226
THE K I N G ’ S BU S I NE S S
1 1
-¥■ -¥■ ..... .................... — ■ '■ ■ ■ ■ '
» *
When God Saved the Brewer's Boy By LOUIS T. TALBOT, as told to MILDRED M. COOK . Copyright 19 44, by Mildred M. Cook
Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis, where my brother Jim was a pastor, and it said that Jim was critically ill. Across the face of that cryptic message I saw one b i t t e r word: “Frustration.” It meant that everything was g o i n g wrong—for Jim, and for me. For long minutes I sat silent. “You want to go to him, Son, don’t you?” the judge asked at length. I wanted nothing else quite so much at that moment. But I had just begun my pastorate in Paris. I argued that to leave it now would be disastrous. The judge had walked longer by faith than I had walked, and he had learned that when God upsets His people’s plans it is always meant for their good. Kindliness warmed his voice as he said, “All right, Louis. We’ll ar range it.” The decision meant providing supply preachers for the indefinite period of my absence. But the judge had not seen that invisible writing, and so his faith rose with the emergency. Stumblingly I went on, having 'to learn other and harder lessons in God’s school. The Heart of Brother Jim Arriving in St. Louis, I found Jim even more ill than I had feared, and my heart cried out desperately, “Why does this have to be!” When I bent over his bed, he reached up thin arms, pathetic in their powerlessness, to draw me to him. “It’s all right, old boy,” he whis pered. “I’ll get better. I have to.” One dominant thought seemed to be driving him on. “I must get to Aus tralia . . . to speak to Dad. . . about his [ Continued on Page 232]
CHAPTER VII J UDGE SCOTT answered the door it open and read two startling mes sages, one on the usual blue ticker tape and the other scrawled with in visible ink that only I could see. It was late summer, in 1913. My work completed at the Moody Bible Institute, I had come to this little Texas town of Paris to become the pastor of the First Congregational Church there, at the special insistence of the saintly Judge Scott, and I was making my home with him. . Without hesitation, I handed the tel egram to my good friend. It was from IN EARLIER CHAPTERS: It was while he was attending the Moody Bible Institute tíf Chicago, that Louis Talbot realized poignantly for the first timé the wonder of God's plan of salvation, and took a firm step for ward with Christ. Contributory to this event were many earlier factors: the faithfulness of his mother's prayers for her husband and eight children, and the belief that Acts 16:31 was for them; the demonstration of moral uprightness in his brewer father; the testimony of Converted gangsters; the mighty sweep of evangelism under Torrey and Chapman in Sydney. Pos sessed now of a new driving forcé, this gay, trick-loving Au s t r a l i a n found increased zest for living. Love and admiration for his older brother Jim were also intensified, for al though Louis had come to America simply to be with his brother, now their life interests were fused into the common purpose of winning souls.
bell, received the telegram, and came back to the living room to hand the yellow envelope to me. I tore
★
★
★ ★
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online