Called Out From the World

I was raised in a longstanding Catholic family and educated in the Catholic school system. However, as time passed, emptiness crept into my heart. I felt that there was a void in my life, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.

After fifteen years, God finally began to work in my heart. He began to show me what I needed to fill that emptiness. My family began having Bible studies in our home on Sabbath mornings. My children had been baptized in the True Jesus Church, and I had no problem with my wife’s desire to improve their spiritual life. However, I adamantly held onto my old beliefs.

After we concluded our Bible studies, I would kneel down, and my wife would ask me to pray out loud. But I would reply, “No, I’m going to pray my own way.” So I’d pray to Mary and the saints, reciting the prayers taught Catholicism.

The First Vision

I prayed this way for years until one momentous Sabbath. We planned to go to TJC to attend a spiritual convocation. My wife wanted my youngest son Sean to be baptized. I kept saying, “Okay, we’ll go,” but I really didn’t want to go.

When we prayed that morning, my wife asked, “Please, why don’t you just pray out loud? Just say, ‘Hallelujah, praise the Lord.’ Just say it out loud.” But once again, I wanted to pray my own way.

In that prayer, God gave me a vision. I saw myself kneeling in a circle of light, and on the edge stood six dark figures wearing robes, with their hoods over their faces. They had flaming swords in their hands and they were closing in on me.

I had never experienced anything similar, so my initial reaction was to open my eyes. I didn’t see anything unusual. When I closed my eyes the vision reappeared. In my shock, I recalled that we can cast out demons in Jesus’ name. I said, “Hallelujah, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan –  be gone!” Suddenly those six dark figures were replaced by glorious, white figures. I felt very warm, safe and secure. The prayer ended at that moment.

I didn’t want to tell my family about my vision, yet they knew something had happened because they heard me cry, “Hallelujah!” They asked, “Dad, what happened?” I said, “Oh, nothing.” But they said, “No, something happened! You shouted ‘hallelujah’ over and over, several times.” I then told them what I had seen, and my wife said we needed to pray again because God was trying to tell me something.

The Second Vision

As I knelt down to pray again, another vision came upon me. In this vision, I saw myself on an old wooden ship. The ship and the sea were on fire. I was confused and terrified.

I looked into the distance and saw a beautiful island. My family was standing on the island, and my wife was holding our youngest child. They motioned for me to join them, but I thought, “How can I join them? The sea is on fire, the ship is on fire, I can’t reach them.”

Suddenly I heard a voice say, “Seek and you shall find, ask and you shall receive, knock and the door shall be opened to you.” I looked over to the island, where the voice came from, and behind my family was a beautiful white figure. I knew it was our Lord Jesus. He was standing behind them, holding His arms around them.

I lost my fear, and went into the sea of fire. As I went in, I began to cry like a baby, and the prayer ended. I cried for forty minutes after that. My wife asked me several times what I had seen, and I described it to her. She asked me, “What do you think God is trying to tell you?” I said, “We’re going to San Francisco. We need to go, and I need to be baptized for the remission of my sins.”

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

So we went to California for the spiritual convocation. My daughter, who was thirteen years old at the time, received the Holy Spirit during the morning prayer. When I saw how radiant and joyful she was, I determined to experience it for myself.

The following prayer, I prayed in the front. As I prayed, I focused on our Lord Jesus and on all His suffering. I thought of the sins that I had committed, and I humbly asked for forgiveness.

The minister came to lay hands on me, and as his hand neared the top of my head I felt heat penetrate my heart. A glorious white light shone through the right side of my head and into my heart. When it came back out, all of my troubles and frustrations were purged.

I began to cry and speak in an unknown tongue. My tongue began to roll, and I knew I received the Holy Spirit. I had never experienced anything like that before in my life. Praise and thank God so much for the precious gift of His Holy Spirit!

Dear Friend,

If you desire true happiness, peace, freedom and everlasting life, come to Jesus Christ, the Savior. Remember, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”

(Acts 4:12)