A Skeptic’s Quest – My Testimony Part 3

I had the opportunity of going to Wheaton College, a very intellectual college in America, one of the top Christian colleges. And the only way I got in there was not on my grades, it was because of our pastor. Everyone that went to that little church where I accepted Christ always went to a certain other college and he finally wanted someone to go to Wheaton. He said, “Young man I want to get you into Wheaton.” He took me up there, called in every favor that he had. Now that is humbling, when you know you got into a university based on somebody else’s favors, not based upon your own expertise as it showed in tests and things. I thought going to a Christian college would be different, I really did. I was so excited.

I started school about the fourth or fifth of September. In October they had spiritual emphasis week and Dr. Richard Halverson, who many of you know as the Chaplain of the United States Senate, was the speaker. Nobody liked him. Nobody liked him. In fact, later he told me, he said a committee of students came to him and asked him to leave. Boy that would be embarrassing, but they came and asked him to leave. And so, the last night, on a Friday night, of spiritual emphasis week, all the alumni were back and everything, the chapel at the university was packed full.

Richard Halverson walked out and let us have it. He says, “I’m not going to give a talk tonight.” He said, “You are some of the most..”, well I don’t want to use the terminology, he said, “You are some of the most prideful..” and went on with other descriptions, “students I have met anywhere in the world.” He says, “You do not deserve a talk.” I wouldn’t lower myself to give you a talk tonight. Well then he offended us. I mean he offended them and then he offended us. He says, “All I am going to do is give you an invitation.” His invitation was from Isaiah. He said, “God showed Isaiah a vision of the world, all the needs of the gospel going out. Then he showed Isaiah how sinful he was and then he took a coal and touched his lips and made him clean. And then God said this to Isaiah, ‘Who would go for us, whom can we send?’” He said, “God did not say, ‘I am going to send you’. He did not say ‘go’. He said ‘are you willing?’” He said, “Are you willing, whom will go for us, whom can we send? God did not say ‘I am going to send you’. He just said ‘are you willing?’” He said, “Now later God said to Isaiah, ‘Go,’” but that wasn’t the invitation. The invitation was “are you willing to go?”