The Word
The Word|
|
I moved into a Christian shared house, and met a lad called Derek. Derek was weird, and he had strange beliefs. But the more that he shared, the more I realized they were all scriptural. I started to become more interested in what he had to say, and the Message he was promoting. I visited his church, and it opened my eyes to proper ministry of the Word. I became very dissatisfied with my church. When I moved out of that house, and out of contact with Derek, I stopped going to church at all, because the conflict was so great. But God made a way for us to meet again, and because of that, I was kicked out of the house I was in once again. This time, however, it wasn't for drugs, or behavior- but for the Word of God |
read on below for more details
[Back to The hour I first Believed] [Home] [On to Baptism]
While I was looking for a new home, I had several more unusual experiences. I don't know exactly what they were, but I believe it has something to do with God ridding my life of all the little devils that were dwelling with me. If you remember the dark shadows that floated about me- well, once again I saw them. For several weeks as I was dropping off to sleep the room would get dark again. Then I would feel as if I were being punched all over my body. It seemed like these dark eel slithers were dive-bombing me. Another time, in a prayer meeting I felt as if someone was bouncing a medicine ball up and down on my stomach, and pushing something out of me. Each time it hit me I grunted- other people told me to "shush- others are praying- " but there was nothing that I could do. Eventually the Lord delivered me from all of this.
From a friend in Church I heard about a house that was owned by a missionary couple who were over seas, and taking tenants. I moved into this house. There was space for three people, and shortly afterwards a young lad called Derek moved in. Derek was a quite lad, and kept himself to himself. When we started to talk I thought that he was a bit weird- he had some strange beliefs about Christianity. As we shared what he told me seemed very odd compared to what I had heard before. He had views on things like the Trinity, Christian Pop Music, and how Christian women shouldn't cut their hair. But he always seemed to go back to the Bible. As I started sharing what Derek told me at my local church, I got some very strange looks.
After a few months, Derek invited me to visit his church. It was a totally new experience for me and unlike any of the Churches that I had been in before. One thing that really stood out was the preaching of the Word. It was almost totally opposite to the church that I was going to- in my church there was a lot of singing and praising, dancing in the spirit, but very little ministry. In Derek's church there wasn't so much of the loudness and praise, but the whole service was centered around the sermon that the minister gave. I started to become hungry for the Word, and wanted to learn more about God in a "hard core" way. Derek started to tell me about a man in America who was dead now, called William Branham. According to Derek he was a Prophet. He gave me some reading material from this Branham, and my first thoughts were "Where is all the love in this?!" It seemed full of condemnation and rebuke. But once again, it all seemed to have a scriptural basis.
I started to go to Derek's church more and more. I didn't change churches- after all the church I was at were the ones that had started me off in my Christian life- but I did become more and more unhappy with what I was hearing there. I asked people that I respected what they thought of the things Derek was showing to me, but this just caused problems. One person ripped up a leaflet that I showed him, telling me that it was the "work of the Devil"- but Derek gave me another one. The more hostility I got from people about it, the more that I noticed something. These people never used scriptures to show me how it was wrong, but relied on reasoning and emotions. This had the effect of driving me closer to the things Derek was telling me. After 6 months the couple returned to the house, and I moved into another Christian home. Derek and I promised to meet up, but I didn't see him for about two months after this.
I moved in with a Church of England lady who was letting rooms. Derek had left me with a few books of the "message" that Branham had given. As I read them, I found that there was so many differences between the Bible and the Church I was at, that I stopped going to church. I felt as if I was like Paul in the wilderness- God was revealing to me about the Bible, and about the Prophet. I had to forget most of what I had been taught before, and learn from scratch again. Eventually I got back in contact with Derek. He continued to give me more books, and share with me about what God said, and what was in the Bible. My landlady really took a dislike to Derek. She thought that he was trying to induct me to a satanic cult- and that she was the one Derek was going to sink his claws into next. Eventually she banned him from the premises, and called in one of her ministers to try to talk me out of the message. But God had spoken to me, and I had to leave her house.
Picture to follow