My apologies to myself first and foremost and the to my followers!! I have neglected my garden and now it has been overrun by weeds, overgrown grass and

Gentle Companion:
“Testimony service”

Ever wonder about those testimonies that people give in church? Wonder if they are telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help them? I do! I am probably not the only one. I believe people mean well (well most) generally and try to recap an experience as best they can. However, I also believe some embellish on an experience to make it sound more believable and exciting to the listeners.

Have you ever heard someone make the Holy Spirit out to be this monster that is knocking down doors just to get at you? I remember the bible saying “behold I stand at the door and knock”. Well unless the Holy Spirit has become a police officer lately, I doubt he will be busting down anyone’s door. Well I do know that everyone’s testimony isn’t the same. Some I believe are actually more extreme than others because they might have been that stubborn to respond to the gentle approach of the Holy Spirit. I think people take their experiences to the brink of ridiculous. **disclaimer** I am in no way refuting what people have said their experience is or was nor am I discounting their testimony!! With that being said…I read where a guy said that the Holy Spirit grabbed him by the throat and told him to listen….Wow! That is pretty extreme!. I can just picture the Holy Spirit doing some sort of Jackie Chan Kung fu death grip on this guy’s throat saying (in my Jackie Chan voice) “listen up you”. I think it is hilarious how people describe their experiences. Oh what about the little old lady who comes up to the mic to “testify” and starts by saying: “first giving honor to God who is the head of my life, Pastor, distinguished visitors, mother so and so, saints and friends…..I can already see heads bobbin…WAKE UP! Oh yeah back to the little old lady… She starts to thank God for the Universe, the good chicken dinner we just enjoyed hosted by the ursher board, the ability to use all her faculties, food on the table, clothes on her back, etc etc…then she goes into how many ailments she has and how she fell last night and if it wasn’t for the MOW (meals on wheels) she would have starved….I mean really people what kind of God do we serve. He is not getting glory for that. Ok enough about that. But seriously, the Holy Spirit is gentle, kind and loving. He does not seek to hurt us or humiliate us. It humbles me to hear people give their testimony and say “if he could do it for me, he could do it for anybody”! I believe that statement 99% of the time. It’s the 1 percent that makes me a little nervous. It also relieves me to know that there are plenty other people who were just as messed up as me and then some. I have even been guilty of making the Holy Spirit sound like an abuser… I would say things like “God is gonna have to come down, slap me in the face and tell me directly the task that he wants me to do”. That is not his way. He will try to get your attention in whatever way he can. This brings to mind the story of Jonah. Jonah was instructed by God to go to Ninevah and deliver a message to the people, and Jonah ran from God. Eventually after some “Belly time”, God was able to get his point across the Jonah by allowing him to be swallowed up in the belly of a whale! Sometimes it takes some isolation to get the point!

If we would just listen to that holy inner voice telling us what to do we would not have to go through the extremes that God allows us to experience. The Holy Spirit is a gentle companion; we just need to recognize his presence!