The Circle of Faith

When I was 14 an evangelist showed up at our public high school. At a school-wide assembly that morning where he spoke he invited us to come down to his crusade that night. It would be held at the Heart of Texas Coliseum, in Waco, Texas—a rodeo arena. His name—James Robison. Up until that time, I had been in church most every week of my life. I was a good moral kid. But I only knew of Jesus. I had never asked Him to be Lord of my life. That evening I attended the crusade and was compelled forward at the altar call. It felt like a lightning bolt hit me as I asked Jesus into my heart. My life was changed in that moment—it was a seismic shift.

About 35 years later I get a phone call. I had just published my book, Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia. It contained a similar story of a transformed life. The voice on the other end of the phone spoke, “Hello, this is James Robison. I just finished your book and it had a deep impact on me. I just felt like I needed to call you and tell you.”

Of course, I almost dropped the phone. If he only knew…

And so for the next hour, I was able to tell him that I came to know Jesus that night in Waco many years ago through his preaching and invitation. And I was able to thank him and let him know that the book he just read came from that seed. It was a sweet time as the Holy Spirit filled that call with awe. Before the call ended, James invited me to appear as a guest on his TV show, Life Today, to speak about the book and tell this story to hundreds of thousands of viewers.