Easter Mine, Part 2

Easter Mine, Part 2

Now, I do not mean to be harsh; I am merely relating what I was thinking at the time. I was struggling with the meaning of life and in particular, my life. I would sit in the choir loft some Sunday evenings and think, "Lord, there has to be more (to Christianity) than this." I don't recall knowing much about any adults' heartfelt beliefs about Christ and the Bible other than the few that taught in youth Sunday School. My parents were my primary picture of Christianity and as I noted, the radical change in them did not happen until 1970.

My young heart and mind was not ready to recognize exactly what had changed and certainly was not ready to embrace it. There were things I liked doing and I liked them more than I liked church, Christianity, or anything that I might have understood about the teachings of the Bible. I love basketball and football. One day I told my dad before I graduated from high school that there were two things I loved to hear-the pop of the pads on the football field when two players collided and string music, when the basketball went through the net without touching the rim. I also loved camping/hiking/exploring, hunting, and fishing. I remember talking to God one day and I suppose I was considering the claims of Christ; I said, "you know I love these things and after all you made me this way." I was justifying my life of giving most of myself to these five endeavors. I dreamed of professional basketball. I dreamed of hunting the mountains of the western United States. I LOVED these things more than anything else I can remember.

I knew the Bible was true; I don't know how or why I believed that but I did. I knew that God demanded or expected something like an unchallenged place in life, but I was not able to embrace that in the least. I enjoyed my idyllic life and the earthly pleasures it afforded. Here's one simple example that I delight in today; fresh food, from the field, tree, vine, or fresh meat like dove or quail killed that day and eaten in the evening. There is nothing like eating fresh vegetables or fresh meat, fresh eggs too for that matter.

I continued in my search for truth and meaning and reading parapsychology during the first two years of college. At the same time, I was attending a very traditional Baptist church. Why I could not see the clash between the two systems of thought is beyond me. I do remember that I knew when I was confronted by a spiritual activity that was blatantly false; I knew it but I don't know why or how I knew it. The false teaching caused me to spend much time thinking about what was going on in the lives of these other high school and college students, and how I was to respond to it.

Historical reminder: An important aspect of America life and history of the 1960?s was the rebellious, Hippy movement and the later "Jesus Movement". I hated the Hippies; they had taken my jeans, denim, boots, and t-shirts and made a symbol of them, a symbol of rebellion. I was very angry about this. I also hated the "anti-establishment" movement. I saw sense in the order of society and nonsense in the chaos and disorder this movement represented. The "Jesus Movement" to me was just another expression of the Hippies and it was not until I worked a summer in New Mexico and met some of these folk that I realized that they were not unlike me. They were drawn to a Jesus that I had never known. I had trouble understanding this, but I did like the girls that were drawn to Jesus. Just being honest here.

After a summer of work in New Mexico, I returned with a few of the trappings of the "Jesus Freaks" like sandals. I continued my struggle or mix of parapsychology and the Bible for two more years. During that time, I struggled with loneliness like I had never known before. As a country boy, I did not fit in to the mold of anyone that I lived with in the dorm. I moved back into the meditative mood I had learned a couple of years earlier; I would sit for hours alone on the weekend when the others in the dorm were out living wild and "enjoying" life.

After my sophomore year, I was transferring to another school closer to home; I attended a Campus Crusade for Christ (Jesus Freaks) meeting called "Explo'72?. Our whole family went to Dallas, TX where Dad and Mom had met. We were segmented by age and scattered across the city of Dallas in groups of about 1,000. I knew no one at the church I was assigned; however, a girl with her blind friend and a rough Hippy/biker looking guy and I somehow connected. The days were spent in study of the Bible-discipleship, fellowship, and some worship time. I took extensive notes I guess because everyone else was doing so. I remember nothing of the discussions or presentations that were made, but I wrote pages of notes that week. In the evenings, all 75-80,000 attendees would meet in Cotton Bowl stadium for a couple of hours. There was singing, sharing testimonies, teaching, and lastly each night a Christian message from some outstanding pastor or preacher. Billy Graham was honorary chairman, and he spoke briefly each night.

On Thursday night, June 22, it began raining about 5 PM and the night meetings began at 7:00 each night. It rained, not hard but steady, right up until 7. In fact, it continued to rain lightly all night. All the high school students sat on the football field on plastic tarps to protect the field, but that only served to collect lots of water Thursday night. Back then women's hair coloring was not "stay-fast", in other words it would run if exposed to much water. I saw dozens of older women with newspaper over their heads to prevent this run of hair color. I scavenged a 55 gal. trash bag, cut a hole in the bottom and pulled the whole thing over my head like a poncho. Worked pretty well at the time, still had water running down my back. With all the rain, everything was canceled except one testimony, one singer, and one speaker, Bill Bright. He was wearing a raincoat and looked like only his upper shoulders and head were above the podium, a very small, unassuming man. He began speaking and I began doing my thing of agreeing absent-mindedly with things I had heard in church.

Then . . .
then he said, "if there is anything in your life that prevents Jesus from being the Lord of your life, it is a sin." Five things flashed through my mind, guess what they were. He repeated, "if there is anything in your life that keeps Jesus form being the Lord of your life, that is a sin." Instantly, I knew the God I had heard about all my life and put off and bargained with was speaking to ME. Everything else faded into nothing, I heard nothing else, I stopped noticing the people around me. There was only God speaking and me, and I was responding to Him. I thought for a bit, have no idea how long, and I said, "okay God, if you want me you can have me; but you better take me now because I don't know if I will ever want to do this again." I can hear some of you that know something about the Bible or perhaps a lot; I know you are thinking, "If I was God and he prayed to me like that, I would never have worked in his life." Actually, I have had quite a few responses like that when I tell about my encounter with the living God. Fortunately, He, God, is far more understanding and forgiving than you are. He accepted my confession of faith even though it was anything but humble.

You see, since that night in Dallas, TX in 1972, I have been changed, not perfect, but changed, and nothing in my life has been the same since. I was asked one time if I would do it all over again. Unequivocally yes!! So now you understand my title, Easter Mine. This is my Easter story, that night I died to a totally selfish way of life and was resurrected brand new. Praise God!

My Easter story.