Brother Bob Bew of west palm beach fla arrived and that evening (sat) spoke to the "leaders" of the various ministries of the church.he shared briefly his testamony and a little bit of how God had shown him that the Word was alive and active today.we eagerly waited for sunday morning for part two.
after the meeting mary and the wife of the assistand pastor talked to bob. he began asking about their understanding of grace.he began to sense right away that there was a foundational piece missing from the spiritual life in our church and changed his message for the sunday service to address "that way of life that Paul had been teaching in all the churches".that there is a foundational message that was taught as a basic part of faith that we totally live our lives "in Christ ,by faith".afterward several of the men and women got up and testified that this must indeed be the word we have been waiting for.that it was the "next step" that God was calling the church.
Bob was asked to stay to minister and stayed several weeks ministering this life in Christ.we still didn't quite get it but knew there was much more to living the "christian life" than we had been experiencing.there was a leak in the dam and a small trickle of water began to flow out.
Bob returned in october to minister again and the first sunday he was here there was literally an explosion in the spirit at the church.the worship was so vibrant and joyful that it nearly seemed out of control.in fact several people approached the pastor and assistant pastor and asked them to get a handle on things because it wasn't right.the pastor was going to stop it,but decided to allow the flow to continue after being encouraged by the assistant pastor, that if it was of God how could we stop it?this was the fork in the road that we had come to. take one path towards life the other away from it.
after the service grumblings began with some in the church that things had gone too far.that there was too much freedom and we'd better be careful or we would soon find ourselves out of control, and out of the spirit.the next sunday the senior pastor got up in front of the congregation and apologised for the previous sunday.that he had let things go "too far" and that if it happend again it would be stopped.
privately the decesion was made too,that bob would no longer be allowed to teach at the congregational meetings but would still be allowed to speak in the small group meetings in the homes.grace and freedom in Christ was just too controversial for our church to handle.Bob happened to be staying with us for the first week he was here and mary stayed up late(sometimes till 5 am) talking with bob about this foundational way of life and about grace and being in Christ.a small group had their spiritual eyes opened and were hungry for this word and began to draw from him and understanding of what the Word says and how we really are free from law now that we have entered into grace.i was in this group but still clueless as to what "grace" really was.all i knew was,that i wanted more than what i had seen and had a sense that if i really wanted peace in my spirit this was the path to take.i remember sitting on my couch and asking bob"so what is this "grace thing really about?"me, saved 21 years, super christian,leader of the church,didn't really understand what true grace really meant! i decided to seek this path but didn't know at the time that i would walk it for nearly 3 years before the scales would come all the way off.during that time though,there was a continued growth and desire to walk with Christ and a rest in my spirit that God was indeed in control.
at this time persecution began to come against the"grace" group within the church.bob was said to have a "demon" , that he didn't have a spiritual covering therefor he was not "under authority" so was in error in his teaching. ( i'd like to say at this point that i am not trying to puff up any one man,but that this brother is the one that brought the word to us so that is why i'm spending a littlle more time writing about him.)
even friends began to question us.one woman even came to one gathering at our home then ran to the pastor to tell him we were promoting rebellion against the church.she considered herself one of the"prophets" and when we asked her why she ran to the pastor she declared that she was one of the"watchmen on the wall".hmm, i always thought the watchmen looked outside the camp.