THE KING’S BUSINESS
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On the following Saturday I spent an hour in one of the condemned cells and half an hour in the other. I trust that it will be my privilege to bring consider able comfort to these men during the few weeks that remain for them to live.
brought tears. As God led me in the giving of the message, it was a joy to see the smile of responsiveness on their faces whenever a promise to the believer was quoted. This little service has made a life long impression.
O WORK IN THE OIL FIELDS
By Frank J. Shelley
T HE last month of the old year brought to us many and varied experiences, and has been a time of “checking up” and taking stock, so to speak. It is so easy for one to settle down into a rut in a spiritual way, that one needs to constantly pray for guidance and wisdom, to be enabled, like the good man, out of the treasure of his heart to bring forth the things new and old. O for more holy zeal for God, for without it we are weak and lifeless. How many times in our journeys we go into a camp where “everything seems against us.” Then is the time for holy courage and confidence in God. How many, many times the “preacher” has to go from bunk room to bunk room and rout out his congregation. At our last visit to the Standard Camp, Lost Hills, we had to do this, but as a consequence the Amusement Hall was nicely filled. We have traveled about 300 miles this month; given out from 600 to 1000 clear and scriptural Gospel tracts; have had per haps 500 or 600 personal interviews with men concerning their condition before God, conducted about ten Bible readings and preached the Word six or seven times. Extremely cold weather and two rainy Sun days in the month, however, somewhat interfered with the work. The Christian Science delusion we meet everywhere! It is worse than appalling. They are having lecturers come here from Boston. At one house, the lady announced, “I am a Scientist.” We replied, “Then you
are not saved.” She admitted this. We remarked, “One of the sad things about this teaching is that it can promise you no hope whatever beyond this life,” which she admitted. There were four other ladies in the house, and they all listened most attentively^ and as we showed them the scriptures (2 Thess. 2:11), they pleaded with her to give it up. She said, “Well, I am not a real Christian Scientist,” and seemed to be touched. She asked us to come again, and we are going next week to hold a Bible reading. The Methodist people here allow us to hold Bible readings in their church, and want us to take up a propoganda against the Christian Science error, and we think this should be done. God is gathering out /His own through the Spirit (Acts 15:14), and here and there one turns to the Lord, but the only work worth speaking about, so far as this great region is concerned, is personal, definite work for Christ. This poor world is trying to get to Heaven without a Saviour. All the false teachers and wicked cults one meets every day are trying to invent some way for men to escape responsibility. One sees so much of “Cain’s religion” in these days (Jude 11). So many, too, are so very ignorant and dark, that we make the burden of our message the simple Gospel, man’s utter ruin; God has included all under “sin,” utterly lost and without hope. What a responsibility to know Him? How much of failure there is even in God’s own dear children. We are passing on; not a
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