|
SEVENTY YEARS ARE JUST THE BEGINNING
#3
SAVING SINNERS BY PUNCHING THEM OUT
When a Christian radio ministry has been on the air
for exactly seventy years and one day, it's probably fair to ask the people
running it: "What's your goal? What are you about? What would you
like us listeners to do? Besides tune in, of course?"
Well, I could give a lot of answers, because friend, here at this ministry
we absolutely LOVE the people on the other side of the radio airwaves.
Since you're listening today, we pray for you. We love you. We try to
let you know just how much JESUS cares about you too. And our goal is
quite simple: we'd like for you to discover the joy of following Christ
— the same joy we have. I think there's an old song that goes like this:
"I have found in Him a precious Friend." And we want for you
to know that Friend as well.
But you know, the business of persuading others to follow our Jesus sometimes
takes a fascinating turn. Today I'd like to share, out of my dad's archives,
a couple of memorable stories. One of them actually involves more that
just "(quote) friendly persuasion"; Dad actually put on boxing
gloves and pounded one spiritual opponent into the truth.
He always kept a diary, and my friend Bob Edwards found this amazing description
going clear back to the year 1915. Dad was planning to do a series of
meetings in a little Pennsylvania village called Millerton, in Tioga County.
Now, being a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, he looked to the local Adventist
church to sponsor him and back him up with prayers and support. The only
problem was, the Adventist church there was pretty much three old ladies,
who had their Sabbath services in something called the Odd Fellows Hall,
which was above a drugstore.
Problem number two was that the man who controlled that hall was a Mr.
Miller, the county undertaker. But this guy HATED preachers. His own wife
was a Seventh-day Adventist, and for some reason that had made a bad impression
on him, so that he hated Adventist pastors in particular.
Well, Dad went in to see him, to try to soften him up. And this fellow
just sat there in his chair, reading the evening paper. He wouldn't even
look up at this intruder who was ruining his evening. Finally, Dad saw
that he was reading the sports section, which was all about an upcoming
fight between Jack Johnson, the champion, and a challenger named Jess
Willard. So Dad said, "Who do you think is going to win the big fight?"
And the guy just warmed right up. "Oh, do you like boxing?"
Actually, Dad didn't care much about it, but he decided to act interested.
"Sure, I spar around a little bit." And that really got Mr.
Miller's attention. "You want to go a few rounds with me?"
Now my father said to himself, "What have I gotten myself into?"
He could tell that this Mr. Miller would love nothing more than to knock
this Adventist pastor head over heels in front of all his friends. This
would be, for HIM, the Battle of Armageddon! But he didn't have much choice.
"Sure," Dad said, "as long as you don't hit me too hard."
He looked over at Mrs. Miller, who, all of a sudden, was white as a ghost.
I mean, Mr. Miller had my dad beat by about 40 pounds, and she was sure
her husband was going to end up killing this skinny Christian preacher.
So, right there in the mortuary, they pushed back some caskets to make
a regulation ring. The wife and another lady served as seconds, and these
two men put on gloves and began to box. Now, Dad had actually had a bit
of boxing training in college from a friend. So for a few rounds, he let
his adversary think he was left-handed. He kind of held back and just
stayed out of the way. And after a while, when those extra 40 pounds began
to kick in and create some fatigue, Dad suddenly switched and was a full-fledged
right-hander. And Bob tells how Dad breathed this silent prayer up to
heaven:
"Lord, this fellow needs a licking. He needs
one if ever anyone did in this world. For his wife's sake, for the truth's
sake, and for the fact that I need a place to hold my meetings, help me
to teach him a lesson."
And Pastor H. M. S. Richards went into the sixth round
with that prayer on his lips. Just exactly one minute later, he got his
opening. BOOM! And that huffing and puffing Mr. Miller went down. He struggled
to his feet, now REALLY mad, and Dad popped him again. And then again.
The third time he went down for keeps. And Dad just waited while the other
man very slowly stood up. What was going to happen now?
Well, Mr. Miller said two things. First, he muttered: "It's them
blankety-blank cigarettes." And then very slowly, as he pulled off
his gloves, he held out his hand and said to Dad: "Preacher, if you
ever come to this town and don't stay at my house, there's going to be
trouble."
So Dad got that Odd Fellows Hall free of charge. He held his meetings,
and 26 people came to know the Lord Jesus Christ through them. Mr. Miller
and Dad became the best of friends through the experience. In fact, 30
years later, when my father traveled through that little town of Millerton,
he stopped in. The old man, now bent and aging, opened the front door.
Dad said to him, "You probably don't remember me." "I sure
do," the other man said. "You're that preacher who knocked me
down. Come on in." They had a wonderful visit and a prayer together,
and the man died some time after that, another redeemed treasure for God's
kingdom as a result of a "(quote) lucky" right-handed punch.
Well, you know, it's a wonderful kind of tongue-in-cheek story in terms
of illustrating our vision and our dream for our faithful listeners. Friend,
we do want you to experience the joy of following Jesus. We just don't
want to have to go after you with boxing gloves in order to persuade you.
In defense of my dad, I will say that Mr. Miller started it, not him!
Really, I think the epitome of what we pray for regarding each of you
is what the book of Acts, chapter 17, calls the Berean experience. Lonnie
and I have mentioned this before, but you read here about these wonderful
men and women from the city of Berea, which is now called Verria, about
50 miles away from Thessalonica. Paul and Silas went to preach there,
and they didn't get into any boxing matches — although that DID happen
to Paul in other places. But these faithful seekers of truth did two things
— and for the past 70 years we've been urging you listeners to do both
of these things too. First of all, they listened with great interest and
attention, it says in verse 11. They paid attention; they took notes.
They sensed the eternal importance of what they were hearing, and so they
tuned in . . . just as you're doing right here on this Wednesday.
But then they did something else too. They dug into their own Bibles and
checked out what Paul and Silas were teaching. Did they blindly accept
the doctrines of these new gurus? No! Did they follow along unthinkingly,
like cult members sometimes do when a smooth guy in a Rolls Royce comes
gliding along toward them? No! They put Paul's teachings to the test.
They compared his words with Scripture words. They prayed for themselves;
they studied on their own. They kept their own brains in gear, not idling
casually along in neutral.
And friend, I'm so thankful for those of you who do both of these things.
This is biblical! Listen, I praise the Lord that you've tuned in this
week . . . and I hope, EVERY week. But I URGE you — read your own Bible.
Study the Scriptures for yourself. Then YOU do what the LORD invites you
to do. If God invites you to make a commitment based on what you've heard
on this program AND on what your own study reveals, then that's wonderful.
Way back in the 1860s, during the Pike's Peak gold rush, Dad's maternal
grandparents were known as "Twopops" and "Twomoms,"
Grandpa and Grandma Sylvester. Newt Sylvester was a big man, an influential
part of the community. When there were some Christian meetings, none of
the young men would commit to Christ until Newt Sylvester did; then they
ALL went forward.
But some time after this, an Adventist preacher came into the community
to hold some meetings. And there was a challenger in the crowd, part of
a local cult religion. He stood up and challenged the Adventist pastor
to a debate. All right — so the two of them stood up and went at it toe
to toe. And this Adventist minister, with verse after verse after verse
right from the Bible, was able to powerfully dominate the discussion.
It was clear to everyone there that these great pillars of Christian faith
were legitimate. At the end, he said to the crowd: "All right, how
many of you believe what I've preached here is the truth?" Every
single person raised their hand. And then his second question: "Okay,
now how many of you are going to OBEY it?" And there were just two
people who kept their hands up: "Twopops" and "Twomoms."
Dad's two grandparents. They studied, they were convinced in their own
minds that God was leading them, and they stepped forward to accept that
truth.
Friend, THAT'S the spirit of Berea! And that's our prayer for you too.
|
