atmosphere, and I got to know people that fought in World Wars I & II, the Korean War, along with people who went through the Great Depression and the New England Hurricane of 1938. All of them were God-fearing Americans who worked hard, and loved our Nation.

When I was a kid, I enjoyed spending time with older people, like my grandmother and great uncle. I loved listening to their stories about what they went through, and what it was like to live back then. I loved to spend time with older people my entire life. and I can certainly tell you that people today don’t think anything like they did back then. Most of the younger people today are totally unaware of how much things have changed over the last thirty years. They’re too busy to spend time to learn from their family elders.

My mom was a staunch Roman Catholic, and she raised me to be one, too. She taught that the Roman Catholic Church was the only true church, and the Pope was the Apostle Peter’s successor.

Before the Charismatic renewal of the late 1960’s, church services were in Latin, and it was forbidden for anyone to read the Bible, except the priests. It was my mom and the nuns at school who taught me about God. My mom was deeply involved in the church. The nuns were very strict, but I received a tremendous school-grade education from them.

I felt the call of God on my life at a very young age. I began serving God as an altar boy, and would walk to church every morning to attend Mass. I learned to recite the prayers in Latin along with all of the rituals. We were required to keep a schedule to serve Mass that included the early morning weekday Mass before school. Many times the other altar boys wouldn’t show up when it was their time to serve. The priest would call me out of the congregation to assist him in their place, because I was there everyday.

Only the clergy were allowed to read the Bible, but I would sneak into the church during class recess to read the big Bible that was on the altar. One day, some of my classmates followed me into the church, and caught me reading the Bible. They squealed on me and I was severely punished – for reading the Bible!

My eighth grade teacher gave us an easy homework assignment to watch a television program one evening. When the program started, a man came to the pulpit and began to teach. When I saw that the man was dressed in a suit and tie, I immediately switched off the television, because I refused to listen to anyone teach about God who wasn’t a Catholic priest or a nun! That’s how indoctrinated into Catholicism I was. The man on the TV that night was Billy Graham!

 I ran away from the call of God when I was a teenager, because I liked girls and refused to take a vow of celibacy to become a Catholic priest. Fourteen years later, I surrendered my life to Jesus. I began to read and study the Bible intensely, especially in the area of end-time prophecy.

I didn’t have a clue about what Church denominations taught. I told the Lord right up front that I didn’t want to become religious. I sat in the back of the church wearing sunglasses, even at night. The church folk would invite me out for fellowship after church. After I finished hanging out with them, I would head straight to the nightclub to drink and hang out with my friends. That was my routine for the first few months after I got saved, because I didn’t want to become religious.

My church would have satellite monthly seminars from out west. The first time I attended, there was older man teaching from the Bible and telling stories about his past. That really got my attention, because I always loved hearing stories about how it was back then. Then he began to tell a story about how Jesus appeared to him during a stormy night in Rockwell, Texas in 1950. It so shocked me that I said out loud, “Get out of town! Jesus appeared to you?” I don’t think anyone in the service heard me, because the sound system was up so loud. I wasn’t sure that Jesus appeared to him, but I continued listening intently to him. Thank God that I didn’t get thrown out of the church service!

As I continued listening to him, I heard someone in the row behind me say, “you need to learn that.” When I turned around to say, learn what, there was no one behind me!

A moment later, I heard the same voice begin to say, “learn what he is teaching about –  it’s the most important thing for you to learn.” When I turned around a second time to see who was speaking to me, I didn’t see anyone there.

The man in the seminar that night was Kenneth E. Hagin teaching on how to be led by the Spirit of God! He wrote a book on it, and I highly recommend reading it.

When the Lord spoke to me that night, it changed my life forever! I learned that the most important thing to learn after being born again was how to be led by the Holy Spirit. Out of reverence and respect, I never wore sunglasses during a church service again.

Things really changed dramatically in my life after I received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit! Reading the Bible got shifted into turbo-drive! That’s the only way that I know how to describe it. The words in the Bible seemed to jump right off of the page, and I understood things more clearly than ever before. I felt the Presence of God continuously in my midst, and I began to have visions and could see the Glory of God during church services. I thought that everyone in the church experienced this, but I quickly realized that they didn’t.

Even after experiencing all of that, I continued going to the nightclub to hang out with my friends, because I didn’t want to become religious. I tried really hard to get them to come to the church with me, but they didn’t want to go. They began to make fun of me, because all I wanted to talk about was Jesus.

A few weeks later, I was in the nightclub one night when suddenly the ceiling had disappeared! As I was looking up, I saw many evil spirits in the midst of this evil darkness that was all around. Then I heard the Lord say to me, “You don’t need to come here anymore.” I left immediately and never went back to the nightclub again!

After that, I began serving the Lord in my church. I attended Bible school, and Kenneth E. Hagin became my spiritual father in the faith.

Every believer needs to have supernatural encounters with God! You must do everything that you can to get to know the Lord personally, and to learn how to hear His voice. You must receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit to fulfill God’s perfect will and plan for your life.

I’ve been extremely blessed over the years to have had such wonderful encounters with the Lord. I am especially thankful for all of the anointed men and woman that God brought into my life.

I learned over the years that the Lord loves people very much! His desire is for everyone to have a close relationship with Him! You can have a close relationship with the Lord and walk with Him, but you really have to want it. God leaves it up to you in how close you want to be with Him.

If you live close to Him, many people, including some friends and family, will despise and reject you. You will be persecuted for your faith, but it’s well worth the price of having an intimate relationship with the Lord.

The Lord is extremely holy!! There are no words to describe His Presence and Glory. You cannot have a close relationship with the Lord by ignoring the Bible and walking in spiritual darkness with sin in your life. Have faith in God and in His Word. Most importantly, learn how to hear the voice of God! That cannot be emphasized enough.

Keep your garments undefiled and follow His instructions. We are living in fierce and dangerous times, but it is also the most exciting time to be alive, because Jesus is about to take us out of here!

Remain close to the Lord, stay continually filled with the Holy Spirit, and walk in obedience to His Word.