Moved By the Holy Ghost

“I had my hands in sink water when it happened,” he told me. “I began to tremble and knew something unique, something unexpected, was happening. I left the bathroom, sat on the edge of the bed, and picked up my phone that I use for making notes. I began to write, the words tumbling from me, rushing as a river.”

Those were the words a person very close to me related two days ago. “May I send the entire piece to you?” he asked, and when I read the long poem, I began to weep, recognizing that God had spoken to my loved one in a powerful, personal way.

Under an unction from God, the Bible was written by men–prophets, kings, evangelists, and apostles. “. . . holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 1 Peter 1.21. The Bible is complete; nothing is to be added, nothing is to be removed. Yet it is hard to imagine any sincere Christian denying that God still speaks to people–sometimes in profound and direct ways. Holy men today are moved by the Holy Ghost; such anointing and revelation is of the Divine, and one trembles in its manifestation.

I am aware of several such occasions. I recall once many years ago that my husband came in the house, leaving the lawn mower he had been using, and sitting down to write a message that God was giving him. Jerry is a great speaker, but is not known for his writing abilities; indeed, he will say he finds no pleasure in such exercises. But the Spirit of God moved on him that day, and he wrote. On other occasions, God has spoken specifically to Jerry, one of which I will relate here. The incident was when God was letting Jerry know it was time for us to resign our church in Garden Grove, CA. and to assume the pastorate in Rialto, CA. Having absolutely no knowledge of impending change, he dreamed that Pastor Murray Layne was resigning the church in Rialto. The dream was so vivid and its effects so gripping throughout the next day that, although feeling awkward, he called Pastor Layne. Pastor Layne was stunned, and believed Jerry to be teasing him. He has just been elected pastor in Mesquite, TX. (The details of this scenario are found in my book, Road Tales.)

It never fails to impact me when I learn of God speaking to someone in a way that would be difficult for anyone to dispute as being supernatural. Such experiences graphically remind me that this life is but a moment. In a second we will be gone. Reality is unseen and of the Holy.

In Awe of the Supernatural

Michael has a friend who is so devoted to her church that Michael describes her as “maybe the most religious person I have ever seen.”  She is devout, a staunch Roman Catholic. A few days ago, she received the Holy Ghost as evidenced by speaking in tongues. This past weekend as several people sat about talking, her husband told how standing in a Catholic church, his wife began speaking in tongues. So did several other people around them.

It happened this way, as I understand it. It had been announced that a certain priest, touted as a faith-healer, would hold a series of meetings called “missions.” It was during one of these services that he called for the entire congregation to leave their seats and come stand around the front of the church. As this startled group did so, he suddenly sprang onto a piece of furniture (my understanding is that it was an altar) and began loudly speaking in tongues, and at one point encouraged other people to speak in tongues. It was then that Michael’s friend began speaking in tongues, as did others around her.

“It makes me nervous when people speak in tongues,” said one of the group this past weekend as Mike, his friends and family sat about, and the husband told of this experience he observed.

The woman who received the Holy Ghost spoke. “It made me nervous, too.”

It does not surprise me to hear people say that observing someone speak in tongues makes them nervous, nor am I surprised to learn that Mike’s friend who herself spoke in tongues was made a little nervous about the experience. Why am I not surprised? I am not surprised because when a person receives the Holy Ghost, and as evidence speaks in tongues, God has inhabited that person, has moved into their very soul. It is humbling to contemplate. Now, I know God is everywhere–even filling the universe–and long ago, I learned that some aspects of God are not easily described, but I press the point that when one receives the Holy Ghost as I have described it is a life-changing experience. It is glorious and impossible to recount.

Jerry preached in a Phoenix church yesterday, necessitating a guest preacher at our own church. After Mike and I lunched with him and his family and Mike was driving me home, he remarked about the thrust of the sermon, and how it was opportune and fitted exactly to our congregation. “He did not know our challenges or particular situation, Mom,” Mike said. “Yet, almost his every word was directed to our needs.”

It’s amazing; I think of it often. God–the very God–He who created the heavens and the earth and all therein, looks about, sees our needs and moves among us. Into the mind of the preacher, He impresses the words the congregation needs to hear. Into the heart of one sincerely longing for Him, He pours His spirit, and suddenly that one is speaking in tongues. Amazing and yes, somewhat frightful…Why? Because it is holy…because it is supernatural…because it is of Another World.

Children of God

Biblical writings support my understanding that quite young children may be “touched” by God, and that these singular connections with the Almighty often lead to adult lives that are wholly given to God. Consider the story of Samuel, the child whose mother grieved so for a baby, and who prayed with such fervor in the temple that the priest, observing her distress, believed her drunk. Not so, she assured the man of God. I am not drunk, only with grief for my barrenness. The spirit of God came on Eli and he prophesied that Hannah would conceive and birth a child.

And so she did. She named the boy Samuel, and after weaning him, she took him to the temple, and gave him back to God, leaving him with the ancient priest, a man well past his prime. One night, while yet a boy, God spoke audibly to Samuel…once, twice, three times, and Samuel not recognizing yet the voice of God, ran to Eli saying, You called? After the boy made the third trip to the bed of Eli, Eli knew it was God who spoke. “Say, Samuel,” Eli instructed. “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.”

God speaks to children. I know that to be so, for God touched me when I was a child. I have a clear remembrance of experiencing the presence of God, of being drawn to Him, and of the sense of his convicting power.When I was ten years old, I received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and although I have certainly been far from perfect, I have always stayed in the church, and in my feeble and pitiful way, have served God.

Two weeks ago–maybe a little more now, Ann Jackson who is the pastor’s wife of a church in Highlands, TX, in a ladies prayer and study group, voiced her concern that the children of the church did not seem touched by God as it seemed they should be. I’d like us to make this a matter of particular prayer, coupled with some fasting.

Last Sunday night near the conclusion of the service, a powerful and holy anointing swept through the congregation who had gathered now in the altar area. Young people were dancing in the Spirit; they were weeping and speaking in tongues, truly caught away in the Holy Ghost. I had prayed with several people, then had taken up my camera and was moving about to record the scene, when it came to my attention that many children were also praying. By count, there were at least eight who were earnestly seeking God, and before the evening was over, three of these children had received the Holy Ghost. Two of them were grandchildren of the pastor and his wife, Brother and Sister Tommy Jackson.

It was an amazing scene, and as I write this, I know some who read here may be skeptical about such things happening to a child, but I assure you it is true. Think about it. Children are trusting, not jaded, not worried about their peers, and they have tender believing hearts. A child who commits his life to God is spared much of the grief and distress that comes often to those who grow into adulthood without the benefit of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. How awesome is it that God reaches down to little children and fills them with the Holy Ghost. It is precious and dear.

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My other blog is here.

Unrecognized Treasure

Recently at an Easton, Md. Goodwill store, someone dropped off the painting depicted here. It was jumbled in with wooden spoons, cast off clothing, tattered books and dented pots and pans. But a sharp worker recognized the painting as being valuable, called attention, and it recently sold at Sotheby’s for $40,600.

The painting was the creation of Edouard Leon Cortes, a French Impressionist. His work is beautiful and this link shows more of his paintings.

Some unidentified person drove or walked to that thrift store, probably opened the trunk of their car and set off items they no longer needed or wanted. It is likely they did not recognize the value of the painting, nor did they understand that a masterpiece was in their possession. They failed to comprehend they were setting aside a treasure.

When I read this story, I immediately thought of the treasure we have in our lives when we possess the gift of the Holy Ghost, when we understand who Jesus is, and when we give Him the control of our being. It’s an amazing thing, and startling to consider.

Paul spoke about it in this way: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” II Corinthians 4:7

Amazing, for God hath said, “Let us make man in our image,” and so we are flesh and blood as was Jesus Christ, and within our earthy, mortal, decaying bodies dwells the almighty God. It is truly a wonder.

It is astonishing that we have a desire to do right, that we have faith to believe in the supernatural and that we understand in a small way–as through a glass darkly–the treasure with which we are conferred.

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My other blog is here.

The Laying on of Hands

Hands, originally uploaded by Shirley Buxton.

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On Sunday in Chula Vista, CA., the ministry laid hands on my grandson Joel Buxton, and he was sent forth as an ordained minister of the gospel.

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Throughout the world–even the church world–there is a strong possibility that the laying on of hands has not been fully appreciated, and, too often, has even been totally misunderstood. Blessings, healings, the Holy Ghost and ordination may be conferred by the laying on of hands. Consider these scriptures:

“For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” – Acts 8:17

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. – 1 Tim. 4:14-15

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. – 2Tim.1:6

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. – Heb.6:1-3

In addition to the spiritual significance of such actions, the scientific medical community has come to acknowledge what the Bible teaches and what believers have contended, that is, that miraculous healings may be accomplished through the laying on of hands. Understand that no man can heal, but God has chosen to use these methods as His instruments of healing and blessings. In recent years, stringently controlled medical studies have shown incontrovertible proof of the spiritual power of faith.

There is precedent, even in the Old Testament, for God’s men to be commissioned and empowered by the delegated authority

“…laid his hands on Joshua and commissioned him as the Lord instructed through Moses” Numbers 27:23.

“Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands upon him.” Deuteronomy 34:9

And these from the New Testament:

“…and they prayed and laid their hands upon them.” Acts 6:6

Similarly, when the Church at Antioch sent out Paul and Barnabas,

“…after they had fasted and prayed, they placed and laid their hands on them, and sent them off.” Acts 13:3 RSV

On Sunday night, following the precedent set in God’s holy Word, Joel was ordained into the ministry, and he and Aisha Buxton have been sent into the great harvest field.

As Jerry and I grow older, and as we reckon with the certain knowledge that our zenith lies in the distant past, and that the fresh mantle of anointing and ministry is being transferred to others, I rest easy. For around us are righteous children, other family, friends and strangers on whom hands have been laid, and on whom that rare, ethereal anointing has been placed.

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More comments and pictures of the ordination service are here.

 

 

 

Apostolic Board Meeting at Hastings

Board Meeting at Hastings, originally uploaded by Shirley Buxton.

We don’t have a church office at Christ Alive, so we often use Hastings Book Store for meetings. On Tuesday at 1:00 we met for further planning of our Tent Crusade that is scheduled for March 14-16. An evangelism committee who has been involved in many such events met with Jerry and me, as did Mike. Cheryl and Skip have been attending our church for several weeks and are eager to help with this project and were also there.

How else can we reach the city–how else will we attract them to this meeting? was the question on the table, when the coordinator lifted his eyes and spoke to the young women you see pictured here. “We need your opinions, girls. Give us a hand, here, please.”Although appearing startled at first, they were agreeable, we swung chairs around and they joined our planning session. The young man you see is 14 and was sitting across the room when we first went in. I had gone over, given him a card and invited him to church. Now, we also called on him, and he joined us at the table.

After we had talked with the girls for a while, had gathered ideas from them, invited them to church, and they had gone back to their spots, Sydney (in the white jacket…) came back over and said, “I have one more idea.” We talked about it, decided it was a very good, unique suggestion. Today at 2:00 I’m meeting with Sydney at Hastings to implement her plan. The young boy stayed with us throughout the meeting, and I fully expect he will be at church on Sunday.

Other wonderful developments:

* A highly visible piece of land on Highway 95 has been made available for the tent crusade at no cost.

* A board room at one of the banks in town has been opened for our use at any time we need it.

* A gentleman whose profession is creating “voice-over” commercials has agreed to produce spots for our crusade at no cost. He will be producing one for every type of radio station in this area: country, rock & roll, and Christian.

Jesus called it the abundant life. Joel prophesied it, Peter first saw it happen, and now it continues here in Lake Havasu: The Holy Ghost is being poured out in a phenomenal way.

“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day, But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:” Acts 2:14-18

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My other blog is here.

 

Fat Bones

The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart; and a good report maketh the bones fat. Proverbs 15:50

We were ready for it and expecting it when it happened. God moved in our church on Sunday morning in a dynamic way…six people were filled with the Holy Ghost!

Things were popping on Saturday. Recall that we’re into the 11th month of our church in Lake Havasu, our building is small, and we have been using no microphone, nor PA system at all. Recently, though, because of our growth, we have been discussing the need to start using one. On Saturday after we had set up the church, Mike went prowling around town, and when he went into the pawn shop, he found a wonderful portable PA system. Fender brand, I believe. You see it set up here.

Brandon had fashioned us a sign for Sunday morning–I BELIEVE, and here he and Jerry are placing the words at just the right angle. We were believing, expectant, excited…and on Sunday morning, six beautiful people were filled with the Holy Ghost!

We’re feeling quite fat today….and loving it.

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My other blog is here.

 

The Supreme Oasis, The Church

Picture from The Britain Mail

Shimmering beneath the scorching sun of the Peruvian desert is an extraordinary sight – a tiny settlement, complete with lagoon, lush palm groves, carob trees, cafes, neatly clipped lawns, 100-strong population and even the odd swimming pool.

For thousands of years, Huacachina, otherwise known as the ‘oasis of Americas’ – there is only one – has been a beacon of green, hidden deep amid hundreds of miles of barren desert. Over the centuries, its glimmering waters have saved the lives of hundreds of sun-addled travellers, staggering in from the heat with their mules.

According to a Britain Mail article, the existence of this jewel is made possible because of a deep underground river–invisible and unexpected. Far beneath the scorching desert sands flows bountiful sparkling water. Not only do these waters feed nutrients to trees and grass in the community, they are also said to contain medicinal properties and to bring healing to those who bathe in their refreshing springs.

Within the hour, I will gather my things and go to church for my Sunday morning worship. The church is my oasis, my place of refuge, a spot of refreshing and renewing. Viewed by many as mere mortar and stone, set strangely among a desert of immorality and godlessness, in truth the church is fed by the invisible torrent of a river–that of the Holy Ghost, that of God.

“The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…” Deut. 33:27

“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.” Psalm

122:1

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My other blog is here.

Privilege

A Blessed Child, originally uploaded by Shirley Buxton.

Frequently, over the past few days, this scene has come to my mind. On more than one occasion, while attending the youth conference in Tucson last week, I chanced to sit behind this family. I’m not sure of the name of the beautiful little girl, but she belongs to Pastor and Mrs. Kevin Bradford of Bakersfield, CA.

Oblivious–completely unaware–this child occupies a place that to any clear-thinking individual is one of unusual desirability and of ultimate safety. Having no say in the matter, having no perception even of being, into the middle of an obscene and corrupt world this little soul was placed.

She’s one of the few–one of the rare–for her parents are God-fearing people whose lives are directed by God’s Word and by His Spirit, whose Deity is their center, whose Master is their core. From conception her developing ears have tested the sound of worship and of devotion. From birth she has been carried into the sanctuary. And I watched last week as she nuzzled into her father’s shoulder and squirmed in her mother’s arms.

Around this privileged child–around me, a privileged adult–rose the wondrous sound of praise and worship, its notes lovingly thrown from the throats of men, so that finally the atmosphere was of Heaven and hardly resembled the earth. I saw children raising their tiny arms, miniature silhouettes of their mothers and of their fathers. I watched as they clapped their baby hands…and at that moment, last week in Tucson, the issue of privilege overwhelmed me, and when I look at the image above, I see its face.

For I know other children, whose lives are as different from these as is golden dawn from the ink of midnight, whose privilege is low and miry, whose atmosphere is alcoholic, and dank and evil and drug infested. And this afternoon, here in Lake Havasu, I weep for those babies.

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My other blog is here.

Anatomy of the Candle of the Lord

DSC_0065, originally uploaded by Shirley Buxton.

The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. Proverbs 20:27

I have contemplated this scripture before, but during recent weeks I have given time here, and I have learned what a rich portion of God’s Word this is. At first glance the full meaning of the words eluded me, so that I puzzled over their significance..the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord…What precisely does that mean?

The consideration of the very nature of a candle was indicated. A candle is soft, pliable, and, while possessing a wick and thus capable of showing fire, it has no light of its own, nor does it have within its form a way of flaming itself. Yet one sees that said candle is designed to give light, to carry flame, to warm a dank room, to illuminate a dark place. Indeed, in the early shaping of the tallow and the melding of its wick, the vision is certain: a candle is here. A flare that will burn and that will give light.

Then comes the fagot. The candle is soft, its wick willing. The fire catches, tentatively at first, the flame aflicker with hesitation, wavering, hovering, then finally catching a firm breath of oxygen, the candle burns straight and true. It is ablaze now, pliable, yielding, now living out its life as such taper was intended.

And so is man. Created in the image of God, we have no light of our own, rather, we are His candle. Soft and pliable, when God’s spirit moves over us, we yield ourselves to Him, to His glory and majesty. He flames and burns within us…and finally consumes us. With glorious radiance we light the dark and troubled world. We warm hearts of the broken and beam hope into empty soul of the straggler. We illuminate the dark corridors of abysmal despondency and bring heat to those who clamber along icy trail.

In so burning, the spirit of man is a revelation of God Himself. It is a natural phenomenon, for of such purpose was man created.

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My other blog is here.