317 Sermon Illustrations on Conversion

On one occasion, during Whitefield's residence in America, a black trumpeter, belonging to an English regiment, resolved to interrupt him during a discourse which he was expected to deliver in the open air. At the hour appointed for the sermon, he repaired to the field where it was to be preached, carrying his trumpet with him on purpose to blow it with all his might about the middle of the sermon. He took his stand in front of the minister, and at no great distance. The concourse that attended became very great, and those who were towards the extremity of the crowd pressed forward, in order to hear more distinctly, which caused such a pressure at the place where the trumpeter stood, that he found it impossible to raise up the arm which held the trumpet at the time he intended to blow it. He attempted to extricate himself from the crowd, but found this equally impossible, so that he was kept within hearing of the gospel as securely as if he had been chained to the spot. In a short time, his attention was arrested, and he became so powerfully affected by what the preacher presented to his mind, that he was seized with an agony of despair, and was carried to a house in the neighborhood. When the service was over, he was visited by Mr. Whitefield, who tendered some seasonable counsels; and the poor trumpeter from that time became an altered man.

A native of Sweden, residing in the South of France, had occasion to go from one port to another in the Baltic Sea. When he came to the place whence he expected to sail, the vessel was gone. On inquiring, he found a fishing boat going the same way, in which he embarked. After being for some time out to sea, the men observed that he had several trunks and chests on board, concluded he must be very rich, and therefore agreed among themselves to throw him overboard. This he heard them express, which gave him great uneasiness. However, he took occasion to open one of his trunks which contained some books. Observing this, they remarked among themselves that it was not worth while to throw him into the sea, as they did not want any books, which they supposed was all the trunks contained. They asked him if he were a priest. Hardly knowing what reply to make, he told them he was; at which they seemed much pleased, and said they would have a sermon on the next day, as it was the Sabbath.

This increased the anxiety and distress of his mind, for he knew himself to be as incapable of such an undertaking, as it was possible for any one to be, as he knew very little of the Scriptures; neither did he believe in the inspiration of the Bible.

At length they came to a small rocky island, perhaps a quarter of a mile in circumference, where was a company of pirates, who had chosen this little sequestered spot to deposit their treasures. He was taken to a cave, and introduced to an old woman, to whom they remarked that they were to have a sermon preached, the next day. She said she was very glad of it, for she had not heard the word of God for a great while. His was a trying case, for preach he must, still he knew nothing about preaching. If he refused, or undertook to preach and did not please, he expected it would be his death. With these thoughts he passed a sleepless night. In the morning his mind was not settled upon any thing. To call upon God, whom he believed to be inaccessible, was altogether vain. He could devise no way whereby he might be saved. He walked to and fro, still shut up in darkness, striving to collect something to say to them, but could not think of even a single sentence.

When the appointed time for so evening arrived, he entered the cave where he found the men assembled. There was a seat prepared for him, and a table with a Bible on it. They sat for the space of half an hour in profound silence; and even then, the anguish of his soul was as great as human nature was capable of enduring. At length these words came to his mind,— "Verily, there is a reward for the righteous: verily, there is a God that judgeth in the earth." He arose and delivered them: then other words presented themselves, and so on till his understanding became opened—his heart enlarged in a manner astonishing to himself. He spoke upon subjects suited to their condition; the rewards of the righteous—the judgments of the wicked—the necessity of repentance, and the importance of a change of life. The matchless love of God to the children of men, had such a powerful effect upon the minds of these wretched beings, that they were melted into tears. Nor was he less astonished at the unbounded goodness of Almighty God, in thus interposing to save his spiritual as well as his natural life, and well might he exclaim,— "This is the Lord's doings, and marvelous in our eyes." Under a deep sense of God's goodness, his heart became filled with such thankfulness, that it was out of his power to express. What marvellous change was thus suddenly brought about by Divine interposition! He who a little before disbelieved in communion with God and the soul, became as humble as a little child. And they who were so lately meditating on his death, now are filled with love and good will towards each other, particularly towards him; manifesting affectionate kindness, and willing to render him all the assistance in their power!

The next morning they fitted out one of their vessels, and conveyed him where he desired. From that time he became a changed man. From sentiments of infidelity he became a sincere believer in the power and efficacy of the truth as it is in Jesus.

# 23. Overruling Dreams and Involuntary Affections.

During a single week, in 1842, there were six hopeful conversions in one class of ten or twelve boys, in the Pearl-street Baptist Sabbath school in the city of Albany. The teacher, G. T. C., had for three or four weeks felt an unusual anxiety for their salvation, which led him to be faithful in his instruction, and fervent in prayer for them. He held several prayer meetings at his house with them, to which other scholars were invited, and at one or two meetings they continued almost "all night" in prayer. One Sabbath, one of them, who had found peace the night before, called on the teacher at 4 o'clock in the morning to tell him how joyful he felt in loving the Savior, and he was so happy he could not wait until he should see him in the Sabbath school. When the school assembled in the P. M., they all came forward and told what the Lord had done for them, and affectionately invited their associates to come to the Savior and taste the joys they felt. Such a scene, and such a circumstance would be interesting at any time, but at that time particularly so, from the fact that in the rest of the school, and in the church, there was a lamentable coldness, while the ways of Zion mourned, and few came to her solemn feasts.

—A woman once delivered a lecture against Christianity, in which she declared Christ to be a myth. One of the mill hands obtained permission to ask her a question, and then said: “Thirty years ago I was a curse to this town, and every person who had any respect for himself shrank from me. I often tried to do better, but could not. The temperance people got hold of me, but I broke the pledge so often that they said it was no use trying me any longer. Then the police took charge of me, and the magistrate sent me to prison; and though they all tried, I was nothing better, but rather worse. Next Christ took hold of me, He touched my heart and made a new man of me. You say that Christ is a myth; nay, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.”

One man said to another, some time ago: “How are you getting on at your church?”

“Oh, splendid.”

“Many conversions?”

“Well — well, on that side we are not getting on so well. But,” he said, “we have rented all our pews and are able to pay all our running expenses. We are getting on splendidly.”

That is what the godless call “getting on splendidly.” They rent the pews, pay the minister, and meet all the running expenses.

A man was being shown through one of the cathedrals of Europe; he had come in from the country. One of the men belonging to the cathedral was showing him around, when he inquired:

“Do you have many conversions here?”

“Many what?”

“Many conversions here?”

The idea of there being conversions there! And you can go into a good many similar places in this country and ask if they have many conversions there, and they would not know what it meant, they are so far away from the Lord; they are not looking for conversions, and don’t expect them.

A young man had been for some time under a sense of sin, longing to find mercy; but he could not reach it. He was a telegraph clerk, and being in the office one morning he had to receive and transmit a telegram. To his great surprise, he spelt out these words,—" Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." A gentleman out for a holiday was telegraphing a message in answer to a letter from a friend who was in trouble of soul. It was meant for another, but he who transmitted it received eternal life, as the words came flashing into his soul.

In the district of Allahabad some conversions had taken place among the women and girls which had greatly stirred up the opposition of the men. The reading circles in the zenanas had to be stopt and the missionaries were prohibited from visiting the women. One old woman, explaining the situation, said: “Our men say you come and take us away. It is not you who take our women away and make them Christians; it is your Book. There are such wonderful words in it; when they sink into the heart nothing can take them out again.”

Mr. Nagota, Japanese pastor of the Episcopal Church in Tsu, gives the following account of his conversion to Christianity: A colporteur was trying to persuade a soldier to buy a gospel. He was rebuffed by gross insults and most uncalled for anger. The colporteur bore the indignity with so much meekness that Mr. Nagota, who chanced to be passing by, was amazed, and bought the gospel for the sake of the maligned man. He took the little volume home and read it carefully, and through reading, became a Christian.

Whittaker Chambers was a Communist spy for 13 years and abruptly left the Party in 1938. Through his testimony, Richard Nixon charged State Department official Alger Hiss with being a Soviet spy.

In Chambers’s autobiography, “Witness,” he describes his reasons for leaving communism. Originally, he had found in the party the two certainties “for which the mind of man tirelessly seeks: a reason to live and a reason to die.” He believed Marxism represented the last great hope on earth.

Why did that hope crumble? Chambers quotes the daughter of a German diplomat, trying to explain why her father had suddenly turned against communism: “He was immensely pro-Soviet, and then one night in Moscow he heard screams. That’s all. Simply one night he heard screams.” Chambers read about the execution of a Soviet general he knew and realized the killings would go on and on. Lady Astor once asked Stalin, “How long are you going to keep on killing people?” “As long as it is necessary,” he replied.

Watching his daughter in a high chair, he noticed the perfection of her ear and realized such an intricate design could not happen by chance. His daughter must have a soul. Later, reading Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables,” Chambers encountered a faith that combined two seeming irreconcilables: Christianity and revolution. The revolution was not imposed from above, through a gun barrel, but from below, through service to the poor and oppressed. He read the journal of George Fox and was influenced by the Quakers.

Chambers died a sad and mistrusted man. Yet communism has been abandoned around the world. Why? First, they heard screams. Finally, the authorities themselves had to recognize the bankruptcy of a system based on humanity alone. Almost 40 years ago Chambers wrote:

“Political freedom, as the Western world has known it, is only a political reading of the Bible. ... The crisis of Communism exists to the degree in which it has failed to free the peoples it rules from God. ... Economics is not the central problem of this century. It is a relative problem which can be solved in relative ways. Faith is the central problem of this age. The Western world does not know it, but it already possesses the answer to this problem -- but only provided that its faith in God and the freedom He enjoins is as great as Communism’s faith in Man.”

The first missionary to reach Vella Lavella in the early days of missions was R.C. Nicholson from Australia. He wrote "The Son of a Savage" about the first native convert. The island was brutal (details given). The first white people were slave traders. One boy named Bula grew up in a violent family; Nicholson helped Bula when he had inflamed eyes and Bula was saved around the age of 12. He changed his name to Daniel, became a preacher, and died at the age of 28.

Gordon Liddy is a prime example of true meaning of repentance. He followed Nietzsche in his philosophy of “will to power” to overcome fear; he ate a rat to get over his fear of rats. He succeeded in life rapidly with notoriety gained through Watergate; he even had a Miami Vice appearance. When David Letterman asked him, “What happens after we die?” Liddy responded, “We are food for the worms.” His answer gave him a sense of inner unease so he sought out former FBI friends who invited him to a Bible study. He went because he had a historical interest in the Bible but came to see the Bible as God’s communication to man. He had a “rush of reason” and became a Christian.

[Liddy has disputed this account of his conversion but he is a convinced Catholic]

Looks at the study of homosexuality from a scientific viewpoint. The APA took it off the mental illness list in 1974 under pressure from gays, but in 1978 a survey found that 69% of the psychiatrists still believed that homosexuality "usually represents a pathological adaptation."

Genetic factors have not been proven, though hormonal changes before birth have caused homosexual behavior in animals. Nevertheless, Jones believes these factors may predispose without predetermining. Evidence shows some homosexuals can change but it is difficult.

Back when Billy Graham first began his crusade ministry, a notorious gangster named Mickey Cohen attended one of the meetings in Beverly Hills. The meeting was being led by the young evangelist himself.

Very few people had heard of Billy Graham at this point. Mickey Cohen was much better known. Mickey was attracted to what he heard at the meeting. Afterwards, Billy and some of the others talked to him about salvation, but he made no commitment at that time.

A while later a Christian friend read Revelation 3:20 to him - "Behold, I stand at the door...." The friend then asked Mickey if he wanted this salvation. He said, "Yes, I do." The news of his conversion made quite a sensation, and the ministry of Billy Graham became known across the nation.

There was only one small problem - nothing in Mickey Cohen's life changed. When his friend confronted him about it, Mickey complained: "You didn't tell me I would have to give up my work!" [Mafia] "You didn't tell me I would have to give up my friends!" [criminals]

Mickey had heard that so-and-so was a Christian athlete, and so-and-so was a Christian actress, so he thought he could be a Christian gangster.

==========================

Another version, by Rev. Tim Roddick, derived from Chuck Colson's book "Loving God":

One of the most recognizable evangelists over the past century has been Billy Graham. His ministry has touched the lives of countless people across the world, but what happens to these people’s lives after they leave the stadium? It’s no longer Billy Graham challenging that person, the work that he may have started or initiated by sharing God’s Word is then turned over to God and the Holy Spirit. I can stand up here and talk until I’m blue in the face, but in order for my words to impact you; in order for God’s truth to infiltrate your lives, you’re going to need the Holy Spirit working in you. But once again, God has left that choice to respond to His message, to respond to the work of the Spirit, entirely up to you. You and you alone are responsible for making a decision about your salvation. It’s your choice to make!

One such person who thought he was ready to respond was Mickey Cohen. In his book, “Loving God,” Chuck Colson recounts the story of this man, a renowned and notorious gangster of the 1940s. Close to six decades ago, Cohen rubbed shoulders with celebrities and movie stars, never missing an opportunity to place himself inside the spotlight – he even took part in a “Life magazine” pictorial of “American Gangsters”. On another occasion, during an interview with Mike Wallace, Cohen proudly proclaimed, “I have killed no man that in the first place didn’t deserve killing by the standards of our way of life,” implying that those he had killed, deserved it.

In 1949, one of Cohen’s “associates,” a wiretapper for the mob by the name of Jim Vaus attended a Billy Graham crusade in Los Angeles and as a result, he committed his life to Jesus Christ. Immediately afterwards, he contacted Cohen so that he might share the “good news” with him. Invited over to the gangster’s mansion late at night, Jim and his wife sat in front of the mob boss as he shared about his life-changing conversion. Following which, he resigned from Cohen’s employment, renounced his life of crime, and even repaid $15,000 in stolen electronic equipment that he had taken. And later, when times were rough, he refused to accept Cohen’s offer of a car, stating that he would not willingly take anything that was acquired illegally. Vaus later wrote of his life story in the book, “Why I Quit Syndicated Crime,” which in 1955, was adapted into a movie called, “Wiretapper,” in which Billy Graham made a rare film appearance as himself.

But let’s get back to mobster, Mickey Cohen. More of his friends began to share with him similar stories of their faith, and eventually Cohen asked Vaus to arrange a meeting for him with “that guy who’s converting all those famous folks.” A meeting was arranged, and along with a few others, Mickey Cohen sat and listened to Billy Graham preach the gospel. It is said, that he even raised his hand at the end of the message in a show of interest. But his life of crime continued and Cohen, much like another notorious crime boss, Al Capone, landed himself in prison for charges of tax evasion. After getting out of jail, Bill Jones, a Christian layman in Los Angeles, made it a personal mission to lead Cohen to Christ, and upon hearing a simple gospel presentation, Cohen repeated a prayer with Jones. The evangelist was elated and word soon spread that Mickey Cohen, the once dangerous mobster, had turned his life over to Christ. Hallelujah!!!

But Mickey seemed to be more interested in portraying the image of a “nice guy” Christian than in actually living the life of one. He soon lost touch with Jones, and began to hang around with his old buddies from the criminal underworld. The perplexed and disheartened Jones confronted Cohen to tell him that as a Christian, he needed to put distance between himself and his old cronies in crime. Puzzled, Cohen responded, “Jones, you never told me that I had to give up my career. You never told me that I had to give up my friends. There are Christian movie stars, Christian athletes, Christian businessmen. So what’s the matter with being a Christian gangster? If I have to give up all that – if that’s Christianity – then count me out” [Chuck Colson, Loving God, 81-93].

Two men, one chose to change his life following his conversion; the other chose to remain unchanged. We all laugh at his simplicity, but how much different are we than Mickey?

Charles Colson was a tough lawyer who worked for President Nixon at the height of Watergate. He was successful, but he still felt empty.

One afternoon a friend shared his faith in Christ with him, and a short time later Colson became a Christian. Comic strips like Doonesbury ridiculed him. Soon Colson found himself in prison because of his previous activities during Watergate. They were the worst 2 years of his life, but he kept his faith.

He was appalled at the prison conditions and how prisoners came out worse than they went in. Today his organization has 15,000 volunteers who disciple prisoners for Jesus Christ.

One reform he proposes is to allow non-violent offenders to redeem themselves by making restitution. Instead of going to jail, they pay back those they have wronged. Such criminals are more likely to be rehabilitated. It is a principle found right in the Bible.

[Also see Christian History mag, #26, (IX,2), page 34]

Mr. Theh ("tay") Chongkhadikij was a founder and editor of the main English newspaper in Thailand, the Bangkok Post. His youngest daughter, Anchalee, is known as the Queen of Rock in Thailand. She had a close friend become a Christian, went to Dick Worley, read Psalm 139 and accepted Christ. The others in the family had Bible studies with him and also accepted Christ. When Worley talked with Theh, a strong Buddhist, Theh accepted the gospel with child-like faith. Later at a church service he raised his hand at the invitation. A few weeks later at a Luis Palau rally his daughter gave her testimony and Theh himself came forward. He did not do it so much to accept Christ (he had already done that) but to bear witness to his faith in front of others. On July 1, 1990, Worley baptized 36 people at the Maitrichit Church, and Theh and his wife were the first two. Theh wrote a book on his experiences in Thailand and included his testimony at the end.

Portrays the religious enthusiasm of soldiers in the American Civil War. At first they cared little for religion, but as the bloody war dragged on, hundreds of thousands converted to Christianity.

In times of distress you come to appreciate life and human relationships much more.

It is also a time when many people first turn to God. The famous English preacher, John Stott, surveyed his congregation and found that the majority of them were saved after a time of personal desperation, a sense of being at the end of their resources.

Thumbnail sketch of ministries of Moody and Sunday. Some of Moody's

phrases:

"I look upon this world as a wrecked vessel. God has given me a lifeboat and

said to me, 'Moody, save all you can.'"

"Our work is to give them the Word of God. I cannot convert men; I can only

proclaim the Gospel."

Moody's 3 R's - Ruined by Sin; Redeemed by Christ; Regenerated by the Spirit.

Sunday gave painless invitations. In contrast, a revival in Wales in 1904 led

to a reduced crime rate and confused horses, as their converted masters did

not beat and curse them any more.

#2615

*

Pastor Buu Tu Chung is ministering as church planter among the Vietnamese population of Los Angeles. He was born and raised in Vietnam, near the Mekong Delta. He became a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War for the U.S. Army before he was shot down on February 22, 1971. He was captured and became a prisoner of war for almost 14 years. To count the days exactly, it was 5,000 days. He was not released until the end of 1984.

He knew about God and Jesus since he was a child, but he was not a real Christian. When he was in prison, he thought about his future and his life ... he had no hope. Then he remembered a verse in Matthew where Jesus said that all you need is faith the size of a mustard seed. He knew he needed the Holy Bible, but he lived in a Communist prison ... so how could he possibly get one? So he thought if he had faith like a mustard see he could have it.

He began to pray to ask Jesus to give him His Holy bible. During his interrogation - which lasted for five months - the enemy asked him if they could give him something. He said yes. They asked, "What do you need?" "I need a Holy Bible." They said, "It's impossible, we cannot give you that thing because it is forbidden." He said, "OK, but you asked me and I gave you my answer."

After two years of praying, the chief of the camp called him in to be interrogated. Chung came into his office and he saw a brand new Holy Bible on the table. After a while the officer said, "This Holy Bible is yours - a gift from the Political Warfare Department of the North Vietnam Army." (Unfortunately, the Bible was stolen four years later.) Chung knew that God is real and Jesus is God. He read the Bible and became a new Christian. He was born again.

He had gone through fifteen prison camps. The first camp was right in Hanoi. That is where he saw the first American pilot who was detained there and interrogated. In Hanoi, he stayed in several places including one main prison the Americans called the Hanoi Hilton.

When he came to the United States in 1990, God reminded him that he had promised that he would serve Him. He went to Calvary Baptist of Gardena and attended the worship service and was so pleased. This was exciting because in 1989, before he came to the United States, he became the leader of a home church in Vietnam called the Underground Church, which was a charismatic church. So when he came to Calvary Baptist of Gardena, he saw that people practiced the same thing and said, "Well, this is my place!"

He and another pastor began to plant a new Vietnamese church on February 16, 1992. The first year, 25 souls were won for Christ. In May 1993 he was recognized as a pastor by the American Baptists. Their church began to grow slowly and now attendance is around 30. They began another new Vietnamese church on April 29, 1994. He has a vision that many Vietnamese will convert to be a Christian in America, and knows that one day he will see it.

#2971

*

Sermon in John series. Nicodemus. John 3:1-8,16

===========================

NICODEMUS - DOUBLE DELIVERY

===========================

I. The Miracle of birth.

II. The man Nicodemus.

A. Rigidly spiritual - a Pharisee. 3:1

B. Powerful and respected - ruling council (Sanhedrin)

C. Chicken? 3:2

III. A painful proposition.

A. You must be born again. 3:3

B. Water and spirit. 3:5

C. Kingdom of God. 3:5

IV. Christians are different creatures.

A. Starting over has its attractions.

B. God has to do it.

V. Is real change possible?

A. Being a "born againer."

B. Can God really change people?

C. Bible is clear that God can change us, and we must change.

D. YOU must change. 3:7

Sermon in John series. Man born blind. John 9:30-41

==============

DOG EYE GNIEES

==============

I. What it would be like to be blind.

II. Why was he blind?

A. Jews associated suffering with sin. 9:2

B. No reasons, but a purpose. 9:3

C. A "Messiah" miracle.

III. The O.J. trial of the First Century.

A. Man undergoes four interrogations.

B. Basic convictions. 9:25

C. Rejecting Jesus, they reject the man. 9:34

IV. Two progressions.

A. The healed man grows in his perception of Jesus.

B. The Pharisees shrink in their perception of Jesus.

V. How well do you see?

A. Many are unaware of the will of God in their lives.

B. Ask God for spiritual sight.

Sermon in Big Questions series. Truth, as evidenced by Jesus. John 1:9-14

===============================

DO WE HAVE A MONOPOLY ON TRUTH?

===============================

I. A politically-incorrect Christmas.

A. "Merry Christmas" is taboo.

B. Satellite dish religion.

II. The need for toleration.

A. There is much good in other faiths.

B. Inadequacies in our own faith.

C. Tolerance doesn't mean agreement.

III. Is there any such thing as objective truth?

A. Modern society is hungry - for something.

B. The gospel avoids asking for mere intellectual agreement.

C. What is demanded is conversion, detoxification, being born again.

IV. The real meaning of Christmas. John 1:9-14

A. Most don't recognize Jesus.

B. Truth became a man.

C. "Peace on earth" was not for everyone. Luke 2:14

V. Truth doesn't convert, but it can lead to Jesus.

A. Our problem with the gospel is moral more than intellectual.

B. Love works better than arguments.

#4013

*

It was the summer of 1972, a few months after my conversion at the age of 16, when I confronted, firsthand, Bill Bright’s evangelistic mission. I had taken a Greyhound bus cross-country from Ohio to Dallas, Texas, to attend Explo ‘72, Campus Crusade for Christ’s (CCC) week-long evangelism training conference. There, through daily workshops and evening praisefests at the Cotton Bowl, the zeal of the Jesus freaks was effectively harnessed. We were trained to use the Four Spiritual Laws (Bright’s evangelistic formula for pitching the gospel) and then unleashed to advance in an evangelistic blitzkrieg in our hometowns.

I broke in this innovative system on an easy target — my little sis (aged 15). I hoodwinked her into meeting me on the swing set, and then I laid out God’s blueprint:

• GOD LOVES YOU AND OFFERS A WONDERFUL PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE.

• MAN IS SINFUL AND SEPARATED FROM GOD, THUS CANNOT KNOW AND EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE AND PLAN.

• JESUS CHRIST IS GOD’S ONLY PROVISION FOR MAN’S SIN.

• WE MUST INDIVIDUALLY RECEIVE JESUS AS SAVIOR AND LORD. [see #35479 for detailed version]

Got it?

Without hesitation she told me she wanted to “receive Christ” and “pray the prayer.” I read the prayer from the booklet; she echoed. She cried; I cried.

I thought, THIS IS EASY.

We finished with a recitation of the principles outlined in the back illustrated by the Fact-Faith-Feeling train. The FACT of what God has done in Jesus is the engine that drives the train; FACT pulls FAITH behind it; FEELINGS take up the rear in the caboose. (“Our feelings — the caboose — must never drive the train,” I said.)

That encounter saved my sister.

Fifteen years after that Ohio summer she and I shared another life-changing moment. We buried her first-born child, who died of head injuries sustained in a freak accident. She died the day before her second birthday. The birthday cards were already in the mail.

During those dark days I pleaded with God that the faith my sister owned that day on the swing set would hold up.

In the end, it held. (Though her understanding of God’s “wonderful plan” moved into a new dimension.)

I have never dismissed the value of the Four Laws. I used to keep one copy in my wallet — just in case the opportunity to witness to somebody presented itself. But the booklet became so tattered and worn (from being dutifully kept but never used), I ended up throwing it away. I guess I stopped thinking about my Christian witness in terms of laws, plans, and trains.

In a similar vein, segments of evangelicalism have felt ambivalent about the Bright blueprint for kingdom building. The misgivings focus on three fronts: CCC’s “simplistic” theology; the “mass marketing” approach to evangelism; and the embrace of pragmatic means to fulfill the inspired end of reaching every person with the gospel.

THEOLOGY. Richard Quebedeaux notes in his biography of Bill Bright (I FOUND IT, 1979) that many dismiss his approach as “crassly superficial.” Former CCC staff worker Peter Gillquist led a handful of Crusade staff (and hundreds of other evangelicals) to Eastern Orthodoxy in the late eighties, citing a hunger for “something more” than the “reductionism” of Crusade-type evangelicalism. Ole Anthony of the Trinity Foundation points out: “The Laws offer nothing about the cost of discipleship.” Mark Noll writes in THE SCANDAL OF THE EVANGELICAL MIND that Bright and other “popular authority figures” have contributed to an intellectual environment in evangelicalism today that is “naive, inept, or tendentious.” Many Christians can’t abide reducing Christian doctrine to simple how-tos.

MASS MARKETING. Bright is a businessman. His business acumen has emboldened him to lurch ahead where many evangelicals fear to tread: He has wedded spirituality and marketing principles. J. I. Packer calls Bright “God’s entrepreneur to middle America.” “Some brilliant people can see their way to a formula that fits almost everybody,” Packer says. “Henry Ford did it with the Model T; Bill Bright did it with the Four Spiritual Laws.” Bright understands America’s appetite for a simple message with straightforward appeal. So the gospel presentation he has fashioned can be mass produced, expeditiously disseminated, and proficiently advanced.

But he is not JUST a businessman.

Bright is convinced that God has given him the mandate to reach “every single human on earth” with the gospel. Campus Crusade is the vehicle to that end. So he is also a visionary. And the wedding of these two forces can, at times, result in the passing over of the mundane details of ministry management and the sometimes faltering human element. And this introduces the third area of ambivalence.

PRAGMATISM. Campus Crusade has one mission: to get the gospel to every human on the planet. It is fueled by visionary zeal, plotted according to marketing principles, and executed by a multimillion-dollar ministry that includes over 14,000 workers. So things can, and do, go wrong. Bright finds himself in the center of painful controversies, some attributable to his own missteps, some not. Good people are sometimes swept up and away in the whirlwind of reaching the larger goal.

All of these, for good or ill, are parts of the picture of Bill Bright. Yet there is another side of him that completes the picture.

Entrepreneurs are supposed to have one thing on their minds: profit margins. While Bright epitomizes the hardball business wizard in his orchestration of CCC’s mission (Bright raises more money than you or I can dream about — Packer quips; “Bill stage-manages mass money”), on a personal level, he defies his entrepreneurial persona by renouncing personal wealth and material gain. In fact, his latest preoccupation is calling American Christians to self-denial, to repent through prayer and fasting.

So the businessman advances the cause by shrewdly applying market principles; the visionary defines his motives by denying self-gratification and greed, the very engines that drive our consumer culture. The visionary sees the landscape of possibility by the power of God, the businessman translates that vista into real estate. He rubs elbows with multimillionaires like the Bunker Hunts of the world, though his annual income is comparable to that of a McDonald’s manager.

Whether because of, or in spite of, Bright’s approach, God’s blessing is evident in his life and on his work. Campus Crusade’s marketed gospel, billboard tactics, and no-holds-barred global mandate are changing the world. Superficial, reductionist, tendentious or not, God used the Four Spiritual Laws to save my sister.

RANCHER TURNED VISIONARY

“Every farmer is a fool [DRAMATIC PAUSE] for who will stand by year after year and see his soil washed away without doing anything about it?” This provocative elocution won the young, lean, bareback bronco-riding Oklahoman William R. Bright (then 18) the national Future Farmers of America oration contest in 1939. The speech, entitled “I Dare You,” exhorted farmers to take advantage of the various methods of soil rotation (land terracing, treated soil, and fertilizer) to preserve the viability of their land. “Two farmers could be side by side — same soil, same sun, same rain; one is poor, the other is rich,” Bright, now 75, recalls. “There’s a difference in the way they do things. My challenge to them was: ‘I dare you to be different.’ “

Bright took his own advice. He, along with his wife, Vonette, launched Campus Crusade for Christ 46 years ago on the campus of UCLA, their first meeting targeting a sorority known as the “house of beautiful women.” Today the organization employs 14,200 staff along with 163,000 volunteers in 167 countries. The JESUS film alone (the life of Jesus on film, based on Luke’s gospel), created and produced by Crusade, has been viewed by over 850 million people in 219 countries in 400 languages. (According to their calculations, “tens of millions” have “responded” to the message.) U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT ranked Campus Crusade as number one in America’s “biggest” religious charities in 1995, outranking in total income the Christian Broadcasting Network, Focus on the Family, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and Wycliffe Bible Translators. MONEY magazine (1993 and 1995) labeled it the most “efficient” religious organization in the U.S. (measured by the percentage of the charity’s income spent on programs). In 1996 Crusade’s “world revenues” (including U.S. and international ministries) totaled nearly $300 million.

According to the Brights’ estimate, CCC has helped reach at least 2 billion people with the gospel. They know this because, for years, Crusade quantified their results by tracking numbers, a method they no longer use (to Bright’s regret — “It’s important for accountability”). As newspaper editor and former CCC staff worker Ken Sidey says, “It is hard to go anywhere in Christian circles and not meet someone who has been touched by Campus Crusade for Christ.”

Still, Bright is self-deprecating. He calls himself a “puny termite somewhere out in space.” In his acceptance speech when he received the Templeton Award for Progress in Religion last year, he recounted how, before he became a Christian, he was driven by “selfish goals — materialistic pursuits.” All that changed after he surrendered his life to Christ at the age of 23. A few years after his conversion, he renounced his worldly inclinations and drew up a written contract with the Lord, proclaiming, “I am your slave.” Since then, Bright’s spiritual sensibilities have been consistently quickened with “overwhelming impressions” from God.

In July 1994 the Lord “impressed” upon Bright to pray for revival in America. He prayed, “Lord, I’ll fast for 40 days, but you’ll have to help me.” The third week of that fast he sensed that God heard his prayers and promised to send revival. “The Lord impressed me that he was going to send a revival that would be the greatest spiritual harvest this nation and the world have ever seen. But first,” he says, “there had to be a humbling and a brokenness on the part of believers.” Bright is not “given to prophecy” (“I’m a Presbyterian”), but he would “stake his life” on these promises. His confidence rests on the simple fact that this is what God “told” him.

CONFECTIONS TO CONVICTIONS

Bill Bright grew up “in the saddle,” the sixth of seven children on a ranch in Coweta, Oklahoma. His grandfather had been a pioneer in oil, so the family was very prosperous, though not pampered. The Bright ranch was also the “entertainment center” of the surrounding area, with a constant flow of people either soliciting his father for advice on cattle or attending one of many watermelon and ice cream parties the family sponsored.

According to Vonette, Bill inherited the “finer fibers” of a spiritual nature from his mother, Mary Lee Rohl Bright, who, says Bright, “was truly a saint, though I didn’t appreciate that when I was growing up.” He credits her strong character for many of the spiritual qualities he would eventually adopt.

He graduated from Coweta High School in 1939 (having developed his own herd of registered shorthorn) and went on to study economics and sociology at Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. After graduating in 1943, Bright served for a year as part of the extension faculty for Oklahoma State. Then he moved west to seek his fortune in California.

Before “making it big,” however, Bright faced an unusual test. “The day Pearl Harbor was bombed, we all signed up for the military,” he says. “They knew I had a perforated eardrum, and they rejected people with perforated eardrums because of poison gas. So I went to the air force, the navy, the marines, the coast guard — anything to get in. I had three brothers and all of my fraternity brothers in the military. I was the only one left.” He went to California with the hope that he could overcome the obstacles he faced in his small town and find his way into the service there.

“I can remember watching Bill during that time,” says Vonette. “His face was red all the time. He was embarrassed to be 4F. It was the first thing that he’d ever wanted that he was not able to accomplish.”

His mother’s prayers began to catch up with him on his very first evening in L.A. While out looking for a good time, he picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be a member of the Navigators and, worse, the housemate of Navigators founder Dawson Trotman. He invited Bright to dinner with the Trotmans. Bright became positively predisposed to Christianity as a result of the Trotmans’ gracious demeanor. Later that same night he ended up at a party given by Dan Fuller, son of radio evangelist Charles E. Fuller (and soon-to-be founder of Fuller seminary).

Bright had no interest in God or related subjects at the time and by now had launched his own business, Bright’s California Confections, purveying “epicurean delights” — fruits, candies, jams, and jellies. But the pull toward faith became more acute when the elderly couple he was living with relentlessly urged him to come to their church (First Presbyterian of Hollywood) and hear their pastor, Louis Evans, Sr., preach. One Sunday, after a trail ride, he felt the pull to slip into the service (“smelling like a horse”) to hear Evans preach. Shortly after that, a young woman “with a come-hither smile in her voice” invited Bright to a church-sponsored party, which introduced him to the church’s social scene. He thought, if nothing else, becoming part of the church would expose him to the rich and famous who attended.

But his church attendance carried the additional effect of introducing him to the solid, radical declarations of the teacher of the college students there, Henrietta Mears. In the spring of 1945, when Bright was 23, Mears spoke about Paul’s conversion on the Damascus Road. He recalls: “She ended her message by saying to us, ‘When you go home tonight, get down on your knees and say with the apostle Paul, Lord, what wilst thou have me do?’ “

There were no bells and whistles when Bright prayed this prayer. But, he says, “The Lord knew my heart; he knew I was sincere, and he changed my life.”

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Copyright(c) 1997 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Christianity Today magazine. July 14, 1997 vol. 41, no. 8, page 14

The cartoon characters of “B.C.” reflect their imaginative creator, Johnny Hart. Especially his unapologetic faith in God.

Johnny Hart’s house is about a half-mile from any paved road. His mind, meanwhile, is several millennia away: back in the cave man days -- dwelling with his friend, B.C. The two of them took up residence together several decades ago, with the consent and support of Hart’s wife, Bobby. Then came another comic strip pal, “The Wizard of Id.” Today, there’s a communal cheer in the leafy woods where the Harts reside in rural New York State.

As casual as Johnny seems, his life is anything but laid back. From his earliest days struggling in tough New York City for his break in the cartooning world, to his mid-career rocket to fame, creating several working auxiliaries of himself, to his more recent recommitment to the Christian faith of his youth, Johnny has never been one for sitting on a stone and plogging; that, he leaves for B.C. or his caveman friend, Wiley.

On the contrary, Johnny is busier than ever carving out, if you will, a career he hopes glorifies God. His work has reaped rewards but also heavy costs.

PREACHING IN PANELS

Today, the gray-haired “gag man” (his own description) draws a caveman with ever-growing convictions. Hart believes the Lord put him into the cartooning world for a reason. Every prudent chance he gets, he takes advantage of it.

On Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter -- and many days between -- Hart’s characters offer messages reflecting the cartoonist’s own firm belief in the gospel message. “I find myself trying to put the gospel into practically every strip I create without being obvious about it,” he says.

Hart says he wants to create a “spasm” in his reader, putting a new twist on an old truth. He’s been creating nationwide twitches for years now, and his peers often have paid him homage:

• Best Humor Strip in America, six times (The National Cartoonist Society) -- The Reuben -- Cartoonist of the Year (The National Cartoonist Society) -- The Yellow Kid Award for Best Cartoonist (The International Congress of Comics) -- Best Cartoonist of the Year (France’s highest cartooning award) -- The Sam Adamson Award, twice (Sweden’s international award for graphic artists) -- The Elsie Segar Award (King Features Syndicate).

In many ways, Hart is a preacher, only his congregation absorbs his message via America’s mainstream newspapers as he brings light into the often dark daily news. People who don’t read the Bible or attend church services often do read Johnny’s comics.

He was gratified when a woman wrote to say that a “Wizard of Id” strip kept her from committing suicide. “The strip had no real mind-jarring message,” says Hart, “so I just knew that [it was] God [who] had used it to reach that precious soul.”

B.C. Vs. THE TIMES

Johnny’s work stirs more than a love for life. For some, Johnny’s bent has become too religious and/or political. While other cartoonists’ characters get away with blatant statements reflecting non-Christian views, over the past few years a different standard has been applied by some newspaper editors to Johnny’s cartoon figures.

For four years now, The Los Angeles Times has refused to run certain “B.C.” strips containing witty Christian messages during holiday seasons. In March 1996, when the Times refused to run his Palm Sunday strip, a national uproar ensued, reaching even the Washington, D.C., talk show circuit. The strip had Wiley -- a brooding, poet-wannabe in B.C.’s cast of characters -- sitting against a tree, tablet in hand, writing a poem entitled “The Suffering Prince”:

Picture yourself tied to a tree, condemned of the sins of eternity. Then picture a spear, parting the air, seeking your heart to cut your despair.

Suddenly -- a knight, in armor of white, stands in the gap betwixt you and its flight, And shedding his ‘armor of God’ for you -- bears the lance that runs him through. His heart has been pierced that yours may beat, and the blood of his corpse washes your feet.

Picture yourself in raiment white, cleansed by the blood of the lifeless knight. Never to mourn, the prince who was downed, For he is not lost! It is you who are found.

Spokeswoman Gloria Lopez of the Times says Mr. Hart’s strip isn’t the only one that has been pulled. Other examples of edited strips she cited include “Doonesbury” and “The Far Side.” Says Ms. Lopez: “The bottom line is the editors reserve the right to edit.” Johnny believes such treatment is symptomatic of the battle for America’s soul, and he likes the idea that his recent flaps with the Times “have gotten Christians up in arms. That’s what they all need.”

A LIFECHANGING TV LINK

Johnny admits that for years he was anything but serious about his own walk with God. He sought pleasure, enjoying the luxuries his successful career offered.

Johnny had made a commitment to Christ in his earlier years, but never lived it out. “Bobby and I had backslidden and fallen into a life of drinking and partying,” Johnny recalls. They ran with the “Hollywood types,” yet he was becoming less and less satisfied.

Then Johnny had a satellite dish hooked up at his estate. A Christian father-and-son team installed it, and temporarily lived on-site with the Harts. The two workers were always flipping the dish to a Christian channel, “constantly using PTL as their test pattern,” quips Johnny. And the cartoonist began viewing the shows as well. “I became interested by osmosis,” says Johnny. “PTL was always on.”

Challenged by what he was hearing, Johnny and Bobby began looking back into the Scriptures. Today, he cracks, “I use TBN (the Trinity Broadcast Network) as a night light.” With time, the couple’s commitment to the Lord solidified. “Probably the biggest realization -- and it came to me very subtly -- was that the Bible is the Word of God. I didn’t have an ‘experience.’ Everything in my dealings with God has always been very gradual. I attribute that to my own spirit muddling things: personal resistance; me interfering.”

Nevertheless, Johnny and Bobby now have set their lives on a course of service. Both teach Sunday school at the Presbyterian church in the small town of (get this) Ninevah, New York.

FAITH, NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

Whether or not the press ever starts showing more respect to outspoken Christians, Johnny doesn’t plan to change his ways. He’ll keep exploring the rock-solid truth that finally was hammered into him and his Stone Age friends. And he does more than deliver the message through his comic strips. As opportunities arise, Johnny shares personally the hope of Christ with fellow cartoonists as well as executives at the news syndicate that represents his work.

________

Copyright(c) 1997 by Christianity Today, Inc/Christian Reader Magazine.

March/April 1997, Vol. 35, No. 2, Page 18

December 28 will bring bittersweet memories to Robert Whittimore. While it marks the third anniversary of his mother's death and the day that a drunken fight sent him to jail in 1994, it also concludes a year of sobriety.

Although he grew up attending Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist churches and was baptized as a youngster, the western Kentucky native drifted away from God. But he came back last winter, thanks to what he learned in the first "Experiencing God" study at the Graves County Jail.

The 11th of 13 children, Whittimore had plenty of family members willing to post his bond, even after the judge raised it from $1,000 to $10,000. He kept turning down the offers and spent more than three months in jail so he could complete the 12-week-long course.

"The main thing to me was the love relationship God wants with us," said Whittimore, who now works at a poultry-processing plant. "I did a lot of reading my whole life but I never looked at it that way. It taught me he was expecting a love relationship, not just obedience -- that he wanted somebody to love him back."

After his release, he took another step to formalize that relationship, getting baptized with several others at a Presbyterian service. Although he hasn't joined a Baptist church, he sounds like one in discussing his faith.

"I believe in Jesus Christ and know the things he has done for me," he said. "I believe that. I believe when you're saved you're saved for life. You may make mistakes but today I'm striving to do what's right."

Whittimore also has returned to the county jail, although this time voluntarily. He goes there on Saturday nights to visit inmates and participate in worship services conducted by various churches.

He also likes to relate his experience to residents in this community a few miles from Mayfield. Many are familiar with his family, since his father operated a garage and salvage yard here for 50 years before his death in 1991.

Some of those conversations have included apologies to people he offended the past three years. He said his drinking problems reached a peak then both parents and two siblings died over a 12-month span.

"Pride doesn't taste so bad after you swallow it," said Whittimore, who shared his testimony at a recent meeting of the Graves County Baptist Association. "I tell people how wrong I was instead of telling them how wrong they are. I sow the seed and God gives the increase."

He hopes Experiencing God will continue to make an impact in others' lives, too. He said he was impressed with Henry Blackaby's teaching videos, the simplicity of the course and modern-day examples of God at work that were easy to understand.

"I was looking for something but I wasn't sure what it was," he said of his past troubles. "Sometimes I don't think I was saved until recently, because I didn't really understand what I was getting into."

Now he does. He especially understands the value of sitting in jail to experience God.

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Copyright (c) 1995 Baptist Press

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