Chapters: 1. Why Don't Men Obey God?
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5 MY FATHER'S CONVERSION
Though reared in a religious home and delivered miraculously
from death time after time, my father did not follow the path of
Christ as a young man. Because of his wit and persuasive gifts,
he had become popular with the men of the community. He had
developed into a pretty rough-and-tumble fellow, even going so
far as to smoke cigarettes and drink alcoholic beverages.
On the other hand, my mother was very quiet and retiring.
Her grandfather, Andrew Dickson, had been such a quiet, gentle
man. She never once heard him raise his voice. And her
grandmother, although of a different disposition, was a righteous
woman. If one would try to talk jokes or foolishness she would
say, "Idle words. Idle talk." She would tell people whenever
they were out of line in their conversation.
Mother's life had centered mostly around the church since
her birth. She had learned to play the piano on a huge, ornate
grand piano which her father purchased for a very modest amount.
Then, to please his lovely daughter, he purchased a newer upright
piano with money received from selling a fine horse. Mother soon
became a gifted pianist and a talented singer.
She had not had an easy life, however. She was always a
sickly child and suffered from rheumatism long before she ever
went to school. It was called inflammatory rheumatism, and from
time to time it created great swelling in her legs. At the age
of fourteen Mother experienced such an encounter with this
condition that she was not expected to live. It
41 affected her eyes as well, and for two weeks she was blind. Soon
the condition became even more serious, spreading into the entire
nervous system. For days she lay helpless, unable to move her
limbs or see the hand that fed her. The Lord, in His mercy,
spared her, and she was free of serious attack from this
particular illness until after I was born. Upon another occasion
she contracted a serious case of measles. So my Mother had
experienced a great amount of suffering before she met my father.
When God brought my parents together, He began to create a
deepening love between them. Mother wasn't aware that Dad was
drinking and smoking, but she did know that he was not born
again. She insisted that he attend church with her.
Then came a Sunday night that was to be written down for
eternity. Revival services were being held in the old brick
church at the edge of Windsor, the one that sat on the banks of
Stony Creek. Though the attendance had been fair, there had been
no real stir in the meeting for two or three weeks. This
particular evening Mother persuaded my father to attend the
meeting, for Dad was not interested in religious things at all.
In fact, the night before this memorable Sunday, Dad had been on
the streets of Windsor entertaining the town people with a
comical auction of any stray dogs that happened by. His plans
were far from God's Kingdom.
But in service that Sunday night, at the time of invitation,
Uncle Addison Fletcher came back and started talking to my dad.
"Eldon," he declared, "you need to be converted." Uncle Addison
was such a different man that few people could understand him.
As he continued talking to my father, Dad suddenly stepped into
the aisle and found himself kneeling at the front before he knew
it. He had no intention of being saved, but Addison talked him
into it.
At the altar he tried to pray, but was unable to find
release from the burden upon his heart. People came to pray and
counsel with him, but they could not lead him to
42 victory either. Then a woman who Dad didn't particularly like
came over and began to pray. Soon the glory began to fall. She
prayed Heaven down and my dad stepped into the Kingdom of God.
He was transformed from head to foot, born a new creation, and
his name was written down in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Hallelujah! God had used a person Dad didn't especially appreciate
to help him to salvation.
Dad had been such a man of the world************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************ents and to certain earthly
patterns. But the written Word and the Living Word go together;
they are inseparable. If we in the church are not vitally
connected to God by the Holy Spirit so that obedience is in
process constantly, we are like a body in which the heart has
stopped beating. We are either dead
44 or dying, for disobedience is sin; and sin is a dying process
which takes us to death.
A few days after his conversion, Dad told his sweetheart
goodnight at her door in Windsor and headed the buggy home. It
was a good distance to his dad's farm some two-and-a-half miles
northeast of Parker, and the hour was late. Looking up into the
starry sky that night, he said, "Oh Jesus, you have done so much
for me, and I have been such a terrible sinner. Is there any way
that I can atone for my wickedness and evil life I have lived?"
And in the deep blackness of the night, as clearly as a
picture painted before him, he saw an old abandoned church. It
was called Plainview Church, located near Gaston, Indiana, where
he had sowed his wild oats. The Holy Spirit spoke to him and
said, "Go back to that old abandoned church and hold a meeting."
I can't tell you exactly how Dad felt when God revealed this
to his heart, but I know that he was both surprised and thrilled.
He probably didn't know the Bible as well as many children do
now, because he had never read the Word much in eighteen years.
It had been read to him a few times, but he scarcely knew
Genesis from Revelation, so to speak. He was anxious, however, to
do God's will.
The Helm family had been gone from Gaston only about three
or four months and were well known by almost all in the
community. Dad wrote to the minister at Gaston, Rev. Rector,
telling him what the Lord had revealed. His letter probably
wasn't much encouragement to the pastor, because my father's
spelling was not very good. But Rev. Rector wrote back
explaining that three retired ministers had been trying to hold
services at Plainview Church for two or three weeks without any
results. The services had been neither well attended nor had
there been movement from the people. He wrote, "We have tried to
have revival and haven't had any results. But, if God is sending
you, we will try to get things ready. You come ahead." The
announcement went out that
45 Eldon Helm, the young man who had been so wild and adventuresome,
was coming to hold revival at Plainview.
It took courage for this dear man of God to let a youngster
of eighteen return, by his own announcement, to begin revival in
his home community--especially when three experienced ministers
had been unable to see any results after two to three weeks of
preaching. But the key to what was about to happen was that God
had truly ordained this revival effort. It was not a religious
activity begun in the flesh, but a tiny branch in the Kingdom of
God. The great God of Heaven had sent my father to that little
church.
I would like for you to hear about this unique meeting in my
father's own words, as he told me of this precious guidance of
God several years ago:
"I was eighteen, going on nineteen, in a cold January,
1908." Dad told me. "The church was two-and-a-half miles
southeast of Gaston. I got off the train on a Saturday and
went to the home of my good friend, Willie Stotler. They
took me out to Plainview the next evening. I had been saved
just three weeks to the day.
"The first night of the meeting the church was so full
that some people stood in the doorway. Even in the cold of
January the windows were opened to permit the people outside
to look in. Folk had come to see if it were true that I was
holding a meeting, because I knew everyone there and
everyone knew me. I had been quite a mischievous fellow.
"When it came time for the message, I don't know whether I
even preached. I just read the scripture and talked, and
the Spirit was upon me. The Holy Spirit hit the crowd and
the meeting was on. Folks later made the remark to me, `The
first night that you stepped into the pulpit you said that
we were going to have a great meeting, and you said it so
emphatically we just knew that we were.' Of course, God had
promised it and had sent me there: that is why people felt
the power.
"There were no visible victories that first night, but
after that I don't believe there was a meeting day or night
when there weren't folks at the altar. Sometimes the altar
would be full."
46 The power of God's Spirit upon that community was to be
evidenced during the day as well. One young lady, who knew my
father prior to his conversion, experienced this wonderfully.
When she first heard that Dad would be returning for services she
laughingly said, "I know why Eldon Helm is coming back here--he
is coming just to see me." But when deep conviction seized her
Sunday night, it became evident that such was not his motive.
The next day, while she was washing dinner dishes, God fell upon
her in such a strong wooing that she couldn't resist His call
upon her heart. She was converted at the dishpan, threw her
dishcloth in the air and shouted through the house for joy.
"God was there in such strength," Dad told me. "The days
of trances had been over (so we thought) long ago, but
people felt the power of God so tremendously that they would
fall in trances. God gave wonderful victories--eighty-four
truly converted, several reclaimed, and many helped. Some
of those who were saved became preachers. That revival
lasting two weeks and two nights, was one of the greatest
meetings I have ever been in. But just as clearly as He
told me to begin the meeting, God told me to close it. Some
thought we shouldn't end the meeting at all, for on the
final evening six or seven were at the altar. But God had
revealed to me that we should close it, and that is what we
did.
"Many who had gotten victory in this meeting were so
hungry for the Word, however, that the next evening they
streamed to the Methodist Church in Gaston, which had been
endeavoring to conduct a revival even before our services
began. And the Lord just bounced the meeting right over
there! My, they had a revival! Many were redeemed in those
old-fashioned, Holy Ghost services."
And God began to use my father in various revival meetings
among the churches. Without question, the hand of the Lord was
upon him.
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