LOL! Yeah, I know some of the things sound pretty wild and hard to believe. But, I assure you they're most definitely 100% true, down to the letter. I could literally write a book full of just what I'VE seen and experienced alone. I'm NOT "that good," I'm just telling about the one who is.......

I mentioned my blood pressure earlier. It was 255/165 at it's highest, and maybe 185/100 after the first year of treatment by drugs. Even if I missed ONE 12-hour dose of a certain one of my meds, it would skyrocket. I'd been under the care of my personal family doctor for years. He's been practicing medicine for 25 years, has been the chief of staff of a large hospital, and a resident at a research and teaching hospital, and is the best and most caring doctor I've ever known.

After several tests, he was clueless as to what was causing it. He referred me to one of the best internal medicine specialists in the state, who was equally clueless after a long battery of tests. Then, she referred me to a heart specialist. More tests, still clueless.

I was taking 7 prescription meds a day. I had to take 2 pills of two of them 12 hours apart, and 4 pills of another, for a total of 12 pills a day. I suffered more from the side FX of all the meds than I did the extremely high blood pressure. I'd have near blackout spells, got dizzy a lot, and had zero energy (UNREAL fatigue), just like the side FX warnings on the meds said. The docs told me I'd just have to adjust to it, because this is what the rest of my life was gonna be.

One of the meds caused vascular damage in my legs, and they would swell horribly. My ankles would sometimes reach 14" in diameter. Quite painfully, I might add. But without that particular med, my BP would go through the ceiling, from the already very high point it was at.

In service the third week of June this year, two weeks after we had our first service in the new church, the Lord's healing hand touched me. I knew it the very second it happened. I checked my pressure when I got home, and it was moderately high. Hmmmmm...... I'd been healed enough times before to know what had happened, but began to think maybe I was wrong. So, I took my meds.

The next day the Lord spoke to me and said, "I healed you, why do you still want to take those?" So I immediately quit all the meds. I was supposed to check my pressure every day, twice a day, and if it ever spiked I was to get to the doctor immediately. Likewise, if what was causing it ever decided to just stop all at once, I could die from low BP due to all the high-powered meds if I didn't stop them immediately. But, I didn't check my pressure anyway for a few days after I quit them. When I finally did check it, it should have been around 250/150, maybe higher. It was 120 over 70. And I haven't had to buy any more of those meds that cost about $100 a month WITH insurance that pays for all but 25%.

I got treatment from a "better doctor!" The Great Physician still makes house calls, and he doesn't charge for his services, they're already paid for.

This is all real for sure. My pastor's name is Johnny Hopgood, the church's name is Victory Tabernacle, and it's located at 1084 Upper McGuire Loop on Crow Mountain in Russellville, AR. You can drive up and see it, get out of the car and walk up to it, reach out your hand and touch it, and open the door and walk in. You'll see my guitar amp and red Telecaster or black Strat sitting on the platform, behind and to the left of the pulpit.

But, it's nothing but a building made with man's hands. It's who comes in when we begin to worship and glorify him that makes all the difference. And he'll be God to anyone, anywhere, not just at 1084 Upper McGuire Loop. He's just as good, just as sweet, just as real at home, in the car, in the grocery store, everywhere. He still manifests his power to those who believe and will allow him to. I've preached at and visited churches in several states, and found him to be real there as well. He's God in America, he's God in Australia, he's God in outer space, he's God at the bottom of the ocean. I've felt his presence while in an airplane at 32,000 ft. I've felt his presence while in a subterranian cavern.

Yes, it does mean a lot to me, because I love him for what he did for me. Especially because he loved me first.

Thermionic

Instead we get;
" I was the most king-hell rabal-rousing sumbitch on Gods earth. I fought lions and choked buzzards. Drank me a river and smoked, shot, snorted and bonged every drug in the PDR. I was a rusted hulk of a wasted life on my knees in soul-pain when suddenly a voice reached to me down in the depths and softly lifted me up to face my deliverer; Jesus Christ. Since then I have preached the gospel of the Holy Ghost power up and down the southland to anyone who would listen. I have seen miracles of great moment done on a daily basis; I have seen the lame walk and the dumb speak....."
Don't you guys ever think to tone it down a bit; why does the story always have to come from Cecil B. DeMille. Telling the real story maybe you would attract a more serious clientele? I believe people have religous conversions; but they sure ain't the exagerrated charicatures of bad guys they make themselves out to be. Take my word; the real bad guys stay bad.

The apostle Paul was one of the greatest preachers the world has ever known, and he declared that "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." He went on to spell out in great detail how he persecuted the church, imprisoning and executing Christians. Sounds like a guy whose behavior was not exactly pleasing to God. He was a real bad guy, for sure, and even thought in his own mind he was doing the right thing. Why? He was full of man's religion, but he didn't have salvation.

Read about Mary Magdelene in the New testament. She was one of Jesus' closest followers, that is, after he had cast seven demons out of her. A pretty bad chick.......

An old preacher I know who was a full-time missionary to Central America for many years told me once about a man that came into a service he was preaching (here in the States). There was a woman who had gotten saved in that revival, who said her husband would be coming to church with her. She said he was an ex-hitman who had done time for murder. My friend said that when the man walked in, he had the hardest, coldest eyes he'd ever seen. But, the Lord was dealing with his heart.

During the service, he went down to the altar to get saved, and my friend said he indeed prayed ALL the way through to what he really needed. He said just the *immediate* change was unreal. The man later testified about how he was a career criminal, and had killed several people. He was finally prosecuted for a count of murder, and did a lot of time. He got out, got married, and went back into small-time crime. He was doing drugs, and had been having an affair with his wife's 16 year old sister when he got saved.

My friend said that the last he knew, long after that, the man was still saved and on fire for God. If he wasn't a "real bad guy," then I don't know what is.

The blood of Christ is more than enough to set the worst of the worst free. Sin is sin in the eyes of God, and it doesn't matter how deep someone is into ANYTHING. They are set free just as easily as the next. You can read in the New Testament where a man who was posessed with hundreds, if not thousands of demons, was instantly delivered of them all. He had lived in a cemetery, and ran around naked attacking people. But they found him sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind.

But, it doesn't have to a be meth addicted, homosexual, axe-wielding serial child killer who was raised in Satanism. Good moral people need salvation as well. Most really good moral folks don't feel the need, because they think they're good enough. NO ONE is good enough. The apostle Paul put it very clearly: "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." There is none righteous, no not one. All are born into sin. All need a savior. I know many goody-goody squarebritches types who were very good moral people, who were nevertheless lost. They thought they were OK. Some were even raised in church, and some were even preacher's kids. But, one day the Lord dealt with their heart and they got saved. I've heard many, many people say they used to THINK they were saved, that is, until they TRULY got saved. And, they're just as fervent as the redeemed heroin junkie now.

God is no respecter of persons, he loves all alike, but he hates sin. Sin must be dealt with, and the blood of Christ is the only thing that can change you from the inside out and place you into a relationship with him. And even if you could somehow never sin again (which is impossible, sin is man's nature), every sin ever committed is still on your record. Jesus not only forgives sin, he gives you a new nature along with it. Not the "old nature" to sin, but a new nature with no desire to sin. One of my favorite scriptures: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things become new."

Again, this ain't no "religious conversion." Religion has nothing to do with it. Religion is just a man-made activity without value. God's born-again salvation is a real, life changing, supernatural experience. Make no mistake, when it happens it'll be by far, a million times over, the most profound experience of your entire life.

Anyone who is "sanctimoniously impressed with themself" doesn't know the God I know, I can guarantee you that. If they draw attention to themself and how good they are, rather than glorifying Christ and his works in them and/or others, then they don't have the goods. The Holy Ghost will only glorify Christ. If someone is glorifying fleshly mankind instead, they don't have the Holy Ghost. Very simple!

From salvation to heaven, it requires humility. God will accept nothing less. Jesus said, "Except ye become as a little child, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of God."

The reason myself and others are so fervent about it, is that it's the best thing that ever happened to us, and the ongoing abundant life that comes with it is so real, so profound, so intense, so good, that you can't keep it to yourself. The prophet Jeremiah had tried to keep it to himself, and had even said he'd preach no more. But he couldn't hold it in and said, "It's like a fire shut up in my bones..." Peter and John were arrested, beaten, and told to never speak the gospel again, but they told the authorities that they couldn't keep from it. And, they went right back out and started preaching again. It bubbles over and you simply can't help it, it's so good!

You see, this thing is not entirely all the way by faith. It *is* a faith walk, but there's a wonderful feeling inside that comes with it. You can't see it or touch it, but you can feel the very real presence and nearness of the Lord in your soul.

I used to scoff at "holy rollers," make fun of it, and persecute Christians I went to school with. I've always believed in God, but did not believe there was any way to achieve fellowship or communicate with him, and certainly didn't believe anyone could be changed. I thought those people were weakminded and relying on religion for a crutch, and thought it was absolutely stupid that they were missing out on all the fun of girls and partying.

I later found out that I was the one who was missing out. My life could have and would have been so much better if I'd listened to the witness of those Christians in school instead of scoffing at them. If I could go back and do it again, I'd have gotten saved as a child.

Thermionic

I was just thinking about something here, that I didn't really clarify the way I needed to. I'll at least try to, the best I can. I know I'm not the greatest writer that ever was!

Another chief reason why the testimonies of those who have experienced the new birth seem so, let me see, "dramatic" perhaps, is that to them, the old life is now a whole lot worse than it is to someone who hasn't experienced it.

The Bible puts it this way, that you are dead in trespasses and sins. That refers to the spirit of man. The body is alive, and doing the will of the fleshy desires. The body is the vehicle of sin. But when you are born again, the spiritual, inner man is made alive, and the Spirit of Christ abides within, along with it. Now, the tables are turned. The body's willfulness to sin is dead, and the inner man is alive.

The spiritual eyes are opened, and fellowship and unity with God is achieved. You see sin for what it really is. There are many things that are sin that the natural man sees nothing wrong with. And even the things that most people who believe in God know he's not pleased with, they don't think too much about them most of the time. But AFTER you get saved, they will appear, well, as Paul put it, "exceeding sinful." You don't know what you were, until you're not it anymore. You don't know the weight of sin that you're carrying, until it's been lifted. When one gets saved, they see and know what a wicked thing sin really is, and that's why they are so adamantly testifying as to the wickedness of the "old" man. They now see it for what it is through the eyes of God, not as they formerly did in the eyes of a fleshly man.

Likewise, to the unregenerate it seems like foolishness why someone would (or could) be so excited about something that seems so foolish and blah to them. The reason why is the same as before: They've experienced it! People go to ballgames and races, jump up and down and clap their hands, yell and scream themselves totally hoarse, and generally act like idiots. Well, the redeemed have something that's far better than any ballgame, and they have a reason to get excited over it. And do.

There's an old hymn of the church that says, "I'm in a new world, old things are passed away. Behold, all things are new, ever since that happy day. Well he opened up my blinded eyes, and then I had a great surprise. I'm in a new world, since the Lord saved me."

The person who penned those words described it about as accurately as I've ever heard it put. You are literally in a glorious, new world. As I said earlier, if you could feel what I feel......

Thermionic

"Inability to recognize sin is the most dangerous form of dulling imaginable, because it makes impossible for one to improve himself."

Joseph Ratzinger

John Remson

I am not quoting Phsycology there Damir my friend; I am quoting me. Thats my belief based on observation of humans in the field.
Stop drugs and start religion. No one wants to have to look in the mirror.

Just get rid of
The mind that thinks,
"This is good,That is bad,"
And without any special effort,
Wherever we live is good to live in.

A family I know and am very close to had their son fall from the tree swing and break his arm several years back. He came running in the house screaming and crying. The splinter of bone had almost broken the skin; it was poking upward. Their neighbors (who were not Christians) were over visiting. They went hysterical, and naturally wanted to take him to the emergency room.

The father of the family told them they weren't going anywhere until they'd prayed first. He, his wife, and his daughter laid hands on the little boy and prayed, and his arm popped back together with a loud snap right in front of the neighbors. Then, the little boy stopped crying, and said himself that it was healed. There was no more lump poking up, no swelling, no discoloration.

The neighbors were still freaking out, saying that he needed to be taken to the hospital, that it was broken. They kept on and kept on, and finally they all went to the doctor. After viewing the X ray, the doctor said "it looked as if there had been a hairline fracture there at one time, but he wasn't sure."

To this day, those people still do not believe what they saw happen right before their very eyes. At first, they insisted it was still broken, because they'd both seen the bone poking up. Then, after the visit to the doc, they insisted it never was broken and their eyes had somehow deceived them (yes, two different sets of eyes saw something that wasn't there).

They had both seen the lump poking up, they both heard the pop when it mended back together, and both saw the boy quit crying immediately.

What they didn't (wouldn't) see was the one who put it back together.

Signing off,
Thermionic