There I sat, a member of my church in very good standing. I was a close friend of the pastor. My wife and I were department heads over four Sunday school classes. We were involved in everything and my denomination worked us! But msot of all I was MORE than a TITHER! And then out of the blue it happened. I couldn’t help it. It was an involuntary response. I raised my hands during a song.
It was all downhill from that point on.
In less than two years I was no longer a member of the church I loved and had been a member for seven years. I was also no longer a member of the denomination that I grew up in and gave my life to Jesus. As I look back on it, the “raising of my hand” was more of a sense of being BORN AGAIN than when I gave my life to Jesus at age 17 in what was described to me “by others” as being BORN AGAIN.
That was long ago, decades ago! In a religious galaxy far far away. 
When I “went forward” as the lingo goes, to give my life to God, I was doing so for many external reasons. It was the 4th or 5th repitition of “Just As I Am“, people were looking at me (so I thought), and friends had “gone forward”, etc. Pressure, big time pressure!
But when I raised my hand it was an involuntary act, I didn’t plan it, hadn’t thought about it. The BODY was just responding to the command of the SPIRIT! It was an instantaneous manifestation of a change in consciosuness- my true being responding to the inner call.
How many ways has the Bible told us about “external” response. Don’t clean the outside of the cup, don’t add a new patch to an old garment, and don’t put new wine in an old bottle. It’s the change that comes from the INSIDE that matters. Inside out living was what allowed Jesus to say I AM the WAY! The way isn’t a NAME, but a PRINCIPLE. We’re following Jesus when we go INWARD and touch the Father Consciousness: doing as He-It says or shows us.
Unless you change your consciousness, you can’t change the external, at least for anything other than wood, hay, and stubble.
Raise your hand! But, only when the INNER VOICE summons!
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