Grandpa told dad about a dream he had. In the dream he and grandma were on an elevator going down and they had no control. He stopped and open and he looked and knew he was in hell. The demons were moving bodies and stacking on the fire like chord wood and there was groaning and moaning like he had never heard before. People were crying out and then he caught a glimpse of satan and satan saw grandpa and starting walking towards him. When satan got too close, grandpa said stop Jesus is going to take care of me and then the elevator immediately starting going up and he woke up immediately and started praying. Dad said he had never heard grandpa pray like that before. That is when the hunger for God started.
Over time, grandpa began to get hungry for what he was seeing in his son's life, namely the Holy Ghost; but he had things in his life that was not presentable for a Baptist Deacon. He chewed Ole Brown Mule tobacco and more things that were not write in his life that daddy wouldn't speak about. He began to see the changes in daddy's life and wanted more. Dad told grandpa he needed to stop chewing tobacco and he did. He would dig up sassafras root to chew on when the urge struck.
One day dad was in the river bottom plowing with the mule and grandpa came down to where he was plowing and stopped him. He said "Son, I have been walking all over these hills praying to receive what you have. Momma has gone to Hendersonville and its just you and me at the house. Put the mule up and come to the house. I will make a pan of cornbread for us to eat and then we can pray for me to receive the Holy Ghost." When they got to the house, they began to pray for about an hour and nothing happened. Grandpa said "I want to receive what you have, Carl; what is wrong". Daddy said have you laid down everything I told you to lay down as a Deacon and he said "yes". Grandpa said "Carl, if God will fill me with the Holy Ghost, I will go to the Lima Church and testify of what I have received". Daddy told Grandpa "you better make sure you know what your saying because God is listening." You see Grandpa was a Deacon at the Lima Baptist Church and they did not believe in the Baptism in Holy Ghost, with the evidence of speaking in tongues. They got back on their knees and began to seek the Lord again and not long after they started grandpa began to speak in his heavenly language. Dad said it was such a beautiful heavenly language.
That next Sunday Grandpa was headed to the Lima Church to testify just as he had promised the Lord. Before leaving that morning the bell at the church was just a ringing back and forth and dad could hear it ringing and could hear grandpa walking back and forth across the porch at home from his bedroom. Every time the bell would ring at the church grandpa would say "dead, dead, dead". Dad said that what he was saying was that where the sound of the bell was ringing was dead.
Dad drove Grandpa to church that morning and he told his father that he was not going to go in the church with him because he knew they were going to walk him to the door and he did not want to see them do that to his father. When they got to the bottom of the hill underneath the church, grandpa got out of the car and walked up to the church. He stood up in the church and said, " you people all know me, I been a Deacon here for many years. This week me and my son was all alone in my house praying, there were no holiness people in our home", and no sooner than he got those words out of his mouth he began to speak in tongues and the pastor immediately said Bro Jerry, this is foolishness, division, you are going to have to leave and the Pastor walked my grandpa to the front door. He went off the hill with his hands raised speaking in tongues and praising the Lord all the way to the car down the hill. Dad said "he left something that was dead and came into something that was alive." Then he started attending the Treemont Ave Church of God with dad.
This is just the beginning of my stories everyone. Keep checking back every week for more. Below is a picture of my Grandfather Jerry A. Cox.
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