CONNECTING
The official podcast of the Northern New England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
CONNECTING
How The Holy Spirit Makes Faith Personal And Powerful with Author Dennis Smith
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What if your spiritual life moved from “I should” to “I want to”? We dive straight into a bold claim with Pastor/Author Dennis Smith: there’s more available than the new birth. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, as he describes it, makes your relationship with Jesus personal, practical, and powerful—turning prayer into a conversation that guides your steps and Scripture into a living voice that reshapes your day.
We unpack the difference between the Spirit’s universal work of conviction and the empowering fullness promised to believers. Dennis shares how Acts 8–9 reframed his expectations and why “be filled” in Ephesians points to a continual, daily dependence. The takeaway is simple and disruptive: ask to be filled in the morning, keep asking as you move through your tasks, and expect evidence in fresh desire for prayer, deeper hunger for the Word, and timely strength in ordinary pressure points like impatience, conflict, and fear. That’s where imparted righteousness shows up—Christ in you, not as slogan but as living supply. Need patience in a grocery line? Ask for His patience. Need courage, forgiveness, or pure thoughts? Draw from His life within you.
We also talk about readiness for the last days without hype. The disciples had proximity to Jesus yet were told to wait for power; Dennis urges us to chase the Giver over the signs. From there, the conversation turns tender as he opens about losing his wife and how the Spirit met him in grief, even revealing the Father’s own sorrow at the cross. Comfort became more than a verse; it was the presence of Christ walking with him. If love intensifies loss, imagine the Father’s love and what it cost. That insight reshaped his worship and his ministry, pointing back to a faith that rests fully on Jesus working through us.
If you’re hungry for a steadier prayer life, practical holiness, and real power for witness, this conversation offers a path: claim the promise, keep on being filled, and let glory within prepare you for glory ahead. If it helps you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more conversations like this, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway so we can keep serving you well.
Watch on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXiqg0oHl_EA6ldtvN68fd1wpF8boyTeh
Welcome And Guest Introduction
SPEAKER_00Well, welcome everybody. Welcome to Northern New England Camp Meeting 2025. And I'm here with uh one of the great uh one of my favorite authors, uh Pastor Dennis Smith. We're so glad to have you here, brother. Happy to be with you, Gary. It's good to have you here. And those of you listening, welcome to our third podcast in a series, and welcome to Connecting. We're calling it Connecting, and we'd love to have you join us from time to time to check out our podcast. You can read meet cool people like Pastor Dennis. Uh Dennis, you've written a lot of books. One of my favorites is this one called Ten Days Prayer and Devotion Experience, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, of course, by Dennis Smith. This book is wonderful because it can be used as an evangelistic tool, can't it? Yes. You can actually, it's for small groups in homes that want to reach their communities. And so it's a study on the Holy Spirit with questions at the end of each chapter that's very helpful. You you've written a lot of books, Dennis, and you have a seem to have a passion for Jesus. Is that is that true? That is absolutely correct.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I've written some uh self-published books, that's one of those, and also Pacific Press uh asked me to write some 40-day devotionals. It actually began with Review and Herald Publishing that originally asked. I wrote a couple for them, and then it got transferred to Pacific Press. And there are 15 of those out there on the market, and there's one coming either later this year or the first or next. Oh, actually. So it'll be 16. And then I I don't know, I I forgot I don't know how many of my I got at least 10 or more of my own self-published. So there's probably 25 plus.
Discovering Spirit Baptism
SPEAKER_00Amen. And you're it seems to be a real emphasis on the Holy Spirit, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and you're kind of moving into last day events and and these kind of things. Um and I loved how you described how you put your book together. It's comes it they come out of your own personal devotional life, and you just kind of take notes as you're reading the word of God and spirit of prophecy, and next thing you know, you have a book. Is that is that how it happens?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I um actually it was in September of 99 that the Lord challenged me to look and understand the Baptist of the Holy Spirit. So my wife and I had I had special prayer for that. And right after that, I started being convicted to study more on the subject. And I I couldn't believe it. Uh Bible verse after Bible verse started flying out at me, and I started seeing things of the Holy Spirit I'd never seen before. So I just started writing, you know, because you forget. And I didn't plan to write a book, but I put together a manuscript, and the conference president, I was in Arizona at the time, gave me a call and wanted, you know, uh and I and I explained to him what was going on because he was gonna call me to another district. I happen to be in Wickenburg, and uh I told him what was happening. He said, Well, maybe you should stay there. I said, Yeah, I think so. Yeah, so but he said, Could you speak to our pastors in our January meeting? I said, Okay. So I had a chance to share with the pastors some of the things that were happening in the church and in my life and all. I had a few copies of the manuscript available. So anyone that wanted, I I gave a few copies out. And then I got a call to Connecticut here in New England, which uh I I spent 10 years there. And it's while I was there that the book started coming out. I I moved there in December, I'm sorry, in uh August of 2000. And so it would have been 2020 uh 2001 or so that the first book came out. I'd sell we had a printer in the church, so I put it together and had the first one printed. We bought wiped out our savings to do it, but I know God wanted it. And after I got it printed, which actually is the original version of the 10-day book that you just showed. Okay, it's called The Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and then God convicted me, don't advertise it. So I said, Okay, we just wiped out our savings. But that's okay, Lord. I held the book up. I said, Lord, I did what you asked me to do. If you don't sell one book, that's okay with me. So that was the start.
What Spirit Baptism Changes
SPEAKER_00Oh, amen. That's wonderful. And the Holy Spirit, uh, we we know that we we only know what we know of the Holy Spirit from what God has told us about the Holy Spirit. So silence is golden in a lot of areas on the Holy Spirit, but there's a lot we can learn from him. And um, what are what are some highlights you think uh in regard to the Holy Spirit? What is it that really makes you praise the Lord for this wonderful, wonderful gift, this person that we've received?
SPEAKER_01Yes. Well, you use the word personal, and the thing I've discovered that first of all, there, you know, there there's several works of the spirit. Uh the first one is for everybody, and that's the convicting power to accept Jesus, the born-again experience. Um, and then as I was reading in Acts chapter 8 and 9, you find the Samaritans who accepted Christ, even though they were baptized, they hadn't received the baptism spirit, because Peter and John came to pray for them for that. And then in chapter 9 of Acts, Saul converted, powerful conversion, but still not filled with the Spirit. Ananias came to pray. And and so when I saw that, I I realized, you know, maybe there's more for me. And so that's when we had our prayer. And so, as I said, when you use the word personal, that's what I've discovered. With the infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit, what starts happening that it starts making our relationship with Jesus much more personal, much more real. It the work it starts doing on your heart, it starts making you want to pray more instead of be praying because you're supposed to. Or it leads you to want to study God's word more instead of, well, I I should be studying the word, so I better do it. So it it starts, he starts working on your heart, and he starts bringing changes in your life along that line.
Prayer, Readiness, And Last Days
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's beautiful. That's beautiful. And and you've also begun to really look at the Holy Spirit in light of last day events. Yes, that's key, isn't it? That that is right ceiling process in these things.
SPEAKER_01Oh, it is. The Lord has has led me to understand uh uh prayer. I guess I want to add that here. Um you know, sometimes as Christians, we look at at prayer. It is important, of course, but we uh we plan to do something, and then we say, Oh, by the way, Lord, please bless what I'm doing. Well, you discover in prayer, Lord, what do you want me to do? And that's what I've discovered again with the Baptist of the Holy Spirit, the Lord finally gets through to our mind that, hey, ask me what uh you want, what I want to do. You know, God's saying what I want to do. Don't don't just start making your own plans. And when it comes to last day events, we must be a prayerful people. Amen. If we're gonna make it through. And so that's an again an important part of the Holy Spirit, the Baptist Holy Spirit, because Paul said right at the end of the armor of God, he says, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. And to pray in the Spirit, a prerequisite is to be filled with the Spirit. And so our prayer life would be much more empowered, and it better prepares us for the closing events of Earth's history. Yes.
How To Receive And Keep Filled
SPEAKER_00Wow, that's powerful. You know, um here in Northern New England, in fact, we're here at Northern New England camp meeting right now, of course. Yes, sir, we are. And we've been praying for years and years, for at least 20, maybe 30 years, been praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In fact, our theme is for the for the quennium is revival in the East. Amen. What would you say that this conference needs to do? And maybe we I should be more specific, each member of this conference needs to do to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to receive that indwelling power of Jesus in the life that transforms us and sanctifies us and makes us like Jesus. What are some of the steps? Now, like I said, we've been praying for years for this. Is there something else that we need to do? Um, do we need to continue to pray? Um, what would you say as a church we could do in preparation for revival in the East?
Trials, Breaking, And Christlikeness
SPEAKER_01Yeah, actually, Paul says we receive the Spirit by faith. Uh so it's really a matter of claiming a promise. Now, as a pastor, when I first came to experience this myself, and I didn't know what to expect. You hear all kinds of things about the Baptist Holy Spirit, but once I started understanding it and experiencing more of it in my own personal life, I decided to go to every church member's home. And I'd go to their home, I explained to them the concept of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We had a nice fellowship together. Then I asked them at the end of the visit, would you like to have prayer for the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Because it was having such an impact on my life, I wanted to share that with my church members. So I certainly would encourage every pastor, number one, to be sure as a pastor you understand the under that what the Bible says about the Baptist Holy Spirit, and in that process, ask God to give you that understanding. And then, secondly, of course, pray for the Baptist Holy Spirit. Now, the Bible talks about laying on of hands, and that's a beautiful ceremony. Uh, if there's someone that understands the Baptist Holy Spirit, I like when I prayed for my church members, we'd kneel there and I'd lay hands on them and pray. But laying on of hands is not necessary. I had a lady in my church that after I had shared some of the teachings on the Baptist Holy Spirit, she went home that very day. And uh I found out the next week when she came to our meeting, she said she went home and had prayer for the Baptist Holy Spirit. Just her, knelt by her bed, and she said she felt the greatest peace come over her she'd ever felt. So, in essence, it's claiming the promise of God uh in prayer, and a prefer a really a prerequisite is if you have committed your life to Jesus and you truly want to serve Him, you qualify. And then the Holy Spirit, you can claim that promise. It's not a matter of feeling, because I didn't know if there'd be feeling or what. And when we had prayer, my wife and I had prayer for the Baptist Holy Spirit, I didn't feel anything. But the next day, some things started happening. So don't have it based on feeling, simply claim it, a promise and prayer. And then the second thing, Paul said in Ephesians, don't be drunk with wine where it's an excess, but he said, be filled with the Spirit. If you look at the Greek verb form, for filled, it's a continuous action verb. He says, keep on being filled. Come on. So I encourage folks, when you wake up in the morning, and I did this morning, you look up at that ceiling and you say, Lord, fill me with your holy spirit today. And and believe he will. And and then as you go through the day, if God brings it to your mind, Lord, continue to fill me with your Holy Spirit. And if you're going to be having a uh a meeting with somebody or some group, Lord, fill me with the Spirit as I go to this meeting. You just keep asking the Lord, and and what it's doing, you it gives us the conscious realization I'm dependent on the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00Yes, not me.
SPEAKER_01Yes, to say and do what he wants to do.
SPEAKER_00And the more faulty you see yourself, the weaker you see yourself, the more you're gonna want to do that. Because you realize, boy, there's a lot riding on the things I say and do. I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit if there's there's Christ behind what I say and do. Amen.
SPEAKER_01That's that's correct. And as I shared in our class yesterday here, you know, I'm teaching one of the classes, and we were talking about the gold of the Laodicea message, and that's that's of course the full character of Christ being revealed in the life. And I have discovered sometimes for God to get us to the place where we stop being dependent on ourselves, he may allow us to go through some trials. I I guess you can call it a breaking. They're no fun. But you think of Peter. Uh you know, Peter was a pretty proud individual. When Christ said, You all gonna deny me? He says, These guys may deny you, but I'm not. Right. And he three times Christ told him that, and three times, I'm not gonna deny you. Well, of course, we know the story. But that proved to be a blessing to Peter because we're told in the spirit of prophecy his eyes met Christ's eyes, and he realized he had denied Christ three times, the last time with cursing and swearing, and it says he he he went away and wept bitterly. That man was broken. Now, from a spiritual point of view, that can be a good thing. It's no fun when you go through it. But what it does, it get it God's working at getting self out of us and causing us to pin on the Lord. You know, Peter became a great apostle after that.
SPEAKER_00Oh, the transformation that that man went through. That's right. I mean, wasn't John more of a zealot and boy, transformed by the love of Jesus.
Christ In You And Daily Victory
SPEAKER_01Amen. Amen. And so the breaking came first, and then on the day of Pentecost, here came the Holy Spirit. They were ready to receive it at that time.
SPEAKER_00In fact, our theme this uh week at camp meeting is victory in Jesus, overcoming by the grace of God. And the Holy Spirit is the one who brings the grace of God into our life, which is the victorious power that we can have.
Witnessing Power And Pentecost
SPEAKER_01Amen. One of the most important concepts of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that Christ lives in us most fully through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I might remember in John, I believe it's John 14, when Jesus was promising the Holy Spirit. Um He was going to be leaving soon. He was talking to his disciples, and he's and he told them, he said, the Spirit is is going to come, basically. But he said, This experience in the Spirit is not for the world. And that's true. There is a work of the Spirit available for the world, that's the born-again experience, but there's an even more powerful experience, which is the Baptist Holy Spirit. He was talking to his disciples about that. And he told the disciples, he's with you, you know him, he's with you, but he shall be in you. And that's what the Baptist of the Holy Spirit is. When we are filled with the Spirit, the Spirit is in us. And then Jesus said right after that, I will come to you. And when you put that together, you realize, okay, when the Holy Spirit fills us, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, what's actually happening as well is that Christ is coming into our life more fully. Now, when you think about victory, as you mentioned, Pastor, that how do we have victory? As your theme here is victory in Jesus. And as part of my journey, I guess I can share this too, as part of my journey, this is all connected. God first led me in 99 to understand and experience the Baptist Holy Spirit. But I always knew I was missing something. I didn't know what it was, but I knew I was missing something because I was baptized in 66, many years ago. Well, it was in 2006, 40 years after my baptism. I didn't know what I was missing, but but I was reading a book, a Christian book, and as I read that book, I saw it. There it is. What I was missing for victory is that Jesus lives in me. And when I need a victory, the normal way we try to get victory over temptation, we try hard to overcome it, asking God to help us. Well, I ask folks, how much help you need? 10%, 50%? We need 100%. Here's what it is Jesus is living in me. I have every quality of Jesus in me. It's Jesus. And when I need patience, if I'm standing at the grocery store line and the lady is checking out somebody and I'm in a big hurry, and all of a sudden they start talking, I can get a little impatient. And I turn my mind away from what's tempting me to be impatient, and I asked Jesus to give me his patience. When I saw that, beautiful. I have everything I need in Jesus. If I need to be a forgiving person, Jesus give me your forgiveness. If I need to be having less anger, Jesus give me your peace. That became a real revolutionary thought to me and really opened up my understanding again to how practical the concept and experience of the Baptist of the Holy Spirit is. It affects everything, your prayer life, your study life, powerful witnessing, and your victorious life in Christ. And it is all Jesus, 100%.
SPEAKER_00It's beautiful. You know, we're here in Northern New England, we're all about teaching righteousness by faith. And a lot of our messages focus on the imputed righteousness of Jesus. You know, the that through faith in Christ we're covered in his righteousness. But I think, at least for my in my case, we don't talk a lot about the imparted righteousness of Jesus. And that's what you're talking about here. You're talking about how Jesus indwells us. And when we're facing temptation, we remember that he's imparted in us through faith. That's right. And we turn our attention to him and ask him to live out his attributes and abilities through us, right? That is 100% correct.
SPEAKER_01That is the sanctification aspect of righteousness by faith. You know, and I think it's 1 Corinthians 1, the last few verses there, Paul talks about that there's no boasting. He says, because Christ, again, is our salvation, you know, our righteousness, our sanctification. Uh He's everything.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01And I used to think, I wouldn't tell anybody, but uh I used to think, you know, I get to heaven and I I thank you, Lord, for saving me, but I worked pretty hard to get here too.
SPEAKER_00Right.
Depending On God In Ministry
SPEAKER_01Yikes. And that was the old way, you know, you work hard to overcome those temptations. And redeemers. Yeah, there you go. Yeah. And uh, but then of course you're not really successful at it. Um, but then when I came to realize this aspect of righteous by faith, the sanctification aspect, it is Jesus 100%. Not me at all. All I do is make the choice. I it's like with justification. It says, as you receive Christ Jesus, walk in him. Well, how did I receive him? Jesus says, Here's my righteousness. You don't have any human righteousness. You accept me, and I say, okay, thank you. And then he says, and I died for your sins, so you don't have to die for that here. I say, okay, thank you. And then he says, Here's my eternal life. You're welcome to have my eternal life. Oh, well, thank you for that too. And and then that's the justification. And and then he says, but you know, you're gonna have to live in this world for a while, Dennis. And uh you're justified now. You're you're free of the guilt and penalty of sin. You have eternal life, but you're gonna have to live here for a while. Uh okay. Well, here, I I've got a solution for that too. Uh here just receive the Baptist Holy Spirit, and I'm gonna live in you. And whenever you're tempted, just ask me.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Ask me for my patience and my forgiveness and whatever you need. Oh, okay. Thank you. It's him, 100%.
SPEAKER_00You just it dawned on me that you're you're actually explaining Christ in you, the hope of glory. There you go. It's Christ in you, the hope of the character of God. Glory is the character of God. Exactly right. So when Christ is in us, we can actually have the character of God. We do actually have the character of God. Will we choose to walk in that is the question. Walk in the spirit, right?
Suffering, Grief, And God’s Heart
SPEAKER_01That's exactly right. We always have a free will. And sometimes we can feel confuse will with willpower. We got a will, we got no power. And what the will is, is choice. So whenever we're tempted, this is where the Bible in the spirit comes in. The Bible informs us what God's will is for us. And so we learn, okay, like Paul said, be angry, sin not. Don't let the sun go down on your wrath. I say, Oh, I'm not supposed to hang on to my anger toward Jim or Mary or whoever it is. Okay, I've been enlightened by the Spirit. Okay, now how do I do that? Okay, I ask Jesus to give me his forgiveness, to give me his peace. See, that's his character. That's what he is like. He's patient, he's forgiving, he has pure thoughts. And if if I have a struggle with thoughts, Jesus, give me your thoughts. But we always have the choice. Whenever the temptation is there, we turn away. And so what's happening in our life as we understand this aspect of Christ in me, the hope of glory, is that day by day we develop more and more of the characteristics of Jesus, his character. And I truly believe when Jesus comes, those who are ready for his coming will be reflecting his character 100%.
SPEAKER_00Beautiful.
SPEAKER_01Beautiful. And I'll just add that. I get excited about this. I'll add this. Then 1 John 3 2, he says, Beloved now we the sons of God. It does not yet appear that we shall be, but we know when he comes, we shall be like him. Now, if you look at the Greek word for like, it's homoios. In the English, it's kind of a weak word. It might say, well, he's like his father or she's like her mother. You know, there's some similar characteristics. But if you look at the Greek there for like, it's it means exactly like. Those that are ready made Jesus will be exactly like Jesus. Why is that? They have learned how to let Jesus himself manifest his character through them. So it's not them doing it, it's Christ doing it in them. And then what John said there, the very next phrase, for we shall see him as he is. Now, when you think about that, we're gonna have to stand in the presence of Jesus in all of his glory and not be consumed. Where you might remember with Moses, Moses said, Show me your glory. I said, I can't do that. I'm gonna put you over here and I'm gonna walk by you. You you know. We're gonna have to do something Moses couldn't do. Stand in the presence of Christ and all his glory. So something has to happen. What is it? It's glory in us, Jesus, meeting glory when he comes. And we can stand in that presence, like I said, we shall see him as he is. And then the very next verse, if that's what our hope is, he says, those that have this hope, purify themselves, even as he's pure. And that's that's what we're talking about the process of purification, of overcoming our sin by the grace of God, and we become more and more like Jesus. That's the process of getting ready to meet Jesus.
SPEAKER_00Oh man. Uh Dennis, it's very exciting to hear this. You know, and and I'm hearing you pinpoint something that I don't think a lot of people understand is that there is another experience of the Holy Spirit beyond just the new birth experience, is a baptism of the Holy Spirit, which empowers for ministry, and that's what we're talking about. And it also gives us an extra portion of his spirit to in preparation for the last days of Earth's history. It's very interesting, and that is a biblical truth. Um, God wants to do more than just convict sin to the Holy Spirit, he wants to do more than give us the new birth. He actually wants to empower us supernaturally for ministry, like took like what took place at Pentecost. All of that is his work through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All the way. So our our pastors, our elders, our members need to know this, don't they?
SPEAKER_01Amen. And um, and as you were talking, you know, there there is, we've been talking here about the sanctification aspect. There is also, of course, as you did mention, the witnessing aspect. Yeah. Because you remember, I I find it kind of interesting in Acts chapter 1 and 2. You know, Jesus talks to them about there's not going to be one stone here left and everything. And and the disciples are excited about the signs of the times. What when's this going to happen? And you're coming and all this, you know. And he says, Well, that's not for you to know. Don't worry about that. And then he takes them to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's kind of how we are today. We get excited about the signs, but if we're not careful, we forget about the Spirit. Our number one focus should be on the Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit. Yeah. God will take care of the signs. Nothing wrong with being aware of the signs. We know the Lord's coming soon, but the focus, Jesus had to pull their focus back. Now, here, here's what I want you to know. Wait, and you're going to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You're going to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And then they received, of course, they had to pray ten days. And that played a role in preparing them to receive it. And then they did receive the Baptist of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost because Jesus said, even though they'd been with them three and a half years, they heard him teach every day. They saw him heal the sick, raise the dead. Jesus even sent them out to preach, heal the sick. And so they'd been with them for those three and a half years, but Jesus said, You're still not ready.
unknownTrue.
SPEAKER_01Even though you know all this, you're still not ready. And then he says, When you feel experience the Baptist Holy Spirit, you will receive power. And that is it. That's where the power for witnessing is at.
Lessons From Loss And The Father’s Grief
SPEAKER_00What a beautiful thing that even though Jesus went to heaven and sits as our high priest, stands as our high priest there in the heavenly sanctuary, he left us with the Holy Spirit, who can be the presence of Jesus in each of us individually, as if we were walking with him on those dusty roads of Palestine. He's right there.
SPEAKER_01Exactly right. You know, I often think Jesus said, you know, the words I speak are not mine, but the Father's. He says, the works that I do are not mine, but the Father's. Well, we know Jesus received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in answer to prayer at his water baptism. The Spirit came down. And from that point on, it says he was filled with the Spirit. And so what he's telling us there is that he was dependent 100% on his father for what he said and for what he did. And as I think about that, you know, we're to be like Jesus. And when we're filled with the Holy Spirit, that's really my prayer as well. I don't claim to have achieved it 100% by any means, but that's my goal and my hope and my prayer. I uh when I speak and I'm talking to others about Christ, I pray that's Jesus speaking through me, not me. It's Him speaking through me. And any ministry I do, I I pray, Lord, I want this to be you ministering through me, not me doing this ministry, it's you ministering through me. And I truly believe that can be a reality. Because I've seen some amazing things since September of 99. My life and my ministry has never been the same since then.
SPEAKER_00Wow. Wow. Uh yeah, it powerful, powerful. You know, um maybe there's a misnomer out there that when you receive the Holy Spirit, you don't go through any type of grief or suffering in this life. But that's just not true, is it? You have someone that goes with you through those things. Yeah, though I walk through the valley of Shadow, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, but there's nothing that says we won't go through those. And you personally have gone through grief. Yes. And um you have the right to remain silent if you wish on this, Dennis. But maybe you could share a little bit about your own journey and how Christ has been with you through some some tough times.
Resources And Writing Process
Back On The Road At 80
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Um my wife was really my prayer warrior and ministry. And uh last October she passed away somewhat unexpectedly. Um, but I praise God she didn't suffer. Um but yes, the when you're filled with the Spirit, uh, as I've said, Christ is in you. Christ is He's more intimate with you. And you go through this with Him, or He goes through it with you. And so there's a certain comfort and strength you receive uh through that process. And you know, it's through the trials of life that we learn more about God. The good times are nice, but it's through the the difficult times that we go through, we get to know him best. And you know, when you lose your spouse, that that's the closest person to you in the world, and the grief you feel can be pretty intense. Sometimes it comes on you so intense. Honestly, you am I gonna survive this? Uh is it gonna go away? It does, and and and the the periods of that kind of grief get a little further apart and they get a little less. So the Lord's there to help us heal. But one I'm gonna share one thing that I learned. Uh let me say this. Two of the greatest blessings for me uh through the years is when I see something in the word I didn't see before. That is so exciting to me to see see some new teaching there. And and then the second thing that's always a great blessing to me is whenever God reveals something about himself to me that I didn't know before. I, oh Lord, thank you. One of the greatest blessings. Well, I'm gonna share something with you along this grief. Um, some years ago, I was reading Patriarchs and Prophets, which I read many times, on on Abraham's story. He's taking his son to sacrifice. And I read that many times, and I was reading that story, and all of a sudden, I felt such intense grief. I couldn't believe it. I was I I was in tears, and I thought, what is going on? And I realized I'm feeling what Abraham felt. And then the Lord shifted me to the Father. God the Father. I thought, oh my. As Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane and moving toward the cross, the father was starting to feel grief. I thought, I never thought of that. Then After my wife Patty passed away, not too long after that, I was you know, I was in my office at home, and one of those times came over me about the grief, and pretty intense. And at that time, all of a sudden, the Lord shifted my thinking to God the Father and Christ on the cross. And I began realizing something. You know, in this life, the intensity of the grief you feel at the loss depends on the closest and intimate of the relationship you had with the one that passed away. And and of course, my wife and I were very close, and I was a caregiver for her for two and a half years. You know, very close there. We loved one another, and of course the grief was very intense. And I've and I've also learned just because I know I'm gonna see her again in the resurrection, that does not diminish the grief you feel now. And I got to thinking what it did, it moved me to God the Father. I thought, my, the relationship between the father and son was far more than what I ever had with Patty. What does that say? His grief was much more intense when Christ was on the cross than I can imagine. Now, years ago, I used to say, Well, look, the father knew Christ was going to be resurrected, no big deal. Sure. It is a big deal. I know Patty's gonna be resurrected, but I still feel the grief. Same with God the Father. Very good point. And I I mean the Bible says with God's a day is a thousand years, a thousand years is a day. His intensity of grief was so intense, I cannot imagine what the father felt. And besides that, he had to turn his back on Jesus in the midst of that. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? When I got in tune with that, I was brought to tears, and I simply said, Father, I'm sorry. For what I put you through. Yeah. So those are things the Holy Spirit does. He He reveals things to you. When you go through difficult times, He works on your heart to do some changes in yourself, and He reveals things to you. You didn't you don't really you don't know what He's gonna show you. I had no idea I'd have that experience, but I thank God for it because I've learned some things. It's made God so so special, and I know my heavenly Father loves me because I know what he went through for me.
SPEAKER_00Wow. I think we've reached the most important part of this entire podcast. That was powerful. Really appreciate you taking the time to open your hearts to us, Dennis, and for your faithfulness to the Lord and and as He began to as He as He's revealed things to you, writing those down so we can learn about learn more about the precious Holy Spirit. You know, if somebody's watching right now and they're like, boy, how do I get a hold of some of this information? Uh, what would you recommend for them to go to get some of the books and things that you're writing?
A Prayer For Listeners
SPEAKER_01Yes, uh, I have a website. It's spiritbaptism.org. Spiritbaptism.org. If you go there, you can uh find all the books, the 40-day devotionals and the other books that I've written, and uh also our email address is on there. If you wanted to communicate with me, you could communicate that way as well. And I it's it's been such a blessing, first of all, for the Lord to experience the Lord leading in the writing of the books, because when I write, I cannot just sit down and say, Well, let me see, what do I think I'd like to write on? No, no, the only way I can write is if the Holy Spirit convicts me to write on a particular subject.
SPEAKER_00Beautiful.
SPEAKER_01Then when that's the case, the writing comes easy. It's amazing. The the outflow outline flows, the actual writing of it flows. The Lord brings the scriptures to mind, the spirit of prophecy quotes to mind, and it just flows. And so every book that's there is has really been the result of the Holy Spirit convicting. And so you can go through, it covers many different aspects of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Uh, prayer, abiding in Christ. We're talking about sanctification for righteous by faith, deliverance. I've seen a lot of deliverance since seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit, physical healing, emotional healing, even demon possession. There's a book on deliverance, many different subjects there in the Baptist Holy Spirit. So you're welcome to go to the website and look it over, see what you might like. Wonderful.
SPEAKER_00Dennis, for many years you um took it easy and kind of worked closely at home. You were a care provider for your wife and other things, but now you're kind of on the circuit again. And I know we put you to work here doing this and that, and it's probably a little overwhelming with the temperatures going up and down from 100 degrees down or 98 degrees or 93 or whatever down. Um are you on the road again, do you think?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I I think so. Actually, right, shortly after my wife passed away, the thought came to me very clear, and it kind of surprised me, you're gonna travel again. And I, you know, sometimes you don't know if it's the Lord or if it's yourself. So I thought, okay. Well, she passed um October 30, and it was in December that Gary called me and asked if I could come here. Well, I I felt sorry for the time. I was ahead, I I I don't know, uh I don't want to fly again, and because I hadn't gone, I'm sure it's been 10 years. Um, but with this call to come speak at this camp meeting that confirmed, okay, I guess I may be hitting the road again for a while. But uh, you know, I'm 80 years old, and I I was telling Gary this morning, I said, you know, I wasn't sure if I was gonna hold up. You know, you fly all day to get here. Then Gary signed me two classes, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, you know. Then we have I I'm from Arizona. I'm used to hot weather, 100 degrees. That's okay, but no humidity. Well, then they give me a lot of humidity here, plus a hundred degrees. And then all of a sudden it's 50 degrees this morning. Well, I told Gary this morning, if I survive this, by God's grace I am, I can go anywhere. So I think I'm gonna be on the road again.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Well, that's a testimony to you being willing to follow wherever the Lord leads you, and we appreciate you being here, Dennis. We're so glad to have you, and thank you for being part of this podcast, man. Thank you, Gary. There may be some listening right now who want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, or maybe they're going through a grieving time, or maybe they want a deeper relationship with Jesus. Would you pray for them? Sure will.
Closing Blessing
SPEAKER_01Father in heaven, we know that there's no distance in prayer, and there are those that are watching this interview, this sharing time, and you know what's on their heart, Lord. I pray right now by your Holy Spirit that you will draw near to them. And if they're going through a time in which they've been wrestling, whether they should give their life to Jesus or not, I pray, Lord, by your Holy Spirit, you'll convict them that that is the best decision they could ever make. Yes. And I pray, Lord, right now they'll reach out and say, Yes, I accept Jesus as my Savior. Thank you for eternal life that I have through Christ. Or there may be others there that are Christians, maybe they've been Christian many years, but maybe they felt like they've drifted away a bit. And um they really want to come back and they want to have a stronger relationship with Christ. So I invite you right now to just renew that relationship, accept Christ anew. And I certainly would invite you to say, Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit as you have promised. I claim that promise to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And I ask, Lord, you will hear that prayer and answer that prayer. And there may be others that are going through a difficult time right now. We all do that, and and you know what they're going through. And I pray, Lord, by the power of your spirit, you bring comfort to their heart. Help them through this experience. May they realize that you have not left them. May they realize your promise where you said you never leave us or forsake us. May they know that Jesus is there, even though it may be a dark time and you don't realize that Christ is there, but He is. He's promised to be. And I pray, Father, you give them the faith to continue to walk forward. And on the other side of that trial that they're facing, I pray, Lord, they'll realize the wonderful blessing that you brought through that. And so I thank you, Lord. I know you love each one that's watching this interview, this fellowship. And I just pray you bless each one according to your will and according to their need. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, Dennis. We appreciate you. And thank you, everybody, for joining us for connecting, and God bless you today.
SPEAKER_01Amen.
