University of Virginia Library

Dropping Everything To Follow Christ

By HOLLY SMITH

Scott McIntyre and Penny
Smith were both Dean's List
students, both doing especially
well in their last semester at
the University—he in the
School of Education and she in
the nursing school. Then
during one week this February
they got married and dropped
out of school. Why? So they
could prepare for the Second
Coming of Christ, they say,
and help others to find Him in
their own lives.

As they walk around the
grounds, talking to people
about Jesus, one can't help but
notice that they are
perpetually grinning from ear
to ear—fairly glowing as they
reply to the question of "How
are you" with "fantastic" or
"just great!" They say they
spend all their time now
talking about Christ; they
think of nothing else. As far as
any kind of job or financial
worries, they know that if they
run out of money Christ will
provide for them. "He takes
care of His own." Scott smiled.

The suddenness of their
decision to drop everything
and "follow Christ" is one of
the more amazing elements of
their faith. Mr. McIntyre
explained their rationale: "We
feel that sometime very soon.
Christ is going to return and
take with him those who
believe in Him as their personal
Savior."

The McIntyres believe the
"rapture," as they call it, will
happen within the next year.
He continued: "After the
rapture will follow a time of
upheaval. Man will bring upon
himself a time of tribulation
the like of which he has never
seen before. There will be war,
famine, sickness—it's all in the
Bible."

A printed sheet written by
Mr. McIntyre which has been
posted at various places around
the University (titled "Coming
Soon: Jesus Christ") explains
further the reasons they believe
the Second Coming will
happen within the year. Saint
Paul declared "That day (of
Christ's coming) will not come
unless the apostasy comes
first." The apostasy is the time
when those who profess to be
Christians fall away from the
church in great numbers, a
time which Mr. and Ms.
McIntyre believe is upon us
now.

Another sign, according to
the paper, is the reformation of

the nation of Israel. "In
Ezekiel 38.8 and Isaiah 66.8 it
was prophesied that a
generation before Christ's
return the nation of Israel
would be reborn in one day
after a long dispersion of the
Jewish people. This took place
on May 14, 1948.

In Ezekiel 38 and 39 it was
prophesied that a powerful
nation to the 'uttermost north'
of Israel would be allied with
the Arabian nations against
Israel. On the map, Russia is to
the uttermost north of Israel
and the political alliances fulfill
the prophecy.

Further evidence that the
Second Coming is near is the
spiritual awakening and the rise
of Satanism, both prophesied to
precede the Coming of Christ.
"As you can see, the spiritual
awakening is now happening,
Mr. McIntyre explained, and
the opposing forces of evil are
also on the rise; we hear
reports that the Satanic Bible is
outselling the Holy Bible 10 to
1 in some places."

The McIntyres do not
belong to any formal church or
religious sect. Ms. McIntyre
was raised as a Baptist but
never attended church while
she was in college. "I guess I
started thinking about Christ as
the answer when I read about
all the problems that
population and pollution
would soon bring to the earth.
I knew there had to be an
answer somewhere. When she
told her father of her decision
to devote her life to Christ he
counseled her that religion
should be "the spice of your
life." "No" she responded, "it
is my life."

Mr. McIntyre abandoned his
Episcopal faith at age 12, then
went through many different
religious philosophies. He
realized there was a God but
couldn't really define it until
one day he realized the answer
was the Golden Rule. At that
point he asked Christ to come
into his life, and followed His
instructions to "speak of Me
with your lips."

He said "We feel we have a
gift of being able to talk to
people...our time is completely
filled with talking to people
about Christ people are
hungry to hear about Him."

The doctrine they preach is
a simple one of love, loving
God and loving Man. "We base
everything on it," Mr.
McIntyre explained. Ms.
McIntyre joined in: "We found
that God wants you to be
happy."

The McIntyres and many
others interested in the Jesus
movement will be attending a
Charismatic Teaching
Conference to be held in
Charlottesville April 27, 28,
and 29 at St. Thomas Catholic
Church.