Worship Life Calvary Chapel.... is born

On November 8, 2010 I received a letter from Calvary Chapel Outreach Fellowship welcoming Roxie and myself and Worship Life Calvary Chapel into the Calvary Chapel family. This is such a blessing and a milestone in life of our church. As I look back on the history of our birth, I see the hand of the Lord. Just a couple of things come to my mind...



1. In June of 2009 Bill Stonebraker of Calvary Chapel Honolulu prophesied that we would be pastoring a church within the year.



2. In July of 2009 we were ministering at a couples retreat with John Milhouse from Calvary Chapel Moreno Valley. On Saturday morning, the speaker said he had a word from the Lord. He said the Lord is looking for a man to birth a new work through and he pointed his finger at me and said... Holland, You are the man... you are the man!!! We were shocked.



3. In November of 2009 Bob Botsford prayed Lord give Holland one option... close every door, but one. When I resigned from Ocean Hills, I had two booking agents and gave them a list of 100 churches that wanted me to come lead worship for them. One church in particular needed someone the coming Sunday. They came back after a couple days and said... no one wants you!!! Doors closed. I went back to Nashville to explore the possibility of starting a new record company with some very well known and well connected people... but I didn't sense that God was leading me towards that. Doors closed. I turned to my wife and I said... what about the possibility of starting a church. She said... I thought that's what we were doing... let's go for it. That was the open door.



4. In December 1994, Larry Randolph and Tim Sherman prophesied over Roxie and myself over 26 years ago in our second year of marriage that God would call us to pastor a church in the later years of our life. It was a very detailed prophecy that basically told us in advance the major events that would occur with regards to ministry. We've watched God fulfill His word to us over the past 26 years in stunning accuracy and detail. The part that struck us was a part that said... "when the cave of Adullam comes, I will give you the strength to run my son... Saul is not a part of you." In August of 2009, the pastor of the church where I was serving announced that they would start a study on the life of Saul and David in 1 Samuel in the fall. Roxie looked at me and said... the cave of Adullam is coming, you will be gone from here by the end of the year. She was right. On the night that we held our first Bible study as Worship Life Calvary Chapel, the pastor taught on the cave of Adullam. The Cave of Adullam came!!! And God had give us the strength to run with integrity and grace. The second part said... Saul is not a part of you. In my final meeting with the pastor it was told to me that my home church would not support my wife and I in any way or have anything to do with Worship Life or anything we ever did. We received no financial help, no prayer, no encouragement, no severance... we were left with nothing. We were not surprised, because God had told me that this would be done to us 2 years previous. It was God's plan. It was very painful and a dark time for us. But it was clear, Saul is not a part of us.



5. I went back to my pastor for counsel - Pastor Chuck Smith... In December of 2009 I met with Pastor Chuck and he gave us the blessing to start a Calvary Chapel... he said "go for it" and prayed for us that God would raise up a ministry in San Clemente that would preach and teach God's Word. That is our prayer for Worship Life. CCOF confirmed God's call in us in November 2010. We are a church plant from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.



6. Since then God has blessed us with equipment, trailers, the support of local pastors, sound systems, a congregation of people who love the Lord, great partners in ministry... it truly is a work of the LORD... a work of the Spirit and we are in awe of what He is doing. The first church to pray for us and bless us was Calvary Chapel Moreno Valley with Pastor John Milhouse. Crossline Church donated to us all their used portable church equipment so we could do church in a box and also prayed for us and sent us with a blessing.



7. In August of 2010, a random guy prophesied over us at a coffee house. I don't know if there is a sign over us that says... pray for us and give us a word from God.... but it happens a lot. The man said... it takes 9 months to birth a baby... in 9 months you will be born and told us some things that would happen in our first year... which I hold close to my heart. 9 months is 36 weeks... 40 weeks is a complete pregnancy... in week 38 we were informed that our articles of incorporation were accepted, our non-profit status granted and our church was accepted into the family of Calvary Chapels... a church was born in 9 months.



All this happened because we surrendered our lives to Romans 12:1,2 - the theme verse for Worship Life...



I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.



How awesome it is to see God's word fulfilled through our lives as we simply live according to the scriptures.