A New Creature. . . an Apostolic Pentecostal blog

This photo of one of my Bulldogs. I have two. This is the male. His name is Benson. Some will call him an English bulldog, but there is only one bulldog the others French, American, etc. need the added description to differentiate them from the one and only original bulldog. I got my first bulldog in 1993. I had wanted one since I was a young boy. One summer when I was probably 8 or 9, the next door neighbor boy and I started camping out in a little pup tent in his back yard. I remember the first night we spent out there very well. It was late, very dark and we were a little nervous at being alone in the dark by ourselves. We heard this very strange noise coming from outside the tent. It was an awful snorting, wheezing, throat clearing kind of sound. Wild visions of misshapen and terribly mean and foul smelling creatures coming to snatch us out of our little tent went through our young minds. This noise grew closer and closer till it was just outside the flaps of the tent...

1 Corinthians 2:11-16 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (13) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (14) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (15) But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. (16) For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. I can personally attest to how much truth there is in the verse, "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolis...

It was the last part of November, 2005. My wife and I decided to go on a little get away weekend. We made reservations at a bed and breakfast in Arcadia, Michigan. On the way up I hit a patch of black ice on the interstate highway. It was very very spooky. I was going around 70 m.p.h. and the temperature was just a little above freezing. I noticed a light rain that started to freeze on the windshield. Just a minute or two later we went across an overpass and my little pickup truck started to careen wildly all over the road. There was lots of traffic, but I regained control of the truck without crashing into anyone or going off the road. It happened so quickly that I really cannot remember praying for God's protection or anything like that, but afterwards my wife and I surely thanked Him many many times for protecting us and keeping us from a terrible crash. I love to take wildlife pictures. One of my goals on this trip was to get some good pictures of swans. Every day of the four d...

I cannot fully explain to you how much my life has changed. If you had asked me years ago, I would have told you that I had a good life. I lived in a nice house, had a wonderful wife, a great job. I thought my life was OK. . . . but there was an emptiness inside of me, a sense of worthlessness. . . an everpresent question. . . Why? What's this all about? What am I here for? Lots of times it was way in the background of my consciousness, but it never completely disappeared. My life is rich now beyond my imagination before finding God. A hole inside of me has been filled. I weep for you who do not know Him. You are in some ways like a blind man who has never seen a beautiful sunrise. He doesn't really believe it can be as beautiful as seeing people make it out to be. The difference being that there is nothing the truely blind man can do. The sun come up in a glory of pinks and blues and there is nothing he can do to see it. But it is also possible for a man with sight to walk w...

I came to God later in life than most. I am 52 years old today in 2006. Until a little over six years ago, in June of 2000, I was an atheist. I want to share my story with you. It is a story of answered prayers, not my prayers, but my wife's. I was an atheist. I married a Christian lady. She prayed for me for 10 years. I can remember watching at night as she prayed. Thinking how very foolish she was praying to a God that I was certain did not exist. I was the fool. The first crack in my shell came in the fall of 1999. I had been having some health problems and my doctor did a personal lifestyle inventory. One of the questions that he asked me was, "What were my religious beliefs?" I told him, I was an atheist. Then he asked,"How is your relationship with your father?" I told him it was pretty bad. My father was an alcoholic and consumed with his addiction while I was growing up. I really don't have much of a relationship with him to this day. The next thing...