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In the Beginning, a History of the Love of Jesus Family Church
The Love of Jesus Family church began as a bible study in the home of Pastors Jason and Gale Alvarez, which later moved to a VFW hall in Belleville, NJ. In April of 1982 the services moved again to a church building on Washington Avenue in Belleville. Pastors Jason and Gale were pioneers in a dry land; they had such a strong child like belief that spirit filled music and worship combined with teaching and preaching God’s Word in it’s fullness would break through to the throne of God. Not many churches at that time were offering a structured Praise and Worship to the Lord, our services were different but it caught on.
The services started out small, but that was ok, the Bible says in Job 8:7 "Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase". There was (and still is) an awesome excitement about what God was doing in the early days of the ministry. Our worship services were led by Pastor Jason, who sang and played a Rhodes piano, and added a rhythm box for some tempo. Coming from a background of professional recording and singing, leading a worship service was a natural for Pastor Jason. People were coming in from all over the area to join the move of the Spirit. It was clear that the Holy Spirit was with us. People were being delivered from the grips of hell at every service in one way or another. We literally saw evil spirits agitated, sometimes jumping from daughter to mother. People would come to our services after séances with an assignment to stop our services, only to find themselves delivered from witchcraft. People were being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit continually.
As we grew, Pastor Jason had a great desire to go on local television, but we didn’t have any TV equipment. Pastors Jason and Pastor Gale were earnestly praying and believing that we would have the equipment. Pastor Jason was completely focused and persistent in his belief and desire for a TV outreach. One day, while at a conference, the Lord spoke to him to give a specific amount in an offering, he heard and he obeyed.
The next day after that service, he was invited to a man’s house for breakfast, and in the library of the house was the kind of video camera Pastor Jason was believing for. This man was using the camera to watch birds. Well so much for bird watching, God is so awesome, at the end of the meeting Pastor Jason had his first video camera. When he returned home he was like a child with a new toy, he just couldn't’t wait to open it. We started using it the very next Sunday. There was so much excitement that we forgot about the basics. We didn’t realize we needed lights to make the picture bright enough, (remember, this is 1983, before digital cameras). We weren’t about to stop there so we made a light out of a large coffee can by placing a lamp inside the can. Once that was settled we held the new coffee light above the people for some overhead lighting, hoping this would do the job. Well, it worked in an unusual way. People were coming out in all sorts of colors, pink, green, blue, you name it. It was a rainbow show, but we just kept on taping because we knew that viewers would be attentive and drawn in, not by the crazy colors, but by the testimonies, the messages and the music.
Back then, few churches, if any, were using television as a means to reach people, also very few churches used music on local gospel programs. At LOJ ( Love of Jesus ) we pioneered that aspect of TV outreach. Once this caught on, many ministries started to incorporate music into their TV programs.
Pastor Jason has a natural, supernatural gifting as a Psalmist. As he sang his heart out to the Lord, in time musicians joined the church and the worship services became even more captivating, exciting and anointed. As the church grew, Pastors Jason and Gale started to look for a building we could call our own. Anything with four walls was fair game in those days; clothing stores, car washes, bowling alleys, abandoned banks, theaters, we looked at anything that could work for us.
In 1985, while in prayer, Pastor Jason received a call from a gentleman who told him that a church building became available in Orange, NJ. Pastor Jason went to see the building, met with the Bishop of the church and reached a deal for purchasing the church. The funny part was that Pastors Jason and Gale didn’t have the money to purchase the building. That seemed to be a small detail when you serve an awesome God. On the day that the closing was to take place LOJ still didn’t have the money to close on the deal. I’m sure at that time Pastors Jason and Gale were singing, “… gonna wait till the midnight hour …”; well sure enough, as faith would have it, at the midnight hour a businessman flew to New Jersey, and with a check in hand, gave LOJ the money to close the deal. It was more than $100,000, from your mouth to God’s ears. When praise and awe are in your heart and ON your lips, there is nothing to hard for God …. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE !!!
Through all the trials and tribulations that came with purchasing a 100 year old building, moving a congregation to an area that was considered a run down neighborhood, a loosing proposition with abandoned buildings all around, cars being stolen from the parking lot while services were being conducted, and fighting demonic principalities, Pastors Jason and Gale never lost faith; they always kept the vision fresh in their hearts, believing that through persevering prayer and unwavering faith things would change for the Glory of God.
The Love of Jesus Family Church always had a Sunday evening service, but it was not until Pastor Jason heard from the Holy Spirit to invite the five-fold ministry gifts (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher) to the evening services for the perfecting of the saints that this evening service started to grow at a rapid pace.
Pastor Jason feels that this is an opportunity for the leadership and congregation to sit and hear what the Lord is saying to the Love of Jesus Family Church and to the body of Christ at large. Many times these leaders from the 5 fold ministry have confirmed what the Lord has already instructed through the Pastors and leadership. People come from all over the Tri-State area to receive wisdom and instruction from these anointed ministry gifts. Throughout the year about 50 gifted ministers come to offer their insights at these Sunday evening meetings and at LOJ we have repeatedly seen mighty outpourings of God’s Spirit at these services as we have seen at our morning services.
Through the dedicated, compassionate leadership of Pastors Jason and Gale Alvarez, the Love of Jesus Family Church has grown into a thriving, multi-cultural church touching millions of lives with the love of Jesus and the Word of God around the world through music, television, internet outreach, missions outreach and support in many nations. We thank God for His goodness as we continue to do His work to reach the lost and to heal the brokenhearted.