Monday, August 13, 2007

power invasion ministries

Yesterday while biking along the Platte River trail here in Denver I saw a building that scared the hell out of me. It's a fortress-like concrete edifice, nearly circular in shape, located in a barren industrial area. Two large signs on the building identify it as the home of "Power Invasion Ministries," with a King Arthurish sword-and-shield logo. Of course I had to Google it when I got home from my ride -- was this really a church, and if so, who or what were they invading with their power? And why were they located in what looked like a fallout shelter to be used in case of industrial accidents?

I found their website (which includes the breathtakingly candid slogan "Desperate people, desperate for God"), and it answered my first two questions. Apparently, the "power" part comes from Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” They don't cite a biblical verse mentioning an "invasion," but their mission in that regard is spelled out pretty bluntly. The Power Invasion folks apparently believe they have been

[a]ppointed and anointed by His Power to Invade [sic] the greater metro area of Denver by uprooting, tearing down, destroying, and overthrowing the power of darkness; and called to build and plant a new foundation.

Invade, uproot, tear down, destroy, overthrow -- wow, those are some strong verbs. I suppose that's the point, but like the ministry's building, its intentions scare the hell out of me. These people would like nothing better than to see people like me either converted to (their particular brand of) evangelical Christianity or driven out of town. These same people are on the pulpit every Sunday denouncing the spread of ideas they find dangerous -- including, I'm sure, fundamentalist Islamists, whose ambitions exactly parallel their own. One recent Power Invasion sermon (by "Pastor Randy") was titled "What you Tolerate May Destroy You." In a free society, I am reluctantly willing to tolerate the existance of groups like Power Invasion Ministries. But I really hope their Pastor Randy was wrong about the destruction part.

8 comments:

Snow White said...

Wow - you are extremely misinformed.

I drive to Denver every week to go to that church - I have never encountered a more loving, accepting group of people in my life. Homeless people stinking to high heaven and doused in alcohol walk through those doors on a regular basis and they are not "attacked." Nobody rushes up to them and starts trying to force a Bible down their throat. They are just available to pray with them and love on them if they want it.

The church is also extremely diverse - people from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds go there. There's even one woman who goes there who was the only one in her family to survive the genocide in Rwanda.

But one thing is for sure: this church does means business. It is unacceptable to them that one person walks through those doors and doesn't get the help they need - whether it's prayer, a hug or real financial and physical assistance. And their outreaches don't involve barging into people's homes and choking them until they accept Christ. Their outreaches seek to help eliminate the poverty and suffering that goes on in Denver.

And yes, if you tolerate a drug addition, it will destroy you. If you tolerate an abusive husband, that will also destroy you. As someone who actually heard that sermon I can tell you that it has nothing to do with eliminating the freedom we enjoy in this great country of ours.

Perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions and be willing to verify your facts before you begin to advertise them.

That is all.

josephdreamer said...

I know Pastor Randy Scott to be a very compassionate individual who loves Jesus Christ with all of his heart and life. He really wants to set captives free and to glorify God totally.
Joseph

Anonymous said...

Attended~
Woe to those who would be deceived
in the last days...

Anonymous said...

Come by sometime, we would love to meet you and talk with you.

Anonymous said...

I once decided to attend a service at power invasion(I still don't get the invasion part of their name either..) and their outreach just to get an idea of what they were about. To be honest I met many people there who seemed genuinely in love with God, and I don't think their goal is to take people by force, however I was also a bit upended by people's promises of what God would do, treating miracles as if they were going to happen beyond a shadow of a doubt,I believe in miracles,and having faith that they can happen, but not giving God room in the situation? cmon, He is God afterall and will do whatever he wants,it appeared as if some of them were trying to control God's power like it was their own,like trying to order God, not asking Him, I recall one individual telling a person on the street in their outreach that God was going to make their business really successful, and other such promises, that can be incredibly misleading to the faith and draw people away, especially if its a false promise, I can't say I didn't feel a great heaviness when their guest speaker started "healing" people and they were falling over, me and my friend immediately left, feeling the weight of darkness leave us after we left the building and prayed to God.I won't judge their hearts for I don't know them, perhaps I am just lacking in faith or have things to learn, yet I know what I felt and saw on those days,I think power Invasion has some great people, and I know some of them truly love God, many of them were very welcoming and loving, their outreach was also a very wonderful thing for helping and loving others, many of the people there do walk the walk and not just talk the talk. but through it all I am just trying to be discerning, careful, as every believer should be, I hope they are all blessed, God knows their hearts after all and will do what he needs to do, just as he knows mine, and perhaps I will give it another visit in the time to come.

Anonymous said...

People in every church should operate in miracles on a regular basis. Jesus gave us both power AND authority to invade the kingdom of darkness.Luke10:19 Look at the book of Acts. The disciples understood their authority to heal the sick people and destroy the works of evil.
Joseph.

Connie said...

i,d rather talk in Person to Pastor Randy Scott.but since he never returns calls i will give my concerns here,Pastor Randy you tell people to let you know if there interested in ministry and talk to you about it, and so we do and you never call back,i,m involved in ministry and i wanted to ask you to cover me in in,and i also asked if i could do a ministry for abused woman and you said yes but i never got a call back,other people said the same thing was done to them,so i suspect the only ones allowed to do ministry there is a click.so God has blessed me with anather ministry but if i tell you about it you wont let me or cover me, so i,m thinking of leaving the church,i need you to be honest.this is so wrong.

Anonymous said...

Connie,

You hit the nail on the head!!! "Click"!!!
You'll get a call IF you have something he needs or wants!
But to be supported in a ministry outside of him, you have to be one of the, favored ones, the no questions asked, yes sir , whatever you say sir bobble-heads or it isn't going to happen! God forbid you be independent!
Many ministries have been spiritually aborted there and, when someone leaves, he slanders them, why?

#1). No one questions why they left so his true self will not be exposed.
#2) They won't have a chance to be successful in a new church!

Good luck!