Holy Roller has a lot of great stories of drug addicts, prostitutes, and thieves being miraculously healed in South Dallas, Texas. A man describes his calling in chapter 1: “Wherever there is a lot of depravity, sickness, and disease, there is a great harvest. I noticed there were a lot of churches in South Dallas, but there was no harvest.”
There are great tales of people’s lives being changed and being freed from the corrupt greed and adultery present in the Black Pentecostal movement. Lots of times where the Holy Spirit worked outside of somebody’s theological box, be it Petecostals or Lutherans or Catholics. There is a section in the middle that gets a little too autobiographical and tells of the authors sexual identity confusion, but as I am currently only halfway through the book I’m trusting that the story will get back to the South Dallas revival pretty soon. (I hope so, that was a much stronger, more compelling section of the book.)
This book is not a safe mall read. I started the book sitting at the mall eating Subway and at one point I was too disgusted to eat and at another I was crying like a baby. Holding back a hard core Holy and Reverent sob at the grace of God.
It’s a good book, and if you’re near me I’ll loan it in a week or so after I finish it. If not, check out the first chapter at B&N then click this link to buy it from amazon ๐
For some reason, I am having great difficulty inserting a picture here, so all you get is a text link.
Holy Roller: Finding Redemption and the Holy Ghost in a Forgotten Texas Church