Class Blog

For one of my classes (Christ, Culture and the University) I have to write 12 blogs over the semester as a pass/fail requirement. So, I figured I could include the blogs (with the mandatory question) into my personal blog.

~If you could be anyone alive or dead who would you wish to be - who (besides Jesus) do you most admire?~

The above question would normally cause most people to take a moment to ponder a genuine response. Yet, when I first read the question, several (2-3) individuals immediately came to my mind. Although several different individuals came to mind, all have similar characteristics. Each lives their Christian faith on a daily basis, strong men of faith, and are great men of God. They directly or indirectly influence my life and play a role in shaping my faith. However, of the men that came to mind that I most admire, I feel Smith Wigglesworth is most worthy of the title "Most Admired".

Smith Wigglesworth, often referred to as ‘the Apostle of Faith,’ was one of the pioneers of the Pentecostal revival that occurred a century ago.Without human refinement and education he was able to tap into the infinite resources of God to bring divine grace to multitudes.
Thousands came to Christian faith in his meetings, hundreds were healed of serious illnesses and diseases as supernatural signs followed his ministry. [source: http://www.smithwigglesworth.com/]

The above statement from the official Smith Wigglesworth website is a general but accurate summary of Mr. Wigglesworth. He was such an amazing man and has both direct and indirect influences on today's Pentecostal movement. As a high school freshman, I attended a weekly LIFE Group for high school guys through my youth group. In the 8 months I spent in this group, we did an in-depth study of the life and works of Smith Wigglesworth. What an intriguing man! Even just his life (minus his ministry) shows just how close a relationship he had with God. He was such a strong man of faith and that is certainly something I admire about him.

His ministry brought millions to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and healed and set free just a many. One story in particular that I remember from my LIFE group was this: One day as Smith Wigglesworth was walking down the street in front of a funeral home, God spoke to him and told him to go inside. He listened to God and walked in, walking to the back room where a corpse laid on a table awaiting final preparation for the funeral (the mortician had stepped out of the room). God told him to bring the body back to life. So he stood the corpse up in a corner of the room and commanded life back into the body. Immediately the corpse came back to life. Then, the mortician walked back into the room. MAN I would have loved to have seen his face when he saw Wigglesworth with his resurrected client!

This is just one story of thousands. Wigglesworth's audacity and ability to hear and listen to God are just a few things that make him so admirable to me. His international ministry nearly a century ago (in my opinion) is the foundation of today's Pentecostal movement around the globe. His spiritual repercussions will never be known in full until we get to heaven. Setting his ministry aside, to me his most admirable quality (and reason for why I would want "to be" him) his just the simple fact of his deep relationship and connection with God. He had such a deep understanding and connection with God, it just blows my mind to even think that it's humanly possible. And yet I'm positive that even Wigglesworth's relationship with God only begins to scratch the surface of what we as humans can even begin to comprehend about the maker of the Universe. WOW! It just blows my mind away, that even the spiritually strongest person known to mankind merely knows the "basics" of God.

Smith Wigglesworth is certainly the one (aside from Jesus, of course) to model one's Christian walk after. I look forward to having that deep a connection with God in my life. Mr. Wigglesworth is truly one to aspire to as a Christian. In some way, I like to think I'm on the path to living a life like that of Wigglesworth; through my trips and workings in Uganda/East Africa I have seen fruitful harvests in salvation (approximately 10,000+ direct salvations in the past 5 years), thousands healed of every disease (from lameness to HIV/AIDS), and the setting free of captives (from sin to demonic possession). Granted, I only play a small part in these things and certainly don't have as deep a relationship with God as Wigglesworth, but I still like to think I'm on my way. In all things though, I pray God would continually have His way with my life and that I would always give Him the glory. Smith Wigglesworth is one of a handful of humans who I try to model my life after.