I need this Jesus (but I am not raising my hand!)...

It is Sunday, May 30, and outside, there are about 50 college students partaking in a spontaneous worship service. It has been going on for an hour.

Maybe it is not so spontaneous. After all, we just came back from a muddy pond where five students testified of their belief in Jesus. They were all wet. I am a big fan of Christians getting all wet.

It reminded me of the summer of 1971, when at 12 years old, I was baptized in Byron, NY, in what we called "Say's Pond" (I suppose it was called that because the Say family owned it). It is interesting to me that a decision that I made at 11 years old is still as "rock solid" today as it was the day I made it.

Some memories of the day in August 1970 when I crossed over from unbelief to belief remain very vivid. As the invitation was made to become a Christian, I remember thinking, "I need this Jesus." I was very convinced that this was the answer to my problems. But when they asked me to indicate that decision by raising my hand, I thought, "I need this Jesus, but I am NOT raising my hand."

But mysteriously, I opened my eyes only to see that my hand was in the air. This only feeds the debate about the role of free will and election when it comes to salvation. I seemed to have lived the tension, because I knew I needed Jesus, but I am absolutely sure I did not raise my hand that was raised in the air.

Ah...we can debate the tension at another time.

In the meanwhile, let me say - it was a great day. We should do baptisms every day!

A Wild Ride (Conclusion)

This all seems like ancient history now, but it was a valuable lesson for an old guy like me. It certainly is a lesson I have learned before, but to be sure, I needed to learn it again. It is as simple as the old adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover."

If there is anyplace one needs to get that right, it is on a college campus. People are dressed every which way. They act in every way. They are experimenting with life - some experiments are dangerous, some are not.

But beneath each situation is a real person with real needs.

I discovered this once again with my travel companion. He had a job he enjoyed. He had a girlfriend he was nuts over. And deep down, he was in a search for truth.

I hope that in his encounter with me, he got closer to finding it. And I hope that God will grant me an opportunity in the future to meet up with him again. We possess the potential to be real friends, and I must admit, I hope God grants it.