"Billy" Sunday, the Man and His Message: With his own words which have won thousands for ChristEllis, William T. (William Thomas)
Religion
"Billy" Sunday, the Man and His Message: With his own words which have won thousands for Christ
Ellis, William T. (William Thomas)
Baseball players -- United States -- Biography; Evangelists -- United States -- Biography; Sunday, Billy, 1862-1935
Up to date, the tremendous total of eleven thousand conversions is
reported by these unsalaried, self-supporting gospel workers, who
joyously acclaim Billy Sunday as their leader. They represent his
teachings and his spirit in action.
The most celebrated of these gospel teams is "The Business Men's Team"
of Wichita, an interdenominational group. It comprises such men as
Henry Allen, the editor of the Wichita _Beacon_ and one of the foremost
public men of the state; the president of the Inter-urban Railway; the
president of the Kansas Mutual Bank, and other eminent business men.
This team has visited eleven states in its work, all without a penny of
cost to the Church, and with results exceeding those achieved by many
great and expensive organizations.
The Billy Sunday converts not only stick but they multiply themselves
and become effective servants of the Church and the kingdom.
Nobody is left to conjecture as to the sort of counsel that Mr. Sunday
gives his converts. Every man, woman and child who "hits the trail" is
handed a leaflet, telling him how to make a success of the Christian
life.
A trumpet call to Christian service by every confessed disciple of
Jesus Christ is sounded by the evangelist. The following is an appeal
of this sort:
"SHARP-SHOOTERS"
The twentieth century has witnessed two apparently contradictory facts:
The decline of the Church and the growth of religious hunger in the
masses. The world during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
passed through a period of questioning and doubts, during which
everything in heaven and earth was put into a crucible and melted down
into constituent elements. During that period many laymen and preachers
lost their moorings.
The definite challenging note was lost out of the life of the ministry.
The preacher today is oftentimes a human interrogation point, preaching
to empty pews. The hurrying, busy crowd in the street is saying to
the preacher and the Church, "When you have something definite to say
about the issues of life, heaven, hell and salvation, we will listen;
till then we have no time for you." I believe we are on the eve of
a great national revival. The mission of the Church is to carry the
gospel of Christ to the world.
I believe that lack of efficient personal work is one of the curses
of the Church today. The people of the Church are like squirrels in a
cage. Lots of activity, but accomplishing nothing. It doesn't require a
Christian life to sell oyster soup or run a bazaar or a rummage sale.
Last year many churches reported no new members on confession of faith.
Why these meager results with this tremendous expenditure of energy
and money? Why are so few people coming into the kingdom? I will tell
you what is the matter--there is not a definite effort put forth to
persuade a definite person to receive a definite Saviour at a definite
time, and that definite time is now.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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