The School that Stopped God

Antioch College Campus

It was a weekday luncheon. I entered Beavercreek Golf Course's Clubhouse for a Greater Dayton Sectional pastor’s meeting of the Assemblies of God. News had just broken that Antioch College was under tremendous financial pressure and would be closing its doors. A pastor made a comment to the effect of, “Now that ‘that’ place is closing, perhaps our Yellow Springs church will have a revival and God will be able to move.” At that time, I was a student of Antioch University McGregor (AUM), another college in the university’s system. Even though that pastor did not realize that I was a current student of AUM, quite honestly, I could not believe what I had heard. And, my mode of action was silence. If you do any research on Antioch College, you will find it was probably the most liberal college in the country. However, it had declined to the point of less than 200 students. Hence, that presented the need for it to have to shut its doors.

AUM Campus

 If you are a regular reader, you read last post about Joe from my pastorate. My experience with pastoring Joe was the beginning of my spiritual / emotional transformation. Antioch was a continuance of the process. My very first class was called Self and Society. I will never forget the first 30-minutes of that class experience. You know the drill. The professor introduces his/herself. Then, the students take turns singing their own praises. Well, I could not believe the diversity of people, backgrounds and beliefs represented in that classroom. And, the white, conservative, Christian (pastor, none-the-less) male was definitely in the minority. I remember thinking, “Mike, what have you gotten yourself into?” As the introductions continued across the room, one white lady shared her story. It went like this, “I am a lesbian pagan and my partner is a black lady.” I nearly pooped my pants. Her statement of being grated against EVERYTHING that had been poured into my psyche since birth.

Time passed. I learned to be more tolerant and loving of people. And, people learned to be more tolerant and loving of me. I remember one class in particular. Someone was ranting and raving about the stupidity of “conservative Christians.” I spoke up and proclaimed, “Why is it at this school anything goes and is OK except conservative Christianity? You are all hypocrites if you say you except anyone as they are but you do not accept conservative Christians.” I immediately got an apology. And, my days at AUM were the most wonderful and enlightening days of my life. It was amazing to see how people would migrate to me to share situations they were going through, get my insight and ask for my prayer; including gays, lesbians, pagans, atheists and agnostics. I would have rather been in that position than in any pulpit in America!

Didn’t Jesus say to GO into the world and teach His Gospel? He didn’t say, “Go build your churches and keep people out unless they are just like you.” I really, really think that if Jesus were in Yellow Springs, OH in the flesh, He would not have been at the local Assembly of God. He would have been at the campus of Antioch. He would not have been appalled at the lifestyle of people. He would have reached out in love and compassion. He would say, “Those without sin cast the first stone,” and, “Go and sin no more.”

Is God so impotent that He lacks the power to move in the midst of what Christians term different, or, what they consider sin? I am here to tell you that the God I serve is neither powerless nor impotent. He moves in the hearts of people who willingly trust, accept and believe in him.

Oh, remember the white lesbian pagan who was partnered with the black woman? She is one of the dearest people I have ever met. We are still friends. I adore her. To be quite frank, I would rather spend time with her than many pastors or “Christians” I have met in my walk of life. No, my God is bigger than any pastor, denomination, fellowship, church, or school. Just get over yourself and your religion and He will show that to you, too.

The Truth (Chapter 1)

Tender Beginnings

I remember the evening well. I was probably twelve years old. It was a Sunday evening in a Pentecostal church. The Glory of the Lord filled the house. The pastor gave a word from the pulpit that there was a young man that God was calling into the ministry. I felt the Holy Spirit tug at my heart, “It’s you! It’s you!” Looking back on this experience, I can name at least three other young men who were part of that congregation, probably in that service, who also ended up carrying Assemblies of God ministerial credentials.

Nearly forty years have passed since that evening. At first, it appeared that my calling into ministry was one of music. In those days I poured my heart into studying the Word, prayer and preparing myself to be the best music man for God that I could be. I have to say that during my late teens I was one of, if not the most, sought after Gospel keyboardists in the tri-state (OH, KY, IN) region. I kept working and developing. I served as a keyboard player then moved into vocals, then onto being a choir director, then to a music teacher, and next a worship pastor. I had a definite talent and anointing. Church ministry was a constant. I was either participating in a volunteer capacity, as a part-time church staff member, serving full-time as a church and/or school staff member and eventually pioneering and serving as senior pastor for two congregations.

During the mid-1990’s, I was Manager of Research at the Berry Company. I specifically remember the morning I woke up, stood in front of the mirror to tie my tie (repeat those last three words quickly and see what it sounds like-sorry, Pentecostal humor) and heard the Holy Spirit speak to my spirit, “Mike, there is a world dying and going to hell. What are you going to do about it?” I wept uncontrollably, drove to work and ended up in my office with the door shut still weeping uncontrollably. That same thought kept permeating through my psyche, “Mike, there is a world dying and going to hell. What are you going to do about it?” By this time, my wife, Donna, and I had already experienced a major burnout with vocational ministry. I remember praying, “God, if this is really you and this is really what you want, then you have to change Donna’s heart, too.” And, he did. That’s a story within itself that I will share another time.

Now, I felt God had convinced me that there was a world dying and going to hell and “I” had to do something about it. So, I processed this information in the only direction I could within the context of what I had been taught…vocational church ministry. So, we quit our jobs, sold our house, loaded up the trucks and moved to Beverly…I mean to Columbus, Ohio, and we both enrolled in World Harvest Bible College. Standing in line to register, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me, “This isn’t right, don’t do it.” Well, I was quite aggravated, to be frank, that I had done all of this “sacrificing” to get there and said to the Lord, “Sorry, you brought me here and I am going to go to Bible school.” Classes started and I HATED it. I DESPISED it. It was one of the WORST experiences of my life. I think back on it and nearly get physically ill. We currently live literally ten minutes from World Harvest Church. To this day, I still have no desire to darken their doors. That experience taught me the penalty for disobeying what I felt the Holy Spirit was speaking into my life.

Subsequently, thirteen years of full-time vocational ministry followed beginning with a major worship pastorate, a church plant, and two senior pastorates. My wife bore most of the brunt of the financial burden while I ministered. I generally worked a part-time up to full-time job to fill in the gap. It was not easy. But, we were doing what we felt God had called us to do.

Please stay tuned for the next blog in the series, “Early Lessons”