Being filled with the Holy Spirit made a dramatic impact on the life of Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington. The actor talked about his faith in discussion with the pastor of Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“I was filled with the Holy Ghost, and it scared me,” Washington said. “I said,, ‘Wait a minute, I didn’t want to go this deep, I want to party.”
The moment happened at Bishop Charles E. Blake’s West Angeles Church of God in Christ in the 1980s.
“I went to church with Robert Townsend, and when it came time to come down to the altar, I said, ‘You know this time, I’m just going to go down there and give it up and see what happens,’” he said. “I went in the prayer room and gave it up and let go and experienced something I’ve never experienced in my life I remember calling my mother afterwards and asking her, I said, ‘Well, you know it felt like I was going up in the air, and my cheeks were filled’ and she said, ‘Oh no, that’s the devil you’re purging.’
“It was a supernatural, once in this lifetime experience that I couldn’t completely understand at the time.”
Washington explained that his experience with the Holy Spirit kept him throughout all the years of his fame and success.
“It kept me grounded in spite of myself; I mean, I accepted it, I definitely experienced it, but I wasn’t ready to live it.,” he said. “I don’t know how old I was then but I wasn’t ready to live it then. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s gone through that kind of experience.”
The actor also wanted people to know that having a moment with God like his doesn’t mean that life would now go his way.
“You have that moment … But it doesn’t mean that the rest of your life is going to go the way it should.,” he said. “It’s not like ‘Oh, I had this moment, I’m filled with the Holy Spirit and now everything’s going to be pretty, not going to be perfect. The next day I’m ready to save everybody. I’m in charge of saving people.”
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice
