Personal Stories

by Cheryl Bailes, Jan. 10, 2011

I had Christ at Heart’s Door, a large oil painting on my wall as a young girl. I did not know the name of the painting, nor the verse in the Bible that it represented. I thought my father had had it painted in the Orient, when he was overseas in the Navy. My father was gone for months at a time. I was so lonely. When I looked at this painting it comforted me — a loving Father was there. I would often squint and look real hard and I could “see” the hand knocking. It gave me great peace and security.

by Malcolm Cummings, Dec. 9, 2010

When I was 12 years old, an evangelist came to our church for five days of evangelistic meetings. The last night he showed pictures of the Holy Land on an old-time opaque projector. As I saw these pictures, I thought that I would really like to go to the Holy Land someday. The very last picture he showed was that of Jesus knocking at the door. He used this as an illustration that Jesus was knocking at the door of the heart of every person. He pointed out that there was no latch on the outside of the door. If a person wanted to ask Christ to come into his (or her) heart, He had to be invited in. By doing this (according to Rev. 3:20), that person could be saved.

When the invitation was given, I went forward and one of the church deacons showed me from the Bible that I could be saved by inviting Christ into my heart (which I did). I knew from that night that Christ had come into my life, and, according to the teaching of God’s Word, I was saved from sin.

by David Bates, May 20, 2010

I happened across your website today and it brought back many childhood memories of my days visiting and working at Kriebel & Bates as I grew up.

My father, who is still living a good life at the age of 89, is one of three brothers who worked alongside my grandfather, who started and ran the company, Kriebel & Bates.

As I was growing up, I spent many days at that office in Indianapolis where all of the Sallman paintings were displayed on the hallway and office walls for everyone to look at. (more…)

by Nancy Cupp, May 8, 2010

My mother was an Anderson College student in the late 1930s, working as a secretary at the Gospel Trumpet (now known as Warner Press). One day, as she was working, an artist came in and asked her what she thought of his work. She looked at it and fell in love with it. She directed him to the proper people at the Gospel Trumpet, and the rest is history. So, my mother is probably the first one to see Warner Sallman’s art at the Gospel Trumpet and encourage him to show it to the right people.

The story continues. Forward to 1953. (more…)

by Orlo Shroyer, April 20, 2010

The older I get the more I reflect on memories of days gone by and the events that had an impact on my life. The majority of those memories center around the church and the community where I grew up. A phrase popularized by Hillary Clinton in the mid 1990s that “It takes a village to raise a child” certainly applied to my childhood days. (more…)