I can only distinctly recall three occasions when I was prayed for through the laying on of hands.
My father-in-law, a godly pastor I had come to know through him, and a local pastor from the county where I served participated in my ordination to ministry in the first little country church I served while in seminary.
Then there was Doug and his associate pastor, Tommy. As I shared in my previous post, I sought out Doug’s counsel at the suggestion of a godly elder in my first church after seminary. At the time, I was in my early thirties. Doug was approaching sixty. He earned a Ph.D. in preaching from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The same seminary where I planned to pursue my Ph.D.
Doug had arrived. He served a large, “successful” church. He was recognized as a significant pastor/preacher in the denomination. But he walked away from it all and, together with several other pastors, began Restoration Church. Located in a strip mall, the church was balanced in doctrine and ministry. Not too Baptist. Not too Charismatic. A healthy blend of both.
It was a hard church to pin a label on. Not that plenty of company men loyal to the denomination didn’t try. It didn’t bother Doug and his fellow pastors. They had left Egypt and were never going back.
It was a Tuesday afternoon when Doug and Tommy laid hands on me and prayed. Nothing spectacular. No visions. No speaking in tongues. (I’d already received that gift without asking for it and without anybody’s hands laid on me. I described that in a previous post, but can’t remember which one.)
But about thirty minutes into the drive back home, the presence of God filled my car. It was and is indescribable. It was a life-changing, reorienting experience for my life and ministry. I’ve never been the same since.
I exited I-20 and headed down the Granbury Highway. There was a prayer meeting scheduled at one of our deacon’s homes that evening. As I entered the house, my eyes were drawn to his wife. It was just a moment. A flash. Then it was gone. But as I gazed at Dana, I saw, in the Spirit, a white light surrounding her.
The best way to describe what I saw is found in Mark’s gospel. Mark is describing the experience of Peter, James, and John as they beheld the transfiguration of Jesus.1 “Dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them” is how Mark describes what these three apostles saw.
That same bright white is what I saw, momentarily, on Dana.
The prayer meeting ended, and on Sunday morning, our planned week of revival services began. My fellow pastor and friend, Mark, was scheduled to preach for the week. We began the service with some well-known hymns. During the second of those hymns, the Spirit of God spoke to me.
“Confess before your congregation the sin of pride.”
I resisted. “This is my imagination. Satan is trying to confuse me.”
Our worship leader began leading the church in our final hymn. I walked to the pulpit, stopped the service, and obediently shared with the people that I had been guilty of the sin of pride.
Something like the wind of Pentecost blew through the building. I don’t think it could be literally felt. But there was a whoosh. It almost knocked me over.
It is an understatement to say that real revival came to Rainbow Baptist Church that week. A revival that lasted for almost a year. The church exploded in growth. An ex-convict came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Several others followed.
Each week, as I looked out at our congregation, I could see the marks of real revival. There was joy and an exuberant spirit on the faces of many. On others, there was genuine fear. A fear that, in time, turned to anger. And an anger that led to political maneuvering and the attempt to “take our church back.”
The takeover attempt was successful. I was voted out as pastor within a year, mostly by absentee votes from former members living out of the community and out of state. Members whose names were still on the church role but who had not set foot in the church in years.
Pete Claytor, the godly elder who had suggested I meet with Doug, summed up what happened best - “The name written over this church in now, Ichabod,” he said.2
He was right.
(to be continued.)
In Christ,
Dan
Mark 9:3.
I Samuel 4:21.