When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand-new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!
For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us!
-2 Corinthians 5:17, 21 The Living Bible
The fire of God swept through Pittsburgh. The grace of God went right to work making changes in our lives. We hung crosses and pictures of Jesus in our homes. We posted bumper stickers on our cars. We wore large crosses and carried bibles with us.
Before this charismatic outpouring, denominational churches overshadowed the city of Pittsburgh and most people dutifully attended church each Sunday. The divorce rate was low and we endeavored to live right. Liturgical churches required communion and some had confession. The act of communion was limited to church members and brought cleansing to the soul and for a while, you felt better. Most sermons were short and commented on love and hate and psychological topics or the daily happenings of life; teaching people to turn to God in the hard times. These church services were times of tears and soberness, and sin was seldom mentioned in case it offended people. Some of these churches opened their doors for praise meetings and bible studies.
After being filled with the Spirit, we had a desire to tell others about our experience. We met with a group from Marriage Encounter who had received Christ and the Holy Spirit. Many of them went on into bible school or the mission field. We were not going back to the way life used to be.