| Worship Point Church |
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| Worship from the Tractor Seat, 1967 |
It was 1967, my family had moved from West Texas back to Arkansas where my dad grew up. Dad
purchased an old two story house in the country on eighty acres. The property was nestled against a
hillside north of town and split in half by the dirt road twisting through the farm and over the hill. We had a
few head of cattle, kept them on that place, and rented pastures of nearby neighbors. There was an old
decrepit barn on the place and one nice pond with blackberry bushes on the northern face of the pond
bank.
Dad purchased some old haying equipment which included a couple of tractors a square baler, a
sickle mower, and a hay rake. My favorite to operate was the Allis-Chalmers tractor and the rake. We put
up hay for ourselves and moved into working on other family farms to put up their hay. This story is about
an experience I had that summer when I was fifteen. Often in farm work, you end up alone, working,
as it was this day, raking the field of newly-mown hay. We were always trying to beat the rain showers
common in spring and summer haying.
As I entered the pasture through the stretched wire gap, the scene unfolds. The fence lines were dotted
with trees and occasional creek borders. This particular field was void of anything but the hay. The rake
was approximately ten feet wide and would roll billows of hay into neat rows behind the tractor. This job
was simple and left time for one's mind to wander.
As I was raking the hay that day, my mind did have time to consider things other than the work.
Why was that bird flying down onto the wind rows after I pass? What kind of bird is that? Oh look a baby
bunny. There is a blacksnake. Isn't it just the most beautiful day today? The smell of the hay permeated
the meadow. There I was wearing blue-jean cutoffs and low-cut Ked's tennis shoes and no shirt.
Turns out that bird was a scissor-tail flycatcher and it was feeding on the abundance of bug life exposed
by the loss of ground cover, namely the grasses cut for the hay. When you get to see this particular bird
up close, you realize it is possibly one of the most beautiful birds in existence. And it's ability to hover and
dive gives some opportunity to see it well.
The scene was idyllic, and I couldn't help myself but sing. Since this event was precipitated by the beauty
of nature, my mind turned heavenward. Growing up in church and vacation bible schools of the summer, I
sang all the songs I knew as a child. It was a large field and well, I ran out of tunes to sing. Out of my
mouth flowed syllables like I'd never heard before. It felt like I was singing directly to God and all creation.
What an unusual stream of unknown words it was. Finally, I finished raking the meadow, and singing too.
It was years later, when I realized what had taken place in that hayfield.
1 Cor. 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing
with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. (King James Version) This passage from the New
Testament and from someone who would know, the apostle Paul, directly describes what I experienced
that day in the hayfield. I was before an audience of One. God was being praised with my mind or
understanding, but then the gears shifted and I was in the spirit, worshiping my God.
1 Cor. 14:39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
Yes, it appears that I was speaking in tongues and what's truly amazing, the church my family attended
teaches it
had passed away with the original apostles. I guess that would mean that the book of Corinthians has also
passed away. Just making light of the issue, poking a little fun, but what does it really say and mean? It
says to covet to prophesy (which are words in a known language from God) and to forbid not to
speak with tongues (which are words unknown to the speaker from our spirit to God). Yes we have a
spirit, it's part of our nature with which God made us. Both prophesying and speaking in tongues are
legitimate and spiritual, but have different purposes.
My son, being raised in an environment which believes the gifts of the Spirit are still for today, asked me a
question. He said, "Dad what is speaking in tongues?" I did the best I could to relate that God grants gifts
to the church and individuals which are supernatural. Not weird, not of this world, and certainly not of our
enemy the devil, but God's gift to men and the church. Even records in the scripture 1 Cor. 14:39 to not
forbid it.
I asked if he knew what happened when our cordless drill ran out of power, he said, "Yes." What do we do
with the battery when it runs down? "We charge it," he said. Right, we charge it. Jude 1:20 But ye,
beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in
the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. So praying in the Spirit
builds you up, much like a transformer charges a NiCad drill battery. He was fine with that analogy.
So, there you have it, a simple hayfield spiritual experience. Did I learn to speak in tongues or pray in the
Spirit. No, I did not. It came naturally from some spiritual DNA that God grants all believers. We all yearn
to please our Creator, I think. It was many years later before I understood what happened in that hayfield.
I'm glad to have the gift to pray or sing, without the interference or limitation of my mind. When I pray in
the Spirit, I'm one with my Creator and God, and I am energized and encouraged knowing the Spirit is in
charge, praying and worshiping in a completely pleasing and powerful way.
This experience is available to all believers, you don't need a tractor or a hayfield, all you need is
to seek God with all your heart, mind, and soul. I got lucky, and found God this way, but it was years later
before I understood it. There is nothing like "being in the Spirit", and I for one recommend it to all.
What, you aren't a believer? Well, you can be, and this is part of the package. Jesus said, "Out of your
belly shall flow rivers of living water." You can be born again and charged up, every day from now
on, it's available to you. And out of your belly will flow rivers of living water. It will quench your thirst and it
will bless God himself, because he made you and He loves to hear from his kids.
Bruce Dickey
purchased an old two story house in the country on eighty acres. The property was nestled against a
hillside north of town and split in half by the dirt road twisting through the farm and over the hill. We had a
few head of cattle, kept them on that place, and rented pastures of nearby neighbors. There was an old
decrepit barn on the place and one nice pond with blackberry bushes on the northern face of the pond
bank.
Dad purchased some old haying equipment which included a couple of tractors a square baler, a
sickle mower, and a hay rake. My favorite to operate was the Allis-Chalmers tractor and the rake. We put
up hay for ourselves and moved into working on other family farms to put up their hay. This story is about
an experience I had that summer when I was fifteen. Often in farm work, you end up alone, working,
as it was this day, raking the field of newly-mown hay. We were always trying to beat the rain showers
common in spring and summer haying.
As I entered the pasture through the stretched wire gap, the scene unfolds. The fence lines were dotted
with trees and occasional creek borders. This particular field was void of anything but the hay. The rake
was approximately ten feet wide and would roll billows of hay into neat rows behind the tractor. This job
was simple and left time for one's mind to wander.
As I was raking the hay that day, my mind did have time to consider things other than the work.
Why was that bird flying down onto the wind rows after I pass? What kind of bird is that? Oh look a baby
bunny. There is a blacksnake. Isn't it just the most beautiful day today? The smell of the hay permeated
the meadow. There I was wearing blue-jean cutoffs and low-cut Ked's tennis shoes and no shirt.
Turns out that bird was a scissor-tail flycatcher and it was feeding on the abundance of bug life exposed
by the loss of ground cover, namely the grasses cut for the hay. When you get to see this particular bird
up close, you realize it is possibly one of the most beautiful birds in existence. And it's ability to hover and
dive gives some opportunity to see it well.
The scene was idyllic, and I couldn't help myself but sing. Since this event was precipitated by the beauty
of nature, my mind turned heavenward. Growing up in church and vacation bible schools of the summer, I
sang all the songs I knew as a child. It was a large field and well, I ran out of tunes to sing. Out of my
mouth flowed syllables like I'd never heard before. It felt like I was singing directly to God and all creation.
What an unusual stream of unknown words it was. Finally, I finished raking the meadow, and singing too.
It was years later, when I realized what had taken place in that hayfield.
1 Cor. 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing
with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. (King James Version) This passage from the New
Testament and from someone who would know, the apostle Paul, directly describes what I experienced
that day in the hayfield. I was before an audience of One. God was being praised with my mind or
understanding, but then the gears shifted and I was in the spirit, worshiping my God.
1 Cor. 14:39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
Yes, it appears that I was speaking in tongues and what's truly amazing, the church my family attended
teaches it
had passed away with the original apostles. I guess that would mean that the book of Corinthians has also
passed away. Just making light of the issue, poking a little fun, but what does it really say and mean? It
says to covet to prophesy (which are words in a known language from God) and to forbid not to
speak with tongues (which are words unknown to the speaker from our spirit to God). Yes we have a
spirit, it's part of our nature with which God made us. Both prophesying and speaking in tongues are
legitimate and spiritual, but have different purposes.
My son, being raised in an environment which believes the gifts of the Spirit are still for today, asked me a
question. He said, "Dad what is speaking in tongues?" I did the best I could to relate that God grants gifts
to the church and individuals which are supernatural. Not weird, not of this world, and certainly not of our
enemy the devil, but God's gift to men and the church. Even records in the scripture 1 Cor. 14:39 to not
forbid it.
I asked if he knew what happened when our cordless drill ran out of power, he said, "Yes." What do we do
with the battery when it runs down? "We charge it," he said. Right, we charge it. Jude 1:20 But ye,
beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in
the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. So praying in the Spirit
builds you up, much like a transformer charges a NiCad drill battery. He was fine with that analogy.
So, there you have it, a simple hayfield spiritual experience. Did I learn to speak in tongues or pray in the
Spirit. No, I did not. It came naturally from some spiritual DNA that God grants all believers. We all yearn
to please our Creator, I think. It was many years later before I understood what happened in that hayfield.
I'm glad to have the gift to pray or sing, without the interference or limitation of my mind. When I pray in
the Spirit, I'm one with my Creator and God, and I am energized and encouraged knowing the Spirit is in
charge, praying and worshiping in a completely pleasing and powerful way.
This experience is available to all believers, you don't need a tractor or a hayfield, all you need is
to seek God with all your heart, mind, and soul. I got lucky, and found God this way, but it was years later
before I understood it. There is nothing like "being in the Spirit", and I for one recommend it to all.
What, you aren't a believer? Well, you can be, and this is part of the package. Jesus said, "Out of your
belly shall flow rivers of living water." You can be born again and charged up, every day from now
on, it's available to you. And out of your belly will flow rivers of living water. It will quench your thirst and it
will bless God himself, because he made you and He loves to hear from his kids.
Bruce Dickey
