May, 1936
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
175
W inning BOYS a n d GIRLS B y FRANK A. MILLER* Los Angeles, California
Many a dear boy or girl will never feel the touch of the Saviour’s tender hand, unless through our hands, and will never hear the Saviour’s voice telling His message: of love, but through our lips. Do we care enough ? WHEN TWO PARENTS WERE AWAKENED [Continued from page 171] N a n c y : All in favor? Carried. M o t h e r : I just want to remind you all that at the next meeting of the clubs there is to be a Bible verse con test, so be reviewing. I think I heard there is to be a Bible baseball game as well. Now be prepared. B e t t y : At our club, Jane Banks and I are to-sing a duet, and Ray and Jack have to get the games ready. N ancy : Order. Any more new business ? B il l y : It seems queer that not one of us can get a perfect weekly score sheet. I move that we all try this week to get everything on our lists checked off. That includes Dad and Moms, too. F ath er : Go to i t ! I second the motion. Suppose we make it a contest, the men against the women. What do you say, boys? B e t ty : Oh, we’ll beat them, won’J we, Moms ? , N a n cy : All in favor? Carried. iJow .watch your step, you men. If no more business, adjournment is in order. Dad, will you close with prayer ? ( The same evening ) F a t h e r : -We’ve got a great bunch of youngsters, Helen. That meeting this afternoon showed they are get ting right ideas and; ideals. Some day, I believe, they will look back on these!“minutes” with a smile, perhaps, but also with an understanding not possible now. M o t h e r : D o you remember, Bob, when I told you many years ago about a lecturer who urged Christian par ents to begin training their children very young and to keep close to them in their activities all through the years ? F a t h e r : Yes, I do remember. He made a real impression on you. M o t h e r : We agreed at that time that we would do that. Don’t you notice how the children love their home and always want their friends to come here? I’m so glad. F a t h e r : You’re the one, Helen. You make the atmosphere. The rest of us all bask in it. M o t h e r : Don’t think that for a minute, Bob. If it were not for your backing and direct influence, home would not be the place it is. F ath er : Thanks, Helen. God intended home to be a place of a dual ministry, and such ours is; by His grace. M o th e r : Some of our most difficult days are just ahead of us, Bob, so let’s take courage and tackle the future. F a th er : I ’m with you to the finish, Helen. * * * * Standeth God within the shadow, Keeping watch above His own. recognizing that prayer had been answered, said: “Lad, Jehovah hath dealt with thee. Now walk softly before Him all the days of thy life.” Our primary need as Christian workers -is the infilling of the Holy Spirit that will make it possible for us to think, speak, pray, live, and work in the power of the Third Per son of the Trinity. Then our lives shall bless, and our serv ice will be fruitful. Thirst, repentance, surrender, and faith are the requisites for this experience. Shall we not pay the price? “BUSH AGLOW” [Continued, from page 165]
D o you w ant to win boys and girls to Christ? Have you a real heart desire for their salvation ? Then pray for them and ask God to show you how to win them. You must understand them and love them. Put your self in the place of these boys and girls. Remember what things you liked at their age. Pray for the children until your heart is tender and warm toward them, until you feel the burden for their souls. Interest them. Get and hold their attention. Don’t sham; give them a really live message. Each one of them has a soul, and if that child is not really saved, it is a lost soul! You are dealing with eternal things. Do not trifle with superficial things ; give them the deepest truths of the Bible, illustrated so that they may see them as well as hear about them. The eye has three times as much impression upon their consciousness as has the ear. Do not try to make a beautiful picture, but just enough to illustrate your point, or they will think of the picture instead of the truth which you are trying to teach. A crude drawing illustrates the truth better than a finely colored drawing. Move rapidly. Children think fast; keep ahead of them. Show them their sin, and their real need o f a Saviour; press the truth home upon their hearts. Choose illustra tions from actual life and experience —your own or that of someone else. Then show them what a wonderful Sav iour the Lord Jesus Christ is, how He loved them, came to seek them, suffered for their sins, died for them, bore their sins in His own sufferings on Calvary, when His soul was made “an offering for sin” (Isa. 53:10). Make a very tender closing appeal, with a story which will move their hearts to definite, intelligent decision for Jesus their Lord. Ask them to stand up and declare their decision to turn away from their sins, and definitely choose Christ as their Saviour, one by one—not in groups, or you may have a mob action instead of a definite, personal decision for Christ. Then ask them to come forward and pray, and to confess Jesus as their Lord. Put in their hands something that will provide instruc tion, or give them Scripture to follow up. Moody said, “There is nothing better for a convert than the Gospel of John.” Get each child’s name, address, and church pref erence for follow-up work by the pastor or another Chris tian worker. Keep after the young converts lovingly and persistently, and thus lead them on into the church. I mportance of W in n in g B oys and G irls At Winona Lake Bible Conference, the writer slipped into the directors’ meeting just to listen, and he was sur prised to find that the conversation at that moment con cerned children rather than adults. The president declared: “If Winona lives and grows, we must win the boys and girls. We must put more emphasis here, for they are the ones we must depend upon for our future development.” And at great length he pleaded for special work among the children. A leader who had had exceptional opportunities to observe home and foreign missionary work made this statement: “Most of the successful missionaries in home and foreign fields received their deepest impressions, and felt their call to mission work, before they were eight years of age.” If we are to'htive leaders at all in the Christian church of the future, these leaders must come from among the boys and girls of today. *Superintendent of the Children’s Evangelistic Union and author o f Evangelistic Chalk Talks.
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