An Excerpt from Missions in the Mountains

John Britton

            One of my heroes of the faith is my great-grandfather. Born in  1896, John Britton was a Baptist minister and missionary in Missouri for over 60 years. Decades ago, his daughter Marie Darst wrote a biography of his life, and from time to time I read through it to remember the biblical example of grandpa’s life. I would like to share the following excerpt from page 73 of the book because it demonstrates several lessons: 1) The importance of faith; 2) The power of the Gospel to soften a hard heart; 3) The leadership of the Holy Spirit in the godly believer’s life: 

            “The Pleasant Grove Baptist Church voted to have Brother Britton to preach in their revival. Some of the critics in the community said, ‘There isn’t any use to hold a revival at Pleasant Grove. The unsaved will not attend.’ Because Brother Gibson and the church had great faith, they launched into revival services with Brother Britton doing the preaching.

            “One night a Catholic man brought his wife to church, but would not go inside the building. He sat on his car fender where he could see Brother Britton as he preached. When the preacher was about half way through his sermon, the man became very angry. He though Brother Britton could see him from the pulpit. Brother Britton did not know that he was there. He preached that ‘Ye must be borned again.’ He declared that unless a man repents of his sins and accepts Christ as a personal Saviour his destiny will be eternity in a burning hell.

            “The man changed fenders. When he did, Brother Britton stepped to the other side of the pulpit. The man later said that the preacher looked straight at him as he pointed his finger and said, ‘I mean you. You must repent, or you are going to hell.’ The man became deeply convicted. Today he is a great defender of the faith.”

Darst, Marie. Missions in the Mountains. Updated ed. Texarkana: Baptist Publishing House, 1993.