It was a bright Sunday morning when I visited Word of Life Pentecostal worship center on Pierson Blvd. in Desert Hot Springs for the first time.
Their 10:30 A.M. service in May 2019 was visited by several individuals, couples and a sprinkling of families. There were many smiles to be seen and the guests and worshipers were well dressed and polite.
The first thing you notice besides the bright lighting, clean pews, and beautiful altar is the fine tuned music that was being played. The sounds being created before the service were rich, full, and musically well rehearsed. The players were talented and the singers were well blended with the lead singer hitting high notes. The music and sounds being played were top notch and would be worth the visit by anyone interested in just hearing some beautiful pentecostal music all by itself.
The entire program was well planned and well laid out. The Deacons and volunteers were always there with anything you needed if you happened to ask.
The pre service music was accented by a half a dozen worshipers moving about the hall clearly feeling the groove of the music and being inspired to move around between pews either in dance or just to visit and say hello to other guests.
After the music ended was the time for donations to the church. Many lined up to donate money in envelopes tithing towards their version of God’s house.
Then started the service conducted by Bishop (Pastor) Kephyan Sheppard a well decorated and energetic man who has built a following for his fellowship that on this Sunday was moderate. The worshippers included the volunteers, their family, deacons, worshippers, and musicians altogether mad up somewhere around 60 people present at the service.
Dr. Sheppard led the service with messages for getting through life feeding off of the Book of Nehemiah peppering his message with frequent political references. I’m not sure if including politics in his program is his normal procedure but there did happen to be a few politically connected guests in the room at the time but nonetheless politics were interjected in his sermon quite a few times and it was evident.
Pastor Sheppard was able to flow between serious topics and comedy with ease and at just the right time. Just when you thought the subjects he was preaching about were getting too serious he was able to lift the mood with a moment of a kind of Steven Colbert esque humor. Sometimes the laughter could probably be heard outside the comfortable and cool air conditioned building.
The pastor is stratospheric in his Intelligence quotient made obvious by his preaching about not feeding the enemy (referred to as spiritual “terrorists”) with what your next move will be. Pastor Sheppard proselytized deep intellectual points throughout the whole service that read of deep multi dimensional strategies to navigate life in a way that gives you the best advantage to overcome doubters and saboteurs. People Bishop Sheppard referred to as “trolls”.
There were a few times that I believe pastor Sheppard fell short of revealing the whole picture to the congregation but it was his sermon so we took it in nevertheless.
One in particular that stood out had to do with Dr. Sheppard’s preaching about being challenged for doing what you think is the right thing, or as he put it when you are “building something”. He numerous times implied that if something gets in your way while you are working towards your own good cause and something is trying to stop you from your forward progress in what you are building, then it’s likely the enemy.
What I failed to hear the Pastor mention is an second explanation of what that force could be. And that is God himself. God is well known for placing something in your way to throw you off balance. We’ve all heard the saying “God is testing me”. That is an angle that I didn’t hear one time by the Pastor and I’m not sure why. God wants the best out of you and if you are not doing your best work or if you are off target with your aim God will intercede and throw you off to get you to ask yourself if you are doing your best work. That’s the opportunity for you to rethink your cause or goals again and again so that you can be sure you are following God’s plan.
There isn’t any reason to think that if you are having your tools knocked out of your hands while doing what you think you are being called to do, it’s only the enemy attacking you for doing good. Maybe the Pastor covers God’s angle in other services he preaches I don’t know so I can’t say. This is not meant to take anything away from his infectious talent for being a well liked Bishop in a city he said people told him he was crazy to start a church in. He has literal full respect from his worshipers and that is a good thing.
Pastor Sheppard set forth many positive messages in the rest of his sermon and left us feeling good about life.
After he finished it was time to receive the body and the blood of Christ and almost everyone participated.
The service ended with everyone consuming the bread and juice simultaneously starting with the bread.
Services are held on Wednesdays and Sundays with smaller gatherings happening around the main service days such as Sunday School Men’s bible study and Women’s Bible study during the weekdays.
Pastor Sheppard made me feel very welcome and encouraged all new guests to return soon.
Word of Life Fellowship Center 64565 Pierson Blvd. Desert Hot Springs, Ca 92240 tel. 760-251-9000
