ICE
by V irdie Conaway
and his testimony.” At this moment the unexpected hap pens. Evangelist Gannon holds up a whiskey bottle before the astonished audience. “ God saved me out of a life of alcoholism,” he says. “ So my testimony comes out of a whiskey bottle, but it is that testimony that colors my present life.” Opening the bottle he pours food coloring over the ice. Then as the lights are dimmed he turns on amber and blue spotlights from behind the carving. The audience marvels at the startling beauty as they apply to their own lives the object lesson which they have just witnessed. Accompanying this demonstration the evangelist gives his personal testimony — a testimony to the love of Christ which changed him from a hopeless and helpless alcoholic into a child of God and a zealous witness to the saving power of Christ. (See last month’s King’s Business.) So effective did his object lessons in ice become that Mr. Gannon could have spent all his time in this ministry. But God had other plans for him. The Lord had already spoken to both Larry and Ethel, his wife, concerning the spiritual need of France and they had yielded their lives to His call. They completed a two-year course at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles; at the same time they were busily engaged in practical Christian work. While at BIOLA the Gannons met Rev. and Mrs. John Moseley, missionaries of the Bible Christian Union. “ They fanned the European spark in us,” the Gannons stated later in a prayer letter. As this spark caught fire the Gannons applied to the Bible Christian Union head quarters in Brooklyn, New York and were accepted as missionaries to France. It was during their deputation work, as they sought to secure prayer and financial support, that the Sermons in Ice developed. Now in France — they sailed last April — the Gannons are giving their time chiefly to learning the French language. But Larry has not forgotten his ice carving. He took his equipment with him and after he has mastered the language, if the Lord leads and circum stances permit, French audiences too may gasp in awe at a transformed block of ice while Larry Gannon tells them of their own spiritual need and points them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Photographs by Sammy Costello
(Picture 2) He names this cool character Clean Cut Joe and says, “After he hears the evangelist exclaim, ‘How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?’ he sees that his life is just melting away; he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as the only One who can cleanse his evil heart. He yields his life to the Almighty Sculptor who immediately begins to carve something beautiful out of his life.” Using an ordinary wood chisel and a pronged ice shaver, such as is used in soda fountains, and letting his chips fall into a set of wooden trays arranged on the floor, he begins his carving. (Picture 3) “ God’s purpose in carving,” Mr. Gannon says, “ is to make of the new Christian a vessel meet for the Master’s use. God doesn’t want us to remain just another cool square.” “ The new Christian often finds himself in desperate circumstances,” the evangelist continues. (Picture 4) “ It is only after great difficulty that he begins to understand that God is carving on his life, shaping the vessel. God’s tools are sharp, and the carving almost always hurts.” “After carving comes the grooving,” he explains. (Pic ture 5) “ Grooving is done to reflect the light. God’s grooves are the adversities and afflictions which He lets us go through, each one affording us the opportunity to add beauty to the vessel by allowing God’s light to shine through every obstacle and thus reflect His glory.” The evangelist displays the finished fruit basket and explains that a fruit basket is meant to contain fruit. “This one,” he adds, “ presents a pitiful picture. Like many Christians, it contains no fruit.” “Many Christians,” he continues, “ have fruitless lives because they don’t understand what the fruit is nor how it is produced.” (Picture 6) “The secret of fruit in the basket lay in the realization on the part of every Christian that he cannot produce the fruit himself, nor can he put it in the basket. Only the hand of the Sculptor can put the fruit in the basket for it is His fruit, the fruit of the Spirit of God.” After he has filled the basket the evangelist stands beside his finished work. (Picture 7) “ Every Christian has two things to give to God,” he declares, “ his talent
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