THE American Open Road Review & Report
By: Charles W. Boatright, President of THE GREAT QATSPY® Company
Auburn’s Barn Storming a Life Changing Event– held for Auburn’s Students to Gather for Opportunity of Unity/Reaffirming in The Faith. This Event enabled 200 believers to receive their Baptism in a Walk of Faith and abundant Life.
This event that was held at The Red Barn at Auburn University demonstrated the five basic needs that all people are seeking in order to have freedom and an abundant filled life. These five elements are- to know Truth, the truth will set you free, process the power of Faith, have the Peace of mind, have a personal Relationship, and have Confidence in our life where we can have an effective life.
On Tuesday, September 12th, 2023, the community organizers of Auburn hosted a revival where 2,500 students gathered reaffirming their faith that led to over 200 students to be baptized in a lake at the University’s Red Barn. The baptism at the lake was lit by a number of vehicle headlights, because it was totally unplanned.
This was such an amazing event at Auburn that I refer to it as a Barn Storming event where FOX News Laura Ingraham, Washington Examiner, and Washington Times reported on what had occurred at the Red barn. The original event started out for students to gather that was organized by Rev. Jeremy Napier, the Chaplin of the Auburn men’s basketball team with guest speakers Jennie Allen and Rev. Jonathan Pokluda, the pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church located in Waco, Texas.
But, like at Pentecost, students that attended this event in Auburn experienced the Spiritual revaluation that prompt them to want be baptized after they reaffirmed their Faith.
This is what is unique about this event- Up until Pentecost, and in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, only dwelt among certain prophets and individuals, like Samuel and with King David that Peter referenced in Acts Chapter 2. So what changed, where the Holy Ghost moved upon so many individuals at this event near Auburn, on Tuesday, 12Se2023?
The Auburn Event Highlighted What Changed
This is what changed, Jesus Christ came to live among us, He died for our sins on the cross, He was resurrected from the grips of death caused by our sins, and He ascended into heaven that led to God’s Holy Ghost dwelling among men and women at Pentecost and continues to do so today. The Holy Ghost presence was first experienced at Pentecost in Jerusalem where the Apostles and believers were gathered waiting as Jesus Christ had directed them to do (these accounts are recorded in Acts Chapters1 thru 3).
So what is the significance of the Baptism held at the Red Bar event near Auburn that caused Laura Ingraham, Washington Examiner, and Washington Times reported on it? Baptism signifies our death to our sins and being resurrected into a new internal life with Christ Jesus through the Holy Ghost.
When Jesus Christ was Baptized by John the Baptist at the start of His ministry, the Holy Ghost descended upon Jesus Christ in an image of a dove. This was the start of Jesus Christ’s ministry at the age 30 that continued a 3- year revelation that changed the entire world, even in today’s world.
Come As You Are
What was so inspiring about the accounts near Auburn was that the people didn’t have to have full knowledge of all the Gospels or recite scriptures verses verbatim to be Baptized. It is come as you are, it is that simple.
Remember this, King David with all his honor bestowed on him as a patriarch also had faults including adultery and being an accessory to a murder, Uriah the Hittite, but King David still remained the Apple of God’s Eye. Our perfection is through our Faith in Jesus Christ and not through our former life or according to our efforts. The people that witnessed what occurred at Pentecost in Jerusalem ask a simple question- (Acts 2:37) What shall we do to be saved?
We only have to follow what Peter laid out to the crowd in Acts 2:38 to know the answer- Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This was the same Peter that 90- days earlier actually denied that he even knew Jesus in the courtyard. These eleven disciples and others received bold confidence to speak in public and went out and changed the entire World.
But, baptism is only the second step in your journey of Faith. You have to go back to what Peter wrote in 2nd Peter 1:5-8- (5) For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; (6) and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; (7) and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. (8) For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians 9:26 made a sports reference to boxing, one of my favorite workout components that I enjoy doing in my Oasis-Mojave Gym. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air, (what we call shadow boxing). I workout on an 80 Lb. boxing bag for seven 2-minutes rounds that I depend on for my resistance Aerobic-Cardio training. Believe me when I say that 2- minutes round on the bag is all you want before your forearms feel like they weigh 50 Lbs.
We want to be effective in our life, especially if we are working out. You would hate to exercise working out for 30- minutes per day for 5- days each week over a period of 3- months and not see positive effects of your workouts. The same goes for our life and our work we are called to do. You want to be effective and have a positive impact on others.
My suggestion to new Followers, is this- To start reading God’s Holy Word starting in the book of John, then proceed all the way through to 3rd John before developing a routine daily devotional reading of the entire Bible. The book of John is a very good starting point, because John is writing to us, the normal lay-person, in a very descriptive wording.
The Importance of Sports in Our Faith
It was only fitting for the Auburn’s Chaplin, Jeremy Napier, for the men’s basketball team and Coach Huge Freeze, Auburn Head Football Coach, was present at this event. One reason is the framework that Sportsmanship provides to us with the attributes for our walk in Faith. This is why I enjoy writing about sports and it positive impact on us in our daily lives.
I don’t know too many teams that would take the field or court that would feel that they had an issue with the lack of confidence in their training, practice, preparation, and game-day planning. This is why I used Biblical philosophy from the Bible to write my book entitled, The Sports Bible The Yellowstone Papers- Coach’s Guide to Sports Performance. I have an excerpt from page 14 Section 1.4 from my book, below:
1.4 Develop Passion of the Game
For an athlete to perform at the top of their potential and game, they have to develop patience and perseverance, with passion. Sportsmanship is passion for the game and for life. Sportsmanship consists of- humility, integrity, commitment, perseverance, respect, honor, honesty, fairness, sacrifice, responsibility, preparation, focus, discipline, building confidence, expecting the best of oneself, trustworthiness, and a hard work ethic, just to name a few attributes.
It is difficult to explain how to walk by Faith and to adhere to Righteousness, especially for new believers, without reference made to sports as Paul did in his writings. But attributes of Sportsmanship can go a long way to help explain these terms to a new believer and for us to focus on our walk of Faith to reaffirm our belief and our commitment.
The Positive Effects of Working Your Mind, Body, and Soul
We are composed of mind, body, and soul and we have to address all three of our components in order to be effective in our life. Doctors know that what benefits the heart also benefits the mind. Our health (diet) and fitness are just as essential to our effectiveness as our faith is. I operate a sports performance apparel business where at age 66, shown below, I’m modeling the apparel that we carry in our online store. Below was a photoshoot that I did last month, August 12th, 2023:
A great way to build your Faith is with physical fitness. My physical health and fitness has improved both my mental and spiritual wellbeing that makes me more effective in my life and my work. I also follow Kosher Laws in my diet on WHAT and WHEN I eat my meals. At age 66, I have numbers of a man in his mid-30’s from my recent physical that I just had on 30Aug2023, and I’m not on any prescribed medication.
If you want to become more effective in your personal, business, physical, mental, and spiritual life, then start working out, follow a healthy diet, and pick a non-contact-low- impact- sport and start a daily devotion. You will drop weight, years off your appearance, and better yet, decrease your anxiety levels. Below is all the exercise equipment that I use in my Oasis-Mojave Gym.
Tip on working out on a boxing bag– Throw a punch starting from your heels up through your hip and shoulder transferring into your arm, forearm, and fist. Hit the boxing bag with the ring knuckle on each fist to reduce injury and have an more effective punch. Start with 1- minute rounds and work up from there. Ladies this workout is just as much a great resistance aerobic exercise for YOU to prevent the ravages of aging!
Gentlemen and Ladies– Your muscles are you No. 1 age-defying skincare treatment that is very effective; and don’t be afraid to sweat. Your muscles when worked with resistance training releases a natural growth hormone and collagen that can reduce and even reverse the effects of aging on your body and especially on your skin. I’m proof of this at age 66.
The feature image was taken on August 25th, 2023 of me at age 66 that I have attached below, before heading out to Lexington, KY:
