The Deacon of Dobbinsville: A Story Based on Actual HappeningsMorrison, John Arch
Religion
The Deacon of Dobbinsville: A Story Based on Actual Happenings
Morrison, John Arch
Christian life -- Fiction
with the wagon on top, in a ditch by the side of the road. As he drew
near he heard coming from under the box the low muttering tones of a
man's voice. As he stood near the box and listened he heard a most
eloquent prayer. He took a long pole from a fence near by and pried one
edge of the box up, and who should emerge from beneath but Jim Peabody.
When the hour of service arrived, Jake Benton and the evangelistic party
did not arrive with it. Owing to the lateness of the train, Jake had
been unable to get around at the appointed hour. Finally the familiar
rattle of Jake's wagon was heard, and now all was breathless expectancy.
When the party arrived at the arbor, all eyes were fastened upon the
Evangelist. If he had been a ghost moving about in the twilight of that
summer evening, he would have been regarded with no more superstition by
that rustic people. There was nothing whatsoever extraordinary in the
physical appearance of Evangelist Blank. He was a man of average height
and scant weight. His rather pallid face was covered with a scanty
well-trimmed beard. His deep-set blue eyes sparkled with a pleasant
earnestness. Any lack of physical attractiveness was amply atoned for by
the splendid qualities of the man's soul. He was a mighty man of God. He
had an unusual grip on the upper world. He had large capacities for
moving God on his throne. A heavenly atmosphere pervaded the realm of
his personality.
When this man stepped onto the platform of the large brush arbor that
summer evening, and took his seat and faced that audience, there was a
stillness that was painful. The awful stillness was broken when the
Evangelist arose and said, "Praise God for his matchless salvation." He
made a few preliminary remarks and the corp of singers began to sing.
And such music seldom issues from human lips. It was not overwhelming in
point of its artistic qualities. The compositions were of the simplest
sort. But the singers sang from out of the abundance of redeemed souls,
and there was a heavenly inspiration accompanying the songs that simply
overwhelmed the hearts of sinners and overjoyed the hearts of saints.
One song that especially gripped the audience ran thus:
"Do you triumph, O my brother, over all this world of sin?
In each storm of tribulation, does your Jesus reign within?"
CHORUS:
"I am reigning, sweetly reigning, far above this world of strife;
In my blessed, loving Savior, I am reigning in this life."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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