Several times in history tens of thousands of fortune seekers have left their comfort zone and their homes. With gold fever — a burning passion to find gold — they poured into an area where gold deposits had recently been discovered. They made great sacrifices, often risking their health and their life in their efforts to strike it rich.

Some of the most famous gold rushes were the California Gold Rush that attracted about 300,000 “49ers” from around the world, the Comstock Gold Rush in Nevada that Mark Twain wrote about in his book “Roughing It” and the Klondike Gold Rush in Northern Canada that drew about 100,000 “Stampeders” from around the world to brave the weather where many died hiking to Dawson City in the Yukon Territory. Jack London wrote about their sacrifices in his book, “The Call of the Wild.”

However, all my adult life I’ve been part of another kind of gold rush. I have found something more precious than gold. (Psalm 19:10) It’s much better than a physical gold rush. It is a spiritual awakening that attacks thousands of people who are hungry to know God. They leave their comfort zone and make great sacrifices to draw near to God.

When I was in college, I was a part of a spiritual gold rush. I was part of a movement of hundreds of thousands of people who encountered the risen Jesus and began to give their all to follow Him. It was called the Jesus Movement. It gave me a burning desire to follow and obey the risen Jesus that still is aflame in my heart. Instead of 49ers or Stampeders, we were called Jesus Freaks.

There have been numerous Jesus movements around the world. They are called revivals or great awakenings. For decades I have read and learned about all of them that I can find. I guess I have become an expert on spiritual awakening. The desire of my heart is to help bring about another one so that people can encounter the golden glory of God as an ongoing experience and not just settle for a little bit of religion.