Evening journal., 1915-01-15
700 MORE CONVERTS
At Sunday Meeting
Trail HitterS' Appear for
First Time at the After
noon Service
SERMONS HIT
THE BACKSLIDER

HE BACkSLlDER
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. Is More than
7scscn hnlfed rcntcnts, large proper
ton Il them Young, professed eonycr-
sion yesterday afternoon and evening at
the tabernacle after two thmdcsous SER
mons, on, against pharasaism and play
ina io ihc gallery and ono against
baek-lidihg IL Che church. lud been hurt
III II thcm IN Thlly Sunduy.
At tie afternoon seiAire the first
weekday afternoon service III which
"irHil httcfsr have been asked fol
itty.one persons responded Al .lm
niglt service 50 many came MP 60 .rnsp
The hand % The evangelist and offer him
their broken-feiced THINKS that the
/ front seats ii ihe huge building. always
reserved for those who accept his H.
Nitation TO profess Christianity. could
not BE- emptied fast opough 10 make
room for them.
Five hundred and eighty four were
counted officially but dozens of oahers
took their places III Tho seats without
following the long trail up the ajsles
70 where the speaker. dripping pcr.pir.
atioh from every pore. shouted over and
over again ior militant warriors for ihe
cause of cod
Fully third Of those who took the
trail at the evening service were
/ youths Of fifteen or eighteen. many Of
them students i'm philadelphia high
schools. The first TO present himself
4 az the afternoon service was High
school student and a member of the
crew. He had been sitting near the
front Of the tabernacle, and when the
call went out after long prayer
which was interrupted by the mufned
sobs Of women from all parts of the
vast structure he came quietly down
70 the front and offered his hand.
God bless you, Son" said the evan
geltst, Il hope you will always re-
main faithful"
The help Of the local ministers was
necessary, however, 10 bring forward
others. Many. though deeply stirred
by the speakers words, were TO diff
lident to come forward alone. Many
had to be brought, almost helped,
Men brought women. and women
brought men.
AT the night service the evangelist
called upon the choir. the clergy. and
upon Christians every where in the
audience. to stand by" and help. A
white-haired woman brought COM
, panion far older than herselfso old
that hundred hands were ready tc
assist her.
A smartly dressed woman produces
her two sons lads Of ten or twelve
, aloved hand upon the shoulder oi eacl
; Meanwhile tho immense choir sung owe
, and over again such hymns as "Jnst a
: Ann ANA -lcsu-. | Am Coming Hon
/. TO Thee" AT times the voice Of III
\ evangelist rang ont even above the sol
y ,harmonies 81 those.
r There are thousands here he dl
clared "who would come forward at
, word. Why stand ye idle in the wins
! tyard1
Mon were in especial evidence at til
4 might service, tlie space between I'll
. great middle aisles being given over 1
the Young Mems League, OF German
town churches. who occupied the from
: seats and many rows to The rear
Before the night sermon, w. a. Rode
HEAVIER, the leader Of the choir, criticize
sharply the action Of the Philadelphia
public school in refusing 70 permit tn
announcements Of special services fo
high school students to be made il
school houses. He decla'ed:
"We'ye been very much surprised b,
this announcement. We've been il
towns controlled by booze interests, ant
they have nev,r opposed Us. II seem
, a pity that the minority in case lill
this should rule"
The speaker asked all Of those pres
ent 70 use their influence and "go on
of their way" TO have The announce
ncntk carried to the students by othe
incans
Backsliders were compared by the
evangelist 20 little girl who fell
out OF bed.
Il went TO sleep too close 70 where
! / crawled in"
G. ltinuing, he declared:
III say anything about backsliders
il Will apply to a half or two-thirds
Of the audience
"There was an old man knew out
West-a wizened old skate with whis-
kors that looked like cows tail
stuck full O. sandburrs. I backslid
when ] voted the whisky ticket. said
he That old sinner backslid Ions
before he voted the whiskey ticket.
In another vein he resumed:
20 you preachers! Are your SER
mons just hot air. or do they wake
up Felix and Agrippa to say, I like
Jesus and that woman, too, but
can't have both2'
DO you open the Book and take
aim at The sinners on the front seat
Am ! in the pulpit because | love
! Cod. or just because I've got q drag
Z with thc officials?
4, my sermons a good deal like a
! freight train, can couple on ca
! bOCse and pull out any time.
There may be plenty OF pillars ol
!. the church here today. but there are
also a lot of what people call pillar.
shams.'
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