The Fall of '69....

Freshman year in college.

Beautiful autumn afternoon and I'm walking across the campus.

Off in the distance I see a young man coming toward me.

Long blond hair, sweat shirt, jeans and sneakers.

As he draws closer to me, he suddenly lifts one arm into the sky

and holds aloft his index finger...

With a smile on his face he looks at me and says,"One way man! One way Jesus!"

This was a confirmation to me that the Jesus People movement that had begun

in California was now here in Alabama.

I remember the year before, 1968, during the fall, sitting at a table

with a young man from South Africa.
Winston Kennedy.

He had a passion that was contagious.

He loved Jesus and he loved to share his story.

On this particular night, Winston shared with me things from the Scripture that

I'd never heard before.

I had been raised in church but nothing like what he shared had ever been spoken to me.

Part of me was excited almost as if I'd stumbled upon some ancient secret that had long been buried and was waiting to be discovered.

Another part of me was fearful.

"Why had I not ever heard such things as this?"
"Why had my own church never spoken such things?"

I remember leaving that restaurant with the words of my best friend, Jim, ringing in my ears.

"There has to be more to this God than we are begin told."

"There has to be more"

Those words have followed me since 1968.
It has caused within me a desire to know God.

To not rest on what I already know but to never cease from following Him.

The longer I follow Him,

The better I get to know Him.

The better I get to know Him, the easier it becomes to trust Him.

The more I trust Him, the easier it gets to not be swayed by the corruption of this world.

I never assume that I have the complete knowledge of God.

I know only part.

I've said it before but my theology is fairly simple....

Like Paul, "I determine to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

Even within this simple statement of belief, God continues to unravel and illuminate my understanding of who He truly is.

Understanding that is not measured by intellect or information,

but rather by the change in my life as I grow

through the work of the Holy Spirit in me.

May you find a renewed passion for Jesus this holiday season.

May you fall in love with Him all over again.
Merry Christmas.

mb