How Baptism in the Holy Spirit Takes These Former Addicts to the Next Level

Caleb McCall is a former drug addict. But he’s also the founder and executive director of Be the Bush Ministries in Manchester, Tennessee. After his own time spent at David Wilkerson’s Teen Challenge ministry, he knew God was calling him to start a Christ-centered addiction center. Be the Bush opened its doors in 2018. Like Teen Challenge, the ministry treats the whole person—body, soul and spirit.

And McCall knows what a difference that makes. He tells listeners on a recent episode of the Recovery to Recovered podcast that out of 71 students who have walked through the ministry’s doors, they have seen 31 salvations. These were not just people who “prayed a prayer,” but, McCall says, “genuinely wanted to live for Christ.” The ministry has also seen 22 water baptisms and seven people baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit, McCall says, is “another level. … that baptism in the Holy Spirit helps you to bridle the tongue. James says a man who can bridle the tongue is a mature man. … We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and we teach it and we see it happen to men,” he says.

And this Spirit-fired baptism is unique, McCall says, because of the addicts Be the Bush serves. “I’m dealing with drug addicts who aren’t churched-up people,” McCall says. “Every now and then you’ll get somebody who comes in who grew up in church … but these are not church-type people; they haven’t even heard about these things.

“I’ve had so many guys get baptized in the Holy Spirit that didn’t even know what had happened,” McCall says. “They started speaking in tongues and praying in the Spirit. Getting them in the middle of an atmosphere where the Spirit of the Lord is is like, “Come home. This is amazing.”

McCall adds that the “baptism of the Holy Spirit takes guys to the next level; we get our guys in Spirit-filled atmospheres. My program can’t save anybody. But when the Spirit of God gets on a man, when the Spirit of God penetrates somebody’s heart, and a baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place … it’s an incredible thing.”

To learn more about how God is using the power of the Spirit to change lives through Be the Bush Ministries, click here for the entire podcast. {eoa}