Today the United States of America celebrates her freedom from authoritarian leaders, who rule without representation, and grab at power without a second thought for the powerless. July 4th proclaims liberty to those who would seek self-determination, free from the shackles of political tyrants and unjust systems of governance. And I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom lately.
This past weekend, I was in Oklahoma for my first Western Region Conference. The conference was in Moore, OK, just south of Oklahoma City, at The Remnant Church of God, and from Thursday through Saturday, there was worship, fellowship, food, a scavenger hunt around OKC, and plenty of excellent messages delivered and received by ministers working diligently for the Lord. Let me extend a special thank you to The Remnant Church of God for wonderful worship, kind hospitality, and truly excellent food!
I met and spoke to pastors and church families I’d never met and then I had the opportunity to learn about the history of their churches, which are more than 100 years old, like Natural Dam Church of God. I was showed a picture of a family of the church who, in the early 1900’s had an outdoor wedding, situated atop the titular “Natural Dam”. Or the many portraits of the Leadwood Church of God, hand drawn by a daughter of the church.
With about 4 million people in the state, and with an area of about 70,000 square miles, Oklahoma has a very low population density. With approximately 55 people per square mile, OK is about 1/6th as dense as Ohio, the state I live in. With such expanse, and so few people, there is a great sense of freedom in the western portion of the United States. Miles and miles of rolling hills and open countryside. Unquestionably, it was the land of opportunity, and with new towns springing up all over the place, there was much opportunity for pastoral work too.
On the other hand, when one thinks about freedom and liberty in the Western part of the country, you’ll be smacked in the face by names like “Osage”, which refers to the Osage Nation. A Native American people group who were forcefully moved from their homes in Kansas to Oklahoma. And when it was found that the land the government had placed them on was oil rich, the Osage people were accosted by all sorts of crime, including fraud and murder, by other Americans who wanted the wealth under their soil.
Of course, the conference was also visited by the powerful John Winebrenner who, not looking a day over 227 years old, reminded us of what our movement was about and for, namely, the preaching of the gospel to the destitute, for the purpose of genuine live change and eventually societal change toward Jesus Christ.
Once the conference was over, we had one more stop to make before we got back on our plane bound for Ohio. We drove 2 hours on Sunday morning northwest of Tulsa to an inconspicuous place called the “Boars Nest”. The Boar’s Nest is a bar and it has been around for decades, serving patrons who frequent Skiatook Lake and locals in the depopulated North of the state.
When we arrived a little before 10 A.M., cars were already starting to pull up to the small bar building, but like us, they weren’t there to drink. They were there to worship.
We walked in through a propped open door to a group of smiling faces that had apparently been anticipating us, and had announced as much on their Facebook page (is this the first time that General Conference staff were publicly welcomed into a bar by the bar staff?)
We took our place at the bar top, the taps within arm’s reach, and sat atop comfy barstool chairs. Lovers had written their names with chalk all over the ceiling. The air smelled like smoke and liquor. The floors were just a little sticky from the years of spilled alcohol that is difficult to fully clean up. And behind the bar top, row upon row of alcohol lined the shelves. You know, a bar.
But at the far side of the bar where the TV would normally be playing a sports game, a pastor was standing behind a small podium, with a laptop ready to play a worship music play list, and a bible in his hand. And everyone in the bar at 10 A.M., had their own Bible too. Everyone was there to sing to that music, listen to his sermon, and engage the word of God.
20 people, most of which had never stepped foot in a normal church building before, and a few who refused to ever step foot in another, had willingly submitted themselves to the discipleship of a pastor who met them at the bar. They sang hymns and Hillsong music. They read from their leather-bound bibles, and they “amen’d” at all the right parts. They even brought doughnuts (like any good church) for others to share. They were friendly, welcoming, cordial, and excited.
The group of believers call themselves “The Church of the Living God”, and every week, they meet at the bar at 10 A.M. for a worship service. It’s a name they picked out for themselves after searching the scriptures for a biblical name for a church. Winebrenner would be proud of them.
2 years ago, Pastor Jerry Harper received a call from the owner of the Boar’s Nest. A patron was having a cardiac event, and the man refused to be taken to the hospital until Pastor Jerry came to help him get right with the Lord. Pastor Jerry had served as a pastor in our denomination for more than 30 years and was retired, but he was more than willing to show up. After praying with the man, the bar owner admitted that, while he didn’t want anything to do with church, and wasn’t a believer, he appreciated what Jerry did for his customer.
As Jerry and his wife Patty tell it, they challenged the bar owner. He didn’t want to step foot in a church, but if he really appreciated what the Harper's had done, he’d let Jerry and Patty hold a church service in the bar on Sunday mornings when the bar was closed. He agreed.
2 years later, the church that meets in a bar has grown, from a couple of people to almost 20. On the day we showed up, they had 3 new guests (not including us). After the service, Patty showed us how the Bar owner and another member were baptized in the river (and the fish literally started jumping out of the water when the men came up). There’s an amazing story of Holy Spirit-powered transformation happening at this church and among these people.
Today is our nation’s independence anniversary. A day where we celebrate American ideals like liberty and freedom. For many American’s July 4th is a day to show loud patriotism; the stars, the stripes, and the colors. For other American’s July 4th rings hollower, as many recognize that the those fighting for representation didn’t fight for the representation of all. It would take almost 100 years for freedom to be purchased for many Americans, and another 100 years, multiple constitutional changes, and more for true liberty to be had for other Americans.
But, this past Sunday, while gathering with The Church of the Living God, which just so happens to meet in a local bar, I was reminded of what true freedom looks like. Men and women with genuine addictions and struggles were bound tight to sin, but now, each Sunday they celebrate their freedom. Jesus Christ, in his transforming power, has loosed this Church from the chains that bind and hold. And when Pastor Jerry Harper spoke to those people about parables of the Prodigal Son, and how joyous all of heaven is for one lost person who find freedom and redemption in grace, I wept in a bar for the first time.
It's probably worth mentioning here that I don't drink alcohol.
CGGC eNews—Vol. 19, No. 27
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