Bible Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma. The pastor's witness of the Holy Ghost acting through his life was his personal cure, by transformative Grace, of a triad of self- destructively sinful addictions: alcohol, gambling and promiscuity. Self-chosen and self-declared, he now served this two and a half year old growing congregation of over 200, mostly young, working families. The young men in attendance at the warehouse church were in shirts and ties, very unlike the more casual garments of even dressy occasions in Southern California at that time. Women were dressed simply and modestly. Most of the children were in Sunday school in a small neighboring store in the strip mall during the adult service. The few that accompanied their parents were remarkably well behaved | was told that most
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families tithed 10% of their income. They quoted Hebrews, “...king of the righteous...to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all....” They believed that their tithe would be returned manifold and the yellow Cadillac Deville served as Pastor Carl Austin’s personal evidence. From these funds, the congregation supported the pastor, his car, the rental expenses of the Sunday warehouse church and an orphanage in a small Mexican border town. Some of these children, several neurologically disabled, were bussed to the Sunday service for healing. They sat together in a section in the front of the congregation and were the beneficiaries of the second Sunday collection plate, passed around after the first one that was designated for the church and its pastor.
The first Sunday sermon | heard in the warehouse followed several awkward minutes of Pastor-directed warm up hugs of neighboring strangers while the choir sang hymns. The songs were accompanied by instruments playing the melody in unison sans harmony, and accented by the beats of two loud drums. As the volume and pace of singing increased, | saw several episodes of ecstatic looks and fainting, dying in the Lord and shouts of praise with upraised hands. The intermittent elevation of the hands during prayer and song appeared to be spontaneous. | was told that the arms were up as antennae, feeling the energy of Lord all around us.
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The pastor’s topic was forgiveness. From Ephesians, “...let all bitterness, wrath,
anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, along with all malice... be
kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ
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