Wayne Weaver's Story
Wayne was convicted of his need for a Saviour and became born again at age 15. There was definitely a change that occurred when he became born again. Even though he experienced a definite difference he struggled and struggled for years on end. In his struggle and pursuit of fulfillment in his life he continuously reverted to former ways.
Then in the years of 1979 to 1981 Wayne hit the ‘gutter’ and everything began falling apart. His personal life was a powerless drag. His marriage was on the rocks. And his business was a losing battle.
Since he lived in the north and wasn’t able to continue his work in the winter he and his family took a winter escapade to sunny Phoenix, Arizona. Unfortunately this only fed his spiritual bondage, powerlessness, and destructive habits.
In spring of the following year, he and his family returned to Ohio. He continued to wallow in his misery. He knew he was a total hypocrite. It was all taking a hefty toll on his life. Everything was dragged to the bottom notch.
He concluded that if this is all there is to the Christian life then he will never be able to make it through. All he experienced was rampant failure and powerlessness.
Somehow in the midst of it all he became deeply convicted that he needs to specifically repent of ‘his own way’.
Previously, he had repented of acts of sin that he had committed, but just kept returning to the filthy mire over and over again. He hadn’t had an understanding of repentance. After he learned about specifically repenting of his own way in Isaiah 53:6 he discovered a truth about repentance he had never experienced before. He repented. A real, deep down repentance.
It was revolutionary.
It was not just a failing attempt to stop the former ways. It was a spiritual repentance that was entirely real.
It put a tremendous hunger in him that he never had before. It caused him to seek more. He felt a passionate desire for God’s Word like he never knew was possible. He began fasting and praying for 30 days. He was discovering that the message of the Bible really works. The Bible went from being just another book to being a ‘life-giving feast’ affecting every aspect of Wayne’s life. He discovered the ‘life’ in the Word. He discovered that if you do what is written in the Word it will yield the results that it says.
Toward the end of the 30-day fast there was a heavenly cloudburst that came into his little room where he had been seeking the face of God. He didn’t know what was happening. He experienced a ‘showering’ for about an hour.
Then he discovered that it matched the biblical account of what happened in the Upper Room. He had been Holy Spirit baptized. The only thing different from the biblical account is that he didn’t see the fiery tongues on his head and didn’t hear the mighty rushing wind as described in Acts 2.
It put a fire within his bosom. It completely changed and revolutionized his life. To this day he has never been the same.
This is where Wayne’s ministry began.
Immediately, he began sharing the truth from the Bible with others. He spoke the truth of the Word of God without reservation and without bias.
Resistance to his message immediately followed.
He formed a prayer group and locals were finding deliverances and answers for their lives. They experienced the same power for living as Wayne had experienced. People became genuinely born again and lives were soundly changed.
Others who were convinced in the traditions and cultural practices and who wanted to retain the former ways began resisting and rejecting Wayne’s message as he continued to speak the message of truth into everyday life.
He identified specific practices that had been accepted and commonplace in his hometown area and challenged them as being witchcraft and occultic and dealt with them according to the Word of God. People were being set free.
This further accelerated resistance to the truth and a rejection of Wayne’s message that continues to this day.
He became a total outcast among many from his cultural background.
Within a year of his life transformation he did evangelistic work with Teen Challenge on the streets of New York City.
Through his passion and continued hunger after truth it opened doors that Wayne was able to meet and become personal friends with men of God who have had a tremendous influence in his life, including: David Wilkerson, Derek Prince, and especially Leonard Ravenhill and Bracy Greer.
Wayne was ordained a minister on October 13, 1985. Crossroads Mission Church was established in the fall of 1986 and he was appointed as pastor.
Wayne has been able to help many people realize the same depth of repentance he found those many years ago and to experience the Holy Spirit baptism without which, as Wayne says, “life is extremely frustrating and not even real.”
Today, he serves as Senior Pastor of Oasis Tabernacle and through Ministries of Wayne Weaver he reaches the world with the good news of the gospel.
Wayne’s burden and desire is to leading others to a deeper walk and life in the kingdom.
