In the first half of...
Illustration
In the first half of this century, one man reigned as a type of king over an eastern Kentucky county. Gambling, alcohol, and other forms of vice were legal, and this man controlled it all. He walked the busy streets of the city, a cigar always between his teeth, flanked by bodyguards who protected him as he surveyed his very profitable domain.
Many ministers and church people enjoyed the man's generosity, since he freely provided money to build churches throughout the area. And, as could be expected, a dissenting voice was rarely heard from those pulpits concerning the man or his evil empire.
Yet, for this man as for all of us, a day of reckoning must be faced. For him, it began with the diagnosis of cancer. His funeral was held in one of the churches he had generously supported, but for the first time, the man's life was brought into question --by the voice of the man himself, who had recorded a repentant confession to be played at his funeral.
The glass-brick home with the large swimming pool, which the famous man had enjoyed so much, is now weed-grown and shabby. The city is now a trading and tourist center; but if you look carefully, you can still see signs of the decadent past --crumbling buildings and faded signs which once boasted of the bars, gambling centers, and places of prostitution. They sag in disrepair and decay --examples of the futility of dependence upon the riches and pleasures of a day that passes quickly into the judgment of eternity.
Many ministers and church people enjoyed the man's generosity, since he freely provided money to build churches throughout the area. And, as could be expected, a dissenting voice was rarely heard from those pulpits concerning the man or his evil empire.
Yet, for this man as for all of us, a day of reckoning must be faced. For him, it began with the diagnosis of cancer. His funeral was held in one of the churches he had generously supported, but for the first time, the man's life was brought into question --by the voice of the man himself, who had recorded a repentant confession to be played at his funeral.
The glass-brick home with the large swimming pool, which the famous man had enjoyed so much, is now weed-grown and shabby. The city is now a trading and tourist center; but if you look carefully, you can still see signs of the decadent past --crumbling buildings and faded signs which once boasted of the bars, gambling centers, and places of prostitution. They sag in disrepair and decay --examples of the futility of dependence upon the riches and pleasures of a day that passes quickly into the judgment of eternity.
