Watch the Fire

T.J. Armstrong stood on the street, and there was nothing he could do about it. He watched as First Nazarene Church in Jasper burned unceasingly before his eyes. A lone water hose, python-like, stretched down the length of the driveway to the church and pumped water on the flames. Firefighters courageously engaged the indiscriminate, raging inferno that threatened to consume the entire building. Saddened onlookers took pictures on their iPhones, others prayed. Some simply stood and watched as their church burned up in the night. It was a moment where the Church (the body of Christ, not the building) threw aside its denominational differences and wept, when tragedy birthed unity.Word of the fire spread quickly throughout Walker County. Armstrong posted the following message on his Facebook page later that night: “The enemy will do everything in his power to try to hinder the work of the Holy Spirit. Heartbreaking to see the Jasper First Nazarene attacked by fire, a total loss. This was the worship center for so many. Guess what, devil? You just messed up! I remember the verse, "The glory of the latter temple will be even greater than the glory of the former temple, says the Lord Almighty" –Haggai 2:9. Victory belongs to those in Christ!”Armstrong himself knows a little something about building temples. That’s because this pastor of a new church in Walker County, New Generation Ministries, recently moved into a permanent location on Highway 78 in Jasper. New Generation is one of several Spirit-led efforts in Walker County that are shooting up like fountains. These wellsprings offer hope, grace, and mercy to those dehydrated from condemnation, spiritual perfection, legalism, or unbelief.Before planting his church, Armstrong conducted a poll about church attendance. What he saw was that most un-churched people did not attend church because they didn’t feel welcome or that they didn’t feel like they “fit in.” Armstrong sought to change that with his church. “We were led to create a place where they did fit in, where they could worship, regardless. From the homeless bum to the Pope, we all need a savior. You can’t show your love of Jesus Christ by beating them over the head with the Bible,” he says.Armstrong will tell you that his church is a little “looser” in that it doesn’t encourage sartorial perfection (or even neckties). “Come with mustard stains on your shorts. It doesn’t matter to me,” said Armstrong, who works full-time at Honda of Jasper (naturally, in the Service Department).Another church, Hope House Church, led by Pastor Thomas Martin and launched in March 2013, seeks to “reach people with the life-giving message of Jesus by restoring hope through the Good News of the Gospel.” Martin also has a day job, working at Jasper Industrial Maintenance Supply, but the nuts and bolts of his ministry are with Hope House. “Hope House exists to restore hope and lead people to experience the God-first life,” says Martin.Both churches are located in unconventional locations—Hope House conducts services at Walker High School while New Generation opened its doors beside Langley Pharmacy—but Armstrong stresses to a greater degree the work of the Holy Spirit as demonstrated in the Book of Acts. “My credentials are in the Pentecostal church. I truly believe in operating with the gifts of the spirit. The manifestation of the fruits of the spirit is to help reach unbelievers. In other words, we need to be getting out to the least of these,” says Armstrong.Armstrong has built his ministry on the bricks of the word “whosoever,” while Martin has laid his foundation on the term “hope.” Both men want to create an environment where people can have a real experience with the Living God. “Two things are hindering Walker County—drugs and religion. We started our church as an untraditional church. We don’t believe that legalism leads to holiness. We had one goal in mind—to reach the lost for Jesus Christ no matter what,” says Armstrong.In fact, Armstrong has made it clear through several social media posts that he welcomes all walks of life into his church. “We believe that if you can come judgment-free, that the Holy Spirit will begin to work on you. When you build a relationship with Christ, the Holy Spirit will clean you up. We do not condone sinful lifestyles, but it’s those lifestyles that show us that we need a Savior.”As for revival, both men have similar yet different views on what that means. Armstrong believes that true revival occurred at Golgotha. “People get caught up in praying for revival and looking for revival. Revival was poured out at the cross; it was poured out in full. We need to quit looking for signs of revival and realize that we are the revival.”Similarly, Martin believes that revival begins with people understanding their desperate need for God. “Awakening comes because a level of hunger comes to a particular region. Hunger is such that heaven is responding. God’s desire is to see that the earth looks like heaven. I believe that God is responding to our hunger. The Cane Creek, Kentucky revival, the Welsh revival, and the Brownsville revival all came from people fervently praying for Godly change in their communities. It came from years and years of people crying out to God. I do believe we are beginning to see the tell waters of revival coming into this county,” Martin says.“People are hungry for Christ. They realize they can’t do it on their own. More and more people are starting to realize that there is a higher power. The hunger from that realization along with people understanding that Jesus is the Lord and that Jesus already has brought the revival has stirred up a generation. That in itself is revival,” says Armstrong.Interestingly, Armstrong and Martin both allude to the “fermenting” or “deferring” process in their descriptions of personal faith. “There are so many people that think they are too far gone or that God has no use for them. If you go back and read about when Jesus turned water into wine, it didn’t turn back to water again. When God ferments you, He creates in you something that has power,” says Armstrong. Martin echoes Armstrong’s sentiments by saying, “We know that there are a lot of people in Walker County living the lifestyle of hope deferred and don’t know how to break the cycle in their lives. But when they meet the real Jesus, there is a hope that comes. They can see for the first time. God is awakening people’s hearts from a very tertiary relationship to fully alive with the awareness of Him in all parts of their life.”This concept of grace and mercy is also extending to the youth of Walker County. This past spring, a major youth event, IMPACT 2013, was held at First United Methodist Church in Jasper. “The theme of IMPACT 2013 was ‘It’s Not About Me’ or perhaps more specifically: JESUS CHRIST > ME,” said new Youth Minister Stuart Branstetter. Children’s Director Angie Lewis says: “The weekend was centered on John 3:30 which reads ‘He must become greater; I must become less.’ Students were encouraged to make less of themselves so that they could make more of their Creator.”This summer, attendance in Vacation Bible Schools all across the county were at unprecedented levels, such as at Saragossa Nazarene Church, where children were teleported to ancient Rome (and adults wore Roman garb and participated in chariot races). “VBS this year was called ‘Paul and the Underground Church,” said Denise Clements, VBS Director. “We had 28 kids to attend this year, many who came from outside of the church. Every night, the theme was God’s love. I feel like we reached a lot of kids.”In the Dora/Sumiton area, another man who has a day job is making plans for a youth revival. Michael Parvin, who owns his own construction company, L&M Construction, is starting a monthly youth rally called “The Warehouse”, which will kick-off next month. While Parvin has been used to building buildings, he was surprised when God led him to buy a building. “I felt God speaking to my spirit, and telling me to buy this building. I kept putting it off and putting it off, but He kept speaking to me. We want to have an outreach ministry that is church-neutral where we can present Jesus Christ. We want people to develop a relationship with Christ so he can change lives. We can’t do it ourselves,” says Parvin, a member of Sumiton Church of God.Parvin will bring in monthly speakers to encourage the youth of East Walker and beyond.Another effort, the Hope Coalition, seeks to unite believers across denominational lines. The Hope Coalition is an offshoot effort of the Life is Hope ministry, a ministry based in Walker County that has been traveling to Haiti for the last two years to care for needy children, and Hope for Women, a local women’s recovery center. Richard Lopez, owner of Millwork Supply in Jasper and who has spearheaded several trips to Haiti, hopes that members of all congregations can begin to come together through this coalition of believers.Martin hopes, too, that the church can toss aside its differences and come together as a body. “It stops being about individual churches when the people of God come together. I believe we are starting to see substantive change. We need to stop going to church and start being the church,” says Martin.In the end, Armstrong believes that Walker County has a higher calling than just mere revival. “My hope and prayer for Walker County falls back on Acts 17:6. This verse is talking about Paul and Silas and it says that ‘Those that have turned the world upside down have come here also.’ I want Walker County to be the ones that turn the world upside down. I believe that if we apply our hearts and minds, Walker County can produce and will produce enough people to win the world to Jesus Christ. I want us to be known as prayer warriors and those that go out and change the world.”Evidence of this worldwide impact was the raising of $9,000 by church members at Saragossa Nazarene to build a well in the African nation of Mali (which is largely Muslim). Walker County, believe it or not, is literally making a global impact for Christ.As Armstrong watched the church burn, light from the fire illuminated the lone church marquee sign at First Nazarene. Depicted on the sign was the descending dove and Bible; above it, an illustration of the fire of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, when most people think of fire, they think of destruction and terror; rarely do they consider the eternal-type fire that builds and rebuilds. But in Walker County, Alabama, it is precisely this type of fire that is alive, ever-raging and leopard-like through the joy and ash of life. It is the fire that will restore First Nazarene. It is a fire that will unite a community of believers, and, once it fully takes hold, will spark a revival of epidemic proportions. 78