One of the hazards or blessings of being fifty-five years old is the propensity to reflect on the past. Sometimes that means the distant past. Usually it’s to gather perspective and to better understand the present day’s opportunities and to better discern potential distractions and errors. This summer will mark the forty year anniversary of “Explo ‘72” and its profound effect upon hundreds of thousands of young people, including one naïve, sixteen year old wrestler from Carbondale, Illinois.
Explo ’72 was an event held in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas in June of that year. Campus Crusade for Christ was at the center of the event, but it was certainly driven by the Holy Spirit’s power at the apex of “The Jesus Movement.” I was literally swept up into the event as another local kid could not attend due to having mononucleosis, the fees were paid and I agreed to go. I had no idea what was about to happen to me. After an incredibly long bus ride and clumsy introductions to roommates from Texas and Michigan, the meetings began and the Jesus Movement invaded my life.
Below is a bullet list of the remarkable events of that week and its effects upon my life. I imagine the experiences of many were very similar.
• I was a 16 year old, Baptist jock from Southern Illinois and I’m meeting hippies who have given up heroin for Jesus. There seemed to be some power in this relationship with Christ of which I was totally unaware. Acts 1:8 became personal that week.
• We attended nightly meetings in the Cotton Bowl for worship, encouragement, challenges and preaching. All this was to inspire and to empower our fulfillment of the Great Commission.
• Being high school boys, we did some things which should have resulted in our being sent home early. If Gene and Maxine Snider or Jim and Kay McCormack read this, I’m sorry. Nobody got hurt…
• During those days we were absolutely sure the Lord would return for us in the rapture of the Church right away, maybe within the week. We regularly exchanged “hitch hiking angel” stories and other urban legends which further fueled our evangelistic zeal.
• We were trained and deployed to share the “Four Spiritual Laws” and to use Spiritual Interest Surveys in neighborhoods all across Dallas and Fort Worth. Many of us have continued to use “The Four Laws” as an outline for our communication of the Gospel of Christ ever since. Many of us have since memorized them in second and third languages as we have continued to pursue fulfillment of the Great Commission.
• At the end of the week we experienced a “Christian Woodstock” of sorts at the “Jesus Music Explosion.” It was an all day concert which featured Johnny Cash, Larry Norman, Andre Crouch and the Disciples, Randy Matthews, Love Song and many more all playing in the hot sun of June in Texas.
• During the week I recall meeting and reading about the Athletes in Action Wrestling team. As a modestly talented, but ambitious young wrestler I was intrigued by how these men were able to honor Christ and to speak for Him in the tough and occasionally brutal world of wrestling. After we returned home I continued to read about them and to be inspired to action by their faithfulness to God and their excellence in sport. In particular, I remember 2-time Olympian Russ Knipp.
• Back in Carbondale that fall the Jesus Movement continued in my own life as well as in the lives of many others.
• Jerry Bryant, a Radio and Television student at SIU, began a radio show called, “Jesus Solid Rock” which grew and became nationally syndicated to over 100 stations weekly. Jerry became an integral part of Keith Green’s ministry in Southern California and then in Texas. He continues to share “Jesus Music” via a show called “Full Circle Jesus Music” now available on iTunes and at http://www.fullcirclejesusmusic.com/. The passionate, spiritually vibrant and Christ infused music of that era still speaks deeply to my soul.
• Jerry and several of his friends operated a Christian Coffee House called “The Upper Room” on the strip in downtown Carbondale. I went in a few times, but the short-haired jock didn’t really fit in with the “converted hippies” that hung out there drinking herbal tea.
• I began sharing Christ with my teammates and even saw some trust Him, despite my clumsy efforts and youthful zeal. One in particular, Dr. Kevin Lasley, went on to play college football at Eastern Illinois University and he later completed a Master’s Degree and a PHD. Kevin made a career in higher education, married and had four wonderful children and then packed it all up to serve as a pastor to a Native American community in Northern Minnesota. It seems the Jesus Movement has continued in his life as well.
• A number of my teammates and I attended Fellowship of Christian Athletes summer conferences in Black Mountain, North Carolina in 1973 and 1974. I still recall the inspirational testimonies of players and coaches as well as the challenging lives of my huddle leaders and teammates.
• A couple of my teammates and I began doing pre-game chapels and prayer with our football and wrestling teams.
• We began a daily prayer circle prior to the first class of the morning in front of the school library. Other young Christians began to join our circle and it was suddenly “cool” to hang out with the Christian kids each morning.
In the forty years since “Explo ‘72” I have been amazed at the Lord’s faithfulness to accomplish His purposes, even through the weakest of vessels, like me. Simple and seemingly disconnected events and influences have furthered the development of my life in Christ. Success and failure, competitive sport and movies, music and contemplation, friends and enemies, mentors and detractors have all been used to draw me along Jesus’ path toward the fulfillment of His “wonderful plan for my life.” (Four Spiritual Laws)
Please allow Him to use every aspect of your life to fulfill His purposes in your life. He has a plan; it’s for your good and God’s glory.
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