As Real Life Church hosts its 10-year anniversary party this week, I’m of course nostalgic.
And amazed.
In this last decade, I’ve witnessed miracles, watched God lead, seen people’s hearts turn towards him, taken part in hundreds of baptisms, participated in a church that cares for the poor, and grown more in love with Jesus.
I remember when we met in the park that first morning with no intentions of forming a church. I gave a brief Bible study at what I thought might be a goodbye gathering. We thought there might be 40 people there that morning. There were 140. My friend Bryan stood up at the end without warning and announced, “We don’t feel like this movement should die. We feel like it should be a church. And Jim has agreed to stay!”
Jim had agreed to no such thing. But that’s how we launched.
Three weeks later, we were meeting in the Sandburg gymnasium. There were so many people that first Sunday that I began the service by saying, “It looks like we’re going to need to go to two services!”
I stood up to do the closing blessing at the end of the service, and I said words that I had been saying for a long time at the end of services: “And now may God our Father, who calls you to real life….” We had dubbed the new church “Real Life Church” without me realizing that had been part of my closing words for years.
The most powerful memory I have from that year came from a Bible study we held in a rented classroom at Azusa Pacific University. We were reading the book of Acts. I asked the group of maybe 30 people, “Why don’t we see more miracles today the way they did back then?”
A man in the front row raised his hand. “Jim, I think God wants me to pray for someone.” The man was a medical doctor who believed deeply in prayer.
“Great!” I said, no idea where he was going with this.
“I mean in this room right now,” he continued. “Someone can’t physically close their left hand all the way.”
So strange.
But then someone in the back row spoke up. “That’s me!” Another man explained that he hadn’t been able to close his left hand for about twenty years.
The doctor went and prayed for the injured man. Later, the injured guy described it to me this way: “Right when that guy started talking, I felt a warm sensation pass through my entire body. When he was finished, I could fully clench my left hand for the first time in twenty years.”
I was as stunned as everyone else. And yet, since then, we’ve seen miracles happen over and over again.
We were miraculously guided to a vacant church that, decades ago, had been pastored by a close friend of mine. It became our new home.
When the pandemic set in, we began taking gift cards to grocery store employees. I started volunteering weekly at a food pantry. We did curbside prayer for people who didn’t want to be in a crowd but who still needed help. And because God had provided a rental building, we were able to meet outdoors in the parking lot when many places were still closed.
In the midst of it, a little church in Glendora called us. They were unable to remain open. A few years before, we helped them when they couldn’t afford a pastor, preaching in their services, visiting their members in the hospital, and presiding at their memorial services. They offered to give us the building. We finally had a permanent home.
Because of my experiences with food pantries, someone offered to start using our campus as a drop-spot for their pantry, and the Real Life Pantry was born.
We went to Mexico to build houses for people in need.
We flooded churches in Mexico with Christmas toys for children, took thousands of diapers to women’s shelters, and supported dozens of children in developing nations. We kept doing ministry with the mindset that God’s love always has room for one more.
The long-term fruit of our baby church is starting to appear. We have sent people into full-time missions and ministry. One of our members spent two years working in a hospital in Israel. One is in full-time ministry with college students. One is doing mission work in Amsterdam. One is enrolling in seminary. Many have become Jesus-followers and now see their daily lives as a mission where God has planted them.
This year we move to expand our campus, making more room for worship and ministry. I have the feeling that the impact of Real Life Church will stretch for years and miles. Movements of the Holy Spirit are not limited and seasonal. They are life-changing and world-changing.
Thanks to every one of you who has helped build a church. Our last decade together has been the best season of my life. I’m so thankful that Jesus has brought us together.