When Rev. J.R.V. "Bud" Hamilton surrendered to preach the gospel, he already had several children. That was one of the reasons he fought "the call" of God. Finally, after another sleepless night, he promised God he would preach his Word, and shortly thereafter, he packed his bed roll, saddled up and set out.
One night, as he was preaching in a small mountain church, a band of young ruffians circled the church on horseback, and threatened to burn the building with Pa and the people inside. They kept calling to him, "Come on out, Preacher. Saddle up and go back where you came from, or we'll burn the church." Now, Pa was already preaching in the aisle, so with Bible in hand, he started to walk and sing as loud as he could. The congregation joined him, and soon the young men rode away.
On another occasion, while the "altar call" was being given a man stood in the back of the church and mocked my grandfather and the message. Pa called out to the man and asked him to come to the Lord Jesus. The man continued to mock, told Pa where he could go with his Bible (it wasn't Heaven), and walked out of the church. Within the hour, the family sent a rider for "the preacher," and asked him to come to the house. The man's horse had spooked in the dark and had thrown him off. He was badly injured, and when Pa arrived, the family asked for prayer for him. Pa said, as he started to pray, the man suddenly sat up in bed and cried out, "Whoa!" and fell over dead. My grandfather always believed that man rode into hell that night.
People sometimes ask me, "Why don't we see that kind of conviction today?" Well, frankly, most of the politically correct preaching we hear today wouldn't convict a gnat! Instead of standing in trembling and fear before God, many preachers tremble and fear a congregation of people.
As I write these words, our Circuit Riders are planning to attend a Father's Day celebration at Atria Assisted Living on New Copeland Road in Tyler on Friday, and a Cossacks and Scimitars Motorcycle Clubs' cookout in Kilgore on Saturday. Please pray for us as we "ride for Jesus."
See you on the road and remember, watch out for motorcycles!
No comments:
Post a Comment