Into my dry and minimal Christian experience came some, whose joy in Jesus was shining on their faces. 'Praise the Lord' on their lips, bible verses came out of their mouths as quickly as 'pass the potatoes' at dinner. I clearly did not have the same relationship with the Lord they had and I knew it. Curious and with lots of opportunity (the Jesus movement in Orange Co. was pretty hard to escape). I started attending a Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa home fellowship in Newport Beach. Lonnie Frisbee was attending there, as well as Malcom and Alwyn, Randy Stonehill, Karen Lafferty, Jill Austin, and many others who in later years surfaced as Maranatha musicians and singers, and performers.
Periodically I went to Jack Hayfords' Church on the Way in San Fernando Valley. I also attended a small fellowship up there that was called, oddly enough, 'The Vineyard'. Keith and Melody Green (Severeid), were part of that study and Wendell Burton, Barry McGuire, and many other Christian singers and musicians as well. None of them were well known in public ministry at the time when I attended, and so were not known to me in that way, I just thought of them as fellow brothers and sisters at the studies. Those at the Newport study were also not in public ministry at that time, at least not that I knew. The dates on some of these are unclear to me but since it predated their public ministries, it was pretty early Jesus Movement timing. They were all newly born-again and pretty much like myself, enthralled that Christianity could be 'fun'.
I had never seen or heard anyone speak in tongues and remember being shocked the first time I heard a 'word and interpretation' at a Doug Clark 'Amazing Prophecy' rally in Santa Ana. I had been a nominal Christian and unaware of how much "more" there was to have, (or so I was told), and frankly these appeared to be some of the most happy people I had ever known. The gift of tongues soon became common place to me as I became one of the first phone counselors at Trinity Broadcasting Network (when it was still on Dyer Road). Since ample biblical evidence was offered for this gifting, I began to seek the experience for myself.... .life's pretty hard, and those smiles were contagious and desirable!
Since I was married to an unbeliever, I was never a 'player' in these groups, just attending and soaking in the teaching and frankly a "sidelined" observer at this point in my life. My own personal addiction to codeine with serious back problems and surgeries and the birth of three children over these years (1967-1977) keeping me from active ministry and any position of note. This condition of compromise however, played a major role later in determining which side of the Vineyard ministry I was positioned in and notable here for that reason.
I've looked back on it and wondered at the people I met and fellowshipped with who later became world-class Christian leaders, most of whom went off the deep end into false doctrine. I was certainly attendant at some fairly historic events as they have shaped up in retrospect. (met Jan and Paul while they were cleaning the building that was to be TBN, attended the bible study that became the Vineyard before John Wimber did, etc.). I think it would be fair to say that I was very hungry for a personal relationship with the Lord, and there were some really unique opportunities to study His word available at the time.
Cassette tapes became a very important part of my life during this period. I got the Bible on tape and listened day and night to the tapes. For that, I am eternally grateful. As I began to hide His word in my heart, I began to grow in knowledge of His Spirit, His power and His love for me. As events unfolded in the next few years, this was to become a lifeline for me and a measuring rod for the proof of ministry. I can only praise God for the teaching I got at CCCM and from J. Vernon McGee, Don McClure, Mike Macintosh and others during these years.
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