The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-01
BY WILL n. ELLIS.

bafnabaS and Simeon and Lucius, and the foster-brother of Herod the let. rarch. The last named indicates how one man may follow folly and hIs brother seek wisdom.
 The Antioch church was, at home. strong In the missionary spirit This Is the biz copcsrn of presenf-iay Chris- tendon. Once Christians prayed for open doors in the pagan world Now there are more open doors than the Church is willing to enter. The one great problem of Christian extension today is the problem of the home church.: her interest in the broader work. her devotion ard her spirit of saorifice. One may read many signs that the providentfai awakening of the non~ Christian world. and the wide- Hung doors or opportunity. are being followed by widespread moving upon the hearts of Christian people by. the Spirit of God. so that the consciousness of Christfandom Is being aroused to the meanfng of these new times.
 few days ago there met in Toronto the first National Missionary Congress aver asssmbled anywhere. Forty-two hundred strong men. representing every part of the Dominion and every walk in lie, came together to consider what Is Canadass duty as 6 nation to- ward the eyangeiixation of the whole world A similar congress is projected Tor the unitde States, to be held in St. Louis next March. Such facts as these deserve to be written in the same category with. the annals of the iulis- sionary movement that began at the Antioch church.
 seane Sent nEen
 No mora important task ever engages churchis thought than the selection or her missionaries. It used to be soriewhat casual matter. Whoever was moved 10 offsr himself was &C., eepted for foreign. ssfvice Today the great depQminat atfonss are more partic- niar in. the choice of their foreign afuv bassadors than are the great nations The Churches can better afford to place in the biggest metropolitan pulpits second rate men than they can afrord fa send such men to the non- Christian world. The Antioch church had a wholesome sense of the gravity of It's nndertaking when t obeyed the call to sset apart Barnabas and Saul for foreign service.
 Out of the heart of this strong and strategic church were pIucked it's two leading members, that they might go forth on aSmission. It was q call of God. Then. as now. the call came to the picked men. Only such are quail fled for missionary service. This is no mere career where men may find a life work and an Interesting occupation. Itis a mission. reserved only for those who have felt the constituting im- pulse of ths Divine Spirit.
 That Saul should become mission ary was written In his very character. He had the imperial vision and the pioneer heart. He himself expressed his deep purpose when he said: Be- ing ambitious to preach the Gospel not where Christ was already named, lest I should build on another mans foun- dation." Most of us know noble spirits today possessed by the same ambition.
 Diversified Force.
 It takes many forms of ability to do company consisted of Saul and Barr nabas and John Mark. the last hlliug the role of reporter end general as- sistant. The present.day missionary propaganda has not yet got to the point of sending out a Journalistic his- torian of contemporary missionary ef- fort for the sake of the church at home. Thus early began the mission ary practice of a diversity of effort. Even as an army has many forms. or service-fnfantry. cavalry, artillery, signal corps. engineering corps--so the modern missionary advance has many lines of approach. There is the preaching missionary. the healing mis- sionary. the mechanic missionary, and the author missionary. all seeking the same end by various routes. This is wisdom. Even when a frontal attack would fail victory may be accomplish ed by flank movement. There Is such thing as missions by indirection. This Is branch of missionary science as yet largely undeveloped.
 After High and Low
 A round-the- world journey Is a mere episode in, these days of travel faclli- ties. being very much less hazardous than tlIe expedition which this first missionary force undertook. although the latter occupies very small space on our big maps. Later on we shaii see what was involved in Paul's many travels in the way of personal hardship and danger. From Antioch the mis- sionaries went down to the coast em- barking at seleucia for Cyprus sais- mis being their point of larNing Thence they iournsyed overland some one hundred and fifty miles to Paphos, where the particular incident of the lesson occurred.
 The Roman proeonsul, Sergius Paul us, desired to hear Saul and Barnabas The latter were quick to perceive the advantage Of reaching the official and influential classes. eveh as modern mis- slons have been, Canada has lately Been the tremendous power of having as Christian leader q missionary ad- vocate, Sir Andrew Frazer, for thirty seven years an eminent servant of the crown in India. Iatterly Lieutenant Governor of Bengal We cannot for an Instant conceive of SauPs overlooking the common people. To them he was bound 10 so. following the fashion of his Master. Yet he was no demagogue, and as man of the world he realized that the Gospel belongs Tn the palace as well as in the peasants hut.
 ss A Flghtfng Missionary.
 The proconsui was too big to be al- lowed to fan into the hands of this new religion without the most despe- rate efforts on the part of the forces of in the day of truth and righteousness