God Blessed Me with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Even in My Defiance)

Have you ever challenged God?

It was 1972. I stood in the Santa Clara County Convention Center in San Jose, California. I’d gone there with family to see evangelist Morris Cerullo speak and get prayer for my great-aunt, who was very ill.

Pastor Cerullo was a powerful speaker. As a rebellious twelve-year-old that believed I was well beyond my years, I wasn’t very receptive to his “repent for your sins and ask God to be the ruler of your life” sermon. I was doing just fine on my own. I’d accepted Christ into my heart and life when I was nine, but I wasn’t acting Christ-like.

The pastor asked all teenagers in the audience to come up on stage and let him pray for them. A throng of young people flocked to the platform. They stood in a long line, and when Pastor Cerullo touched their foreheads, they fell backward and lay there with their hands in the air.

“That’s it!” I said to myself. “I’m going up there, and that guy isn’t knocking me over.”

I made my way to the platform, my contentious attitude in tow, and got in one of the lines with about eight other youngsters. I stood there, arms crossed, steeling myself for the shove that never came.

Pastor Cerullo began praying for the kids in my line, and the closer he got to me, the weaker I felt. I can’t describe the warm feeling that enveloped my body. The next thing I knew, my arms shot straight up. While the pastor was praying for someone two people away from me, down, I went. I fell backward, and one of the folks on the pastor’s team caught me and gently laid me down on the floor.

My arms were in the air, and I spoke a language I didn’t know or understand. Tears streamed down my face. A feeling of complete love and acceptance swept over me. I felt light as a feather. It was like a thousand-pound weight had been lifted off my weary young soul. I can’t say how long I lay on the floor, relishing the feelings that washed over me.

I don’t have a lot of memories from 1972. But that day, when Jesus powerfully touched me, is one I’ll never forget.

I’d love to say that after a life-altering moment like that, I went all in with Christ and never wavered from the Christian life. Sadly, that was not the case. Like many people who come to know Jesus at a young age, I shoved Him to the back-burner of my life and took off in my rebellious ways.

It would be thirty years before I stopped dabbling in the Christian life. I pretty much ignored God unless I was experiencing hardship. All that time, He never left my side. I did a lot of things that I’m not proud of. Lots of confessions, repentance, and forgiveness were required to get back on the right path with Jesus. My memoir Born Again in a Biker Bar is my return to Jesus story. I can only imagine what a mess my life would be if I hadn’t returned to my Christian roots.

With the Asbury Revival breaking out and the release of the movie The Jesus Revolution, I felt I needed to share my story. Our country is in its current mess because of lazy and apathetic Christians. The “Church” went to sleep while Satan was at work using influential people to push the progressive agenda that is destroying our country. It’s been going on for decades.

The Jesus Revolution of the 70s got something important started, but a lack of follow-through by the church kept it from taking root as it should have. Introducing people to Christ is just the beginning. Teaching them how to live a Christian life through God’s word is an important step that many churches missed.

Butts in chairs and money in the offering plates have been more important to many churches than teaching their parishioners the gospel. I’m praying that the rude awakening we’re getting will open eyes and hearts. If Christians will put on God’s armor and determine themselves to be difference makers, America will be saved.

Key Message: God can touch you when you least expect it and will use you right where you are. Revival is here!

Here’s another story about God doing something amazing for me.