"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18
Morning sunlight falls out of the sky and into the church. Yellow rays, cleansed white as they pass through gauzy windows, spread over the space and its occupants. Hard angled columns of light radiate some. Others remain in shadow. It doesn’t matter. They are, all of them, illuminated. The Sunday congregation at LifePoint Pentecostals, off Route 32 in Athens, Ohio, rise from the pews, close their eyes, and pray to be filled up by their lord. Soon they will be complete again.
Apostolic Pentecostalism is distinguished primarily by the belief that salvation requires more than a symbolic water baptism. Followers of the faith must experience a direct and physical relationship with what they call the Holy Ghost. Once this happens, converts are washed of their sins and “born again”.
According to Micah Jones, an Albany, Ohio, resident and a member of the LifePoint community, to be filled up with the Holy Ghost is to “find everything you’ve been looking for.” Micah had been looking for that feeling his whole life, mostly in alcohol and other substances. Finally, after feeling the presence of Jesus, dwelling within him, he left his previous addictions and started clean; mending the pain he had caused himself and others. Things improved. Although Micah is still admittedly an addict, he is addicted to the one thing that can make us “totally whole.” Micah Jones is addicted to the Spirit.
