Walking with Jesus, Loving Pentecostals, Following the Gospel<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I want to speak carefully here because these words are not written from afar. They are written from inside<\/em>\u2014from someone who lived this life, loved this movement, and holds in my heart a love for all my kinsmen and friends within it. I am grateful for what God did in my life there<\/p>\n\n\n\n The United Pentecostal Church shaped much of my early walk with God. It gave me Scripture memory, prayer discipline, reverence for holiness, and a deep love for Jesus. For those reasons alone, I value much of my Oneness Pentecostalism background. Nor would I dispute that God has worked\u2014and continues to work\u2014among Oneness Pentecostals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, there came a point when certain questions would no longer rest quietly in my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Place to Begin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After leaving the Navy in 1963, I served as a police dispatcher in Grand Junction, Colorado, and later as a police officer in Moab, Utah. In 1964, I sensed a clear calling from God to enter the ministry. The following year, in 1965, my wife Betty, our firstborn son Nathan, and I moved back to Louisiana to begin that journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the next ten years, I served in various roles within the United Pentecostal Church (UPC)<\/strong>\u2014as a pastor, evangelist, and laborer in the work of the Lord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1971, we moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to establish a UPC home mission works. It was there that something began to change\u2014not suddenly, but deeply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During that time, I encountered several sincere believers who were not Pentecostal. What struck me was not their theology, but their spiritual composure<\/strong>\u2014a quiet steadiness, a peace that reflected a genuine walk with Christ. I did not yet understand what I was seeing, but it stirred something in my heart. They carried the testimony of a relationship with Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd the work of righteousness will be peace, I remember asking myself, ‘How could people who did not speak in tongues know Jesus so well?’<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lord would use that question to humble me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something didn\u2019t feel right, so I began an intense, prayerful study of the Scriptures. Over time, I arrived at a difficult realization: the gospel message we Pentecostals were preaching did not fully align with the gospel the apostles preached.<\/strong> This is especially true regarding speaking in tongues as the essential sign of salvation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As I studied the Scriptures more carefully, I began to see that the Bible places the assurance of salvation not in an outward sign, but in an inward work of faith. Speaking in tongues appears in Scripture as a beautiful and sovereign gift of the Spirit\u2014but I could not determine where Jesus or the apostles presented it as the required evidence of salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This realization was not easily attained. It came with prayer, tears, and a great deal of internal conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So as a repeat, Jesus never taught that speaking in tongues was the evidence of salvation. Neither did the apostles, the early church, nor the historic church at large. That teaching is uniquely Pentecostal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Book of Acts records only three instances where tongues appear, and in every case, they were sovereign acts of God<\/strong>, spontaneous, uncoached, and corporate in nature. Acts spans more than 35 years of transitional church history\u2014it was never meant to be reduced to a formula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul clearly defined the gospel of salvation this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut what does it say? \u201cTHE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART\u201d\u2014that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Rom 10:8-10)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice Paul said this is what “we are preaching.” Then, in another place, he gives a sobering warning:<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed.\u201d I remember asking myself, why had I never seen this before?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The answer became clear: salvation is a heart exchange<\/strong>, not simply an emotional experience. At the cross, Jesus took our place and gave us His standing before God. That is why you will encounter genuine, born-again believers in every Christian denomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Troubled in spirit, Betty and I stepped away from the mission work and evangelized briefly. Our final revival saw at least twenty-five people baptized. This is quite a number for a small country’s Pentecostal church. Yet even as the altars filled, my heart ached. I watched sincere seekers struggle through what Pentecostals call \u201cpraying through,\u201d often under enormous emotional pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You could not simply kneel beside someone and explain salvation by faith. Most had been raised to believe salvation must feel<\/em> a certain way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pentecostal altar services are often intense, emotional, and deeply sincere. I have knelt there myself\u2014many times. I have prayed with seekers, formed the circle, encouraged, shouted, and rejoiced. I know the language. I know the longing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet over time, I noticed something troubling\u2014not in the desire<\/em> of the seekers, but in the burden<\/em> they carried afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many left the altar full of emotion, only to wake the next morning unsure of what had truly happened. Questions arose\u2014not because they lacked sincerity, but because their assurance had been tied to an experience rather than to Christ Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not a criticism of hunger for God. It is a concern for tender hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why many Oneness Pentecostals experience an undercurrent of fear\u2014not always expressed aloud but felt. Fear of not having accomplished enough. Fear of getting something wrong. Fear that assurance will slip away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I felt it myself. I once told my wife, \u201cHoney, I feel like I\u2019m caught in a net, and I don\u2019t know what it is.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The net was not Jesus. True freedom in Christ grows best where love casts out fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From August 1971 to August 1974, I attended and served in a UPC church led by a kind and gracious pastor. I will always love that man and his family. Those years became a season of healing for me. I preached, served, and studied\u2014seeking to align my beliefs fully with God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One conversation with that godly pastor has remained with me. When I told him I no longer believed tongues were necessary as proof of salvation, he surprised me by saying that many early UPC ministers held the same view, but that view was later overshadowed by stricter teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We agreed not to be concerned about it and worked together in love for three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1974, I officially left the UPC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My journey with Jesus truly began in 1963. After leaving the Navy, a cousin invited me to church. That\u2019s where I first saw the beautiful Pentecostal girl who would become my wife. We married later that year\u2014over sixty-two years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few months later, during a quiet Sunday afternoon, I was reading John 14 when the Scriptures came alive. It felt as though the Holy Spirit opened my ears\u2014and my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHave I been so long with you, and yet you have not known Me, Buddy?\u201d Tears fell onto my open Bible. In that moment, I knew\u2014not emotionally, but inwardly<\/em>\u2014that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. I believed with my whole heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My thoughts returned to a prayer my mother had taught me as a child: “Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”<\/em> And now I had met the ‘Lord’ that I had prayed to as a child. Once again, I felt that same divine presence I felt as a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though I did not fully understand what was happening, the Lord had given me heaven’s divine testimony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.\u201d It has to do with our eternal life witness. When the Spirit of Christ enters a believer\u2019s heart, the witness will be there the next day, and the next. Jesus gave us His word that He would never forsake us nor desert us and that He would be with us always, even to the end of the age. (Mat 28:20)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some struggle because they try to base their faith on religious experiences rather than Christ Himself. Doubt can easily arise after emotional highs, not because the devil is attacking, but because the foundation is unstable. God wants His people to live in faith, not in doubt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are an Oneness Pentecostal reading this and feeling unsettled, please hear me clearly: Questions do not mean rebellion. Sometimes it simply signifies that the heart has finally established its stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may wish to check this group out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You may also contact me privately at Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org<\/a><\/strong> or through Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BuddyMartin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n May your heart awaken to the Scriptures. To all my family and friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Walking with you in His love,<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Old-Time Country Preacher<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawrence Buddy Martin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘Old-Time Preacher Devotional’<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Moment That Changed Everything<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
And the service of righteousness, quietness, and confidence shall be forever.
(Isaiah 32:17)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nSearching the Scriptures<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
(Galatians 1:8\u20139)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nA Gospel of the Heart<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
About the Altar Experience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why So Many Struggle Quietly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The net was not Scripture.
The net was a system that unintentionally placed sincere believers in a cycle of doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA Season of Healing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Reaching Back: How I Came to Know Jesus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
(John 14:9 kjv)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n
(Romans 8:16)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nWhy This Matters<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A Gentle Word\u2014<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I am not asking you to abandon anything you know to be true.<\/strong>
I am inviting you to anchor your love more securely in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rest does not mean compromise.
Peace does not mean deception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/Departing<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA Closing Word<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
May His presence draw you close.
May His Word steady your steps.
And may His peace rest upon Israel and your home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n