Personal Touch Wins
A noted evangelist was once holding a series of services in a church whose minister was a man of long experience and of great influence. One night as they sat on the platform together the minister pointed out to the evangelist a man in the audience.
“For twelve years,” he said, “I have tried to win that man to Christ; I have preached to him so long that I sometimes find myself doing it almost unconsciously.”
“From the pulpit?” asked the evangelist.
“From the pulpit, yes.”
“How many times have you gone to him with the love of God in your heart and said: ‘I want to see you become a child of God?’”
“I must confess,” said the minister, “that I have never spoken to him personally and directly concerning his salvation.”
“Then,” said the evangelist, “perhaps he is not impregnable after all.”
That night the evangelist, after the service, caught the man before he got to the door. He spoke only a few words, but they were earnest and loving. And the next evening in the “after service,” in which many souls have found lasting peace and eternal life, the man was on his knees with the tears streaming down his cheeks. It was the personal touch that did it.
The sermon is effective with many. Music has brought salvation to many a life. But on thousands and thousands of cases it is only the personal touch that wins.
Come Home!
S. H. Hadley, of the Water Street Mission, once met a boy in the street utterly ragged and miserable. He had stolen money from his father, and had run away from home. He was reaping the bitter wages of sin, and was penniless in the great city. Mr. Hadley advised him to go back to his father, but the boy said: “You don’t know my father. He is a hard man; he will never forgive me.”
“Well, come to the mission and stay tonight.”
That very evening a letter went to the father, telling him that his missing boy was at the Water Street Mission, in destitute circumstances, and that he was sincerely sorry for his wrongdoing. The next morning a message flashed over the wire, saying: “My boy is forgiven; tell him to come home.”
That is Christ’s message to the wandering ones today. How the blessed word “Come,” echoes through Holy Scripture! But human hearts too seldom hear its music.
“For twelve years,” he said, “I have tried to win that man to Christ; I have preached to him so long that I sometimes find myself doing it almost unconsciously.”
“From the pulpit?” asked the evangelist.
“From the pulpit, yes.”
“How many times have you gone to him with the love of God in your heart and said: ‘I want to see you become a child of God?’”
“I must confess,” said the minister, “that I have never spoken to him personally and directly concerning his salvation.”
“Then,” said the evangelist, “perhaps he is not impregnable after all.”
That night the evangelist, after the service, caught the man before he got to the door. He spoke only a few words, but they were earnest and loving. And the next evening in the “after service,” in which many souls have found lasting peace and eternal life, the man was on his knees with the tears streaming down his cheeks. It was the personal touch that did it.
The sermon is effective with many. Music has brought salvation to many a life. But on thousands and thousands of cases it is only the personal touch that wins.
Come Home!
S. H. Hadley, of the Water Street Mission, once met a boy in the street utterly ragged and miserable. He had stolen money from his father, and had run away from home. He was reaping the bitter wages of sin, and was penniless in the great city. Mr. Hadley advised him to go back to his father, but the boy said: “You don’t know my father. He is a hard man; he will never forgive me.”
“Well, come to the mission and stay tonight.”
That very evening a letter went to the father, telling him that his missing boy was at the Water Street Mission, in destitute circumstances, and that he was sincerely sorry for his wrongdoing. The next morning a message flashed over the wire, saying: “My boy is forgiven; tell him to come home.”
That is Christ’s message to the wandering ones today. How the blessed word “Come,” echoes through Holy Scripture! But human hearts too seldom hear its music.