God is so great! He can so easily take a small "David" church, give it a huge "Goliath" task and make it work.

Our "David" church

Our church, First Southern Baptist Church, is relatively small and more traditional than other churches in the Springs. To be honest, we probably look a little stale to outsiders sometimes. We smile and we're friendly, but most of us are inward worshipers.

We're incredibly close-knit. The love of God is so obvious within each of our members, and we've been called to outwardly express His love more than once this year between the tragedies, crises, and miracles we've seen.

We do what we can for our community, but we've never taken on something so huge before.

Our "Goliath" task

Ever hear of the Power Team? Perhaps calling them "those big guys who break stuff" would ring a bell? That's what they do. They break stuff: cement blocks, blocks of ice, and bats (the wooden ones, not the animals). They can lift telephone poles, rip whole phone books in half, and even break out of locked handcuffs, things that make the Hulk's tee-shirt-ripping gig just look plain wimpy.

These men, many of them weighing over 300 pounds, use the strength of God to give testimony to Him. They've been all over the world and on all the major news networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN.

They work in schools too, covering all the hot topics: teen suicide, teen pregnancy, drugs and alcohol abuse, violence and gangs, and even the importance of getting good grades.

I've heard a few stories from various people who have seen the Power Team in action. I heard one story about a performance at a high school. There was a man there who was the football coach, and had been the star player on the team when he attended that high school. He was sitting right up front watching one of the Power Team members perform a certain task he had done probably hundreds of times. This task was to break out of locked hand-cuffs.

This man of strength tried repeatedly to break these bonds but couldn't. He finally stopped and said he needed some help. He pointed to the coach and asked him to come and join him on stage.

The strong man probably said something like this: "I've done this a hundred times. But, for some reason I just can't today. Sometimes we need help from Someone outside, because we can't do it all on our own. Today I can't break these chains, so I need you to unlock them for me." The coach unlocked the hand-cuffs and accepted Christ right there.

God even used the physical weakness of this incredibly strong man to lead someone to Him.

I'm sure there are thousands of stories like these, and hopefully thousands more to come.

Making it work

Hosting an event like the Power Team Crusade isn't easy. It takes a lot of time and work and money! It's amazing to see how God has provided for this event with manpower and finances. I've seen lives transformed among people in our church just watching the miracle of all of this actually coming together (and I admit to being one of those newly revived)!

For example, in the beginning, we didn't have any schools that could book the Power Team because of money. We said "Okay God... make it happen, please?" And He did! We booked nine assemblies in a matter of only a few weeks, all because God brought in the financial means.

Gathering all the supplies for the Power Team to destroy and advertising costs have been among the most expensive, but God has continually opened doors and provided opportunities and avenues for us to collect those items and to get the word out.

Our church really is a "tiny David" in the grand scheme of things. There are several other churches that are bigger and "stronger" in the manpower and financial departments, but none of them got the Power Team. We did. We said, "We can do it!" God has used us to host the Power Team, the Power Team to knock on the doors of those who are seeking Christ all over town, and this event to make us realize that the power is in God.

You're invited! The Power Team will be performing at First Southern Baptist Church (on the corner of Palmer Park and Uintah) November 15th - November 19th at 7 p.m. nightly, with an additional show November 19th at 10:30 a.m. There are no tickets to buy, just a suggested $2 donation at the door. For more information call 633-4625.