MY REVIEW:
When Julie Lyons ventured into the slums of South Dallas in 1990 in search of a news story, little did she imagine that she would spend the next eighteen years there as a member of a black Pentecostal church body. Holy Roller chronicles the events in Julie’s life and the lives of other key people that led them to The Body of Christ Assembly as well as the years Julie and her husband spent there.
Julie pulls no punches in Holy Roller but paints a vivid picture of the power of God at work in the people submitted to Him. At the same time she reveals sometimes shocking details of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the U. S. church in general, its leaders, and its people – and she does not spare herself.
In Holy Roller I found a tremendous amount of wisdom and truth about what it really means to live a Christian life. Julie’s words challenged me to be more than I am – to let the refining fire burn out my own impurities. I only hope that what I have gained by reading this book will remain with me.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Julie Lyons was working as a crime reporter when she followed a hunch into the South Dallas ghetto. She wasn’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–anyone who needed God. He prayed for the sick, the addicted, and the demon-possessed, and people were supernaturally healed.
Lyons’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–that of “the Holy Ghost and fire.”
It’s all here in Holy Roller–the stories of people desperate for God’s help. And the actions of a God who doesn’t forget the people who need His power.
To learn more about Holy Roller or to purchase a copy for yourself click here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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’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.
