Problem--or opportunity? Which is it the church is now facing?

PROBLEM- OR
OPPORTUNITY?

Ceonfe Wood Anderson

Class fci

Book

Gopyriglitls0_

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT;

1

Problem— or Opportunity ?

Problem— or Opportunity?

Which is it the Church is Now Facing ?

BY

GEORGE WOOD ANDERSON

Watchman , what oftht night?
The morning cometh !

—Isaiah 21:11, 12

New York Chicago

Fleming H. Revell Company

London and Edinburgh

Copyright, 1919, by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

>f 1 '

Printed in the United States of America.

m -5 i3i9

New York: 158 Fifth Avenue
Chicago : 17 North Wabash Ave.
London: 21 Paternoster Square
Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street

©CI.A536846

CONTENTS

WHY?

Page.
A SOLDIER'S QUESTION 7

I
THE SOLDIER WHO MADE HIS VOW

The battlefield a cathedral — The challenge of a wrecked
church — The captain's answered prayer — The cold
church back home — These soldiers must be met with a
program — The sermon — The timid man of purpose ... 9

II
THE SOLDIER WHOM THE EXPERIENCES OF WAR
HARDENED
After the signing of the armistice — The forgotten
vow — The uniform unable to change character — The
student — The Christian — The boy from city slums —
Evil influence of war — Gambling — Drinking — Profan-
ity— Evil influences of some officers — The lowering of
moral standards among welfare workers — The duty of
the Church 19

III »

THE SOLDIER'S CONTRIBUTION

The American soldiers achieved a far greater work
than they realized — The engineers — Their spears were
pruning hooks and their swords keen plow-shares — Im-
purity rebuked — Respect for womanhood — Love for
children — They have unconsciously developed — The
pruning hook is still in their hands — How will the
churches meet them? — Deadly sectarianism — The Fed-
eration of Churches — The function of denominations. . 31

4 CONTENTS

Page.
IV
WAR INEVITABLE

Mistaken and dangerous conceptions of war — The
League of Nations alone cannot destroy it — Brute
force still in existence — Germany unrepentant — Either
war, or stop making moral distinctions — The war came
because Christianity was a glorious success — The be-
neficent aspect of war — Worth-while results of war —
The way of coming peace 45

V
THE CURE FOR WAR

The secret for overcoming the brute — What Germany
needed — Education no substitute for a clean heart —
France and Italy prepared for revival — Russia, as seen
by the Little Grandmother of the Russian Revolution —
Socialism and Bolshevism, and defeated liquor inter-
ests all preach the message of brute force and there-
fore a menace — "No beer, no work" a defiance of
justly enacted law — The churches must solve the prob-
lem 61

VI
AMERICANISM

Some immigrants are Americans before they start
from Europe — Many never know nor approach Ameri-
canism— The Trans-Atlantic steamship companies —
Foreign language newspapers, and subsidized clergy
as enemies to America— Work of the Carnegie Corpo-
ration— The task of the school and the Church to the
immigrant 82

VII
NOT REVOLUTION. BUT REVIVAL

Changing fashions of thought. Germany's New The-
ology— Reconstruction — The coming Revolution. To
preach discontent is treason to God — The need is not
revolution but old fashioned revival of religion —
Must have positive preaching of truths that have first

CONTENTS 5

Page.
been tested — Not new but true — From individual to
home, from home to nation 91

VIII
AN ALL ROUND MINISTRY

Evangelism the hope of the Church — Without it, each
individual church but a social club — What is the
Christ life: — Ministering to the saints — The mean-
ing and use of prayer — Necessity of teaching the cer-
tainty of heaven — Conquering faith — Testimony — De-
velopment demands all round exercise which evan-
gelism alone fully supplies 101

IX
WHAT CHRIST EXPECTS OF US

The crime of a closed church — Does the government
consider the theaters of greater value than the
churches? — The bishop's sermon — The pulpit not a
platform for national propaganda — The churches have
a greater patriotic service to render — Is the pulpit
enveloped in a dense fog? — "A society woman rolling
bandages may be doing more for the world than
Christ" 107

X

WHAT IS RELIGION?

Mistaken Biblical quotations to define religion — Im-
possibility of sinful heart to meet conditions of Chris-
tian living until he has been reborn — The thief, the
selfish, the impure, the arrogant cannot change their
inner lives — What religion is — The churches must help
men to "get away from themselves' ' — Shallow phil-
osophy 113

XI
ENCOURAGEMENTS ABUNDANT

That the world waits attentively for our answer to their
abuse is a sign of encouragement — The healthy rest-

6 CONTENTS

Tage.
lessness of society — Poem of Angela Morgan — Men's
hearts are tender — The message of the flowers from
about the shell holes — The officer's oath — At home
from the sea — Bone dry prohibition — Attitude of
wealth toward labor — ' ' Brotherhood ' ' — Men are for-
saking the broken reed 12Q

XII

WHOLE CITIES UNANIMOUSLY TAKEN FOB
CHRIST
Every pastor and every layman must be evangelistic in
order to meet the requirements of Christ's teachings —
Christianity so began — "Why Christ said "Go ye!" —
The necessity for evangelists — The danger of the
denominational drives — Interdenominationalism — Un-
selfishness alone leads to success 138

XIII
GOD IS NOT A LIAB

The sense of nearness and power of God as the secret
of power — Our unbelief makes God a liar — The two
"Whosoevers" — Why fear a blessing? — Not a big
man but a man with a big conception of the power of
God — The power of a converted man — The faith of a
little child 147

XIV
NOW!

This is the accepted time — Delay spells defeat 158

WHY?

WHAT in hell will we do when we get
back home?" was the question put to
me by the spokesman of a group of
sturdy soldiers, while they were resting for a
little while on the edge of the Argonne battle-
field. Compared with the excitement of war
the old life back home seemed common-place.
Some hours later, a companion of mine, refer-
ring to this question remarked: "The return-
ing soldier will be a mighty big problem for the
churches over there." Instantly the words
leaped from my lips, "Not a problem, but a
glorious opportunity. ' '

Today that opportunity is ours. The soldiers
are coming back. Now is the all-important hour.
Opportunities for large heroic undertakings are
confronting us on every side. Amid the world-
wide strife the commanding call is to the Evan-
gelical churches, insisting that we rise to the oc-
casion.

In this season of inter-national reconstruction
we must not falter. We must answer the call

8 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

now with such wholeheartedness and intelligence
that the future may have nothing with which to
rebuke us.

Fortunately Christ left us the program, the
following of which will save the whole wide
world.

This book is a prayer for the working of that
program. [After reading the message will you
not pass it on to another?

G. W. A.

Belle Centre, Ohio.

THE SOLDIER WHO MADE HIS VOW

THE returning soldiers are making urgent
and most imperative demands upon the
churches. The battlefields of France
have been more than places of bloodshed and
carnage; they have been great cathedrals
through whose corridors Christ has walked,
and where multitudes of men have not only
learned to pray, but kneeling before the Master
of Life, have made their vows and sworn alle-
giance to His cause. To many of our soldiers
the oath of loyalty taken upon entering the
army, had in it all the essential elements of a
sacrament. They felt that this was a holy war.
In making battle for the freedom of the world's
oppressed and downtrodden, they felt that they
were doing the bidding of the Almighty. To
them the field of battle was holy ground on
which they stood with bowed heads praying for
strength with which to strike the oppressor with
steady and effective stroke.

9

10 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

In the neighborhood of Luneville, in plain
sight of the three lines of German trenches, are
the ruins of a little old stone church which was
sometimes used as a watch tower by our soldiers
when occupying the Baccarat sector. The tower
had been badly shattered, the roof broken
through, the windows stripped of glass, the
altars shattered by bursting shell, the pews
torn with shrapnel or crushed beneath the
weight of the ceiling's heavy stones. No more
dreary place could be conceived. Amid the
faded bloodstains of those who had perished
while seeking shelter in this sacred place, was
the broken body of the Lord Jesus, half buried
by the wreckage. No more grewsome place
could be imagined, but to one of our American
boys it had been a place of inspiration. Each
piece of shattered carving in wood or stone,
each broken bit of colored glass lying amid the
tangled leading of the windows, each broken
altar and crucifix was a call to service. Visiting
that church today, you can read upon the rent
wall the message which his burning soul could
not refrain from writing to his comrades :

"Boys, when you see this church remember that
you are Christians; therefore, get the Hun!"

THE SOLDIER WHO MADE HIS VOW 11

The writer was a Christian soldier named
Ignatius, from Cleveland, Ohio. The spirit of
this crusader was the spirit that consciously
controlled a large number of our soldiers, and
indirectly, influenced all of them. This was
God's war. His Right was making battle
against hell's Might and they were chosen by
their country and called of God to use the gun
and hand grenade on land and sea and air. To
many of them their scenes of conflict were places
of prayer and consecration. They believe that
the preservation of their lives amid the fumes
of poison gas and shrieking shell, while thou-
sands of their comrades fell, is a definite answer
to their prayers.

With our garments stained with mud and wet
through by the never-ceasing rain, an army cap-
tain and I were walking from an advanced posi-
tion beyond Montfaucon back to the first receiv-
ing station to minister to those brave lads who,
the day before had broken through the famous
Hindenburg line, but who, had afterwards been
wounded. The shells from the American bat-
teries were hissing over our heads as they sped
onward to strike for liberty, while the German
shells were bursting all about us. When one of

12 PROBLEM— OB OPPORTUNITY

the enemy shells exploded so close to us that we
were compelled to throw ourselves upon the
ground to escape its whining shrapnel, he said,
as calmly as though he were in his drawing-
room at home :

"Doctor, I have made some mighty big prom-
ises to God today.' '

His eyes shone with gladness and satisfaction.
He had gained a spiritual victory and was re-
joicing in it.

"Good!" I exclaimed. "It requires a big
man to make a big vow, and, if I judge you
rightly, you will keep them to a letter. ' '

"Keep them? Why Doctor, I'll have to keep
them if I am any kind of a man at all for God
"Almighty did sure take me at my word this
day."

He told me then of his prayer that morning
for safety and his promise that, from that hour
on, he would live a clean cut, out and out, life
for God and then added :

"Do you see that clump of trees beyond the
smoke where that six-inch Fritzy just struck?
Less than an hour ago I was standing there in
company with my Major and Colonel, develop-
ing some plans, when a shell exploded killing

THE SOLDIER WHO MADE HIS VOW 13

both of my superior officers and leaving me
without a scratch. Just think how God took me
at my word. I feel that He must have used His
own hands in holding back the shrapnel and
broken shell in order to answer my prayer. ' '

Coming to the first aid station where nearly
two hundred wounded and gassed men were ly-
ing on the wet grass with the rain beating upon
their unprotected faces and uncovered bodies, I
took his hand in parting and said :

' ' God bless you, old scout ! I know that you
will make good when you get back home ! ' '

"Yes," he said with emphasis. Still holding
my hand he waited a moment in thoughtfulness,
as though my last statement had opened a new
phase of the question. With his contemplation
the enthusiasm seemed to die from his eyes and
face. "Yes," he continued gravely, "I will!"
His jaws snapped with determination. "I will,
but it will be mighty tough work for me to keep
warm in that old cold church back home. ' '

On the transport, returning to America, an-
other army officer related an experience almost
identical to this one, and his only concern was
about how he could get along when, away from
the army, he was compelled to settle down in

14 PROBLEM—OR OPPORTUNITY

the church that had chilled his youthful soul
with its cold formalism. Many times have I had
soldiers ask me if I thought it necessary for
them to join church when they got back home,
adding that they thought it might be easier to
live an independent life.

The soldier who, embarking upon a sea in-
fested with sub-marines, or in preparation for
battle, or in the midst of the conflict, made his
vows to the Almighty, lived far more deeply
and possesses a far finer and keener sense of
true Christian living than even some of the most
faithful who stayed at home. They may not
have manifested many of the fruits of Chris-
tian living for amid the wickedness and sin of
army life that constantly surrounds them, they
have not had a chance. Their religious experi-
ences are not those of outward confession but
of inward determination which is real, vital,
virile, and very often, eager to express itself in
public confession. They are waiting to get back
home to say aloud what they have already said
in silence.

These men must be met with something more
than a warm spirit of gratitude that their lives
have been spared and they have been permitted

THE SOLDIER WHO MADE HIS VOW 15

to return to us in safety to take up their unfin-
ished tasks, although we should not be slow in
showing this gratitude. They must be received
by our churches with something more than a re-
ception where the social rooms of the churches
are thrown open and the soldiers greeted with
song and music, ice cream and cake, although
one of the most hopeful signs that the churches
are ready to meet their heavy social obligations,
is the manner with which they are greeting the
soldiers returning from our camps at home and
abroad, and surrounding them with healthful,
wholesome influences. If the churches fulfill
their highest mission, they must add to these ac-
tivities a definite program that challenges their
souls as war demanded their best endeavor.
That challenge can be made only by a church
filled with Christ 's spirit of evangelism. There
must be a program of action. The Christian
life, like that of a soldier, has a definite object
for which to strive. Our soldiers went forth
into one war believing it to be a holy war be-
cause they were fighting an oppressor to relieve
the down-trodden, they will enter the Christian
warfare only when they are made to see that the
Christian life is a call to an unselfish effort to

16 PROBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

free and liberate those who are unable to save
themselves.

Some people seem to think that the sole objec-
tive of church membership is to go to public
worship once a week and sit with folded hands
listening more or less attentively to a sermon.
There is a decided benefit coming from the hours
spent in devotional meetings, but the sermon con-
stitutes a very small part of the individual life.
Because it is such a small part of the individual
Christian's life the preacher should make his
sermon such a stirring call to arms that all his
membership would rally and march forward
with the same spirit that moved our soldiers in
France, into a battle against sin, and to redeem
the crushed and down-trodden victims of sin.
To save a soul from hell is a greater and more
worthy task than to save a victim from German
barbarity.

While many of our soldiers are strong and
eager to publish their unspoken vows, there is
another class of men, who, because of tempera-
ment, are awaiting the word and welcome that
will make it easy for them to fulfil their long-
ings and, by public confession, place themselves
unreservedly on God's side. Their records are

THE SOLDIER WHO MADE HIS VOW 17

without blot, their aspirations are the loftiest,
in potentiality they are the equal to any of their
comrades, but a natural spirit of reserve makes
it next to impossible for them to come to the
fullest degree of self-realization unless they re-
ceive helpful inspiration.

I have had the opportunity of addressing
many thousands of our boys in France and I
have learned to know their hearts and what they
counted of greatest value. They did not need to
be urged to make vows for they had already
done that. What they most desired was a gos-
pel message of an inspirational nature that
would strengthen their wills and enable them to
keep the vows already made in silence. The
hundreds of strong manly fellows who have
come to me at the close of our religious meet-
ings and holding my hand fervently would say,
with trembling lip and tear-filled eyes : "I shall
never forget you for you encouraged me today.
I made up my mind to serve God the day I en-
tered the army, but I needed help. You inspired
me and it will be easier now." Testify to the
great number of boys who will come back to
their home churches eager for the encourage-
ment that shall enable them to say aloud what

18 PBOBLEM—OB OPPOETUNITY

they have said to Christ in secret. No Men's
Club, or building project, or Association activi-
ties can help these lads in the formative period
of their spiritual experience like the spirit of
evangelism that sends them out seeking the lost.
They identified their service in war with Christ.
By being good soldiers they were doing some-
thing for Him. This spirit and conception of
service must be maintained, and for this, there
is nothing like going out into the strongholds of
sin, defying iniquity, enduring hardships and
persecutions if need be, in order to save a broth-
er from the snare. It has in it all the thrill of
daring and joy of conquest incident to days of
battle. The church must not put up a weak pro-
gram and expect hearty response. Ordinary
church formalities and inactivities are nauseat-
ing to boys, much less to red blooded soldiers.
Strong men do not ask to be coddled, but like
the dauntless Paul, are challenged by the appeal
to " endure suffering as a good soldier." Set
them to the task of cutting their way through
the wire-entanglements.

n

THE SOLDIERS WHOM THE EXPERI-
ENCES OF WAR HARDENED

t I AHE first fruits of the armistice and the
cessation of hostilities was a material
break in the morale of our armies.
With the reduction of danger to the minimum,
and the resuming' of the regular, monotinous
routine of camp life, our men let down and re-
laxed from the intense strain that had driven
them to hard drill and rigid discipline. They
knew that the war was ended. Hand to hand
combat was a thing of the past. They realized
that the demand for hardened muscles and clear
brains was over. Efficiency was no longer a
goal. They could relax and begin to plan for
their home-going.

The protracted deliberations of the Peace
Conference intensified the unrest among our
soldiers and made study and mental concentra-
tion practically an impossibility. Amid this en-
forced idleness and the deadening influences of
army life, many of the boys who had made vows

19

20 PROBLEM— OE OPPORTUNITY

in the most earnest and sacred manner, fast
forgot them, and became numbered with those
whose hearts had become hardened by the ex-
periences of war.

It is well to remember that placing a unif orm
upon a man does not necessarily change his
character. Students were still students. Those
enclined toward the world of mechanics, still
loved machinery and sought every possible op-
portunity to be identified with the mechanical
part of war making. Musicians still loved
music, nature lovers still admired the beauties
of France, Christian lads remained good and
pure, and, though dressed in kahki, and honored
as an American soldier, the evil-minded men re-
tained their wicked speech and sinful inclina-
tions.

Lovers of books were still omniverous read-
ers. Going along the front lines I have found in
the dug-outs of the most advanced positions,
many a student bending over his book, studying
as earnestly there by faint candle light, as he
was accustomed to study in his electric lighted
room at college. In the depths of the forests,
sheltered in their gun pits, close to the great
cannon which they had learned to love as ar-

SOLDIERS WAR-HARDENED 21

dently as though they were things of life, I have
discovered soldiers so completely absorbed in
intense study that they were utterly oblivious of
the bursting shells that announced that the Ger-
mans were endeavoring to locate their batteries.
On the very edge of the battlefield, when the
severest conflicts were waging, I have seen the
drivers of army trucks and ambulances, while
awaiting orders, calmly sitting upon the front
seat of their cars, studying a college text-book
-—in hours of battle preparing for the conquests
of peace. A student is always a student and
donning a uniform did not change him. It did
not lower his standard for in his reading he de-
manded the best. On my visits to Paris on of-
ficial business for the Young Men's Christian
Association, it was my great pleasure to serve
the soldiers by purchasing for them, text-books
in elementary Greek, advanced Latin, French,
Geometry, Trigonometry, Physics, Chemistry,
Art, Architecture, History, Poetry and Philoso-
phy, some of which were of advanced character.
Lovers of the Bible were still lovers of the
Book. A friend of mine who was with our sol-
diers during those awful days at Chateau Thierry
said that in assisting the over-worked Chap-

22 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

lains, lie found, in one small piece of woodland,
forty of our boys lying dead. In searching for
means of identification lie found that thirty-six
of these dead lads had copies of the New Testa-
ment upon their persons, and that most of them
held the open Testaments in their hands as
though they had fallen to sleep reading the mes-
sage of Him who had died for others. Among
these was a Jewish lad.

As a whole, our army was the cleanest, purest
army that ever marched beneath the waving
banners of any land, and its fine morale will be
a source of pride through all the coming years,
but we must not permit these truths, as great
and gratifying as they are, to obscure the fact
that army life affords many opportunities and
supplies many powerful influences for harden-
ing and destroying character.

The donning of an army or navy uniform did
not change character, and the boys from our city
slums who had been born wrong and from child-
hood had been schooled in vice; who through
heredity and training would be classed as de-
generates, as soldiers still held their low concep-
tions of life, polluting the air with their vul-
garity and profanity, and contaminating their

SOLDIERS WAR-HARDENED 23

immediate associates with their evil practices.
They had attended the same social school with
Gyp the Blood and his associates in crime, and
could not be reformed or even restrained by the
cut or color of clothing.

There were whole divisions of our army that
were almost free from these conditions, for the
soldiers comprising these organizations came
from the healthy, moral atmosphere of farm,
country village, and smaller cities. These are
truly the lads who brought honor to our flag
and inspired respect for our country in the
hearts of the French, English, Belgian and Ital-
ian peoples. Even in those divisions where the
lower type of soldiers persisted in their wicked-
ness there were many noble characters who, like
Daniel in Babylon, refused to identify them-
selves in any way with the vicious. These ex-
ceptions amid the worst must ever be kept in
mind, but I have visited some units of our army
that seemed to be nothing less than a foul hot-
bed wherein grew everything that was vulgar
and irreverent to man, woman and God.

Among these sins was gambling of various
forms which were conducted so openly, espe-
cially in those places where the officers per-

24 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

mitted themselves to be too busy to notice the
habits of their men, that the French children, in
imitation of the soldiers who were their ideals,
became little gamblers "shooting craps" in the
open streets and swearing in English like little
pirates. Wine drinking was carried to shame-
ful excess by some, while profanity became so
prevalent and almost universal as to beggar de-
scription.

Officers would sometimes swear at their men
until one would wonder how the soldiers could
refrain from rising in rebellion. Only their in-
born loyalty to their country and their willing-
ness to submit to all things for the sake of effi-
ciency, enabled them to keep up their steady
drill without a protest. While walking over the
large drill ground of the receiving camp at St.
Nazaire, I overheard a young officer addressing
a group of soldiers under his command, several
of whom were college graduates, and all of whom
seemed to be boys of culture and refinement.
They had evidently made some error in obeying
his commands and he was villifying and assault-
ing them with the vilest profanity imaginable,
using every low and vulgar epithet that a de-
praved intellect could conceive. By word and

SOLDIEES WAK-HAKDENED 25

gesture the officer was confirming the opinion
that, in morals and intellect, he was far inferior
to every man whom he commanded. One could
not help but wonder if the father's wealth did
not have to bear a heavy obligation in supple-
menting his lack of brains and training to lift
him to a position compatable with the family
dignity. Seeing these soldiers, men of charac-
ter, standing still, unable to express their re-
sentment by even a twitch of facial muscle,
stirred my soul to its deepest depth. Some
months later while riding on the train in com-
pany with another officer I had occasion to men-
tion this together with other similar incidents
that had come under my observation, and he
laughingly responded : ' l You must expect that
in the army, for, you know, war is hell. ' '

With such examples sometimes placed before
them, it is not surprising that the rougher and
tougher elements of the soldier's bodies felt at
liberty to give free rein to their vulgarity and
profanity. In my work of the ministry I have
been placed in direct contact with men and
women of every condition of sin and iniquity.
I have seen them in their accustomed haunts
where they have given themselves to sinful in-

26 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

dulgence with utter abandon. From the lips of
these I have heard vulgar jest and frightful pro-
fanity, but their utterances were relieved now
and again with pleasant word and hearty laugh-
ter. Among this certain class of soldiers to
whom I am now referring, the flow of indecent
language was never interrupted by even one
peal of ringing laughter, as though sparkling
laughter could not well forth from such foul
sources.

These men, thrust into our army, became a
source of moral contagion, so that profanity
swept like the pestilence that it is, from lip to
lip, until it seemed that one could never hear a
sentence freed from its corruption.

One must constantly bear in mind that while
army life has many things that tend toward the
reformation of the evil doer and the building of
character for those who are well grounded in
the fundamentals, that there is also in these
great bodies of men so closely associated, espe-
cially when living in a far-off land among peo-
ple of another tongue, a degenerating influence
that demands of the best characters an unceas-
ing vigilance to overcome. I have seen this
manifested among the men engaged in welfare

SOLDIERS WAR-HARDENED 27

work with the soldiers oversea, than whom, a
better or more self-sacrificing group of men
never got together in one united effort to serve
their fellow man. There may have been some
faults within these organizations but in all prob-
ability the faults were due more to the lack of
strong, executive leadership at Paris, than to
the men in the field whose heroism and self-
f orgetfulness were sublime. The strongest men
can do little to overcome the evils resulting from
weak and impotent executive leadership. But
even among these noble workers in the field
there was constantly manifested a tendency to
let down a little. Take the smoking of ciga-
rettes, the morals of which I am not now dis-
cussing. In the welfare work abroad were
preachers, professors in colleges, teachers in
public schools and business men, who, for the
sake of their influence over youth, had never
taken their first smoke, but who, within a few
weeks time after arriving upon the field, became
so addicted to the use of cigarettes that they
were seldom seen without one in their mouths.
There were many workers who for religious or
moral reasons refused to use them and never,
for one moment lowered their standards con-

28 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

cerning this practice. When these men who had
begun to use cigarettes were asked what they
would do when they returned to America an-
swered unanimously, "Why, cut them out of
course. ' ' Many men have said to me, ' ' I would
not, for the world, have my son know that I
smoked cigarettes. ' ' More than one teacher,
when pressed by me on the subject, has said : " I
would rather cut off: my hand than have my
scholars see me use it to lift a cigarette to my
lips. ' ' When asked why they would so let down
the bars when away from home they have an-
swered : "I suppose that it is the atmosphere of
army life."

With this in mind it is easy to see how, when
soldiers from good homes and environment were
compelled to remain constantly under the influ-
ences of the evil practices of those who, before
entering the army were degenerate, many of our
better men became contaminated and will return
home corrupted and hardened of heart.

To these men the evangelical churches of
America owe a great debt. These soldiers, by
their heroism in battle, and courage amid the
gravest dangers have proven that they possess
those sterling qualities which are fundamental

SOLDIERS WAR-HARDENED 29

for true-hearted Christian living ; but war has
deadened their finer spiritual feelings, and with
seered consciences, they are coming back to us.
Some of them seem far beyond the reach of the
church, but that is an illusion. There is no
limit to the power of God to save sinners when
once the church fulfils her true function. Even
if some of them, because of heredity or early
training refuse to heed, there remaineth yet the
splendid task of reaching those who left our
homes with clean lips and pure hearts, but who
have fallen victim to pestilential profanity and
kindred sins.

They must be greeted with something more
than the roaring cannon, blowing whistles, and
the shrieking sirens of New York harbor.
These are well and in perfect taste. We are
glad to have them back. We can never honor
them too much for what they have done. Let
the bands play, the flags wave, the churches
spread broad banners inscribed with words of
warmest welcome, let them have all these — and
something more. Let them be greeted with the
ministry of a thoroughly evangelized church
that will not cease searching until she regains

30 PBOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

the coins that our soldier boys once owned but
lost away from home.

Having gained the victory over the Germans
they must not lose their own souls. Give them
full credit for all that they have done. Warm
their hearts with well deserved praise, but do
not permit unbalanced praise to blind them to
the fact that, if they have lost their faith in God
and have ceased to serve Him, that they have
been defeated. Honors in the realm of war-fare
cannot substitute for the loss of a soul. There
need be no words of excoriation, there is no
place for senseless condemnation, but let the
churches of God greet them with the spirit of
Christ who so loved the perishing that he could
not lie down to sleep at night until the last lost
sheep was found and safely sheltered in the
fold.

It is sheer madness to hesitate in pressing
the claims of Christ upon men trained to rigid
discipline. They do not want "laxity" or
"broad-mindedness" that savors of moral law-
lessness, they want, with uplifted hands, to
swear allegiance to One who is the Master of
Life and whom they can serve to the death.

Ill

THE SOLDIER'S CONTRIBUTION

THE American soldiers in France have
been men of achievement in a far larger
and better sense than they themselves
realize. The majority o£ onr soldiers did not
go to Enrope to make the world safe for de-
mocracy. That was too vagne a shibboleth to
become a battle cry, they went to Enrope to "get
the Kaiser." Their one ambition was to give
to Germany the soundest thrashing that any na-
tion or tribe of savages ever received. To this
end they gladly and enthusiastically undertook
any and every task that would tend toward effi-
ciency. They built miles of docks in harbors
and along river fronts; they built more miles
of gigantic buildings in which to house soldiers
and store the munitions of war; they con-
structed hundreds of miles of good American
railroad in one-third the time estimated by
European engineers; they built high-ways
through swamps and forests ; they swung huge

31

32 PKOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

bridges across the rivers with a rush and mad-
ness of endeavor that startled the Allies. The
regiments of engineers were, in many respects
the most remarkable units of our mighty Expe-
ditionary Force. A certain port which we de-
sired to use was declared impractical by French
authorities because the water was too deep to
permit the building of docks of sufficient size
and strength to serve an army in time of war.
Within six months the trees that were lifting
their proud heads in Oregon when the French-
man gave his decision, were piling, supporting
some of the strongest and most valuable docks
used by the Americans, and will remain for
more than a century as our gift to France.

The heavy f ourteen-inch naval guns which our
boys used so effectively in smashing the Hinden-
burg line and reducing the forts about Metz,
were made available by the graduates of Ameri-
can colleges and Schools of Technology, who
donned overalls, took up pick and shovels, and
worked like dagoes, laying firmly ballasted,
standard width, American railroads, with the
readiness with which other nations were laying
their little narrow, portable lines with which
they were carrying guns of small sizes. These

THE SOLDIER'S CONTRIBUTION 33

engineers worked willingly, heroically and with
a spirit of sacrifice seldom equaled, performing
a far greater work than they wist.

Our soldiers went to "get the Kaiser" and to
kill the Hun, but so masterful was their war-
fare that their spears became pruning hooks
and their swords became plowshares. By their
dash and bravery they cleared away, and taught
the soldiers of other nations how to prune away,
many of the needless growths of their social
and political life that were absorbing vital en-
ergy without return, that this energy might flow
through fruitful branches and bear richer, bet-
ter harvests. Their swords became plowshares
that upturned many a barren field and hard
packed path of traditional method, that they
might sow seed that would enrich the future
with bountiful return. They worked far more
wisely than they knew.

The majority of our soldiers kept clean for
the sake of a good conscience, and for ' * the little
girl back home." Those who cared neither for
conscience nor noble womanhood, had their lack
of moral appreciation reinforced by armed sol-
diers who stood guard at the entrance of every
house of shame, and no man in uniform, officer,

34 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

private or welfare worker, could approach with-
in the city block where one such house was lo-
cated. The soldiers looked upon this action as
an army regulation tending toward efficiency in
fighting the Germans. Such was its purpose
and its wisdom was manifested in the hour of
struggle when only a very small per cent, of our
men were compelled to desert the trenches and
weaken our fighting forces, by seeking admis-
sion into hospitals because they had wasted their
strength in sin instead of husbanding it to fight
against the foe. Our army was a clean army,
but our soldiers, by maintaining their standard
of purity did more than increase the efficiency
of our army, as they looked upon their actions,
they administered the firmest, strongest and
most righteous rebuke that France has ever re-
ceived against her favorite but deadly sin.

By meeting the enemy with that truly charac-
teristic American dash and courage, our boys
not only carried their own parts of the lines, but
set a new standard of warfare that enabled the
soldiers of all nations to attack the foe with re-
newed vigor on their last and most victorious
charge.

THE SOLDIER'S CONTRIBUTION 35

Our soldiers, as gentlemen, held high their re-
spect for womanhood that stands ont in glorious
contrast with the dark background of women's
hardships in continental Europe. The woman-
hood of Belgium, France, Italy and portions of
occupied Germany appealed to the chivalry of
our soldiers. In battle and at rest our soldiers
proved themselves all round men. They were
untrained in the decadent art of making class
distinctions. When, at Chateau Thierry, the
"All Highest in Command" sought to frighten
our soldiers into a stampede and humiliating
defeat by sending the famous Prussian Guards
against them, our boys, to whom all huns looked
alike, proceeded to handle them as they would
have handled any other bunch of savages, with
the result that about one regiment of Americans
held back and completely defeated the larger
part of two divisions of the famous "invinci-
bles" in whom the "All Highest in Command"
had placed such confidence. An American is
unable to make "class distinctions" and that is
why the heavily burdened, down trodden, peas-
ant women appealed so mightily to their manly
hearts, when, withdrawn temporarily from the
fighting line, they found themselves billeted in

36 PBOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

the remoter villages where women and children
were permitted to live. I have seen soldiers,
some of whom were not accustomed to hard
work at home, take the pitch forks and shovels
from the hands of the peasant women who were
engaged in loading mannre, a task they had al-
ways performed, and never stop until they had
finished the task saying: "No woman ought to
do that kind of work." That sort of toil had
been the portion of these hard-muscled women
from their girlhood, as it had been the task of
their mothers and grandmothers before them.
Europe is familiar with such scenes, so that the
neatly dressed soldiers of France and Italy, and
especially of Germany could behold nothing
worthy of even passing notice.

The love which our soldiers bore for the chil-
dren stood out as the most distinctly American
of our characteristics. Entering into an area
not hitherto occupied by the American army, the
children would become frightened and stand
back with wide open eyes and mouths at the
kindly advances of our soldiers ; but before the
end of the first twenty-four hours you would see
a soldier walking down the street with a little
girl or boy astride his neck and four or five

THE SOLDIER'S CONTRIBUTION 37

other children clinging to the tail of his coat.
It seemed the fully-one-third of the chocolate
and cakes procured at such trouble for the sol-
diers went into the stomachs of little pinched
faced French children. I have suspected our
army cooks of preparing twice as much meat
and potatoes as would feed the soldiers coming
to their messes, that they might have plenty to
give to the hungry boys and girls that hung
about their shacks, and who, after the soldiers
had eaten their meals, hurried away toward
their homes carrying strange weights wrapped
up in their aprons. I was informed that the
army officers seriously considered refusing the
shipment of chewing gum to the army saying
that they could not afford to give up the ship
space to furnish the French children with gum.
Be that as it may, our boys loved the children in
a way that was peculiarly American.

Thus they performed their own task perfectly
and in addition, performing a task far greater
than they ever dreamed. They were the true in-
terpreters of Amreican life to the peoples of
Europe, who had believed the German propa-
ganda that we were merely " money grabbers"
as we had believed the same propagandists when

38 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

they wisely asserted that the French were an
1 i indescent and decadent people. ' ' Whether in
Flanders, England, France, Italy, Eussia, or on
the banks of the Ehine, their respect for woman-
hood, and their love for children together with
their unflniching valor on the field of battle have
been the best possible interpreters of the beanty
and strength of our unassuming American life.
Hitherto we depended upon books that were
seldom read by the European, and upon the
diplomats whom only a small handful or prej-
udiced people ever met, to interpret our life,
therefore Europe never knew us, and our trav-
elers abroad would sometimes have to endure
the flippant remarks of the English and the
disdain of the German. They know us better
now because they have learned to know our sol-
diers, and their respect will grow with the pass-
ing of the years.

In performing this larger task than they ap-
prehended, our soldiers have unconsciously ma-
tured and developed, so that, as they turn their
faces toward home they still hold the pruning-
hook and the plowshare in their manly hands.
Old things must pass away. All things must be-
come new. Because of his power to vote all the

THE SOLDIEB'S CONTRIBUTION 39

political parties are reconstructing their plat-
forms and altering their methods of approach;
business methods are modifying — but what of
the churches?

Spears have been turned into pruning hooks ;
will we permit them to cut away the red tape of
formalism that retards action; and the soul-
binding, spirit-dwarfing bandages of narrow
sectarianism, so that, as one united force, in
concerted action we may "go over the top" and
at the foe, bringing the victory for which God
is longing! Will we open our ecclesiastical
vineyards and permit their experienced hands
prune and cut away the dead and useless, that
every drop of our vital life-giving energy may
flow through fruitful branches and bring forth
a harvest pleasing to God? These are most
vital questions, not for tomorrow but for today.

This war was practically won when the Allied
forces ceased to operate independently and be-
gan to work as one great army under one lead-
ership. Our churches must learn the same les-
son. The spirit of sectarianism must end, and
the forces of evangelical Christianity must unite
in one great Federation, for earnest aggressive
work along the lines of moral and social wel-

40 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

fare, not forgetting the spirit of evangelism
that must prevade the whole body and all its
works if they would be enduring. A spirit of
revival that counts not the cost, that leaves
nothing undone to route the enemy of our souls,
and works with the desperate earnestness of a
soldier in battle to save the lost for whom Christ
died, who cannot save themselves, who will per-
ish unless they are gone after, sought for and
persuaded by the personal touch and word that
led Nathaniel to Jesus.

The time has fully come for the Federation of
Churches, for, to men who have taken part in
the mightiest organized movement that the
world has ever known, and which will be sur-
passed only when the forces of Christianity be-
come fully united, the spirit of sectarianism is
disgusting. To expect these soldiers to drop
out of their mighty organization and enter one
small unit of God's army and spend his life en-
ergies fighting some other unit of God's army,
instead of rejoicing in each other's strength,
and, with mutual confidence and faith, march
forth to defeat sin and rescue its enslaved, is
sheerest folly. We dare not tell him in this day
that there is but one little creed by which a man

THE SOLDIER'S CONTRIBUTION 41

may be saved. "War has killed Church-anity,
the soldiers are asking for the real spirit of
Christ-anity.

Our boys in army life have stood shoulder to
shoulder with men of all creeds, faiths and doc-
trines, and have learned the lesson of tolerance,
just as men at home in Liberty Loan and other
drives have beheld examples of unselfishness
and courage that have thrown down many of
these hand-made walls of prejudice, never to be
built again. "When one sees Protestant boys
standing silently, with bowed, uncovered heads
while their Catholic companion kneels at a way-
side shrine to say his prayers ; when you see a
Catholic lad standing in trench mud and water
hip deep, keeping watch lest the huns stealthily
slip upon his unprotected Protestant compan-
ion who, in the neighboring dug-out, is endeav-
oring, by faint candle light, to read the New
Testament that he ever carries near his heart ;
when you see Protestant and Catholic together,
leaping over the parapet and braving the dan-
gers of "No Man's Land" to save a wounded
Jewish companion who, for many weary hours,
has been lying in a shell hole praying to the God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ; and when safely

42 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

delivered stand reverently with uncovered heads
while he utters his prayer of thanksgiving :

1 t 0 magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt
his name together. I sought the Lord and he
heard me and delivered me."

Beholding this we know that the spirit of sec-
tarianism is dead and we are not surprised
when they all join hands and say in unison :

"I love the Lord because he hath heard my
voice and my supplications. Because he hath
inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call
upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of
death compassed me, and the pains of hell get
hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
Then called I upon the name of the Lord: 0
Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious
is the Lord and righteous ; yea, our God is mer-
ciful. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge
and fortress ; my God, in him will I trust.""

These boys have learned to have respect for
each other's faith. That there is a vital differ-
ence between these three forms of religion, all
claiming obeisance to the same God and Father
of us all, is not debatable. "We are not pleading
for the casting away of the great fundamental
facts of Christ Jesus that make Protestantism

THE SOLDIER'S CONTEIBUTION 43

so vitally different ; but rather, would we place
added emphasis upon them as the most needed
message of the age. There can be no question
but that the hope of the world lies in Evangel-
ical Protestantism with its open Bible and fer-
vent spirit, but the strength of Evangelical
Protestantism lies, not in fighting Priest and
Eabbi, much less attacking the various sects of
its own faith. Its strength is a strict adherence
to the Gospel message. "With loyalty to Christ
as the Evangelical churches see it, and with
charity for those who do not see it as we do,
let us be big enough to drop all the little bicker-
ings that the various sects have one with the
other, and greet our soldiers and ourselves with
a program so broad and comprehensive, so
urgent and aggressive, that will fully meet the
new conditions, and enable them to join with us,
full heartedly in the mightiest conquest of the
ages.

This does not mean the ignoring or putting
away of Denominationalism. Just as there
must be different divisions and subdivisions of
the army, to which our soldiers and sailors nat-
urally gravitate, because in some one particular
unit above all other, they feel that they can ren-

44 PROBLEM— OE OPPORTUNITY

der the largest service to their country, so the
followers of Christ, according to temperament
and methods of expression, naturally gravitate
to different divisions and sub-divisions of the
great church of Christ, which we know as the
various denominations. Conversion changes
the individual but not the individuality. There
will always be different denominations to con-
form with the different temperaments of men,
but these denominations must not fight one an-
other, that is the spirit of sectarianism. The
narrow bickerings and fightings of church with
church is unworthy of this age. "Whatever
method Christ uses to reach and redeem a soul
from sin is a holy method, and demands the rev-
erent respect of every follower of Christ,
whether that method appeals to him or not, or
whether or not it is a mode of operation in his
own denomination. "What God hath cleansed,
that call not thou common. ' '

The trumpet call of the Holy Spirit is to save
the lost. Regardless of cost and sacrifice to us
and the loss of our man-made crowns, let all the
evangelical churches unite in one great Federa-
tion, and, like a mighty army, move in such per-
fect unison and with such force that the world
may be made ready for His appearing.

IV
WAR INEVITABLE

WAR is horrible. Only lie who has done
his part npon the blood-stained field
amid the noise of bursting shells and
groans of wonnded men, who has seen the
broken cannon, the scattered weapons, the mu-
tilated horses and men, and, what is far worse
than all else, the dying and the dead, can ever
have any conception of its grewsomeness and
terror for neither the artist's colors nor the au-
thor's words can convey the faintest suggestion
of the reality. Because of its attending horrors
much is being written and spoken against it,
most of which is weak and anaemic sentimental-
ism. There are some truly conscientious ob-
jectors to war, among whom are the Quakers, a
body of religious people who have made rich
contributions to our nation. They are among
the choicest of all God's noblemen, but unfor-
tunately, the conditions of the world do not per-
mit a wide acceptance of their teachings con-
cerning war.

45

46 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

There are some who denounce war in the most
scathing terms insisting that it is nothing less
than a curse, depopulating countries, crippling
industries, the slayer of men, the destroyer of
homes, and that now it is nothing save a relic of
barbarism. If this is all that war is then are
the churches of Christiandom in a most embar-
rassing position. If war is nothing more or less
than a curse, then all our memorial shafts and
arches of triumph are but monuments to sav-
agery; then are Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, San
Juan, Manilla Bay, St. Mihiel and Chateau
Thierry but blotches upon our national record,
then are our boys returning from Europe or
standing guard upon the Ehine, only an organ-
ized band of criminals ; and those of us who do
them honor are guilty of applauding crime. If
war is nothing less than a curse then are those
engaged in it traitors to their fellow man, and
by our Liberty Loans we are the abettors of
their crimes, and it is sacrilegious for us to
praise their deeds or to inspire our children to
follow their examples of heroism and self-sacri-
fice. More fitting would it be for the churches
to hang crape upon their doors and for us to
dress in sack-cloth and deep mourning.

WAR INEVITABLE 47

But we refuse so to act. Our returning sol-
diers shall be greeted with shout and song and
ringing bells ; they shall be greeted as men who
have fought a good fight. "We believe in the
blessings that rise inevitably from righteous
conflict, and that, of all causes, there were none
holier than those of our fathers and brothers
when they fought the battles of the Revolution-
ary, Civil, Spanish- American and Anti-German
wars.

I am holding no brief for militarism, neither
would I discourage efforts for arbitration. We
are all too anxious for a long season of univer-
sal peace to give utterance to such sentiment;
but every sincere student of history and soci-
ology must admit that, up to the present point
of history, war has been an absolute necessity;
and though we are hoping for the largest possi-
ble success of the organization of the League of
Nations, we must not deceive ourselves to the
true condition of affairs. We long for peace
but permanent peace has not yet come and the
present condition of the world demands still
greater navies and more practical preparedness
by the civilized nations of the world. At the
present time these things are indispensable for
4

48 PROBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

the maintenance of the highest forms of life
and living.

Civilization began as a military measure. In
that early day the families banded themselves
together for mutual help and protection from
the vicious. Early in history men realized that
there were some things worse than war. Op-
pression, tyranny, slavery, unjust legislation,
ruffianism were worse. With these things in ex-
istence to cry out for peace would not only have
been weakness, but cowardice of the basest sort.
To have depended upon " reason' ' and the " con-
sciences" of these oppressors would have been
philosophical anarchism. The same holds true
today. There are nations as individuals, with-
out reason and without conscience. To allow
them, through brute force, to carry on their
work is a sin against civilization. Deceive not
yourselves with the notion that brute force, or
the belief in the right of might has been removed
from the earth with the signing of the armistice
and the settlements imposed by the Peace Con-
ference. The loss of territory and colonial pos-
sessions, the restoration of devasted regions,
the paying of heavy indemnities do not change
the heart or the belief of the savage Central

WAE INEVITABLE 49

Powers. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Tur-
key have not expressed one word of sorrow for
their atrocities, much less, shown genuine re-
pentance.

The imposing of what we call ' ' a just peace, ' '
though accepted and fully met, may only tend
to rouse this brute nature to a more sullen and
treacherous determination for revenge, so
called. The German soldiers in their retreat,
even after the signing of the armistice continued
their work of wanton destruction of private
property, buildings and orchards. They have
not changed one whit. The Turks continue mas-
sacring the Armenians. After the Peace Con-
ference had begun its deliberations, large am-
munition store-houses in Belgium were blown
up killing many people, destroying over one
mile of important railroad and terrorizing the
inhabitants. Shortly afterward, the three Ger-
mans who had perpetrated the outrage were
captured, while endeavoring to escape to Ger-
many dressed in women's clothing. They have
not changed, and the Bolsheviki, German's legit-
imate offspring, holds just as low conceptions
of life and government. The ex-kaiser became
frantic in his effort to throw the responsibility

50 PBOBLEM— OB OPPOETUNITY

of the war upon others, but lie said nothing
about sorrow, and manifests no evidence of re-
pentance.

Germany is still sullenly defiant. In 1914,
when the German armies were meeting with un-
questioned success, Mathias Ertzberger made
and published a memorandum written by him-
self in which he outlined the policy of the vic-
torious Fatherland. ' i Germany must have sov-
ereignty, not only over Belgium, but the French
coast from Dunkirk to Boulogne, and possession
of the Channel Islands. She must also take the
mines in French Lorraine and create an African
German Empire by annexing the Belgian and
French Congos, British Nigeria, Dahomey, and
the French coast.

"In fixing indemnities, the actual capacity of
the state at the moment should not be consid-
ered. Besides a large immediate payment, an-
nual instalments spread over a long period
should be arranged. France would be helped in
making them by decreasing her budget of naval
and military appropriations, the reduction to be
imposed in the Peace Treaty being such as
would enable her to send substantial sums to
Germany. Indemnities should provide for the

WAE INEVITABLE 51

repayment of the full costs of the war, notably
in East Prussia ; the redemption of all of Ger-
many's public debt, and the creation of a vast
fund for incapacitated soldiers. ' '

This was the spirit with which Germany ex-
pected to make peace with the defeated Allies.
After the presentation of the peace terms to de-
feated Germany by the victorious Allies, whose
terms were not only much milder than the Ger-
man spirit deserved, but more lenient than true
justice demanded, Prince Lichnowski, the for-
mer German Ambassador to London said:

"The peace of Versailles is an absolute nega-
tion of all principles of justice. It is an arbi-
trary, unreasonable peace. This peace of vio-
lence and might is every day preparing a new
conflict. I wish to emphasize it with firmness
that if this peace is imposed, there will be a gen-
eral republican Bolshevist uprising. It will be
impossible to predict what part Germany will
have in it."

Following the signing of the treaty, in a gath-
ering of women social workers in Berlin, one
woman emphasized the necessity of every Ger-
man woman "to bear and rear new and greater

52 PROBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

armies of strong sons to regain their lost pos-
sessions."

So long as this spirit of wickedness is in the
world, so long will the higher civilizations be
compelled to keep soldiers, or else do away with
moral distinctions. When the oppressor clasps
his manacles upon his brother's arms and re-
duces him to slavery, let him go without a pro-
test; when inhumanity ravages and plunders,
killing men and reducing women and children to
the basest of conditions, lift neither hand nor
voice ; when a stronger nation throws away its
treaties asserting that they are but scraps of
paper, and seizes a weaker nation compelling its
people to live in poverty while paying it rich
tribute, let it alone to carry out its savage pro-
gram ; then you can have peace, just as in a city
you can have peace when corrupt officers are un-
molested. But let moral distinctions be made,
let the higher civilization say to the lower:
"That is wrong therefore you must not do it.
In the name of humanity we demand that you
cease reducing your brother to slavery and com-
pelling the weaker nation to pay tribute. You
must respect the laws of decency and order,"
and immediately you will have a conflict. To

WAR INEVITABLE 53

permit them to continue in their brutish work
would be to heap everlasting disgrace upon our-
selves ; to stop them means war, and for war we
must be prepared.

You cannot win this battle in any other way,
for you cannot reason with these people or ap-
peal to their higher and better feelings, for they
have neither logic nor sympathy. "With them
might is right. To the victor belongs the spoils.
They have fists and they want to use them. Un-
der such conditions for the people of a higher
civilization to say, "We are too proud to fight"
or "We will show them the spirit of tolerance
and win them with love," or say, "War is a
relic of barbarism and I refuse to reduce myself
to that level even if they do ' ' would be for them
to surrender their manhood and give license to
all these baser powers and thus surrender civil-
ization to the assassin.

To say that this recent war was the saddest
spectacle of the ages, and that the picture of na-
tion grasping the throat of nation in deadly
combat represents the weakness and failure of
Christianity, is to miss the sublime meaning of
it all. This war occured, not because Christian-
ity was a failure, but because it is a glorious

54 PEOBLEM—OE OPPOETUNITY

success. Thank God that there was enough of
Christ's spirit in the world to make the Allied
nations make moral distinctions, and courageous
enough to say to the Central Powers, "Thou
shalt not ! ' ' That moment was the most glori-
ous one in human history outside of Calvary and
the empty tomb. The heart-beat of the whole
civilized world is stronger, and Christianity, if
she will only grasp her opportunity, is ready for
her mightiest work.

Such wars, in spite of their ghastly horrors
are a necessity and we shall not evade warfare
because of its horrors any more than a noble
woman evades motherhood because of the agony
of birth pains. The church of Christ shall con-
tinue to stand for what is right and make moral
distinctions even if it leads to a righteous war,
recognizing that from the conflicts upon fields of
battle have come some of our greatest blessings.
As the weapon with which Samson slew the
Philistines afterward became a refreshing
spring at which the weary warrior slacked his
thirst, so often have the weapons of war pro-
duced clear streams whose irrigating flow has
made glad whole nations,

WAR INEVITABLE 55

There was no prosperity or progress until war
made it possible. The savages that roamed the
forests pillaged the fields preventing extensive
agriculture ; savage thieves plundered the stores
and shops making manufacturing impossible;
the mountain passes were infested by robber
bands and the plains occupied by lawless hords
that made traffic and communication too danger-
ous for business enterprises to develop rapidly ;
pirates roamed every sea to capture the treas-
ures entrusted to the ships ; and it was not until
someone with a vision of a higher civilization
persuaded the families to bind themselves to-
gether with the bands of a common cause that
the forests were cleared of savages, the moun-
tains of robbers, the wilderness of the lawless
and the seas of pirates, and the water-wheels
began to sing their songs of coming prosperity.
War was a necessity, not to exterminate the re-
bellious, but to compel them to employ honest
methods of self support and to allow others to
do the same.

Every righteous war has contributed to re-
forms long desired and greatly cherished. In
every such war there is a power that is more
than human working for reforms that otherwise

56 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

could not have been so readily effected. This
Higher Power that moves amid the clashing of
arms unsettled formal customs, overthrows cor-
rupt leaders, and lifts up new men to institute
better laws and customs. Emerson says : ' ' War
possesses the power of all chemical solvents,
breaking up the old cohesions and allowing the
atoms of society to take new order. It is not
the government but the war that has appointed
the great generals, sifted out the pedants, put in
new and vigorous blood. ' ' What most men call
peace is mere stagnation and we must discrimi-
nate between the two. War brings the needed
movement to the stagnant waters that they may
be purified. During the last five centuries there
has seldom been a war that did not bring some
greatly needed reform. It was the armed bar-
ons, and their regiments of steel-clad soldiers
that compelled King John to grant the Magna
Charta. It was Cromwell's army that gave con-
quering strength to his insistent demands for
reforms in England. France went to war
against the Moors, and that war cleared the
Mediterranean Sea of pirates. England went
to war in Africa and the Dark Continent was
cleansed of slavery.

WAR INEVITABLE 57

For many months men cried out against taxa-
tion without representation, and prayed ear-
nestly for the coveted freedom of speech, but it
was not until they were ready to answer the
challenge of Lexington and wade through a
bloody war, that these rights came to them and
became the sacred heritage of their children.
For years men cried out against human slavery.
In most eloquent terms they plead the black-
man's cause, but what politics, statesmanship,
literature and the platform could not do, war
accomplished, and accomplished so effectively
that there is not a soul in Southland or North-
land that would bring back the olden days. For
years the tyrrany of Spain filled the hearts of
the American people with an earnest, holy long-
ing for its overthrow. It required the battles of
Manilla Bay and Santiago to close that chapter
of crime ; and by the blending of Southern and
Northern blood in that war our nation became
bound together with inseparable bands of love
*— today we are one nation.

The hearts of Christiandom has bled at the
story of Armenian massacres ; the sufferings of
Serbian and Eoumanian women and children
under Turkish and Bulgarian tyrrany, as well

58 PBOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

as the injustices and outrages heaped upon the
Poles and Slovac have stirred the wrath of all
who love justice, but it took the bloodiest war
of the world's history, not to right these wrongs,
for that can never be done, but to break the arm
of the oppressor and permit these people to live
their lives anew.

The greatest blotch on America's record was
the liquor traffic. It was cursed of God and de-
spised by every true and earnest worker of
righteousness, but the day of bone-dry Prohibi-
tion for the nation would be far in the distance
had it not been for our war with Germany. As
a war necessity men and food had to be con-
served, therefore the saloon had to die.

God's Word told of the return of the Jews to
Palestine, and every student of prophecy fully
expected the Jews to return to their former her-
itage, but when, no one said definitely. Our war
with the Central Powers defeated the Moham-
medan and this day is the scripture fulfilled
— the Jews are going back to the Holy Land.

None of us would imitate the ancient church
and lift war to a sacrament, compelling men to
be baptized or die ; neither would we preach the
glories of war to the extent that we would have

WAR INEVITABLE 59

the soldiers believe that, because death upon the
battlefield is sacrifice, the souls of the wounded
would instantly have all their sins forgiven, and
the dying be welcomed into Paradise regardless
of the lives they had lived. These things are
vicious and unChristian. A world-wide peace
under Christ's rule and reign must sometime
come to greet those who trust in Him. That
hour is coming. The promise has been given
long ago and must be fulfilled. The powers of
evil can no more prevent it than the evening
breeze can shatter the rainbow. The hour is
coming when the last musket shall begin to rust,
and the ivy shall be tangled in the cannon's
wheels ; when the iron clads shall be turned into
merchant ships and the armories into museums
and halls of learning ; when the flags of all na-
tions shall float untouched, save by the warm
kisses of the sunbeams and the soft caresses of
the winds ; when the fields, once red with blood,
shall be golden with rich harvests, and where
once the bullets sped, the butterflies will flit and
the wild bees hum; where bullets shall be un-
known save as found by the busy farmer as he
tills the soil, and kept as souvenirs of a far-off
day ; when little children shall no longer stand

60 PROBLEM— OE OPPORTUNITY

with blanched faces, holding to their mother's
skirts, frightened at the sound of battle ; when
mothers shall no longer seek, with fear haunted
hearts, to get some tidings from "her soldier
boy"; but where all will be peace and plenty,
happiness and joy. That day is coming — it is
not yet here. It will not come through disarma-
ment. Brute force is yet unconquered. When a
viper crawls across the threshold, your chil-
dren 's safety depends the strength and accuracy
of your blow. Be not deceived with false, senti-
ment no matter how pious may be the voice that
proclaims it.

"Not peace, alone, leads on the day
That owns Messiah's world-wide sway;
But many a righteous war and strife
Must wake the world to loftier life.

' ' The peace that cowards make with crime
Is treason to all coming time !
Better the outright, manly 'Nay! '
Than cringing baseness whimpering, 'Yes*'

' l Better a war, a brave, good fight
For truth and justice in God's sight,
Than bribed corruption, slavish fear,
Or honor shamed — than life more dear!

"The war that bursts the bondman's chain
Or widens freedoms wide domain — '
That breaks the despot's rule and rod —
Is holy war, and blessed of God."

THE CUBE FOR WAR

CHRISTIANITY must have a backbone.
There is no virtue in crying, " Peace!
Peace ! ' 9 when there is no peace. It does
not deceive sin nor strengthens the cause of
God. The very day that Theodore Roosevelt
gave his historic ultimatum to Germany that not
only saved the little nation of Venezuela but
prevented Germany from having the coveted
foothold upon the Western Hemisphere, a group
of honest and sincere men, uninformed as to
what was going on, waited upon him urging
their claims for immediate disarmament. The
acceptance of their ideal that day would have
been one of the worst moral catastrophies
known. With Germany in the Western Hemi-
sphere the tides of this war might have turned
the opposite way, and without Germany on this
side of the ocean, this war could never have been
won by the Allies without the American army
and navy.

61

62 PROBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

The certainty of war is self-evident so long as
Christianity in this world continues making
moral distinctions. The only way to do away
with war is to completely conquer and destroy
the brute force through the power of Christ's
gospel — the killing of the old man, the putting
on of the new, by means of the new birth.

The savagery of Germany came forth from a
Christless heart. They had slain the Redeemer
with their destructive criticism. Their deeds
interpret the heart "for from within, out of the
heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, thefts, deceit, lascivious-
ness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness ;
all these things come from within and defile the
man. ' ' ( Mark 7 : 21. ) ' ' The brute nature is the
inner nature — it is the natural man. It was an
old truth when Jeremiah penned it : " The heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked; who can know it!" (Jeremiah 17: 9.)

The only cure for the world's ill; the only
hope for the sin-sick nations, is a missionary
movement of the largest scale ever known or
dreamed of, that will enable the plain preaching
and rapid spread of the pure and undefiled re-
ligion of Jesus Christ.

THE CUEE FOR WAE 63

They do not need Church-anity, for Germany,
Austria-Hungary and Turkey have had plenty
of church buildings and temples with elaborate
ritualism. They had preachers to expound, and
choirs to sing, and sacraments to administer,
but they proved ineffectual. These nations have
had taken away from them even that which they
had, because Church-anity is not sufficient.

Our answer to that condition is that these
people needed Christ. As we understand that
phrase, the answer is correct and complete. The
doctrine of Germany that Might only is Eight ;
that strength only is honorable, while weakness
is always a disgrace; that the benefits of so-
ciety belong justly to those whose arms are long
enough and strong enough to wrest it from their
rightful owners; certainly had no place for
Christ. Therefore, with pompous arrogance
and pride, bred of conceited scholarship, they
first stript Him of His Deity, and then discarded
Him from their philosophy. Had they kept
Him this war could not have been. We are right
when we say that the one thing that Germany
needed in addition to all her marvelous attain-
ments in business organization, and scientific
development, was Christ.
5

64 PROBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

This answer, however, is not always satisfac-
tory for many people in the world, and even
members of the Church, misinterpret it. They
say: "If Christ is the answer then we accept
Him in onr realm of thinking. "We accept Him
as a good man. "We even assent that He was the
Son of God, the Saviour of the world." With
the conception of an abstract Christ, they bow
before His image, or reverently kneel at his al-
tars, and yet possess souls that are sinful and
hearts hardened with selfishness. What the
world needs is not a notion of an abstract Christ,
but the living Spirit of the living Christ enter-
ing into and having control of individual lives.
When Christ is permitted to enter the heart
and to relive His life in the daily activities of
men then shall He truly be the answer to every
social and spiritual question.

Nothing can substitute for the pure heart.
Germany tried every device. The things that
were material and could be handed down from
one generation to another she gathered together
and accumulated with her famed frugality. She
had sorted them out and classified them with
such patience and accuracy that men made pil-
grimages across the sea to behold the wonders

THE CUBE FOR WAR 65

of her business, mechanical and scientific at-
tainments. She had given herself to studious
application in developing the intellect until the
scholars of all nations gathered in her Universi-
ties, striving for her coveted degrees. Germany
became the shrine at which the world's scholar-
ship bowed in admiration. With wealth, organ-
ization, education, she should have been what
she prided herself upon being — a leader in
righteous and noble endeavor. She had every-
thing that this world has to offer as a substitute
for Christ but she made dismal failure, her name
a synonym for everything coarse, savage, vulgar
and degraded.

Education has no moral qualities and whether
a blessing or a curse to its possessor depends
entirely upon the nature of the heart that sup-
plies it with directing powers and forces that
give it expression. Idiots are never criminals,
they are not wise enough. The more highly edu-
cated a wicked man becomes the more danger-
ous may he be to his community. K pure heart
always brings forth good fruit and the higher
the degree of education, with this purity of
heart, the more valuable is the life to his neigh-
borhood and the nation.

66 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

The safety of Europe does not so much de-
pend upon the formation of the League of Na-
tions as it does upon a revival of religion that
shall sweep from nation to nation destroying
the brutish and barbarous instincts from their
hearts. To meet this crying need evangelical
Christianity should seek and pray for an endue-
ment of power that would send her forth to con-
tinental Europe as a flaming evangel.

The clean-cut living of so many of our sol-
diers, and especially, the noble, Christian men
and women associated in the work of the Young
Men's Christian Association and the Salvation
Army who in many instances came in the closest
possible relations with the people of France,
have sown the seed of a virile Christianity that
the churches should not be slow in harvesting.
The coming of our forces in their time of great
need has strengthened the friendly relations ex-
isting for so long between Italy and our coun-
try as a Protestant nation; which means that
the Evangelical churches of America have an
unprecedented opportunity to educate, uplift
and save many thousands of the Italians who
are eager to know the way of life.

THE CURE FOR WAR 67

When Madam Catherine Breshkovsky, the
sturdy little woman known in every nation as
"Babushky," the "little Grandmother of the
Russian Revolution" came to New York in Jan-
uary, 1919, she received a welcome, the like of
which any queen might well be proud. She was
a daughter of Russian aristocrats who held a
great number of serfs in subjection. Their pov-
erty and hardships appealed to her sympathies
while very early in life so that she soon became
a voice pleading for the heart-broken and op-
pressed of that mighty land. As an agitator
against autocratic Russia, her boldness and un-
compromising plainness of speech so inspired
the hatred of Czardom, that she was compelled
to spend thirty-two, of her seventy-three years
in dark dungeons and at hard labor in the Si-
berian mines. When the revolution, for which
she had so long been working finally came, one
of the first acts of the revolutionists was to wire
an order for her release. Everywhere, on her
way to Moscow and Petrograd, she was greeted
by the exuberant, childish joy of a newly deliv-
ered people and her journey was one trium-
phant march. At the meeting of the Russian
Provisional, Council in Petrograd, Kerensky

68 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

escorted her to the platform where she sat as
temporary chairman, and the delegates rose as
one man to cheer and honor her. The president
of the United States wired her a personal mes-
sage of congratulation. Her heart was filled
with gladness for the longed-for day of deliv-
erance, she earnestly believed, had dawned at
last.

Within a few weeks she saw her mistake and
was compelled to flee for her life, for the tyr-
anny of the Czar was being followed by the tyr-
anny of the Bolsheviki terrorism, which she
could neither endorse nor condone. Because she
refused to give her approval to their barbarous
excesses, she was threatened with graver dan-
ger than when openly defying the Czar. The
former despot only thrust into prison or sent
her to Siberia, the threat of the latter was to
cause her death. Only by riding on horseback
for over six hundred miles did she escape their
bloody hands.

Russia needed far more than a mere political
revolution. Disheartened by the pitiful wreck-
age of the revolution she had helped so heroic-
ally and at such tremendous cost, Babushky
came to America, pleading for funds that she

THE CUEE FOE WAE 69

might not only feed and train the millions of
war-made orphans, but that she might give her
people "the alphabet.' ' It was upon the igno-
rance and unreason of the peasants that Ger-
many sowed the seed that harvested in deadly
Bolshevism. Bowed down by centuries of op-
pression they were easily swayed to excess. Of
the Bolshevists she says :

"I do not know by what theory they work.
They seem only to possess the wish to do vio-
lence, to put the country under the power of the
Bolshevik leaders for their own gain. Eussia is
most corrupted. There is no work, no ethics, no
morals, no religion. Only Bolshevism. All Eus-
sia is destroyed by social wars. The people
have no chance to learn. We must send them
millions of books. My cry for Eussia is : Give
us alphabets ! ' '

Beholding the failure of one dream, that mar-
velous woman whom we all love and revere, is
looking for the salvation of the people through
education, not stopping to consider the fact that
the German nation was the centre of European
education and of brutal atrocities. Education
when the handmaiden of Christianity is a bless-
ing, but education without the power of Christ

70 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

to give it the right direction ends in corruption.
Bussia needs the ' ' alphabets ' ' but what she
needs most is a revival of religion such as once
saved England in her hour of peril. Green in
his History of England declares that that em-
pire was saved from the horrors of a French
Eevolution by the revivals of John Wesley.
Wherever there is a revival educational institu-
tions flourish and the young men and women de-
mand training for their intellects. The awak-
ened regenerated soul must learn "the alpha-
bet,' ' that is the open door through which he
may pass into the largest possible life. If Cath-
erine Breshkovsky depends solely upon educa-
tion, her second dream will end in just as piti-
ful and helpless wreckage.

This is the imperative call for missionary en-
deavor. It is the greatest challenge that the
church has ever received, and it should rally
to renewed efforts in world-wide conquests, but
not to the extent of blurring our vision of our
home needs.

Socialism, with the spirit of the Bolsheviki,
but apparently of milder temper because it has
not yet had an opportunity to carry on its work
of terrorism among us, is appealing to the ig-

THE CURE FOR WAR 71

norant and more or less vicious element of our
large industrial centres. It is antiChristian
and openly opposed to the church, working most
industriously by pen and voice, to keep its mem-
bership beyond all the ennobling influences of the
evangelical churches. They are materialist of
the basest sort. Spargo, on page 52 of his book
*~" Sidelights on Contemporary Socialism,"
says :

"In a word, it means that the main determin-
ing force in social evolution is the growth of
economic power and efficiency; that all intel-
lectual and spiritual progress is ultimately de-
pendent upon economic development. ' '

Bebel, the German socialist, accepted by all
socialists as an authority, on page 437 of his
book, "Woman and the Social Order," says:

"The religious organizations will gradually
disappear, and the churches with them. ' '

In "Social Unrest" a book by Professor
Brooks he reveals this fundamental principle of
Socialism by giving a quotation from Leib-
knecht.

"It is our duty as socialists to root out the
faith in God with all our zeal, nor is anyone

72 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

worthy of the name who does not consecrate
himself to the spread of atheism. ' '

A socialist's catechism circulated among the
children of foreign born parents contained the
following :

"Q. What is God?

"A. God is a word used to designate an im-
aginary being which people of themselves have
devised.

"Q. Is it true tEat God has ever been re-
vealed?

"A. As there is no God, he could not reveal
himself.

"Q. Has man an immortal soul, as Christians
teach?

"A. Man has no soul; it is only an imagina-
tion.

"Q. Did Christ rise from the dead, as Chris-
tians teach?

"A. The report about Christ rising from the
dead is a fable.

' i Q. Is Christianity desirable ?

"A. Christianity is not advantageous to us,
but is harmful, because it makes us spiritual
cripples All churches are impudent hum-
bugs.

THE CUEE FOR WAR 73

"Q. Should we pray?

"A. We should not. By prayer we only
waste time, as there is no God. If we are given
to prayer, we gradually become imbeciles. ' '

William D. Haywood, a socialist, in a public
gathering in New York City admitted boasting-
ly that, during a strike in Lawrence, Mass., he
had led the strikers through the streets under a
banner with this inscription :

"Arise slaves of the world?
No God; no master.
One for all and all for one ! ' '

Their docility of spirit in these trying times
is not due to peacefulness of heart or reverence
for law, but lack of numbers, ammunition and
opportunity. The spirit of Socialism is one
with the Bolshevik. Here are some quotations
from "The Call," extracts from the letters of
various contributors to this organ of Socialism
in New York City.

"To hell with your flag! When the red

flag floats above our homes and nation, we shall
honor it and love it, but until it does, we refuse
to recognize or respect any flag which is merely
the symbol of and protects some nation section
of international capitalism. Down with the

74 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

stars and stripes ! Up with the red flag of hu-
manity ! ' ' (Edition of February 10, 1912.)'

"Let us acknowledge the truth frankly, and
say that we carei not a peanut for the ethical
aspect of the question; let us admit that our
sole concern is the acquisition of political power.
Let us admit if crime (as defined by capitalist
law) and violence are calculated to further the
movement, we are prepared and willing to use
them — let us be honest.' ' (Edition of June 11,
1912.)

' ' Bankers of the world, unite ! Build the eco-
nomic foundations of a world state — a league of
nations. Internationalize yourselves ! Fly the
flag of your trade — the yellow flag of gold and
greed. We too are uniting! We too have our
international. We too have our flag — the red
flag of humanity and world brotherhood. You
are the privileged — we are the people. Some
day — some day, soon, the people are coming into
their own. ' ' (Edition of January 17, 1919.)

Mr. Berger, in the Social-Democratic Herald
of July 21, 1912, wrote:

"Therefore, I say, that each of the 500,000
Socialists and of the two million working men
who instinctively incline our way, should, beside

THE CUBE FOE WAE 75

doing much reading and still more thinking, also
have a good rifle and the necessary rounds of
ammunition in his home, and be prepared to
back up his ballot with his bullet, if necessary."

One of their leaders declared that he was
eager "to mount a barricade and fight like a
tiger. ' '

They decry an honest war as was America's
war against Germany, saying that bloodshed
was cruel and that brother laborer must not lift
hand against brother laborer, urge men not to
swear allegiance to the flag but to suffer im-
prisonment first, but they applaud the bloodshed
of the Eussian Bolsheviki, and as a caption on
the first page of one of their official organs they
have these words :

WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE !
YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT
YOUR CHAINS AND A WORLD TO GAIN.

Never has the appeal to the brute nature been
so insistent among the foreigners in America as
today. When Wisconsin ratified the Eighteenth
Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, making the United States and all of its
possessions bone dry, and the newsboys ran
through the New York streets heralding the

76 PROBLEM— OK OPPOETUNITY

good news: "Prohibition wins! All about the
nation going dry ! ' ' the saloon element immedi-
ately began to appeal to the baser nature of the
crowd saying significantly: "This will mean
revolution. Blood will be spilled before the
American people will submit to prohibition. ' '

On January 25, 1919, The New York Evening
Telegram published an article signed by one of
its own special correspondents, dated at Albany
the day that the New York Senate ratified the
Prohibition amendment, in which the following
quotation appeared :

"Officers, who refuse to give their names for
publication say, and it is an open secret, 'that
there is no telling what the people will do, when
they realize what has actually been put over on
them.' Some of the more bitter 'wets' have
gone so far as to say that they would be willing
to shoulder arms to defend their right to per-
sonal liberty, not so much because of their being
deprived of liquor, but because of the 'opening
wedge' which has been made by the passage of
such laws as this."

Dated New York, February 8, 1919, the Cen-
tral Federated Union of Greater New York and
Vicinity sent out the following letter :

THE CUBE FOR WAR 77

"To All 'Affiliated Unions and Organized La-
bor Generally, Greeting:

"Bone dry prohibition has been enacted into
law without the consent of the governed. Leg-
islatures have voted without consulting their
constituents, and in at least three instances
where the people have voted declared against
prohibition, California, Indiana and Massachu-
setts, the law-makers have deliberately cast
aside public opinion and the demands of the peo-
ple and sustained the bone dry amendment.

"The enforcement of prohibition means that
hundreds of thousands of wage-earners will be
discharged from employment and cast upon an
overcrowded labor market. Statistics recently
compiled show an enormous army of unem-
ployed, which is increasing daily.

"Aside from this serious aspect, the enact-
ment of a law that a majority does not want,
and had no say in formulating, the infringement
upon the individual liberty of American citizen-
ship, a minority dictating the mode of life and
guaranteed freedom, is a dangerous procedure
and if accepted without drastic protest, may
lead to even more damaging curtailment Ameri-
can's personal rights.

78 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

"The same powers and elements who worked
so persistently to enact this great wrong are
busily engaged in proposing legislation to pro-
hibit the use of tobacco in any form. All these
laws are primarily aimed at the working class.
The Central Federated Union of Greater New
York and Vicinity, after discussing this matter
very carefully, concluded that something had to
be done, and done quickly.

"We yield to no one, either individual or or-
ganization, in our contention that the organized
labor movement, and particularly this body and
its affiliations, comprising 350,000 members,
stood by the Government patriotically and en-
thusiastically during the war. The four Liberty
Bond issues were heartily responded to by the
Unions and their members. War Saving
Stamps were bought. The union members em-
braced gladly the call to arms, did their bit on
the firing line, and among those returning are
many who show wounds and general hard serv-
ice.

"In return for these sacrifices, the liberty and
freedom formerly enjoyed by these fighters for
democracy are crushed without an opportunity
to voice opinions or desires as free men.

THE CURE FOR WAR 79

"We paid for the high cost of living, appar-
ently without protest, to the delight of the prof-
iteers, and we shall shortly be called npon by the
legislators, who put us out of employment, to
pay an income tax on our earnings, to meet the
heavy expenses of the war.

"We have appealed through letters and by
committees to the lawmakers, the alleged repre-
sentatives of the people, but the appeal of the
workers fell upon deaf ears, and, while giving
us the glad hand, the knife was poised to be
buried to the hilt in our vitals.

"The Central Federated Union of Greater
New York and Vicinity desires to place the is-
sue squarely before every member of our union
and request his free and unbiased declaration to
the proposal that 'if the bone dry prohibition
law is really enforced on July 1, 1919, to then
cease work until this law is annulled. '

"Your union is urged to discuss this imme-
diately and officially report your decision, if
possible, within two weeks. Fraternally yours,

"Ekistest Bohn,
"Corresponding Secretary."

80 PROBLEM— OK OPPORTUNITY

This threatened "no beer, no work" strike
was first proposed by the Building Trade Coun-
cil of Newark which later secured the adoption
of the slogan by the Essex Trades Council of
the same city, representing about 75,000 trade
unionists in New Jersey. These organizations
called a strike for July first, if the sale of beer
were prohibited. There was considerable agita-
tion in certain quarters of our largest eastern
cities. On many of the street corners venders
were stationed displaying various propaganda
devices for sale. One of the most conspicuous
ones was a small beer mug, colored to represent
both beer and foam, and attached to a card or
ribbon bearing the device: "No Beer — No
Work." The strike, however, did not material-
ize, having been averted by far-sighted labor
leaders who saw the fatal error of fighting a
profitless battle for the liquor interests.

Defeated in this, the brute nature of those re-
sponsible for the liquor business revealed itself
in the mad boastings with which they pro-
claimed their ability to defy the justly enacted
laws, and sell liquor to the people.

The only way of overcoming this constant ap-
peal to brute force that lies buried in the breast

!

THE CUBE FOE WAR 81

of men, ever ready to spring and rend his fellow
man, is the power of Christ's gospel, and npon
the chnrches of America rests the responsibility
of meeting and conquering. Onr legislators
cannot do it for legislation cannot change the
unregenerate heart. We must not sit compla-
cently in our pews waiting for them to come to
us, but with the spirit of the twelve evangelists
who went forth from the upper room at Jeru-
salem, we must go forth to them with a burning
message from our hearts to theirs.

This is no plea for the present social order.
There are wrongs that must be righted and they
can be righted only by men with pure hearts.
To save the world from the bloodshed, terror-
ism and arrogant autocracy of the ignorant who
thirst for the blood of culture and religion,
which is being threatened by the atheistic, un-
American agitators, the church is the only
agent. Her message of Christ's gospel is all
sufficient, but the present church methods are
not sufficient. We must meet this need with the
evangelistic note, accompanied by the gathering
of the converts into the home gatherings and
spiritual training of our church organizations.

AMERICANISM

I

"^HIS war has declared and our soldiers
will insist that the hyphenated American
must go. We want nothing but one hun-
dred per cent. Americans if we as a nation are
to attain our full measure of power and would
wield the coveted influence for righteousness in
the deliberations of the world's councils. This
does not necessarily mean the repudiation of all
the rich heritages which the newly arrived citi-
zen brings from his birth-land, for, some of the
richest assets our government possesses are the
political ideals that the immigrants bring with
them to this land of hope and promise. We
must not forget that the "Mayflower Compact"
that afterwards developed into the Declaration
of Independence was written before its authors
ever touched the shores of the Western Hemi-
sphere. Immigrants have since come because
they were Americans in the old world and could
not find contentment until they had taken up
their abode this side the sea.

82

AMERICANISM 83

When the-Czechoslovaks paraded through the
streets of Cleveland, Ohio, at the beginning of
our war with Germany, two of their banners
bore these legions :

"We aee Americans through
and through by the spirit of our
own nation".

Americans, do not be discour-
aged; WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING
THESE TYRANTS FOR THREE HUN-
DRED YEARS.

The problem of our nation with many of our
immigrants is to keep them from being de-
Americanized by the anarchistic, socialistic, and
Bolsheviki organizations who wantonly magnify
every minute imperfection of our social life, and
enlarge upon the grievances of the laborer until
they begin to feel that the land of their dreams
is an illusion. Under this constant strain of
listening to distorted or exaggerated facts they
begin to believe that it is not a land of true
brotherhood but a country of harsh, unright-
eous, commercial competition. Through the
trickery of steamship agents, tenement house
landlords, the crude tactlessness of many of our

84 PEOBLEM— OK OPPOKTUNITY

officials, they become, as they say, "disillu-
sioned ' ' which is another word for discouraged.
Then they begin to nmtter some incoherent pro-
test, then become agitators where the sorrows
grow with the telling of them, until they become
malcontents who, after while join hands with the
revolutionary agents whose hatred for America
becomes more bitter with each effort of organ-
ized society to restrain, or help them.

Mr. Lajos Steiner of the War Trade Board
asserted to the Senate Propaganda Committee,
at Washington, D. C, that three of the greatest
agencies against Americanizing the immigrant
were:

First. The Transatlantic Steamship Com-
panies "who do not want their boats to return
empty to Europe, who realize that if those 17,-
500,000 immigrants who are at present in the
United States become American citizens, they
win stay here for good, and their return boats
will go to Europe empty or half filled. ' '

' ' These poor immigrants that I have in mind,
the Hungarian, the Italian and the Slav, are by
nature agriculturalists, ' ' continued Mr. Steiner,
' i and their dream is and always has been to own
land. Get them upon farms and they will de-

AMERICANISM 85

velop into the best and most reliable of Ameri-
can citizens. And the reason that they are not
on farms in great numbers is due to the Ameri-
can land sharks who have frightened the bulk
of them from agricultural ventures in the
United States by making them believe that it
was impossible to engage in agriculture in
America and survive. They are unmercifully
exploited by Steamship Companies, rent ex-
ploiters, landsharks, men interested in getting
the money from these people."

He might well have added to this the unscrup-
ulous Steamship Company advertising in
Europe in which the promised advantages of
America are proclaimed with a lavishness that
inflames the imagination with dreams and un-
warranted visions that can never be filled, with
the result through disappointment, he is most
intense in his bitterness toward the new coun-
try.

Second. Foreign Language Newspapers.

At the beginning of the war there were 1,575
publications printed in 38 foreign tongues.
There were 483 German papers with a circula-
tion of 3,000,000. The Italians had 190 publica-
tions with a circulation of about 1,000,000. The

86 PBOBLEM—OB OPPOETUNITY

Jews had but 156 publications but their circula-
tion amounted to 1,500,000. The Polish papers
numbered 97 with a circulation of 850,000.
There were Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Al-
banian and nearly every continental tongue.

Concerning them Mr. Steiner, in his report,
says : "I am sorry to say that most of them are
un-American and many of them are anti- Ameri-
can. They discourage the immigrant becoming
naturalized because, when Americanized, he
would learn English sooner or later, would read
the American papers, and the newspapers would
lose both subscribers and advertisers."

Third. One of the most important factors is
the clergy. The clergymen ' l speculate upon re-
migration. They are afraid that the members
of their congregations will join American
speaking churches, and they do all in their
power to preach old country traditions, and
keep alive their love for the Fatherland. They
draw salaries from their respective govern-
ments, and as we found in many instances, that
where it was impossible to buy a church out-
right, because loyal American immigrants had
established themselves and were well to do and
prosperous, and did not wish to come under the

AMEEICANISM 87

jurisdiction of the Government from which they
departed to come to the United States, then a
competing church has been erected in the very
same locality, and a subsidized, salaried clergy-
man was put in charge, so as to combat Ameri-
canism, and a school has been established and
maintained with a salaried teacher who will
preach only traditions of the old countries, and
will teach only the history and geography of the
respective countries from which they originally
came, and only the national anthems of the re-
spective European countries were sung, and
Americanism is combatted in these schools."

A newly developed problem is the great num-
ber of worthy aliens who are leaving our shores.
They came to America to get away from op-
pression. Their native lands, through the be-
nevolence of war, have been liberated, and they
long to return to their loved ones and help build
their new governments after the pattern and
spirit of America. It is another way in which
America is helping rebuild a world, but a costly
one7for these constitute among the best of our
alien population. Those to whom the old home
lands in their new struggles make no appeal are

88 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

generally non-government loving and they re-
main here for no worthy purpose.

The field is being caref ully studied by the Car-
negie Corporation, under ten distinct heads,
each department of research led by men of wis-
dom and distinction. These departments are:
1. Schooling of the Immigrant. 2. Press and
Theater. 3. Adjustment of Home and Social
Life. 4. Legal Protection and Correction. 5.
Health Standards and Care. 6. Naturalization
and Political Life. 7. Industrial and Economic
Amalgamation. 8. Treatment of Immigrant
Heritages. 9. Neighborhood Agencies and Or-
ganizations. 10. Eural Development.

It is a magnificent enterprise the wisdom of
which cannot be questioned. It will result in
creating some new, and encouraging many of
the older influences that are "potent in fusing
the foreign with the native born into national
solidarity. ' ' There are many agencies at work
looking toward the coming day when America
shall have but one language and one flag.

A large emphasis is justly being placed upon
education. "The first step" says Hon. Henry
J. Allen, Governor of Kansas, "toward Ameri-
canizing the foreigner is to wipe out illiteracy

AMEEICANISM 89

among our people. All persons to whom is ex-
tended the privilege of American citizenship
should come to speak our language, think our
thoughts, believe in our institutions and render
loyalty to our flag. ' '

That a large portion of the work is rightly
training the children of the immigrant rests
upon the school, we must not forget that the
evangelical churches have a grave responsibil-
ity. Our nation was founded upon the Bible,
and that Bible should be kept in the public
school, and every child taught to reverence it as
the Holy Word of God containing His revelation
to man. Men coming to this land should have
impressed upon them that the message stamped
so plainly upon our coins for which they came
to toil, is the vital truth that underlies the suc-
cess and strength of our country, and is primary
to Americanism. "We do trust in God and we
turn to God's Book for our daily guidance. Be-
cause we have this trust and faith in the Al-
mighty that led Israel from bondage to a land of
liberty and freedom, we have the safest haven of
refuge that the world possesses. Here is liberty
for all who will respect it, and freedom of thought
and action so long as these thoughts and acts

90 PROBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

are in accord with the welfare of the whole peo-
ple. This nation is not perfect but the greater
number of its imperfections lie in the careless-
ness with which we have been interpreting the
life and teachings of Christ. This is the reason
why an added emphasis should be placed upon
an earnest study of God's Word, and a revival
of spirituality that would stir men every where
to know the will of God concerning them and
their neighbors. "When this is done all the evils
will perish. We are a Christian nation. Our
future rests in the hands of the evangelical
churches that founded it and made glorious its
future. We must rescue our immigrants from
the teachings of godless infidelity, setheistic so-
cialism, and ignorant, anarchistic Bolsheviki
teachers and agitators. To do this the church
must be at the docks, among the tenements and
on the street corners where men congregate with
a message that burns its way into their hearts
because it comes from hearts aflame with zeal
for God. To have such workers the churches
must be awake and alive with earnest zest for
God and those whom Christ came to save.

VII

NOT BEVOLUTION. BUT REVIVAL

FASHIONS change in the realm of think-
ing, and are oft-times as fickle and gro-
tesque as the style of women's costumes.
Not long ago the prevailing fad was Germany's
New Theology which discredited the genuine-
ness and authenticity of the Bible as well as dis-
carding the Deity of the Lord Jesus. Many
able and devout men were swept from their feet.
With the confidence that is born in one who be-
lieves that he has possession of a newly discov-
ered truth, great men became exponents of the
German school, unconscious of the fact that in
Europe the doctrines they advocated were fast
sweeping the world to its most hideous of grew-
some wars. The fad is fast passing away and
men of vision are seeing, as never before, that
an open Bible, revealing a Divine Saviour is the
only hope of this sin and sorrow smitten world.
We are discarding the German fads and coming
back to the things worth while. Instead of revo-

91

92 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

lution in philosophical thinking we are coming
back to a revival of truths Apostolic.

Now, in these days, when "Eeconstruction"
is being so much discussed, the fashionable
thing is to become radical and pose, in words at
least, as greatly desiring a revolution; a gen-
eral upheaval of all existing order, the product
of centuries of sacrificial toil, and the general
reassembling of these wrecked pieces into some
indefinite, but highly fantastic government of,
for and by the rabble. Men and women, many
of whom are leaders in education and religion,
are being carried away by the glamor of bright-
ly painted words and are advocating in college
chair and orthodox pulpit, that which, in final
analysis, is nothing but a sugar-coated social-
ism or camouflaged Bolshevism. Instead of
dwelling upon the constructive forces that rem-
edy the evils, effect reforms and strengthen the
entire social order, bringing greater joy and
richer privileges to all divisions of men, they
are placing emphasis upon the defects, contrib-
uting to the restlessness and uneasiness of the
world, encouraging discontent, and, by their
veiled predictions and adroit insinuations of
the coming time of terrible, upheaving, class

NOT EE VOLUTION: BUT REVIVAL 93

war-fare, they are carefully preparing the
minds of their audiences for the more direct and
brutal attacks of the less cultured agitators,
who, in the form of a Lenine, a Trotzky or a
Bela Kun, have laid in ashes the most coveted
treasures of civilization.

To preach discontent, unrest and the neces-
sity of a mighty upheaval in order to right the
present existing social wrongs is not only un-
patriotic but highly inconsistent with our Chris-
tian faith. The revolution that the socialists, I.
W. "W. leaders and Bolsheviki are endeavoring
to bring to pass, in the light of 1776 is found to
be, not revolution as we understand the word,
but the vilest of nihilistic devolution. It is not
for the building of nations and freeing of peo-
ples, but the most violent of anarchy. Where-
ever it has had its way churches are desecrated,
their altars corrupted by vilest deeds, their
clergy tortured before assassinated, the popu-
lace, men, women and children, slain by thou-
sands for no other reason than that they are
suspected of being anti-Bolsheviki. Russia un-
der their rule, presents the most ghastly picture
of modern history. Peasants have been killed
3,000 and 4,000 at a time, and thrown into rivers

94 PKOBLEM— OB OPPOETUNITY

or ravines like beasts, and there is no one to ask
indemnity for the women and children left alone
in burned villages to die from hunger and cold.

This is what socialism and its kindred " isms"
are landing as a glorious victory for the com-
mon people, and which they are secretly plot-
ting for in America, and publicly confessing,
at the close of every one of their letters when
they write, " Yours for the revolution. ' '

This is wThat the leaders of education and re-
ligion encourage wThen they advocate the upset-
ting of the present order. For a clergyman to
be guilty of this is to place himself with the
early maligners of the Christian church who
charged Jason and " certain brethren" before
the city rulers, as being those "who turned the
world upside down. ' '

That utterance was a lie, for Christianity has
never turned the world "up side down." The
one purpose of God and those whom he has hon-
ored as his ambassadors, has been to keep the
world ' l right side up ' ' and to prevent infidelity
and ignorant atheism from tearing the whole
social order to pieces. Christianity does not
condone sin, it condemns it. Christianity does
not tolerate sin, it destroys it. Christianity

NOT EE VOLUTION: BUT EEVIVAL 95

does not stand for slavery or oppression, it
stands for liberty and moral freedom. Chris-
tianity stands for all that the world and lovers
of men can ask, bnt its methods are not what onr
modern social workers call revolutionary.

The cure for the world lies in a mighty re-
ligious revival. The fact that Evangelical
Christianity is that in the simple gospel of
Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour, can be
found the complete and proven answer for every
problem of the spiritual and social life. In this
gospel we have food for the world's hunger,
shelter for the world's outcasts, hope for a
world's sorrow and distress. The Church is the
leader of the world's reforms. To God's chil-
dren is given the mightiest of all world-wide
undertakings. In the gospel of Christ, that is
able to remake every sinful heart and recreate
every sin-polluted soul, is the mightiest force of
the universe. To turn aside from preaching
that, the greatest of all messages, and to dwell
upon the sordid ills of human conditions, and
predict a new order suddenly arising from some
cataclysmic, man-made, upheaval, thus giving

strength to the enemies of the Church and
7

96 PROBLEM— OR OPPOETUNITY

Righteousness is a frightful betrayal of a most
holy trust.

What the world needs is not a revolution but
a revival. K revival in the hearts of the church
membership that shall bring it to a sense of
what it means to be partakers of the divine na-
ture as Peter so urgently insisted upon. A re-
vival in the hearts of the clergy that shall re-
establish it, and give it a burning message of
the cursedness of sin and the glories of Christ's
redemption.

The steadying power of God is what the world
needs, then will reforms come and wrongs be
righted. To be persuaded of this the world
must have positive preaching. The pulpit has
no right whatever to distribute doubts and sow
discord in an already fitful, restless world. Hu-
manity is truly a storm tossed sea but a re-
ligious leader should not permit the waves to
toss and unsettle him, but, because he is the
child of God, should walk steadily and unfalter-
ingly as Christ showed how on Galilee. A!
panic stricken multitude has never been calmed
by its leader crying "Fire"! £ voice, calmed
and steadied by the spiritual secret of how to
quiet both the stormy sea and panic-smitten

NOT BE VOLUTION: BUT EEVIVAL 97

heart, is the supreme need, and one which every
man of God, within and without the pulpit, has
the power to use. It comes, not through men's
philosophies, but by simply yielding one's self
obediently unto God. Theories about God,
Christ and the Holy Spirit avail nothing and
the congregation is, as a general rule, the worse
for having heard them ; but when he, as an ear-
nest soul, yields himself entirely to the will of
God and is willing to put the promises of God
to personal test, then the preacher has no lack
of themes and the world, through him, finds the
longed for remedies for its sins.

Gypsy Smith, one of the chief est of God's
loyal stewards, once said to Alexander Mac-
laren, that " prince of preachers," "I have
never heard you preach any of the uncertain-
ties." The great Scotch preacher turned to-
ward the young evangelist, and Gypsy Smith
says that his large blue eyes shone like ''two
lakes kissed by the sun" as he said: "I never
preach anything that I have not proved.1'

There is the secret for meeting the present
opportunity. The only unanswerable argu-
ments are those based upon personal experi-
ence. Incredulous scoffers may ask puzzling

98 PEOBLEM— OB OPPOKTUNITY

questions as did tlie Pharisee of the man born
blind. He had little schooling and a philosoph-
ical discussion would have caused him to stam-
mer and fail. He had not had a long experience
but he had had a vital one. There were many
things that he did not know but there was on©
thing that he did know and by sticking to that
he revealed the genius of great preaching:
"Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not : but
one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now
I see." He won by preaching a positive mes-
sage and he was positive because he had put
Christ to the test.

Preaching Christ is the broadest and most
comprehensive methods of procedure for that
simple story includes all things. In one moment
it destroys an evil habit that science in a life
time could not cure, but rather made the worse.
It takes the foulest mind and instantly purifies
and cleanses it to the whiteness of a virgin soul.
The despondent soul comes to Christ, and finds
hope's rainbow arching every cloud, until both
cloud and rainbow fade into the splendor of a
new-born day. The sorrowful find comfort.
Hatred that might have slain another becomes
love so true that it would gladly die to give an-

NOT EE VOLUTION: BUT EEVIVAL 99

other life. Children are safely sheltered, while,
before the gospel 's keen-edged sword, iniquities
perish and the world is freed from blighting
curse. Where it is preached is found the high-
est form of government with just and righteous
laws. The much-to-be-desired safety of the
world will come, not at the command of the ad-
vocates of unrest and discontent, but through
the influence of those who tell the story of Christ
and him crucified.

This is no new truth. It is as old and there-
fore as powerful as its Author. Paul felt it
when he entered Eome. Possessing a scholar-
ship unsurpassed, his utterances have stood the
test of centuries. Entering the heathen city of
Eome with its great social problems and puz-
zling philosophies he felt that it would require
more than man's hand and strength to liberate
the surf, to uproot prejudices and reconstruct
the social order, but he was not swept from his
feet. He had a message that had stood the test
and been proven. Looking at the proud, sinful
people whom he pitied and would win for his
Master he sounded forth the battle cry: "I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is
the power of God."

100 PBOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITT

A tottering world needs more than the puny-
arm of human philosophy to support it — it
needs the power of God. To preach it knowing
that it is the hope and the only hope of man is
the greatest of all missions. Preached with ear-
nestness it takes lodgment in human hearts and
men become convicted of sin and can find no
rest until they cry aloud: "What must I do to
be saved f ' ' Then can we say with the mighty
preacher of old: "Believe on the Lord Jesus

Christ and thou shalt be saved, and THY

HOUSE.' ' God's plan is from the individual
to the home, from the home to the government,
for the homes make the nation.

VIII
AN ALL BOUND MINISTEY

EVANGELISM is the salvation of the
churches. The church without a passion
for saving the lost is little, if any better,
than an ethical society or fraternal organiza-
tion. The church differs from all other institu-
tions in that its prime objective is to seek for
and bring into its fellowship those who are
counted unworthy by all other organizations
and, by leading them to know our Lord and
Master who is the Head of the church, make
them worthy to be received into all or any other
organization on earth.

The fact that the church building has been
dedicated to Christ with elaborate ceremony
availeth nothing. The golden cross upon the
tower; the crucifix above the altar; the repre-
sentations of Christ in the stained glass of the
windows are of little more value than the influ-
ence that their artistic value may prove to the
sensitive soul. Stately music edifies and often
inspires to worship but in itself is of little value

101

102 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

in the great strife. These are means that should
be used to an end, and that end is, to lead the as-
sembled individuals to the point where they will
yield their lives to the Spirit of Christ and dedi-
cate themselves fully to a life of rescuing the
perishing. Without this Spirit the individual
church organization is only a social club tend-
ing toward spiritual development, without much
visible fruit for the effort. To live the Christ
life is more than to confess His name — it is to
permit Him to relive His earthly life in us, so
that His conception of life will be our concep-
tion of life and His objective will be the one ob-
ject of all our endeavors. His one purpose on
earth was to redeem a world. All other
thoughts were cast aside upon the Mount of
Temptation. For this cause He forsook His
home and loved ones at Nazareth, endured
weariness, braved dangers, smiled at discom-
fort, bowed to suffering, carried the cross,
prayed for the soldiers who murdered Him, and
smiled in death because the pains of the cruci-
fixion were forgotten in the joy of pardoning a
penitent thief. Upon the Mount of Transfigura-
tion the one theme of the returning Prophets
was the ransom of sinners. The last words of

AN ALL BOUND MINISTRY 103

the ascending Christ were, "go preach and bap-
tize."

The objection is sometimes raised to appeals
for evangelism that the chnrch has other func-
tions than just seeking for the lost all the time,
that there are the saints who must be ministered
nnto and edified. This is indeed an important
part of the preacher's task and privilege, but
what can be more edifying to any saint than a
world vision such as Christ possessed and would
have us own. Eeligious teachings are valueless
unless they are put to practical individual use.
Should the saints be edified with discourses on
the uses, power and privileges of prayer? Cer-
tainly. Then let them have more than the words
of the most helpful sermon, let the pastor pro-
pose a definite line of activity that can succeed
only through much earnest prayer and teach
them to use this wonderful key to the store-
houses of God's infinite power and love. Out-
line a campaign of prayer. Furnish the people
with prayer cards and persuade them to fill
these cards with names of the unsaved who
ought to be led to Christ. Urge upon them to
pray for these people morning and night and
they will find, through this intercessory prayer,

104 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

a spiritual edification surpassing that of anyj
sermon on prayer.

Should the saints be comforted with thoughts
of heaven ? Certainly. Comfort them with the
thoughts of that abiding place which Christ is
preparing for all those who love Him. But let
them know that heaven's greatest joy, outside
of meeting Christ and their departed friends
will be the meeting of those whom they have led
to Christ. They must not be permitted to enter
heaven empty handed. The failure of the
church to present the program will be their eter-
nal loss.

Should they be strengthened by being taught
about the power of a conquering faith? Cer-
tainly. By faith are we saved. We "walk by
faith." We enter "by faith into this grace
wherein we stand.' ' We "live by faith of the
Son of God." "Without faith it is impossible
to please God." But when is faith so trium-
phant and glorified as when exercised by some
righteous soul, it has lifted a life that the world
called hopeless, and brought it to the redeem-
ing, saving power of God ! A true pastor must
lead his people to a faith like that. "And when
they were come, and had gathered the church

AN ALL BOUND MINISTRY 105

together, they rehersed all that God had done
for them, and how he had opened the door of
faith unto the Gentiles. ' ' (Acts 14 : 27. ) Faith
must open the hitherto tightly barred doors.

Should they be encouraged to give testimony?
Certainly. "And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their tes-
timony : and they loved not their lives unto the
death." (Rev. 12: 11.) To know the fullness
of God's power one must proclaim his faith in
Christ by word of lip, as well as by deed of
daily life. But the testimony that counts most
in heaven is not the one uttered in the closed
room to a small group of others who trust
Christ, although this is not without its reward,
it is the testimony of those who loved not their
lives unto death. The testimony uttered amid
the laughter and jeers of worldliness, uttered
against difficulties and oppositions by those who
dared to brave death for the sake of proclaim-
ing Christ their Saviour. "We must not forget
to lay emphasis upon the last clause of this won-
derful verse that so beautifully opens the gate
of heaven for us to look through. "They loved
not their lives unto the death."

106 PROBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

Should they be taught the secret for overcom-
ing temptation? Certainly. Temptations are
overcome the moment we cease giving them
thought room. By "the compulsive power' 9 of
a great purpose or love, many men have tri-
umphed over their besetting sins. If one keeps
busy about his Father 's business, a long life of
victorious living lies before him.

Development demands exercise. All round
development requires all round exercises. This
is not possible in the regular routine of our
modern church life. Evangelism is needed for
perfection of development. Evangelism is not
narrow. It is not the exercising of one group
of faculties and thus developing lopsided char-
acter. It is the uniting of all the spiritual
powers and attributes in one great enterprise
that gives perfect development to each and
rounds out the entire life and character to the
greatest possible perfection. Christ's program
is a perfect, all-around program, having in mind
the perfection of all who yield themselves to
Him.

IX
WHAT CHEIST EXPECTS OF US

THE churches of America should never
have consented to close their doors dur-
ing the winter of 1917-18 so long as the
theaters and moving-picture houses were per-
mitted to keep open. Fuel was precious but not
valuable enough to be saved at such a cost. In-
stead of yielding to the demand, it would have
been far more patriotic for the churches to have
insisted upon their right, basing their conten-
tion upon the ground that they have been a
greater contribution to the nation than the
places of worldly amusement. Whenever the
fuel situation became so acute that the hundreds
of large playhouses that had to be kept warm
seven days out of the week were compelled to
keep closed then the church would gladly yield
her rights to an open house on the Sabbath day,
but not until then.

The act of compelling the churches to close
while some of the theaters were producing plays
that made light of sacred things and poured

107

108 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

contempt upon religion, was accepted by many;
as the national rating of the church. It ap-
peared to many that, in the eyes of our national
leaders, the church occupied a place of less value
than the theater. The tired out people must
have amusement, therefore the playhouses were
a necessity, but the church has so little value to
the social world that, in times of stress, it may
be considered as something nonessential. That
such a deduction is positively unfair must be,
conceded by all who are acquainted with the
lives and characters of the men at the head of
our national affairs, but it will require many
months of honest endeavor to blot out the er-
roneous impression that, after all, the church is
not important.

The pulpit is the most important institution
in our national and social life, and even, in
times of war, should not wave its place, or per^
mit itself to be looked upon as merely a plat-
form for proclaiming national propaganda.
The church has a spiritual message to the souls
of men which she needs never, under any cir-
cumstances, omit, and for which she never
should have an apology. The world expects us
to be faithful and honest to our trust. A great

WHAT CHRIST EXPECTS OF US 109

Bishop was invited to preach to a group of
American officers located in a famous French
camp. Believing that these soldiers would not
care to hear the gospel, he gave a very carefully
prepared address upon the merits of various
Pan-American interests, something "to appeal
to military men." At the close of the service
one of the officers said to a secretary of the
Young Men's Christian Association: "Why in
hell didn 't he give us the gospel ! That is what
we expected to hear from a Bishop. We need
that far more than a talk of military affairs."

That the pulpit should not be slow in uttering
every possible wore! that would stir the hearts
of his people to heroic patriotism, and to sup-
port every movement that had for its purpose
the assisting of our soldiers on battlefield or in
hospital cot, none will deny. The magnificent
service rendered thus by the church of America
will always glow upon the pages of American
history, but the doing of these things should not
exclude the greater service that it must render
the nation. Even our worst critics expect us to
stand four-square in regard to our attitude to
the spiritual truths as revealed in the inspired
Word of God. One of our great divines whose

110 PBOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

books, when he confined himself to the things
eternally fundamental to all spiritual living,
were of inestimable value to the church but who,
in a later volume, left these essential verities, to
discuss the ethics of war, in which appears the
following statement :

"The proper thing to say to a conscientious
objector is not a quotation from the book of
Nehemiah but a few passages from the lips of
Woodrow Wilson. He is our leader, and we
have a right to expect God to speak to us
through him. ' '

A critic who, throughout his writings reveals
a spirit antagonistic to the church says of this :
"Apparently, then, the divine right of Kings
has passed into the divine inspiration of Presi-
dents ; and for a (mentioning the de-
nomination of the author referred to) this is, as
the English would say, 'Coming it rather
strong. '

' ' This is the penalty Dr. — has to pay

for his attempt to reconcile his prewar pacifism
with his later advocacy of the war ; it is always
difficult to square the circle. Not that he is not
altogether honest and very brave. But he is
forever haunted by the past, and he gives us the

WHAT CHEIST EXPECTS OF US 111

impression that he is trying to stand four-square
with what he said before the war and at the
same time say that that does not apply to this
particular case. This does not make for sound
thinking. ' '

Saying that it might have been better for the
church itself if it had been closed with the dec-
laration of war, the critic, referring to the
churches of today continues : c l There is neither
vision nor prophetic word. The pulpit is en-
veloped in a dense fog."

This criticism was not made of Dr. Jowett or
of many other earnest preachers who forgot not
the one theme that appeals forever to the hearts
of men. Men, everywhere, expect the pulpit to
ring true on things eternal.

The graduate of an eastern college, a young
man holding an important position in govern-
ment service, who had been regular in his at-
tendance of the Sunday hours of worship, after
the war began, ceased to attend divine worship.
When urged by members of his home to attend
the morning service with them replied that it
was useless for him to go, that he had heard and
read about the war all week and he wished to be

freed from it on Sunday mornings. He was per-
8

112 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

suaded to attend a church service where a very-
noted divine was announced to preach. His ser-
mon proved to be a plea for women to engage
in knitting during the course of which he said :

1 ' This war is a revival of religion. A sacrifice
is a sacrifice whether it be great or small.
Christ died upon the cross — that was a sacrifice.
A woman giving up her social engagements to
roll bandages for soldiers is a sacrifice, and per-
haps just as great a sacrifice as Christ dying
upon the cross.' '

• ' There, ' ' said the young man, ' ' is the spirit-
ual food a young man receives today. From
such as that I am expected to derive strength to
meet temptation. A society woman rolling
bandages may be doing more for the world than

Christ"

Through his college training the young man
is practically a Unitarian in belief, but he ex-
pects the preacher to ring true in his teachings.
So long as God makes men with hearts that long
will the gospel have the supreme place in the
social and national life. The doors of the church
should never be closed, the pulpit should know
Christ and Him crucified.

WHAT IS KELIGION?

WHAT is it to be religious?
It is far more than is included in
many of the answers submitted by fa-
mous teachers of religion. One will turn to the
Old Testament and quote: "It is to do justice
and love mercy and to walk humbly before
God, ' ' and very much of true religion is included
in these words of the ancient man of God. An-
other teacher will turn to the New, Testament
and quote : ' ' True religion and undefiled before
God and the Father is this, To visit the father-
less and widows in their affliction, and to keep
himself unspotted from the world. ' ' This verse
encloses a vast field of righteous activity that
challenges the best in every heart. Another will
say: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind, and with all thy strength, and thy
neighbor as thyself." This is a great task and
a wonderful privilege, but wTas never intended
by the Master to be a definition of religion. It

113

114 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

is a summary of the commandments, covering
ones relationship with God, his neighbor and
himself. He must love all three, placing God
first, himself and his neighbor equally.

When a man comes, tired of his sins and sick
of his old life, and asks us the way to God, what
shall we tell him?

Tell him " to do justice, love mercy, and walk
humbly before God," for that is religion, and
what will be his answer ? Instantly he will look
up and say : l i But how can I, a sinner, do these
things?' J Perhaps his besetting sin is dishon-
esty. He has robbed and stolen by force or cun-
ning and every cent that he possesses is stained
with the red blood of its rightful owner. Can
he undo his old nature and do justly, simply be-
cause he is requested to do so? He may desire
to, but will his old nature permit him ? Perhaps
he has been domineering and cruel. Every fibre
of mind and soul is for self at the sacrifice of an-
other. He is tired of it all but can he quit when
his whole nature cries out for these things the
moment a new opportunity arises! How can
one walk humbly before God, when he is arro-
gant and proud by nature f Can he remake him-
self?

WHAT IS KELIGION? 115

Perhaps he has been impure. Passions flame
and his inner life is a leper 's camp, how can he
keep himself unspotted from the world? Is
there a man strong enough to make himself love
that which, by nature he hates ? Are the natu-
ral heart affections instantly changed at the
command of the will? Can you make yourself
love a person or God?

These quotations used so often as definitions
of religion are only pictures of Christian con-
duct. Eeligion is not a change of clothing, the
acceptance of a new intellectual conception of
life and one's relations with man and God, it is
not church membership or partaking of sacra-
ments, it is but one thing — a new life — made
possible by a spiritual rebirth — the reconstruc-
tion of life in every phase and purpose, because
the heart, the inner life, has been reconstructed
by the power of God.

Men must be remade and the supreme purpose
of the church is to proclaim the good tidings
that this remaking is possible for every indi-
vidual, high, low, rich, poor, educated, ignorant,
mystic, materialist, emotional, liberal minded,
conservative. Amid the world's strife and tur-
moil to proclaim the message: "I am not

116 PBOBLEM--OK OPPOBTUNITY

ashamed of the gospel of Christ : for it is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth."

If we as leaders will only leave the winding,
confusing unending labyrinths of our own philo-
sophical thinking where we become obscured in
murkey fogs and come back to our text books of
elementary psychology we would readily see the
vital necessity for such a message as the Bible
charges us to give to a world that everyone ad-
mits has gone wrong.

No man is able to save himself. The human
will is not strong enough to lift a man out of his
own appetites and passions. Eesolutions are
broken as soon as made. The cry of every such
soul is: "Oh that I might get away from my-
self!" There is the rub. The trouble is not
that there is something from without that bears
down and crushes. The problem is always the
problem of self. Suicide is not an effort to get
away from environment but a vain struggle to
"get away from myself."

He cannot educate himself away from the evil
for scholarship only supplies the colors with
which the sinful heart paints still more damag-
ing pictures of sin.

WHAT IS RELIGION? 117

Others cannot cure him. Friends may allay
his thirst, satisfy his hunger, afford shelter,
give consolation in sorrow and encouragement
in hours of disheartedness, but neither friend-
ship nor love can change the stony heart. If the
love of one could transform the heart of an-
other, then a mother's love would rebuild and
recreate every prodigal son of the world today.

Good environment can lift many a crushing
burden from childhood's shoulders and widen
the horizon for many a cramped, disheartened
soul, so that they may face a future filled with
promise, but the dregs of society today consists
largely of individuals who spent their childhood
hours in good homes surrounded by song, and
art, and music, who would not be bound by these
beautiful things, and, breaking away, fell into
helpless disgrace.

He can neither apprehend nor enjoy God be-
cause he has not the capacity for these things.
"But the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God : for they are foolishness
unto him : neither can they know them, because
they are spiritually discerned." (I Cor. 2 : 14.)
'All the preaching in the world will not quicken
his apperception in spiritual matters until he is

118 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

first converted. To tell a man to love God and
be saved, is folly for no sinner, -with unregener-
ate heart, can learn to love God. "Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us,
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. (I John 4: 10.) "We love him because
he first loved us. ' ' (I John 4 : 19. )"

If love for God had been the condition by
which you and I should have been redeemed we
could not be in the fold today. The sinner does
not love God, but because God loves the sinner,
he may come, just as he is without one plea but
that the blood was spilled for him, and God ac-
cepts, receives, and he is no longer the old man,
but the new man in Christ Jesus.

Salvation demands a definite act of the indi-
vidual will in self-surrender, and cannot be be-
stowed by another. How inconsistent the re-
ported act of Father Brady of the Fifth Ma-
rines who, a few moments before the zero hour,
turned toward the German lines and "gave ab-
solution to the Teutons in front' ' and then
turned to the Marines ready to spring over the
top saying: "I have given them absolution!
Now, men, go get 'em!" Salvation is not man

WHAT IS EELIGION? 119

bestowed and unconsciously received; it is a
God given experience.

The new birth comes first, then follow the ex-
periences which men oft times mistake for re-
ligion, and think that the doing of them is the
key to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Other religions workers speak of the sinful
soul as if it were the blank sheet of paper to
which Locke incorrectly compared the childish
intellect. They speak as though it only required
a conscious effort to erase all that has been
written and to write whatever they may choose.
They do not know human nature. They have
never studied the human heart. Their philoso-
phy is only brain deep. A man abandons sin
only when he uses his will in the act of a com-
plete and unconditional surrender to Christ and
welcomes the Spirit of Christ within his heart.
The old man must die. This was the secret of
Paul's conversion as he himself testifies : "I am
crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live ; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life that
I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the
Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for
me." (Gal. 2: 20.)

XI

ENCOUEAGEMENTS ABUNDANT

T I ^HE world is looking expectantly toward
the churches for their answer to the rid-
icule and sarcasm that has been heaped
upon them by a world that believes that the
church has failed to make good during the war.
A British General attached to a mission in
Washington is said to have replied to the inter-
rogation, "What is the church accomplishing
during the war?" "I am afraid that the dear
old church has missed the 'bus this time.' "

The coming of the war was pronounced the
doom and destruction of Christianity. Blatant
infidelity and atheistic socialism paraded the
thoroughfares declaring triumphantly: "The
Church is a failure !" The cheaper magazines
lent themselves to the discussion of the "pass-
ing of Christianity" because the large, sensa-
tional headlines created the needful curiosity to
insure large sales of those particular editions.

Upon the Church which was never intended to
be the ruler of men's temporal affairs, was

120

ENCOUEAGEMENTS ABUNDANT 121

heaped all the abuse and calumny, while that
goodly number of most eminent statesmen of all
lands whose task it was to guide the affairs of
men in paths of peace, and upon whom the war
swept down with the suddenness and swiftness
of an avalanche, are left without criticism.
Science, when prostituted by men of evil heart,
is left uncondemned; while the futility of cul-
ture and education to save a world from war-
fare was never even hinted at. All the blame,
and calumny, and slander was heaped upon the
church.

Why?

Because the evil-minded workers of iniquity,
who are the real instigators of this abuse, have
always looked upon the church, with her white
banners of purity and righteousness, as their
most dangerous foe. Science can be prosti-
tuted, so that instead of being a servant to
serve, it can become a demoniacal monster to
destroy happiness and homes. Education can
be utilized by baseness to sharpen her weapons
and increase her shrewdness in carrying out her
bastard plans. Eeligion alone has stood the
fiery test, and the world is now looking to see if

122 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

she shall emerge from the furnace without the
smell of smoke upon her garments.

This is most encouraging. An orator has half
won the battle when his audience is expectant.
It makes no difference whether his audience be
friendly or antagonistic, he has half won his
battle, if they are waiting expectantly for his
first word. The rest of the victory depends
largely upon what that first word is.

The world is waiting to see what the Church
will say first.

If she whines, if she tries to argue, if she
speaks in an apologetic tone, she has lost all. If
she speaks with a voice of authority a message
that has to do with the hearts and consciences of
men, if she smites sin with mighty stroke and
points the sinful to their mighty Deliverer, then
shall she hold her place as the rightful leader of
men.

The unrest of the social world is also an en-
couragement. When men are satisfied with
themselves and their surroundings, the work of
the prophet is hard and profitless. When men
are not at ease, but tossed about by mighty
problems that concern themselves, his home and

ENCOURAGEMENTS ABUNDANT 123

their nation, then are hearts open to the words
of God. Such is the universal condition today.

Never was organized labor so restless and
dissatisfied. The whole world threatens to be
enveloped by united strikes. The roar and tu-
mult of the battlefield is giving way to the more
ominous, deathlike silence of deserted work-
shops where the wheels have stopped and the
fires burned down in the furnaces.

The business leaders of the world, upon whom
the permanent prosperity of labor rests, faces
depressed markets, unable to move intelligently
because of the long deferred action on the part
of those delegated to bring lasting peace to the
nations.

There are wrongs, great monstrous wrongs
that men say must be righted. No honest stu-
dent can deny their hideous reality. Long years
ago they could have been easily crushed beneath
an honest application of Christ's faultless
truths — it is a harder struggle, for, while the
church slept, these wrongs have bred and multi-
plied and trained themselves in a hellish, damn-
ing cooperativeness, that feels confident that it
is mighty enough to blot out of existence, the
church which they so thoroughly despise.

124 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

These are tremendous times !

Thrones totter crushing their rulers beneath
them and none stoop to pick up their bent and
mis-shapen crowns. Wronged human beings,
ignorant because they have been denied educa-
tion ; brutish, because they have known nothing
but oppression ; cruel, because they have fought
for existence amid the putrid bodies of those
who had starved to death ; maddened and fren-
zied because of the unutterable hideousness of
it all, have taken up the fallen scepters and,
drunk with the blood of their one-time oppres-
sors, they are threatening the foundation of all
good governments. None have expressed it bet-
ter than the gifted writer, Angela Morgan,

1 ' Yea with these eyes have I looked on the depth of hell
Where men and women, better under the sod —
Men and women, made in the likeness of God —
Eotted in filth and poverty and disease,
While wealth went by in its golden ease.
Answer world! When shall we fight for these?
Which of you shall spring to the people's plight?
Answer soldiers! You who are trained to fight ?"

There is an encouraging restlessness in the
world today and no wonder that in the same
poem we find these words :

ENCOURAGEMENTS ABUNDANT 125

"Yea I believe in armies, weaponed by nobler laws,
Marching straight
To the enemies' gate
To fight the human cause.
Searching the leprous places
Where sin and pestilence hide.
"Where the real foe of the race is,
To smite the leer from the faces
Of Privilege, Lust and Pride.
Hail men of the future!
The world's real patriots ye;
Above the dead
I hear your tread
That sets the people free!
And I hear the fife, and I hear the drum,
I hear the shouting wherever you come,
And I see the glory in your face
Who march to save the race.

Justice shall be your weapon, and Truth the bomb you hurl,
Flag of united nations the banner you unfurl.
Hail men of the present — do I hear your answering cry?
1 Here am I ! Here ami!'"

Another element of encouragement, that
should stimulate the church to enthusiastic en-
deavor, is that, in spite of the cruelty and hard-
heartedness of war, men's hearts are tender.
The first time that I was subjected to German
fire was when I was acting as a hut secretary at
Beaumont, a little village on the advanced por-
tion of the Toul sector. The few shattered walls

126 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

remaining of that once prosperous French vil-
lage were lying at the foot of Montsec, then oc-
cupied by the enemy as one of their strongest
and best fortified positions and as a command-
ing observation post. Three or four days of the
week were spent wading the water in the front
line trenches about Seichprey and Xiray giving
away all the chocolate and cakes that I and two
runners, detailed by the commanding officer,
could carry for free distribution to the boys on
duty. The supplies distributed at this time were
purchased from the "Y" canteen by me with
money that had been contributed to me by
friends in America who had heard me preach
and lecture and wished to have part in my serv-
ice. Later on our drive to the Argonne, the en-
tire stock, consisting of several car loads of
goods, were given absolutely to the fighting and
especially the wounded soldier as a free-will
gift from the treasury of the Y. M. C. A.
Three or four days were thus spent, by me on
the Toul front, the remaining days and nights
in serving hot chocolate and whatever com-
modities could be purchased in the everdecreas-
ing French market along the front lines. We
were constantly under fire. The dooryards and

ENCOUEAGEMENTS ABUNDANT 127

fields were pitted with shell-holes. The few
remaining trees were either torn by shell or en-
tirely killed by the fumes of poison gases. One
afternoon when the shelling had been particu-
larly violent and the "Fritzies" had picked off
an ambulance and an army truck from "Dead
man's curve" about a quarter of a mile away, I
took thirty minutes to walk across an open field
to visit and serve some of the artillery boys
whose big guns were stealthily hidden about a
half mile away. It was in the Spring of the year
and the fields were filled with wild flowers. Ee-
turning to the dilapidated rooms in the old
chateau where the Young Men's Christian As-
sociation afforded the boys the only public place
where they could congregate, I gathered from
about the shell holes a large bouquet of flowers,
placed them in an old rusty tin can, the only one
available, and set them upon the broken mantle
above the unused fireplace, in the "writing
room" where the boys sat talking and playing
checkers. The writing paper was unused for
the lads returning from the trenches were too
tired to write. Some of them were using bitter
profanity as they cursed the army, the trenches,
the Germans and their own luck, when, above
9

128 PBOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

the bouquet I placed a sign upon which I had
carefully penciled this sentiment, in letters large
enough to be easily read :

The elowees of Feance aee
sweet, but i know a little giel
back home who is a geeat deal

SWEETEE. Do YOU?

Imagine my pleasure when the notice was
greeted by applause. Instantly the profanity
stopped and every eye was rivited upon the
flowers and then on a far away vision. Tears
were plainly visible in many eyes. One rugged
fellow left his place and came over to the mantle
to get a better view of the flowers as though he
longed to breathe the sweetness of their perfume
with the sweetness of the memories they awoke.
After while, in a rather unsteady voice he ex-
claimed: "You bet I know her, and she wears a
ring I gave her. ' ' Then some fellow answered :
' i Not on your life pard. The test one wears the
ring that I picked out." "Well any way, she's
the best one for me. Mr. Secretary, give me
some paper and an envelope I'm going to write
her a letter. ' ' Within fifteen minutes every fel-
low was writing a letter home. Our soldiers
have tender hearts, so have all the Americans.

ENCOUEAGEMENTS ABUNDANT 129

One day when I was in the Divisional Head-
quarters of one of the most heroic Divisions of
our American army, my conference with one of
the Majors was interrupted by the entrance of
a superior officer who had come to announce the
promotion of this Major to the rank of a Lieu-
tenant-Colonel, and asked him to arise and take
the oath of allegiance as he assumed his new
rank. While the oath was being administered
there was a smile upon the faces of everyone
present, for many of his associates had come in
to witness his promotion and extend their con-
gratulations. The taking of the oath was more
or less formal but when the officer had finished
repeating the words and had received the affirm-
ative answer, he took the newly made Lieuten-
ant-Colonel by the hand and added : " God bless
you in your new office and keep you worthy of
the honor bestowed upon you. May you be kept
well and safely sheltered from bursting shell
and taken back in safety to the little woman and
kiddies that are waiting for you across the sea."
The gathering was composed of rough soldiers,
the speaker was a rugged son of battle, but the
words were a prayer that brought tears to the
eyes of every officer, and their handshakes of

130 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

congratulation were fervent and eloquent be-
cause they were given in silence, their hearts
being too full for the lips to speak.

The soldier 's heart is a tender heart. During
the heavy strain which the early days of the war
placed upon our Navy, a plain seaman, while
standing watch on the bridge of one of our
American battleships, had a wireless message
placed in his hands.

"Little Donald passed away yesterday. Fu-
neral Wednesday afternoon. Can you come?
Mary."

His duty as a seaman was momentarily for-
gotten. The wide vista of wind-swept waters
faded from his vision, and the picture of a little
cottage rose before him, as it lay amid the dark-
ening shadows of that bereavement. He saw
Mary standing by the little casket looking upon
the calm face of their only child, their only hope
and pride, and there was no one there to com-
fort her. His great loss was keenly felt and
soon his form shook with sobs.

i ( What 's the matter, my lad 1 ' ' asked the cap-
tain as he came upon the bridge.

Standing at attention the sorrowing seaman
handed the captain the message.

ENCOURAGEMENTS ABUNDANT 131

" Where do you live!" asked the sympathetic
officer.

The sailor told him, mentioning an Ohio city.

Instantly the captain began to calculate. In
a few minutes his own boat, which was already
headed shoreward, began to plow through the
waters under a full head of steam. The wire-
less was flashing messages to all the sister ships,
and the sailor was ordered to make ready for
the journey home. Soon their ship was met by
a swifter battleship. It required but a few min-
utes for the eager seaman to climb down the
side of one ship into a lowered boat and then up
the rope ladder hanging down the side of the
larger and swifter vessel, while the signal flags
of the boat he was leaving were fluttering their
message of "Good Luck."

For full two hundred miles the second great
battleship plowed madly through the waters to-
ward the shore when it was met by one of our
Government 's swiftest torpedo-boat destroyers,
which had been summoned by wireless, and
which, upon receiving its passenger, quivered
and throbbed as its mighty engines hurried over
the rolling billows to the nearest port.

132 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

A taxi awaited the seaman when he leaped
ashore. Arriving at the station he had but four
minutes to purchase his ticket and reach the
train, but the following day, just one hour be-
fore the funeral, the sailor stood in that little
Ohio cottage looking at the calm face of his baby
boy with the mother and wife safely sheltered
in his arms. War does not necessarily make
men brutal, but more appreciative of the tender
feelings of love and home, longing for the deeper
and richer things of life.

Another one of the encouraging conditions
amid which we now labor is the enactment of
national, bone-dry prohibition. The worst en-
emy that the church has ever had is the liquor
traffic. It assaulted every faithful minister and
maligned every evangelist that lifted up his
voice and influence against it. It has now been
outlawed, and while the liquor interests are in-
sisting upon another election and insinuating
that the law was enacted by slackers, the fact
confronts the world that our nation is and ever
will be a dry nation. These efforts on the part
of the liquor men demand that we be on the alert
and support the anti-saloon organizations with
word and money in their work of combating the

ENCOUBAGEMENTS ABUNDANT 133

evil, but we must ever keep in mind that the
church has gained a wonderful victory. With
the liquor traffic destroyed the church can go
forward with confidence demanding respect
where once she was received with sneers and
scorns. Time will prove that this enactment of
law was the highest gift that one generation ever
bestowed upon another generation. Today we
can quote from Virgil 's Ecloga IV as never be-
fore : ' ' Smile on the new-born babe, for a new
world greets his appearing. ' '

Encouragement is to be gained from the atti-
tude of American wealth toward the great in-
dustrial questions that arise. This is illustrated
in an address on "Brotherhood of Men and Na-
tions'' which Mr. John D. Eockefeller, Jr., de-
livered before the Civic and Commercial Club
at Denver, Colorado, June 13, 1918.

After describing conditions in the early days
of industry where "the owner of a plant or busi-
ness also discharged the functions of the board
of directors and the officers including superin-
tendent and manager ' ' and when the contact of
owner and employee was so close and the spirit
of brotherhood so developed that they often ad-
dressed each other by their first names ; he com-

134 PROBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

pared them with this age of organization, where
the employees are numbered by the hundreds
and thousands, and where frequently the plants
of one organization are scattered in various sec-
tions of the country and sometimes even in for-
eign countries, and added :

"Instead of Brotherhood there has developed
distrust, bitterness, the strike and the lockout.

"Often, therefore, the conclusion is reached
that Labor and Capital are enemies ; that their
interests are antagonistic ; that each must arm
itself to wrest from the other its share of the
product of their common toil. This conclusion
is false, and grows out of unnatural conditions.

"Labor and Capital are partners; their in-
terests are common interests; neither can get
on without the other. Labor must look to Capi-
tal to supply the tools, machinery and working
capital, without which it cannot make its vital
contribution to industry, and Capital is equally
powerless to turn a wheel in industry without
Labor.

"Neither can attain the fullest permanent
measure of success unless the other does also,
and the unnatural conditions, namely, the ab-
sence of contact between owner and employee,

ENCOUKAGEMENTS ABUNDANT 135

must be made as nearly normal as possible by
the establishment of personal relations between
the owners, represented by the officers, and the
employees, representing certain of their fellow
workers whom they themselves have chosen.' '

"But this spirit of which we have been speak-
ing is not something new. It is centuries old.
Nearly two thousand years ago, a simple car-
penter in Nazareth proclaimed the doctrine.

"The far-reaching influence which He had
was not so much because He preached Brother-
hood as because He lived it; lived it when in
contact with the woman taken in adultery ; lived
it when He associated with publicans and sin-
ners ; lived it when the physically and spiritual-
ly sick touched His life ; yes, but more than all.
because He was ready to die for it.

"It is not enough that we accept this princi-
ple of Brotherhood intellectually, that we con-
cede it to be theoretically, that we concede it to
be theoretically sound.

"Only as we live it, at home, in the office, in
industrial contrasts, in social and political life,
in national and international relations, will it
become a real, vital, transforming force in the
world.' '

136 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

Another encouragement is that men are rec-
ognizing the utter futility of all efforts to re-
deem the world with their man-made agencies
and are turning to God for guidance. Five
years ago the world was mad with self -adula-
tion. Men believed that they had forever
sheathed the sword with culture and bound the
brute nature with the chords of education.
They used many arguments showing the impos-
sibility of war. The mothers of the world
would not permit the butchery of their sons;
men were too highly developed to lift hand
against a brother; death dealing machines
would destroy whole armies within an hour ; the
cost of war made a long strife financially im-
possible ; national treaties would restrain, were
only a few of the faultless arguments. Within
one hour these arguments and all their fellows
were swept away in a torrent of blood. The
world placed its confidence upon the broken
reed, it is now turning toward God. Men have
failed, what is the will of God? This is the
question asked upon every side. Let the church
speak a spiritual message that cannot be mis-
understood. The hope of the world is the mes-
sage of Christ : " Ye must be born again.' '

ENCOURAGEMENTS ABUNDANT 137

The world is ready, as never before, to re-
ceive the evangelistic message. The claims of
Christ are widely recognized as the remedy for
our social and spiritual ills. Men are waiting
sympathetically for words fitly spoken. Amid
the confusion of falling thrones and nations in
the making, multitudes of strong men, weary of
man-made theories, are ready to come to the
help of the Lord against the mighty. This is no
hour for disheartedness or inactivity. This is
no time to quibble over trivial matters of
method. Abounding encouragements urge en-
thusiastic endeavor. Men and women of Chris-
tian culture are not apt to cause great offence.
Even so, the Holy Spirit can and does use the
offence to win the wounded soul. No plan can
win universal favor. Each man must take that
which affords the most natural means for self
expression, then God brings great and mighty
things to pass; but, before God accomplishes,
man must act.

XII

WHOLE CITIES TAKEN UNANIMOUSLY
FOB CHRIST

EVERY minister should be an evangelist.
Because lie is a Christian he must of ne-
cessity be evangelistic. It is impossible
for him to fill-full or fulfill his truest function
without a fervor for reaching the unsaved men,
women and children about him. Every minister
should be an evangelist just as every Christian
member of his church has the spirit of evangel-
ism giving intelligent direction to all other
church activities. The slogan, 6 ' Every preacher
his own evangelist' ' should be far more inclu-
sive and read: "Every Christian his own evan-
gelist" for the spirit of Christianity is the
spirit of evangelism.

One cannot really know Christ without pos-
sessing an overwhelming desire to lead others
unto Him, that they may share the inexhausti-
ble treasures of His boundless love. Christian-
ity so began. Andrew accepted Christ as his
Lord and Master, but, before he followed Him,

138

CITIES TAKEN FOR CHRIST 139

"he first findeth his own brother Simon, and
saith unto him, We have found the Messias,"
and he brought him to Jesus, that together, they
might enjoy the Divine fellowship. Christ
called Philip, but Philip first "findeth Nathaniel
and saith unto him, We have found Him of
whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did
write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
They were "called" of Christ, but first they
went to "find" someone else to go with them,
and the "finding" implies searching, the using
of personal effort to persuade another to share
their newly found joy.

The Gospel is "good tidings" and we are not
requested but commanded to "go tell" it to "all
nations" which is God's way of saying "every-
body." Christ commands it, not to add a bur-
den for discipline, or to show our gratitude to
Him for what He has done for us, but because
it is absolutely essential for the spiritual life
and growth of His followers. The Apostles so
understood Christ's "go ye" and into the whole
wide world they went with their message of
love, and would not stop until the last man whom
they sought had been found and re-made into
the likeness of their Lord and Master.

140 PROBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

The Sunday School teacher should, by; all
means, be a Christian, and therefore an evan-
gelist seeking with Christ-like earnestness to so
interpret the Scriptures by word and example
that every youthful scholar will gladly sur-
render his life to Christ thus giving to the King-
dom a life-long instead of a fragmentary serv-
ice. The teacher of those of mature years
should teach the Word with such prayerful, ear-
nest spirit as to compel the unforgiven men or
women to confess their sins and become con-
verted. This is the privilege of every Sunday
school teacher.

Every church official should be an evangelist.
Men and women who have been set aside by their
local organization to care for the temporal af-
fairs of the Kingdom should, without question,
be so truly converted, that while they would
neglect no temporal interest of the church,
would place above all else the things that are
spiritual. In the work of evangelism it's often
the laity and not the Priest-hood that God has
anointed for His mightiest work. The secret
of the great revivals under Wycliff was that
even the humble plow-boys hurried from house
to house reading aloud the newly-opened Bible.

CITIES TAKEN FOR CHRIST 141

The great English revivals under the leader-
ship of the Wesleys were due to the fervor of
the young converts to tell the story of redeem-
ing love, and the zealous labors of those Godly
men and women who were appointed as Class
Leaders, to council and guide the young con-
verts in Christian testimony, public prayer and
exhorting their companions to seek Christ.
Moody was a layman, but because he had the
true vision of serving Christ became a leader of
preachers.

Our Young People 's Societies are often found
struggling for life and presenting one of the
most perplexing of all problems to the pastors,
as indicated in many conferences with religious
leaders. Life comes to these organizations the
moment they catch the vision of the youthful
Christ within the temple and begin, at once,
their Father's business. Let this slogan be
placed in every Young People 's Society place of
meeting: " Every Christian his own evangel-
ist'' and let the young men and women of our
churches catch the spirit and the Church has a
mighty force for righteousness that cannot well
be calculated.

142 PBOBLEM— OE OPPOKTUNITY

Each preacher must be an evangelist. It was
for this that he was called of God and educated
by his church. Paul writes to Timothy, "Do the
work of an evangelist." Each sermon must
ring with the evangelistic note and sinners en-
tering his congregation must not depart with-
out an invitation to forsake sin and seek
Christ's pardon. His mid-week prayer serv-
ices must ring with intercessory prayer for
those who know not the Way, the Truth and the
Life. He must organize all the activities of his
church so that they yield definite results in the
one great purpose for which the church was
created.

Every preacher being an evangelist does not
mean the passing of those whom God hath
chosen and ordained especially for the office of
an evangelist. The complexity of our modern
social life which makes such varied demands
upon the pastor often make it impossible or im-
practical for the pastor of the Church to be the
preacher in the protracted efforts for soul win-
ning. He has not the strength, physical equip-
ment, or church organization necessary for such
work, therefore it has always been necessary
and always will be necessary for men to be set

CITIES TAKEN FOE CHRIST 143

apart for the work of evangelism. This neces-
sity is recognized in Holy Writ: "arid he gave
some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ: until we all come to the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ." (Eph. 4: 11-
13.)

In this day when great things are taking place
because men of vision are organizing the vari-
ous units into one objective where they work
and share equally; the churches in our towns
and cities must unite in effort if they would stir
and take their community for Christ. The tak-
ing of an entire city for Christ is no small task
but it will yet be accomplished. God wants
every sinner in every city saved. For this He
gave His Son, and to bring this to pass Christ
became obedient unto death. There is no limit
to the power of God when once His people yield
themselves to love and do His will, The Holy
Spirit knows how to find access to every heart
however sinful. Christ is waiting to receive

10

144 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

them with pardoning grace. All that is needed
is a holy and wholly awakened church ready to
do His bidding. That day is coming. I hope
to live to see it — that glad day when the churches
of some city shall awaken to their opportunity
and never cease working and praying and be-
lieving until the last soul, lingering amid the
darkness, is safely sheltered with Christ.

To accomplish this task the effort must be in-
terdenominational, non-sectarian, and a sincere
unity of spirit and purpose among the various
units cooperating. Its history will be, first, the
vision; second, the organization; third, the
whole-hearted, fully-consecrated, unceasing toil
of the Christians to do the will of Christ, not
counting their lives dear unto themselves. The
spirit of absolute union must pervade every
part; and the preaching and personal work
must be done on such a high plane that they are
always a challenge to the noblest and best in
every individual.

It cannot be done without equipment. There
must be a building sufficiently large and adapta-
ble for the work, which generally means the
erection of some temporary structure, but even
the building of this temple, to be used only for

CITIES TAKEN FOR CHRIST 145

the saving of souls, is an invaluable asset. I
have never known a man to drive a nail in one
such building who was not converted in the
meetings which followed. There are likely some
exceptions but I have not learned of them, and
I have known of the marvelous conversion of
hundreds of men who were opposed to the proj-
ect, but the simple act of driving a nail in the
building created a feeling of partnership within
the heart that resulted in conversion. The use
of such a building affords a common meeting
place of people of all prejudices, where all is
new, and there is nothing to arouse the old ani-
mosities. After they are converted these old
animosities die. The singing of large chorus
choirs teach the people to sing the gospel while
they work thus reaching their companions.
Shops, factories and business houses open for
brief noon-day meetings enabling the employed
to have a feeling of brotherhood with the re-
ligious workers. The preaching of the evangel-
ist gives the pastors the much needed time for
organizing their churches to their maximum ef-
ficiency, in reaching out for the unsaved and
seeing that they are safely sheltered in a church
home.

146 PROBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

In such union there is strength to challenge
the nonchurch-going and command their atten-
tion. The Denominational campaigns for funds
and tithers is valuable but dangerous, if men in
this hour of reconstruction become sectarian.
This is a most critical moment for the church.
The next ten years are too vital to trifle with.
Let each denomination push its claims and equip
itself for the largest possible service at home
and in mission field, but forget not that unself-
ishness alone leads to success. We must not
build for our denomination, but build for the
Kingdom of God. Let them not forget that
the business interests of the world, and even the
greatest nations themselves, dare not face the
problems of the reconstruction alone but are
uniting in great organization and leagues. Let
not the church alone make blunder. We are
face to face with the greatest need and op-
portunity ever presented to the church of
Christ. We must meet them with a spirit of
unity. Together we must make one mighty ef-
fort to save the lost. In this hour of stirring
possibilities the Christ prayer is

"THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE."

XIII
GOD IS NOT A LIAR

TO succeed in Christian undertakings we
must take God at his word and not make
him a liar by onr fears and lack of con-
fidence in his promises. No man stands alone
in God's work for God goes with him. Nearer
is he than breathing and far more anxious for
success than his most ardent follower could be.
We are not alone. God the Father bends with
parental yearnings to help us overcome. God
the Son, made in the express image of the Fa-
ther, walks by our side to reveal the way to vic-
tory. God the Holy Spirit, dwelling within the
heart, supplies the required strength for every
task. "We cannot fail if we are pure in heart
and put God to the test, for he is ever with us.

Problems are solved and become coveted oc-
casions as our sense of the nearness and power
of God increases. With a keen appreciation of
God the most insurmountable obstacle melts and
becomes an open way leading to large and rare
experiences. It does not require a very big man

147

148 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

to win startling victories for Eighteousness if
only he has a big conception of the nearness and
power of God.

The almost total lack of effort to rescue men
from the peril of their sins and the almost utter
indifference of the church to the eternal danger
of the sinful, is due to unbelief. The church is
afraid to take God at his word in undertaking
spiritual tasks. We like to pillow our heads
upon the " precious promises of God" when we
lie down to sleep, but are afraid to use them as
a sure footing when we are asked to step off the
edge of a precipice. We try to excuse ourselves
by saying that surely these promises could not
apply to ones so weak and ill prepared, know-
ing that we are seeking shelter in a refuge of
lies for every student of the Word knows that
"it is not by might, nor by power, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."

We forget that our unbelief makes God a
liar. "He that believeth not God hath made
him a liar ; because he believeth not the record
that God gave his Son." To say to one dearly
beloved: "I love you but have no faith in what
you say" would be enough to break the heart.
The suffering and heartaches of Gethsemane

GOD IS NOT A LIAE 149

were largely the results of such unbelief on the
part of those who professed to love Christ.
How must God feel about his idle, slothful fol-
lowers who today profess to love him?

No man is ever so lazy that he has not ambi-
tion enough to search for and find an excuse for
his idleness, so we are apt to say that our inac-
tivity is not to make God a liar, that being an
offense to our sensitive natures, but we are too
humble to believe that the promises were meant
for us. We say that we are too unworthy of
such bounty and lull ourselves into self compla-
cency saying, "Blessed are the meek for they
shall inherit the earth. ' '

That is not meekness, but hypocrisy. We not
only make God a liar, but perjure our own souls,
when we utter the words. To accept Christ's
pardon immediately obligates one to the service
for which the Holy Spirit has prepared him,
and if he is a truthful and honest individual, he
will fulfil that obligation or die in the attempt.
The feeling of fitness is not part of the religious
program. We came to Christ and received his
pardon, not because we felt worthy, but because
we heard him speak the words of John 3 : 16 and
we crept close to his wounded side under the

150 PBOBLEM-^OR OPPORTUNITY

shelter of that one word " whosoever.' ' Today]
each one of ns, rejoices in the belief that that
"whosoever" meant me. Does not the accept-
ance of the benefits of one "whosoever" neces-
sitate us to assume the obligations of the other
"whosoevers" that fell from the Master's lips'?
Let us reverently turn to the last verses of the
seventh chapter of Matthew and read another
very important t ' whosoever. ' '

1 ' Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and
doeth them/' I will liken him unto a wise man,
which built his house upon a rock: and the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell not :
for it was founded upon a rock.

"And everyone that heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto
a foolish man, which built his house upon the
sand: and the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it."

The "whosoever" of John 3:16 means that
any man and every man regardless of condi-
tions may come to Christ for pardon and be wel-
comed and received. The t ' whosoever ' ' of Mat-
thew 7 : 24 means that the secret of permanent

GOD IS NOT S LIAR 151

^Christian character and enduring influence is
with the acceptance of the benefits of Christ's
atonement to also assume the responsibilities of
Christ's service. Those who obey are estab-
lished. Those who refuse to do his will, regard-
less of belief or excuse, meet with complete and
everlasting defeat. There is nothing said about
feeling worthy or being fitted for the task.
"Whosoever" "doeth" or "doeth not," and
God expects a grateful service from every one
who comes to him for pardon. It is the only
way by which he can save the sinful. We must
of necessity care enough to try and put the
promises of God to the test.

God is not a liar. As he was with Moses, the
liberator of slaves, so will he be with every one
who undertakes to free his f ellowman from the
bondages of sin. The success of the penitent
Jonah whose preaching won a whole city for
God; the success of the Spirit filled Peter,
whose one sermon won three thousand converts ;
the success of Wesley whose parish was the
world and whose value can be measured only in
terms of a great eternity; the success of Moody
whose influence is stronger with each passing
year; may be the success of all those who fully

152 PEOBLEM—OE OPPOETUNITY

trust the promises of God and act without hesi-
tation upon the program of God as announced
in the commands of the Lord Jesus.

God is not a liar. He promises good and not
evil to those who put their trust in him. Why,
then, should we hesitate to greet each of his ap-
proaches with gladsomeness of heart. Dr. Tal-
mage told the story of a poor Scotch woman
who was about to he turned out because she
could not pay her rent. One night when she
heard a loud knocking at the door she remained
silent and stealthily hid herself. She was great-
ly frightened and said to herself :

"It is the officer of the law come to throw me
out of my home. ' '

A few days later a Christian friend met her
and said: "My poor woman, where were you
the other night ? I came round to your house to
pay the rent. Why did you not let me in f ' '

"Why," she said, "if I had had any idea that
it was you, I should have let you in. I thought
that it was an officer come to throw me out of
my house."

Each new task is a blessing which God brings
with his own hand. When he knocks at the door

GOD IS NOT A LIAE 153

how foolish it is for ns to fear when it is an oc-
casion for rejoicing!

The secret of power is obedience and a firm
realization of the nearness and power of God.
His concern is not so much what we have been,
but our willingness to do his bidding from now
on. During a tabernacle meeting in an eastern
city a man under the influence of liquor came to
my home and asked to see me. He told me of
his long futile battle with appetite and how, for
the sake of his wife, a beautiful Christian wom-
an who had remained true to him under the
most trying circumstances, he wanted Christ.
We had prayer after which he promised me two
things, that he would not taste liquor until he
saw me again and that he would return within
two days. His promises were not kept. Sev-<
eral days afterward he did return even more
under the inuflence of liquor than on his first
visit but he was desperately in earnest. Fol-
lowing a frank earnest talk we had prayer after
which he began to pray for himself, in the most
anxious and pathetic manner, that I had ever
heard, and he did not quit praying until he was
soundly converted. His face was radiant and
he rejoiced that the long struggle was ended, as

154 PEOBLEM— OR OPPORTUNITY

lie hurried from my home to his own home to
tell the good tidings.

Having learned his choice of pastor I took oc-
casion to get in touch with him that night and
told him of the man's victory. Imagine my sur-
prise when he greeted my statement with a smile
and said : ' ' There 's no use, Anderson, that man
is hopeless. It will not last two weeks. I have
tried him before. I have walked the street with
him and often on Saturday nights have stayed
in the movies until nearly midnight in order
that he might be in condition to hear me preach
the next morning, and then he failed me. I tell
you there is no use. ' '

* The first night that I gave the invitation for
men to publicly confess Christ my friend was
the first to grasp my hand and he brought an-
other convert with him. The light of God was
upon his face. My eyes blinded with tears of
joy for the revival in that city had begun.
"Without giving him any intimation as to who
the doubter might be I told him at the close of
the service, that I had heard the prophecy that
he was not likely to ' ■ stick. ' ' ' ' How about it ? ' '
I inquired. He laughed as he replied: "I don't
blame them for not having faith in me for I have

GOD IS NOT A LIAR 155

disappointed them so many times, but this time
I shall stick for I am a converted man." Then
I bade him "get to work."

He did so. No band being available for head-
ing the procession of delegates that daily at-
tended the meetings, our new convert organized
one among his old associates, and as the drum-
major was on hand at every service. The band
could play but one tune and some lovers of good
music hardly appreciated that one, but to me it
was always beautiful. I can see him now, as he
walked down the long aisle, with radiant face
and waving baton while the horns were tooting :
"The Brewer's Big Horses Can't Run Over
Me. " He " stuck ' ' the remaining four weeks of
the meeting leading scores of souls to Christ.
The doleful ones then predicted that he would
not remain faithful long after the meetings
stopped and the enthusiasm died down. But he
remained true to his trust. Gathering a group
of converts about him, he formed a prayer band
that went every where holding their testimony
and prayer services, always giving sinners a
chance to confess Christ until within a year
they had led nearly three hundred souls to make
the supreme decision. Because he was willing

156 PEOBLEM— OE OPPOETUNITY

to take God at his word lie did a mightier work
than hundreds of ministers, and he is still
abundant in the Master's business having ren-
dered a most fruitful service to our soldiers in
France through the ministry of the Y. M. C. A.
The work is never hard when we give God a
chance to fulfil his promises. A little girl of
twelve years attended one of my Saturday aft-
ernoon Young People's Meetings in which I
made the statement that every child had a right
to a Christian home in which to live and grow,
and that if any of them were deprived of this
rich privilege, to pray earnestly asking God to
make their home Christian and the prayer would
be answered. Not only were the parents of this
little girl not Christians, but they were sepa-
rated, the mother having left the home and
taken her abode in another city. "When the
mother left her family the burden of housekeep-
ing and mothering a younger brother fell upon
the little girl so that Saturday night, after the
dishes were washed and put away, she called
her brother aside for a conference which ended
by both of them kneeling down and asking for a
happy Christian home. It seemed like such a
hopeless task and would have staggered many

GOD IS NOT A LIAR 157

earnest Christian people, but — the children had
faith. The next morning the little girl ran to
her brother's bed and awakened him with the
good tidings :

"I know that mother is coming home. I
dreamed last night that I saw Jesns coming to
live in onr home and he was bringing mother
with him. ' '

On her way to the morning service she mailed
a letter telling her mother all about the meeting,
what I had said about every child having a right
to a Christian home, her own and her brother 's
prayer and the dream. "I know that you are
coming and coming soon, ' ' she added.

The following Thursday was Thanksgiving
day and the reunited family ate their dinner to-
gether and that night the father and mother
with the two happy children came forward in
the tabernacle to give their hearts to God.
Every day since then the Bible has been read
and as the family kneel to pray they forget not
to mention the name of the one who helped them
rebuild their home.

Why can we not take God at his word?

xrv;

NOW!

CLEAEEE than the tones of a silver
trumpet is the voice of the Holy Spirit
calling' to the churches of America:
' ' NOW is the accepted time, NOW is the day of
salvation !" " TODAY if ye will hear His
voice, harden not your hearts." Out of this
frightful wreckage of war we must build a tem-
ple, for the teeming millions who are untrained
in Christian living. No other hands can per-
form the task. There is no call as important
and none that challenges to such heroic endeav-
or. To hold back is not conservatism but stu-
pidity. Delay spells defeat for the kingdom of
love. The call must be, not to the purses of men
so much as to the consciences of men. This is
preeminently a spiritual crisis. The world can
be made "safe" only when it is a converted
world. Nothing but the Spirit of God can save
the day. Then let the Church of God be upon
its bended knees, praying the Lord of the har-
vests to send forth reapers. Let all who love

158

NOW 159

God be afraid to do any task save obey the great
command to go disciple all nations, but begin-
ning at Jerusalem. Hear again the voice of
Angela Morgan.

' ' Out of the lands, a moaning
And gnashing of souls in pain;
0 children of earth
Ye may give birth
What the millions died to gain.
Never shall truth surrender
To the world's chaotic sin;
But spur your souls to splendor
That law and right shall win.
O people of earth, be lavish!
Let your love in rivers stream —
Yours is the power
To rear the tower
Of God's triumphant dream.
O children of earth, be noble !
Let your gold in plenty pour,
For the graves of earth are many
And the wounds of earth are sore.
No price may pay
For yesterday

But NOW rings trumpet clear,
To build the domes
Of the Future's homes
Above the roads of fear. 9 '

Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process.
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide
Treatment Date: April 2005

PreservationTechnologies

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive
Cranberry Township, PA 16066
(724)779-2111

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
in r

0 014 024 103 9 £