Our nutty spiritual family

Anyone who knows anything about our home church, Calvary Chapel, knows that it is not your typical organization. The church sprang out of a small baptist church in California, when a pastor and his wife experienced an outpouring of God's Grace over the lives of hundreds of beach hippies to whom they witnessed. As the kids flooded into His church, hundreds turned into thousands and tens of thousands, and the Holy Spirit began to change their lives, and the church. It is not a baptist church anymore, but a Spirit-Filled church that is renowned for teaching simply the word of God, chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse.

Our home fellowship in Evansville, Indiana, was started in the early 70's in a red barn. As the church grew, another church in our city helped the people purchase a building in the inner-city. They have been in that building for about 20 years, and the Lord as blessed the church greatly. As generations come and go, they have seen hippies, grungies, punkers, rockers, and goths pass through their doors. A teen music dungeon brought tons of kids who found the Lord, and while some of them went out in separate ministries, some others now home fellowship in a sister-home church. Another coffeehouse ministry brought in punk rockers who are now living for the Lord. A youth ministry also sprang out of that church and formed our other sister church that is 10 times our size! There havebeen major rises in the attendance, then major falls. There have been splits and divisions, but also, there have been major successes through the work of the Holy Spirit. The church's mission attitude has infiltrated the hearts of several families, and they now have almost 6 families who have went out from he congregation to serve in missions. They now boast numbers of about 40 in attendance, with about 25 of those being spirit-filled and in fellowship and harmony together.

When we were newly married, we approached our pastor and said, "We want to be missionaries!" He told us they would support us only if we spent at least three years in discipleship. We are so thankful for that time of learning and submission, because we had both come from backgrounds of high-emotionalism pentecostal churches, and had an idea of what the Holy Spirit was, but never saw him as a personality of the God-head. As we learned to trust God the Holy Spirit for grace and guidance each day, we grew in our faith and in our marriage, and later, the church sent us out.

Being from Indiana, we were very isolated from other churches like ourselves, and as we travel west, we see larger amounts of Calvary Chapels. Some are just like us -- with hearts set on evangelism and lives exuding the love of Christ. Some are fairly new in the walk with the Holy Spirit, and so, are immature and young in their faith and are still more interested in "church" affairs than "eternal" affairs. Still, others amaze us in the deep commitment of nearly 80% of the congregation, all filled with the Spirit, all walking Spirit-filled lives, all focused on eternity and on pleasing our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We used to think that we were an odd couple, from an odd church, that seemed to never quite fit the mold of any one denomination. But now, we have found lots of "odd" friends! And we are so thankful for them.

I was blessed the other night at a recent Bible School party that we attended in the VBS director's home. The pastor walked in, and I wanted to ask him a question about his Sunday teaching. He chuckled and stated that he was "off-duty" for the night. But, of course, when you are blessed by the Spirit with a gift for teaching, you cannot hide it, and as he did some story telling, he began teaching. We all gathered around the table as he shared with us stories of people that he knew who had been miraculously changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. People who turned immedately from drugs, alcohol, wife-beating, and devil worship when they found the precious gift of Salvation. He shared how many of these men are now teachers and pastors in many Calvary Chapels.

I did not realize it, but an older couple was with us in the room, and they are fairly new to the concept of fellowship. They have recently been getting involved with the church, and it was such a delight to have them with us. They are growing more and more in their walk with the Lord as they fellowship and participate with the other believers. The next day, Joshua and I went to their house. As we sat around the table, the man joked, "My wife will kill me for saying this, but it sounds like this church was just a bunch of hippies and potheads before Jesus found them!" His wife covered her face in shame, and as Joshua and I started laughing histarically, she raised her head and looked at us inquisitively.

We explained how there are usually two groups who congregate at Calvary Chapels:

The first group are people who have hit rock-bottom. They are people who are into a mess, and they don't know how to get out. When they go to other churches, and come to Christ, they are told, "Stop smoking. Stop drugs. Stop drinking. Stop adultery." Of course, this is all by works that they cannot do because they are addicted to sin, and so they falter, they fall, and they backslide. Then they stumble upon a Calvary Chapel. They come in, they pray for salvation, and they are told, "Now, come to church as often as you can. Fellowship with us. Read your word with us. Study with us." They are dumbfounded. "What should I do about my sin," they ask. They are told, "Now that you're saved, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will guide you into a sanctified life!" And when the Holy Ghost fills them, HE DOES THE CHANGE, praise God! They grow in Jesus, and the drugs fall away, the alcohol doesn't have power over them, and the smoking habit is broken.

The secong group are people who have visited every church imaginable or accessible, trying to find peace in their walk with the Lord. They go to one, and the preacher yells about hell and damnation. They go to another, and the preacher teaches world peace and candy-coated sermons. They visit still another, and they read a book or hear a political speech more than they do the actual Bible. They are hungry for the word of God. Then, one day, they hear a radio show from CBN, or they stumble into a Calvary Chapel as a last attempt. They hear worship, and they SEE worship in the people. And then, everyone sits, and gets out their Bibles, and flips to a page. How did they know what page to go to, they wonder. And then, the pastor reads, and he teaches. And their hearts begin to overflow. What is he teaching? Where are these wonderful words coming from? Then they look around the congregation. Everyone has their heads down, not praying, but reading. It is the word of God, the sweet Water of Life, being taught slowly, methodically, chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse. He teaches the words of the Bible, and takes the congregation to the other parts of the Bible, where he backs up what he just read. These people are the ones who come to Calvary Chapel because they finally hear the word of God and can't ever go back to political teachings or prepared lectures.

When we were done explaining, the husband was sitting quietly, and the wife was pondering ever-so-intently. "I think I finally have this nutty church figured out!. You come to church, you open your bible, you read it, you close it, and then you go home and live it!"

Well, that's exactly what we do, so I guess we have a pretty nutty spiritual family in our churches. :-) But praise God, I wouldn't have it any other way!