“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NKJV
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 NKJV
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 NKJV
Personally, when I was age 8, God used an evangelistic team conducting services in our small congregation in February 1940, sharing John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Admitting I was a sinner, I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and I confessed Christ publicly, kneeling at the altar of Second Street Baptist Church surrounded by my parents Mildred and Lawson Dooms, my pastor Albert Fauth, and evangelist Paul Levine, as Bob Finley continued leading the congregation in song.
The very next month, an article in the Mt. Carmel Daily Republican Register said, “The group of people who have been worshipping as the Second Street Baptist Church will continue to function as a church with the same pastor and officers under the name of the Grace Memorial Church. It will be interdenominational, but will fellowship with the churches of the city and all Christians who believe and cherish the fundamental doctrines of faith, it was stated by the pastor, Reverend Albert Fauth. He added: ‘We wish to express our appreciation to the people of Mt. Carmel for their words of encouragement and assistance in this new undertaking and trust that as the days come and go we’ll be of service in a spiritual way to our entire community. We will meet in the Masonic Hall until our new church is completed.'”
Continuing to grow in Christ through the encouragement of the pastors and leaders at Grace Memorial, when I was in junior high, God sent pastor Charles Pedersen and his wife Mary from Wisconsin to Mt. Carmel. A visionary with Bible-saturated messages and endeavors to reach people for Christ, in 1948 Pastor Pedersen introduced the Youth for Christ concept to fellow pastors of local congregations, including First Methodist, Free Methodist, Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), Pentecostal Assembly of God, Evangelical United Brethren, and others. Each pastor was asked to choose two teenagers to form the Youth for Christ steering committee, and I was named to be one. Pastor’s daughter Mary Greer was also appointed by her father, pastor of First Baptist.
Our first rally was December 4, 1948 at the Masonic Hall.
God used our involvement with Mt. Carmel Youth for Christ, including Sunday night “singspirations” hosted by a different congregation every week following the services at the various cooperating churches.
Easter Sunday 1950, Don Brown, who had come to Christ as we shared the Gospel with him at the Wabash County Fair, put together an Easter sunrise service using the auditorium of the First Christian Church. Don invited Ivan Peterson (who had been my first target teen and was then a student at Midwest Bible Missionary Institute in St. Louis) to speak. Don asked me to sing a solo (I was a student at Greenville College). He asked Mary Greer (they were both seniors at Mt. Carmel High School) to read a poem, and he invited the a cappella choir to sing.
All that happened in my heart and life that Easter Sunday became one of the most significant days of my entire life – from the early morning sunrise service to the car ride with other students from Greenville College back to campus, arriving nearly 24 hours after my “longest day” had begun.
Years later, in August 1961, sitting on a sand dune overlooking the waters of Lake Michigan with Dave Breese and Ken Anderson, Ken reminded us: “Keep in mind the greatest time to reach people for Christ is around Easter.”
It has been our opportunity to present the Gospel to thousands at Evansville’s Roberts Stadium and Civic Auditorium Good Friday night and Easter Eve, 1970 through 1976, called “Faith Festival.”
This Easter time, to whom will you tell the true story of the life, the death, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ?
“Go tell it on your mountain: Jesus Christ is alive!”
Invite every possible person to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” now!