This is for Glenn who doesn't seem to appreciate Jed's open air campus preaching too much. It is evidence that the plowing and sowing ministry bears fruit in due time.
Peace be with you. David Miller, Beverly Hills, Florida. ----------------- The following was posted by Jeremy on June 15, 2003 at 00:14:30 on The Campus Ministry USA BB, www.brojed.org. ----------------- "Young Man, I see that you have your hat on backwards...." I was, of course, a bit surprised that Jed was actually adressing me personally. After all, I had taken every opportunity that Spring, and previous Springs, to skip class and listen to Jed preach on OSU's legendary Oval. Many days, I was quiet, taking the crowd and Jed in as a source of amusement, but I was in a fairly ornery mood that day and had been heckling Jed pretty mercilessly. It was the end of Jed's afternoon, but I knew when he approached me that he had been waiting for the right moment to humble me. So there I was, with my fraternity hat worn backwards, hair hanging halfway down my back and my ever-present Metallica T-Shirt on and pack of cigarettes at my side. I stopped and thought for a moment...where was Jed going with this and how should I react in front of this crowd of 100 or so?..... "Well, yeah Jed I suppose it is", I quipped. Jed nodded. "I ask, because the normal purpose of the bill of a hat is to extend over our foreheads, to shield our eyes from sunlight..." "Uhhhhh. Sure, Jed, okay". Jed grinned. "Son, then perhaps the fact that you're wearing your hat backwards means that your head is not on straight." And with that, Jed walked away, leaving me dumbfounded. Not because he'd won that battle of wits, but because I knew that he was right. I'd had a good strong Christian upbringing, if not necessarily a Fundamentalist one. I knew the Word of God, and I knew that I was eyes deep in every sin from fornication to drunkenness and drug use to idolatry and occultism. And, I knew full well that I was headed for the pit. I was lost. And, I was stubborn. And so, Jed's admonition was pushed to the back of my mind along with everything I knew was right and holy. But, it was never forgotten. I continued with my education, and with my sin, finishing with a BA in U.S. History and going on to a career in networking. I was successful in the worldly sense, but always inebriated, empty and lost inside. But of course, being stubborn, I would find fulfillment my own way. It was not until I married and had a son that the bubble burst. I had what I had always wanted; a good career, a good wife, a wonderful child. But I could not for a moment escape trouble, whether in my professional life, my marriage, or my role as a husband and a father. It took my wife and son separating from me for several weeks last winter until I understood. Despondent, and harboring suicidal thoughts, I thought back through my life and remembered, for some reason, that day on the Oval and Jed's remarks to me. I picked my old dusty King James up for the first time in nearly ten years and read through the Gospel of John. And, thinking back over my entire adult life thus far, I realized that everything wrong with my life was indeed a result of my stubbornness, my arrogance, and most of all a direct consequence of my SIN and of turning my back on the Almighty and trying to do things my way. I understood then and there that there was absolutely no chance of my being a good husband or father without God. As Jed would have said, it was time for me to Turn Or Burn. I prayed to God then and there, and told Him that I knew I had no right at all to expect His forgiveness after all that I had done, but that if he would just allow me another chance, I would never, EVER, fail Him again. And, there in my living room alone at 4am that night, I felt that weight lifted from my chest, and I felt what I knew was God's forgiveness and love once again. I had been to the dark side. I will never be there again. My wife and I reconciled shortly after, and though she had no Christian background to speak of, she is willing to take that walk with me, and for that I thank the Lord. I'm writing all this to you, Jed, because whether or not you remember our exchange that day in 1995, I wanted you to know that you planted a seed in me that day, and that it did take root eventually. I apologize to you for the times I made your job more difficult, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring enough about some long-haired, cigarette-sucking sinner to admonish me. During my childhood, I never had one portion of Scripture that stood out as my favorite over any other. But today, I think it would have to be the parable of the Prodigal Son. Because over the past 30 years of my life, I've quite literally been living that parable. And, I'm not quite home yet, but I'm on my way. I thank God every day for not counting me out, and I thank you Pastor Jed for pointing the way. I have the Bible here as a light to my path, but I've got a lot of lost ground to recover. And, any further light you could shed to help me on my way, I thank the Lord for. God bless, -Jeremy Columbus, OH ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
