Our church sits in a neighborhood that rates a B+ on the “higher crime areas in Springfield, Missouri” map. Pastor Billy grew up just a few blocks away, and he served in a “more upscale” church for a while. After God cured him of cancer, however, He called Billy back to his old stomping grounds. He and his wife Lisa started “Passion Assembly of God” church, the name of which was recently changed to “The Oaks Church“.
Yesterday, Pastor Billy and Lisa’s kids were helping to lead the worship; their daughter Faith was singing, fully in tune with the Holy Spirit, and her brother Gabe was on the drums. I looked around at my precious church family, and God began to show me something I felt I needed to share.
We were singing a song that said, “This is a house of miracles,” and I remembered my grandson Jamison. When he was a baby, he started having seizures; I was actually holding him while he had one, and it absolutely broke my heart. The seizures lasted less than a week, but seemed like years to us because we were so worried.
We took Jamison forward for prayer that Sunday morning; Pastor Billy and several others prayed for him, and he never had another seizure again.
A house of miracles for sure.
As I gazed upon the beautiful people in our church, I saw one gentleman and two ladies in wheelchairs, one of whom has no legs, praying and singing. Directly in front of me was an older gentleman with an artificial leg. His wife sat three seats over, and is on oxygen. Every week they bring two autistic boys with them. On the right side of the church we have a young mother who was gloriously saved out of witchcraft. Canes, walkers, limps, crutches…chronic pain, surgeries and “infirmities” abound.
And in between? Yeah, our church house is filled with ex-alcoholics, former drug dealers, ex-drug addicts, redeemed gang members and ex-cons. One gentleman who sits on the front row was arrested 13 times because of his drug addiction, and spent hard time in prison. Every time a man comes to the altar to pray, he’s the first one to kneel down and pray with them.
Consider this:
The Oaks Church abounds with those once deemed “hopeless cases,” now Blood-bought children of the living God.
My brothers and sisters were rescued from drugs…violence…rape…alcohol…witchcraft…recidivism…the occult…addictions…pornography and on and on. Some of them are on their third marriage and just now “getting it together.” Broken. Redeemed. Thankful and beautiful.
That’s the norm at The Oaks.
But one thing I’ve discovered:
The more HELL that Jesus rescued someone from, the louder and more boisterous they get when they worship.
How amazing is that? I’m tellin’ ya, when those lights go down and we start praising our Savior, people smile, they raise their hands in worship, they laugh, they cry and they sway.
We are a beautiful collection of broken people whom Satan once cradled in the unsteady arms of sin, but he’s lost us all. I figure that’s why he comes after some of us so hard, but we keep walking this glorious, narrow road.
As is common for me, I began to weep as I realized the levels of darkness so many of us were saved out of, and then I felt God speak something directly into my spirit. He said…
“This is My church, and I am well pleased.”
I mean, I lost it when the Holy Spirit spoke that into my heart. Tears were streaming down my face, and my oldest grandson, Joshua, sitting next to me, also had his hands raised in worship. He was proudly sporting his brand new Demon Hunter t-shirt (me, Joshy and my son, Trey, saw Demon Hunter, a Christian heavy metal band, in concert last week); he hugged me, and whispered, “I love you, Poppy.”
“Love you too, buddy,” I somehow managed to reply, through my weeping.
I was overwhelmed and so thankful for my church family, liberated from depths of hell many will never know.
Make no mistake: to some, we may look like a ragtag bunch of religious zealots, hiding from darkness. But that’s not it.
We have been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb. We are hardened warriors, swords sharpened by years of battle. Fatigued—some of us physically broken—all Soldiers of the Eternal Flame. We are children of God, brothers and sisters in arms with Jesus Christ Himself, the armies of Heaven at our back.
And I can tell you for sure: Yesterday, there’s no place on Earth I would’ve rather been than right there in church.
