by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001)
"WE ‘BUSTED´ EVERY BOTTLE OF THAT CASE OF BEER"
These words were spoken at two o'clock early one Sunday morning. The Hyles household was fast asleep. The phone rang, and as usual, we did not know quite what to do. I woke up with a start, and all I knew was that I heard a bell ringing. I pushed in the alarm button and eliminated one possibility. By that time, I realized that it was not the "ding-dong" of the door bell. By process of elimination I deducted it must be the telephone. I jumped up and answered it, and the aforementioned words were the ones that greeted my ears.
"You got to me in that funeral yesterday afternoon," he said. "You got to all of us."
The day before I had conducted funeral services for a little three-month-old baby. As I spoke, I saw the parents with their seven remaining children weeping before me. A handful of friends and relatives had gathered in the small chapel as I reminded them of the grace of God and of the blessed truth that they could see the baby again if they made preparation. I witnessed to a few of them, and two or three indicated that they were receiving Christ as Saviour.
They had planned a meal after the funeral for their family and friends. Prior to the funeral they had purchased a case of beer for refreshment, but they then made their decision for Christ. So they opened the case of beer, broke every bottle, and had the young man to call me at two o'clock in the morning to tell me of the decision.
Then in the Sunday morning service when the invitation was given, twelve people walked the aisle professing faith in Christ as a result of the funeral service, and each of them in his own words said about what the man said on the phone: "You got to me in the funeral."
What a wonderful story-and yet how tragic it is that a little three-month-old baby by her death has won more souls to Christ than millions of Christians have won by their lives.
