Revolution—sudden, radical or complete change.

             In 1970, a revolution began.  It just didn’t make the news.  A few families were securely planted in a comfortable suburban church, Park Hill Baptist Church.  But in their hearts, they heard a call. 

            They’d found a town just 20 minutes from them.  It was poor, broken-down with its main amenities a post office and a tavern.  They thought they heard people crying for help so they decided to plant a church.  A key part of their efforts was a man named Joe Collier, a man who worked for a roofing company.  So after slapping down shingles all week, they’d go door to door in that little town and invite people to their fledgling church.

            One of their first converts was a man named Curly Butner, a blue collar garage door installer.  Curly’s rough language was cleaned up, and he and his wife began reaching out as well.  They took the command to love their neighbors literally, and just two doors down they saw the sorriest bunch of neighbors they could have.

            There was a whole pack of kids—six of them—mainly dressed in hand me down clothing.  Their front yard looked like a junkyard of broken down cars.  The father seemed to spend most of his time down at the tavern, and his yelling could be heard down the street.  Who could reach this pack of ruffians?

            But Curly and Laura did what they could.  They made invites to church, and they got a bite.  An eight year old boy was willing to come.  Soon they gave him a bible, and a children’s bible story book.

            Little did they know that the eight year old boy had lain awake at night wondering what happened to people when they died.  He feared living a wasted life. He devoured that book.  For the first time, he heard the stories of Joshua, Moses, David and Goliath, and for the first time he realized that there was a God.  He realized he needed this person of Jesus to save him.  And so he prayed.

            A revolution began in that little boy’s heart that day.  He experienced radical, sudden and complete change and his life has never been the same.  The  revolution began because of a few families—a roofer, a garage door installer who had grown uncomfortable with their comfortable lives. 

            I know that this story is true because I was that little boy.  What’s your revolutionary story?

Bill High

Bill is CEO & Founder of Vyne Legacy. He works with families to equip them with tools to build multigenerational legacies, and he teaches givers and financial advisers on transformational biblical generosity. He is the co-author with David Green of Giving It All Away and Getting It All Back Again: The Way of Living Generously.

Published November 9, 2011

Topics: Lessons with Bill

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