Big step
Ken and I met with Pastors Albert and Ruth Johnson of Living Word Church last night. We got there a few minutes before seven and didn’t leave until after 10:30!
LWC is a small-but-growing Foursquare church off Spero Rd. in Asheboro - just under 15 minutes from our house. Pastors Albert and Ruth are two of the nicest people I’ve ever met - the love of Jesus is all over them, and they’re very honest and genuine. While they’re very enthusiastic about what they’re doing, they also admit that it hasn’t been easy. Pastor Albert lost his first wife to cancer a few years ago, and the Lord led him to continue ministering through his grief. Although he and the church survived, and he’s since remarried, he says that it’s taken him a while to get back on his feet fully. But it sounds like he’s hit the ground running and the church is about to have exponential growth.
We’ve never been to a Foursquare church. All we knew about them, we’d heard from friends and read on the Foursquare website.
We’d heard that it’s quite similar to the Assemblies of God, but of course we had some doctrinal questions. One of their central tenets is that Christ is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts are evident, exercised, and encouraged. One of my questions was about tongues during worship - of which I feel there’s two distinct sorts: One is the kind everyone’s familiar with - Person A speaks a message from God, and Person B (or sometimes Person A) gives an interpretation in the native language of the church. If it’s not interpreted, there’s something wrong - either the message wasn’t for the congregation or someone failed to obey God and interpret. But there’s another kind, too - the congregation is engaged in praising and worshiping God, and some people praise Him in English, some in tongues, some people even sing in tongues. It’s not disruptive or out of order any more than praising Him in English would be. This isn’t for the edification of the church, but an intimate moment between a worshiper and the Lord. Ken and I had been told before that tongues should never be spoken in church without interpretation, and felt very constrained by what we felt was an unbiblical restriction. Hearing Pastor Johnson say that was a relief! Also, Pastor Johnson talked at length about discernment, both related to spiritual gifts and just in general. He has a powerful gift of discernment himself, and encourages people to be discerning in all things.
Evangelism and outreach are important. Personal ministries are encouraged, whether one feels led to simply stand with someone in prayer, or go out to the community (a jail ministry was mentioned). The Word and obedience to what God says are paramount - yet Ken and I didn’t detect even a trace of legalism in them.
And finally, they strongly believe in training people up for ministry. We were encouraged to pursue our calling - in his church or elsewhere. If we choose his church, he and Ruth will do everything they can, and Foursquare will do everything they can, to help us get established as church planters. That impressed us in several ways. First, during the beginning of the conversation he seemed to be having a silent conversation with the Lord - asking and hearing. Then he told us that God had confirmed our calling to him. Second, he was more concerned with us doing what God has told us to do, than in our joining his church/doing it under “his” guidance. And last, his offer of help was genuine and not in the tiniest bit self-exalting. These are people who truly love the Lord and want to fulfill His plans.
Another plus - they’re just fun people! We’d never met before but instantly were put at ease, and we sat and drank coffee and laughed and had a great time with them!
We’re both feeling a strong pull to go to LWC. As I was praying this morning, I got a strong sense of “Yes“. We’re going to go on Wednesday night, and see what the Lord unfolds for us here.
Praise God!
