Pastor Bill Goff was the Senior Pastor and founder of River of Life Tabernacle in Lucedale, MS. Pastor Bill was born on May 4, 1937 in Lucedale, MS.

This is where he lived until he entered the United States Air Force at the age of 18 years old. He would serve his country for 21 years. He was in the Viet Nam War and pulled three other tours of duties overseas: Taiwan, the Philippines and Thailand.

In 1958 Pastor Bill married his wife of 46 years, Joyce Goff.

Pastor Bill and Joyce have three children, fourteen grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren.

It was in 1975, in the Philippines, that he received ישׁוּע Yeshua as his Savior. A love and hunger for ישׁוּע Yeshua grew and grew until the day that he died. He had a passion to teach the Word of his Father, to lay down traditions of men, and to walk out, to the best of his ability, all that the Scriptures taught. Truly a “Man of the Book”!

He retired from the Air Force and pursued his passion for the Word. After a time in the Philippines as a missionary and a short time in Seattle, WA in Bible School, in 1985 he surrendered to the call to start a fellowship in Lucedale, MS. Thus Praise Tabernacle was born.

As he grew in the Word and put off traditions of men, the name of the fellowship was changed to River of Life Tabernacle. The repeatable phrase of Pastor Bill and now the motto of the congregation is what the Father told Moses concerning the building of the Tabernacle… ”Do It According To The Pattern.”

That thought in mind is what led us to studying our Hebrew Roots of the Faith.

We at River of Life will continue down that ancient path that Pastor Bill started and that is teaching the whole of Scripture and doing all that יהוה Y-H-V-H has commanded us to do.

Not for salvation as that cannot be earned, it is a free gift of God, but simply because we love ישׁוּע Yeshua and are His disciples.
1 John 2:3-6

We lovingly remember our Pastor and the labor that he put forth in order for us to know our Savior in a more intimate way.

 

“Below is a few of his beloved scriptural verses”.

  • Exodus 25: 9, and 40
    verse 9:According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make.

    verse 40: And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

  • Revelation 22: 1-2
    verse 1: And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

    verse 2: In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

  • Romans 8: 28
    And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.