Understanding the Baptism in the Spirit

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YISS 2009
The Testimonies (1/4)
I attended my first LISC about 8 years ago. I know that it seems long time already. But it started a wonderful journey with God in my life. I was born in a Catholic family and I knew about God since I was child. And yet I simply knew and believed about God. But This God did not really alive in me. I prayed and went to masses but I did not really feel or think about God. I just did it out of my routines. I encountered God when I attended LISC. I did not really see the effect though at the beginning. And yet after one year, when I looked back into my life, I see how amazingly God changed my life. I started to pray regularly, and I enjoy it. I appreciated the Holy Eucharist even more. I helped and served in a community, and suddenly Life was so different. Life is beautiful with God. The greatest gift as I encountered God is that I EXPERIENCE God's LOVE. Not just knowing, nor understanding, nor believing, but experiencing love. My life did not become more easily and without problems after LISC, but I see how beautiful Life is, and how I am loved. The reason that I write this testimony is not to promote LISC. It is simply because I wish, and I really really wish, that everyone may experience what I have experience, that everyone may see how beautiful their life is, how beautiful they are. And what God has done to me, I surely believe that God will do to everyone else.
The Testimonies (2/4)
The answer from the prayer team was very simple. A simple answer that struck me very much. “The gift from God for you is yourself.” Then it happened again. I rested in spirit. That time, when the sensation came, I knew what’s gonna happen. But I can’t resist it. I wanted to I think, human nature. But I just fell. Again, I cried. But this moment, I cried because of happiness. Finally!! Finally I found the answer for the question that had been bugging me for years. I keep waiting for God to give me the answer so that I can start serving Him, but that night, I realize that I don’t need to wait to be given any gift. My hands, my mouth, my legs, my body, my strength, my eyes, my voice, my whole self are the gift from Him! And I should use all of them to praise Him, to glorify Him! And I have to do it now! Not to wait but I have to start glorifying and serving Him right now! And I started it with sharing my experience through this file. I though my wonderful journey in this LISC was already over with the end of that night, but I was wrong. Again, a bit about myself, I always wanted to be hugged by my father. I had never gotten any chance to be hugged as far as I can remember, or to hug him. The whole LISC, during worship session, I kept telling God, just hug me and I’ll be fine. (btw I’m not going to share that I felt God was hugging me –if you’re guessing that- I wish I felt that, but I didn’t) During concluding PW, I prayed the same thing. Then I stand and put my hand on my chest, a sign to the prayer team that I wanted to be prayed over. I kept picturing Jesus hug me, hoping that I could feel His warmth. Then one of the prayer team said (it was his first sentence in his prayer), “Jesus wants you to know that right know, he’s hugging you…” I can’t remember the rest of the sentence because right after I heard that, I burst into tears.
The Testimonies (3/4)
I am a conservative Catholic and I used to close my heart to other spiritual things like charismatic and even cell group. But since in NTU, I experienced a lot of new thing. Last year I joined LISC for the first time. At the beginning I was a bit worried about what would happen next. But throughout the sessions, I was happy that it was not that bad as I thought. I was amazed with the gift that God had given to them because that was my first experience saw that kind of thing. Sometimes I frightened and did not know what to do till I felt it my self on the last session. I felt something great that made me feel very relax, peace and happy that could not be expressed by words. This experience was wonderful and unforgettable. Now, even I am not in the Charismatic group, I realize that God works in many unimaginable ways that make His people want to praise and worship him more and more. And it is a good thing for me that may be one day I will
The testimonies (4/4)
been a very conservative catholic I did not want to join the charismatic prayers. I felt it was not my kind of things. But because one of my friends (Ann,thanks alot!!) kept asking me to join the LISC.I decided to join. but I had no idea that there was going to be a Baptism of the holy spirit session. I only got to know about it on the 2nd day of the camp. After that I was so paranoid and I prayed to GOD and asked him whether I did the right thing by coming here(LISC) because at that time I thought that those kind of things were only done in protestant church. but on Saturday we had some talk sessions and I realised that BOHS was recognised by the catholic church. I was relieved and I went for the BOHS. during the session everyone started praying and we all had our eyes closed. I felt something really different inside my body and my lower jaw started to move and I could not control it. I felt as if I was going to fall, I tried to remain standing because I thought that if I fell I might hurt myself because the floor was tiled.
BOHS & Sacrament of Baptism
Our Response & Condition
BOHS and The Pope
Benedict XVI said that Pentecost is thus, "in a special way, the baptism of the Church who undertakes her universal mission beginning from the streets of Jerusalem with prodigious preaching in the different languages of humanity.“ "In this baptism of the Holy Spirit," the Pope continued, "the personal and communal dimensions -- the 'I' of the disciple and the 'we' of the Church -- are inseparable. The Spirit consecrates the person and at the same time makes him a living member of the mystical body of Christ, participant in the mission to witness to his love.“ This consecration and insertion into the mystical body of Christ, "is actualized through the sacraments of Christian initiation: baptism and confirmation," he said. "In my message for World Youth Day 2008, I invited young people to rediscover the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives and, therefore, the importance of these sacraments," the Holy Father added. "Today I would like to extend this invitation to everyone: Let us rediscover, dear brothers and sisters, the beauty of being baptized in the Holy Spirit; let us be aware again of our baptism and of our confirmation, sources of grace that are always present. "Let us ask the Virgin Mary to obtain a renewed Pentecost for the Church again today, a Pentecost that will spread in everyone the joy of living and witnessing to the Gospel."
Taken from: http://www.zenit.org/article-22560?l=english