The McCool Twins

Young  twin evangelists Billy and Bobby McCool came the area to hold revival services in 1955.  A large tent was set up on South Broadway in town, and people came out to hear these young men sing and preach. From this tent revival, a church was born. The church moved from the tent to a small block basement on South Broadway for a more permanent place to hold church services. Across the street, a church building  was put up for sale, and the small congregation purchased the building. 1001 South Broadway was the church location for many years. In 1967, Pastor Bobby McCool felt that his time in Johnson City as Pastor was complete, and in March of that year he appointed Pastor Edward Davis to take his place. Pastor McCool and his family moved to West Memphis, Arkansas, to work with a church where they are still active today.

Bro. Davis and the congregation worked to reach out to the area and surrounding community for the next 18 years. In 1985, ground was broken and  construction began on a new church building on Cedar Grove Road, where the church is located today. Bro. Davis has now been Pastor of the ACC for 43 years, and we can never say how much we appreciate and love his devotion to this congregation.
   
Through the years there have been so many people that have played a vital role in this church that it is almost impossible to name each one. We are very thankful to be a part of a church with such rich history and a church with such far reaching effects in Pentecostal churches across the country. Dozens of ministers can look back and see their roots began with the small church they attended in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is almost unheard of for a church to still be in existence that sprang up from a small tent revival so many years ago. The Lord has always blessed the Apostolic Christian Church; we have 55 years of proof, and He is still blessing us today as we see  each time we come together in service. We have much to rejoice in as we celebrate our 55th Anniversary this year. Great things are on the horizon, and God will be with this church each and every step of the way!

Hopefully you know the story about Cornelius (Acts 10) receiving the Holy Ghost. He was the first
non-Jew that received it, making it evident that the promise of the Holy Ghost was for the Gentiles, as well as the Jews. Peter was there when it happened.

Something that major is never going to go unnoticed. Chapter 11:1 tells us that the brethren (other believers) heard that the Gentiles received the Holy Ghost, and that Peter had been in their house, and ate with them. Chapter 11 gives us the details of Peter’s defense.

As with a legal case there were three major things that took place.

1) The accusation (11:1-3)
The response on the part of Jewish Christians was mixed. The expression circumcised believers used (also used in 10:45) evidently describes Christians who still held to the Law of Moses (cf. 15:5; 21:20; Gal 2:12).

The accusation lodged against Peter was that he went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them. The primary problem was not his preaching to Gentiles but his eating with them. This gives even greater significance to Peter’s vision (Acts 10:9-16). Eating with someone was a mark of acceptance and fellowship. This problem could have caused a serious break in the church.

1 Cor 5:11
But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

2) The Defense (11:4-17)
Peter saw that a potentially dangerous situation was possible, but that it could be avoided.

Acts 11:4
But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning…

Peter recounted to the circumcised believers in Jerusalem briefly what had occurred, including his vision, his response to it, and the trip to Cornelius’ house. In recounting what happened next, Peter made an important identification of the day of Pentecost with the Lord’s prediction of Spirit baptism. The Church Age, then, began on the day of Pentecost. Peter’s defense did not rest on what he himself did, but on what God did. God had made no distinction between Jew and Gentile, so how could Peter?

Acts 11:17
Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

Peter didn’t start explaining why He did what he did, and start an argument; he showed them that it was what God did, not what he did. If you manufacture it, you will pay for it, if God manufactures it, He will pay for it.

ALWAYS DO IT GODS WAY – That way if things go south, and you end up having to defend yourself you can know that you did what you were supposed to do, and if your accusers have a problem with it, they can take it up with Him!

Acts 5 gives us another example of doing it God’s way. The disciples were on trial for preaching the Gospel. When the priests sought to kill them, a wise man named Gamaliel brought up a very good point.

Acts 5:38-39
And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: 39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.

3) The acquittal (11:18)
With Peter the saints recognized that the conversion of Gentiles was initiated by God and that they should not stand in His way. This response had two ensuing and significant results. First, it preserved the unity of the body of Christ, the church. Second, it drove a huge wedge between Church-Age believers and temple-worshipers in Jerusalem. Notice how a potentially large argument and church split was avoided, in a very professional manner.

Peter was wise in how he handled the situation. Would we have done the same thing? Or would we have flew off the handle as soon as we heard we were being a accused? Would we have taken time to potentially explain everything without taking sides? Would we have realized that God’s Will is better than our will even if we don’t understand it?

We should model our lives on the patience that Peter displayed. There is a reason Jesus gave him the keys to the Kingdom, after all.

“Aint no rock gonna cry in my place
as long as Im alive Ill glorify His holy Name
Hes the One who came and died on the Cross
So you better recommend Him as your Boss
Im in this world to surrender my soul to Jesus Christ
whom I know sacrificed His Flesh and Body
and died for our sins
got nailed by His hands and Feet by three pins
chica-what!”

As a real estate agent, I get to go in a lot of houses. Some are very nice, some are not so very nice, and some are just plain weird. I have seen basements with cardboard boxes stapled to the ceiling in place of ceiling tiles, a still, and even a room with a large black spot painted right smack in the middle of a wood floor.

But the saddest house I have shown was in Colonial Heights. It looked pretty from the road: a pretty painted exterior with a nice yard in a great neighborhood. It was only upon closer inspection that warning signs started appearing. There were more weeds than landscaping in the front flower beds, and the front door was crooked. And then we opened the door…

You could smell the mold. It wasn’t just a faint whiff; it was STRONG. There was mold on the walls, on the windows, everywhere. This house had problems; big problems!

Jesus talked about the same kind of thing with the Pharisees. He was angry because they looked “religious” but they didn’t back it up with actions. They exalted themselves, they preyed on widows, and were pretentious in their prayers, greetings and clothes. They would split hairs about every little thing, such as what one could swear by, but left the bigger picture– charity, mercy and love, unfinished. “Woe unto you, scribe and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” Matthew 23:27

Jesus is concerned about us inside and out. He doesn’t want us to be like the house in Colonial Heights– nice on the outside, moldy on the inside.

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
I Cor. 3:16

We are God’s temples, right here on earth. As such, we have a duty to keep ourselves clean and unspotted. So how do we do it? How can we keep from getting moldy on the inside?

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalms 51:10

We pray. We read. We listen to God and let Him work in our lives. God is faithful, and will keep us all day, every day, if we let Him. He will fix our problems, even those that don’t show on the outside.

Needless to say, my client didn’t buy the house; it was too much work. I am glad that God never says that about me, and He will never say it about you, either!

Join us tonight at 7:30 pm for youth rally and 55th anniversary service! Founding pastor Bro. Bob McCool Sr. will be our guest speaker. Check our website www.aplacetobelong.us for driving directions or email wcombs@aplacetobelong.us if you have any questions! Hope to see you there!