7.17.67-Fifty Years Ago Today

 7.17.67

Wheels, From Chariots to Cars and Airplanes

This is a 65 Chevy Impala that was the first car Sheila and I bought together.

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the biggest change day in my life superceded only by our anniversary date.

There is something about wheels and friendships that can lead us out of bad times into good ones. Many of my greatest friendships have been developed driving places.

Today, 50 years ago was also a Monday. I got to thinking about this red letter day in my life. As I rode in this vehicle from my home in North Texas to Sheila's in South Texas I was frightened and confused. I did not know who I was and where I was going. There was a lack of understanding that was cleared up for me on that Monday.

Some of it had to do with my approaching marriage but some was just needing to know about life with God. This journey with Him has had time sharing with friends on the wheels of cars and even airplanes

50 years ago today.

Acts 8.

²⁵ So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
²⁶ But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (^[h]This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his ^[i]chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this ^[j]chariot.” ³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

Do you understand what you are reading?

 

He had done several things in the last year that were beyond his understanding.  He had left home on July 25^th, 1965, to attend college at Abilene Christian College.  He was restless with being in the same place all his life and ready to explore a bigger world. He had an invitation to attend a college in Abilene, Texas, where his sister's family lived.

This particular city had something he had desired for some time.  A large group of people his own age who were interested in living a sincere and joyful “Christian” life.  At first the change was hard because he didn’t have access to a car, but he had a strong will and was excited. He enrolled in ACC and got connections for a summer job.

The next summer he worked at Southwestern Company, selling Bibles and medical books door to door in the rural areas near Nachitish and Debridder, LA.  After three months of knocking on ten doors  to get a yes to a presentation and one hundred doors to get a sale, he was accustomed to rejection. He decided to use this resilience to be bold and assertive when asking out colllege girls.  He decided to use this approach on the secretary of the Physical Ed Department since he was majoring in coaching and teaching.

The approach worked and after dating for about nine months, he was only two months away from  marriage to Sheila. She was a city girl and he was a farm boy.  He felt weak and small compared to the future challenges of college life as a married man.  He had gone to church all his life, but his own commitment to Christian values seemed quite shallow for his situation. He had become a Christian at age ten and had led in worship and prayer along with other young men and boys. Yet, he felt totally empty of spiritual strength.  

On Thursday, July 13, 1967, he had driven from his parents' farm in the Silver City, Oak Ridge and Bug Tussle area (Fannin County) of Texas  to Port Neches, Texas. On the drive this great fear had come over him. Fear of death. Fear of marriage. Fear of fitting into a very different family.  Fear of a big decision that he expected to affect the next 50 years of his life. At age 20, fear of not knowing who he was or who he could become. He was even uncertain of whether he was a “Christian”. He enjoyed a good weekend with his bride-to-be and her family. He had an idea regarding the need to overcome this fear in his heart. He had a minister friend whom he had first gotten to know seven years before at a summer camp. John Davis was a big, tall, laughing, giant of a man. He worked with youth helping them to understand the life of a disciple of Jesus. (This sentence needs work). He helped to build a youth camp that taught there was fun, joy, fellowship, friendship, service and learning how to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. He set up an appointment with the minister. He explained his fears and John turned to this passage.


  ³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

“He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He does not open His mouth.
³³ “In humiliation His judgment was taken away;
Who will ^[k]relate His ^[l]generation?
For His life is removed from the earth.”

³⁴ The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

John explained to him that the Old Testament pointed to Jesus Christ.  This passage of Isaiah pointed to a sheep that was slaughtered.  800 years later John had pointed to Jesus and said, “This is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.”

The minister explained that God loves the world so much that He didn’t want them to live in sin, guilt and shame. He sent His Son from heaven to save people from their sins. His name, Jesus, means Savior. He said that when Jesus died on the cross He was dying as a perfect man therefore He would be a perfect sacrifice to take away sins.

John explained that he could receive this saving gift by confessing his faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of the world and taking Jesus as the leader in his life. He asked him if we wanted to confess Jesus and be baptized in order to become a born again child of God. The frightened young man answered, "Yes, should I wait until Sunday when the church meets?"  

“No, that is not necessary.” You can be baptized today and you will have complete joy in being a child of God. You don’t need to fear anything with God as your heavenly Father. 

 ³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” ³⁷ [^[m]And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] ³⁸ And he ordered the ^[n]chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, ^[o]but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip ^[p]found himself at ^[q]Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

He was immersed in water and was “born again” as a child of God, a brother of Jesus Christ.

He was never the same. He still has many challenges and problems. He is not perfect. In fact, he gets frustrated at many of his failures on a daily basis.  

A few weeks later he got married and after almost fifty years of marriage, he is still enjoying the memory of this special day.  

 7.17.67

Fifty years ago today.

Larry Wishard