zion city.

Nerdy confession: When I go to AGTS library (which is kind of a treat), I always pray, before I hit the stacks, that God would bring me to some book that will either be meaningful, entertaining or interesting to me. So far, He's done a bang-up job, but today friends, He went above and beyond. Read:

"The accounts of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Zion City are remarkable in many ways. The supernatural events will thrill and inspire you. The fact that so many quality leaders of the Pentecostal movement had their roots in Zion City is almost unbelievable. The work these men and women accomplished for the Kingdom of God wherever they went is also striking. But more wonderful of all is the fact that these men and women of God became humble servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and remained faithful to Him until their work was finished and the Lord took them home. They did not become men and women with a great name in this world only to fail and disgrace the cause of Christ."

Titillating, right? Scintillating. Enthralling. Dare I say it...sexy. This, friends, is a sexy book. Oh right, you don't know why. Let me tell you.

"Zion City," now called "Zion," is my hometown. And I just happen to be a huge fan of Zion history. When the other teens were busy not caring about the roots of their suburb, I was reading about Reverend Dowie (a Scottish transplant with a passion for healing who created the "utopian" suburb to be a haven for Christianity), and how his daughter was burned up in a house fire that started from her curling iron (Dowie said that it was her vanity that took her!)! When the posers were completely unimpressed that he had founded our very own church, I was telling them about how the board room table under which he'd secured an alarm button was sitting in our very church's board room! I'm pretty sure that I am the only person I know who knows where to find Dowie's grave (along Sheridan Road, with a view of a very undignified cyclone fence). Oh, the drama!

I don't care how much of a nerd I sound like right now.

I haven't been this excited about a book since I discovered the Old Testament. Here's to exactly 376 pages of fascinating history.

I am wholly prepared to be thrilled and inspired.