Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-11-16

my! When 1 look around about me ana
I see young men and young women
with their characters forming, when L
look at the influence of hell to drag
them away from God Almighty and
realize that they are going to become
the fathers and the mothers OF the
next generation-I am no pessimist, but
God have mercy on the generation that
going to come when our boys and girls
are going to the devil and yet their
minds are pliable and susceptible 10
gospel influence if we will do some
thing for Jesus Christ!
When I look at the sick and the dy-
ing. when I see the disease and the
distress and the restitution, when l
see the drunkards' graves-siX hundred
thousand of them, where men have
staggered and shrieked into them every
vear-beneath the Stars and Stripes,
that dirty, sinking, bull-necked gang
of liars and thugs that put six nun
dred thousand of the Drawn and man
hood of America in drunkards graves
every Eear-I put my fist under their
dirty. sinking nose. You bet your
life. l am working for the soOrlety
and the decency of my country. TO
hell with the bunch that wants to drive
them down and curse them
When look around about me and see
all that! My! Stonewan Jackson was
heard in his tent one time praying and
the sentinel stood and listened and mere
is what he heard him say:
"Oh, God, let this war stop so we may
go back to the only work in the world
worth while, that is, the salvation OF I'M
mortal souls"
! That's the only work that's worth
Withdrawing people for Jesus.
Then. if you will allow me to make
/ 7 he CnnrtpnuS.
be natural People are natural every
where else, seemingly, but in the church
! l don't like to see a preacher that has
a mannerism for the pulpit and another
| for the street. When a preacher goes
down to buy groceries, he doesn't go in
and say:
You may give me a bunch of celery,
a pound of coffee, and send it up, If you
please" Gin very pompous tone WIFE
many airs.)
Now. I'm perfectly natural
There is work that everybody can do
Invite the unsaved to come to the taber-
nacle. Pray with them in private. Pray
! for them in private. Speak about the
meetings. don't knock, any devil can do
that. Write letters. Call them up on
the phone. Let them know you are in
terested in them and that you want them
to receive a blessing. ,
| There are forces at work that defeat
you: First. timidity. 81 never tried to
speak to anybody" Well, you can never
begin any younger.
| was preaching in Iowa and there was
a woman there whose husband was an
an elder in the church-the Presbyterian
church-and she was one of these weak,
timid retiring little bodies, and she was
member of the literary society. 1 said
TO her: Mrs. r. why don't you go out
and try to get those women for God?"
I said: There's the speediest bunch Of
women I've ever seen"
! | don't mean they were immoral. but,
oh, gee! You have seen people that had
a little money and a little social posi-
ton in a little rube town? If you have,
you know what 1 mean.
I / said: There's the speediest bunch
of women that 1 have ever seen. You
are the only protesting Christian that
they will associate with, and it's up to
you to win them for Christ"
She commenced to boo-hoo and L said:
Drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt
of love you owe. Let's get down and
pray about It," and we did.
She starte dout and in nine days she
brought eleven out of the fifteen to
Christ. Those women are leaders today
in that little town, for God and for his
truth, and if I'd tell you what they've
done for the Lord in missionary work, 1t
would stagger you-that little commu-
nit yout in Iowa that's so rich they
don't know which way to look.
If she had her way she'd have done
nothing.
| 1 went to town once to preach and
was entertained at the home of a
very rich man, with two children, both
grown; and the girl was the brightest
girl of her age l have ever seen. She
was twenty-five years old and had grad
uated from Northwestern university
and she was principal of the high
school She was snappy as steel trap
and | said to her one day, Harriet
Gods going to do great things through
YOU"
She said to me, I'm not going to do
personal work.
1 said. Don't you tell God what
you'll do or what you won't do. You'll
do what God wants you to do. All you
can do is to make a confession to God;
you can't make n proposition and tell
him what you'll do"
i She said. Il won't do that"
I said, "If you're Christian you
will"
She said, ct should hope I am a
Christian"
I said ct should hope you are, too
4
Methodist Sunday school" L said, Il
should hope you are, but If you are just
a church member, you'll get converted
first and then you'll do something.
I could see her chest bulge and her
neck swell, and she said, I'm not going
| to speak to anybody.
So / let it run along for few days
One night I was preaching and said
Harriet, will you please lead in pray
err"
She sat there and never said any
thing, and 1 said, Harriet, will you
please lead in prayer"
Oh, she sat there stiff as poker and
cold as a dogs nose. L saw her muscles
end neck bulge OYER and turn white and
she gasped, and 1 said, Harriet, Will
you please lead in prayer"
She was game. asked her seven
times. didn't know whether she'd
call me Or not, but finally she got up,
dropped on her knees and began to
pray. She forgot who she was or
where, and l could see scores OF people
wipfng their eyes.
That night when we got home we
had a little lunch and l never mention
ed it, never said boo to her. And the
next night l saw her get up and go 10
the rear of the church, speak to kind
of roughnecked young fellow that stood
leaning up against the radiator, and |
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