Remarkable Conversions

One of the most profound marks of the awakening was the number of remarkable conversions. I use the word remarkable because of the way the conversions occurred and the radical transformation of those who were saved.

The community was small, only about three hundred people in the surrounding area. Yet in three years we saw about a hundred people saved. The accounts of the conversions are too many to mention so I will give four representative cases.

1. Salvation at a Business Meeting. Like every southern church at the time, Lunsford had a monthly business meeting on a Wednesday evening. My first business was a nervous time. I had never moderated such a meeting and had no idea how to do it. I called another pastor and wrote down instructions. The business meeting had just started and I was struggling to do things in right order, when the back door opened and a man came in crying and sat down on the back row. I didn't know what else to do, so I asked a couple of men to go back and see what was wrong. Lynn and Wayne went back to the man and after a while they got up with him and took him to the kitchen behind the sanctuary. Awkwardly I tried to resume the business meeting, but in a few minutes the door from the kitchen opened and Lynn stuck his head out and said, "Pastor, could we call a halt to business meeting? We have a man back here who wants to be saved." I went back to join them and the rest of the church started to pray. Squint Batton was the local bootlegger and a rough character. Stant had witnessed to him several weeks earlier. That evening while sitting at his kitchen table Squint fell under such deep and heavy conviction of his sin and lostness that he began to weep. The conviction grew so great that he finally got up and came to church on business meeting night to be find out how to be saved. Squint's conversion and transformation caused another stir in the community.

2. Salvation of the Lists. James Lists was a farm hand and tractor diver for one of the local farmers. He was a huge, profane, mean man. I led his wife Peggy to the Lord and she and the children became a regular part of the church. Peggy would ask me to witness to James and I made several attempts but never caught him at home. One evening after church Peggy said, "Pastor you must talk with James tonight. He was arrested today (for fishing with a short fishing pole--dynamiting fish) and he is in such a foul mood that I don't think the children and I are safe." I told her I would come down as soon as we closed down the church." I arrived at their home. There was no grass in the yard, only boards to walk on over the muddy yard. I knocked on the door and Peggy answered with, "James is already asleep." I knew enough to realize that you didn't wake up a mean man to witness to him, so I told Peggy that I would come back another time." She responded quickly, "No, you must talk to him tonight." I went into the living room and waited while she woke him. I'll never forget the sight of James walking in shirtless, buttoning his jeans, and rubbing his eyes. He looked like a bear walking into the room. As soon as I saw him I started sharing the Gospel as he walked across the room and sat down on the vinyl couch beside me. I didn't slow down until I had gone through the Gospel and asked James, "Do you want to be saved?" Wiping tears from his eyes he simply said, "Yes." His was a remarkable conversion as he became a gentle and loving husband and father. On a side note, when I baptized them, baptizing Peggy was one of the most unusual events for me. The little church at Lunsford didn't have a baptistery so we had to use the one in a nearby church on Sunday afternoons. That afternoon we were at the First Baptist Church of Lake City, Arkansas and their baptistery was rather shallow. When Peggy entered the baptistery there was a look of fright in her eye. She was afraid of water. On top of that she was rather large and was naturally buoyant. When I started to baptize her she sat down and started bobbing up and down in the water like a fish bobber. I couldn't get her under the water. I tried to push her head down but when I did, her feet came up out of the water. Finally I put a leg over her lower legs to keep her feet down and pulled her down as far as I could and with my free hands scoped water over her. She was not immersed, sprinkled or poured...instead she was sloshed.

3. Salvation at the Service Station. The old Gulf Service Station was an unpleasant place. The local rough crowd congregated there to gamble and the talk was always profane. The only time I went inside was to pay for gas. One day I went in to pay and witnessed one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Stant had been in the service station witnessing and when I walked in there were about fifteen men on there knees on the oil-covered dirt floor repenting of their sins.

4. Salvation of Frank Taylor. Soon after I arrived at Lunsford, both Mrs. Mattie and Mrs. Cindy came to me separately and asked me to witness to Frank Taylor. I found out later that they had both been praying for his conversion daily for years. Mr. Frank was in his late seventies and was one of the hardest men I have ever met. His father had settled in the area owning a large part of the farm land, but he had lost it all drinking and gambling. Mr. Frank had grown bitter through life about what he thought should be his but wasn't. I witnessed to him many times. Sometimes he would only grunt in response to my questions and sometime he wouldn't even acknowledge my presence. Over the years Mr. Frank had the habit of coming to church one time a year, the Monday night of the spring revival meeting. He would sit there miserable and leave quickly when the last amen was said. It was Monday and the revival service was to start that night. Knowing that he would come that night, I drove to Mr. Frank's house that afternoon to witness to him again. He was sitting in a rocking chair on his front porch and I sat down beside him and started witnessing to him. I witnessed to him with a sense of urgency but he never said a word to me or acknowledged my presence. He simply stared straight ahead. I finally said let me pray for you. As I prayed I peeked and Mr. Frank was still staring blankly ahead. I left and remember thinking, "I don't think he will ever be saved." That evening he was there sitting on the end of the back row. During the invitation several came forward for salvation, but there was not an inkling of any response from Mr. Frank but only impatience for the service to end. When the service was over I went to the to the little vestibule to speak to people as they left. I noticed that Mr. Frank did not come out quickly but guessed he had exited another way. Amid the crowd of people, Lynn suddenly tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Could you come back to the kitchen? Mr. Frank wants to be saved." What a remarkable sight to walk in and see him weeping. And what a remarkable conversion. Mr. Frank became one of the most pleasant people to be around. He was in church every Sunday, sang, studied the Bible, smiled, talked to others and became a dear friend.

There are so many other stories like these four. What I learned after I left Lunsford and thought on those days is that when the church is truly alive with the presence of God and people are walking in love with Jesus and sharing their faith in the course of daily life, remarkable conversions just happen.