Mailbag

Jesus People

I don’t understand why everyone concentrates on the Jesus Movement in California. As far as I could see, it was a simultaneous movement of the Holy Spirit among youth everywhere.

I was in it in Cincinnati, Ohio. On my dorm floor at the University of Cincinnati, 22 out of 45 girls became Christians in 1970-71. I had become a Christian on April 25, 1970. We had all-night prayer meetings, saw people healed in front of our eyes, baptized people in the fountain downtown, and witnessed everywhere constantly. One girl even stamped out huge letters saying “Jesus Saves” in fresh snow on the lawn between two 11-story dorms. We flocked to hear pastors. My Sunday school teacher (R.C. Sproul at College Hill Presbyterian Church) packed them in and often spoke on campus.

Of the people whom I knew there was Chuck Osborn, who went on to seminary; the Young brothers (one of whom married Sara Young, the author of the Jesus Calling series); a roommate who worked with Campus Crusade for Christ; and another classmate who became a pastor in Fresno, Calif. I went to seminary and worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and then missions in Taiwan. There were two Hebrew Christian brothers (Chernoff) who not only taught at a Hebrew Christian church but also recorded music albums (such as Lamb). We made trips to a Christian commune in Mansfield, Ohio, led by two men who left Campus Crusade over the gifts topic. (One of them was Ray Nethery.) Gil Hopkins led a high school Young Life group at College Hill Church that attracted hundreds of students before school weekly.

I personally never heard about anything in California except after all this was happening in Cincinnati. My seminary classmates also were saved or called into ministry during this time. They included Kathy and Tim Keller, Ken Cook (an Anglican pastor), and others.

So this is just to say that God was working simultaneously around the world, as in Cincinnati. We pray for this rain of grace to fall again.
     Dr. Diane Poythress / Glenside, Pa.

I enjoyed the Jesus Revolution articles, as I was a teen in the early 1960s. However, I was surprised and disappointed that Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With a Mission (YWAM), was not recognized as a notable leader. Millions have served for short- or long-term periods with YWAM, including myself. Continuing even today, this vibrant global ministry has 20,000 workers. I’m sorry that Mr. Cunningham wasn’t mentioned, but God knows, and that’s more important.
     Larry Daugherty / Lenexa, Kan.

The clinical tone of “Jesus People” seemed to minimize the powerful human experience of the gospel in all its life-changing, redemptive Holy Spirit power. Growing up in the 1970s, gospel messages from the likes of Keith Green, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and Billy Graham changed my life and started a generational movement that continues today as my children take light into dark places. This wasn’t some dry event to be analyzed academically but a powerful act of God to redeem individuals like me from the pit that would have been our destiny.
     Heather Merrill / Littleton, Colo.

Jesus politics

As I read of a general shift of the political leanings of the Jesus Movement generations, I was reminded of the thought that, “Anyone who is not a socialist at age 20 has no heart. Anyone who is still a socialist at age 40 has no head.”
     Paula Garcia / Lincoln, Neb.

Troubled times

In the 1980s I backpacked through Europe seeing lots of beautiful places. But my visit to Northern Ireland, specifically Belfast, will always hold a cherished place in my heart. In my brief two-day stay, I met Catholics, Protestants, policemen, British “peacekeepers” traveling incognito, and folks in the fish and chips shops. They were the warmest and most welcoming people I had ever met. They were all willing to discuss the Troubles … as long as they could not be overheard, because “you never know what side the other chap is on.” God bless them all.
     Cheryl Irish / Bastrop, Texas

The April issue was full of nostalgia. In 1970 I went to a conference where Hal Lindsey spoke and Larry Norman performed music shortly before I went to Europe. Francis Schaeffer and John Stott gave me a Biblical base for life. In London I worked for a church-based nonprofit housing group, and one of our Irish tenants was arrested for terrorist activities in London. In 1974 I visited the Shankill Road area of Belfast and stayed with a couple I had met in London who were trying to help bring peace and reconciliation at the height of the turmoil. The Belfast train station was scaffolding poles and corrugated metal after the buildings had been blown up.
     Gordon Carlson / St. Louis, Mo.

Healing the wounds of war

The National Center of PTSD states that “guilt, shame, disgust, and anger are some of the hallmark reactions of moral injury.” Christians should recognize these emotions as emanating from the conscience as thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are weighed against that Law of God written on the heart of every human being. These are the emotions that bring us to conviction and repentance without which there can be no salvation from sin.

The concept of “moral injury” as presented in WORLD represents a medicalization of a spiritual problem—a concept standing in stark opposition to God’s purpose for these emotions. To then monetize the so-called injury by helping “sufferers” to secure “disability” payments for these emotions makes the offense against the Creator who died to redeem us even more appalling.     
     Gary Almy / Long Grove, Ill.

Dreaming of peace

I have real problems with our support for Ukraine. While I understand that Russia began the invasion, my question—which no one seems to be able to answer—is why a nation that is supposedly fighting for its existence has a draft age of 25? And that is only a recent event; it was 27 less than a year ago. We drafted young men down to 18 when we were fighting wars that did not threaten our existence.
     Lt. Col. Paul J. Perrone / U.S. Army (Retired) / Springfield, Va.

Listen to your mother

Thanks for sharing Janie Cheaney with us over the years. I find her to be tremendously insightful on issues that matter to Christians, for example in “Listen to your mother.” Yes, women appreciate a guy who is able to support a family. And yes, God knows what He’s doing. Married people, warts and all, imperfect though we are in so many ways, find deep happiness in a committed lifetime relationship.
     Bob Heckmann / Canton, S.D.

Sane new world?

I can’t believe what I just read in WORLD: “With the second coming of Donald Trump …” It is shocking and outrageous that a phrase rightly reserved only for the Lord Jesus Christ has been used in reference to Donald Trump.
     Ken Wall / Springfield, Mo.

Heaven knows

Thank you, Nick Eicher, for writing such a thoughtful, personal perspective on your daughter, Katherine Lee. I was encouraged and blessed by the description of her status as a “life-limiting condition” rather than Dr. Biden’s cold terms: a nonviable/lethal fetal diagnosis. I had dear friends whose daughter, Drianne, had the same diagnosis, and they treasured every day of her 13-day life. Thank you for sharing your heart and celebrating her special day with us.
     Cathy Dunham / Colbert, Wash.

WORLD Notes

Kevin Martin’s comments reminded me of something one of my Bible college professors, Ken Fleming, used to say about the “slide” of institutions, Christian or otherwise: “From a man to a movement to a monument.” We could add a fourth m: “to a mausoleum” (Matthew 23:27-28).
     Ruth Allinger / Moyie Springs, Idaho

Needtobreathe’s frontman out on his own

I discovered a new artist in reading about Wilder Woods. I brought up some of his music on YouTube and enjoyed several songs. I appreciate these music reviews by Arsenio Orteza in each issue. They expand my listening to new, entertaining music. Thank you!
     Jim Bates / Marshall, Texas

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