DEAR BROTHER, fellow Christian, lover of God and His Word…listen to the words of a man who has been an outspoken Christian for twenty-two years, but who has just come to really

know Jesus! How is this possible? Let me ask you something: have you ever stayed in a Hilton Hotel? Then you were the guest of Conrad Hilton—but have you ever met your host, Mr. Hilton himself? I haven’t.

Dale Evans Rogers puts it so well when she says, "I knew Jesus as Saviour many years ago, but only recently did I come to know Jesus as Lord of my life!"

Well, for twenty-one years I was a guest in the house of Jesus; I knew the security and sense of well-being that comes when you know, intellectually and emotionally, that you are saved and an "heir to the promises." But not until a year ago did I actually meet and come to know my landlord Himself—Jesus of Nazareth!

Until that time, I’m afraid I was more or less a "typical" Christian; you know, the kind that’s determined to be good, no matter how miserable it makes him! I was the product of a fine Christian home, a student of the Bible, a song-leader and Sunday school teacher. I preached occasionally and wrote a couple of books for young people, in addition to consciously attempting to project a Christian image in my career as an entertainer ... hmmmm, sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

I guess in most ways it was pretty good. And it’s certainly not accurate to refer to myself as "miserable." There were high points, times when I knew God had blessed and used me, times when I was so grateful for the knowledge that I was truly a Christian, times (as in the books and occasional youth rallies) when I experienced the joy of being able to communicate to others the blessings of living in the Lord’s Body, the Church. I had obeyed His commands about repentance, confession, baptism - and of course, I believed.

But something was missing. Something big!

There were too many vacant spots in my life, too many unanswered questions, too little joy. I had no real power, my Christian life was too much effort, and the high points too few and far between. Witnessing was an embarrassing affair, especially among my show business friends, and I felt a need to prove that I was no "square," that I could fit right in anywhere, that I had to carefully underplay my Christianity and walk a tightrope between my church world and my career world. Sound familiar?

I think this was the real heart of the problem. I was more concerned about what the public, the industry, and my church brethren expected of me than I was about what my Lord expected of me. If I could somehow work out a compromise between church acceptance and public acceptance, maybe Jesus would be happy with me, too. I hoped so.

But friends, it just won’t work that way!

Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you."

He also said, "You cannot serve God and man!" I tried to, anyway; but, after several years of compromise, halfhearted occasional obedience, wavering faith, some grievous mistakes, and a growing awareness of separation from my Father, I finally found myself on my knees, begging God to take over my life completely, to become my Lord, to give me the peace, the joy, the power that Jesus had promised those who would truly seek Him … AND HE DID! All glory and praise to God the Father, He still means today, in the 20th Century, just what He said so long ago, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" (Luke 11:13).

Through all my Christian life, I had virtually ignored the Holy Spirit. As my wonderful wife Shirley puts it, "I have known God the Father, and God the Son, but not God the Holy Spirit." And yet Jesus Himself said that He must go away in order that He, the Spirit, the Teacher, the Comforter, could come! Not IT, the Holy Spirit, but HE! God’s own Spirit, not bound by human body or legal bonds or our finite understanding but like the wind that Jesus described to Nicodemus, the wind "that bloweth where it will!" Who can contain the wind? Who can understand it? Who can categorize, or legalize, or limit, or deny, or judge the wind, the Spirit of Almighty God? And Jesus said, "So is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).

In my search for this electric reality, for answers to my urgent needs, for a real, vibrant relationship with Jesus, I studied with several Spirit-filled men whose daily lives radiated joy and power and love. David Wilkerson; George Otis, an electronics businessman; and Harald Bredesen, a dynamic minister. It is absolutely impossible to be around these men and to deny that God is in their lives, leading, shielding, blessing and using them in mighty ways. Each of them had known the gray emptiness of dedicated but sadly human Christian service; and now each of them vibrated with truth, power, energy and love - the fruit of the Spirit! (Gal. 5:22).

I began to see that my life had been like black and white TV, while these men were living and serving God in glorious color, radiating the beauty of the Holy Spirit! It was a whole new dimension, and friends, I wanted it! I wanted everything that my God had for me! I was tired of trying to "do it myself!"

After studying one evening with George Otis, in the quiet of his home, we agreed to ask Jesus to baptize me in His Spirit (Matt. 3:11). As I began to speak softly, hesitantly, in the new language that He was giving me, George suggested suddenly that I sing my praise to the Lord, with the help of His own Spirit - I immediately gave my voice to Jesus, hearing myself sing a thrilling new song, the words and the melody composed spontaneously by God’s Spirit! How can I possibly describe the joy of that hour? How can mere human words convey the soul-cleansing thrill of communicating so intimately with Jehovah God, His Spirit itself bearing witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God?" (Rom. 8:16).

All I know is that I was praising God, loving God, thanking God, worshipping God - completely free of the restrictions and limitations of my finite mind. I knew what I was feeling, and God knew what I was feeling, so what need was there to self-consciously struggle to put my feelings into silly English words? The Holy Spirit was taking care of the vocal part of it, just as God promised He would! (Rom. 8:26).

My brethren, this has been the best part of my new walk with the Holy Spirit; not just the prayer language, which is now rich and meaningful and so precious, but the complete knowledge that every word God spoke is true and that we can trust Him implicitly to keep His every promise today. We don’t have to fear that the Holy Spirit will lead us into doctrinal error—how could God’s Spirit contradict Himself? He will help us to understand God’s Word, to love it, to cherish and trust it, through 1 John 2 :27 - and now, it doesn’t seem 2,000 years old; it reads like today’s newspaper! What a beautiful life!

Before, a year might go by without our converting one soul. Now, scarcely a week goes by. One week recently, there were five baptisms in our swimming pool in Beverly Hills! Our daughters have a growing Bible study on Friday afternoon with their school friends; several nights a week find us in Bible study and prayer sessions with others in our home. And it’s no effort! We aren’t doing it; the Lord is assembling us together as we have need; others can just see that we’ve been with Jesus, and they want Him; we’re living in color now - with power and peace in our lives that does "surpass understanding."

Praise the Lord most High, I will "enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name" (Psalm 100:4).