Baptized in the Spirit A Global Pentecostal Theology

Baptized in the Spirit Copyright © 2006 by Frank Macchia Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Macchia, Frank D. Baptized in the Spirit : a global Pentecostal theology / Frank D. Macchia. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25236-8 ISBN-10: 0-310-25236-9 1. Baptism in the Holy Spirit. 2. Holy Spirit. 3. Pentecostal churches-Doctrines. I. Title. BT123.M151 2006 230'.994-dc22 2005031945 This edition printed on acid-free paper. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Interior design by Nancy Wilson Printed in the United States of America 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 I SUPPOSE I WAS A TYPICAL EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD, EXCEPT I WAS PERHAPS more confused than most about the direction in which my life was going. It was the year 1970, so my state of mind seemed to be shared by many I knew at the time. I had spent most of my teen years trying to run from God and was attempting to figure out where I might possibly run without meeting God when I arrived. I experimented with drugs and lived as though God were nothing more than a distant thought. There were moments when I felt drawn away from my illusionary existence toward the ultimate reality. But I resisted. Then came that decisive evening shortly after my high school graduation. I woke my father, an Assemblies of God minister, from a sound sleep at about midnight to let him know that I wanted to leave home to find myself. I had always admired him. He was strict but fair. His downto- earth humility appealed to me. I especially liked the way the church members affectionately called him "Brother Mike." He seemed to relate to them more as a brother than an authoritative pastor, though many took him without question as a lifelong spiritual father. My mother, Elizabeth, besides her crazy sense of humor, had conveyed her deep faith to me by teaching me church choruses as a child. She persuaded me to sing them in church before the congregation. My tenor voice made me a favored choice for singing solos at our local church, an early experience of ministry that was formative to my early spiritual development. When I woke my father that night, I was far from the faith of my childhood. But telling my father that I wanted to leave home gave him an opportunity to reach out to me. What followed was an all-night conversation that I will never forget. He spoke to me from the Bible and from many stories of faith from my family's history. I was moved deeply. It made me feel that I could not possibly run from God. To do so would cause me to run from something that was deep inside of me, something I could not deny without denying an essential part of who I was. Hours passed like minutes, but I held out. I would not yet give my heart to Christ, so we both ended up going to bed exhausted. It was near dawn as I entered my bedroom. I knelt next to my bed and wondered what I should pray. I remember telling God that I did not know what to say. I said something simple like, "I only know that I need you, Lord. I give you my life." With that brief prayer, I lay down to the most peaceful sleep I had enjoyed in a long time. The following day I tMacchia, Frank D. is the author of 'Baptized in the Spirit A Global Pentecostal Theology', published 2006 under ISBN 9780310252368 and ISBN 0310252369.