Spread the Fire - March 2008 - (Page 4)

Dear Spread The Fire Magazine GOD DELIVERED ME FROM PORNOGRAPHY! TESTIMONIES In 2002 the leadership of our church decided to go to Toronto for the Catch the Fire Conference. We had never been to TACF but were curious about it because of the reports we had heard. We arrived for the afternoon session with Randy Clark on Thursday. During Randy’s workshop, I experienced my first “touch” of the Holy Spirit. I began to weep for both my church and my students. (I am a college professor.) Although I had been a Christian since I was 4 years of age and had received the the Baptism in the Holy Spirit in the early 1970’s, I had never had an encounter like this. That evening, John Arnott announced that he felt God was going to release “gold tooth fillings” that night. Although many people received that miracle, none of them were in our group. The next morning, my wife and I arrived early to get good seats. The rest of our team had to leave to be back for Sunday services, but we decided to stay through Saturday. When we got to the church we discovered that our color- coded cards put us way in the back in the overflow room. Of course we were disappointed; but we decided to make the best of it. So my wife went to the bookstore, and I settled into a folding chair all by myself. I took out my sketchbook and was going to take the time to draw for awhile. As I opened my book, I began thinking about the night before. I said, “Hey God, why didn’t I get a gold tooth?” In the blink of an eye, the Holy Spirit fell on me, and I heard His voice say, “I gave you something better. I put a gold cap on the seeping sewer in your heart.” Immediately I began to see a series of short visions. In the first were the words of Chief Joseph, a Native American chief, who after a decisive battle in Montana said, “I will fight no more forever,” but the words that floated through my head were “I will sin no more forever.” The “sin” that I am referring to was the sin of pornography and masturbation that had been a part of my life since childhood. I HATED this in me and had asked for deliverance hundreds of times, but I was never able to conquer it. In fact, 4 months earlier, I asked God if I would have to die with this sin, and if I would obtain freedom only through death. I had always known that because of this impurity I could never enter into the “holier” things of God, for only the pure in heart will be able to see God. Yet, there in that moment while I was all alone, God set me free! The next image I saw was the planting of the American flag at Iwo Jima, and I knew this meant that freedom was established in me. The ground was now taken. Immediately following that, I saw a banner in the shape of a cross with seven layers of transparent gauze. These were like what I imagined the veil in the temple might have looked like. But the MIDDLE cloth was black and prevented me from seeing “through the veil.” Then the hand of God appeared and took hold of the black veil and tore it off. In that moment I KNEW God had totally delivered me from my addiction to lust and pornography and that it was COMPLETE. I shook and wept. I was free!!! Then God told me this wasn’t for me only, it was also for my wife. All her life she had struggled with her weight. Just as my “sin” had prevented me from entering into the greater things of God, Linda’s battle with food plagued her. And even before this happened to me, I knew that her problem was connected to my problem, and that if I could be free of my besetting sin, Linda would be free of hers. That night when she returned to her seat, she found me crying for joy. I related my experience and then proclaimed that this “gold cap” in my heart was for her also. The Holy Spirit fell upon Linda and her healing began. Since then I have prayed for many men with sexual addictions and have seen many set totally free. This experience has transformed my life like no other and the river of God’s presence has touched everyone in our family because of this. On October 4, 1996, God had spoken to me in a dream clearly showing me that He would deliver me. I wrote the dream down and dated it. God met me in Toronto on October 4, 2002, six years TO THE DAY! G. W., Monroe, MI, USA S TF - 4

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Spread the Fire - March 2008

Spread the Fire - March 2008 Contents In the River Save Sex? Simon’s Story The Key To Overcoming Lust It’s Time for the Double Blessing International Itinerary Resource Center Catalogue Upcoming Events Visitor Information

Spread the Fire - March 2008

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