“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;'
and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever."
Otoe Stomp liisstmi Immtal.
Entered at the Poet-Offlce at Richmond, Va.t as Second-Class Matter.
Vol. LX.
APRIL, 1910.
* No. 10.
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•
•t
A NOBLE VOICE FROM THE FAST,
AN APPEAL EXACTLY SUITABLE FOR TO-DAY.
The Southern Baptist Convention met
in Washington City fifteen years ago.
This year it is to meet in the neighboring
city of Baltimore. The following appeal
which Dr. John A. Broadus sent out
during the closing months of the year be¬
fore the Washington meeting is, in every
way, applicable to the present situation:
"Are we going to report a heavy debt
unpaid? Every Southern Baptist pastor,
every intelligent member of our churches,
man or woman, ought to look straight at
that question. It will be a simple disgrace
if we do not meet the debt before the Con¬
vention assembles. And something more
is involved. Do we recognize the duty
of maintaining and extending the foreign
mission work? The fact Is that Christi¬
anity is missionary or it is nothing. Those
Christians who have not the missionary
spirit are essentially wanting as to the
very genius of Christianity.
X beseech you, brethren, let us make spe¬
cial contributions in the next three months
for foreign missions. Try to convince
your church,
О
pastor, that it is their duty
to send the gospel far hence to the
heathen. Many of them do not know that
this is their duty. Prove It to them out
of Scripture. They are not stingy. They
are unacquainted with their duty in this
respect; and you are the man to teach
them their duty, and now is the time.”
Let us take to heart the words of our
great preacher and teacher, who, being
dead, yet speaketh. Would it not be “a
simple disgrace” for us to come to the
Convention this year with a debt on our
foreign mission work? And yet, we must
all recognize that it will take the most
heroic effort that Southern Baptists have
ever put forth to accomplish the task
which lies before us. It is simply a ques¬
tion of our willingness to make the efTort.
We would change the words of Dr.
Broadus a little and say, “Try to convince,
your church,
О
pastor, that it is their
duty to see that all obligations on the
Foreign Mission Board are met before the
books close on the 30th of April.”
On the 15th of March we still needed
$338,000 in order to close the year out of
debt. This is $75,000 more than was re¬
ceived during the last six weeks last
year. This statement puts the case clear¬
ly before our people. Up to date, there
has been almost no advance over the re¬
ceipts of last year. These figures are not
given to discourage our people, but sim¬
ply to show them what must be done. If
every church will prayerfully and reso¬
lutely determine what its own duty and
responsibility is and then go about meet¬
ing the condition which confronts us In a
business-like way, every dollar can be
raised. We simply must not fail. South¬
ern Baptists are on trial before the world
and our Lord. We must, we must, meas¬
ure up to our responsibility.
