I was at the CE Conference at the LAX Hilton in early September, 1967. I remember that the Holy Spirit changed the order of events and talks, so that John Allen Chalk gave what was for me the first gospel message I'd ever heard. I didn't want to go to the conference in the first place, but was invited by Jennings Davis and wasn't fast enough on my feet with an excuse. By the end of John Allen's message I was deeply under conviction and had to do something. I asked Jennings what I should do. "Go forward or get baptized," he wisely said, "I don't know." I said that I wanted to make Jesus LORD of my life and see if He'd actually come in and fix me and run me for a change. I was one of those baptized in the Pacific that night and had a really "psychedelic" conversion experience.
After the conference, at the first evening service at the Vermont Ave. Church of Christ next to the Pepperdine campus, someone suggested that those who had been at the CE seminar may want to stay afterwards to "talk about what we could do to keep what we had gained at the seminar." We gathered at the front of the building and somehow it turned into a spontaneous time of prayer. A spirit of conviction came so that people were confessing sins and turning to God -- a genuine atmosphere from heaven that was unique to us all. People started getting up, leaving the meeting, and running to the campus to get their friends. Within an hour or so the whole front of the building was filled and the meeting lasted for hours. This began a series of spontaneous meetings at this building and around campus that went on for about three weeks. Many more people came to the LORD and were baptized. And, for me it was a time of nearly constant ministry around campus. We were discovering what this new life was about and learning to walk in the Spirit.
The revival ended when someone introduced the honest question about women speaking in the assembly. This brought in a spirit of strife that we were not able to deal with, which grieved the Holy Spirit. Still, there remained a core of people whose lives were changed, who knew Jesus was alive and well, and that He was now the LORD of their lives.
The following fall, the LORD began to lead us toward the Holy Spirit though a number of people and gatherings, so that by the end of the year in 1968 a bunch of us were traveling down to the Anaheim Christian Center where we received a wonderful incubation in the Holy Spirit with teaching from some of the best in the world: David Wilkerson, Derek Prince, Don Basham, Bob Mumford, Kathryn Kuhlman, Ern Baxter, Sr. Clara Grace, and many more.
Life has been a wonderful adventure and cycle of growth that continues to thrill me with the height, depth, breadth, richness, and sweetness of the inheritance we have been given. It all began with that CE conference where the Spirit of the LORD showed up and you leaders were willing to go with His direction. I can't thank you enough!! You were part of the revival team that brought new life to the youth of the Church of Christ.
Recent Comments