Julie Lyons was working as a crime reporter when she followed a hunch into the South Dallas ghetto. She wasn¢â‚¬â„¢t hunting drug dealers, but drug addicts who had been supernaturally healed of their addictions. Was there a church in the most violent part of the city that prayed for addicts and got results?
At The Body of Christ Assembly, a rundown church on an out-of-the-way street, Lyons found the story she was looking for. The minister welcomed criminals, prostitutes, and street people¢â‚¬“anyone who needed God. He prayed for the sick, the addicted, and the demon-possessed, and people were supernaturally healed.
Lyons¢â‚¬â„¢s story landed on the front page of the Dallas Times Herald. But she got much more than just a great story, she found an unlikely spiritual home. Though the parishioners at The Body of Christ Assembly are black and Pentecostal, and Lyons is white and from a traditional church background, she embraced their spirituality¢â‚¬“that of ¢â‚¬Å“the Holy Ghost and fire.¢â‚¬
It¢â‚¬â„¢s all here in Holy Roller: Finding Redemption and the Holy Ghost in a Forgotten Texas Church¢â‚¬“the stories of people desperate for God¢â‚¬â„¢s help. And the actions of a God who doesn¢â‚¬â„¢t forget the people who need His power.
Julie Lyons is an award-winning writer, editor and investigative reporter who for more than 11 years served as editor-in-chief of the Dallas Observer, an alternative weekly newspaper owned by Village Voice Media. She holds a master¢â‚¬â„¢s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a B.A. in English from Seattle Pacific University. She and her husband, Larry Lyons Jr., live in Dallas with their son.
New blog post: Holy Roller – New Book by Julie Lyons http://bit.ly/iH2g5