The Power Team Comes to Rainbow Forest Baptist Church-- Troutville, Virginia

It was a week-long event, not to be missed. The Power Team, from Dallas, Texas, came to my home church, Rainbow Forest Baptist Church, to show their amazing feats of strength, and share their testimonies with members and visitors of the church.

I had the immense pleasure of hearing Jonathan "JC" Caldwell, from The Power Team, deliver a sermon on being "water walkers," as demonstrated by Peter in Matther 14:22-33, in the Bible. The message talked about stepping out of our comfort zones, and trusting God to lead us, when we do. The message was peppered with amusing anecdotes from JC's walk of life. This sermon spoke to my heart, and led me to the altar, to ask God to take me out of my comfort zone, and show me where He wants me to go. This is something I will never forget.

The main event took place at 7:00 PM that night. The Power Team performed their last night at Rainbow Forest. The program opened up with their manager and his helpers, drawing tickets for Power Team merchandise as prizes. Shortly after, the guys-- JC, The Beast from the East, Freight Train, and Bonzai--started showing their feats of strength. From breaking bricks with their humongous arms and bending four metal bars with their bare hands, to snapping baseball bats in half and ripping thick telephone books in half, there was something to impress everyone. In the midst of these feats, Freight Train, Willie Raines, shared his amazing testimony with us, telling us how God delivered him, and got him out of facing a 33-year prison sentence. He reminded everyone that God can always use people who have messed up.

The Power Team then honored our youth pastor, Jay Richards, by allowing him to take part in one of their feats. Pastor Jay was laid down, and a bed of many nails was placed on his chest. Then, a block of ice, weighing several hundred pounds, was laid on top of the bed of nails. Then, Freight Train swung a sledge hammer down on it all, and the ice broke in half, leaving our youth pastor in one piece.

Aside from later on, when JC took on a huge block of ice head on, and The Best from the East broke out of handcuffs, that was pretty much it for the feats of strength. The important part of the program was when JC took the stage, to read a passage from the Bible, with the message of not laying up treasures now, only to rest later, but to always have an account on our souls. The message was intended to make the audience think about where their hearts were-- with material things, and focused on things which will only last a brief time, or with their hearts set on God and what He wanted? At the closing of the message, JC gave an altar call, for those who wanted to give their lives to Jesus. A large group of people--young and old--responded to the altar call, and accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. As for the unsaved who didn't go to the altar, or give their lives to Jesus, I believe that JC planted a seed in their hearts, and that God will give it water to grown, and down the line, these people will recall this message, and give their hearts to Christ.

From the amazing feats of strength, to the incredible testimonies and messages, having The Power Team at Rainbow Forest Baptist Church, was certainly a blessing. I got to meet the guys afterwards, and that was a huge blessing, as well. These guys have amazing hearts for God, and for people they want to see come to Christ. I look forward to hearing more about the work they are doing, and hopefully, seeing them again.

*For a complete slideshow of the photos I took at this event, please visit here.*