August 2023
On August 7, 1988, Carla and I held our very first Church Service at the Lime Street Community Center in Hesperia. We were what I call, “Two kids who loved each other and who loved the Lord with all of their hearts, answering the call of God on our lives, to reach out to the High Desert, to preach and teach the ‘Word of Faith,’ and help and reach as many lost people as we could with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Well, this month it’s been 35 years, and those two kids have raised a family and pastored the Church the Lord instructed us to pastor. Over the years we have done what the Apostle Paul instructed his son in the faith (Timothy) to do and that was to “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are also called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12).
It seems just like yesterday since we answered the call. At the time I was still working at my Dairy Queen. Actually, I was very happy flipping hamburgers and making banana splits. I went on to work for 12, nearly 13 years before leaving the Dairy Queen and once again doing what the Lord instructed me to do, and that was to go into full-time ministry at the Church.
With the help of the Lord and with such a wonderful wife by my side to help me, not only with raising our 3 children, but working along with me at the Church, this month on August 6, 2023, we will be celebrating our 35th year in ministry.
Over the years we have seen a lot of changes take place in the Church World. We have seen a lot of ministers come and go. We’ve also seen a lot of so-called Christians come and go. But I can honestly tell you, that over these last 35 years Carla and I have been faithful to the call of God on our lives, and we are not looking back, nor are we looking to retirement. There are way too many hurting people in the world who we are trying to reach with the Good News of Jesus Christ, before He comes back for His Church, because time is running out!
The Apostle Paul in writing to the Church at Philippi said, “Being confident of this very thing, that He Who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). I believe this same thing! God has begun a good work at Oasis of Faith Christian Center in Hesperia, California, and He will continue to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ’s return for His Church!
I also believe that this very same thing applies to you, and all of our partners. This is why I want to encourage you to keep on fighting the good fight of faith, because God is not finished with you. And He Who begun a good work in you will bring it to pass until the day of Jesus Christ.
Just about the time you might think that things aren’t working out the way you may have wanted them to, just stick with the promises from God’s Word, He always keep His Word and He will never back away from His Covenants of Promise! There are at least 2 passages of Scripture in Psalms that mean very much to me.
First in Psalm 89:34, the Lord told David, “My Covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips.” The second is Psalm 105:8, where David, referring to the Lord said, “He has remembered His Covenant forever, the Word which He commanded to a thousand generations.” A thousand generations is a long time.
God is not finished with you, so whatever you do, don’t give up, don’t cave in, and don’t quit! God will keep His Word and His Covenant to you. I also want to encourage you to spend time each and every day, praying in the Holy Spirit, stay in faith, stay in the Word, keep speaking the right things and making the right confessions of faith, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and remember “God loves you; we love you and JESUS IS LORD!”
In the Service of Our King,
Darrell G. Harrelson
