Steve P. Holcombe, the Converted Gambler: His Life and WorkAlexander, Gross
Religion
Steve P. Holcombe, the Converted Gambler: His Life and Work
Alexander, Gross
Holcombe, Steve P., 1835-; Methodists -- United States -- Biography
Brother Holcombe had told me what God had done for him. I had confidence
in him from the start, from the fact of his having told me he was a
gambler so long; and when he told me God had redeemed him from the
desire for gambling, I thought he might take away the appetite for drink
from me; and He has done so, I am very thankful to say. I expect I was
the worst-looking sight you ever saw, but I do not take a back seat now
for any one--I look as well as anybody. As I told a man last week: "With
the Lord on my side, I do not fear anything!" I had had charge of men,
and had succeeded in managing them. I did not accept religion because I
was a weak-minded man. As evidence of that, I have proved it since as I
had proved it before. I proved that when I was trying to be a good man
in my own way. I have proved since that I was not a weak-minded man
from the responsible positions I have held and do hold.
But, as I was going to say, I had not shaved for two years, and had not
had my hair cut, I am satisfied, for one year. My hair was hanging down
on my shoulders; my face, of course, not very clean; my clothes were
rags. My shoes were simply tops, and the gentleman who gave me these two
dollars, told me: "Captain, you are the hardest-looking man I ever saw
in my life. I do not know how I recognized you." I said: "This is the
condition I am in, and drinking has brought me to it."
I have been asked by several prominent men how it is I get up night
after night and tell people how bad I have been. I told them it was like
this; if they had been sick nigh unto death and were going to die, and a
physician came and gave them some medicine and made whole men out of
them, would they not be going around the streets telling people about
that physician? I said that is the reason I get up every night and tell
people about it. Christ was the physician that healed me. That is the
remedy I have for all evil now--the blood of Jesus Christ. It was
utterly impossible for a man to exist and be in a worse condition than I
was. I was physically and mentally a wreck; and now by accepting
Christ--becoming a Christian--I am physically, morally, mentally and
spiritually restored and well. That is the reason why I do not hesitate
to tell anybody--even people coming into my office. An editor of a paper
said to me: "Is it possible you were a tramp?" I told him it was; and he
was talking something about attacking me through his paper, about what
I had been. I said, "Blaze away; it won't hurt me. I do not deny having
been a tramp and a drunkard--everything that was mean. But what am I
now?" I do not care what they bring back of my past record; they can not
hurt me, for I do not deny it. It is what I am now. I think now that I
was as bad and mean as a man could possibly be. But I am no longer what
I was, by the grace of Him who called me out of the former darkness into
His light.
[Illustration: H. C. PRICE.]
H. CLAY PRICE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account