Our trip with our Primetimers

Let me say that the perks of "replanting" a church is that you have a hand in the starting of every ministry. This usually means you get to enjoy some of the perks of those ministries, at least while they are in their infant stages. One such perk was getting to "chaperone" four of our Primetimers to Cleveland, TN and Murphy, NC this past Thursday and Friday. It was a great experience.

We drove up to Cleveland on Thursday and had a guided tour of the Church of God HQ. It was a great experience. I had only been to the HQ once for a meeting, but that was it. We were able to see the room where the Executive Council meets. We also got to go in our General Overseer, Raymond Culpepper's office. We saw other meeting rooms. I got to see a Lori Lewis who along with her husband Gary are great people and have certainly helped me out a lot in ministry. Seeing the mural in the Evangelism building and the presentation was wonderful. We also saw some artifacts from the beginning of the movement. It was a great experience and certainly eye opening for those we brought. They realized that our church is part of something worldwide and we're all in this thing together. I then took them to Lee University and Seminary and then we went in North Cleveland Church of God and I showed them around. We went up to the Prayer Tower which they all really enjoyed. We shopped at the mall and then gave them their first taste of Five Guys Burger and Fries. We spent the rest of the evening in the hotel.

Friday we got up and drove to Murphy, NC for Fields of the Wood. The replicas of the Golgotha and the tomb were great. The 10 Commandments covers a whole side of a mountain and Sis. Audrey Cason and I walked the whole thing. The pastor working the gift shop said it was 358 steps total. I believe him! We also got to walk up the other side of the mountain to the place AJ Tomlinson prayed and received confirmation about the Church of God. The highlight though was going to the place where the first General Assembly took place. It was overwhelming. You could feel the presence of God in the room and we all had prayer together. Pictures of the first delegates were in the room and it caused us to think about all they paid just to get this movement started. We think we suffer persecution, and certainly we do. But these people had their houses burned down. Their churches were burned down. Their families were killed and possessions were taken. They endured all of this to proclaim the Pentecostal experience of the book of Acts. They went to church in rain or snow. How we need the pioneering spirit back in our churches today. We also felt the same thing at the marker for the old Shearer Schoolhouse and at a marker where the first log church was put up where the Holy Spirit fell for the first time. It was amazing to say the least.