Perhaps some of you remember hearing about the annual Holy Spirit Conference offered by the John Wesley Fellowship in Decatur for several years. We attended that rather regularly for several years. I don’t remember the exact date. Maybe I have it written down somewhere. Maybe not. At one of those Conferences I remember knowing as I waited in line to go to the altar, that something was going to happen to me. Standing there, I kept looking back to see what my head was going to hit when I rested in the spirit. Not if, but when. When I finally got to the altar I had opportunity to kneel. And sure enough, when the speaker (Harvey Brown) prayed for me and touched me, I went bounding backward and lay there for quite awhile. I had my eyes closed but I remember seeing a bright light. I had been overly warm sitting in that sanctuary earlier but, now I was feeling a welcome coolness. It wasn’t until some time later I realized that I had been baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Now, I didn’t have the same experience as the men in Acts 19:6 of speaking in tongues and prophesying but I did receive an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
It was through those Holy Spirit Conferences offered in Decatur that we got connected with Aldersgate Renewal Ministries and that is where I learned a lot about the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in everyday life that is missing from so many of our congregations today.