Theology for Everybody: RomansSample

(Continued from Day 339)

After my family and I received the Lord’s confirmation about planting a church in Arizona, I flew to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex to meet with Pastor Jimmy Evans, one of our overseers. I said, “I feel called to plant a church.” I submitted my plans to several pastors serving as our spiritual authority. They all agreed, “We believe God’s calling is for you to start a church.”

Our children named the church “Trinity Church” after Grace’s father’s church. One day Pastor Jimmy asked, “What are you going to do for a building?” I had no idea. He continued, “I think I have a word from the Lord.” I thought, Great! Jimmy said we were going to buy a building in Scottsdale that was a historically designated church. It would be grandfathered in as a church, and we could buy it. It would seat about 800 people. I thought, Wow, that’s awfully specific. I called our realtor, and he told me such a building didn’t exist. But then our current building became available. We received the keys and held our first informational meeting on the 50th anniversary of the grand opening of the building.

Now, we couldn’t afford the building. Usually, you get people to join your church before you ask them for money to buy a building. We had a building but no people and no money. I went to the denomination that owned the building and said, “We have no people and no money. I can’t go to the bank and ask for a loan.” The denomination said, “We will serve as your bank.” I said, “I’m going to need a year to raise the down payment.” They agreed.

People began joining the church, and they generously paid for the down payment. I later found out the denomination takes the money paid for the church mortgage and puts it into a special fund for church plants. That’s amazing!

We opened on Easter Sunday, and I asked someone to count how many chairs were set up. The number was 793. I thought, God, that was so close. But then we counted seven more chairs in the sound booth. We had 800 seats, exactly as God had spoken to Pastor Jimmy.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States, God spoke to me and gave me a lengthy list of work to do on the church’s property and technology. I said, “Lord, how can we do that? We’re open every week.” God responded, “Don’t worry about it. You will be able to do it.” I told Grace, our children, and the staff that God had spoken to me, and I didn’t know how or when it would happen. Then on a Sunday, an edict came down from Arizona’s governor, forcing the church to close for a short season. The very next day—literally 24 hours later—we had all the supplies for installation and technology ordered and the first work crews scheduled to come in and do the work. We finished everything God told me to do during the six weeks we were closed. God knew He would more than double our church once we reopened. He was preparing us because He loves His people so much.

Sometimes life in the Spirit is overwhelming. I thank God the Holy Spirit for His faithfulness to us and His anointing. The Christian life is remarkably simple: find the Holy Spirit, stay close to Him, and obey what he says.

Today’s Reflection

What miraculous thing has God done in your life to bless other people?