My life was forever changed in a small room in a dormitory that no longer exists on the campus of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. On that Thursday morning in October in 1958, I sat knee to knee with the Rev. Dennis Kinlaw and told him of my uncertain Christian faith. He explained the Lordship of Jesus to me and asked if I would like to make Jesus Lord. I said yes. Then he looked me straight in the eye and asked what there was that I would not do. I blurted out, “I won’t be a preacher!” He leaned back and said, “I guess that’s the end of our conversation. If there is something he wants you to do and you won’t do it, he can’t be Lord.” I looked into my heart and knew that I wanted Jesus as my Lord and that I would do whatever it took for that to happen.
We prayed together, but there were no great manifestations, no surges of emotion. Nevertheless, as I sat in the dining hall a few minutes later, I thought, “Well, I don’t feel any different, but things are going to be different.” And they were! I found a new love for the Word and prayer, a new desire to witness, a new ability to avoid known sins, and my whole outlook on life changed. The thought of being a minister of the gospel was no longer distasteful but something to look forward to with anticipation.
One of Robert Frost’s poems speaks about two roads diverging in a wood. In the last stanza, he says that someday he will probably speak with a sigh about the one he didn’t choose. No sighs here! I chose the Lord’s road that day, and he has changed everything. I am forever grateful!