World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Young Men's Christian Associations
But to return to our meeting. Every one of these eight hundred men in
this audience has a history. Tired or hardened or haggard faces are
relaxed as they join in singing the hymns on this Sunday evening,
"Nearer, My God, to Thee," "Lead, Kindly Light," "Tell Me the Old, Old
Story," and "Where is my Wandering Boy Tonight?" There is a tragedy in
every heart, and each man has experienced the bitterness of sin and
bears its scars branded in his body. Look into the faces of some of
these men. Here in front, this very first one, is an American cowboy
from Texas, Frank B----. As a "broncho-buster" he became the star
rider in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and was finally adopted as his
son. At the age of fifteen he started to go wrong in New Orleans. At
an early age he joined the American army, and later, at the outbreak of
the war, he served in the Flying Corps of the British army. Here he
broke a leg and was smashed up in action. After that he joined an
infantry division. In one of the meetings this week he accepted
Christ. He has since been standing firm and goes out tomorrow to begin
a new life. Near him is a young theological student with a sad look on
his face, who has learned here in bitterness the deepest lesson of his
life. Next to him is a heartbroken married man with a wife and
children at home.
After the crowd has assembled, we speak to them of Christ as the Maker
of Men. We tell them of the transformation of others like themselves,
of Augustine, Francis of Assisi, Loyola and the saints of old, of John
B. Gough, Jerry McAuley, Hadley, and the men of Water Street whom God
raised out of the depths, and of men right in their midst who have come
out for Christ in the meetings this week. After speaking for an hour,
we go into the Y M C A for an after-meeting.
We had a wonderful time with them here one Saturday night. Five
hundred of them crowded the hall and listened for an hour as we spoke
on the good news of the free offer of life. When the invitation was
given, over two hundred stayed to the after-meeting as desiring to
follow Christ. After we had spoken one of the men came forward and
asked if he could say a word. He had been an earnest Christian before
the war, and as he began to speak of his fall and of his trusting wife
and children at home, the poor fellow broke down in utter wretchedness.
It seemed to strike a responsive chord in the hearts of the married men
all over the room. Many a one buried his head in his hands and wept
bitterly. A second after-meeting was held and God seemed to be moving
in the heart of every man present. Man after man rose to tell of his
fall, or of his repentance, or of his new acceptance of Christ. The
feeling was deep but controlled. It was one of the saddest and yet one
of the gladdest meetings I have ever attended. One minister present
said he had seen nothing like it all through the Welsh revival.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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