A MAN'S RESPONSE TO THE WORLD APPEAL
The efficiency expert is a familiar figure in modern big business. His
function is the checking up and scaling up of commercial enterprises.
His one study is business organization, methods, management and
output. His life is built around such problems as these: Are the
capital and force at work in this business bringing adequate returns?
What combinations are possible so as to reduce expenses without
reducing returns? Is there waste? Is there duplication of effort? Is
the product satisfactory as to quality and quantity? Is there anything
the matter with the organization? Has the business too many officials
or too few? Are there unimproved opportunities? Is the advertising all
that could be desired? In short, his function is to study business
with a view to securing a maximum of efficiency with the expenditure
of a minimum of time, force and capital.
Why not apply the same methods and skill and intense application to
the work of the kingdom of Jesus Christ? There is no business in the
world comparable with it from the standpoint of immensity--there are
hundreds of millions of people involved, and not a foot of soil where
a man lives is excluded from the plan of Jesus Christ. There is no
enterprise which promises such inspiring and enduring returns from
the investment. Its complexity and baffling difficulties are a
challenge to the passion for mastery that is central in every real
man. Christian men might well ponder deeply and then take as a guiding
principle in life that sentence of the late Mr. J. H. Converse of the
Baldwin Locomotive Works, "When Christian business men devote the same
skill and energy to Christian work which they now give to their
private business concerns the proposition to evangelize the world in
this generation will be no longer a dream."
It may be well to approach the study of this final topic in the spirit
of the favorite sayings of two famous modern generals. One of the
principles of a great German tactician was, "First ponder, then dare."
The motto of another well-known general was, "Know your geography and
fight your men." It is of the utmost importance that there be
developed in the Church of Christ such a militant temper as shall make
it capable of carrying out the plans of Christ to naturalize
Christianity in every land. It is an urgent necessity that Christ's
soldiers ponder world conditions in order that they may release their
lives for the carrying of the gospel to the world. Men must know the
geography of the kingdom of God if they are to apply the principles of
strategy to the carrying out of the last command of Christ.
Some of the outstanding facts related to the evangelization of the
world have passed in review in the preceding chapters. The time for
action has come. What is needed now is not more rhetoric but more
reality of conviction; not more facts, but deeper purpose. The
crucial question in this whole discussion is how every man may relate
himself in a practical way to the winning of the world to Christ. The
carrying of the gospel to all the world is every man's opportunity.
There is no monopoly of a chance to serve in this war. This is the one
opportunity which makes it possible for every life to influence the
whole world. What then are the moral and spiritual demands which a
world like ours makes upon men?
The answer to this fundamental question takes us back to the
principles stated by our Lord. How did he expect men to relate
themselves to this, his world task? What were his missionary commands?
Stated in their logical and chronological order they are:
"Lift up your eyes and behold the fields!"--Study.
"Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he thrust forth laborers into
his harvest."--Intercede.
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel."--Give and Serve.
Reduced to their simplest terms then, the missionary principles of
Jesus demand four things of men. If men relate themselves to the whole
task of our Lord a fourfold program, in which every man will have a
share, must be carried out in every church.
A program of Education.
A program of Finance.
A program of Service.
A program of Intercession.
It is one of the tragedies of language that the great phrases get
frayed out with constant use. They lose their grip and their power to
stimulate thought and action. For the sake of variety these familiar
ways of expressing the missionary obligation are stated in a
different way, yet so as to retain the fundamental principles
enunciated above. The world to-day demands of men:
WIDENING HORIZON--STUDY
UNWITHHOLDING CONSECRATION--MONEY AND SERVICE
UNENDING PRAYER--INTERCESSION
I. WIDENING HORIZON
The hour in which we live makes it imperative that men study world
conditions. It is almost impossible to keep pace with changing
conditions and new opportunities unless one is constantly in touch
with the progress of the Kingdom throughout the world.
There are at least seven good reasons why every man should plan to
devote time to the study of missions.
=1. Christ's Missionary Program Includes Study (John, iv. 35).=--If a
man cannot be thoroughly loyal to Christ without active participation
in the spread of the gospel in the world, it is equally true that a
man is disobedient to the missionary call of Christ who does not study
missions. Information is essential to intercession and intercession is
the greatest human missionary force. "Facts are the fuel with which
missionary fervor is fired and fed."
=2. Missions Is the Greatest Living Issue.=--There is no question
before the world to-day which involves such large forces, such
multitudes of people and with such tremendous issues. There is nothing
greater to which a man may relate his life.
=3. The Study of Missions Is the Only Possible Way to Keep in Touch with
World Progress.=--In order to read the magazines and newspapers
intelligently constant study of missions is necessary. Progress in our
time is largely along Christian lines. The progress of the world is only
another way of saying that Christ is increasingly possessing the world.
=4. Men Cannot Be Qualified for Leadership Without Study.=--There
never was such an urgent call for leaders or such unlimited
opportunities for the investment of talents as in our day in this
greatest of movements. Real leadership is trained leadership and
training involves study.
=5. World Conquest Is the Biggest Business Proposition Before the
Church.=--The enterprise has in it all the elements that go to make
big business so fascinating to strong men. Here is an opportunity not
only of displaying the business talents which men have, but to display
them in an enterprise which brings the most satisfactory returns to
men in the way of the enrichment of their own lives. The keenest
sagacity of business men is sorely needed in all the councils of the
Church to-day, and in no place is the need more urgent than in the
service of world-wide missions.
=6. Investigation Will Suggest Definite and Practical Missionary
Activities.=--It is not enough to be sentimentally interested in
missions. That day has gone by. The calls of our time demand definite
and practical plans and methods and there are no members of the church
who are in a position to render larger service than the business men.
=7. It Furnishes Intellectual Outlook and Spiritual Uplook.=--One of
the great drawbacks of modern business life is that the horizon is
narrowed and life made provincial. There is but little in ordinary
business to furnish spiritual stimulus. A church service one day in
seven is not sufficient to cause the springs of spiritual power in a
man's life to burst forth into activity. Here is a cause which brings
the keenest intellectual and spiritual delight. The study of missions
will give men a greatly enriched Bible because they will discover that
it is the great missionary Book. This fact and the consequent
intellectual and spiritual stimulus justify any amount of time spent
in studying the program of Christ.
=Studying the Church.=--The Word, the World, and the Workman--these
are both the sources of information and the objects for study. Not
only must modern men study the world and the Word, but also the Church
which is God's appointed instrument for achieving his world purposes.
One of the first problems confronting a man who desires to relate
himself to the world program is the study of his own local church to
see how he can make possible the relating of the whole church to the
whole task in such a way as to release the full power of the whole
constituency. This will necessitate careful study of the present
missionary organization and life of the church to which each man
belongs. He is now determined to become an efficiency expert in the
matter of the world-wide propagation of Christianity. He will apply
the same principles to this study that he applies to his daily
business. In some cases it will be discovered that there is very
little efficient organization, or if there are organizations, they
will be found to be sadly lacking in a big and definite objective.
They have been content if they have done as well this year as they
did last, or if their record compares favorably with the record of a
neighboring church. In other words, their achievements have been
measured by some standard which has seemed a possible goal at the time
rather than by the great and final aim of getting the whole task of
Christ accomplished.
It is also often true that the church is not organized to reach the
entire community in which it lives. One of the first duties will
therefore be to relate the church in a vital way to the entire
community. The church is not a field but a force with which to work
the field. The field is the community, the state, the world!
In some cases it will be necessary to create new machinery for this
work. However, it is much wiser to use the existing organizations of
the church if they can be made effective.
=The Missionary Committee.=--The one type of organization in the local
church which has met with most general approval by Christian leaders is
what is called "The Church Missionary Committee." Even where several
distinct missionary organizations exist in the local church there is
still urgent need for this committee for two very important reasons.
1. It unifies the missionary activities of the church. The most
fruitful way of organizing the committee is to have representatives of
all the existing missionary organizations upon it. The pastor should
by all means be a member of this committee but ordinarily not the
chairman. The committee should always be definitely appointed or at
least confirmed by the official body of the congregation. By thus
bringing together all the leaders of the various activities, a
unified and well-articulated missionary program is made possible.
[Illustration: THE CHURCH MISSIONARY COMMITTEE
ITS FIELDS (INNER CIRCLE)
ITS FUNCTIONS (OUTER CIRCLE)]
2. The missionary committee represents the entire congregation. In the
past it has been true that only a fraction of the congregation has
been enlisted in definite missionary activities. Only small groups
have been organized for missionary service. The men especially have
been unreached. Obviously the first move to make if the church is to
meet its full missionary responsibility is to plan to enlist the
whole constituency. This committee should have enough meetings to plan
a comprehensive policy for the entire congregation, including all the
lines of activity indicated in the missionary commands of Christ to
which reference has been made, also to check up results. A meeting for
the whole congregation should be held each year at which reports are
made and plans projected for the succeeding season. The pamphlets on
the Missionary Committee and its work listed at the end of this
chapter are earnestly recommended to the thoughtful study of every man
who desires to relate himself effectively to the problem of making a
missionary church. The policy outlined by the committee, after a study
of these pamphlets, should be adopted by the official body, presented
to the whole congregation, and explained at a regular church service.
To make the preceding suggestions effective calls for a high type of
ability and the conspicuous and continuous application of all those
traits of character which have been developed in the business and
professional men of the church.
II. UNWITHHOLDING CONSECRATION
Your money and your life! What greater gifts can a man bring? God
cares more for men than for anything else in the world. It is life
laid down for him which gives joy to the heart of the sacrificial
Savior. But money represents life--nay, it is coined personality.
Millions of money beyond any previous gift will be needed before the
world can be won. Here is the hardest personal battle for a multitude
of men. After the personal battle is over others must be persuaded by
the victor to share in the enterprise.
[Illustration: A PLAN FOR THE ORGANIZATION AND WORK OF THE CHURCH
MISSIONARY COMMITTEE]
As a result of experience in thousands of churches in all parts of the
United States and Canada it has been demonstrated that the Every
Member Canvass is the most effective financial method now being
employed by the churches. No program of finance in the local church is
complete without an annual Every Member Canvass.
The adoption of sound principles of stewardship, and life brought into
deepening harmony with those principles is a part of the price of
victory in this war. Such principles are essential to the development
and enrichment of character and necessary if there is to be proper
expression of character in doing the will of God.
There is hardly any outstanding question in the Church about which
there is such confusion and therefore so nerveless an appeal as the
subject of stewardship. It is a difficult question and an unpopular
one. Inadequate thinking is very common and practise is even more
inadequate than thinking both in pulpit and in pew.
The fact that little constructive attention is being given to this
subject by the leaders of the Church was well illustrated at one of
the Silver Bay Conferences a few years ago. In a group of about
seventy-five men, where the subject was under discussion, the leader
of the conference asked how many of the men had ever read a book on
Christian stewardship. Not more than one half of the men raised their
hands. When asked how many had read a book on tithing not more than
one fifth responded in the affirmative. If such a representative group
of picked leaders is uninformed or uninterested in so vital a matter,
the rank and file of the Church must surely need their attention
powerfully called to the subject.
The Bible gives a much larger place to the matter of giving than is
generally supposed. Some one who claims to have counted the Scripture
references says that giving is mentioned 1,565 times in the Bible. One
of the significant things about the parables of Jesus is that thirteen
of the twenty-nine have some reference to property.
A group of men recently worked out a statement of the principles of
stewardship and the methods of applying these principles to life.
These principles are worthy of careful study and wide adoption. In
May, 1912, they were adopted by the governing body of one of the
denominations as the guiding principles and methods for that church.
=Principles of Stewardship.=--_God is the Giver and is the Absolute
Owner of All things._--This invincible conviction lies at the base of
all correct thinking about stewardship. To commit oneself to the
inspiring idea that God is the owner of all things is to take all
bitterness and drudgery out of stewardship. When a man realizes what
kind of a God he has, that he purposes his best for every man and
wants him to know how rich and powerful and loving his Father is, the
practise of stewardship becomes one of the enriching joys of life. The
base-line of all geographical measurements is the level of the sea;
prairies or mountains or canyons are all measured from this same
base-line. It is a unit of measure. Likewise the ownership of God is
the base-line for all measurements of truth about property. Having
laid down and accepted this fundamental proposition that God is the
owner of all there follows another truth or corollary, namely,
_Under grace man is a steward, and the steward holds and administers
that which he has as a sacred trust._ Life is a trust, not a
possession. We are stewards of money, not creators. Receiving a trust
and rendering an account are inseparable. Responsibility and
accountability are twin brothers.
_God's ownership and man's stewardship are best evidenced by the
systematic application of a portion of income to the advancement of the
Kingdom._ Giving should be _regular_. All educational processes are made
effective by continuous repetition. The needs of the work are also
regular and therefore call for regular contributions. This application
of a portion of income should be _stated_. It is a definite transaction
with a real personal God. It involves amounts, totals and increments. It
should be _worshipful_, remembering who he is to whom we bring the
returns of our labor, and in order that there may be the largest
blessing every offering should be an act of worship. It should be
_sacrificial_, bearing in mind that no fraction set aside can exhaust
our responsibility or express the depth of true love for God.
_Biblical and extra-Biblical history point to the setting aside of the
tenth of the income as a minimum, and indicate a divine sanction of
the practise and the amount._ The tenth and _Beyond_ is the Bible
rule! The Old Testament emphasis is on the _Tithe_, the New Testament
emphasis is on _The Beyond_. The Old Testament asks a tenth, the New
Testament demands less but expects more. The one tenth tests our
obedience, the nine tenths tests our consecration. The Old Testament
principle is, "The tithe is the Lord's." The New Testament principle
is, "He that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be my disciple."
If the adoption of any principles of stewardship are to be adequate,
every man must finally go the whole length as expressed in the words
of Jesus just stated. The sooner this is done the better, but the full
conception of stewardship breaks into life gradually with most men and
a large majority begin by setting aside a small proportion of income.
The adoption of a regulative principle, even though inadequate at
first, is a powerful spiritual force in a man's life. When the
practise of systematic and proportionate giving is begun, the first
important step is taken which often leads to complete devotion to God.
_There should be careful, intelligent, personal, and prayerful
consideration of the uses to be made of the money thus regularly set
aside. This will require study not only of the local situation, but
also of the missionary and benevolent work of the Church._ This
principle provides for a thorough-going educational process and is
indispensable if the Church is to improve her great opportunity.
Individuals, churches, nations cannot come to the highest efficiency
without recognizing and accepting their world responsibility.
_Consistent use of the balance of the income not set aside._ All the
preceding principles are undermined if a man does not adopt this last
principle as a safeguard. It pries down deep into men's lives and
uncovers their secret motives. If men are to have an adequate program
of stewardship, it must be adequate educationally, spiritually, and
financially. It is believed that the six principles stated are
adequate, in the sense just described, because:
1. These principles are taught in the Bible. They are a summary of
the total message of the Scriptures on the subject and especially of
the essence of the teachings of Jesus.
2. The testimony of history, both Scriptural and extra Biblical history,
gives sanction to the principles stated and the amount set aside, always
remembering that the New Testament emphasizes _The Beyond_.
3. These principles are accepted because of their effect on character.
No life can grow rich and strong without increasing giving. God is
much more interested in the making of a man than he is in the making
of money and the adoption of sound principles of stewardship is vital
to Christian character.
4. The adoption of these principles by Christians generally would meet
the practical needs of our time for the spread of Christianity
throughout the world so far as money can ever meet the needs of mankind.
=Methods for the Application of These Principles to the Life of the
Individual Christian.=--_The Actual or Constructive Separation of the
Proportion of Income_ which complies with the foregoing principles.
This does four things:
1. It preserves the integrity of the proportion set aside and guards
against the evil of only estimating what is due.
2. It is a concrete and vital expression of the principle. Mere mental
assent to a principle without practical expression is deadly to the
spiritual life.
3. It provides regularly for the regular needs of the Kingdom.
4. It is the best antidote to selfishness.
_A pledge in writing, in advance, of the amounts to be applied to the
regular work of the Church (current expenses, missions, and
benevolences)._ These pledges should ordinarily be considerably less
than the whole amount to be devoted during the year.
_A weekly payment of the amount so subscribed, deposited as an act of
worship at a public service._
_Payments from time to time, out of the sums set aside, but not
previously pledged, to special causes as may be desired._
_The plan of keeping a separate "Lord's Treasury" is recommended for
those who cannot attend the services of the Church._
_Free-will or thank-offerings._
This method is a safety valve for those whose income is growing and
who can easily afford to give large sums in addition to their regular
offerings. God expects cash and consecration, gold and goodness,
riches and righteousness to increase together.
"Give, give, be always giving,
Who gives not is not living,
The more you give
The more you live,
Give strength, give thought, give deeds, give self,
Give love, give tears and give thyself,
Give, give, be always giving.
Who gives not is not living.
The more you give, the more you live."
The propagation of the principles and methods of stewardship is an
important part of the program of every individual Christian and of the
Church Missionary Committee. Thorough agitation on the subject should
always precede the annual every-member canvass. Many churches have
received unprecedented spiritual blessings because of the adoption and
practise of higher standards of giving. Finally, it should not be
forgotten that the missionary appeal is one of the most powerful
motives to stewardship. The appeal for the two should go together.
III. UNENDING PRAYER
The sovereign summons to men is the summons to prayer. It is a call to
use the great unused human resource of power. It is a call to every
man to walk with the tread of a giant "an open but unfrequented path
to immortality." Other lesser calls must die out in us if the present
spiritual world crisis is to be met. Practical men of business say
that this is the work of the minister or the missionary, but Christ's
call to prayer was not limited to any group of individuals or to a
special section of the Church. The men of our time are discovering
that they have a wealth of talent of which they did not dream,--to
bring things to pass by prayer. Intercession has ever been what Arthur
Smith calls "The deeply buried talent."
Let us in the beginning frankly face the fact that there is no call
which involves more of unwithholding consecration than the life of
intercession. There is no service which demands so much of a man, which
digs down so deep into his life, which floods with such a searching
light all the methods and principles by which men govern their lives.
On the other hand let it not be forgotten that there is no human means
of releasing such measureless forces among mankind. We are in the
midst of a spiritual conflict, and prayer is the determining factor
in that conflict. This involves not simply a prayer for ourselves in a
few hurried sentences at night, when too tired to remember what has
been prayed for when the words are said, not a few fragments of time
given to this most important occupation, but prayer, central in life,
having a clear space in which to live and breathe and yet not confined
to times and seasons but mingling with the whole of life. Sadly it
must be confessed that intercession is not yet the passion of our lives.
Prayer gives quiet confidence that things really happen when men pray.
It is as vital as muscular force, as real as electricity. It wrenches
men loose from their limitations and projects personality into distant
lands. It is the lever of God to pry continents and dead civilizations
up into newness of life. It is the power which helps to lift history
out of its bed and puts it down into new channels where it belongs. It
is of this force which John R. Mott speaks when he says: "The supreme
question of missions is how to multiply the number of Christians who,
with truthful lives and with clear unshaken faith in the character and
ability of God, will, individually or collectively, or cooeperatively
as a church, wield the force of intercessory prayer for the conversion
and transformation of men, for the inauguration and energizing of
spiritual movements, and for the breaking down of all that exalts
itself against Christ and his purposes."
J. Campbell White says: "Prayer is the first and chief method of
solving the missionary problem. Among all the methods that have been
devised none is more practical, more fruitful than this. If we could
get a definite group of people at home into the habit of supporting
by prayer each missionary in the thick of the fight, by this simple
method alone the efficiency of the present missionary force could
probably be doubled without adding a single new missionary."
In bringing in a report on the place of prayer in missions, a
committee of men at one of the conferences of the Laymen's Missionary
Movement submitted the following: "Prayer is the only element which
can quicken information into inspiration, transmute interest into
passion, crystallize emotion into consecration, and coin enthusiasm
into dollars and lives. Resolved, that we seek by every means to
convince every man that, whatever may be his contribution of money or
service, he has not exercised his highest influence, performed his
whole duty, nor enjoyed his highest privilege until he has made
definite, believing prayer for missions a part of his daily life."
As we remember Jesus Christ, and recall the kind of tasks he has given
his men to do, the kind of men he expects us to be, as we lift up our
eyes and look into the upturned faces of the thousand millions of
people who know not God and remember that we are the men who must
bridge the racial gulf and capture the world for Christ, we may well
be moved by a solemn sense of our responsibility. It is our duty not
simply to nurse the wounded but to stop the battle. If we are to face
our tasks with inflexible courage and a growing devotion we must
cultivate the vital processes and bring to Christ the flawless
wholeness of unshared hearts.
One of the old Greeks said that every speech must begin with an
incontrovertible proposition. Three such propositions are stated here.
1. _Prayer has Called Forth and Energized All the Great Spiritual and
Missionary Movements of All Times._
The history of the Moravian movement, of the great missionary awakenings
in Germany, and the modern missionary uprising in Great Britain shows
that they were all born and given power because of prayer.
On this side of the Atlantic it should never be forgotten that the
three great interdenominational movements which have had so much to do
with the arousing of America to her missionary responsibility were all
called forth by prayer, and whatever of vitality and power they have
displayed still depends upon the energies of God poured forth in
answer to prayer. The Student Volunteer Movement grew out of an
unusual volume of intercession on the part, first, of a small group of
individuals, and then of a conference assembled at Northfield in 1886.
It was from a small group of men meeting for prayer and counsel in New
York and later at Silver Bay on Lake George that the Missionary
Education Movement came into being. It was in a prayer-meeting in the
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, on November 15,
1906, that the Laymen's Missionary Movement began its career.
Two principles have been increasingly emphasized in all these
movements, and men may well take them to heart and ponder them deeply
before deciding that there is any other way in which they can exert so
powerful a world influence as in prayer. These principles are:
_God has accomplished most by the men who have adventured themselves
most upon God._
_Men must commune with Christ if they are to communicate Christ._
2. _Prayer Finds a Way Out in Hours of Crisis._
The history of the way in which victory has been achieved in the great
spiritual crises of the world is a record of answered prayer. There is
no more impressive picture in the Old Testament than that of Moses,
the great leader of Israel, in the midst of a desperate battle with
his hands lifted in intercession. When he wearied and his hands were
withdrawn, Israel was defeated, but so long as his hands were upheld
and there was an unceasing stream of intercession, Israel prevailed.
Crowded into that one incident is one of the greatest single spiritual
lessons which God would teach mankind. There is no other way than this
to meet the spiritual crises of the world victoriously. The great
battle of Jesus was not won at Calvary but in the garden in prayer.
The crowded record of achievement in all the home and foreign mission
fields of the Church is full of incidents of the truth of the
principle just stated. Since it is the judgment of the missionary
leaders of to-day that there never has been such an hour of crisis and
opportunity in the world, then there never was a time when there was
such need that men should covenant with God to wield the force of
intercession. The victory which is achieved at the front of the battle
will be commensurate with the volume of intercession in Christian lands.
3. _Prayer is the Only Power that can Fill the Gaps in the Thin Line
of Battle._
The second study in this little book reveals the tremendous unmet need
of the world. The line is very thin in many parts of the field, in
many sections of the world it can be said to be nothing more than a
picket-line. If qualified leaders are to be thrust out into these
fields, if the Church is to recover the lost frontiers in the great
cities and country districts of the home land and in the Mohammedan
and pagan world abroad, if every man in the world is to be given an
adequate opportunity in his lifetime to know our Christ, then the
great crucial problem is how to multiply the number of those who will
enlist as intercessors and then devote themselves to the enlistment of
others until the whole Church is committed to this task.
Is it too much to expect that every man in his place should have the
spirit exhibited by Alexander Duff when he said: "Having set my hand
to the plough my resolution was, the Lord helping me, never to look
back any more and never to make a half-hearted work of it. Having
chosen missionary labor in India, I gave myself up wholly to it in the
destination of my own mind. I united or wedded myself to it in a
covenant the bands of which shall be severed only by death."
May our Living Leader give to his men the spirit expressed by Edmund
Burke when he said: "The nerve that never relaxes, the eye that never
blenches, the thought that never wanders: these are the masters of
destiny."
In Ladd's _Rare Days in Japan_, reference is made to a telegram
received by Mr. Matsukata, the President of the shipbuilding company
at Kawasaki, from Admiral Togo just two days before the battle of the
Sea of Japan. Admiral Togo had received the following order from the
Emperor: "Find and destroy the Russian fleet." Because of the weight
of his responsibility it is said that Togo ate or slept but little for
several days after receiving the Emperor's order. His mind must have
been filled with thoughts such as these: "Where was the Russian fleet?
Where could he find it? And if he did find it, how could he destroy
it?" In those hours of anxiety he formed one plan and abandoned it,
thought out another scheme and gave it up. Finally he determined upon
his course of action and wired Mr. Matsukata, "After a thousand
different thoughts now one fixed purpose."
There are a thousand demands upon the time and strength of the modern
man. They are bewildering and often conflicting. The Christian man is
not less busy than the man of the world, and insistent calls are
ringing in his ears every hour. The Church is increasingly needing his
strength and leadership. The state calls, the city makes large drafts
on his strength. What shall he do? What causes are most worth while?
How shall he spend his energy and his money? What is the most alluring
task? Let him choose the highest and the greatest way to spend his
life. _If the missionary principle is not unalterably entrenched in
the citadel of your life will you not resolve before you put this book
down that henceforth all life shall be built around the one purpose
which is most worth while;--to let life run out to the end rich and
deep and full in the plans of God for the world?_
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire,
Speak through earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm.
In simple trust like those who heard
Beside the Syrian Sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.
"AFTER A THOUSAND DIFFERENT THOUGHTS NOW ONE FIXED PURPOSE."
INDISPENSABLE LITERATURE FOR MISSIONARY COMMITTEES
The Church Missionary Committee, Missionary Education Movement,
156 Fifth Avenue, New York, 5 cents each.
Manual of Missionary Methods, J. Campbell White, Laymen's
Missionary Movement, 1 Madison Avenue, New York, 5 cents each.
What Can the Missionary Committee Do? Laymen's Missionary
Movement, 1 Madison Avenue, New York, 5 cents each.
Essentials in an Adequate Plan of Missionary Finance. Laymen's
Missionary Movement, 1 Madison Avenue, New York. 1 cent each.
Prayer and Missions. A packet of nine pamphlets. Laymen's
Missionary Movement, 1 Madison Avenue, New York. 25 cents per
packet.
Stewardship. A packet of thirteen booklets and leaflets. Laymen's
Missionary Movement, 1 Madison Avenue, New York. 50 cents per
packet.
Forward Mission Study Courses
"Anywhere, _provided it be_ FORWARD."--_David Livingstone._
Prepared under the direction of the MISSIONARY EDUCATION MOVEMENT OF
THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: T. H. P. Sailer, _Chairman_; A. E. Armstrong, T.
B. Ray, C. L. White, J. E. McAfee, A. R. Gray, G. F. Sutherland, H. P.
Douglass, W. E. Doughty, W. W. Cleland, J. H. Poorman.
The Forward Mission Study Courses are an outgrowth of a conference of
leaders in young people's mission work, held in New York City,
December, 1901. To meet the need that was manifested at that
conference for mission study text-books suitable for young people, two
of the delegates, Professor Amos R. Wells, of the United Society of
Christian Endeavor, and Mr. S. Earl Taylor, Chairman of the General
Missionary Committee of the Epworth League, projected the Forward
Mission Study Courses. These courses have been officially adopted by
the Missionary Education Movement, and are now under the immediate
direction of the Editorial Committee of the Movement. The books of the
Movement are now being used by more than forty home and foreign
mission boards and societies of the United States and Canada.
The aim is to publish a series of text-books covering the various home
and foreign mission fields and problems and written by leading
authorities.
* * * * *
The following text-books having a sale of over 1,200,000 have been
published:
1. THE PRICE OF AFRICA. (Biographical.) By S. Earl Taylor.
2. INTO ALL THE WORLD. A general survey of missions. By Amos R. Wells.
3. PRINCELY MEN IN THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM. (Biographical.) By Harlan P.
Beach.
4. SUNRISE IN THE SUNRISE KINGDOM. Revised Edition. A study of Japan.
By John H. DeForest.
5. HEROES OF THE CROSS IN AMERICA. Home Missions. (Biographical.) By
Don O. Shelton.
6. DAYBREAK IN THE DARK CONTINENT. Revised Edition. A study of Africa.
By Wilson S. Naylor.
7. THE CHRISTIAN CONQUEST OF INDIA. A study of India. By James M.
Thoburn.
8. ALIENS OR AMERICANS? A study of Immigration. By Howard B. Grose.
9. THE UPLIFT OF CHINA. Revised Edition. A study of China. By Arthur
H. Smith.
10. THE CHALLENGE OF THE CITY. A study of the City. By Josiah Strong.
11. THE WHY AND HOW OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. A study of the relation of
the home Church to the foreign missionary enterprise. By Arthur J.
Brown.
12. THE MOSLEM WORLD. A study of the Mohammedan World. By Samuel M.
Zwemer.
13. THE FRONTIER. A study of the New West. By Ward Platt.
14. SOUTH AMERICA: Its Missionary Problems. A study of South America.
By Thomas B. Neely.
15. THE UPWARD PATH: The Evolution of a Race. A study of the Negro. By
Mary Helm.
16. KOREA IN TRANSITION. A study of Korea. By James S. Gale.
17. ADVANCE IN THE ANTILLES. A study of Cuba and Porto Rico. By Howard
B. Grose.
18. THE DECISIVE HOUR OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. A study of conditions
throughout the non-Christian world. By John R. Mott.
19. INDIA AWAKENING. A study of present conditions in India. By
Sherwood Eddy.
20. THE CHURCH OF THE OPEN COUNTRY. A study of the problem of the
Rural Church. By Warren H. Wilson.
21. THE EMERGENCY IN CHINA. A study of present-day conditions in
China. By F. L. Hawks Pott.
22. MEXICO TO-DAY: Social, Political, and Religious Conditions. A
study of present-day conditions in Mexico. By George B. Winton.
23. IMMIGRANT FORCES. A study of the immigrant in his home and
American environment. By William P. Shriver.
In addition to these courses, the following have been published
especially for use among younger persons:
1. UGANDA'S WHITE MAN OF WORK. The story of Alexander Mackay of
Africa. By Sophia Lyon Fahs.
2. SERVANTS OF THE KING. A series of eleven sketches of famous home
and foreign missionaries. By Robert E. Speer.
3. UNDER MARCHING ORDERS. The story of Mary Porter Gamewell of China.
By Ethel Daniels Hubbard.
4. WINNING THE OREGON COUNTRY. The story of Marcus Whitman and Jason
Lee in the Oregon country. By John T. Faris.
5. THE BLACK BEARDED BARBARIAN. The story of George Leslie Mackay of
Formosa. By Marian Keith.
6. ANN OF AVA. The story of Ann Hasseltine Judson. By Ethel Daniels
Hubbard.
* * * * *
These books are published by mutual arrangement among the home and
foreign mission boards, to whom all orders should be addressed. They
are bound uniformly and are sold at 50 cents in cloth, and 35 cents in
paper; postage, 8 cents extra.
Transcriber's Note:
* Text enclosed between equal signs was in bold face in the
original (=bold=).
* Pg iii Added comma after "race" in "Unity of the race".
* Pg iv Added period after "66" in "a Common World Task, 66".
* Pg iv Removed period after "CONDITIONS" in "AND OTHER GEOGRAPHICAL
CONDITIONS" for consistency.
* Pg 15 "thoroughgoing" and Pg 100 "thorough-going" left as printed.
* Pg 114 Added periods after listings "8" and "20".