25th Anniversary of My Being Filled with God's Spirit
I spoke at our church August 17th, 2025, which was the 25th anniversary of my being filled with God's Spirit. Here are my notes:
2025-08-17
Good morning all. I give a special good morning to my family members who have come today to help celebrate this day with me.
A couple of months ago Pastor asked if I could teach on 4 dates over the coming months. The only one I had an issue with was August 10th. Jackie and I were planning on going camping that weekend. He then asked if I would be available August 17th, and I said yes.
It wasn’t until a few days later that I realized the significance of that day, this day, for it was 25 years ago today, August 17th of 2000 that I was filled with God’s Spirit. I was 46 years old. Jackie and I had recently come to God. I had been an unbeliever for most of the first 45 years of my life. Jackie was a Christian lady. We had been together for 10 years, and she had prayed for my conversion, before God did an absolutely amazing work, and my eyes were opened. I was baptized in Jesus name Sunday July 16th, 2000.
Before this I had no experience with Spirit filled people. I didn’t know what to think about this speaking in tongues. Truthfully, I thought you all were faking it. I didn’t really believe it was an actual experience.
Our church was having revival with evangelist Kieth Mendenhall. At the altar call, I went forward to pray like I had many times before. I was standing over on the left side of the altar area, and brother Mendenhall came over and prayed with me. He placed his hand upon my head, and I was overcome with God’s Spirit, to my own amazement, I began to speak in a language that I did not understand. It was incredible. The changes which had started earlier in the summer, came to a peak. I was fully transformed.
Over that summer, from June to August, I was a completely changed person. I wasn’t some impressionable 16 year old kid. Not saying that young people cannot be changed, but I was 45 years old. I was set in my ways. I had firmly held beliefs, but over a period of some 90 days my views on everything. . . abortion, sexual morality, drugs, alcohol, political views. . . everything about me changed. I can still see my old way of thinking hanging like cobwebs in my mind. I am no longer that person.
My verse. . .
(2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
This completely describes me. . . a new creature. . .old things passed away. . . all things are become new.
A few months after coming to God, my boss, the owner of the company called me into his office. He asked me what was going on. I had worked for him at that point for over 20 years. . . He said, “People don’t change the way you have Dave, not when they’re as old as you are. . .”. . . but God. . .
Anyway this day is SO significant to me. I don’t believe in coincidences. The first two Bible verses I memorized:
(Romans 8:28 KJV) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
I do believe that ALL things work together for good. There are NO exceptions to ALL THINGS.
(Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Give Him credit in everything that you do, and He will guide your footsteps. . . your direction. . .
I don’t believe in coincidence. I believe there is a reason that I’m speaking today. I spent a lot of time developing a lesson more typical of Sunday morning teaching, but I became more and more convinced that I was to take a different path. . .
My focus verse for this morning’s lesson:
(Acts 1:8 KJV) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
This verse has two parts. First the statement, the promise, that we shall receive power after receiving God’s Spirit. Jesus, hearers of these words, has no idea what He was talking about. What Holy Spirit? What power was He talking about?
The second part of the statement, that “ye shall be witnesses unto me”, contains an unspoken. . . a silent condition. . . We are to be witnesses unto Him of WHAT?
Strong’s dictionary definition of the Greek word translated as ‘witness’ has a judicial witness as part of its meaning. To be a judicial witness, you can only speak of those things which you saw with your own eyes, or experienced in person. The judge will not allow you to speak of things that you heard second or third hand. That is called hearsay. . . Those things might be true, but you cannot testify of such.
This power we are given, is a boldness to tell of the things that God is going to do in our lives, but there is another issue here.
I thought about buying a package of cheap batteries, and handing them out to you all, but you all know what batteries are and how they work. You are given power. . . a divine power source, an endlessly charged divine power source, but it does no one any good, if the power remains untapped. . .unused in the battery. . . untapped inside of you.
This is God’s own power that He has shared with us. There is no shortage. We/He will NEVER run out of power. There is no need to conserve God’s expression of power in our lives. . . no need to turn off the light switch, or turn down the thermostat in the use of God’s power. Turn on the Spirit filled power of God in your life. Give God dominion over your daily decisions. Seek His direction. . . use the Power He has given you or will give you when you are filled with the Spirit of God.
Most of you know that for most of my life, I didn’t believe in God. One of my arguments that I commonly made before coming to God was, “If God hasn’t done anything in 2000 years, maybe He really is dead.” I made that argument many times, and I NEVER remember having anyone testify to me of the wondrous things that He had done in their lives. Now as I’ve said before, to my knowledge, I had never met a Spirit-filled Christian before that first Sunday in June of 2000.
Hopefully if someone made that statement to you hearing my words today, you would have ready answers. We are to be witnesses of Him. . . witnesses of the things He does in our lives, but. . . but. . .
There is a reluctance sometimes. . . when you think of giving a testimony, a little voice in your head might say that you’re just bragging. It’s all about you. Those thoughts came into my head preparing for today’s lesson, but God gives you a testimony to share with others. It is about Him, and what He has done, but there must also be a component of YOU. That’s inescapable. That’s your witness. Search your heart, if your motivation is about YOU, then it’s Psalm 51:10 time. It’s a rare day that I don’t pray this verse more than a dozen times:
Psalms 51:10 KJV Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
But the evil one doesn’t want you to testify. He wants to silence you with such thoughts. There is POWER in your testimony, great power that God has given you. The accuser doesn’t want you to use the power that you’ve been given.
When I pray for someone. I pray for them to be healed or delivered, but importantly I pray for God to give them, give us a powerful testimony, that we can testify to the unbelievers of His greatness, and power, and mercy, and love for us.
1 Kings 19:11-12 KJV And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: (12) And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
Seek that still small voice for direction. . . for instruction. Quiet your mind, to better hear that still small voice. Shut out the noise of the world, and spend time straining to hear that still small voice, but at the same time you must have discernment. Not every voice that speaks to you is of God. Test the Spirit. Compare the words of the voice to the Word of God. God's voice will NEVER contradict the Word of God. God’s voice will never tell you to vandalize something or hurt someone. The voice of the accuser will not be a voice of light and love, but of shame, and darkness. Follow the voice of God. Learn to recognize it and ignore the words of the accuser.
The accuser wants to shut down your worship, silence your testimony, and even have you, God forbid, give up on the power of prayer. One of his favorite tools is fear. . .fear of what others will think, fear of ridicule, when ever we do something is faith, we are doing something that looks foolish to others. . . Noah spend the next 50-100 years building a 450 foot long boat miles away from the sea. . . Moses lead your people to a dead end against the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army right behind you, Servants we’re out of wine fill these pots with water, for that matter get in a tank of water and have a man of God say some words over you, what good could that possibly do? Doing something in faith looks crazy. . .
Hebrews 11:6 KJV But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. . . I like to turn Bible verses upside down. . . look at the inverse of what a verse says. . .
The verse:
Without faith it is impossible to please God. . .
The inverse:
With faith it is impossible NOT to please God. . .
Keep this in your mind, what ever you do, do in faith. Do not submit to him. Rather than giving the accuser reign, in opposition to him, rebel against his attempts to handcuff you, silence the accuser by worshipping, testifying, and praying ever more fervently in spite of him.
Test every voice that speaks to you. . . reject any voice which is not of God. God’s voice will never tell you to do violent, hateful things. God’s voice will never tell you to contradict the Word of God.
We have been given Power from God to testify. . . to be witnesses of the wonderful things He has done in our lives. Let me share a few of God's moves in my life with you:
Jackie, and I went for a long weekend getaway at a bed and breakfast in Arcadia, Michigan. One of my goals for the weekend, I was just getting started in my photography hobby, and this was before swans became very common in this area. I knew that trumpeter swans were often found along the shore of Lake Michigan, so that was something I had as a goal for the trip.
It was November, we often took a trip right before Thanksgiving to have a time of quiet before the holiday craziness set in. I took U.S. 131 up. I was driving a little red Ford Ranger pickup truck. On the way, going over a highway overpass, I hit a patch of black ice, and lost control of the truck, at highway speeds. It was terrifying. I was swerving all over the road in traffic. Thank you Lord. . . I recovered, and there was no crash, but it scared me badly.
We spent the three days making little day trips, exploring the area, and we saw quite a few swans, but there was always something wrong. . . the lighting was bad, or the water was rough, or they were too far away. I never got any worthwhile pictures, so we left the bed and breakfast for home, having had a wonderful time, but without my desired swan pictures.
The experience of the black ice scared me badly, so I decided not to take the 4-lane highway back, but rather opted for the slower, and less traveled state roads. It was a new area to us. I had never been down these roads, but on the way I passed a sign for a lake public access, and a voice in my head said, “Turn here.” So I followed the signs for a couple of miles, until we came around a bend in the road, to a lovely little lake, and in the bay right beside the road were two beautiful swans feeding. The wind was calm, and there was a stand of large pine trees behind them, creating a beautiful dark backdrop to the swans.
Jackie and I pulled off the side of the road, and we both took pictures of the swans for maybe 45 minutes. It was a very spiritual time. We were weeping in gratitude for a portion of it. This was a gift from God. It was an amazing time. I’m still overcome with emotion when I think of it. . . the still small voice.
The next happenings weren’t a voice, but rather what I call a God itch. A feeling that you are to do something, and the thought doesn’t go away until you follow it.
I was laying in bed in our home in Bristol, it was maybe 3 or 4 in the morning, when I awoke, and I knew that I was to go to work. Now this makes no sense. I don’t have to be at work until 8 a.m.. I have a key to the door, and the security code to get in, but there is no earthly reason for me to leave my warm bed, but I follow the voice.
I have no idea. Someday I’ll ask the Lord. Maybe my presence on the road slowed someone down from getting in a wreck. . . I just don’t know, maybe it was just a demonstration of my willingness to follow God's leading. I got to work 4 hours early, without knowing the purpose. I was obedient to what I strongly felt was the will of God.
A few weeks later,this same thing happened once more, I got up in the middle of the night, went to work without understanding the purpose of my being there.
The third time it occurred, was different. I traveled to work in the wee hours of the morning, and just before my turnoff from the state highway, just an impression out of my peripheral vision, I saw the shape of an owl, along the shoulder of the road. I made my turn, went a few yards up the road, before I became convinced that I had seen an owl. I made a U-turn, retraced the last ¼ mile, made another U-turn, and still saw nothing. With a rising sense of urgency, I again retraced my route, and this time on the opposite side of the road, I saw a wee owl standing on the shoulder immediately next to the pavement.
I pulled my truck across the west-bound lane blocking the road, put on my emergency flashers, got out of my truck, and picked up the little owl. It had only taken a few moments, but I had 3 18-wheelers backed up, waiting for me to clear their lane. . . all this a 4 a.m.. . . the little owl would certainly have been crushed, if I’d been a mere few seconds later in my rescue.
I put the little owl on the passenger seat of the truck, and drove to work. No one else was there at 4 a.m. so I pulled into the parking spot adjacent to the employee entrance. The little owl is just sitting there looking at me. He looks OK, so I thought maybe I could let him go. I picked him up and took him out into the dark parking lot, and lofted him up into the air. He fluttered a few yards before coming gently back to earth. Something was clearly wrong with him. I went after him, and several times he leap-frogged a few yards across the parking lot ahead of me, before he landed in the top of a small evergreen bush, at the edge of the parking lot, where I gently captured him.
I had him in both my hands, and he was the softest thing I’ve ever touched. It was like holding a little cloud. As I carried him, he began making a clicking noise, like a little bomb ready to go off, and I began to think of how this little owl got his food. . by tearing apart little animals to eat them, and here I am carrying him with my bare hands, but I got him back to my truck without any injury. I put him inside, shut the door, and went in to work.
About 8 o’clock, I went to get coffee. I passed the employee entrance, and there was a little group of people gathered around my truck, captivated by the sight of a wee little owl perched with his huge eyes peering around at things, on my steering wheel. . . That’s Dave’s truck. . . Why is there an owl on his steering wheel? I was greeted by those questions when I went out. I related the happenings of the night.
I called the humane society, and they contacted a wildlife rehabber, who picked up the little owl. They let us know when he was ready to be released about six weeks later. He was a red phase screech owl. She said that he likely had a concussion, probably from hitting the side of a vehicle. He had been a little underweight when she got him, she fed him mice and got him back up to weight. We released him just a few yards from where I had found him.
What an amazing happening. . . I love all wildlife, and this was. . . I still almost weep when I think about it. God woke me up, and used me to save a wee little owl. . . beyond words. . .
The next happening, I was again woken in the middle of the night, this time the God itch was to pray. It was a little after midnight. I got up and began walking around the house praying, when I felt that I was to walk outside and pray around our neighborhood. I put our St. Bernard on a leash, and began walking around our neighborhood loop. It was the summer and quite warm and humid.
After a few loops around the neighborhood, I felt another God itch, and I was given a vision. I was to go to Elkhart, to the Seven-Eleven on North Main Street. Not just go there, but I was to take a very particular route. Not the direct route down S.R. 120, but I was to cross the St. Joe River at the dam, go up Beardsley avenue, and come down south on Main Street.
I followed the instructions. This Seven-Eleven has been very often robbed, and I figured that maybe I was going to interrupt a robbery. There was a young man standing in the doorway, as I parked the car. I thought maybe he was a lookout for a robbery, but when I approached he left the door and walked away.
I entered the store, and not knowing what to do, I was thirsty from praying and walking around the neighborhood, so I went to the coolers in the back and got a bottle of water. As I approached the cash register, there was a young man speaking to an older lady cashier. He was very animatedly in her face, berating her, saying - don’t you know how dangerous this is. . . don’t you know how often the store has been robbed. . . you could be robbed, or raped, or murdered. . . she attempted to respond to his verbal onslaught. . . but but but. . . she meekly resisted.
As I placed my bottle of water on the counter she turned to me. . . “He doesn’t know. . .I pray every night for God’s protection. . . “ I felt a rush in my spirit, a tingle all over my body, and God's Spirit arose, and I knew my purpose for being there. . . I was overcome with God’s spirit “Darling. . . God got me up from a sound sleep, had me drive from another city, to be here at just this moment to tell you that He hears your prayers. . . “ Again. . . I get goosebumps thinking about this. . . what an amazing work. . . Thank you my God. . .
It makes no earthly sense to get up from bed and to do those things, but let God have control. Follow His leading even when it makes no sense. Start out if you will with small things. . . be sensitive for little things. . . a leading to take a different way home. . . go down an aisle in the grocery store that you have no purpose in going down. Call someone God puts their thought or their face in your mind. Let Him be your pilot.
The next happening I’d like to relate, happened on one of our prayer walks. The first Saturday of every month, for several years, the church would go on a prayer walk. One of our routes was to go to downtown Elkhart, park at the post office on the south end of town, and walk the length of Main Street to the 10-Commandments monument and back. We would then go back to the church for a meal around midnight or so.
There were usually 10-15 of us on these walks. We walked north on the west side of Main Street, and back south on the east side of Main street. One evening as we returned from the 10-commandments monument, someone in the group began to sing the hymn, “Blessed Assurance.” This was the ONLY time before or after that we sang.
We were singing this hymn as we passed the entrance to the North Main Street liquor store, which opened right on the sidewalk. As our little crowd passed the doors of the liquor store, a man burst out, and began dancing, and worshipping, and praising God on the sidewalk with us.
We had no idea what was going on, but he came back to the church with us, and we came to know him, his name was James Hill. From that point forward, he was in church with us. He was baptized in Jesus' name, and filled with God’s Spirit. This began maybe March or April.
James, unknown to us, was quite ill. His liver was shot from decades of alcohol abuse. When he missed church, he was often sick, and in the hospital. At the end of June, James was taken ill, and died. Pastor Johnson preached his funeral, and there we learned the rest of the story.
James was a hard-core alcoholic. In high school he had been given a full basketball scholarship to the University of Arizona. He lost the scholarship due to his drinking. He spent the next 25 years or so, on daily drinking binges. He was in line in the liquor store, with two bottles of liquor, when a voice in his head, told him to put down the liquor and buy a bag of potato chips.
James said, “Lord, you know I’ve tried to quit, and I cannot do this alone. I need your help. I need a sign.” The Lord said, put down the liquor and buy a bag of potato chips. James submitted, and did as the Lord asked. He walked out of the liquor store, to the midst of us singing “Blessed Assurance”, which was his favorite hymn. . . James had his sign from God. He lived the rest of his shortened life sober and living for God. . . due in large part to someone in our party of praying people, following the lead of God to sing as we walked. . .
The next testimony, is something that I may have shared here before, but it is so amazing, I think it bears repeating again, even if some of you have heard it. . . I’m getting to the age, where I forget who I told my stories to . . . so if you’ve heard this previous. . . please just politely smile and nod your head, as if it’s the first time. . .
Jackie and I were on a camping trip, again up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, near Lake Superior. This is a very isolated area. We camp about 25 miles from the nearest town of Newberry, Michigan. It’s a small town of about a thousand people. There is no phone service. No Internet service up there. It’s very isolated.
One thing Jackie really likes to do is to explore two-tracks. . .little trails through the woods. Not at all deserving to be called roads. Just two bare lines in the sand, with grass and weeds in the middle. They are all over the place, hundreds, or maybe thousands of miles of them. You never know where they’re going to take you.
On our way back to the campsite from Newberry, Jackie spotted a two-track heading to the west from the state highway. She said, “let’s see where that goes.” So we followed it, I will add in our Plymouth Neon two wheel drive car. No Jeep. No four-wheel drive. . . just our little Plymouth Neon.
I measured it on the way back, and we went 12 miles down the little trail through the woods before coming to a washed out area that I don’t think a tank could have crossed. It was a deep ravine eroded away in the sandy soil, so we turned around and retraced our path.
I must have taken a slightly different route. I thought I’d been down this way. Jackie was reading me questions from a Bible trivia book as I drove. I was going faster than I should have been. We came around a corner, and in front of me was maybe 100 feet of very soft fluffy sand that had been churned up by the ATV’s, etc. I only had a second or so to make my decision as to what to do. I got about half-way across the sand, and became stuck. The little Plymouth Neon would go no further. It was stuck in the sand.
We were now eight miles from the state highway. A brisk two-hour walk, and then 25 miles to the nearest town. All our gear was back at the campsite. All we had in the car, were two Taco Bell drink cups, from the trip up from Indiana. We got out and began moving sand from around the wheels, but it quickly became obvious that we could not dig our way out of this trouble. With snow, you can dig down until you get to pavement. . . there is no pavement under the sand. We were just burying the car by our digging.
Jackie was at the front of the car, and she raised her hands praying, “Dear Lord please get us out of this sand.” In just a few moments, through the deep woods, we heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. Around the curve that we had just come, a Blazer or Scout. . . a 4-wheel drive vehicle with a closed in back end stopped and surveyed the situation.
We were blocking the little trail. If they wanted to get by, we had to be moved. The driver of the Scout, got out and went to the back, opened the door, and retrieved a shovel. He came up to us, and began digging, but that error soon showed itself. The shovel was just burying our car quicker than with the Taco Bell cups. He motioned to the fellow who was riding shotgun with him. He came up to us, and put his hand on my shoulder. He said, “Tell your wife her prayers have been answered.” Jackie and I are both standing at the front of the car. Jackie said, “What did he say?” He repeated it, “Tell you wife her prayers have been answered.” We were stunned. So many things here. . . how did he know anyone had prayed? How did he know it was Jackie? How did they come along immediately after Jackie had prayed? I’ve told this maybe a hundred times in my ministry in the jail. I still get goosebumps at the recollection of it.
They hooked a strap to the Neon’s rear axle, and pulled us back out of the sand. The Scout drove around us. The fellow who was riding shotgun in the Scout, got in the Neon, and just revved up the engine really high and drove through the sand.
As we walked up across the sand, I took out my wallet, held it up, and asked them if I could pay them for our rescue. The fellow who drove the Neon, replied, “Put it in the offering plate.” As we walked up to the Scout as it pulled away, written in the dust of the back window of the Scout, was, “John 3:16 Jesus Saves.”
I still shake my head in the wonder of it all. . . They said that they were out training their bear hunting dogs. We never saw or heard any dogs. . .
My opinion. . .
Hebrews 13:2 KJV Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
I don’t know. . . to me they were angels who answered Jackie’s prayer. . . The wonder of it all. . .
If I have time. . .
My Mother’s healing
Jackie’s unemployment
Sarah’s costs
My testimony. . .
There are so many more things I could speak about God doing in our lives. . .
Your first person testimony of the works that God has done in your life, are powerful. They cannot be argued with.
(Acts 1:8 KJV) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Use the power that you have been given. Follow the leading of God to paths of righteousness. . . Follow the leading of God to a grand testimony of His power and greatness and glory. . .
Jeremiah 29:13 KJV And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
This has been an amazing journey. . . from absolute unbelief to head over heels in love with God. . .
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