Diamonds from the rough; original incidents and stories

Front matter

Class _,_

Book

GopyriglitN

Index

A Change Wrought by Galveston Flood 116

A Diamond in the Rough 90

A Great Revival - 38

A Letter from a Converted Drinker , .-. 86

A Little Child shall lead them , 129

A Little Talk with Jesus makes it right 79

A Mother's Faith and Prayer _..u 194

A New Man . 127

Answered Prayer 85

"A Photo Mother left Me long ago"—. 47

Apologised to his Mule 166

A Queer Preacher ...„ . 67

A Remarkable Conversion 28

A Society Lady dreamed of R. R. Song.. 32

A Sunday in New Mexico 173

Beginning and end of a Poker Game 187

Billy Downs, the Gambler 139

Broke his Father of "Cussing" 107

Brother Groutcher 56

Called thro' his Dream 53

Cap has got something that makes his face shine 83

Chapman-Alexander Meetings 113

Cleburne, Texas, Revival 18

Conductor saved by a Song 35

Conversion of an Old-Time Friend u 180

Conversion of Engineer B. Brush 40

Conversion of J. E. Smith 112

Conversion of Jumbo 123

Crowds of St. Lukes' Church 199

Didn't Know him after he got Religion 152

Felt like "Two for a Quarter" 73

XV xvi INDEX

Frederick's Revival 138

Gave "Teddy Bears" „ 146

Great Revival, A 38

Happy Jack 6

He said he would quit 45

His Evening Prayer ., 108

How it occurred 190

"I am not going to that Altar" 103

Infidel Converted 160

"Jeminy Do" 106

Joe, I've got the old-time Religion 76

Just a Common Chicken-Peddler 175

Killed by an Alton Train 92

"Mama, Papa don't curse anymore." 58

No X'mas Presents for the Children I

Prayed Twenty years for one Man 20

Prize-Fighter now an Evangelist 202

Quit Sunday Harvesting 1 _ 93

Reclamation of a Preacher 100

Remember 164

Rescued from Ruin by a Song 143

Sabbath-Breaking 96

Saved 185

Saved by Song, "Can a boy forget?" 168

„ „ „ "Death is only a Dream" 10

„ „ „ The Old Fireside" 14

Saved from Suicide - 16

Self-invited Guest 154

So glad he was Ready to Go 45

Sunday at Jno. Wanamaker's Church 121

Sunday Midnight Theatre Service 115

"Tell Billie to meet me in Heaven" 170

"Tell Mother I'll be There" 149

The Old Milk-Man 62

There'll be no Christian in Hell 128

The Revival is Unique 136

The Revival Meetings of Claremont 23

The Story of Geo. Cook's Conversion 162

Three for One 24

"Where will you spend Etenity?" 4

Wrecked by the Wine-Cup 91

"You talked my Right Arm Off 122

Introduction

Few Books have been more widely read amongst pastors and evangelists than Begbie's "Twice Born Man." — It is the "Common Story", — common to those who preach Christ and deal directly with men, of men who were thoroughly and hopelessly bad, as the world thought, being reached through the Christian hand of love, and under God transformed and purified, becoming as thoroughly good and pure as they were once depraved and bad.

Mr. Begbie went to London, England, for material out of which his great book is made, and while we thoroughly enjoyed every chapter and thanked God for its production, we found ourselves wishing that such a book might be produced nearer home. That just such complete transformations were being wrought by the power of God here in the home-land we knew, and we have hoped for the time when from many sources we would have story after story of just such "re-births" as those of which Mr. Begbie writes, and we are fortunate in finding and presenting herewith a book of such a character

xvii xviii INTRODUCTION

from the life and work of Mr. Phillips, one of our Evangelists.

Few men have stood more prominently before the church of the South as a personal worker than Mr. Edwin G. Phillips. For several years he has been contributing to our Magazine, "The World Wide Revival," a series of stories concerning men, who through his personal efforts have been led to Christ. He has been urged often to let these thrilling experiences have a wider circulation by placing them in book-form, and this he has finally consented to do. Mr. Phillips while in college, as he often says, "studying to be a high-steepled preacher " dreamed that he sat on the bank of a beautiful stream of water. The bank was moss covered and inviting, while the water was clear as crystal. He had an expensive pole, linen line and silver hook, and sitting there on nature's carpet holding his expensive fishing tackle over this beautiful stream of sparkling water he says, "there was not a fish to be seen up stream or down." With an expensive outfit he was "just fishing." The scene in his dream changed. He was on a muddy, noisy stream. He had a fishing outfit composed of a cocklebur stick, string and a pin hook, and there, standing in the mud, with this unpromising equipment, he was landing great big big mud-cats as fast as he could haul them to shore !

Mr. Phillips is not visionary, he does not dream dreams and see visions, but there seemed to be in this dream, with its changing scenes, the voice of God, and little by little he lost his ambition to be a "high-steepled

INTRODUCTION xix

preacher", and there came a deeper and a still deeper desire to just "reach men." Finally convinced that it was not his mission to preach and to teach, but to sing and deal directly with men, one by one, he dedicated his life to the great field of evangelism. His success as a gospel-singer and chorus-director is well known through the many states where he has labored, but his greatest strength is that of reaching men — reaching hard men!

I consider Mr. Phillips, in many important particulars, in a class by himself. I know of no one who has the happy faculty of approaching the unchurched man, indifferent, sinful man, and making him feel that there is someone who cares for him as can Mr. Phillips. And I know of no one who has the gift of Grace that makes it possible to persevere through the most discouraging circumstance and actually snatch glorious victory, from what seemed complete defeat, as has he. For days and days I have seen him actually camp on the trail of a "Hopeless case," as the church believed, and, though defeat seemed certain, yet nineteen times out of twenty when he returned from the trail he had that sinner's heart clinging to the cross of the conquering Christ.

The stories of experiences that follow in these pages are just a few of the many scores and hundreds which Mr. Phillips might give. These experiences are without "trimmings", without extra frills, for the simple reason that "fact is pfter stranger than fiction," and to many of these incidents there could be added no wonder to make the incident more thrilling, or the change more complete. These stories of "Diamonds from the Rough,"

xx INTRODUCTION

diamonds discovered, polished and sparkling for Christ, cannot but stimulate the faith and increase the labors of the thousands into whose hands they shall come, and we earnestly pray that through the reading of these pages other men who have given up hope, may be reached and know the joy and power of the "New Birth."

John Edward Brown,

Siloam Springs, Ark.

Mrs. Ed. J. Phillips.

Btbltateb to

!}«* fctmib btr Me in All My Work

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