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From Ken Raggio's Book
"Long Winding Road"


Long Winding Road
A Very Personal Story

By Ken Raggio

Chapter 11
Holy Ghost Or Nothing

We really hit the ground running as soon as we arrived in Georgia. Moving into the house was a major project at first, but in addition, baby Chad had contracted a bacterial infection that had persisted for six weeks. Because he became severely dehydrated, we had to put him in the hospital for treatments until he recuperated. So our first weeks in town were enormously stressful.

A most amazing sign appeared unexpectedly, making me believe that we were there in the will of God. I had dreamed a dream around the time that I was on the three-day fast back in Waco. I dreamed that I was walking the streets in an old, dark town. Many of the storefronts looked like old saloons. I had the feeling of an earlier century. I had never seen a place like that, had absolutely no clue about where it was, and never expected to see anything like it in real life.

An Amazing Sign

Shortly after moving into our new house, people began suggesting places and things in Atlanta that we needed to go see: the Coca-Cola Museum, the Varsity Drive-In restaurant across from Emory University, Underground Atlanta, and several other sights.

On a free day, Dixie and I took the boys downtown Atlanta. We ate at the Varsity, and went to the Coca-Cola Museum. Then we discovered that Underground Atlanta was nearby. It was late in the evening, around dark.

When we walked into the entrance of Underground Atlanta, I froze. I stood there in near shock. This was the exact place I had seen in my dream about two months earlier. I had never heard of a place like this. Nothing I had ever heard of would have prompted the dream. I told Dixie, "I saw this place in a dream about two months ago." "Are you sure?" she asked. "Absolutely!" I responded. I took her down the dark, underground streets and pointed out places I had seen in the dream; things like the gas lamps, and stone pavements, and swinging saloon doors. (It has since been dramatically reconstructed, and no longer looks the same.)

I had never heard that parts of historic Atlanta had been preserved from the Civil War days. In the same general proximity where Scarlett O'Hara and doctors treated wounded soldiers (in the movie "Gone With The Wind"), a bustling town of 10,000 had stood in the 1860s. In the 1920s, the city built viaducts which raised the streets to a second level. The old town fell into disuse until a restoration project revived it in the 1960s. And that is exactly what I had seen in my dreams.

"Well, God knows the end from the beginning," I told Dixie. "Apparently, He was showing me the place where we would be going next." Whatever it meant, I was impressed. I felt like it was a sign from God to let us know that we were following our divine destiny.

I went to work immediately, establishing contact with all the members of the Church. I wrote a weekly newsletter that was mailed to hundreds of households. I purchased a one-hour radio slot every Sunday morning on the local AM station and did a live show of Gospel music and preaching and promoting the Church. Within about 90 days, I purchased a half-hour television slot on Channel 17 in Atlanta and started producing video tapes for that Sunday morning program.

"Long And Winding Road"

James Goss and I became fast friends immediately, having coffee together regularly, and even taking flying lessons together. I was enthralled with his musical contributions to the church. It appeared that the sky was going to be the limit for that church.

James came to church one night with a brand-new song the Goss Brothers had just recorded at LeFevre Studios. He said, “We just did a session with a little gal from Louisiana named Mickey Mangun. She wrote this song, and I fell in love with it. It’s called, 'Long and Winding Road.' He sang with the soundtrack of the Goss Brothers’ version. It was gorgeous. The studio was using a new Moog Synthesizer, and this song had some phenomenal synthesizer phrases. But it was the words that captured me.

“When I made my start for heaven, I could only find one way -
a road that led me through the mountains and the valleys,
a road not many take.
But since I started traveling on my journey,
I’ve traveled many miles behind me:
miles of sun and rain, miles of smiles and pain.
The road’s been rough, but I again would choose the same.”

James’ voice cracked as he sang the song. I knew his story. He had been enormously successful in the music business, but had experienced some devastating trials in recent years. He was struggling for survival. By the time he finished singing that song, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. That song burned hard into my soul. I picked it up and took it for my own. Since that night, I have sung that song more often than any other.

“Long and winding road, keep on leading me.
Up ahead, I see a sign
and it points me straight ahead to victory.
I know I must be traveling right,
for I remember passing Calvary.
And although it’s dusty and it’s old,
for years it’s borne this traveler's load,
some day this road will turn to gold.”

That was New Years Eve, 1979. The house was packed.

We tried to engage the people with the local chapter of the Full Gospel Business Men. I took several key members to Charismatic events in Atlanta. I hauled the youth group to an outdoor witnessing event with Brian Ruud. That was a hoot. Hippies and Corvettes and Rock and Roll music - all in Jesus' name. Lord, have mercy.

The 'JESUS '79 CELEBRATION' in Orlando

We took a major trip with fifteen teen-agers down to Orlando for the JESUS '79 CELEBRATION. 35,000 youth from all over America came to the week-long "Woodstock"-gone-Christian-event. There were several Big Top tents set up in an enormous field near Disney World. All-day outdoor concerts were performed by Barry McGuire, Nancy Honeytree, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and other extremely contemporary artists. Winkey Pratney headlined the event, along with Tony Salerno, Alex Clattenburg and several of the hottest names in Christian youth ministry of that era. Thousands of kids sat around in their bell-bottoms and halter-tops "just cruisin' with Jesus," listening to hours and hours of lectures and music for days and nights. We added a couple of days at Disney World just to round out the spiritual experience.

The Welshman and The Scots

Back at home, I invited Kevin Gould of Cardiff, Wales to come and minister in music. His contemporary Christian ballads and acoustic guitar were well-received.

But I was ready for some more traditional Pentecostal-style preaching and singing. One of the most-beloved preachers in America in those days was a red-haired, red-faced Scotsman named Simon Peter Cameron. He came from Peterhead (near Aberdeen in the Northeast of Scotland on the North Sea), where he pastored a thriving Full Gospel Church, was Overseer of several other churches, and the President of a Bible School for training young ministers. Simon Peter was a passionate and humble man whose preaching never failed to move his audiences to prayer and consecration. I had been in meetings with him in Kansas City and in Beaumont and loved his ministry.

The Cameron Family toured the United States each year, holding crusades and raising money for their Bible School. Simon's son, Peter, and Peter's wife, Chrissie, formed a second evangelistic team. I knew that Peter was in the states, so I tracked him down and scheduled a weekend of services with him. He came with his wife, his sister, and two other young people from the Bible School. His preaching and their Pentecostal-styled singing was like nothing that Church had ever heard.

They were all dressed in their red Scottish plaids, and Peter played the accordion while the others played tambourines. They sang a variety of songs they had written. One of my favorite choruses said:

He's got the world in the palm of His hand
No need to fear, He's in command.
The days may come and go, but this one thing I know
He's got the world in the palm of His hand.

Another said:

The Holy Ghost will set your feet a-dancing.
The Holy Ghost will thrill you through and through.
The Holy Ghost will set your feet a-dancing,
And set your heart a-dancing, too.

And a third song said,

All over the world the Spirit is moving
All over the world as the prophet said it would be
All over the world there's a mighty revelation
Of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea

Pastor's Prayer Meeting

Dixie and I invited the adults in the Church to attend a "Pastor's Prayer Meeting" every Monday night at the parsonage. Usually, about 30 people attended that prayer meeting in our massive living room. For weeks, it was wonderful, and the attendance held steady.

Then, suddenly, one Monday night, the attendance more than doubled. Instead of 30, over 70 people showed up at prayer meeting. I didn't know what to think about it at first. But it didn't take long for their intentions to manifest. The newcomers had come with a complaint. They were a group of people who did not believe in speaking in other tongues. They had come to serve notice that they were opposed to my preaching about the Baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. I was shocked! It was a totally unexpected slam against the doctrine I believed so strongly.

They were clear in their statement. "We know there are a few people here who speak in tongues, but we do not want that to be a teaching of this congregation."

I told them that I had been speaking in tongues since I was eleven years old, and that it was one of my core beliefs, so I could never promise them that I would not preach about the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. Even though this was a non-denominational independent church, the former pastor had been an Assemblies of God preacher who had once been a Methodist pastor in that town. Everyone knew that he made the change because he had received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and spoke in unknown tongues. I presumed that he had already taught that congregation about the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, and that their beliefs were essentially the same as mine. But I was wrong.

When all the facts began to spill out, I discovered that the reason the former pastor had resigned was because he had committed adultery with a prominent businesswoman in that town, and it had been front-page news. He left in embarrassment and went to Texas. He assumed the Pastorate of a large Assembly of God Church and never looked back.

Since that time, the congregation had voted on seven different pastoral candidates and had never received anything near a majority vote. I suddenly discovered that the church had been deeply divided over many issues, including doctrinal issues, and it had almost completely fallen apart just before Dixie and I had arrived there. Ultimately, it appeared that the 100% vote that we received was a last-ditch effort on the part of the congregation to prevent the Church from going totally out of business.

A Forehead Of Flint

I spent the next twenty-four hours in prayer and fasting with my nose in the Bible. I was desperately looking for some wisdom from God. I read in the book of Ezekiel how God told Ezekiel that He sent the prophet into the midst of a "rebellious people."

"As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead:
fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks,
though they be a rebellious house.
Ezekiel 3:9


I thought that fit my situation very well. He told Ezekiel that He had given him a forehead of flint to stand up to them and say, "Thus saith the Lord," so that "whether they hear or whether they forebear," yet they would know that there had been a man of God in the midst.

I decided that I would stand my ground on my doctrine, but I would let the people decide what they wanted to do. I called an emergency meeting of all the men of the church to be held the very next night. Early that morning, my secretary called every member of the church and announced that I wanted to have an emergency meeting with the men only.

That night, the fellowship hall was packed with men. I started right on time. It was not a long meeting at all. I simply explained to those who were unaware of the developments what was going on. I told them that my teachings about the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and speaking in other tongues were being rejected by a group of people. I then asked those men to each make their positions known. I said, "I need to know how many of you do not want me to preach about speaking in tongues."

Exactly half of them raised their hands. Exactly half of them did not want me to preach about speaking in other tongues.

A House Divided

I looked at them for a moment, wondering what my response should be. Then I said, "The Bible says that a house divided cannot stand. It also says that if a man's ministry is not being received in a city, that he should shake the dust off his feet and leave." With that said, I tendered my resignation to them on the spot. We would be leaving immediately.

The next morning, I called the movers and they came and began packing all our belongings. As the 18-wheeler drove off the next day, Dixie and our two little boys got into our Pontiac Bonneville with me, and we drove out to the edge of the city. I stopped the car on the shoulder of Interstate 75 heading toward Chattanooga, and got out, took off my shoes, and clapped them together as though I was removing the dust from them. Then I sat them on the ground, slid them back on my feet, got in the car and drove away.

I didn't have a clue what would happen after that.

I kept on praying and reading the Bible. I listed three things that I thought God was speaking to me from His word. I showed them to Dixie and told her what my plan was.

"Arise, Go Forth Into The Plain"

Most of my counsel that week had come from the Book of Ezekiel. The morning we left town, I read in 3:22 where God told the prophet, "Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee." I hoped that was a sign I should return to the Central Plains of Texas where we had just left. I decided I would at least drive back to Waco and consult with the Pastor.

We took a round-about trip through North Little Rock where we looked up Gene Mullenax (the guy with the miraculous lung). Gene was pastoring a large Charismatic Church at the time. They owned an entire shopping center, and he had started a television ministry next door to the Church. They had a satellite uplink to PTL and were feeding their programs live to PTL. Gene showed us around his studios and invited me to preach in their next service. We hung out with him and his wife in their home for a day or so. I tried to solicit his best counsel for my situation. He didn't know what to tell me. He invited me to come on staff in the ministry there, but I felt that I had permanently graduated from any more "second-fiddle" roles. I was looking for a position as a Lead Pastor.

We headed to Waco. That effort pretty much came to naught as soon as I got there. I told the Pastor all about what we had just experienced and asked him if he had any wisdom to share with me. He replied, "All I can tell you is that God's not through with you yet." I stayed less than ten minutes, and we were finished with Waco for the second and last time.

"God's Not Through With You Yet"

Gene had told me that there was a Full-Gospel Church in Temple that was looking for a pastor. He gave me the name of the Church, and the name of a man who attended the Church, but that was all the information he had. We drove to Temple in an attempt to find it. I couldn't locate the address. I saw a local police woman sitting in her cruiser at a convenience store. I drove up beside her and asked if she had ever heard of that particular church. She reacted quite excitedly and said, "Yes. We were out there last night. They tried to kill the preacher!"

I pretended not to be astonished at that tidbit of information. We drove by the address she gave me, and we saw that it was a fairly large Church facility, but no one was there. So I went to another convenience store and asked for a telephone directory, and looked up the man whose name was given to me. He was supposed to be the head deacon.

I found him running a paint and body shop. When I walked into the shop, he was busy painting a nude woman on the side of a street van. Another bad sign. I asked him some general questions about the church situation and quickly came to the conclusion that I wasn't interested in learning anything else about that church. We checked out of town.

My third and last lead was an old minister who had been somewhat of a mentor to me many years earlier. He was retired and living in a small town near Temple. I decided to drive there and visit him and ask him for some counsel. When we finally located his home, I drove into the driveway, got out, and knocked on the door.

His wife came to the door and was overjoyed to see us. I asked if her husband was at home and if we could visit with him for a while. She invited us in, asked us to have a seat, and went to a back room to get him.

When he came out, something was desperately wrong. He didn't recognize us. In fact, he couldn't talk. He sat down in a chair as his wife offered us a cup of coffee. We accepted, and she went to prepare it. I tried to make conversation with my old friend. Actually, he was only in his late sixties, but he was in very poor health. He seemed to be in a daze. His eyes were glazed, and he was not responding to our attempts to make conversation with him. He picked up the cup of coffee she served him and poured it down the front of his shirt.

Then I realized that he was not in his right mind at all. His wife was embarrassed as she explained that he had just had a total mental break-down, and she didn't know what to do for him. Their situation was utterly depressing.

That was the last straw for me. Dixie and I and the boys headed home to Beaumont. We didn't know what would be next.


Continue to:
Long Winding Road - Chapter 12
"Crash and Burn"

Return to:
Long Winding Road - Chapter 10
"Catch The Spirit Of Love"