Lost & Found: Vaya con Dios

by Lance Knight

I am John O'Shea, pastor and founder of the largest church in Houston, Texas, replete with all the gifts and blessings God has bestowed on me, my family, and our church members. We have a large television ministry and our Missions sponsorship is huge. Many people have been rescued from homelessness, sickness, and despair. When we can get the homeless to church, for instance, many of them are moved to accept Christ as their Savior. We've always called for anyone to come forward before the sermon so we could pray for them personally. The tears and release that came forth as we prayed for them would melt your heart. Lonely people need the tender touch of Christians and the personal prayers they speak for them. It is life changing. The Holy Spirit is with us. Our church budget is in the millions and everything the church possesses is paid for in full.
At one time we were almost overwhelmed by the enormous numbers of people coming to our services each week. So much so, that we had to set up four and five worship services each weekend. Houston is ethnically diverse. Many different languages are spoken there and Spanish is second only to English. The Hispanic community was the first ethnic group to really affect our sanctuary capacity. It soon became clear to us that we would need to offer a Spanish service on Sunday afternoons, and we did.
Our Music Ministry is blessed with talent and dedication. We were asked by our congregation and our viewers to record the songs and music performed by our orchestra and worship team. People wanted to enjoy worshiping in song wherever they happened to be, in their cars or at home. Requests for interviews by TV and radio stations from all over the country were coming in as Jennifer and I struggled with the schedule. I wrote several books and was receiving requests for additional works. Then of course I was needed for book signings. I was invited to morning TV shows on national television nearly every week. They all wanted to know more about this mega-church that started with only 15 people, in a garage, and had grown to over 40,000 in 15 years. Our worship services were broadcast all over the world. Eventually I was so much in demand for personal appearances I was away in other cities most of every week. Soon the schedule required Jenny to remain at home with the church staff while I traveled alone. Little did I know, Satan was already lurking in the shadows, ready to steal, kill, lie and destroy.

Somewhere in the midst of feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and the imprisoned, taking care of the widows and orphans, traveling to speaking engagements and signing my latest book, I lost focus and became susceptible.

I became focused on my own importance, and my accomplishments. I admit thinking to myself, “Not too bad for an ole boy from a farming town in Arkansas”. My normal humility was being poisoned by power, prestige, and adoration. I had never been admired in this way by so many, especially by people in the secular world. My sermons, when I was home on Sundays, were still effective but my mind was so preoccupied with the pressures of being in Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Boston and other places, that I lost sight of the fact that this was God’s victory, not mine.

I was sitting there looking pensively down at the table, having a pity-party. “Excuse me, Dr. O’Shea?” Wondering how the waitress knew my name, I looked up. It was not the waitress, but a young woman dressed in business attire, smiling at me. I stood, as is expected and replied that I was John O’Shea. She introduced herself as Roxanne Ferrell, a columnist for a New York paper I had not heard of. She asked if I was expecting someone else to join me, I said, “Uh, no, but how may I help you Ms. Ferrell?” She asked if she could join me and I still trying to recover from her sudden appearance, went around the table to hold her chair out for her to sit. She thanked me and I returned to my chair on the other side.

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2011

About the author

"There is a writer in all of us!

The influences most notable in my life, other than being a born again Christian, begin with my 7th & 8th grade English Teacher, Ms. Donnie Watts. Ms. Donnie took no prisoners when it came to the use of the English Language; we conjugated verbs, we diagrammed sentences, we had spelling bees, we had to read aloud from the classics, and were even graded on our penmanship. I was also schooled by Mrs. Haller in Latin I & II, although as a teenager I had no idea how valuable my early education would be.

When I retired in 2004 I followed the teachings of Ms. Julia Cameron in her book, "The Artist's Way". I learned to simply write down by hand, my thoughts, in a free-flow manner every morning for 12 weeks; on a morning in week 9, with my pen and 3 pages of yellow legal paper, my first story began to tell itself.

I have been good at many things: Sales, Sales Mgmt., U.S. Air Force Physiological Training Instructor, Space Suit Technician/Rescue Tech at NASA, Auto Dealership Service Advisor,

Fleet Sales Mgr, Musician/High School Band Director, Landscape worker and Supervisor ... so you can see the pattern ... I am blessed with many talents but was never happy with any career until I began to write.

I most enjoy writing fiction because it allows the 'little boy' in me to come forth and be free to let his imagination break free just as Ms. Julia Cameron taught me.

I am now happier than I have ever been before because I now have my beloved laptop, my grandchildren whom I adore, both 'my exes who live in Texas' and are friends of mine, and a fine co-author named Raymond D. Mason, author of over 60 books himself.(We co-authored the first three books of the "American Knights" series.)


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