Chapter 76

     Heading home I was driving by a Walmart the Lord said to me, “Go inside, there is an old friend of yours there.”  I had not lived in Kansas City for very long and wondered who I would know that would be in there.  I pulled into the parking lot to find out.

     Walking through the whole store, I saw no one I knew.  I was about to head out the door when I remembered the new version of QuickBooks had come out and I decided to go back to the software aisle to see if they had it in stock so I could purchase it.

     There standing in the software aisle holding a copy of QuickBooks was Davy.  He was in our direct sales group in Springfield, Missouri.  I walked over to say hi and we both chuckled at the chance of us both being there, neither of us knowing the other lived in Kansas City.

     He asked me if I was still doing consulting and could I help him with installing QuickBooks.  He was the Principal of the Christian school at the Assemblies of God church that was right next door to Metro Vineyard Fellowship.  I told him that I would help him and ended up helping the school for the next couple of years with their bookkeeping.  It was a great project and meant a lot to me that I was able to help them.  He was very grateful as well.

     Another time I was driving by a mall, and the Lord told me there was something in the mall he wanted me to see.  I pulled into the parking lot and went inside.  I walked the mall central from one end to the other and didn’t really sense anything.  Finally, I stopped by a computer kiosk in the center of the mall.  I started looking at it and realized that it looked like something a friend of mine might be interested in knowing about as he had made similar type kiosks.

     Rick and I knew each other in Bozeman and went to the same church together for years.  His wife and Lori were high school friends who had both married Ricks.

     The best I knew, Rick still lived in Bozeman, but I didn’t have his phone number.  I called a friend we had in common, got his number, and gave him a call.  Turns out, he was living in Kansas City too.  I told him about the kiosk, and he informed me that he had developed that kiosk and installed it.

     We ended up reconnecting and working together on a few projects together.  God’s promptings led us to connect up again in Kansas City. Good stuff.

     Lori and I were going to the church for New Year’s Eve.  I had been in downtown Kansas City on business and decided to stop by and pick up a few donuts for the kids.  The two dozen donuts I purchased at a Duncan Donuts came to $7.77. “That was a fun number” I thought, as I walked across the street to my truck.

     Then it hit me, just a light breeze of the Holy Spirit at first.  Then it hit me again, a bit stronger causing me to “crunch” in response to what seemed like a trickle of Holy Spirit electricity going through my body.  I had seen this on others, knew very much what it was, and knew I only had so much time before it would overwhelm me. 

      I jumped in my truck and took off for home.  Each minute or so would come another jolt with each one getting more powerful.  

     When I pulled into the driveway at home, I slid out of my truck onto the ground and crawled through the front door collapsing while the Holy Spirit was all over me. 

     Lori came to my aid exclaiming, “How are we going to be able to go to the service now?”  But as it came time for us to go, the Holy Spirit lifted, and I felt almost normal.  We loaded up and took off for the church and when we found our seats, it started up again.

     The service had started with the worship music, and I headed down front for some prayer time.  Almost as soon as I got there my legs went out and I went to the floor.  What seemed like thirty minutes turned out to be almost three hours.  I had just laid there soaking in the Holy Spirit and enjoying every minute of it.

     The next day I felt the presence of the Lord like I had not for years, just all over me like a fire.  The next time I was in a worship service,  I raised my hands and immediately got a jolt.  I put my hands down and it stopped.  I raised them again and got another.

     This happened anytime I prayed or worshiped with my hands raised.  The blessing of the Holy Spirit coming in this way is indescribable.  This also opened the second heaven for me quite quickly and I could see very clearly in it. 

     One time I had done this for a while at home when no one was around.  I then left the house to go to a meeting at the church. Getting out of my truck, people were staring at me.  I heard one comment on the flames coming from my shoulders.  Now, I knew they were there, but that others could see them surprised me.

     The experience caused me to be careful when I raised my hands as I didn’t want to make a stir.  I learned to time my times with the Lord alone when I had plenty of time to recover afterwards.  This did not always work, but it did a little.

     To this day, this same effect occurs when I raise my hands.  Whenever I want to get serious with the Lord, I just raise my hands and go for it.  It has been a true blessing.