Practical Bible Training School - Theologue Yearbook (Johnson City, NY)

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18 He Lived For Ollferru pected to see the like and told of the good that had come to their churches. Laughter and tears followed along the enthusiastic wave as men, women and chil- dren continued rapidly telling, in varied form, of the joy that had come into their lives. It was the great- est religious demonstration ever held in this city and fittingly closed the campaign, which has been a chain of most remarkable incidents from the beginning. Davis' and Mills' remarkable meetings have left a deep impression on this city of churches. They hold a campaign in Baltimore May 12-19, 09075 in the centre of the city, a union of the churches, an out- growth of their great work there last December. From Brooklyn, Davis and Mills went to Balti- more, another one of the large cities of the East. It was a united campaign embracing fifteen churches, out in a section of the city near Goucher College, north of the Pennsylvania depot. This campaign was also very successful as indeed was every campaign carried on by them. At the close of these meetings a newspaper account reads as follows: Not since the days when Moody and Sankey so mightily stirred the city of Baltimore has so great an evangelistic cam- paign been held as that recently closed by those con- secrated men, Davis and Mills, who have been hold- ing a series of meetings in North East Baltimore, fifteen churches uniting, representing five different denominations as well as the mission interests of that part of the city. The greatest harmony and a choice sweetness pervaded the whole series, and nothing was said by those tactful, and yet fearless workers, that in the least jarred the fine spirit in the union effort. The resolutions passed, state that much of the harmony was due to the masterful way in which Evangelist john A. Davis looked after the details and held the grasp of every service. The re- markable work in large measure was due to the forc- ible Gospel sermons preached by Mr. Davis, exposi- tory and topical in their make-up, and his broad and liberal attitude which has been likened to that of Spurgeon. Marked evidence of his special ability and training for the special work of an evangelist, were seen in every service and people were turned away night after night while great crowds attended the meetings. F. A. Mills had charge of the great chorus choir, and his masterful ability as a singer and leader soon aroused a spirit of song which stirred the whole section of the city. Night after night people gath- ered in front of the building or congregated on street corners singing the hymns of the meetings, and it was often a familiar sound, to hear above the hum of the on going trolley cars the sweet strains of the familiar hymns sung by those homeward bound. The results of the meetings were great, many were quickened to strong religious interest and many started in the new way of living. Indeed the inter- est became so great and the influence extended over so wide a territory, that the greatness of the work cannot be computed. From Baltimore, Mr. Davis returned to Brooklyn at the request of the up-town churches. lt was on this return visit that he held a union service at the Hanson Place Baptist Church, and from which the choirs and audience marched to the South Oxford Street residence of Ira D. Sankey, the great singer, who was co-laborer with D. L. Moody. Under- neath the window of his room the great chorus gath- ered while hundreds listened to the old familiar hymns he had made famous, and which were carried to him through the opened windows. The choir sang, 'When the Mists Have Rolled Away,' 'There'll Be No Dark Valley,' 'While the Days Are Going By,' 'For You I Am Praying,' and Mr. Mills sang the solo. 'The Ninety and Nine.' It was a time never to be forgotten, as the singers heartily joined, while hundreds from the surrounding dwellings threw open windows to catch the inspiration of the moment, and some of the members of Mr. Sankey's family came with tear-dimmed eyes to look upon the scene. One metropolitan daily reported the incident as follows: One of the most remarkable services ever held in Brooklyn was that yesterday morning at 7:30 at the Hanson Place Baptist Church. It was the oc- casion of a union Easter morning service led by Davis and Mills, who have been holding evangelistic serv- ices in the city for several months. Fully a thousand people, representing many churches, filled the church, galleries and all, and the meeting could scarcely be closed by 9:30. The evangelistic choirs from the Janes Methodist, the Sumner Avenue Baptist, the Embury Memorial Methodist, and the Wasliington Avenue Baptist churches filled the large platform built for the occasion and nearly half the gallery on either side. Most of the songs sung were the familiar ones learned by the audience in the various campaigns in the borough. Mr. Davis gave a soul-stirring talk, and then followed a rapid-hre testimony meeting which has scarcely been equalled anywhere. Often a half dozen were on their feet at once waiting eager- ly their chance to speak. Near the close, Mr. Davis revealed to the audi- ence a plan that he had kept as a surprise, and to- gether a thousand people marched four abreast around to the residence of Ira D. Sankey, the singer now blind, who made song so famous in the Moody campaigns, and there under his window sang his favorite selections. The Rev. Dr. C. D. Case, the Rev. John R. Knox, and Davis and Mills headed the procession. One song that Mr. Sankey espe- cially requested them to sing was, There'll Be No Dark Valley. The people next proceeded to the residence of Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler. who also lives on South Oxford Street, a little below the home of Mr. Sankey, and sang for him. The doctor was on his porch and responded to the song with a short appeal. He said that nearly five years ago Ira D. Sankey sang the last time in public just where the Dip the pen of the tongue in the ink of the heart.

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He Lived For Otberf' 17 generation before- Moody and Sankeyf' To this day the names 'iDavis and Mills' are remembered by thousands upon thousands of the older generation. In looking over some of the newspaper clippings of the great Brooklyn campaigns held in the year 1907, we were thrilled by accounts with head-lines such as the following: 72,500 People Attend Davis- Mills Meetings, l'1,20O Men at Single Mass Meet- ing, Revival Meetings Fill Two Churchesf i'Evan- gelist Davis and F. A. Mills, His Singer, Arouse Great Enthusiasm, i'Lively Time at Revival in Brooklyn, Evangelist Davis of Binghamton and His Singers Stir Up Things, Davis and Mills Asked to Return Next Yearf' There is much that we might say concerning the work of Evangelist john A. Davis in these campaigns. He was held in very high esteem by pastors through- out the entire city of Brooklyn. The following ar- ticle concerning the coming campaign which Davis and Mills were to hold in the Washington Avenue Baptist Church appeared in the Sunday Bulletin dated March 3, 1907. The long expected coming of these powerful evangelists is about to be realized, for Davis and Mills begin special Gospel meetings next Sunday and continue with us two weeks. It is positively cer- tain that their coming will be of immense benefit. They are masters along the line of their specialty- the arousing of the conscience in allegiance to jesus Christ. Their work is thorough. Their appeals are tremendous. Their business is to make converts to jesus Christ, of members of the Church as well as the world, of which our Lord will not be ashamed, and they know their business. They are unique in the revival field, for they are first, midst and last, men of action. Other evangelists preach and sing. These men act, and infiuence the people to act with them. They are generals with a plan of campaign mapped out in advance, and you find yourself fol- lowing their lead. However sluggish you were yes- terday and indiierent, when they command, you arouse yourself and follow. This is because they command so sweetly and appealingly that you cannot help loving them. and before you know it you are loving the Christ they proclaim. The writer spent last Wednesday evening from 8 to 11 o'clock at one of their meetings and found it hard not to go again Thursday night. They held my attention from start to finish. How can they continue a meeting for two and a half hours and hold the crowds? As Philip said to Nathaniel, Come and seef, In that throng of people I saw nobody asleep, but I did see people laugh and weep, and less than a hundred went out before the close. The evangelist took less than thirty minutes for his sermon, and sermon it was, all right, preached with the picturesqueness and vividness of a Talmadge, and the power of a Moody. True, it lacked the homiletical form of a college trained, theo- logically dried sermonizer. It did not satisfy the intellect. It came near offending the intellectual demand. In fact it may be said, as I look back upon it, to have dethroned the intellect, and after the giant lay there cast down, Davis was cruel enough to stand upon him and reach out after your heart. He suc- ceeded in boring into the conscience, in grappling the heart, in stirring the phlegmatic propriety of spiritual indifference to the depths, in honoring jesus and making Him seem more indispensible to Christian work and living than before seemed to be necessary. These youngsters, for they are very young men as years go, though veterans in the spirit, possess a charm hard to define, and the best of it is, the charm lingers with you after the meeting is over, and next day, and you feel uneasy until you go again. We are told we heard the evangelist at his best in preaching and the conducting of the after meeting, which by the way is never conducted two evenings the same. Even so, I cannot conceive of his second-best being uninteresting and tiresome. I imagine someone ask- ing if less than thirty minutes were taken up with the sermon, how in the name of all that is good and great could the rest of the long evening be made not to drag? A detailed answer would take too long, so again I must answer, as above- come and see. The following account appeared in the 'lNew York Herald of May 7, 1907, giving an account of the closing night of the Brooklyn campaigns. A most re- markable demonstration of the deep hold Evangel- ists Davis and Mills have secured upon the religious element of this city during their four month's cam- paign was strikingly given in the closing service held in the largest available building, the Janes M. E. Church Sunday night. Tickets were issued, but not- withstanding, hundreds crowded before the doors singing the old familiar hymns learned during the campaign, while waiting for admittance. The crush at the front filled the great auditorium in a moment after the opening of the doors and overflow meet- ings were quickly arranged for in nearby churches. The sight inside was a most inspiring one, as 500 singers in the great union chorus crowded the plat- form and galleries, and when Mr. Mills waved his baton as the signal to begin, those who heard will never forget the enthusiastic melodious response, the deep spiritual fervor, as from song to song the hun- dreds swung in unison and with great accord. Shortly after the song service Evangelist Davis took charge. He was given an enthusiastic greet- ing, men and women from all the walks of life and social positionswprofessional, businessmen, mechan- ics, rising to their feet again and again to express their appreciation of the great work done. Mr. Davis in characteristic form and with unique power, after prayer led the great congregation into testimonies of benefits received. The pastors first telling how great blessings had come and saying they had never ex- 'But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Rom. 5:8.

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He Lived For OllJe1'J 19 crowd was now, and where Mr. Mills was leading the singing, and that he sang at that time Blest Be the Tie That Binds. He especially requested that the same song should be sung, which was done tenderly. He put his arms around Mr. Mills and thanked him. The people broke up a little after ten to hasten to their own services. The Davis and Mills mission began with the Hanson Place Church in the evening with a house filled. The large platform, the largest the church has ever had, was filled with singers. Mr. Davis filled his sermon last evening with rich personal ex- periences which showed that he had much of that power which made Gipsy Smith's sermons so effec- tive. Mr. Davis can be wonderfully tender at times and at others he makes the building ring with his voice. It is impossible to compare Mr. Davis with any other evangelist. He discards all formalities in his dead earnestness. So absorbed was the audience that probably few knew that twice he sat down in the chair, and when people thought that they had before them fully a half hour of testimony he so suddenly closed the meeting that they sat quiet a few moments before moving. He declared the service was closed and leaped from the platform all in the same moment. The sermon was on 'Soul-winning,' and was from Daniel 12:3. 'And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmamentg and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.' He declared that every man can be a soul-winner, and that he pitied the person that had never won a soul to Christ. The day following the service the letter below was received from Mr. Sankey, and is here used by spe- cial permission. 148 So. Oxford Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Jan. 28, 1908. Messrs. Davis and Mills, Hanson Place M. E. Church, Brooklyn. Dear Brethren: I wish to thank you and your choir with all my heart for singing for me last night. It was very kind of you indeed to remember me, and I hope that we shall sing together some day in the land that is fairer than day. With best wishes for your continued success, and with kindest regards, I am, Fraternally yours, Ira D. Sankey per C.R. During the two years of his stay in Brooklyn, Evangelist Davis was mightily used of God to win hundreds of precious souls and build up the spiritual life in the following churches of the city: the Sumner Avenue Baptist, the Embury Memorial Methodist, the lanes Methodist, the Washington Avenue Baptist, the Hanson Place Baptist and the Simpson Methodist. While he was thus engaged in presenting the Glad Tidings in Brooklyn, he received a call from the pastors of the city of Altoona, Pennsylvania, where thirty evangelical churches were willing to unite in the movement. After some correspondence, Mr. Davis was so impressed with the need and the great opportunity, that he concluded, after much praying, that it was the call of God and decided on the close of the Brooklyn campagn to open the work there. Consequently one Saturday evening late in March, 1908, Mr. Davis arrived in Altoona and as he stepped from the train with some members of the committee, who had gone down the road a few miles to meet him, he was given a most cordial greeting by the 200 or more persons gathered at the station. They sang the hymns, God Will Take Care of You, and Victory Through Christ, under the leadership of singer Mills who had preceded Mr. Davis to the field. No such enthusiasm had ever been evidenced in the city before. The crowd marched through the station, out to the street, where Mr. Davis was in- troduced to the workers, and an open air service was held by a large number of the Christian workers and citizens of the city. A prayer was offered by Mr. Davis and after some remarks and the singing of a number of hymns the very atmosphere seemed charged with the spirit of the revival, and the cam- paign was on! From the opening service it was apparent that there was no building in the city adequate to hold the great crowds. So the committee decided to di- vide the city into three sections, with Davis and Mills in the center, and his co-workers Rev. William H. Pike in the second section, and Rev. Charles H. Har- rington in the third. Even this provision proved inadequate, for all three places of meeting were soon over-crowded. Therefore, the committee considered the advisability of erecting in a central location a tabernacle capable of seating at least 3,000 people. The meeting was held on a Saturday afternoon, and the contract awarded. The following Tuesday morn- ing the erection of the building began. In five days the great tabernacle was completed, the floor laid, the lights installed, the seats arranged, and every- thing was in readiness for the service on Sunday afternoon, at which 3,000 men gathered. Even this huge tabernacle was not sudicient to accommodate the crowds, and hundreds were turned away. During the closing days many would come to the afternoon service, bring their lunch and remain in the building in order to insure their securing a seat for the evening services. So great were the crowds that Evangelist Davis thought it wise to open a campaign on the south-side of the city. This was done and the meetings there were carried on with splendid results. Thomas B. Dilts, the General Secretary of the Y.M.C.A. at Latrobe, Pennsylvania, a city of about 'LWe give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord jesus Christ, praying always for youf' Col. 1:21.