Duck Dynasty's John Luke Robertson had a prodigal son moment and left his church "for a very Non-Christian-like reason at one point in my life," he shared in his blog Young and Beardless.
He recalled that he was angry at someone at church and also at God, but he didn't leave the church altogether because he still needed God's people, but just with a little shake-up to his usual routine.
Before he knew it, he found himself sitting in a "slightly different than the Church of Christ service I am used to."
John Luke was surprised by the church's prayer worship. "The worship started with one man singing a solo. After one song, a woman with the voice of an angel joined him. In the middle of the second song a man walked up on stage, grabbed a guitar and played while they sang. Quickly another guy walked up and got behind the drum set and gave them a beat to which they all found. By the fourth song an elderly women with fast fingers was playing the keys of a piano. By the end of it whole set there was an entire choir up there!" he said.
When the singing stopped, he bowed his head in prayer only to hear the whole church singing again, so he started praying out loud too. "One guy was holding a Bible on his forehead and was running laps around the pews yelling something about the Spirit. Something was going on in that church deeper than just craziness," commented John Luke.
But the singing did stop after the preacher started to speak, and he and the congregation had a very lively exchange as he preached. "He said, 'Jesus is King and wants the best for our very being!' and the people yelled for more. The preacher let loose with poems like spoken word for the next thirty minutes with a few breaks to catch his breath," said the young Robertson.
The sermon ended with the preacher inviting people to come up to the front to be prayed over and feel the Holy Spirit. The whole church, according to John Luke, rushed to the front with the exception of a few people who slipped out already.
"I was guided to men side of the stage. The speaking in tongues began. Speaking in tongues is one of those Christian terms with a lot of different meanings depending on whom you ask. It could be a made up personal prayer language or the language of Angels or the language of the Holy Spirit. Whatever it actually is, it sounds out of this world and very frightening the first time you hear it," he admitted.
John Luke had his hands up when a woman took hold of him and started praying for him. Something unusual happened when she told him that his face would start to feel numb and he would feel the urge to talk. John Luke says he did indeed feel it. "I didn't know if that was because of the Holy Spirit or a panic attack. I started praying louder in English for God to get me out of there! God was the only one who could hear me because everyone was yelling," he said.
But everything ended well with John Luke. The preacher later asked if he had felt the Holy Spirit, and he answered, "Not like that." The preacher laughed and told John Luke that he was welcome back anytime.
"I felt really welcome. One day I will go back," he ended his blog.
