More Nice Words from People We Have Met Along the Way...
"Pastor Steve and his team bring a truly biblical message of what it means to be intimate with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Personally, my relationship with Christ and awareness of the Holy Spirit has deepened from attending the conference and soaking prayer. Their genuineness and experience of walking intimately with the Lord enriches each session. Many thanks for all the lives you touch with God's message." --Jadi Meyer, Christ the King Church, Kingwood, Texas
"Pastor Steve and team, we have had many wonderful comments about the time you spent with us and the wonderful ministry you have. As you may remember we also had Pastor Bill Christianson spend 5 days with us looking at our church, teaching classes on pastoral care and conflict resolution. There were many tie-ins to the foundations laid out by you in truly connecting with the power of the Holy Spirit and our future as a church. We have held two prayer and share meetings where people have expressed joy over the opportunity to share the work of the Holy Spirit several saying that though they had the gift of tongues they had been afraid to tell anyone in our church about it --unbelievable but the Devil is indeed a powerful force. Thank you for the information about speaking in tongues as we have many questions and are truly trying to obey God's will for us one day at a time. As you probably know there is much distrust in our church and so we are trying to be a gentle as possible. Personally, your time with us has been like a watershed of possibilities and yet I feel so calm and confident in the power of the Holy Spirit and pray each day to simply be obedient to God's leading and direction. Today Martha, Eleanor and I are going to meet with Pastor Shane to let him know how successful the conference was and to see how he is doing. There is a lot of things happening at the church and Pastor Jay has been very careful to lead the congregation forward and direct them to have a more personal relationship with Jesus and focus on what is truly important in the life of a church. We hope you had a successful trip to Africa and are glad you are home safe and sound there is so much work for your team to do here and we pray that doors and hearts will continue to open to you." --Carol Piea, Victory Lutheran Church, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
"I was introduced to Pastor Steve Stutz and his ministry team through my own pastor when I served as a deaconess in Groves, Texas. We were interested in starting an Alpha class at our church and visited Pastor Steve to find out how he had introduced Alpha and how it was going for his church. Little did I know that meeting this group of people would change my spiritual life completely around. Over the course of time that I was in Texas, I was able to attend soaking prayer times at Good Shepherd many times. I discovered that this kind of quiet, contemplative prayer in communion with my Lord was exactly what I needed and was more meaningful to me than all of the years of formulaic prayers that I have been taught to say. The pastor of my home church was also very impressed with it, and we introduced our own version of soaking prayer at our church in Groves, which I understand is continuing even though I am no longer serving with them. Through this kind of Christian meditation, I also gained an appreciation for individual confession and absolution, which before then had been something foreign to my Lutheran upbringing. At one point there was some turmoil going on in my life, and I trusted Pastor Steve enough, through the time I'd spent with him and the others in soaking prayer, to allow him to hear my confession. What a wonderful relief it was to have him speak the words of absolution to me! And with my sin personally absolved, how much closer did I feel that night to my Lord in prayer! Circumstances have now landed me in Virginia, and in this time I remember the teaching that I received in how to still my soul and listen for God's voice, although I truly miss the community that I experienced in soaking prayer and the words of encouragement I received so many times from the members of Good Shepherd's prayer team. I truly pray that the Lord would continue to bless this and that this revival of ancient Christian spirituality would continue to take root within the Lutheran church. I don't know how "Lutheran" any of that is, but that is probably the short version of how much I gained from my short time with you in there in Texas. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU to you and Roxana and the rest of the group that I met. Over these last months I've struggled with why the Lord brought me down to Texas for such a short time, and one of the answers that I've come up with is that I couldn't have experienced this kind of spirituality anywhere else, and that the Lord meant it for my spiritual growth." --Tonya Eza, LCMS Deaconess, Nellysford, Virginia
"The teaching I've received from the Oil of Heaven team has been a true blessing for me. I've been able to develop a deeper personal prayer life and work more efficiently with my parish's healing and prayer ministry. I attended my first ‘class’ on healing prayer over two years ago and haven’t looked back since! The information and techniques I've learned have been extremely helpful in my ministry connections. To this day, I truly enjoy the complete peace and wellness I receive when I attend a soaking prayer gathering. I really appreciate the added bonus of having personal prophetic encouragement each time. This has always been enlightening and often times extremely helpful with personal matters. I try hard not to pass up any offering from this ministry as I always leave with more that what I came with." --Trish Johnston, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Friendswood, Texas
"The Oil of Heaven healing and equipping ministry has been and continues to be a blessing to both by husband and me. We have experienced God's presence, healing power, and anointing through their workshops and monthly Soaking Prayer gatherings. Oil of Heaven Ministries is simply carrying out the works that Christ intended for His body to put into action when He said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.’ (John 14: 12-13) I highly recommend them to you. To God be the Glory!" --Ruby Ruppert, Houston, Texas
"I sought out Pastor Steve and his team last year in an attempt to undo some of the lies and feelings of abandonment that resulted from the separation I experienced as a child from my biological mother and subsequent adoption. I had been living with the lie that I was a "walking mistake" - unwanted, unloved, and unworthy. These beliefs took their toll on my emotional well-being and showed up in the form of depression, loneliness, and troubled relationships. Through Theophostic Prayer Ministry, the team helped guide me to hear the voice of God regarding my past and the events surrounding my adoption. By hearing God speak to me about very specific early moments in my life, I could denounce the lies, accept His truth, and step out into the world with a free and happy heart. I've never been more at peace and I know it's a result of Theophostic Prayer Ministry, the soakings, and the individual prayers by Roxana and Pastor Steve." --Will Little, Clear Lake, TX
"I am not a Lutheran but I have attended many of the workshops and prayer meetings conducted by Pastor Steve and the Oil of Heaven team in their home church in Pasadena, TX. If you are just "thinking" about going to one of their conferences and are timid because you don't know any one -- go anyway, someone will make you feel at home. The people that are around are all friendly and they are all ages too, young and old. Sometimes people think negatively about things offered at a Church, that it's all "preachy", but not from these guys! There is a difference between Church, religion and true spirituality. Go find out what it is really about!" --Sr. Clare Benedict, OSF Secretary-General, Franciscan Order of the Divine Compassion
"Pastor, I must thank you and Roxanne for a truly wonderful weekend. I went with a lot of reservations, remember I am a doubting Thomas. But even before the Friday night introduction was over I was feeling more spiritual influence in my thinking and feeling, and by the time the weekend was over, I really feel I have had a "close encounter" with the Holy Spirit. God bless you three for the wonderful work you are doing." --David Dunckel, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Big Spring, Texas
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