The
Assemblies of God Church is a Pentecostal denomination that came out of a
Pentecostal movement in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. They officially organized in 1914. Apparently they are one of the
largest Pentecostal denominations in the United States.
There is an
Assembly of God Church less than 3 miles from my home. I can remember when the
building was erected. I have not been to any regular services at the church,
but many years ago my wife and I attended a Passion Play there. They have this
each year near Easter. It was quite a good show.
Occasionally
the church hosted Christian rock bands for the youth in a small area inside the
back of the church building. I can remember taking my son Andrew to it once
before he started driving. They were serving snacks and soft drinks as very
loud live music was playing. Most of it was what I called alternative music,
which I didn’t care for.
The most
memorable event I participated in at the Assembly of God Church was an
Independence Day celebration in their parking lot on July 3, 2004. It was quite
a big deal. Andrew and I attended the event together. The church had a large
stage set up with a huge flag hanging behind it. A lot of local and some
national musical performers were there.
The
Boatwright Sisters (Local Singers) With Andrew
The Stage
In the
middle of the program some ominous clouds began to form and people began to get
a bit skittish. Andrew and I were about to leave, but then someone from the
church went to the microphone and announced that he had been tracking the
weather from inside the church building. Apparently a bad storm had been headed
straight towards us, but it had split and was going around us to either side.
The handiwork of God, no doubt. Several people in the audience said, “Praise
God”, and the show continued. However, God must have just been messing with us
because all of a sudden the storm began to roll in as evidenced by the high
winds hitting us. It happened just as the headliner for the show, Jody McBrayer,
came on stage. You may remember Jody as being a member of the contemporary
Christian music group Avalon. He had recently launched a solo career. He seemed
genuinely dismayed by the situation. He was ready to perform, but his audience
was packing up their chairs and heading toward their cars. My son as I were
among them. We got to our car and got inside just before the floodgates of
heaven opened above us. Torrents of rain came down as we slowly drove the short
distance home.
The Storm
Rolling In
Given the timing, was this
storm God’s way of telling Jody to abandon his solo career or was it purely a
chance event? The answer to that question is highly dependent on your personal
worldview.
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