to maintain. It was Lavons turn first.

Brianna's baptism

    

    Shortly after her baptism we were in the home and the topic of the Holy Spirit came up. We felt in the Spirit that Lavon should be the first to receive because of his heart in the matter. We prayed for him a few moments and he slowly fell to his knees and started to speak in tongues! He had been filled with the Spirit! We then prayed for his wife Marla who after a moment fell backwards to the ground and then started speaking in tongues as well! Then as if designed by the Lord, Lavons oldest daughter Brianna received prayer. She fell to the floor as well and received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Such a powerful encounter with the Lord! God is so faithful to give what he promised! "Repent and be baptized to Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. FOR THIS PROMISE IS FOR YOU and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." (Acts 2:38)

Brianna after receiving the Holy Spirit

    A lot of people assume you receive the Holy Spirit the moment you believe in Jesus. While it is possible for that to happen it does not every time. Even in scripture Paul asked some believers in Ephesus, "did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" they said, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." (Acts 19:2) So we see here an instance where Paul found some disciples of Jesus that had not received the Holy Spirit and were only baptized through John's baptism. In the Gospels, when the disciples were casting out demons and healing the sick, Jesus said of them, "...the Holy Spirit has been with you and will soon be IN YOU." (John 14:16-17) So we see that just because we experienced the Lord, it doesn't mean that we have His Spirit living inside of us. There was always evidence in the Scripture, normally speaking in tongues was consistent, but also either prophesying or praising happened as well. We must repent, turn from this world and its ways, from sin and selfishness. We must be baptized to Jesus Christ to truly die and receive the Holy Spirit to truly live!

    More and more fruit was to come in the coming months and years. A pruning in our lives and our marriage as well. God would take us across this country for an adventure that I always wanted, but I would find to be more difficult than I could ever imagine.


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