A Skeptic’s Quest – My Testimony Part 4

Dr. Halverson gave the students at Wheaton College this invitation. He said, “Tonight can you step out of your seat and come down to the altar, place your talents, your gifts, your abilities on the altar and say ‘God here am I send me’. It’s not saying you’re going, but are you willing to go. ‘Here am I send me.’” Hundreds went forward, it was like a revival. God had orchestrated that whole week, the student’s opinion of Halverson, and everything, to bring about a revival. Students shot up out of their seats, hundreds started going forward. I sat back to the left totally discouraged. Here I thought it was going to be different. He said “Who will go first, who can we send? Bring your abilities, your talent, your gifts, and place them on the altar, your stethoscope, your law school books, and say, ‘Here am I, send me.’” I felt so discouraged because even then I didn’t think I had any abilities, any talents, or any gifts that God could use.

I sat there and I started to cry. And then my roommate, Dick Purnell, a phenomenal speaker, stood up and went forward. That was it. I couldn’t take it anymore. In front of the entire student body of Wheaton College I got up and I ran out of the chapel. I went back to the room where I was staying, crawled in bed and pulled the blankets up over my head and I couldn’t get to sleep. My roommate came home and went to bed.

I got up and called the young lady who at that time I was engaged to and I knew instantly I wouldn’t marry her. I went down and got Chaplain Walsh out of bed, the Chaplain of the university. This was about two o’clock in the morning and I told him what was going on in my life and what was happening, the struggle I was having. I cannot believe it, here is a man paid to counsel students and all Chaplain Walsh did was look at me and said, “Well young man it looks like you have a decision to make”, and he went to bed. I thought, he gets paid to do that? It was the best thing he could have done. He was right in the center of God’s will. I did not realize it at the time. I walked out and I was kind of hurt.