Famous Civil Rights leader, Ralph Abernathy, was a campus speaker when I was in college at The University of Tennessee Martin. In a packed ball room he told about his experiences in the Civil Rights Movement and about working with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

After his lecture, he asked if there were any questions. I threw my hand up and he picked me. I asked: “Rev. Abernathy, would you please tell us how you came to know Jesus Christ as your Savior?”

Rev. Abernathy seemed a bit startled by the question. He paused, then he said: “When I was a young boy I went to the altar one Sunday morning in my father’s Baptist church and there I met Jesus Christ. And I’ve never been the same.” Then he got excited. He sounded like he was preaching from the pulpit in that special black-church style. For five minutes or so he boldly declared his love for Jesus Christ.

After we were dismissed, several angry people rushed up to me. One guy said: “Why did you ask him THAT?” “I was curious,” I said.

Another firmly stated: “He wasn’t here for THAT!” I replied, “He didn’t have to answer my question.” But I am sure glad he did. Even today, as I remember Ralph Abernathy’s passion for Jesus Christ, I am inspired!

After all, if Christianity is true, there is no better topic than THAT — the testimony of how Jesus Christ changed a human life.