NACC Viewpoint 3: Together–It’s Reality

By Judy Hutchinson

The NACC has become a working vacation for me. My father-in-law, W.D. Hutchinson, founded the business called Christian Audio Tapes, which records every main session and workshop of the event.

“This is my 40th NACC,” he announced shortly after I arrived at the booth. I marveled at the physical endurance demonstrated by that statement and wondered how he and his staff continued the task of loading, unloading, and reloading the multitude of boxes that it takes to fill the orders for CDs, DVDs, and tapes. He made his announcement with a lilt in his voice that told me he considered working the 40 conventions his privilege.

While I regret I”m not able to personally attend the main sessions or workshops, the comments relayed to me by customers prompt a mental “must-see/got-to-hear” list of DVDs and CDs that I”ll pack before heading back home. Sometimes it”s the urgency of the request. “I want to listen to that again on the way home,” one man said, and then added, “can you give me directions to the nearest store where I can buy a CD player?” You can be sure his selection went to the top of my list.

Testimony

One customer and friend offered more than a recommendation. He shared his testimony. “Did you hear tonight”s message?” he asked my father-in-law upon approaching the counter. My father-in-law nodded that he had. Without pause, his friend and long-distance prayer partner shared his experience. “My seat this evening was just a few rows in front of a man who I felt had wronged my family,” he said. “I hadn”t spoken to him for 25 years. Partway through the sermon I turned around and said to him, “˜We”ve got to talk.””

With the silence broken, healing could begin. They hugged and were together in Christ . . . again.

The final “Amen” of the benediction had barely been spoken on Thursday evening, when the sheer number of orders made it obvious that Jeff Walling”s message would be at the top of all our take-home lists. Jeff was the mouthpiece, but only the Holy Spirit could bring the words that would bridge the years, heal the hurts, and weave us as one.

I listened to Jeff”s message on my trip home. I watched it again when I arrived home. He made us laugh, but that certainly wasn”t his only goal. In fact, maybe it wasn”t as much what Jeff said, as what he demonstrated.

At the close of the session, Jeff Walling and Dave Stone exchanged Bibles, promising to think of one another when they preached from them. They stood in the gap between two brotherhoods of believers who have held on to attitudes of self-righteousness for too long.

The crowd of Christians that swarmed the audio-visual booth that evening stood hungry for hope and hopeful for a unified kingdom. They were ready to lay down the bonds of legalism and reach out in reconciliation with other Christians, congregations, even their communities. They will be together in Christ.

The RV has been unloaded and I”ve had time to reflect on this year”s convention. It”s the fellowship, the friendship, the Holy Spirit at work that brings my father-in-law back with the boxes. It”s the hope of being together in Christ that will send him for the 41st time next July. It isn”t really a working vacation for me, either. It”s a vacation that works.

 

 

Judy Hutchinson lives in Lawrenceville, Illinois. Contact Christian Audio Tapes at www.catapes.com.