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My
conversion happened under very strange circumstances. God didn't speak to me in
a church or in a mission hall, though I went to church every Sabbath. God
spoke to me at a dance. I happened to be a player and a step-dancer. I was
very fond of bagpipe playing and just as fond of step-dancing. I was asked to
play and dance at a concert and also to give several demonstrations of
step-dancing. The concert had begun. I had already played several pieces when
a minister came over to me and said, "There's a special request that you
play "The Green Hills of Tyrone;" one of our favorite Scottish
tunes. |
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As I came
to the second part of that great tune, I found my mind altogether wandering
from the tune. My thoughts centered on another green hill. At family worship
on the farm, we frequently sang: "There Is A Green Hill Far Away." That
was the green hill before my mind as I continued to play "The Green
Hills of Tyrone." When finished, I was so gripped by the Spirit of God
and so distressed in my mind that I turned to the other players and said,
"Boys, you carry on. I'm leaving the concert. One piper turned to me and
said, "Are you not well? I said, "I'm very well in body, but I'm
terribly disturbed in my mind." |
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As I
walked along the country road toward the farm, I saw a light in a church. I
had been away in business and had just come home to play this dance. No one
had told me that two workers of the Faith Mission were conducting a mission
in the parish. And on that particular night they were having an all-night
affair in the church along with the minister of that parish. I was curious to
know what was happening. So I went up to the door and listened through the
keyhole. Someone was praying. I listened and who did I discover praying but
my own father. I am sure he was praying for his wayward son at the concert
and dance. Horses could not have dragged me past that church. I was in my
piper's regalia with its buckles and plates and whatnots, two swords in one
hand with which I had been demonstrating sword dancing. and a set of bagpipes
in the other. I laid them down in the back seat and walked up the aisle and
sat beside my father. |
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The
minister looked at me and then he looked at the two girls on the platform
with him. I'm sure they thought I was either drunk or mad. Whoever heard of a
piper in full regalia walking into a prayer meeting? I sat down beside my
father, who turned to me and said, "I'm glad to see you here." That
was all. After that, a young woman from the island of Skye, Mary Graham, a
worker in the mission, stood up and spoke for about ten minutes in Gaelic. She
spoke from the text: "God speaketh once, yea twice, but man perceiveth
it not." The arrow of conviction struck home, and now I became fearfully
distressed in my spirit, so much so that I was afraid I would create a scene
in the church. |
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I walked
out, left the others there praying, and I made my way along the road outside
of town, arriving home about |
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Like a
wise woman, she said, "There are visitors with us this evening. Your
cousins have come, and there's one occupying the bed in your room. I would
suggest that you go out to the barn and tell God what you told me." I
went out to the barn and knelt in the straw prepared for the horses in the
morning. I still remember the prayer I uttered. It was in Gaelic. I'm
thankful that God understands Gaelic! If He didn't, I wouldn't be saved
today; for I had not a word of English then. I prayed, "Oh, God, I know
not how to come and I know not, what to do; but, if you'll take me as I am,
I'm coming now." And God, in less time than I take to tell it, swept
into my life. It was miraculous! It was supernatural! Never for one minute,
since that hour, have I had any occasion to doubt the work that God did that
night. |
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I knew
nothing about the doctrine of simply believing, or about this matter of
making a decision. My cry was, "God, come into my life!" I was,
that night, supernaturally altered, and so supernaturally altered that
godliness characterized every part of my being, body, soul, and spirit. On
the following Wednesday, I walked seven miles over the hill to attend a
prayer meeting. I had aspirations and longings of the soul that found
expression in being at prayer meeting. Shortly after my conversion, I found
myself along with many others, on the battlefields of |
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From:
2700-PLUS SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS By Duane V. Maxey |