It had not even been a year yet since I was saved and God was doing quick work!  I had spent my summer devoted to finding the path and following the calling that God was bringing into my life.  And now it was my senior year of high school.   I knew that God had called me to Christian television and media.  I had no idea what that was going to look like. My mind was incredibly busy with trying to set things up, finding the next step.  God hadn’t given me particular answers quite yet so I was going to try to fill the empty holes with answers the best way I knew how.

I knew that God had called me to be a part of revolutionizing Christian television and Christian media for this generation.  But there were certain things I didn’t know.  I didn’t know the logistics of how it was that this was going to come about.  I decided I was going to go to a Christian college and get my pastoral license and I would take a lot of classes in media and television as well.  That seemed to me to be the most logical thing I could possibly do.

I am not one that can sit around doing nothing.  I am always open to the Holy Spirit altering my steps, but I was taking the right ones needed at that moment to achieve what God had called me to do.  He did come in and move some of those steps around, but I feel it is always a positive thing to have a plan or course of action ready.  Don’t just sit around and wait for God.  I have said in the past that there is a type of faith that is pointless; a type of faith that many Christians have that serves no purpose at all.  The Word of God talks about this faith.   James 2:17 “Faith without works is dead.”  You can have all the faith in the world but if you don’t apply action to it, if you don’t apply work to it, then you have a pointless, meaningless, dead faith.

I felt in my spirit that God was calling me to Missouri. .  In my mind I felt that perhaps there would come a day when I would be going to Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri.

At Christmas of my senior year my family and I followed a tradition we had for years and went to the movies together as a family.  Sometimes we would go on Christmas Day or on Christmas Eve.   Everyone has traditions and that is one of them that we really love to do.  We just love to go out and have a good time.  This year my Dad was driving with my Mom, my brother and I were in the back seat coming home from the theatre.  We were chatting about our lives and what we were doing.  My brother and my sister had gone through a program called “Master’s Commission.”  My sister is the eldest of us all and she went to the Master’s Commission program in Rockford Illinois.  My brother went to the Master’s Commission program in Phoenix, AZ under Tommy Barnett’s church.  His leader there was Lloyd Zeigler.  This was the same Master’s Commission program that Lori Bakker went through and under the same leadership years before!

It’s amazing how God works in full circles.  Up to this point in my life I had never even heard of the name Jim Bakker.  Nor did I know any of his story or his history.  I had also never heard of his wife Lori.  As my story unfolds with the Bakkers, I found out that my parents were financial supporters of Jim Bakker in the 80’s.  They even had the old PTL book sitting in my home the whole time I was growing up!

So, while driving back from the movies, my brother starts telling me all about Master’s Commission.  He was so excited about sharing with me all that he was doing there.  You have to understand that I never had one little desire to do go to Master’s Commission.  I have always been the odd duck out.  If my siblings do it one way, I want to do it the other way.  Even though both my sister and brother had gone before and were participating now and were quite happy with the experience, I never want to do what they do.  I was really, really happy that they went to a good Christian program and that it was good for them…But I did NOT want to participate in any program like that.  I wanted to go to an actual College and get a degree and have that kind of feel to my education.  I did not want, in any way, shape or form to go to a ministry discipleship program.  My sister and brother knew that what they had chosen wasn’t really for me but my whole family was always very supportive of what I wanted to do.

As we drove along home, my older brother was excitedly telling me about Master’s Commission. He kept talking about how great it was, how wonderful it was!  I was being a good brother.  I was listening to him, agreeing with him and letting him know how awesome I thought  all that he was doing really was.  It WAS awesome!  I just knew in the back of my mind… that’s not for me!   And then he said something.

“Get this Zach.  There is a guy by the name of Jim Bakker that is opening up another Master’s Commission.”  I answered him with saying something like “That’s super cool, sounds like things are growing.”   My brother continued on by saying, “Yes, but he wants it to be…. (my head slowly circled around) …and then he said it,   “Media”.

It was like the Holy Spirit hit me!   BOOM!  There it is!  My stomach started going crazy.  I began feeling very emotional and very confused.  I thought, ‘Surely, Holy Spirit you couldn’t be saying this is for me?’  I remember that moment that he said the word ‘Media’.  I also clearly remember how I quickly turned my head to start looking out the window because my eyes had just slightly started welling with tears.

I continued looking out the window to re-gather my composure, blinking a few times to dry out my eyes.  I finally turned back to my brother as he went on about this program.  And then the next words that came out of his mouth hit me all the way down to my toes.

“Yeah, I guess this Jim Bakker guy really believes that there are going to be some people or someone that comes through this program that is going to revolutionize Christian television for this generation.”

As soon as those words came out of his mouth, I looked back out the window and wouldn’t look at him again because I started to cry.  The Holy Spirit once again came upon me and hit so hard the tears were just flowing.  I didn’t want my brother to know.  I’m sure that he was thinking, “Well, Zach is just ignoring me.”  It was dark in the car and he had no idea.

I couldn’t wait to get home and as soon as the car parked in the garage and before my Dad could even put it into park, the door was open and I ran  into the house.  I really don’t know what my family thought of my behavior but I bolted in so they wouldn’t see my face.  I fled to my bedroom, shut the door and locked it.  They I lay across the ground prostrate before the Lord feeling the overwhelming sense of the Holy Spirit filling me with His presence.

“Is this what you want me to do Lord?  Is this where you are calling me to go?  Do you really want me to leave here and go to this place? “    The thought of leaving my home, my family caused anxiety to build inside of me.  “God do you really want me to go to Missouri and work with this guy Jim Bakker who wants to start a Media program for Master’s Commission?  Is this really where you want me to go?”

And then I remember God saying to me, “Yes.  I AM calling you to Morningside. I AM calling you to this man’s ministry by the name of Jim Bakker. This is the next step on your journey.”

That night I made a covenant with God.  It too rests between the pages of my Bible as a reminder of the promise I have made to Him.

“Lord, if you guide my every word and direct my every step, then I will speak that first word, I will take that first step.  Take your Glory Lord!”

The next step would be happening sooner than I expected.  And it took the Grace of God to help me take it.

Love, Zach