I grew up in a Christian home. My father was an evangelist with a Norwegian Pentecostal organization (a Trinitarian group). He was conservative and therefore became dissatisfied with this Pentecostal organization because of the worldliness they embraced.
My father and our family started to fellowship with other likeminded people—those who held to the same conservative beliefs. This eventually led to founding a separate organization in 1985. In the first year of our fellowship, God revealed the oneness of God to us. We knew of no others who believed as we. At the time, Eddie A. Tilley was a United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) missionary to Norway. When he learned of our organization, he contacted our leader—and that was the start of a wonderful fellowship.
Rebaptism in the Name of Jesus
Soon the question of rebaptism arose. Prior to the revelation of the Oneness, we had been baptized in the titles: the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. My dad and I were the first ones in our church who decided to be rebaptized in Jesus’ name. The leadership of our church was against it, and we were afraid we would be asked to leave. But after a week of prayer, God spoke to one of the elders of the church and impressed on him to not do so. He decided to further search the Scriptures and pray about it.
Within a few months, approximately two hundred people had been baptized in Jesus’ name.
Within a few weeks, not only he but the entire church membership also was rebaptized in Jesus’ name. Others in the newly formed organization followed in being rebaptized. Within a few months, approximately two hundred people had been baptized in Jesus’ name.
At this time, I began to evangelize and also serve as a youth leader for our organization. We were happy for a long time, until a conflict over the new-birth doctrine stopped our fellowship with the UPCI. I prayed and sought God, and He revealed the truth of the new-birth experience to me. My wife and I prayed for God to lead us and give us direction.
I prayed and sought God, and He revealed the truth of the new-birth experience. Click To TweetA New and Fresh Anointing Awaits
A friend had lent me a recording from Because of the Times. After praying for direction, I listened to this recording. For the first time, I heard the song: “Beyond the Open Door.” The words “is a new and fresh anointing. . . walk on through the door for the Lord will go before you into a greater power you’ve never known before” stayed with me.
God spoke to us through that song, and we knew we had to move on. We left our fellowship, family, and friends and joined the UPCI. I eventually assisted Missionary Tilley and took over the headquarters church when he left Norway to return to the United States.
The text of the song proved to be true. We had no idea and could not even imagine what God would do through our lives. We have seen incredible miracles take place. And God has blessed us to baptize several hundred people in Jesus’ name.
The Truth of Jesus’ Name Baptism Spreads Like Fire
We had no idea and could not even imagine what God would do through our lives.
Three years ago, I met a Baptist pastor whose son was attending our UPCI church in Oslo. He told me about the youth of his congregation who were hungry for the Holy Ghost, but the Baptists in Norway were in opposition. I asked if we could rent a hall close to their location and invite his congregation to a conference, where we would focus on the Holy Ghost. He happily agreed. During this conference, fifteen young people received the Holy Ghost, and ten of them were baptized in Jesus’ name.
The truth of Jesus’ Name baptism spread like fire among that church group, and soon other members were rebaptized in Jesus’ name! Soon after, the Baptist union in Norway sent out a letter to all their churches and gave them warning about me and the UPCI. Someone sent a letter to the media, and they printed a full-color article with the headline, “Controversial Jesus Baptism.” We got a lot of publicity!
I wrote a book in Norwegian about the oneness of God a few years ago. After I wrote the book, I sent it out to some pastors and church leaders in Norway. Through one of those contacts, I was invited by a pastor to come teach about the oneness of God. They accepted this wonderful truth, and now this church believes and their pastor teaches it.
How God Answered Our Prayers for a Church Building
For many years, we longed to have our own church building. Three years ago, a building came up for sale for a reasonable price in a nearby city. I went to the bank to obtain a loan. At first they turned us down, even though we had almost half of the down payment already saved. A pastor friend of mine from the US called and said he felt it was God’s will for us to have this building. He told me not to worry and repeated, “This is the building you have looked for.” The very next day, a lady from the bank called me and with hesitation said, “I really don’t know how to tell you this, but the president of our bank is a Christian. When he saw your application, he said, ‘I know this man! We will finance this.’”
I tried to find out how this man knew me but with no success. Then just a few months ago, I came across some ten-year-old notes. I found this man’s name and address among others to whom I had sent my book. It’s a mystery to me; I still don’t know how his name and address came to be on my list!
Through our church in Oslo, Norway, we have helped build churches, finance crusades, and do mission work in several countries. We support an orphanage in Burma that cares for about thirty children. God is doing great things. But we believe our best days are still ahead.
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Gøran Andreassen pastors Livets Tabernakel, Oslo, and Livets Tabernakel, Drammen. To connect to Gøran’s daily devotions, click here.
(A version of this article was published in Reflections.)
Resources and Links
If you are interested to read more about the subject of miracles, click here.
Living in the Miracle Level – In this book, Joy Haney challenges us to rediscover God’s mighty power.
Miracle: The Missionary Life of Don & Sandra Hanscom – Miracles about missionary life abound in this story.
Restoring Love – a miracle of a life changed. This book offer tools to help people lost in sin through personal testimony and revelation. It would make a great gift for someone who can’t overcome sin.