The Nation Behind Prison BarsHerr, George L. (George Lewis)
Religion
The Nation Behind Prison Bars
Herr, George L. (George Lewis)
Church work with criminals; Evangelists
Bro. Severance' remarks were few; he is still grieving over the loss of
his two children, and simply said that this Christmas had lost all of
its charms for him, for instead of feeling joyful, he felt sad all of
to-day and yesterday, and that we understood why, for instead of four
little girls, he had only two. He felt his inability to proceed further,
and gave the meeting over into the hands of Bro. Herr to conduct as he
saw fit, and catching an idea from the foregoing remarks, Bro. Herr
referred to the fact that years ago, Christmas was very sad to him. That
he was lying in a saloon in the city of Louisville without friends and
without hope. Then in a jovial manner showed by comparison what a
difference then and now.
He then said: "I am so glad that Jesus said: 'Him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out; I am so glad that he is the same yesterday,
to-day and forever. He said: 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of
men. There is not a man behind prison bars that Jesus Christ cannot
clean up and make him a man."
The audience sat up and took notice when he mentioned a man who had been
a homeless wretch, and a degraded sinner, who had spent thirty-two years
of his life behind prison bars, but had been converted in the Louisville
jail and was now a man of God, the leader in a Rescue Mission in one of
our largest cities, and had the financial support of eight of the
wealthiest men in that city. He said that whenever a man goes blind, or
deaf, or is afflicted in any other way, he is sent to a hospital for
treatment, and that this prison is a sort of hospital, and that some of
us are so blind that we cannot tell the difference between our own and
other peoples' horses. This simile was put forth in such a humorous
manner as to cause much laughter.
He then launched into an earnest exhortation to the men to do better. To
quit their meanness, as Sam Jones said. "Cease from evil and learn to do
well." That to quit one's evil ways was only half the duty, and that the
remainder consisted in doing the right thing, and you may have this
assurance that the man who is serving the Lord will not get into
trouble. "An idle mind is the devil's work-shop." In this connection he
gave a very pretty illustration of how one's energies are used in either
the right way or wrong way; that if you build a fire under a steam
boiler, place the proper quantity of water in it, and then open the
throttle and allow the steam to get into the engine, the entire
machinery will perform a good work, but if you shut off the steam and
tie down the safety valve, the steam is going to exert itself in a
disastrous manner by an explosion, and the killing of several men.
"The wages of sin is death, and if you can only open your eyes and see
that, you can also see that "The gift of God is eternal life." The only
way under heaven by which a man can be saved, is to come over to the
service of God and begin to do that which is right.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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