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read long passages from the Bible. Occasionally, a patient will request the reading of a Psalm or a favorite chapter. It proves most helpful to weave appropriate Bible verses into the conversation. Long prayers are also taboo in the sick room. , Make the prayer brief and to 'the point. Occasionally, when a patient asks me to pray, I ask him what he wants me to pray about. This question challenges the patient to analyze his need and to be specific with God. A specific petition can be brief and effective. 7. Bely upon the Holy Spirit. Do not force the patient to hasty and premature decisions. Study carefully the spiritual needs of the patient and lead him step by step. Earnest prayer must undergird the ministry of the ,sick room to the end that the Holy Spirit will bring comfort to the child of God and reveal to the soul the things of Christ. To convict a man of his sin is the office and work o f the Holy Spirit.
To demonstrate these principles of ministering in the sick room, I shall describe a few of the typical experi ences which come to a chaplain. Oc casionally, I find that patients who register as Baptist in faith or prefer ence dq not care to see me, the Bap tist chaplain, when I call. Some are even rude and insulting. In such a case I explain, the services I am able to render, leave some appropriate lit erature, and urge the patient to call for me if I can be of any help. In a day or so I stop to greet the patient and do some kindness, if possible. One or two visits like, this usually break down the patient’s prejudice, and he welcomes our ministry. A young woman was very indiffer ent when I made the initial call at her bedside. I could tell that it made her uncomfortable to talk with a min ister, so I made the contacts casual and brief. I lent her a pair of radio earphones, gave hep a fan and some attractive Christian reading ma terial. After five or six such visits
I found her ready to talk about her spiritual need. She had drifted away from_ her Lord and had wrecked her life. In the hospital, she came back into fellowship with Christ, and with the chaplain’s help her broken home was reunited. Later she was re quired to return to the hospital for a major operation. This time I found an open Bible on her table and a real desire in her heart to see her hospital minister. One of my workers, called upon a man who registered as a Baptist. She discovered that he did not even pre tend to be a Christian. He explained that he could not be a Christian be cause he was a professional gambler. He had no interest in his soul and said he did not care to discuss the matter further. The worker left a Gospel of John and said she would remember the man in prayer. It Was more than a wèek later that she called on him again. This time he was looking for her and said he had feared she would not return. The Holy Spirit had convicted him o f his need of 1 Christ, and he welcomed the good news of salvation. Three days later this hardened gambler received Christ and resolved to go back to the old neighborhood to show his friends how Christ had changed his life. Sometimes, just the chaplain’s pres ence or a cheery greeting does more good than what are considered the customary procedures- with the sick. As I was making my calls one morn ing I stopped to say “hello” to a pa tient who had been in the hospital several months. In response to my greeting he replied, “My, you look healthy! Sit down and let me look at you.”' Once a call came to the General Chaplain from a head nurse asking him to call on a patient who would not settle down and be quiet. He was in a state of nervous tension and ex citement. As the chaplain entered the room, the patient extended his hand and grasped the hand of the chaplain with a tight grip. The chap lain talked quietly and calmly to the man, quoting verses of Scripture which would bring peace and relaxa tion. After a few minutes the chap lain prayed briefly, and before the prayer was finished the man was re laxed and sound asleep. As we minister to the sick we must keep in mind that many doctors and nurses are openly antagonistic to Christianity, or,at. least skeptical about its value in the sick room. Let us not give them opportunity to criticize our ministry to sick souls. Let us learn how to minister and care for the sick so that the doctor will say, “I like to have that man call on my patients. He always leaves them better than he found them.”
DoesYour SundaySchool lesson TAKE"? Sunday School lessons are like vaccinations. Some :j don’t “ take.” Quiz Johnny and Maty about what teacher said last Sunday and see for yourself. If they can tell you little or nothing about' it, you can be sure ■
they had no part in the lesson themselves.Teacher did it all—and reaped the lion’s share of the benefit. Your lesson will "take” if you get Johnny and Mary to participate— to DO something about it. Boys and girls remember 50% of what they hear, 70% of what they see, BUT 90% of what they DO. The pupil’s manuals in the ALL BIBLE GRADED SERIES of Sunday School lessons help make the lesson ■ “ take,” because there’s something for the pupil to DO. It’s enjoyable too. A few minutes a day checking the reference, adding a few words to the attractively arranged lesson, filling in blanks, or solving an intriguing puzzle, and the Bible message is deeply impressed on yoting hearts. The ALL BIBLE GRADED SERIES offers si separate pupil’s manual for Juniors, Intermediates, Seniors. Beginner and Primary tots get a colorful lesson leaflet which has Something to DO eyen for them. %rite for sample manuals in this series of Sunday School lesson%hat is recognized by educators as soundly designed for ' the times^nd by evangelical Christians as really ALL BIBLE. Thus, the pupil gets the facts of the lesson during the week, the TRUTH of it from the teacher on Sunday
c iU B ib le , C f/ ia d e d S e tu w O F S U N D A Y S C H O O L L E S S O N S Published by Scripture Press, Dept. KB-114, 800 N. Clark St., Chicago,
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