My Conversion

The year was 1975. The place was Chicago. I was in a smoked-filled basement with a curious group of young adults, listening to an enthusiastic older woman talk about the Bible. I couldn't relate to what she was talking about. So, I headed for the exit. I was quickly waylaid by a young man determined to tell me about Jesus. And that he did.

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He pointed out that I was a sinner and needed a Savior - no argument there. And because of my sinful inclination I would be separated from God forever.  But Jesus intervened and dealt with my sin on the cross to God's satisfaction. I had no resistance in my heart, I heard and believed that message and thanked the Lord. I wanted to be saved. I really needed life to be different.  

 

My Condition 

And things did become different. I began attending church at the North Side Gospel Center in Chicago. There I met my future wife, Jennifer. Soon thereafter, we got married in Calcutta, India which was her place of birth. Once stateside again, we attended New Tribes Bible Institute in Waukesha and then on to missionary boot camp for more practical training.

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In my youthful zeal I became convinced that I should become a missionary to India. Eventually, we went out as full-time faith missionaries with the Fellowship of Independent Missions, an IFCA affiliated mission board. The Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, South India was our destination and there we settled in. That lasted for about two years when unexpectedly I was asked to leave India. Three years later however, by a miracle of God’s grace, I was allowed back in – something unheard of.  God wasn't finished with India or me.

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My Consecration 

We returned to Calcutta. It was to be the place where we would spend two more, mostly, stressful years. That was bad. There was however an “appointed upside” to all of this. Calcutta was used by God to cause a deeper change in me. I was often ill with bouts of dysentery and other tropical ailments. At the same time, there was the police harassment, house surveillance, the heat, the air and noise pollution, etc. I was spent physically. However, that same "ordained stop" prompted me to turn my eyes, intently, to Jesus.

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At the time I was reading Watchmen Nee’s “The Normal Christian Life.” He opened my eyes to the truth that it’s not about service first and foremost.  Rather it is all about letting the Spirit of Jesus live His life in and through me. That fact so resonated within me; I believed it and yielded myself to Him as best as I could.  My heart’s desire was stirred up. Now, it was to “behold Him” solely and so be changed/exchanged to “become” more like Jesus by the Spirit of Grace. I had been ushered into the “Exchanged Life”. 

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My Comprehension

Over time, I entered into a fuller understanding of this “Exchanged Life”. Ever so slowly I discovered it is (as another writes) “a life focused on, filled with, and dependent upon Jesus Christ. It is a purposeful progression to ever-increasing intimacy and oneness of relationship with…God...It is being filled with and sourced by the Spirit of God. It is plunging headlong into the endless depths of Jesus, desiring more and more of Him”.  

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It is the Spirit Who makes this “understanding” ever more experiential to me. He produces a "practical oneness" with Jesus; Who is now my life. His prayerfulness is my prayerfulness, His passion is my passion, His humility, wisdom, fearlessness, power, love, faith, etc. -all are mine because He is mine. All are taken hold of by a prayer of faith, setting the Spirit of Christ free to bring His character more and more into my experience. To become here on earth as He is; even as I am already like Him there in heaven.

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Once I saw it (Who He is to me in character and power): I couldn’t unsee it.  For that reason, the pursuit of Jesus’ Life is now my singular passion. Teaching “The Exchanged Life” is my only mission wherever the venue, whether in India or places in between and currently at Arena Bible Church.