Good morning Ken and AlexDTX.
I hope that you both, and anyone else who may join the conversation, will have the patience to read this testimony and clarification. I do believe you will truly be inspired.
I have been away from this forum for the better part of a week, so I've not been up to speed as to what's been said. In the posting of my video, it was my desire to stimulate interesting conversation. I'm not sure that I have been particularly offended, but I do appreciate you, Alex, for coming to my defense, and I thank you, Ken, for your apology.
Ken, it seems possible that you did not listen to the video from start to finish. In John Oakley's preamble to the show, he reads a portion of a letter - my letter written to him accompanied with an audio tape of me speaking in tongues. In the letter I sent to him, I clearly identify myself as the pastor of a Pentecostal church. So, yes, to remove all doubt, I am a born-again, bible-believing, spirit-filled Christian, who has been a servant of the gospel of Jesus Christ for 35 years.
Allow me to give some context to the letter and tape sent to Mr. Oakley. As a pastor, Monday was typically my day off. I was at home sorting laundry and decided to turn the radio on. At that precise moment, John Oakley and a caller were having a rather lively dispute over the credibility of speaking in tongues. I, of course, listened with great interest. It was the way in which John Oakley ended the discussion with the caller that prompted me to be a witness, or perhaps an apologist for the veracity and power of God, the Holy Spirit.
I do not carelessly 'throw around' utterances in the spirit. But in this case, there seemed to be a great purpose for doing so. I felt very compelled. My husband and I went to our church, where we privately recorded me praying in the spirit. I then wrote the letter and mailed it off to Mr. Oakley, along with the tape. I felt that I had done what I was supposed to do and gave it no further thought.
A whole month went by, when, again, on a Monday I was at home and turned the radio on as I was puttering around the house. To my utter amazement, John Oakley was just beginning his show and giving his preamble as to what would be on his program over the next few hours. Shockingly, the first topic up for discussion was a letter and tape recording that he had received from a Pentecostal pastor. I could not believe my ears... mostly because I had stated in the letter that the content enclosed was not for public consumption. This was extraordinary and totally unanticipated. I quickly ran to get my recorder in order to tape the segment, thus the audio tape that I have shared with ChristianForums. I phoned my husband and a few other people, so they could tune in and listen in on the program.
As if this weren't enough, it seemed like the real reason behind the prompting to send the letter and audio was yet to be revealed. Two weeks after the airing of my audio tape on CFRB, I received a phone call at my church office from a gentleman who said he very much needed to speak with someone from the church. He was not a Christian, nor a churchgoer, but said that something had happened recently and he was re-thinking 'God' and needed some questions answered. I asked him his name and where he lived. I said that both my husband and I would be happy to meet with him to be of whatever help we could. It turned out that his address was just 10 minutes from our church. The day arrived for us to go to his home. We knocked on his door, he opened it and very warmly invited us in. We sat in his kitchen. He seemed a little rattled, nervous, but very excited. He proceeded to tell us how one day, a few weeks earlier, he was driving in his car and listening to the radio. He said, "I heard the most amazing thing and I can't get it out of my mind." He said, "I was listening to the John Oakley show and I heard a woman speaking in another language, an unknown language. I knew it was something from God. I need to know about this. Can you tell me anything about praying in tongues?"
You could have knocked me off my chair with a feather! I said to him, "I am that woman. It was I you heard, and yes, I can tell you about the Holy Spirit." We sat in this man's kitchen for 2 hours answering his questions. It was stunning! It was supernatural! God had orchestrated a divine appointment through the simpleness of obedience; the obedience to write a letter and to send a sample of the truth along with the letter.
If it touched this one man in such a profound way, how many others did God reach that day??
I should give clarification. In the audio, you hear another woman, who is a call-in... this of course, is not me - she is just babbling.
I hope this testimony brings context and clarification to the audio.
If you have any interest in putting a face to a name or viewing any of our other short videos on various subjects, please go to our YouTube channel
here.
diane.
