Bethel Church Redding

As a congregation, we were asked to pray for a miracle.

Skyler, the four year old child of one of the staff members, had been  found unresponsive in bed that morning, with a fever and swelling of the brain. The child was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Davis. The congregation was encouraged to pray for the child, to "sing in the Spirit and release the power."

A member of the worship team said that God gives words of prophecy. He said that such a word had been received, "You're going to live and not die says God." He said this word was for Skyler. A miracle was expected. And Bethel Church in Redding has a reputation for miracles.

We first heard about the church through a book by a friend of ours, Miracles by Tim Stafford. In that book, Tim writes about a young man, Jeff Moore, who attended First Presbyterian Church of Santa Rosa. Jeff became lame, and his feet were in such pain that he needed to use a wheel chair. Jeff was invited to attend a service at Bethel. He did and went forward found he was healed. The pain had left his feet.

Tim is a journalist. He knew Jeff before the visit to visit to Bethel and after. He interviewed Jeff and his family as well those close to him. He concluded that the word "miracle" was an apt one for what occurred.

The word "healing" was used many times in the service we attended. There had been a youth conference over the weekend and a number of the attendees were still present that morning. (There was an announcement that though they'd hoped for 500 at the conference, 900 had come.) In the row in front of us there was a group young people (high school students, I'd guess) from Dallas, Oregon who had been part of  the conference. I asked one of the young men what the highlight of the weekend had been. He replied, "God healed a lot of people; we felt God's presence."

Eric Johnson, the preacher that morning (described in the website as being a part of the "Core Leadership, Senior Team"), spoke about a recent trip to Detroit. He had seen God heal many at the conference there. "Nine people with hip injuries were healed. God likes hips. He made them." He also spoke of a boy who had come forward to be healed of diabetes. They believed he had been healed of that. But then the boy came forward again and said that his feet also had been healed. His feet had been crooked before, but were now straight. Even though his feet hadn't been prayed for, they had been made right.

There wasn't just an expectation that God would work in physical healing but in other ways as well. Before the offering, a woman ("great with child" as they say in the Christmas programs) gave the announcements. Her husband introduced the time of offering and, commenting on his wife's condition, said, "God is pregnant with hope for your financial future." All were encouraged to join a reading that expressed expectation that if one made God a "financial partner," God would bring about successful employment, promotions, raises, favorable settlements; in short, financial rewards of every kind.

 

I appreciated that he also said (before the offering) that if one was visiting the church, it would be best not to give there but to give to one's home church.

At the end of the service, there was an altar call. Of the hundreds that were there that morning, three people raised their hands and came forward expressing their desire to trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior. People were also encouraged to come forward for prayer if they were in need of physical healing or were in financial straits. Dozens of people came forward in response to that offer.

Whether those people's prayers were answered, well, I doubt I'll hear a report. (My friend, Tim, has other writing projects at this time.) I may not ever get a report on Skyler. But I'm praying. Perhaps you could pray for Skyler as well.

P.S. We sat next to a young woman named Tessa. She, too, was visiting the church for the first time. She mentioned she had never seen people lined up to go to church -- she and her husband attended a small community church in British Columbia. She was alone in the second service because her husband was with their son after attending the 8:00 a.m. worship service.  (The College View campus of Bethel Church Redding has three Sunday morning services: 8:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m. -- which we attended -- and 1:00 p.m.) Tessa's husband is a professional skier, and they were traveling this year, living in a camper. Usually, he's had to leave home for his job, but this year they're all able to be together. Tessa said Bethel was the most fun church they've attended on their journey so far.

Mindy and I were excited to meet someone else who's taking a year to travel, because we'll be spending 2016 traveling the country, visiting and blogging about a church in a different state each week. I doubt we'll get to see Tessa and Dave again as we travel, because they'll be looking for snow, and we'll be trying to avoid snow and all other difficult winter driving. But it's nice to know they're out there. (You can learn more about Dave here.)

-- Dean

Statistics

Service Length: 1 hour 50 minutes

Sermon Length: 45 minutes      

Visitor Treatment: two greeting times during the worship service when we were instructed to greet several people we'd never seen before. First time visitors were asked to raise their hands so ushers could give them a welcome card (with detachable coupons for a free cd of the day's sermon and a discount at the bookstore) to fill out and put in the offering.

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none

Our Rough Count: 2,000 (ushers were doing their best to fill every seat in the room)

Probable Ushers' Count: 2,000 plus overflow room, which we didn't see (but we could hear whenever the door near us opened; the speaker's voice was slightly delayed)

Snacks: none, but there is a coffee shop with a variety of items for sale

Musicians: 2 women singers, 2 men singers, keyboard (woman), drums (man), electric guitar (man), acoustic guitar (man), bass (man). Also at least two different people (one man, one woman) waved flags during the singing

Songs: "Glory to Glory"

            "I'll Fly Away"

            "Mercy"

            "Given"

            "What Can Separate us from Your Love"

            "Hope's Anthem"

            "You're Gonna Live and Not Die, Says God"

Miles to place: 231

Total California Miles: 14,540

Church website: Bethelredding.com

Victory Outreach Santa Rosa

In many churches, there is an assumption of "niceness." It isn't said outright, but everyone knows that we're good people who have never done anything too bad. Those people out there... Well, they're a different story. We feel bad for them, but what can you do? When sin is preached about, it's about things like the danger of using prayer requests as an opportunity for gossip or skipping your quiet time.

Niceness vs Reality

One of the things I liked best about Victory Outreach was the acknowledgment that in the house there are real people with real sins. As one worship leader said, "You've been delivered from more than sunflower seeds. It's Sunday morning, so I'll say God has delivered us from 'stuff.'"

Church History

The original Victory Outreach was founded in Southern California in 1967, working with street gangs and street people. Shortly after its founding, government agencies saw the good the ministry was doing and offered financial aid, but V.O. soon realized they would have to rely on God and His people to do the work without the restrictions the government might impose.

Recovery Ministry

Victory Outreach has franchised around the country and around the world and has been in Sonoma County for over 25 years. Like other branches, the local Victory Outreach puts an emphasis on recovery ministries. I talked to a couple of different people at the church who had been through the recovery program and now held positions of responsibility in the church. On the Santa Rosa campus they have a house for recovering male alcoholics and drug addicts. Nearby is another house for recovering women. Before the service, there was a group of a half dozen women standing in front of the church to left of the stage and a group of men standing in the front of the church on the right of the stage. Worship music played over the speakers as a man with a mike prayed on the stage. We're pretty sure the two groups were from the recovery houses.  Another prefab four bedroom house will be on the property soon.

Mindy noticed the church air conditioning was set at "Men in Suits." Like the Salvation Army, it seems the men in recovery wear suits to church, and the tradition carries on when they are out of the program. There were also a number of men in shorts and t-shirts. Women's attire also varied from casual to Sunday best.

Even the morning's guest speaker, Evangelist James Fernandez, talked about how God had delivered him from drugs and alcohol thirty two years before. He talked dismissively of the term "higher power" for dealing with addiction. He said deliverance comes from Jesus.

Evangelist Fernandez

Fernandez was in the pulpit (though there was no pulpit) because the church's senior pastor was at the Niners-Packers game with his wife (I appreciated their honesty about that). Fernandez was introduced as an evangelist who had traveled the world. He began his time by singing a couple of songs, Christianized versions of Billy Ray Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart" and Al Green's "Stay Together." I'm sure Billy Ray and Reverend Al would be okay with that. (Fernandez had CD's for sale in the lobby with a collection of his pop hits with a Christian take.)

His text for the morning was Ephesians 6. He spoke about the first item of God's spiritual armor, the belt of truth. He said the "belt of truth" was the Word of God. Though, of course, just a few verses down in that passage, the Sword of the Spirit is called the Word of God. I was distracted by an awkward metaphor he used, "standing on the belt of truth." It doesn't seem like a good thing to step on your belt. (Probably shouldn't make a big deal about this, but I have written a book about the Armor of God. Sure, it was a kids' book, but still...)

Spiritual Warfare

Victory Outreach is in the Pentecostal tradition with an emphasis on spiritual warfare. The sermon began with a warning that this month of October is annually a dark time.  He claimed that the daughter of Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, is organizing other Satanists to fast and pray against Christians throughout the month and targeting Victory Outreach and its leaders.

Fernandez spoke on the need of the congregation to stand their ground, fight and move forward. He illustrated his sermon with quotes from "Rocky Balboa," the sixth in the Rocky series. He did quite capable impressions of both Rocky and Paulie. He also pointed to Kim Davis and the victims of the recent Oregon shooting as people who have stood their ground for their Christian faith.

The sermon ended with an altar call, and I was inspired to see approximately a dozen people go forward to make a first time commitment to Christ. Of course, it was difficult to differentiate between those people who were making that commitment from those who went to pray with them. We saw several people "slain in the spirit" during the second altar call (which Wikipedia defines as "a form of prostration in which an individual falls to the floor while experiencing religious ecstasy"). The group who came forward that time were seeking deeper commitment, healing, or prayer.

We first heard about this church from one of Mindy's co-workers. He wasn't there at the 10:00 am service because he's now helping out with the church's Sunday afternoon Spanish language service. There is also a Thursday evening service and a youth service on Wednesdays (called G.A.N.G. for "God's Anointed New Generation.")

Signs and Wonders

We've themed this month with "Signs, Wonders and Miracles." One of the greatest miracles in the world is a life changed for the good, and we're happy to report that Victory Outreach has plenty of examples of this kind of wonder.

-- Dean

Statistics:

Service Length: 2 hours 27 minutes (plus prayer time before the service)

Sermon Length: about an hour

Visitor Treatment: greeters at the door recognized we were new and asked if we were first time visitors. They made sure we went to the welcome table inside the door. The man and woman at the table gave us the visitor's packet ("there's a snack and some information") which had a couple candies, two cards about the youth program, two cards with worship times and information for English and Spanish services, and a CD introducing the church. The woman at the welcome table gave us a visitors' card to fill out, and Dean and the man had a long conversation about why we were visiting and about the ministries of the church. During the service, visitors' names were mentioned during the greeting time.

Followup by Tuesday Morning: none*

Our Rough Count: 125

Probable Ushers' Count: 150

Snacks: coffee, water, probably tea and other drinks, with donuts and pastries for sale (I think) before the service; those things as well as burritos or chile rellenos for sale afterward.

Musicians: 7 singers (female, one leading worship), 2 singers (male), electric guitar (male), 2 electric bass (male and female), drums (male), keyboard (male)

Songs: New Creation

            It's Because of You

            The Lover of Your Presence

            The Great I Am

            solo: Heaven is Waiting for You

Miles to place: 7 miles

Total California Miles: 13,007

* On Wednesday morning, we received a very nice "glad you visited, hope to see you again" email from the church. 

Miracles, Signs and Wonders Month

"I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12, Holman Christian Standard Bible)

So according to what Jesus says in this verse, we should see some pretty amazing things happening in the Church. We could hope to see physical healing, storms stop, and even the multiplication of wine. But in many American churches today, the only wonder is wondering when the sermon will end (as people search for the exit sign). Sadly, there are churches that inflict pain, stir controversy and build the desire for drink. There are even theologians who speculate that miracles were only meant to be a part of the beginnings of the Church. But we don't believe that. 

We take Jesus at His word. We believe He is still at work through His people, doing some pretty cool stuff. As the song says, God's not dead, He is alive. And He is at work.

This month, we'll be visiting churches that are said to still have wondrous things taking place. Lives are being changed, God's voice is heard, and miracles happen. We hope, of course, to see such things happen, but if nothing else, we hope to talk to trustworthy witnesses of such things.

Just as God promised wonders to Moses (Exodus 3:20) to change the hearts of the Egyptians, we believe God can and will work to change hearts today. In the words of the great Mike (and his Mechanics), all's we need is a miracle.

-- Dean