The Misunderstanding of Christianity — More Spiritual Opportunities and Testimonies
One summer while I was in college, I was invited to spend 8 weeks in a discipleship program for young adults ages 18-30. It was called Disciplined Life in Christ. There were about 30 participants.
We spent 6 weeks living in community at the Inn of the Last Resort in the mountains of Franklin, North Carolina. The Inn was run by Jay and Sally Fesperman. Jay was a retired businessman who was very excited about Jesus. He and Sally had purchased an old mountain hotel, restored it, and turned it into a place for focusing on training people to be more effective at following and obeying the risen Jesus.
During the mornings, we would have worship, teaching, prayer, Bible study, sharing, and testimonies. Some afternoons, we would work together around the building and grounds, including cultivating a large garden. Other afternoons, we would go do service projects and/or ministry in the local area. Sometimes we would play volleyball or do other recreational activities. We also all spent one day a week in prayer, fasting, and listening to the Lord. It didn’t take long for a strong sense of Spirit-filled community to develop among us.
Most of the songs that we used in worship were Bible verses put to music. That helped the Scriptures go deep in our hearts and is one reason that I can quote many Bible verses. We even made a recording of numerous Scripture songs that was made fairly widely available.
The last two weeks of the discipleship program, we were counselors at Tennessee Georgia Christian Camp (originally called “Camp Farthest Out”), a gathering of mostly adult Christ-followers from the Southern USA who were thrilled about Jesus. The camp’s focus was on passionate worship. Well-known leaders in the Charismatic/Pentecostal part of the Jesus Movement led workshops to help people learn to flow more freely in the Holy Spirit. Those of us from the discipleship program were each assigned a cabin to stay in, where we led daily devotions. We were also available to pray over and counsel people. It was a life-changing 8 weeks!
Once during the fall, I dropped out of college to experience another powerful spiritual adventure. My brother Scott had been invited to travel throughout the Western USA with 5 other sold-out Jesus lovers in a motor home. He wasn’t able to do it, so I took his place.
It was actually a job working for a stationary company owned by a Charismatic Christ-follower. We took orders for personalized stationery in fraternity and sorority houses on college campuses. However, the company owner also wanted us to be missionaries who would testify about Jesus.
For three months we traveled through almost every Western state and visited all the major college campuses. We towed a Jeep behind the motor home. When we got to a college campus we would park the motor home, unhook the Jeep, and all 6 of us pile in. Then the Jeep driver would drop each of us off at a sorority or fraternity house during lunch and dinner.
We would set up a display of our stationery outside of the dining room and begin to take orders as the frat members came to eat. We would engage in conversation and talk about Jesus when we could. Sometimes we got to pray with a student. We had a large supply of Gospel tracts, brochures or pamphlets that told people how they could experience Jesus for themselves.
When people weren’t looking, we would hide Gospel tracts in drawers, magazines, books, and other places, praying that the right people would find them and by reading them find Jesus. We did that twice a day until we ran out of houses. Then we would hookup the Jeep and drive the motor home to the next college campus.
We took weekends off from selling stationary. Frequently on Saturday nights we found a full Gospel Businessmen’s Meeting (a Spirit-filled worship and testimony meeting that were being held all across the country). On Sunday mornings we would find a fired-up Jesus Movement style church to attend. It was wonderful to get to meet and connect heart-to-heart with Christ-followers in so many different cities.
The six of us talked about Jesus and prayed together for the entire three months. We also got to do some sightseeing. It was my first time out West. When we were in Southern California, we visited Melodyland Christian Center. That’s when I first heard about their seminary that I later attended. We also visited Calvary Chapel which was a key part of the early days of the Jesus Movement.
It wouldn’t surprise me if all these years later if there’s still a Gospel track or two hidden in a frat house somewhere in the Western USA. We got back to Tennessee just in time for Christmas. Then I went back to the University of Tennessee Martin (UTM) to spend time with my Jesus Freak friends (and to finish my degree). For more about that, google my college roommate’s and best friend’s book, “The Jesus Revolution Southern Style.”
One thing that isn’t in his book is what I did when people started streaking at UTM. For some reason streaking (rapidly running naked from one building to another) became popular on American college campuses, even on my small college campus.
Rumor began to spread that on a particular afternoon there was going to be a lot of streaking. When that afternoon arrived, a lot of people were hanging around campus, including nonstudents. Some people were even sitting on blankets having a picnic and waiting for the nude running to begin.
I saw that as an opportunity. I went to my dorm room and picked up a big stack of very simple Gospel tracks. They had a picture of a human hand with a nail driven through it. In big letters the caption said: “JESUS LOVES YOU SO MUCH IT HURTS!”
When the streaking started, I began to go up to people and say, “Isn’t it great that people can have so much fun watching people run naked?” They would make a rather puzzled response. Then I would say, “Well with Jesus Christ you can have fun when people are running naked and even when they aren’t” Then I would give them one of the Gospel tracts.
After a while I saw a huge crowd of people gathered outside the door of a dormitory. They had big speakers set up playing loud music, so I walked down a sidewalk toward them. When I got to where they were, the popular song, “Jesus is Just All Right” by the Doobie Brothers came on.
Without thinking, I spontaneously threw my hands up while holding a Bible and began to shout “Hallelujah, praise the Lord, Glory to God!” All heads turned my way. I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do so I closed my eyes and started dancing. In a minute I started hearing a tinkling sound. I looked down and people were tossing coins on the sidewalk around me.
When the song stopped, I opened my eyes and the crowd of people were silently staring at me. Not knowing what else to do I opened my mouth and said loudly, “Isn’t it great that people can have so much fun watching people run naked? Well with Jesus Christ you can have fun when people are running naked and even when thery’re not.”
Then to my surprise I began to share my story about how Jesus radically changed my life. No one moved. After a couple of minutes my words stopped. I didn’t know how to exit gracefully, so I stepped over to a car and sat on the hood. The crowd slowly returned to normal. However, a few people walked over to me and asked me questions about Jesus which led to good discussion.
Eventually I moved on. However, I never thought to pick up the coins from the sidewalk. I was too excited about what had just happened.
I’ve always wanted to be comfortable talking with people about Jesus and I have had my moments, but for the most part I am intimidated to openly testify about Him directly to people. However, when it comes to writing, I can be very bold.
When I was a pastor in Mayfield, Kentucky I approached The Mayfield Messenger about writing a weekly devotional column for them. I called it “Christian Challenge.” They liked the idea, so during my two years in Mayfield I boldly wrote about Jesus. Then when I was an assistant pastor in Paducah, Kentucky I continued to write a column called “Christian Challenge” for a small weekly paper.
I love writing. For about 20 years I have been blogging, almost daily. My blog “Free Gas for Your Think Tank has more than 5,500 posts. I also write a lot on my Facebook page.
I have written 6 books. (This “The Misunderstanding of Christianity” series could turn into number 7) 4 of my books are available on Amazon. I wake up early almost every morning with words and ideas about Christianity flowing through and developing in my mind. I get up and write them down and they become my post for that day. It seems to happen in spite of me, and it starts off my day by stirring up God’s fire within me.
I have no other motive for writing. I don’t get paid for it. (Well, my books do currently together earn a total of about $300 per year, but the blog brings in no money.) However, I do get a good deal of criticism for what I write, and occasionally I get some encouragement. But none of that matters. Like Peter and John, I can’t stop speaking (writing) about the things I have seen and heard. Thank you for reading.
#memoriesmade#testimoniesoffaith
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Short Reflections, Lasting Encouragement 