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We welcome the stories of your experiences and events here in Hampton Roads! Let us know what your church, ministry or group is up to!
An Evening with Pastor Bob Larson
By Julie Lucas
October 2008 - Friday night at the Hilton Inn, Ocean Front in Virginia Beach an up and coming reality TV star spoke with an audience of about 65 people who came to see him perform one of his world famous exorcisms. Pastor Bob Larson appeared before a room full of eagerly awaiting fans. Most of the room was fully aware of his flamboyant personality and his showy display of demonic deliverance techniques. He asked if any who attended that evening were there to receive deliverance. Over half the crowd raised their hands. As several ladies sat in the audience sobbing, Pastor Larson avoided them and selected an elegant woman sitting in the front row. The crowd sat in silence (except for the sobbing women) as Pastor Bob Larson delivered this lady from an ancient African spirit as well as several others. Following his performance before a rolling hand held video camera, he had his team come and minister to the rest of the eagerly awaiting crowd.
Much of this evening was filled with promotions of his books, teaching tapes and upcoming reality show: “The Real Exorcist” to be aired on October 30th on the Sci-Fi Channel. Pastor Larson asked if anyone would like to receive an hour, a day or a half-day where he would minister deliverance one-on-one. The cost of one hour, ladies and gentleman, $500; of course he included a positive testimony from one audience member to the power of his deliverance procedures! She had signed up for more!
His teaching and books appear to be biblically based and come highly recommended by most deliverance ministers, however his controversial style remains unchanged and his unapologetic appeal for money firmly entrenched.
To find out more about Bob Larson and his teaching, please log on to BobLarson.org.
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The Big Serve anticipates being a Big Deal
By Peter D. Mallett
Aug 12, 2008 - Anticipation is mounting. Plans are being made. When the month is over the event will be also. However, the planners of Norfolk’s Big Serve hope its impact will not be. Norfolk’s Big Serve is the name given to a coordinated all day effort by First Baptist Church of Norfolk to impact the region with ministry.
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The congregation meets for worship at 312 Kempsville Road in Norfolk. There is also a campus in Chesapeake that meets in Greenbrier middle school. The day you won’t find most of them there is August 31st. Don’t check your calendar again, that is a Sunday. Yes, Pastor Eric Thomas and the people he leads have decided for one Sunday that the Church will leave the building! They will be the Church in various places around town. No Church services or Bible Studies will be held that morning. Instead, Church will be hands on. Some other similar smaller events have already been taking place. The largest scale so far was in June at the Chesapeake campus. Many more will be involved on Sunday August 31st. There are 30+ projects registered to date, and nearly 2000 people planning to participate.
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One group will serve at the Ronald McDonald house in Norfolk. They will be cleaning rooms and cooking a meal for the residents staying at the Ronald McDonald house; an inexpensive place for people to stay while their children are treated at C.H.K.D. Another group is planning a special day for residents of Gosnold apartments. This is a homeless shelter for single adults in Norfolk. FBCN has a regular ministry already established there. Other opportunities planned thus far will include simple ideas like picking up trash in Hampton, or handing out cold bottled water and sun screen at the Rock and Roll half marathon, to more elaborate ideas like working with Craddock Middle School in Portsmouth to do landscaping. Some other plans include Car washes, Providing lunch for Firefighters, Care packages for Military and Hospitals, Helping at Union mission with a morning worship service, Mt Trashmore park outreach, Crisis Pregnancy center, and even a neighborhood block party.
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The Big Serve “idea” is more than a one day event. Pastor Eric Thomas has been teaching for some time that the mission of the Church is to Honor God and Reach People through what he calls Intersections. In short, it means meeting people where you are, and where they are, in the paths and places we travel everyday. Yet, people are hoping that with this one concentrated effort the community will again see Christians as people who care; people who want to serve where they are living and working. It should probably be noted that the people are not completely shirking Sunday services they will meet in the evening at 6:00 P.M. for a time of celebration and worship to share what God has done.
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For more information about First Baptist Church of Norfolk, or Norfolk’s Big Serve on August 31st contact FBCN at 461-3226. The Big Serve Coordinators are Craig Clayton, and Susan Briggs.
My Experience at the Healing Rooms of Tidewater!
By Julie Lucas
September 27, 2006 - In my ongoing research on “healing and deliverance ministries” here in Hampton Roads and my effort to bring you the truth, I recently visited the Healing Rooms of Tidewater at Centerville Christian Fellowship, 1208 Centerville Turnpike, in Chesapeake. At this point I would like to mention that I myself have a chronic health condition know as fibromyalgia that keeps me in bondage to medications and the inability to function normally because I become exhausted easily, in addition to the chronic pain from head to toe. So with that said, let me share my experience.
I entered the small church and was greeted by a very warm and friendly lady that asked me to fill out a release form. (No doubt because of the rampant and sinful lawsuits that go on here in America….just my opinion!) This form included my name, address, phone number, email address and any pertinent information as to why I was visiting their Healing Room. I was seated in the sanctuary where I listened to praise music and scripture readings concerning healing and deliverance. About four (4) other people entered after I did and several were obviously in a great deal of pain. They were ministered to first and then my turn came! I was called back to a private room and was introduced to three team members that were very warm, friendly and walked me through the process briefly as to what would happen. They asked me to share why I had come and how my current relationship was with God. I gave them the gory details of my condition and that I have been praying fervently, fasting as I am able for the past several months, I have renounced every sin, past, present and future, forgiven everyone past, present and future, and have had many wonderful Christians including my husband, anoint me with oil and pray over me. Exhausted and weary….there I was.
They continued to ask questions in order to discern that my relationship with God was right. Assuming had it not been, they would have walked me through the steps to salvation and/or given me instructions on how to get my life right with God. Satisfied that I was okay in my relationship with God, several team members revealed that as I spoke that God had revealed to them that I was being refined and “peeled like an onion” to get to the root of this disorder; the sin that helped to usher in this condition. Since I have been a Christian for eleven (11) years and I am forty (40) now, they had a lot of time span to cover. They assured me that God would reveal this to me in time and with this revelation would come my healing. A prophetic word that God had already given me and so it was just confirmed. They also confirmed other very specific issues that God had spoken to me.
They completed their session by anointing me with oil and lying on of hands and praying for an expeditious healing. I was also told that my “healing is coming very soon” and as a precursor to me being anointed for a very specific ministry. This was a confirmation from what I feel I have already heard from God. Their ministry seemed to be one part prayer warrior and two parts prophetic gifting, and that was exactly what I needed. Although I am sure they were being led by the promptings of the Holy Spirit and that their ministry tactics would have changed as the conditions were called upon.
There are no guarantees in this life and we can only stand firm on God’s word that we will be delivered from our infirmities and if we repent from the iniquities that we have brought upon ourselves restoration will come. In “The Bondage Breaker” by Neil T. Anderson, he states that “somewhere along the line you chose to give the Devil a foothold. He merely took advantage of the opportunity you gave him.” (emphasis mine)
I would encourage anyone that is having trouble overcoming a problem, situation or infirmity in their life to visit the Healing Rooms of Tidewater! There doors are always open to anyone in need I am certain, but if you would like to visit the Healing Rooms, their hours are EVERY TUESDAY, 7-9 PM! No appointment is necessary! My thanks and prayers for the Godly work that they are doing at Centerville Christian Fellowship, in Jesus name!
For more information, you can visit them online at www.healingrooms.info or email them at healingroomsHRTV@cs.com
Revolutionaries or Heretics? You decide!
By Julie Lucas
Posted June 30, 2006 - Never before in our nations history has it been more evident that God is forcing us to “choose this day whom you will serve” partial Joshua 24:15, than right now! In “Revolution” a book published last year by George Barna, he projects “that by 2005 the local church will lose roughly half of its current ‘market share’ and that alternative forms of faith experience and expression will pick up the slack…… Although there will be millions of people who abandon the entire faith community for the usual reasons – hurtful experiences in churches, lack of interest in spiritual matters, prioritizing other dimensions of their life – a growing percentage of church dropouts will be those who leave a local church in order to intentionally increase their focus on faith and to relate to God through different means.” This revolution of sorts is sweeping our nation and mature Christians are heeding the call!
One of these alternatives to the traditional church is the home church or house church as many are called. This house church experience is one you will never experience in a traditional church setting. The interactive closeness of the body, instead of sitting in a pew and being an observer; the fellowship on a more personal level, instead of waiting until service is over and running for the door; the ability to ask questions and learn on a one-on-one-basis, instead of making an appointment to see the pastor, wait several days and get a half-hour to have your needs met; share your experiences and your Christian walk with others of like mind, instead of sitting there wondering what everyone else is experiencing; pray and minister to each others needs, instead of going up front to the alter and maybe someone who knows you will lay hands on you! Does this really sound like what Jesus had in mind?
In a recent visit to a local house church, known as the “ Johnson House Church” I found people who had formed lasting relationships and were more like family than just a polite church going member sitting in a pew! They had awesome praise and worship, even without the expensive steel guitars and drum set. They reach out to their local community by simply doing laundry for someone in need! They pray for people they are in relationships with as well as those that God brings to their attention. No costly overhead, just fellowship as it was with the early church! They even moved in the prophetic…not just a general prophetic, but were specific to the individual receiving the word!
John White, a Denver-based coordinator for Dawn Ministries, one of several organizations that help plant new home churches said “This is in keeping with God's plan to have a ‘kingdom of priests’ in which everyone participates in his or her religious life”. (Source: Washington Post)
Even many mainstream, traditional churches recognize the need for small group interaction, so many today are doing "cell groups”! This dynamic seems to work well, until the church leadership gets involved and begins to usurp the movement of the Holy Spirit by dictating group discussion, time schedules, and membership numbers.
I attended the Johnson House Church hoping I could bless them, but I found that they would profoundly bless me beyond what I could have ever imagined! Godspeed to all the house churches of Hampton Roads!
If you would like to have more information about the Johnson House Church or other home churches in the area, please contact Terry & Dee Dee Johnson at (757) 874-2012 or email at 4rnr@cox.net!
SPECIAL NOTE: There is currently no information available on Home Based Churches here in the Tidewater area, however, it is the mission of TidewaterCrossSection.com to change that! We are here to connect all Christian believers for the work God had intended us to pursue! Please continue to check with us as we will be updating our site with more information on how to join or contact a Home Based Church!
"Riding for the Son" with the Christian Motorcyclist Association!
By Julie Lucas
Posted June 7, 2006 - Showing the world and our community that you can be a follower of Jesus and have fun doing it was never more evident as it is with members of the Christian Motorcyclist Association (CMA), and a forming chapter in Suffolk, calling themselves ‘Wings of Eagles’.
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This group of motorcycle enthusiasts not only loves their “bikes”, but loves Jesus so much that they dedicate most of their group time and effort into reaching the lost “bikers” among them. Steve Hassell, president of this forming chapter, stated that they are doing the work of God by “reaching out to those in the biker world because the established church is afraid of them”. This group of men and women are clearly not afraid to show the love of Christ and go out into the world to befriend and minister to their fellow bikers, from the outlaw bikers to the recovering bikers, it is what God has called them to do!
He (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Mark 16:15
This group has been present to support the Beacons, a CMA Chapter in Virginia Beach, at their annual Bike Classic this year, as well as many other functions locally, throughout the state and the country. They make their presence known at rallies and gatherings by showing their “colors” and “patches” while acting with integrity and according to a biblical code of conduct. As Christ’s messengers and representatives they hand out tracks, pass out water, pray for fellow bikers, and show them that their lives too can be different. They also spend time in fellowship, laying on of hands, praying for one another, anointing with oil, and learning new tools in area’s such as prison ministry, youth ministry, women’s ministry, children’s ministry, servants ministry, prayer ministry, youth to youth ministry for teens, mechanics, first aid, and hospitality.
Preaching the “good news” has a deeper meaning for many members of ‘Wings of Eagles’ since many have lost a friend or loved one in an accident. This brings the seriousness of their mission to a deeper and more personal level. For them Isaiah 40:31 is the verse that brings them inspiration and hope:
“But those who hope in the Lord, will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
The CMA’s international vision is “changing the world, one heart at a time”, a vision that the chapter forming in Suffolk has taken to heart.
To find out more about the Christian Motorcyclist Association (CMA) or ‘Wings of Eagles’ Chapter forming in Suffolk, please visit their website or contact Steve Hassell, President of ‘Wings of Eagles’, at Western Branch Community Church at (757) 405-6000. To find out more about the other CMA Chapter’s in our area, please visit the websites of ‘The Beacons of Tidewater’ in Virginia Beach and ‘Good News Riders’ in Newport News.
The River of Life
By Julie Lucas
Posted May 31, 2006 - There is a powerful ministry among us here in the Tidewater area called The River of Life. Their mission is to be “doers” of the word and to “love with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18). It is here that Pastor Bill Will, Executive Director, gathers the basic needs of life like clothes, food, medical supplies and equipment, and then distributes them to the hurting and in need locally, nationally and all over the world. A few of the places that have received help from The River of Life include areas in Israel, Africa, the former Soviet Union and the shores of the Gulf Coast! The River of Life currently has a warehouse in Chesapeake where all these items are gathered, sorted and shipped directly to those in need at little or no cost to themselves.
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In the words of Pastor Bill Will,
“Our desire is singular, to glorify HIS name in all the earth. At The River of Life we have purposed to be there beyond the newsreels. We will go where the Lord sends us to the seen places or behind closed doors where few ever know about what we do, because it is HIS heart and not ours that we are following after.”
It seems many of the volunteers have also benefited greatly from serving others through this incredibly gifted ministry.
Stephen wrote: “This was an amazing experience”.
Tre’ wrote: “Keep up the GREAT work!”
Lauren wrote: “It was very moving that you care for so many people.”
Alison, a volunteer and organizer of a field trip for her students wrote: “I know the students want to return next year because of what they experienced. They couldn’t stop talking about it!”
Hannah wrote: “I couldn’t stop thinking about how much the people who were getting those clothes would like them.”
Bill Will is also the U.S. Director of Operations for The Joseph Project, a ministry of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America. Some of the challenges that The Joseph Project have in serving the state of Israel is the dramatic increase in poverty due to terrorism, immigration and displacement.
It is wonderful to know that there are Godly men and women out there committed to the ministry of serving the less fortunate not only in our back yards, but beyond our borders.
To find out more about The River of Life or The Joseph Project, please contact Bill Will at TheRiver@sonmedia.com. or by phone at 485-3729. You may also find out more about The Joseph Project by visiting www.josephproject.org. Their needs are great, so find out how you can serve!