Tales from the Lions' Den, Volume 2
Baptized in the Holy Spirit, Twice?
Baptized in the Holy Spirit, Twice?
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Summer, 1986, I was driving home alone, crushed in my spirit because my estranged wife
had denied me the scheduled, weekend-long visit of my twelve- year- old son. And I was
crying out to God because I didn't know how to pray. Then strange words came out of my
mouth and filled the car; but I stopped them because of my unbelief, my fear of losing my
mind. But after that strangeness I did know how to pray: "Lord Jesus, please take over the
day-to-day privilege of being dad to my son until such time as I may have it back." And I
knew that God had heard me and granted my prayer. I felt the peace of God enveloping
me.
For years after that, I told other Christians "I'm a tongues- talking Baptist." But to get the
truth right, I also told them that I felt "uncomfortable" about doing "it" again...
* * * * * * * * * * * *
December, 1999, during my second full month in the Parke County Jail for a crime I didn't
commit, I was reading From Prison To Praise, an autobiography by Chaplain Marlin
Carothers. The following is my best recollection of the part I read: She laid her hands on
my shoulders and said "In the name of Jesus, receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon
you." Then she asked me "Do you sense sounds forming in your mind or in your mouth
which, if you spoke them out loud, would make you feel you were being made a fool of?"
I answered "Yes." "Are you willing to be made a fool of for the sake of Jesus Christ?" She
asked.
Now that question put the whole matter of speaking in "unknown tongues" in a whole, new
light for me! And I studied the book of Acts and Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians again,
trying to get at the truth of "tongues" for myself...
* * * * * * * * * * * *
February, 2000, Parke County Jail, alone in my cell reading aloud to myself the prayer in
the back of one or another of the books I had received from Kenneth Copeland Ministries.
The prayer is in two parts: First, a prayer for salvation; then a prayer for Baptism in the Holy
Spirit.
As I read through the prayer for salvation, my spirit soared in remembrance of the first time
I had prayed such a prayer and received my own personal eternal life and became a child
of the Most High God! "Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word
says, 'whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved' (Acts 2:21). I am
calling on You. I pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life
according to Romans 10: 9 - 10. 'If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.' I
do that now. I confess that Jesus is Lord, and I believe in my heart that God raised Him
from the dead..." At that point I praised and thanked Jesus for my salvation.
Then I began speaking out the second part of Ken and Gloria Copeland's recommended
prayer: "I am now reborn! I am a Christian -- a child of Almighty God! I am saved! You
also said in Your Word, 'If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, HOW MUCH MORE shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask Him?' (Luke 11: 13). I'm also asking You to fill me with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, rise
up within me as I praise God. I fully expect to speak with other tongues as You give me the
utterance (Acts 2: 4)." However, I did not complete that last sentence in English! After the
words "I fully expect..." cleared my mouth and went from my mind to my spirit, I began to
speak out absolutely foreign words to my mind. But by then I recognized that these foreign
words opened up a doorway for communication between the Spirit of God and my own,
newly- quickened spirit, unhindered by my not-yet-completely-renewed mind. I also knew
well enough by then how God had revealed the gift of speaking in unknown tongues to us
by His Scriptures! Unspiritual men could no longer deny that truth to me! So, this second
time, I received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with unspeakable joy and absolute
confidence!
Now as I write this -- almost seven years after it happened -- I can tell you from my own
experience that even I have received the power which Jesus promised His disciples. The
Scriptures concerning "gifts" or manifestations of the Spirit are just as true for today as
they were in the day they were first written. Whenever I have needed one or more of them
in accordance with God's revealed will, they were freely given me. Gifts of healing,
wisdom, knowledge, discernment of spirits and the others were given even to me, even
when I was spiritually weak, or thought that I was. In fact, it was in these times that many of
the Tales from the Lions' Den actually happened. And you can learn about these in Acts 2:
1 - 4; in Acts 10: 44 - 47; in Acts 19: 1 - 6; and in a whole section of 1st Corinthians,
chapters 12, 13 and 14.
had denied me the scheduled, weekend-long visit of my twelve- year- old son. And I was
crying out to God because I didn't know how to pray. Then strange words came out of my
mouth and filled the car; but I stopped them because of my unbelief, my fear of losing my
mind. But after that strangeness I did know how to pray: "Lord Jesus, please take over the
day-to-day privilege of being dad to my son until such time as I may have it back." And I
knew that God had heard me and granted my prayer. I felt the peace of God enveloping
me.
For years after that, I told other Christians "I'm a tongues- talking Baptist." But to get the
truth right, I also told them that I felt "uncomfortable" about doing "it" again...
* * * * * * * * * * * *
December, 1999, during my second full month in the Parke County Jail for a crime I didn't
commit, I was reading From Prison To Praise, an autobiography by Chaplain Marlin
Carothers. The following is my best recollection of the part I read: She laid her hands on
my shoulders and said "In the name of Jesus, receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon
you." Then she asked me "Do you sense sounds forming in your mind or in your mouth
which, if you spoke them out loud, would make you feel you were being made a fool of?"
I answered "Yes." "Are you willing to be made a fool of for the sake of Jesus Christ?" She
asked.
Now that question put the whole matter of speaking in "unknown tongues" in a whole, new
light for me! And I studied the book of Acts and Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians again,
trying to get at the truth of "tongues" for myself...
* * * * * * * * * * * *
February, 2000, Parke County Jail, alone in my cell reading aloud to myself the prayer in
the back of one or another of the books I had received from Kenneth Copeland Ministries.
The prayer is in two parts: First, a prayer for salvation; then a prayer for Baptism in the Holy
Spirit.
As I read through the prayer for salvation, my spirit soared in remembrance of the first time
I had prayed such a prayer and received my own personal eternal life and became a child
of the Most High God! "Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word
says, 'whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved' (Acts 2:21). I am
calling on You. I pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life
according to Romans 10: 9 - 10. 'If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.' I
do that now. I confess that Jesus is Lord, and I believe in my heart that God raised Him
from the dead..." At that point I praised and thanked Jesus for my salvation.
Then I began speaking out the second part of Ken and Gloria Copeland's recommended
prayer: "I am now reborn! I am a Christian -- a child of Almighty God! I am saved! You
also said in Your Word, 'If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, HOW MUCH MORE shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask Him?' (Luke 11: 13). I'm also asking You to fill me with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, rise
up within me as I praise God. I fully expect to speak with other tongues as You give me the
utterance (Acts 2: 4)." However, I did not complete that last sentence in English! After the
words "I fully expect..." cleared my mouth and went from my mind to my spirit, I began to
speak out absolutely foreign words to my mind. But by then I recognized that these foreign
words opened up a doorway for communication between the Spirit of God and my own,
newly- quickened spirit, unhindered by my not-yet-completely-renewed mind. I also knew
well enough by then how God had revealed the gift of speaking in unknown tongues to us
by His Scriptures! Unspiritual men could no longer deny that truth to me! So, this second
time, I received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with unspeakable joy and absolute
confidence!
Now as I write this -- almost seven years after it happened -- I can tell you from my own
experience that even I have received the power which Jesus promised His disciples. The
Scriptures concerning "gifts" or manifestations of the Spirit are just as true for today as
they were in the day they were first written. Whenever I have needed one or more of them
in accordance with God's revealed will, they were freely given me. Gifts of healing,
wisdom, knowledge, discernment of spirits and the others were given even to me, even
when I was spiritually weak, or thought that I was. In fact, it was in these times that many of
the Tales from the Lions' Den actually happened. And you can learn about these in Acts 2:
1 - 4; in Acts 10: 44 - 47; in Acts 19: 1 - 6; and in a whole section of 1st Corinthians,
chapters 12, 13 and 14.