Newbie-Hello

[Ben]

Newbie-Hello

Hiya gang. A new guy here, just registered today. Looking forward to adding my .02 cents worth to some postings.

Recently I had a very deep and moving spiritual experience in my pastor's office. There is absolutely no doubt that it is a "God thing" but quite frankly I never believed in it before it happened to me!

Ben

 

[Mark_18]

Hey, great to have you. We might need a whole 2 cents here though, not .02 cents.

This is amazing to hear Ben, care to tell us about it?

Mark

 

[Ben]

Hey, great to have you. We might need a whole 2 cents here though, not .02 cents.

This is amazing to hear Ben, care to tell us about it?

Mark

Mark,

I've only got just a few moments but I will give it a shot. I received Christ in 1975. No doubt about it I was (and am) saved. Baptised by immersion a couple of weeks later. I have always attended bible believing, Jesus loving, God fearing, "ya gotta be born again or ya ain't gonna make it to heaven" churches ever since. By God's grace I quit smoking and drinking liquor shortly after receiving Christ. Racism bit the dust several months later. Porno, lust and all that sexual temptation "guy stuff" took a little longer but eventually it also died under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (and LOTS of prayer.) Other "little" sins fell by the wayside every so often over the years of this marathon called The Christian Walk. BUT, using filthy language (yes even God's name in vain), extreme rage and anger, hatred for myself, holding grudges was the norm in my life. Also I felt like I was the # 1 hypocrite all the time because I simply did not love our heavenly Father like the scriptures say I was supposed to.

Then I had an absolute breakthrough about 90 days ago. I basically did nothing different than what I had been doing for 33 years. I made no "deals" with God, no begging Him, I wasn't annointed with oil, had hands laid on me or anything, I just had a "second touch" from God the Father in my pastor's office. All of the above "stuff" vanished in one split second. I have not cursed, gotten angry, said anything innapropriate, or basically done anything sinful for over 90 days. I now love my heavenly Father like you would not believe, I even love myself, my wife, and EVERYONE more than I ever have before. No more grudges or hating myself (or anyone else for that matter!) My "bear robbed of her cubs" temper is now more like a pink teddy bear from Toys "R" Us.

I remember years ago a Nazarene gent asking me if I had "ever received a 'second touch' " and I said no. He said it was like getting saved all over again. I asked my pastor (at that time) and his response was "Sure I believe in a second touch.....and a third, forth, 500th etc." We both lauged it off and ever since then I was a little leary of "those holiness" guys ever since. NO MORE, now I am one of them, even though I never believed in a "second touch."

Am I sinless? No, but I sure sin less than I ever have in my life, and I am praising God (and loving Him.)

Thanks for listening.

Ben

 

[Whirlwind]

That's beautiful testimony! Welcome to the forum!

Back when I still wasn't sure, I would pray. I'd ask God or this, ask Him for that. I was take, take, take. Why can't I have this? Why did you give that guy that? I wanted one of those!

I was treating God like a genie instead of the Father.

Today, I give just as much as I take and the world is balanced. Your story brought back those feelings for me, and I thank you for that.

God bless you.

 

[Ben]

Now that I'm no longer in a hurry, I can give you "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey says. What precipated me going into my pastor's office was I had a flashback to my childhood. My father beat my mother up in front of me (I was six years old.) It bothered me so much (because the flashback was so vivid) I called my pastor and gave him a brief synposis. He told me to write everything out exactly as I remembered it and to meet him in his office the next morning. The next morning he read it back to me verbatim. It was not a pretty sight. I was a mess, but God stepped in and healed my damaged emotions (or something.) I have not been the same since, PRAISE GOD!

Ben

 

[univac]

Wecome Brother

 

[SweetSurrender]

It does, indeed, sound like you had a
second touch from God!
Sometimes we need to think about our
childhood experiences as adults and sometimes God intervenes and shows us something that we can use as a healing. It was good you went to your pastor about this flashback. If you are like all of us, staying in His Word and praying and listening for His voice EVERY DAY will be necessary to hold onto this new change in your life. Keep your soul "oiled and maintained" to get the best "mileage" out of it!
Bonnie​

 

[Boanerges(Inactive)]

Welcome to the family Ben!

 

[Fluffy]

 

[Boanerges(Inactive)]

Now that I'm no longer in a hurry, I can give you "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey says. What precipated me going into my pastor's office was I had a flashback to my childhood. My father beat my mother up in front of me (I was six years old.) It bothered me so much (because the flashback was so vivid) I called my pastor and gave him a brief synposis. He told me to write everything out exactly as I remembered it and to meet him in his office the next morning. The next morning he read it back to me verbatim. It was not a pretty sight. I was a mess, but God stepped in and healed my damaged emotions (or something.) I have not been the same since, PRAISE GOD!

Ben

Hallelujah! Sometimes we choose not to face things like these but God knows better- He brings it to the surface to be dealt with so that we may experience more of His love and freedom. Hallelujah! What a wonderful and merciful God we serve!

 

[God's_Child]

 

[Ben]

Hallelujah! Sometimes we choose not to face things like these but God knows better- He brings it to the surface to be dealt with so that we may experience more of His love and freedom. Hallelujah! What a wonderful and merciful God we serve!

I don't think I chose to bury this, I think it was buried in my mind as a child because of the horribleness of it, and it only surfaced after the flashback. God dealt with it then.

Ben

 

[Boanerges(Inactive)]

It is often an unconscience defense mechanism or so I am told. Still the Holy Spirit knows- I find He peels me one layer at a time like an onion on this journey of discovery.

 

[revlynn]

Similar story

Hi Ben,

I'm also new here - this is my first post. Great to read your testimony. I had a similar experience. My childhood was full of mental, emotional and physical abuse from my mother (not her fault - she had an horrific childhood herself, and I really believe was suffering serious mental illness, which back in those days was not recognized as it is today.) Anyway, through it all Dad had been my hero. I had received a huge amount of healing since I was saved, and pretty much thought everything had been dealt with - then one day, out of the blue, comes this memory of witnessing Dad almost beating Mum to death when I was about 5.

It really rattled my world for a while, but looking back I realize that I had Dad on a little too high a pedestal - idolized him in quite a literal sense - and God used this experience to bring some balance to that. Dad is still my hero (even though he died when I was 12, and that was more years ago than I care to mention) but now I recognize that he was also very human. In a funny way it also brought me closer to Father God - up till then I was not going to let anyone replace my Daddy, not even Father.

Bless you real good - I pray God will continue to lead you deeper and deeper into relationship with Himself.

Lynn

 

[Ben]

Revlynn,

Great testimony! I have discovered that I now love God the Father like I should and like the scriptures say I should, with all my heart, mind and soul. I have also discovered that it really is all about Him. We try, beg, plead, ask, seek, knock, pray, bribe, scream, weep, crawl, or basically do whatever we think will work but God does EVERYTHING in His time not ours. A former pastor of mine used this analogy. When we receive Christ we board a train named Salvation which has as its final destination, heaven. After we board the train we can sit back, obey the engineer, enjoy the trip and have a cup of tea, or we can get up and yell up to the engineer that we have decided to help him run the train because it seems he needs some help. So we begin worrying about whether the rails will support the weight of the train, whether the engine has enough coal and water to make it, whether the conductor will be by with the dinner menu, or whether the brakeman will apply the brakes at the correct time. Either way the train will arrive at its destination, but if we choose NOT to help the engineer the trip is so much more enjoyable!

Ben

 

[revlynn]

Hi Ben,

Your post reminded me of something that happened very early in my ministry. Probably because God called me straight into ministry (the day I was born again He said "preach", and within 6 weeks I was in Bible College), I started with a real sense of urgency. I was frequently saying things to God like, "Lord, things have got to move soon. There is so much to do, and You're coming back soon!"

One day the Lord got sick of it, and replied "I KNOW when I'm coming back! I don't need you to tell me! Everything is on time!" Oooops! (The Lord frequently speaks to me in distinct, though not physically audible, words - and when He does it's usually a rebuke.)

blessings,

Lynn

 

[Jon-Marc]

Welcome to the Site, Ben.

 

[Ben]

Hi Ben,

The Lord frequently speaks to me in distinct, though not physically audible, words - and when He does it's usually a rebuke.

blessings,

Lynn

Lynn,

He does the same thing with me.

Ben

 

[bmc196]

God heals so that you can be used I'd imagine. People will see the change, read about this transformation. It is amazing to feel, to believe, to know somewhat, that God has asked you to live for him - here on Earth. What an honour, and what a shift that can take place when one accepts this offer.

 

[chili]

Hi Ben, Im sort of similar. I can relate to your story. God Bless you and welcome to the CFS.

Chili out.