"TRADITION, TRADITION" 47"Go Up There"
At the conclusion of the meeting, Merv Watson said, "I
want all of you who would like to make a public confession
of your sin to step forward. We're going to pray with you as
you ask Christ to come into your heart."
I began to shiver and shake. But I thought, "I don't think
I should go down there because I'm already saved." I knew
the Lord took charge of my life at five minutes to eight on
Monday morning. And this was Thursday.
You guessed it. Within seconds I found myself walking
down that aisle as fast as I could. I didn't quite know why I
did it. But something inside was telling me, "Go up there."
It was at that moment, at a charismatic service in an
Anglican church, that this good little Catholic from a Greek
Orthodox home made a public confession of his acceptance
of Christ. "Jesus," I said, "I'm asking you to be the Lord of
my life."
The Holy Land couldn't compare with this. How much
better to be where Jesus was, than where he used to be.
That night when I got home, I was so filled with the
presence of the Lord, I decided to tell my mother what had
happened. (I didn't have the courage to tell my dad.)
"Mama, I've got to share something with you," I
whispered. "I've been saved!"
In a flash, her jaw was set. She glared and said crisply,
"Saved from what?"
"Trust me," I said. "You'll understand."
On Friday morning and all during the day—at school, at
the kiosk, everywhere I went, a picture kept flashing before
me. I saw myself preaching. It was unthinkable, but I