So Others May Believe: True stories of The powerful Works of God

By Anora Goldring

The title of the book "So Others May Believe," came by revelation while in prayer. After I had completed the book, I was undecided about an appropriate title. I petitioned God for guidance. When I heard the title of the book from God, I said, "Wow, that is so fitting Lord. Thank you, Jesus."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781642585360

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So Others May Believe

True stories of The powerful Works of God

Anora Goldring

ISBN 978-1-64258-535-3 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64258-536-0 (Digital)

Copyright © 2018 by Anora Goldring

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

This book is dedicated to the former Pastor of Emmanuel Assembly Church, Overseer Darryll D. Jackson, Pastor Lee Jackson, the saints of Evening Light Apostolic Church, my brothers and sisters, and my husband and children.

The Evening I Received the Holy Ghost

Then Peter said unto them, repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 2:38

I was an ordinary person, and this is how my relationship with God began. My oldest sister often talked to me about God. I don’t know if she fully understood what she was conveying, but she was very excited. I wasn’t rude. I listened and observed her hand gestures, her facial expressions, and the rise and fall of her voice as she spoke, for she had my attention. But I could not comprehend what she was saying no matter how hard I tried. Perhaps it was because I could not see God. I could not feel God. God seemed foreign and abstract to me. All I knew was there was an emptiness when it came to this spiritual being called God.

It would be many years later before I understood why there was such emptiness. From my birth, I heard the English language everywhere and all the time. It would be a few years before I learned to speak the English language. And not Spanish or French because I had not been exposed to those languages, therefore I could not speak them.

I knew who my grandmother was. I knew what she looked like. I knew where she lived, and other aspects of her life based on information shared by my mother, and other relatives. But I did not have a bond with my grandmother. She lived in Georgia, and I lived in Washington, DC. I would see her when someone in the family died. We traveled to Georgia, to give our condolences. There were small encounters with her before she died, but I never knew her personally.

I heard about God from my childhood. I was enrolled in a Bible class on Saturdays with other young people. The students brought their Bibles, binders, and pens to write. I listened as people testified about God with passion and excitement. I heard people teach, preach, exhort, and sing about God with conviction. They were expressing their relationship, their feelings and their experiences. But I could not relate. I understand that people can teach, preach, exhort, and sing about God without having a relationship with him. But these people were different.

I have experienced cooking. I am not the best at it, but I have experience nonetheless, and I have a few scars to show for it. I can instruct and show individuals how to cook certain dishes. Therefore, I can pass this information along to others because I have firsthand experience.

But where was my experience? Where was my relationship with God? Prior to receiving the Holy Ghost, I had no relationship with God, no bond with this spiritual being! Yet he was overseeing every aspect of my life. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they? (Matthew 6:26).

My father did not attend church. I was informed by my mother that he attended church as a youngster when he lived in Georgia with his family. But things changed once he arrived in Washington, DC as an adult. I never experienced my father attending church except a few weeks before his death. I asked him frequently to visit the church with me stating that I would wash and iron his clothes and do whatever was needed. He flatly refused by shaking his head. He never said anything to me about his experience in church whether positive or negative.

My mother attended church occasionally, when we first started attending Emmanuel Assembly Church. She had attended church in Georgia. In fact, my parents would sing in church and were a part of a quartet group competing against each other as teenagers. My siblings and I grew up only listening to quartet gospel music and experiencing my parents singing these type of songs as they went about everyday lives. Until my oldest brother introduced us to oldies but goodies music. My mother and aunt would often tell us of their experiences as singers in the quartet. This seemed to be thrilling for them.

My Aunt would tell us of her experience of receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. She proudly told us that she was baptized by being fully submerged in water. When she came up out of the water, she was speaking in tongues, and praising God. My mother was informed that she received the Holy Ghost in Georgia but was never sure. It was years later that she finally sought God and knew from that experience that she had certainly received the Holy Ghost.

Through the invite of my Aunt to Emmanuel Assembly Church, my family began attending church regularly. School was one of the only other gathering places I attended. I considered my parents’ house a social gathering place. This is where everyone congregated. My parents had eleven children. My aunt had five children and lived directly across the street. Another aunt had eight children and lived a few blocks away. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, associates, and acquaintances met at my parents’ house mainly on Saturdays and Sundays. We played kickball, baseball, football, basketball and we raced against each other. We were never short of a team member because we had enough family.

This new church experience was surprising, refreshing, and unpredictable. I simply never knew what would happen from one service to the next. There was always a level of expectation entering the church. People confessed their sins and told what God had done for them. This was astonishing to me. There is no shame in the presence of God.

This new experience was not limited to age or gender. Apparently, anyone that met the requirements for receiving the Holy Ghost received it. The pure beauty and sincerity of being honest without shame or reservation was amazing. This Holy Ghost is a phenomenon! People cried and dance openly. The onlookers supported them with a Hallelujah praise, clapping their hands and shouting. I never heard people speak about God with such adoration, and assurance.

People that have been baptized in Jesus name and have received the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues are called saints, Ephesians 2:18-20, For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Another supporting scripture is Romans 8:27, And he that search the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And 1 Corinthians 1:2, Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.

On Friday nights I began to witness unusual events in church. Prior to this, I had heard people praising God, singing, preaching, and teaching about God. But I never actually saw an individual receive the Holy Ghost. The gatherings on Friday nights were called tarry service. Children, teens, middle agers, and senior citizens would gather around the altar, kneeling or sitting on a church bench, and thanking God for the gift of the Holy Ghost in anticipation of receiving it. I watched a few times. I was intrigued. I saw people gathered in one place calling on the name of Jesus, singing and praising God. Can you imagine this place? People seeking God openly and sincerely like that. This sound was different, unique, and amazing!

Shortly thereafter, I was encouraged to participate in calling on Jesus for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I had heard from my sister, and now from the saints that Jesus went to the cross, suffered greatly, died, and was risen from the dead to provide a means for humanity to be rescued from the penalty of sin, which is death. Jesus was no longer a baby lying in a manger. He grew up and fulfilled his purpose