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Q. What is your present
place in the body of Christ?
A. At this time, it appears
to me that I am called to be an exemplary role model to others and a
support to my wife. I enjoy teaching my brothers and sisters from
the Word of God and praying with them but, because I am working in
the secular marketplace, I am unable to do as much of that as I
would like. Sue has a much larger role in The Pool Ministries and,
at this time, spends more time than I do praying with people.
I have an intimate
relationship with the Lord and with my wife. We communicate closely
about all we do.
I think one of my functions
in the body is to simply provide a model for others to follow. What
is a Christian man, father, husband? There is a lot of confusion
about that and I believe God wants me to walk out those roles with
integrity, guided by Him, as an example to others.
Q. Your wife seems to have a
bigger place in this ministry than you do. Does that bother you?
A. Well, it has made me
question my value. But as I have looked back at all the years of
ministry to evaluate the fruitfulness of it, I have found that some
of my ministry activities were very fruitful and some were all about
me performing in the church. To me, if I’m not in the Spirit’s flow
and making a difference, all my hard work is just a waste of time.
So I have come to this conclusion: It is better for me to flow with
the Holy Spirit than it is for me to be important in the eyes of
others.
I’ve heard a statistic that
70% of the Christian church is female. If that’s true, why is there
such male dominance in Christian leadership? Wouldn’t a woman be
better equipped to minister to another woman’s spiritual and
emotional needs? I guess you can see that I don’t have a problem
with my wife, or any other woman, being in ministry.
Q. I understand that your
church meets in homes and not in a traditional church building. Why
don’t you work with a local pastor?
A. I think one of the
greatest needs in the body of Christ is community. With people
coming to my house weekly and calling almost daily, it’s very
difficult to hide what’s going on in my life or what’s happening in
theirs. Paul said he hoped his example of reverence for God was
manifest in other’s consciences (1 Corinthians 4:2). How can other
people have such an example to follow without intimacy?
We have to lay down our lives
for one another and serve one another out of love (1 John 3:16). In
a viable spiritual community like ours there is an accountability
which is incomparable to that of the traditional church. There’s
little opportunity for a secret double life. I have found that many
traditional church pastors are uncomfortable being that transparent.
And, often, they are ill-equipped to effectively minister to the
woundedness in their own hearts much less in the hearts of others.
Thus, there is a tendency to sweep problems under the rug. This is
unhealthy and does not provide a safe environment in which people
can heal.
Q. What training/experience
qualifies you to be a church leader/minister?
A. Sue and I are ordained,
of course. But, in my opinion, that does not qualify us for much
beyond performing weddings and funerals. So here’s a little of my
history.
To begin with I have been
saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit since 1973. Since then I’ve
always had an intimate, growing relationship with God and always
have been very involved in some type of ministry.
During my early years at
Jesus People Church in Minneapolis, I served mainly as an altar
minister and follow-up counselor, but also as a Sunday
school/children’s church teacher. I attended many evening Bible
classes, including some in the area of
deliverance and biblical prophecy, taught by Earl Quinell
and Frank McLaughlin, respectively. Earl and Frank were both
missionaries under Danny Ost before joining Jesus People Church. I
was trained in deliverance by Earl and ministered deliverance with
him and other team members, which eventually led to me heading my
own deliverance team for a brief time before moving to Alabama in
1979.
I have served in many
capacities, including teaching adult classes, as a deacon, on staff
as an assistant pastor and as a coordinator of broad-reaching
evangelistic outreaches. During the 1980s, I organized, trained and
supervised the altar ministry for an area-wide Nicky Cruz crusade
and later for an area-wide Youth With A Mission outreach in
Millbrook, Alabama. I also worked with John Williams in prison
ministry for three years as a song leader and preacher. Later, I
played guitar in a church worship band for extended periods of time.
In 1988, I moved to Tuscaloosa and married Sue. While at New
Covenant Church, Sue and I started a youth group, which we directed
for about 7 years. Previous to this, Sue had been the children’s
pastor. When we stepped down from youth ministry, we served together
as children's’ pastors along with another married couple, Michael
and Ernestine Giles. Sue and I were also event coordinators at New
Covenant. In 2002, Sue and I felt led by the Holy Spirit to leave.
Later that year, we became
members of New Beginning Family Worship Center in Northport.
Together and separately, Sue and I taught weekly classes during our
two-year stay. Depending on the subject matter, classes we
team-taught lasted from 4 to 10 weeks and covered subjects such as
Renewing the Mind, How to Hear
the Voice of God, and More Effective Ministry Through Personality
Types. I also researched and solo taught two seminars entitled
Understanding Islam and Winning Muslims to Christ. We left New
Beginning in February of 2005.
Since then, a group of
people come to our house each week for what they consider church. A
number of them tithe to the ministry. In earlier years within the
traditional church I had been a cell group leader a couple times.
But this group considers itself a church, meeting on its own merit.
Q. What direction do you see
the Lord leading The Pool Ministries?
A.. I don’t really know.
Since we didn’t start The Pool by our own volition, I find it hard
to declare what the Lord is going to do with the ministry. Sue
teaches via the internet, and she travels to teach and minister. She
teaches classes locally and meets with the other Poolers for group
prayer ministry and
generational deliverance.
It just seems that we are
supposed to pass along to others what God has given us (II Timothy
2:2). We try to learn as much as we can from other ministries and
put into practice what the Holy Spirit says is specific for us. In
any case it seems to me that The Pool is going to continue to be a
nurturing, inner healing and
deliverance ministry. Whatever we do, we want it to originate from
Holy Spirit and be biblical. |
