I met Jesus through Katrhryn Kulman's ministry. Two years later, I joined the assembly of God Church where I had receive the baptism in the Holy Ghost.
Later, I and my family were affiliated with a nondenominational church. While in this church we began attending Fellowships, which were held once a month in different churches. In one of the Fellowships, we heard a woman preacher who testified under a great anointing. We were impressed with her message as well as her freedom in the Lord. We were determined that we would visit her church again for we needed a release in our spirit. The third time we felt we should ask another sister to go with us. She was also bound in the spirit . as we were leaving the church, I asked her how she enjoyed the service. She said: I enjoyed it very much but my mother said to stay away from the Jesus Only people." We (the four of us) seemed to say in unison: "Who are they? What do they believe?" She answered, "They baptized in the name of Jesus Only and not in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." We were shocked at this statement, for, you see, we had no knowledge of any such group. We thought that all Pentecostals believe alike.
As we traveled home, we discussed this difference of baptism to great lengths. Suddenly, I found myself saying "As my son's name is Sartoris so is his father's." I then said, "Something deep down inside tells me that Jesus is the name of the FAMILY IN HEAVEN!"
On the next day, the first thing I did was to take the Bible in hand and I prayerfully sought the Lord saying, "Lord, you know that I want the truth and nothing but the truth; please show me if what I felt in the car was the truth or not!" As I opened the Bible, my eyes fell upon these verse in Ephesians 3:14-15 - "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole FAMILY IN HEAVEN and earth is named." I was both amazed and thrilled to find that these verses contained what I felt was true - that Jesus was the name of the whole "FAMILY IN HEAVEN" as well as in earth.
With the confirmation of truth, I felt the need to search further into the matter. (If you are interested in knowing more of the name, I have a tract made "hat is His Name, What is His Son's Name?" which I'll send to you free.) I found scripture after scripture where the Son claims the name of JESUS to be His Father's name as well as His own. He said that He manifested the Father's name, John 17:26. Then this same Jesus goes on to claim the name to be His own in Matthew 18:20; Mark 16:17; John 14:13; Acts 15:17. Mark 6:14 informs the reader that the Son's name was SPREAD ABROAD. Yes, the very name that Jesus (the Son) declared to be His Father's was the very name that He (Jesus the Son) and His disciple SPREAD ABROAD.
In Malachi 1:11, God said that His name would be great among the heathen and the Gentiles. Tell me what name is great today in all the world? What name was great at the time of Christ? What name was great at the time of the Apostles? NONE OTHER NAME THAN JESUS!
After all the searching, I was convince that Jesus was the name of the FAMILY IN HEAVEN as well as on the EARTH; that Jesus was the name of BOTH the Father and Son. I began to proclaim this truth whenever I went. What happened? Well, you guessed it, I was rejected and called a "Jesus Only" person. At that time, I knew very little about the Jesus "Jesus Only" movement. I continued to visit the place that I used to frequent. I felt no ill toward these people.
One evening I and my family decided to visit a Full Gospel where a visiting Evangelist was to speak. It was very obvious that these people had heard nothing about us as yet. We were receive very graciously with a very warm handshake. The next night it was not so. A little bird must have gotten to them and the handshake was a very weak one; the looks on their faces were anything but loving. I turned to my husband and said, "Honey there's something wrong here." He said, "Yes, I know." We felt so unwanted, it hurt. I sat there praying to God about it. While the Evangelist was dismissing with prayer, his prayer turned into a prophetic utterance saying, "COME UNTO ME IN THE NAME OF JESUS; COME UNTO ME IN THE NAME OF JESUS: THE NAME OF THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST!" Can you imagine the joy when I heard that which had been reveled to me, confirmed through prophecy! It may not have been heard by anyone except that "whole row f 'Jesus Only' people." However, the prophecy was clear, Jesus was the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Well, it didn't end there. The next day I receive a call from a friend who had forsaken me because of this doctrine. She had something she wanted to tell me. She said that a friend of hers had called and told her that there was a "whole row of 'Jesus Only' people in church last night and boy were we afraid!" I said, "Yes, that was me and my family." I proceeded to tell her of the prophecy given by the visiting Evangelist who confirmed my convictions. When I told my husband about the call, he decided that we should go and visit her. We went the very next day and took her through the Bible pointing out to her scripture after scripture pertaining to the name of Jesus. She became quite upset. She then began to speak in tongues, which she herself interpreted saying, "THE NAME OF THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY GHOST IS JESUS!" Once again the Lord was there to confirm this wonderful truth through one who was not a symphatizer of this truth. We left the house saying nothing but "Praise the Lord!" we were sure that she heard that which came forth from her very own mouth. She called about two weeks later and I said, "(Calling her name), if you had prophecied anything else I would have called you a false prophet." She held her peace.
Sometime later, I was teaching an adult class in a small church. This was a church that believe in baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. However, there was a dear old brother in a class, who at the conclusion of the lesson said to me, "How can the Father be the Son and the Son the Father?" I was taken aback for I never once intimated that the Son was the Father or the Father the Son. I knew very little of the Godhead at that time. Therefore, I wasn't able to answer the brother's question. Class was dismissed and we took our seats in church. As I sat there thinking about what the brother had said, I prayerfully look up and in my heart I said, "Lord, you could be the Father and you could be the Son, there is nothing impossible with you." I forgot all about what I had said that morning in church.
Monday morning, I began to ask the Lord for a lesson for next Sunday morning. I prayerfully opened my bible saying, "Lord give me something for Sunday School; something that the people will like; don't give me anything that will be controversial." As I opened the Bible, my eyes fell upon Revelation 22:16 - I Jesus... IAM the ROOT and OFFSPRING of David..." I immediately saw the answer to the old brother's question - "How can the Father be the Son and the Son the Father?" In thee verse, Jesus was telling me that He was BOTH Father and Son of David! Can a ROOT of a tree say that it is the BRANCH? Can the hand say that it is the foot? NO, of course not! But our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said just that, when He said that He was the ROOT and OFFSPRING of David! If Jesus can say that He is the Father as well as the Son, who are we to deny it? In Revelation 22:16 when Jesus is saying, "I AM the Root and Offspring of David," He is without a doubt saying:
I AM the Creator; I AM the Creation.If I was persecuted because I believe that the one should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and that Jesus was the name of both Father and Son, how much more would be my persecution since I now believed that the Father is the Son of David - of mankind! My persecution was and is great because of this revelation. However, I will continue to proclaim this wonderful truth.
I AM the Father; I AM the Son.
I AM the Builder; I AM the building (man).
I AM the Light; I AM a light (man).
I AM the Rock; I AM the Stone (man).
I AM the Greater; I AM the lesser (man).
I AM the Shepherd; I AM the Lamb.
I AM the Sanctifier; I AM the Sanctified (man).
I AM the Sacrificer; I AM the Sacrificed (man).
I AM the Invisible; I AM the Visible (man).
One day a sister called me from another town and told me that an old acquaintance, an Evangelist, asked about us and wanted to talk with me. We agreed to meet with him in the sister's home. He wanted to hear about the revelation which I had receive. After I had finished telling him all that the Lord had made known to me, he said to me, "Sister, I believe that you have got a revelation but you are going to cause a revolution." I said, "Brother, Paul was the greatest revolutionist that ever was." The same Paul saw the need of giving ALL that God had counseled him, Acts 20:26-27.
On another occasion, I asked a minister if I could teach this truth in his assembly. I explained to him that I believe that Jesus is my Father. He said, "I do too! But you're going to get your head chopped off! I said, "John the forerunner of Jesus, got his head chopped off for less than that."
As I was giving this truth to a couple of sisters in my home, the one sister became upset; the other said, "We ought not to speak on these things any longer for it will cause bitterness to creep within our hearts." Would you believe it; I was ready to give up? I thought "What's the use?" But the next morning I cried before the Lord and said, "Lord they are telling me no to SPEAK; what shall I do shall I SPEAK or keep my MOUTH SHUT?" I took the Bible and opened it at random to Acts 18 and my eyes fell on verse 9 and 10 - "Be not afraid but SPEAK for I am with thee and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city."
My friend, how can I fall to proclaim this truth. I now am 65 years old. I may never see a revival of this truth, however, I do believe that this truth will one day sweep the earth.
Sophie Sarotoris
34 East 4th Ave., Latrobe, Pa.
e-mail address: soph@westol.com
During this time, I found myself having a new interest in men, and began spending time with them in group situations. Then, in mid-1991, I began dating John, a man in my church who like me had come out of homosexuality. On December 31, 1991, he presented me with a ring and asked me to marry him. We were married the following July. I kept looking happily at the ring, thinking, "Wow! Me married!" I was filled with joy as God established something so beautiful and holy in our lives.
Over the next three years I threw everything into being the best woman I could. I was proud to be a drag queen and even adopted the name "Candi." Soon I became popular as a female impersonator, not just locally but in neighboring states as well. But inside I still hated myself. One night on the dance floor I said to God, "I know you can help me--someday I'll come back to you."
My process out of homosexuality has been slow, but solid. My male friendships have eventually grown to a place where I feel secure in my masculinity and know who I am among other men. And at some point, even though Christ had filled the empty places of my heart, he also gave me the desire to have someone else there. In 1991 I fell in love with a beautiful, godly woman who had also come from a homosexual background. We were married in 1992. I cried all the way through our wedding vows, knowing Christ was fulfilling my dream. God's transforming power was so evident during our wedding that my mother and stepfather prayed to receive Jesus Christ that night. In the past, I could never say, "I'm a man." But now I'm a different person, a "new creature in Christ." I can be loved just because I'm his.