Music Was the Tool

An invitation to a concert started the events which changed this woman's life.

By Pauly Hinesly

Thank God for Gospel music. It was music that brought me to God, and it is music that has kept my soul at peace.

I am number twelve out of a family of fourteen children. My mother died when I was ten years old, and my father raised me. My father definitely was not a Christian. He gave me a lot of instructions and moral facts, but he never told me about the Lord. However, God looked down and saw a young girl on a Wyoming ranch and protected me.

When I heard about the Gospel, I was a very proud young woman with a business of my own and everything that I thought I wanted, and I had worked hard for it. After I opened my business in Medford, Oregon, people from the Apostolic Faith came and purchased flowers from me. One Christmas night a couple from the church brought in some poinsettias that they had purchased earlier for a concert. The flowers had died, so I said, “I have a bunch more, and Christmas is over. Take them for free.” They invited me to the concert that night. I thought that a church concert was the last thing I needed, but my family and I did not have anything else planned for that night, so we decided to go.

When I stepped inside the church and saw the musicians sitting on the platform, they all looked like angels to me, although I really did not know what an angel was. I was surprised at the peace I felt just sitting there. I did not know there was an Old and a New Testament in the Bible. I did not know there was a God or a Jesus. I was completely ignorant, but God did not leave me that way.

We had three children, and we began to drop them off at the church for Sunday school. While we stood outside and waited for them to come out, I could hear the music, and it was wonderful. We would occasionally attend the church ourselves on Sunday, and it was not long until God began to strive with my heart, although I did not realize it. I did not know why I felt so miserable. One Tuesday I took the Bible and drove our little old panel truck up into the mountains. As I sat there, I thought, I am going to read this because I want to know what is going on. I read some of the prophecies in the Book of Revelation, which I did not understand. So I shut the Book and drove back home, but God's conviction was so heavy on me that I could not stand it.

Up until that time, I had thought that going to church on Sunday morning was enough. However, I knew there was a church service that Tuesday night, so I went. I also knew that at the end of the service the preacher was going to invite us down to the front to pray at the little bench there. Because of my pride, getting down on my knees in front of a lot of people was the last thing I wanted to do. But let me tell you, when God began to talk to my heart, I was more than happy to go down to pray. Many others were kneeling all around me. I did not know how to pray, so all I said was, “O God, help me!”

God did exactly that. He took all of that pride out in a short minute and replaced it with love and a desire to serve Him. Later He sanctified me and baptized me with the Holy Ghost.

Since God brought me to Himself, I have always leaned on Him. I have been through many difficult places, but I do not count them as hard because I have been able to go to God. He has always been my Friend.

One time my glove caught in an auger, while we were digging post holes. My hand was torn and the screw poked a hole in my palm and broke my arm. After several weeks, it all healed except the hole, which the doctor said would always be there. However, we prayed, and one morning when I took the bandage off, the hand was completely healed.

What started over forty-five years ago as a drawing to the Gospel music I heard resulted in my salvation. I thank God for every note!

Pauly Hinesly is a member of the Apostolic Faith Church in Medford, Oregon.