When I went to Bible school I got the idea that God does not know what He is doing and we need to help Him out. The impression I gained was that God was waiting for us to go out and save the world. Every moment souls were sliding into Hell; and if we did not go forth and tell them about Christ they would be tormented forever. I was not comfortable with this concept and decided to do something about it.

I came to Bible school fresh out of the United States Marine Corps. I became a Christian while in the Corps, and also was called to preach. By the time I went to the Pentecostal Bible school, about three years after having become a Christian, I was fairly well versed in typical Evangelical doctrine. I had not been raised in a Christian home.

There was a strong emphasis in Bible school on "doing great things for God." Today we would refer to it as "pushing the envelope." This means the greater the effort we make, the more souls that would be saved and escape Hell.

I am a conscientious person. I could not bear this kind of preaching. How could one ever relax knowing that during that period of relaxation souls were slipping into Hell by the thousands if not millions?

I remember one time a friend of mine named Jack Wallace and I were sitting in what used to be called a "revival meeting." This was on a Thursday. The evangelist challenged us to fast until Sunday so souls might be saved.

Jack and I agreed to do this.

By Sunday morning we were starved. We were walking down the main street of the city, as I remember, passing out tracts and seeing if we might get someone saved.

We passed a restaurant. Through the glass window we could see the pastor and his family sitting down to a meal!

Jack and I stopped at the next restaurant and ate something—I think it was pie. It felt like a cannon ball in my stomach. I can still recall that.

I learned something from this experience. All the preaching I had heard about souls going to Hell; how we were supposed to struggle over the last rice paddy with the Gospel until we fell face down in the water and drowned; how we were supposed to be willing to go forward on our knees over broken glass if necessary; how God was looking for someone who would go all the way with Him; how we were to "dare to be a Daniel"; how were to "burn out for Christ"; how we were to "do big things for God"; how the sheep were to reproduce other sheep, since this was not evidently the task of the pastor or evangelist; was so much talk. No one had any intention of burning himself out for Christ. It was just so much enthusiastic church talk.

I can't live like this, with a guilty conscience toward God. I'll bet you can't either.

I decided then and there I was going to go to the Lord and find out what He wanted me to do.

To be continued.