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 Are
there people in this generation who are vitally interested in
hearing the gospel preached? There are indeed! My friend, Leslie
D., has a note in his paper THINK about a woman who “was
listening so closely she forgot to breathe” — for a time.
I
just love to be “reminded” of a story that is just as good,
or maybe a little bit better. My story centers upon a railroad
engineer who once ran a mighty Santa Fe freight through our
beloved Arizona. He has finished his run now, but I am sure his
widow will not mind my recalling these things.
For
years this man showed little interest in the gospel, and I do
not know what first touched his heart. But when the awakening
came he was wide open, every pore. He was a big man, and often
sat forward on a pew, leaning intently toward the speaker. On
one occasion he became so absorbed in the lesson that he
completely forgot where he was. He reached for that “pack”
in his shirt pocket (with the “automatic motion” so familiar
to those addicted to the weed) and put a cigarette in his mouth
without lifting his eyes from the preacher. Still looking
straight ahead, hungry for every word, he was fishing for a
match when a friend noticed what
was
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taking place, and gave him an elbow.
At
another meeting I was presenting Bible material which I placed,
step by step, upon the chalk-board. Sometimes I get a bit “carried
away” with my own preaching, and I was much enthused with this
lesson. As each point drove steadily toward a scriptural
conclusion, and my engineering friend leaned even closer, I
finally reached the climax with a flourish, and a piercing
question, “MAN, don’t you see it??” And from deep
within that big man, poised on the edge of his seat, came a
rumbling, satisfying “YEAHHHHH! !“
He
was so embarrassed at his involuntary outburst that he slipped
from his seat, and walked to the back of the little building,
where he stood in the corner for awhile. But he did “see it!”
At the next service he brought a pair of his huge bib overalls,
and I baptized him into Christ. Yeahhhhh! I recall it all —
with a warm feeling in my heart for a man who really listened.
“Then
they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same
day there were added...” (Acts 2:41)
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