Will Likins doesn’t do anything halfway, so he didn’t just walk away from religion, he ran.
The young boy who had grown up going to church on Sundays came into adulthood as an atheist who enjoyed publicly debating pastors. With a degree in biology, Will was glad to debunk creationism and the Creator.
Will married young, and after his wife left, he ran even further — all the way to Kansas City. He excelled in his doctoral program, while immersing himself in a world of drugs, alcohol and women.
“I took my boards [to become a doctor] and got the second highest score in the country, but I was an emotional wreck.”
He came in one night at 3 am and collapsed. On his bookshelf he saw his father’s Bible. It held notes and underlining from years of use. Will picked it up and read a Psalm by David about being lonely and afflicted, a feeling he understood well.
“I prayed, ‘God, if you’re real, show me something.’”
In that moment, Will was overwhelmed by the presence of God, a feeling he described as almost “hovering,” which lasted for two days.
He couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew he needed to get to know this God.
Since Will was already familiar with Christianity, he decided to try something else. For about four years, he became a student of world religion, and was drawn to Buddhism.
By this time, Will was living in Lynchburg, a place he chose to start a chiropractic practice. It was just three hours from his hometown in West Virginia and a good place demographically for his new business.
On the faith front, Will knew he was still missing something. Finally, he prayed again, “God, show me who you are.”
Three days later a woman came into his office and asked to speak to the doctor.
“My assistants showed her into my office, something they never do,” he remembered. “She said, ‘God sent me here today.’ And I started immediately wondering how to get rid of her. But she looked at me and said, ‘God loves you. And by God I don't mean the God of the Hindus, Muslims, or Buddhist, but God the Father of Jesus Christ who died for your sins.’”
That specific statement shook him. “I had an overwhelming feeling, and I recognized it as the presence of God that I had felt four years before.”
Will began going to church and “trying to do right things.” Someone invited him to Blue Ridge and he heard Stephen Dunn share his story. Will asked Stephen if they could go to breakfast. Stephen came to that breakfast with Senior Pastor Woody Torrence. Will shared his story with the two men, and Woody shared the gospel.
“No one had really done that before,” Will said. “I gave my life to Christ.”
That breakfast with Will, Woody and Stephen became the start of Engage, a men’s ministry that met for more than seven years. Because of Engage, dozens of other men also received Christ.
God has used Will to teach others in ways he never expected.
“I remember telling God, ‘I'll do anything you ask, but not public speaking.’”
Will not only was a teacher for Engage, but now helps to lead Follow, a men’s ministry that began last year.
“It’s an area I have to be completely dependent on Him.”
He welcomes any men who want to hear God’s Word, do God’s Word and help other guys do God’s Word.
Will said sometimes guys say that they wish God would speak as directly to them as He did to Will. But Will said God had to speak to him so directly — “I’m one of these people He has to hit in the head with a two by four.” For others, God speaks differently.
Will shares this encouragement, “If you’re genuinely seeking Him, He will reveal Himself to you in a way that is unique and personal — and in a way that you cannot deny.”
Follow meets Mondays at 7 pm at Blue Ridge.