Back in the mid-1960s, and probably before and surely after, the preacher boys’ class at Bob Jones University, where I was a ministerial student, began its weekly session in the then Fine Arts auditorium by singing the chorus, “Souls for Jesus.” About 800 young men bellowed out the words, “Souls for Jesus is our battle cry; souls for Jesus, we’ll fight until we die; we never will give in, while souls are lost in sin—souls for Jesus is our battle cry!” Dr. Gilbert Stenholm would then stride to the pulpit, survey the class of primed preachers, and lead in a soul-stirring prayer punctuated with cries of “Amen!” from an auditorium packed with pastors, evangelists, and missionaries in the making. It moves me deeply now, 60 years later, to remember those weekly meetings of hundreds of young men who would soon leave those sacred halls to go out to “shake” America for Christ. It brought “goose bumps” to my neck at the time—and even today, as I recall the experience, my eyes are being washed with tears.
Souls for Jesus. That was our mantra. Probably a cursory study of contemporary church history in the United States would reveal that from the early 1960s to the mid 1970s there was a vigorous effort to plant New Testament churches in America. Churches conducted revival meetings, and young men and women enlisted to go to the mission fields of the world. Others, like myself, answered God’s call to full-time Christian ministry. Many of the great, or once-great, independent churches were planted during that red-hot era of evangelism and church growth. It was a different age than this one, and it was fueled by young people who caught the vision—set on fire by men like Bob Jones, Sr., Lee Roberson and John R. Rice—to make “Souls for Jesus” their battle cry.
Well, the need is as great if not greater today. In fact, the population has doubled, from 4 billion to 8 billion. Visualize a point, then picture one person passing that point every second. It would take more than 250 years for every person to pass that point!
We cannot reach all the 7,402 unreached people groups of the world today, i.e. a group of people who have the same ethnicity and speak the same language. That would require us to reach 3.27 billion people. The task is more staggering when we realize that 3,150 of those people groups are not only unreached, they are unengaged (with no Christian presence or Church planting efforts). Roughly 66,000 of the world’s 8 billion souls perish every day with no access to the gospel. (The Titus Ten, J. Josh Smith, B & H Publishing, p.173). Souls for Jesus!
The late John Broadus, a leading19th-century Baptist pastor and seminary instructor, told of his joy of leading just one soul to Christ. He related that “the greatest joy of his life was when, as a boy, he found Christ as his Savior, and immediately led another boy to Christ. He said he took him out behind the barn, on a pile of boards, and sitting there together, he told this lad the story of his new-found joy—the story of Jesus. His friend became a Christian and said to young John Broadus, ‘that is the prettiest story I ever heard. I am going to make Jesus my Savior. I thank you, John,’ he said, as they separated.
“Then good Dr. Broadus went on to say that they had both lived in that same city until now; they were both gray-haired men, he a teacher in the seminary, the other man the driver of a dray (wagon or cart); and he said that he had never met that man during all those years but what he touched his cap as they passed and said, ‘Thank you, John, thank you, John.’ Then Dr. Broadus said, ‘When I get to Heaven, after seeing my Savior and my father and mother, I want to see that lad. I know just what he will say when I meet him coming down that golden street. It will be just what he said this morning as I passed him on the way to this building to speak to you: Thank you, John; thank you, John.’” (copied) Ah, souls for Jesus!
One day Michelangelo saw a block of marble which the owner said was of no value. “It’s valuable to me,” said Michelangelo. “There is an angel imprisoned in it, and I must set it free!”
Yes, souls for Jesus! One imprisoned soul at a time.
Evangelist Gypsy Smith told of a time when he was sitting at a table with some preachers; one of them, a Scotsman, asked, “How did you get on at your meeting?”
“I said, ‘Oh, so many passed through the inquiry room.’”
He said, “Is it safe to count?”
I said, “Well, they counted at Pentecost and put it down at 3,000. He changed the subject.”
“Later the Scotsman asked, ‘Are you married, Mr. Smith?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Any family?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘How many?’ I replied, ‘Is it safe to count?’
“When the laughter subsided, I added, ‘You count your children, and the Lord counts us. You made enough fuss when your family baby was born. The Lord says there is joy in Heaven over one. The church doesn’t make half enough fuss when one is converted!”
Souls for Jesus!
Franz Kreisler (1875-1962), world-famous violinist, once discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, but because he had given away much of the money he had earned, he lacked the money to purchase it. He raised the needed sum and returned to the seller of the prized instrument to buy it, only to learn it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the collector’s home and offered to buy the violin, but the collector said it had become a cherished possession, and he refused to sell it. Dejected, the concert violinist was about to turn to leave, but before he did, he asked the collector if he might play the violin before he left. He was granted that request, and the great virtuoso filled the room with majestic, heart-rending music that greatly moved the collector, so much so that he said, “I have no right to keep that to myself. It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it to the world, and let the people hear it!” Souls for Jesus!
“Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:10) Souls for Jesus is our battle cry!
YOU and GOD 