"S.A.L.T."
The Assemblies of God’s International Headquarters is in Springfield, Missouri as was their Chi Alpha headquarters. They scheduled a nationwide student leadership conference to be held in Springfield over the New Year holiday that year, 1980-1981. It was called “Student Activist Leadership Training” hence, S.A.L.T.
Several of us from our local Chi Alpha group went and it was one of the first “mountain top” experiences of my life. The teachings were great, and the worship services were the best I had ever experienced. It was an incredible experience with all those college age Jesus lovers in one place. A memory for a lifetime for sure.
One of the most memorable parts for me was a teaching given by a local pastor, Cal LeMon. He was the local pastor of the Evangel Temple Assemblies of God church. One of the more conservative churches in the area. No rolling in the isles there. A very well-educated man with amazing perspectives.
He taught on the relations of our current society comparatively to the gospel and God’s values for our life. He referenced a book by Professor Christopher Lasch, “The Culture of Narcissism”. It was a perspective on the “70’s Me Generation” of which I had just lived through. An excellent read for those interested in social history.
I had been an avid student of history since I had received my first ten dreams; my attempt to understand what and why certain things were to come. Due to the issues at home, I had spent many-a-day reading everything from biographies, encyclopedias, and you name it trying to put the pieces together.
This was the first perspective on history and especially contemporary social history of my generation from a faith perspective that I had ever been exposed to. It was awesome and pushed my studies down a whole other path. Also, this is when I was introduced to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933 and its insidious agenda, which explained to me the why and what was being taught in my classes at the University.
There were students there at S.A.L.T. from all over the nation and it was great to meet them and hear what was happening on other campuses. I met a group from Bozeman, Montana and they asked me to give them a tour of the Ozarks. We drove down to and through Branson, Missouri about thirty miles south of Springfield. The Ozark Mountains were totally different than the Rockies of the northwest and they appreciated the tour.
They had a special spirit about them, and they invited me to come see the Rockies someday. I had read a lot about the explorers of the west while growing up and really hoped I could make it to Bozeman sometime to do some exploring of my own. I kept their contact information and let them know I just might actually take them up on it someday.