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caused to turn to the Bible and seek God.
Let me illustrate another vital drain on my personal
strength. Today I was reading some in Pierre Van Paasson's book,
"The Forgotten Ally," revealing hitherto unpublished facts about
the Jewish-Arab strife and the Palestine situation. A publishers
note in the flap of the outside paper cover speaks of this book as
one "written in the white heat of passion that characterizes Van
Paasson in the search for truth and justice."
As I read that, I wondered how many of our Co-Workers
realize that if we are to be successful in gaining the attention
of the public, arousing conviction, and winning souls for Christ,
it requires just that inner burning passion for our cause! The
average listener, when he happens to tune to our program, is not
even INTERESTED, perhaps, in God or in the Bible, or his eternal
salvation---let alone being in "a white heat of passion" for it.
Now, if I, as a speaker, feel no more deeply a concern for his
welfare than he does---if I am down in my heart and innermost
being as calm and dispassionate as he, except perhaps for a MENTAL
understanding he lacks and sense of duty for getting my job done
and out of the way, then, I ask you, how am I going to arouse that
spark of interest in him, that will lead him to Christ and an
altogether new and changed life, and ultimately into the Kingdom?
Perhaps nine-tenths of whatever feeling of earnestness,
or deep heart-felt concern for one's listeners and THEIR eternal
welfare a speaker may actually have in his heart is LOST before
the words enter the mind of the listener. That is, the listener
will probably actually receive, and FEEL, not more than a TENTH
of the interest and serious burden for this thing that the speaker
himself possesses. Unless a man BELIEVE in his Message with all
his heart and soul, way down DEEP, and with a burning passion that
kindles enthusiasm, earnestness, and a convicting POWER---and
unless as a result of this inner belief and overpowering BURDEN on
his soul for others he is inspired to a spontaneous vigor,
earnestness, and power in his very voice that will carry right thru
to the emotions of his hearers, then he will interest but FEW, and
probably actually win NONE.
It's the same whether spoken, or written. Most radio
stations require that every word spoken on the air be first
written in script. But unless one FEELS his Message, and literally
BURNS into his writing the very white-hot flame of earnestness and
conviction, it won't be there in the voice when the same words are
spoken later into the microphone. What few of you probably realize
is that I literally burn up more vital energy, vitality and
physical nervous strength in the three or four hours of
concentrated WRITING of a radio script, than I would in EIGHT hours
of hard, physical, manual labor with my hands and body. If the
weather is the least bit warm, I am dripping with sweat when I
finish---tired, depleted of strength and energy. The same with
articles for The PLAIN TRUTH. If such writing is to be useful in
really REACHING and HELPING people, I have to throw, as it seems,
literally TONS of vital energy into the task. Then, in the broad-
cast itself, I throw my whole being and energy into it. I actually
believe I am nearly always far more interested in any subject, far