Sweet Restoration

It is an extraordinarily powerful experience when you see the gospel played out in real life.  The people of Rivers Crossing Community Church (RC3) recently got to witness this first hand.

We all know the story of the pastor who falls.  Busyness takes over, stress sets in, and the spiritual leader finds himself acting fully in the flesh.  Anything can happen.

Such is the story of our incredibly gifted, young, budding, worship leader, Brandon Gilliam.  Brandon has lead many hearts to Jesus as an anointed and talented musician.  Rivers Crossing has enjoyed the fruit of the Spirit pouring through Brandon in original as well as popular worship songs.

No one is impervious to the lies of Satan.  Brandon got busy doing many good things, but in his own strength.  Satan got his foothold and temptation set in.  Brandon made a mistake. He fell.

While the church leadership could have easily slapped Brandon’s wrist and swept the dirt under the rug, what I saw was RC3’s top leaders bowing to the authority of God.  Sometimes following God can flow against our very human nature.  For our lead pastor, it was like letting his own son go. 

Hebrews 4:12 NIV

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

The staff lost a family member and RC3’s people grieved as Brandon was terminated.  Brandon addressed the church in a video testimony, admitting what he had done and submitting to the elders’ discipline.

While it is common for humans to fail, it is not often you see God’s discipline displayed properly in reality.  God disciplines those whom He loves.  He does this for our good, for our salvation and deliverance.  He knows what is best and what will reach the heart of every man.  Because RC3’s leaders understand this, they were able to present the situation in such a way that Brandon and his family were able to stay at our church during this terribly difficult time.  Our people embraced Brandon and loved him through his failure.

Immediately the church started a massive search for a new worship leader.  Four long months RC3’s volunteers lead worship.  The church never skipped a beat.  Volunteer musicians stepped up and filled the gap.

The time came when the new worship leader was to be announced.  To our surprise and delight the lead pastor brought Brandon on stage.  We learned about Brandon’s road to restoration and how church leaders had been feeding into him over the past four months.  Brandon spoke about how the Lord has been dealing with and healing his heart.

Not a soul was untouched when our lead pastor announced Brandon has been fully restored as Worship Director of RC3.  The worship Brandon lead as a response was both powerful and authoritative.  God has indeed restored him.

I cannot communicate in words the power of the gospel in our lives.  My hope is that just hearing this story is stunning.  This is how God desires to work in your life and in mine.