Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-10-05
THOUSANDS MOVED
BY GYPSY SMITH
GREAT REvivALlsT GETS PROM
lsEs FROM 5000 TO BE BETTER
CHRISTIANS.
eMITh TAKES HOT SHOT
AT PREVAILING HYPOCRISY
Deporss Decadenee of Prayer and Neg.
Iisent Christians Are Scored for is-
norins Vows-Wants Return Of Old
Fashioned Religious Methods-com-
pares Chicago to sodonA

pareS chicago to Sodonh
Chicago, Oct. Silk thousand men
and women, swayed by the magic-like
influence of Evangelist Gypsy Smith,
arose to their feet in the Seventh Reg
tment armory last night and promised
by handkerchief covered eyes, by
bowed heads and by fervent amens, /
that they would fall upon their knees
n prayer before they retired for the
night and implore divine power to
lead, them into and keep them in bet
>er lives henceforth.
when the devil gets into the real
sresc-ce of Jesus Christ he vanishes
ike vapor," the magnetic pleader
,oftly spoke to the 5000 attentive lis
,eners before him.. "But it takes prayer
20 keep him away once he has disap-
oeared from your life"
First by scores, then by hundreds,
and finally almost by thousands, the
great audience, moved by the soft but
compelling words from the pulpit,
stood UP in response to the pleadings
Of the leader while the hymn "where
He Leads Me Will Follow" was soft
ly hummed.
The sermon, the second Of the one
month of revivals, was even more stir
ring than was the one of the opening
night. The verbal cannonades against
worldly evils were more forceful, the
unleashing Of rhetorical vitriol for in
different and inconsistent church
members was more pronounced, and
the plea that repentance come was
more eloquent. For the woman es-'
pecially who was charged with forget
ting her conversion vows there was no
mercy shown.
Assails "Sinners in Zion."
AS soon as the preliminaries Of the
meeting. including singing by the vol-l
unteer choir of 1900 voices, had been
completed, Gypsy" sailed into the
church members who think salvation
rests in their having their names on
the church books.
IF you're not better because of your
religion your religion is a sham and
fraud" he shouted, bending his frock
coated torso across the rail Of the pull
pit and letting the message shiver
from his fingers ends.
Jesus Christ is saying this to vacil-
lating. up and down, easily tossed peo-
pie in the churches who daren't say
their souls are their own.
You say I came to Chicago to
preach to sinners? Well, I'm preaching
TO sinners. My dear old father said
there are sinners in Zion as we'll as out
of Zion, and the people of Zion often
are keeping the outside sinners out of
Zion.
The mother who says she's chris
tion and spends her time theatergoing
and card playing with cent pieces
and dimes is doing more to damn her
children into infidelty than another
kind Of mother. outside the church.
(Applause) don't want your hands
in this. but your consciences.
Compares Chicago to Sodom.
Lots OF people are hanging on to
the fringe of the church, but 1 know
that the salt of the earth is in the
churches. If there were not some good
people in the churches, Chicago would
become as Sodom and Gomorrah
The world calls for consistency 1t
knowns the fraud, the sham, and the
hypocrite. If the world doesn't know
1T, some OF US do, and some of us are
going to expose the thing that calls it
self by the name of Jesus Christ and
that is walking fraud
II wonder L. Jesus is suffering be-
cause of that letter you've got in your
pocket that doesn't belong to you?
Il wonder If Jesus is suffering be-
cause OF the appointment you kept to-
day that 1t was wrong to keep?
Il wonder if Jesus is suffering be-
cause OF q wrong suggestion that today
YOU put into the ear of little child
an impure thought?
"When people with the devil in them
get into the presence of Jesus Christ
the devil soon departs.
"Do6 you think y3u are going to save
Chicago because you've sent for a man
from across the sea, because you've q
magnificent choir, a splendid place fol
1t to sing in, and great committee to
manage things for you? If you think
SO. you had better thin!. again.
Says Prayer lis Neglected.
"Did you begin the day with PRAYER:
Did you thank God for the food this
morning at the breakfast table? We
used to do these things"
"Gypsy's' voice was wistful as he
dwelt on the past tense.
when were you on your knees last q
he demanded. picking up tone Of
challenge that rang to the galleries
"The lost art Of the church of Jesus
Christ in this twentieth century is tho
prayer meeting. I've been coming t.
this country for the last twenty years
and 1t used to be any easy matter tt
get two-.thirds of the congregations
into prayer meetings.
"Cah you get them now? Answer
me-"
NO" responded churchgoers sitting
dn the audience.
But you can get them to an ic.
cream festival, to a semi dramatic en-.
tertainment, to a minstrel perform
ance," retorted the gifted gypsy. "Yo,
can crowd your lecture rooms on 1
stormy night for a semi worldly per
formance. Isn't that true?
Yes" responded the ,churchgoers
too true.''
"Ana yet you call yourselves chris