My father went home to be with the Lord on Friday, May 3rd.  A week later I had the honor of giving the eulogy at his funeral back in Australia, and what follows below is a transcript.

He lived a wonderfully fruitful life for His Savior, and I will always consider it the most profound privilege to be his son. Love you Dad.

Aeron Morgan 1934 – 2013

On behalf of our family, I’d like to thank you all so much for being here with us today. Some have traveled long distances. Hundreds more may not have been able to attend, but have sent expressions of support from all around the globe. We are so appreciative of every one.

Several dear friends are going to share tributes in this service, and we are grateful to each of them. Especially I would mention Pastor Ian Nicholson and Pastor Phil Powell who have been an enormous support to Mam and Dad over the months of Dad’s illness.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:2, “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

The story of Aeron Morgan’s life is a study in faithfulness. We who were privileged to observe him more closely than any others can testify that he was a faithful servant of God. And there is nothing higher that could be said of any man.

His brother, my Uncle Phil, has penned a few words on behalf of all the family back in South Wales, and from Aberaman Pentecostal Church – where it all began. He writes:

“Born on the 25th March, 1934, in 33 Davies Street, Aberaman, was a little baby boy, to Edward and Irene Morgan. They gave him a Welsh name AERON.  The name Aeron translated means “MOUNTAIN OF STRENGTH”. Little did they know at the time that this would be a characteristic of his life and ministry as he served the Lord. Aeron from a young teenager was desirous of serving the Lord, and it soon became evident that the call of God was on his life.

When he left school in 1951, he went to work in the CID office at the Aberdare Police station. Some 2 years later the police sergeant by the name Mr. Tucker, confirmed to our parents, that Aeron was not cut out to be a policeman, but a preacher! A few years later at the age of 22 Aeron was pastoring His first church. It was only a small village Assembly. Aeron never despised his small beginnings but always thanked GOD for his formative days in his home church. He believed it equipped him for future ministries.

Just some things I have observed in Aeron’s life:

• He was a Mountain of Strength to his family. (Dinah, you were his mountain of strength throughout your ministry together).
• He was a Mountain of Strength to the churches he pastored.
• He was a Mountain of Strength to the Bible Colleges he lectured in.
• He was a Mountain of Strength to the churches he preached in worldwide.
• Last but not least, he was a Mountain of Strength in his devotion to prayer and the declaration of the truth of GOD’S WORD, he was uncompromising in his stand for Truth.

Up until the end of his earthly life, during his long illness, he was a mountain of strength to those who attended him.

I will finish with the words of a song that Aeron often sung, and I can hear his sweet tenor voice singing it:

“Let me burn out for Thee, dear Lord
Burn and wear out for Thee
Don’t let me rust, or my life be a failure, my God, to Thee
Use me and all I have, dear Lord,
And hold me so close to Thee
That I feel the throb of the great heart of God
Until I burn out for Thee.”

I trust that all who have been touched by our brother’s life and ministry will in return be Mountains of Strength in this our generation. He was one of the choicest sons of the Aberaman Pentecostal Church; one of many who have gone out into full time ministry and are still going out.”

As Uncle Phil wrote, Dad was born in Aberaman as the 3^rd of 5 children.  He attended Aberdare Grammar school where he played rugby with great distinction. The local newspapers predicted that he would be chosen to play for Glamorgan, which could have led even to playing for Wales one day. But 2 things happened: one incidental, and the other fundamental. He suffered an uncharacteristic illness that sidelined him from playing, but more importantly he sensed the call of God to ministry … and that call would take precedence over everything else for the rest of his life. So rugby union was left behind … though he always loved to watch it, saying it was “the only real game”.

After Grammar School he was conscripted into military service, and joined the Royal Air force. He was honorably discharged after about a month when he was found to have a perforated eardrum, which the doctors thought might have caused him problems flying in aircraft. (If those doctors only knew how many hundreds of thousands of miles he would later fly around the world to preach the gospel.)

In 1955 Dad married his lifelong sweetheart, Dinah. It wasn’t long before they took that first pastorate that my Uncle mentioned in the village of Llantwit Fardre. This would be the first of many pastoral assignments. He did it while working in the office of a plastics factory to support his young family. My sister Angela was born during that first ministry season.

Other pastors enjoy long terms in just 1 or 2 places, but the Lord moved Dad far more often, as he seemed to be called to a ministry of “mending things”.  He was always being called to tough places, where his strong preaching and gracious pastoring would bring healing and strength.

After several years of ministry in South Wales, Dad received a call to finally be full time in the ministry in the town of Thurnscoe, South Yorkshire, England. (This meant Mam & Dad leaving their beloved Wales – they returned often but would never live there again.)  There are people from Thurnscoe in contact with us to this day, 5 decades later, who speak of how their lives were changed at that time. They remember Dad’s ministry there with such fondness, it’s extraordinary. My brother, Mike, was born in Thurnscoe.

From there, Dad was called to Darlington. I remember him telling us that when he arrived there he found a church that wasn’t just split – it was “shattered” in pieces – but nobody had left! It was a mess. But again the Lord used Dad’s ministry to bring it back to healing and strength.

When that church was back on its feet, Dad was called on again. This time to Radcliffe in Manchester. Radcliffe is where I was born. One day just a few years ago I was rummaging in Dad’s office for something, and I came across his diary for the year 1967. I thought, “This will be interesting.” And I quickly flipped open to the date of my birth … July 3^rd.  Dad had recorded several appointments that day, and written some comments about what a marvelous prayer meeting they’d had. Then in brackets at the bottom of the page, 3 words … “Son born, Philip”.  Thanks Dad!

From Radcliffe, Dad was called to pastor at East Ham in London. It was there that an extraordinary move of God broke out. There were nights that Dad would leave people praying at the altar to bring our family home to bed, and then would go back to keep praying with people late into the night. It was during that season of revival Dad wrote the song that is printed on the back of your order of service:

Bring me there to the place near to Thine heart,
Bring me there, where no evil hath a part,
Bring me there, where Thy will is all supreme.
Bring me there Lord, bring me there.

In a sense Dad waited 40 more years for the aspiration of that prayerful song to be fully answered. His greatest desire was granted last Friday.

While he was pastoring in East Ham, he received a call from a church on the other side of the world. Toowoomba, in Queensland, Australia. Initially he turned it down because he didn’t feel that he could leave the move of God that was taking place in London. But the church contacted him again to say that Pastor A.T.Davidson was willing to give a year at Toowomba if Dad would come at the end of that time.

So, in 1971, our family boarded the Greek ship, RHMS Ellinis, and sailed the four week journey to Australia, where Dad became the pastor at Toowomba. We have dear friends here today who became part of our lives during that season of ministry.

In 1974, Dad was called by the national fellowship to become the Principal of Commonwealth Bible College in Brisbane. We had been there 2 weeks when the 1974 flood hit. The Brisbane River rose and completely submerged the college. The clean-up operation took days, but in the end the campus was unsalvageable.  With all the students arriving to start the college year, Dad had to oversee billeting them all with church families, and arranging for lectures to be held in local churches.  For the next year, between his new duties as Principal, Dad traveled around the country looking for a new home for CBC. One year later God had miraculously provided, and Dad oversaw the relocation to Katoomba, NSW. Another massive undertaking.

We were in Katoomba until 1981, when Dad was called back again to England. A return to pastoral ministry with a church in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Another remarkable move of God took place, and Mam looks back on those years as some of the most fruitful ministry years of their lives.

In 1987, the British Assemblies of God, meeting for their General Conference, came to a historic decision to appoint their first ever General Superintendent. This had been discussed before, but never enacted. There had always previously been resistance to the idea, but that year Dad’s name was put forward, and pastors rose to speak and said that they trusted Aeron Morgan. The extraordinary nature of this decision is attested by the fact that Dad’s name was actually inserted into the constitution and by-laws. Later on, when Dad resigned that position, the constitution had to be amended to allow for the election of successors.

For the next several years Dad “pastored the pastors” of the British Assemblies. He visited over 100 churches each year, as well as representing the fellowship across Europe.

Then in 1989, God spoke very clearly to him that he would be returning to Australia. Soon after, the Australian Executive contacted him. The principal of Commonwealth Bible College, Bro. David Bridges, had suffered a stroke and could not continue. Would Dad consider returning to that post?

Dad served at CBC again from 1989 until 1992, when he took his final pastoral assignment: the church at Nambour, on the Sunshine Coast.

He finally “re-tyred” in 1999 … at 65 years young … but he continued to have a constant worldwide ministry until just last year. He travelled to Europe and the USA very regularly, and committed himself to regular trips to South Pacific Bible College in Suva, Fiji, as a lecturer … back to his great love of training young men and women for the ministry.

This was the fruitful life of Aeron Morgan, borne testimony to by so many believers around the world who knew and loved him. A fine expositor of God’s Word, a pastor at heart, a teacher and mentor to many. Perhaps the most widely impacting legacy of his life is his students. So many have reached out to us from around the globe over the past few days.  From his earliest days teaching at Kenley Bible College, in London, from the International Bible Training Institute in West Sussex, from Commonwealth Bible College in Katoomba (now Alphacrucis College), and from South Pacific Bible College, in Suva.

But then there is the Dad that we his family knew. And this is OUR testimony of a faithful man; a faithful husband, a faithful father and grandfather:

He taught us the gospel.  He taught it accurately, and uncompromisingly. He taught us the whole counsel of God’s Word. I’ve been in full time pastoral ministry for 22 years now. I graduated Bible College, and have spent my life reading and studying. But I can honestly say my real preparation for ministry was sitting in my home church, listening to my Dad systematically teach God’s Word. Nothing has prepared me more in all my life.

But even more than that … He not only taught us the gospel … He LIVED the gospel.  He never faltered and he never changed. There was no hypocrisy in Dad. What you saw in the pulpit was what he lived every day. He taught us again and again, I can hear him saying it now, “The greatest asset you can have in life is a clean heart.”  He kept a clean heart.

Dad preached passionately about the holiness of God … he’d been humbled by it. He never preached legalistically. He lived his life in a kind of joyous reverence.  He was not a perfect man. “The best of men are men at best”. But he was a truly Christ-like man.

He loved our mother.  I can’t express just how much we adore him for that. Every day of our lives he was faithful to Mam, as she was to him. They are such an example to our family.

He was a tender man.  When each of us were infants, night after night he would come home and go to our cradles, pick us up and bring us into bed with him and Mam to have us sleep in his arms. And he loved us so beautifully all our lives. He loved his grandchildren, and finally his great-children. He loved people everywhere with such a warm heart.

Finally, he was a man of prayer.  Pastor Bill Randles from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, wrote in tribute to Dad this week, “One of my first thoughts on hearing of his home going was selfish, I admit, for I thought, ‘who will pray for us, as Aeron did?’”

I know exactly how he feels. I can’t tell you how many Sunday mornings he phoned me, or emailed me, to say “I’ve been praying for you this morning, son.” He was constant in prayer.

To bring this to a close: another text that Dad referenced so often in preaching … if I heard him say it once, I heard it a thousand times … 1 John 2:17  “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

Aeron Morgan pursued the will of God from his boyhood. His life was completely surrendered to Jesus Christ. And Aeron Morgan is alive today … more alive in fact than ever. He would hate us to talk ethereally today about him somehow “being here with us”, or “looking down on us from heaven”.  He’s not. He’s with Christ, which is far better. I imagine he’s prostrated on the ground adoring the Savior he hungered to see throughout his whole life.

Our family has been split up around the world several times, as we have followed God’s will. But probably the time we all remember the most was 1981 when Mam & Dad received the call to go back and pastor in the north of England. By that time our family were very much established here in Australia – my sister Angela was married and had presented my parents with their first grandchild (Amanda), my brother Michael was working in Sydney. I’m the youngest, and was still in high school, so I went with them – but we had to leave Michael and Angela behind. I vividly remember saying goodbye at Mascot airport. I remember even more vividly that Mam cried all the way to London – and that’s a very long flight. Dad was focused on Mam – he consoled her. We finally arrived at Heathrow airport and were met by some of our family from Wales, and I remember Mam going off to use the restroom. I saw Dad watch Mam all the way until she turned out of sight, and then he broke down in a flood of tears — his own emotion that he’d been holding in all the way from Sydney. And I can still hear the words he said to my Uncle Phil – as if it were yesterday – he said, “I don’t want Dinah to see.” She was his helpmeet … he was her rock.

I tell you that story simply to say that we know something about difficult partings. But we also know that God – in His love and providence – also allowed us the joy of being reunited. A few years later we were all back living in Australia again, able to enjoy being with each other.

And I’ve often thought of that. For believers a funeral is just exactly like an airport terminal. It can be heart-wrenching … but it is only “farewell” for a time, not goodbye.

The separation is real … and I tell you today it feels real … but it is not final. And from eternity’s perspective it will only be brief.

So it is “farewell” to our beloved husband, and our Dad, and our Papa. We will miss him every day. But we also know that we will see him in the morning.

God bless you.

Since coming to the United States in 2003, Thanksgiving has come to be a favorite holiday to me. I love that (despite the marketers’ best efforts) it still hasn’t been commercialized like Christmas and Easter. It’s not about gifts and shopping, it’s about pausing to appreciate the providence of God and praise Him for it, and to spend time with the family and friends He has given.

I’ve been reflecting on all the many things I personally have to give thanks for again this year. Here are my Top 5:

1. God’s Great and Continuing Grace To Me, The Chief of Sinners.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

Jesus alone is the Author and Finisher of my faith. He rescued me. He keeps me. I will be eternally grateful.

2. My Wife and Children.

The greatest gifts in our lives are not things, but our loved ones. 23 years ago God blessed me with the most loyal, loving, helpful, fun partner to walk through life with. I don’t know where I’d be without Alli (I’d certainly be 50 pounds lighter … she’s an awesome cook!)

AND God gave me four of the coolest kids you could ask to have in your house. I’m so proud of each one of them.

3. My Gospel Heritage.

I thank God I was born not just into a “Christian country” (which seems to mean less and less year by year), but God placed me in a committed Christian family, with parents who love God passionately. My grandfather was rescued by the Lord from sin and the bondage of alcohol, and raised to be a preacher of the glorious gospel of Jesus. And so the line began. I am SO privileged … so indebted … for the truth I was raised in.

4. The Freedoms We Still Enjoy in America.

We live in very testing times, and there are many problems and pitfalls that this nation is facing. BUT, as of today I can still walk into our pulpit and preach the Word of God without fear, favor or compromise. I will not be arrested, but protected by the law of the land. I can still stand on any street corner and share the good news of Jesus without harassment.

These are privileges we must not take for granted. Millions of Christians around the world would give anything for such freedoms. Let’s thank God we have them, and do something WITH them while ever we still can.

5. The Fact That I’m NOT Having My “Best Life NOW”.

All these wonderful blessings, but the best is yet to come!  “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

I’m thankful for SO many things in my life, but my heart is not ultimately set on or satisfied with anything in this world. I’m living for eternity. And the true joys of life … the presence of God, and the blessings of family … we get to take with us. Nothing else is worth getting anxious about.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A collection of assorted postings and pages I picked up while aimlessly wandering around the net this past week.

• First Words. Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, gave his first press conference from Lambeth Palace. There have been mixed reports on how evangelical he is, so we will wait with baited but hopeful breath to see the course he charts for Anglicans in the days ahead.
  
• Final Words. I love to read the last words of famous people, and Justin Taylor wrote this past week about a favorite puritan of mine, John Owen. Inspiring!
• Many Words. QUESTION: Which Country Is Now The World’s Biggest Bible Publisher? You may be surprised at the answer in this report by Christianity Today. Delightful irony!

For the past 2 years I’ve been involved with organizing an annual missions awareness and training day for pastors and church leaders. Our third event in March of 2013 will focus on the horrific worldwide industry of human trafficking. In preparation for this I was asked to watch the newly released, multiple award winning documentary, “Nefarious: Merchant of Souls”.

The film’s Producer and Director, Benjamin Nolot, and his team traveled the globe and captured more than 800 hours of footage. They interviewed both victims and perpetrators, as well as some of those who are working to rescue captives and end this plague. It is compelling viewing.

It’s estimated that more than 27 million people are enslaved worldwide; most of them young women, many of them children. Awareness of this issue has been growing over the past few years as Christian and other justice agencies have worked tirelessly to put the spotlight on it. The film”Taken”, a major motion picture starring Liam Neeson, brought it before a massive audience.

Knowing something about the issue in advance, however, does little to prepare you for what the documentary uncovers. This is revealed to be a intricately complex problem with multiple contributing causes and numerous different faces.

The title is apt: “Nefarious”. The word means “extremely wicked or villanous; iniquitous”.

You can’t watch this film and not be struck by the depths of human depravity. By the suffering men are capable of subjecting others to for personal gain. As I watched the film, the words of Jesus kept coming back to me again and again, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)

It will make you sad, frightened, and angry in turns. But at the film’s end it will also turn you toward the great, wonderful and only hope: the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are things that can be done politically and legislatively, and these are discussed. But the real light that beams into the final scenes comes from the testimonies of former captives who have been rescued and transformed by coming to know Jesus.

I urge you to buy this film and watch it. It’s not a popcorn and candy movie for a friday night with the family, and in fact you won’t be able to say afterward that you “enjoyed” it. It will impact you, however, and I’m willing to bet you’ll be glad you saw it.

In a previous century, William Wilberforce worked indefatigably to abolish the wicked slave trade of Africans to the colonies. He wrote:

“If to be feeling alive to the sufferings of my fellow creatures is to be a fanatic, then I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large.”

Borrowing from Wilberforce, the film’s Director, Benjamin Nolot, challenges us:

“The crisis of modern-day sex slavery does not need interested observers. It needs incurable fanatics.”

The film ends with practical things that can be done in response. You’ll want to take action, and you can.

Watch the trailer …

Rev. George O. Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in the US, has released the following video statement concerning the election we have just witnessed. I thank God for a steadying word of reminder for every Christian.

Well, the election is finally behind us.

The re-appointment of President Obama is one thing, but receiving less attention was the fact that yesterday also saw several more states vote to recognize same sex marriages (and for the first time by a popular vote in the United States).

These decisions to re-define what constitutes marriage will surely lead us, and that in short order, to the place where what is now tolerated will become mandated.

For example, no minister is currently required to perform ceremonies for same sex couples, and faith-based organizations are still permitted to require adherence to a moral standard for employees in keeping with their religious beliefs. These things should be protected inviolate under the 1^st Amendment, but you can be assured that they will be challenged before long. Already we hear the allegations of “hate speech” to anyone voicing a dissenting view.

Is there a point at which civil disobedience is justified for Christians?

The Bible is clear that we are to submit to our rulers recognizing that their power is delegated by the Lord (Romans 13:1-7).  HE is our ultimate King.  That means that we obey our earthly authorities “as unto the Lord”.

And here is where there is a caveat to our obedience.  No earthly authority is a law unto themselves.  They are accountable to God – and every ruler will stand before Him.  Each one is being, and will be, evaluated by God.

The Bible clearly teaches us that if earthly rulers contradict God’s law, we are to defer to the higher law of God.  (It’s not a question of disobeying man, but rather of obeying God.)

For a couple of examples, we have Daniel and the 3 Hebrew lads (Daniel 3:18; 6:10) who refused to obey the law of the land and bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar (which would have been to break the 2^nd commandment). In the New Testament we read about the apostles refusing to obey the authorities when they commanded them not to preach about Jesus (Acts 4:19-20). They already had a command from the Lord that superceded any earthly authority.

William Barclay wrote, in his book “Ethics in a Permissive Society”:

“… the Christian is the good citizen, and the Christian is the obedient citizen – but there are limits, and beyond these limits he will not go.  In the Christian life there is only one supreme loyalty; that loyalty is to Jesus Christ, and that loyalty takes precedence over loyalty to family, loyalty to state, and loyalty to everything else, and so there can come a time when the Christian duty is disobedience to the state, and the Christian must hold that when the time comes he must act on it.”

We have Christian brothers and sisters in other countries who defy their government every day in order to assemble in illegal underground house churches, to own and print forbidden Bibles, and to preach the gospel to others.

There is a time for civil disobedience.  NOT for arrogance or violence (“the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God”, James 1:20).  NOR because we disapprove of the person or party in authority.  But there is a time to stand for God’s law because man’s law is contravening it.  At that point we accept the consequences for doing so, even though those consequences may be very difficult.

Christians throughout history have paid a terrible price for choosing to obey God rather than men.  In 1^st century Rome, Christians were fed to the lions in the Coliseum for their faith.  Nero was known to have crucified Christians in his own garden, and them have them set on fire while they were still dying to light the pathways so that he could stroll in the evenings.  They could have saved themselves by proclaiming Caesar is lord – but they would not do it.  They maintained that they could only hold One as their Lord; the Lord Jesus.

Sometimes when the people of God have chosen to obey Him rather than men, He has wonderfully delivered them. There are endless stories the world over of how God has worked miracles on behalf of those who’ve obeyed Him despite the threats of men.  Just like Daniel in the lion’s den, God is able to shut the mouths of opposition. As He did for the three Hebrew lads, God is able to stand with us in the furnace, so that not a hair on our head is singed.

But remember what those young Hebrew lads said “… our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace … He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)

They acted in faith, believing for the Lord’s deliverance, but also fully prepared to accept the consequences of their actions.  If we perish, we perish.  But we will NOT obey men when it means disobeying God.

So, yes, there is a time for civil disobedience. We pray that there will be peace and freedom in our land for the gospel to be unhindered. But if men seek to chain the gospel, we would rather be in chains with it. If men seek to abuse God’s laws, we would rather bear abuse also for loving them.

I’ve been in the trenches as a lead pastor for over 20 years now.  Over that period I’ve preached 2 to 3 times each week to the congregations I’ve served, plus some other engagements I’ve been invited to from time to time, plus weddings and funerals. That means that, based on an average of 150 speaking occasions each year, I estimate I’ve preached somewhere in the region of 3000 times. A Sunday morning manuscript alone will typically be 12 pages long, or 3000 words.

If you think about it, teaching pastors write more words in any given year than many professional writers do. They have more public speaking engagements than most politicians.

Someone asked me recently, “Do you ever get writer’s block?”

My answer? Only about once a week!

Preachers get two kinds of “block”. “Text selection block” and plain ol’ “writer’s block”.

Text Selection Block

This is the paralysis that sets in when you can’t decide what to preach about next. The hunt for that text that “bites”, or as Spurgeon put it, “… a verse gives your mind a hearty grip, from which you cannot release yourself”  (“Lectures to My Students”, p.85)  That hunt can be long and the prey illusive at times.

There’s two things I’ve learned about this from bitter experience:

1. The task of deciding on a text to preach becomes infinitely harder the more you try to “look for a sermon”.

My counsel to younger preachers is to stop reading the Bible to find “message fodder”. Instead, just read your Bible to allow it to speak to you. Forget about “Sunday’s coming”, and just read to feed your own soul and for the sheer love of God’s Word. When you’re not looking for a sermon outline, they will jump out at you from everywhere.

2. The best way to circumvent the whole problem of text selection block is to preach systematically through books or portions of Scripture.

If I’m preaching verse by verse through Romans, for instance, I avoid the whole problem of having to select a text at all. Monday morning I’ll hit my desk and just start preparing from the place that I left off preaching the day before. There’s still lots of work to be done, and decisions to be made within that preparation, but at least I’m past that awful point of selection paralysis.

Then there’s that more general block.

Plain ‘ol Writer’s Block

I know what I’m going to be preaching on. I’ve studied the passage up and down. I just can’t seem to get started with writing the actual flow of the message.

Like most preachers, I compile material for a message over days (even longer in some situations), but I’m a firm believer in the advice Andrew Blackwood gave his students about writing the final sermon flow in one sitting. As he said, “… pour out the message from beginning to end, preferably without rising from the chair.” (“The Preparation of Sermons”,  p.190)

The sermon, however long it may be, should be a single unit of thought, not a conglomeration of loosely associated ideas. It has a flow, a rhythm. It will be delivered in one session, so it should be prepared that way.

This is where the preacher can find himself “blocked”. Most often it happens right out of the gate. The first paragraph is inevitably the hardest to write.

So how do you bust out of the block? I’ve found there’s only one way. Start writing.

You can always come back and rewrite bits to improve it, but you have to get the flow of thought going.

1. Put down as many major points as you have on the page in front of you, even if they don’t seem completely coherent yet.
2. Start making notes under each point.
3. When something begins to really grab you, write everything that you can about it.

As you do this – as you “just start writing” – there’ll come a moment when you suddenly realize (with great relief), “I’m not blocked anymore.” In fact, the flow can begin moving so quickly that you feel you can’t get the words down on the page quickly enough; you’re afraid you’ll forget some of the ideas flying at you.

What have you done? You’ve written yourself out of writer’s block. After a while you’ll know that you can do this quite reliably, and the fear of block will go away.

One final tip, while we’re talking about the nitty-gritty practicalities of writing messages for public speaking. Altough I personally type all my messages on a laptop, and take a printed copy into the pulpit with me, NEVERTHELESS my first sermon draft is usually written with a smooth flowing pen on a yellow legal pad. Handwritten from beginning to end. I type it out later.

Why? Because the act of hand-eye co-ordination that occurs when a person writes with a pen is unique. It’s not the same as typing. Forming the shape of the letters, the words and the sentences with a pen lodges them in the memory. I become familiar with the message in a way that I don’t otherwise.

On Sundays I post classic pieces from Church history. Today we have a very challenging piece by C.T. Studd (1860-1931). The great man pulled no punches!

A brief biographical sketch follows at the bottom of this post.

(Note: All emphases in the following article are the author’s, as printed in the original publication.)

The Chocolate Soldier

or … “Heroism–The Lost Chord of Christianity”

HEROISM is the lost chord; the mission note of present-day Christianity!

Every true soldier is a hero! A SOLDIER WITHOUT HEROISM IS A CHOCOLATE SOLDIER! Who has not been stirred to scorn and mirth at the very thought of a Chocolate Soldier! In peace true soldiers are captive lions, fretting in their cages. War gives them their liberty and sends them, like boys bounding out of school, to obtain their heart’s desire or perish in the attempt. Battle is the soldier’s vital breath! Peace turns him into a stooping asthmatic. War makes him a whole man again, and gives him the heart, strength, and vigor of a hero.

EVERY TRUE CHRISTIAN IS A SOLDIER–of Christ–a hero “par excellence”! Braver than the bravest–scorning the soft seductions of peace and her oft-repeated warnings against hardship, disease, danger, and death, whom he counts among his bosom friends.

THE OTHERWISE CHRISTIAN IS A CHOCOLATE CHRISTIAN! Dissolving in water and melting at the smell of fire. “Sweeties” they are! Bonbons, lollipops! Living their lives on a glass dish or in a cardboard box, each clad in his soft clothing, a little frilled white paper to preserve his dear little delicate constitution.

Here are some PORTRAITS OF CHOCOLATE SOLDIERS taken by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

“He said, ‘I go, sir,’ and went not”; he said he would go to the heathen, but stuck fast to Christendom instead.

“They say and do not”–they tell others to go, and yet do not go themselves. “Never,” said General Gordon to a corporal, as he himself jumped upon the parapet of a trench before Sebastopol to fix a gabion which the corporal had ordered a private to fix, and wouldn’t fix himself, “Never tell another man to do what you are afraid to do yourself.”

To the Chocolate Christian the very thought of war brings a violent attack of ague, while the call to battle always finds him with the palsy. “I really cannot move,” he says. “I only wish I could, but I can sing, and here are some of my favorite lines:

“I must be carried to the skies
On a flowery bed of ease,
Let others fight to win the prize,
Or sail thro’ bloody seas.

Mark time, Christian heroes,
Never go to war;
Stop and mind the babies
Playing on the floor.

Wash and dress and feed them
Forty times a week.
Till they’re roly poly–
Puddings so to speak.

Chorus:
Round and round the nursery
Let us ambulate
Sugar and spice and all that’s nice
Must be on our slate.”

“Thank the good Lord,” said a very fragile, white-haired lady, “God never meant me to be a jelly-fish!” She wasn’t!

GOD NEVER WAS A CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURER, AND NEVER WILL BE. God’s men are always heroes. In Scripture you can trace their giant foot-tracks down the sands of time.

NOAH walked with God, he didn’t only preach righteousness, he acted it. He went through water and didn’t melt. He breasted the current of the popular opinion of his day, scorning alike the hatred and ridicule of the scoffers who mocked at the thought of there being but one way of salvation. He warned the unbelieving and, entering the ark himself, didn’t open the door an inch when once God had shut it. A real hero untained by the fear of man.

Learn to scorn the praise of men.
Learn to lose with God;
Jesus won the world thro’ shame!
And beckons us His road.

ABRAHAM, a simple farmer, at a word from the Invisible God, marched, with family and stock, through the terrible desert to a distant land to live among a people whose language he could neither speak nor understand! Not bad that! But later he did even better, marching hot foot against the combined armies of five kings, flushed with recent victory, to rescue one man! His army? Just 318 odd fellows, armed like a circus crowd. And he won too. “He always wins who sides with God.” What pluck! Only a farmer! No war training! Yet what hero has eclipsed his feat? His open secret? He was THE FRIEND OF GOD.

MOSES–the man of God–was a species of human chameleon–scholar, general, law-giver, leader, etc. Brought up as the Emperor’s grandson with more than a good chance of coming to the throne, one thing only between him and it–Truth–what a choice! What a temptation! A throne for a lie! Ignominy, banishment, or likely enough death for the truth! He played the man! “Refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin and success for a season, accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.”

Again I see him. Now an old man and alone, marching stolidly back to Egypt, after forty years of exile, to beard the lion in his den, to liberate Pharaoh’s slaves right under his very nose, and to lead them across that great and terrible wilderness. A WILD-CAT AFFAIR, if ever there was one! When were God’s schemes otherwise? Look at Jordan, Jericho, Gideon, Goliath, and scores of others. Tame tabby-cat schemes are stamped with another hall mark–that of the Chocolate Brigade! How dearly they love their tabbies yet think themselves wise men! REAL CHRISTIANS REVEL IN DESPERATE VENTURES FOR CHRIST, expecting from God great things and attempting the same with exhilaration. History cannot match these feats of Moses. How was it done? He consulted not with flesh and blood, he obeyed not men but God.

Once again I see the old grey-beard, this time descending the Mount with giant strides and rushing into the camp, his eyes blazing like burning coals. One man against three million dancing dervishes drunk with debauchery. Bravo! Well done, old man! First class! His cheek pales not, but his mouth moves, and I think I catch his words, “If God be for me who can be against me? I will not be afraid of 10,000 of the people that have set themselves against me. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.” And he didn’t. He wins again. Whence this desperate courage? Listen! “Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” “The Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend.” “My servant, Moses,” said his Master, “is faithful in all Mine house, with him will I speak mouth to mouth.” Such is the explanation of Moses the chameleon, the man and friend of God and consequently a first-class hero.

DAVID–the man after God’s own heart–was a man of war and a mighty man of valour. When all Israel were on the run, David faced Goliath–alone … with God–and he but a stripling, and well scolded too by his brother for having come to see the battle. What a splendid fool Eliab must have been! as though David would go to see a battle and not stay to fight. THEY ARE CHOCOLATE SOLDIERS WHO MERELY GO TO SEE BATTLES, AND COOLLY URGE OTHERS TO FIGHT THEM. They had better save their journey money and use it to send out real fighters instead. Soldiers don’t need dry nurses, and if they did the Holy Ghost is always on the spot and ready to undertake any case on simple application. No! David went to the battle and stayed to fight, and won! Wise beyond his years, he had no use for Saul’s armour. It cramped his freedom of action. He tried it on and took it off, quick sharp. And, besides, it made such a ghastly rattle, even when he walked, that he could not hear the still small voice of God, and would never have heard Him saying afterwards, “This is the way to the brook, David! and there are the five smooth stones! Trust only in Me and them. Your own home-made sling will do first class, and there! that’s the shortest cut to Goliath.” THE CHOCOLATES RAN AWAY–they were all Chocolates–but David ran upon Goliath. One smooth stone was enough.

David’s secret was that he had but one Director, and He, the Infallible One. He directed the stone, as He directed the youth. Too many directors spoil the sport, and two are too many by just one. Thus Christ said to His soldiers: “HE shall teach you all things, HE shall guide you into all the truth.”

“THIS is My Beloved Son: HEAR HIM.”

“ONE MEDIATOR ONLY, between God and Man, the man Christ Jesus.”

ONE DIRECTOR OF CHRISTIAN MEN–GOD THE HOLY GHOST. Whose directions require indeed instant obedience, but not the endorsement of any man.

THE DEVIL NEEDS RED-HOT SHOT, FRESH FROM THE FOUNDRY OF THE HOLY GHOST. He laughs at cold shot or tepid, and as for that made of half-iron and half-clay, half-divine and half-human, why you might just as well pelt him with snowballs.

Whence did this raw youth derive his pluck and skill? Not from military camps, nor theological schools, nor religious retreats. “To know The Only True God and Jesus Christ,” is enough. Paul determined to know only Jesus Christ, and look at the grand result! Whilst others were learning pretty theories, David, like John, had been alone with God in the wilds, practising on bears and lions. The result? HE KNEW GOD AND DID EXPLOITS. He knew God only. He trusted God only. He obeyed God only. That’s the secret. God alone gives strength. God adulterated with men entails the weakness of iron and clay–Chocolate–brittleness!

Yet hero as he was, even David alas! once played the role of Chocolate Soldier. HE STAYED AT HOME WHEN HE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO WAR. His army, far off, in danger, fighting the enemy, won. David, at home, secure, within sight of God’s house and often going there, suffered the one great defeat of his life, entailing such a bitter, life-long reaping as might well deter others from the folly of sowing wild oats. David’s sin is a terrific sermon (like Lot’s preaching in Sodom must have been), its theme–“DON’T BE A CHOCOLATE SOLDIER!”

In his simple, quick, and full confession, David proved himself a man again. It takes a real man to make a true confession–a Chocolate Soldier will excuse or cloak his sin. He tumbles in the mud, flounders on, wipes his mouth to try to get the bad taste of his acted lie out of it, and then goes on his way saying, “I have done no wickedness.” A self-murdering fool! Killing his conscience to save his face, like Balaam beating the ass who sought to save his master’s life. Being a Chocolate Soldier nearly did for David. Beware!

NATHAN was another real Christian Soldier. He went to his king and rebuked him to his face, like Peter’s dealing with Ananias (only David embraced his opportunity and confessed), and unlike the Chocolate Soldiers of today who go whispering about and refusing either to judge, rebuke, or put away evil because of the entailed scandal forsooth. Veritable Soapy Sams. They say “It is nothing! nothing at all! A mere misunderstanding!” As though God’s cause would suffer more through a bold declaration and defense of the truth and the use of the knife, than by the hiding up of sin, and the certain development of mortification in the member, involving death to the whole body. “He that doeth righteousness is righteous,” and “he that doeth sin is of the devil,” and ought to be told so. He that is a second time led captive by the devil needs neither plaster nor treacle, but the brace rebuke and summons to repentance of a righteous man to effect his salvation. WE ARE BADLY IN NEED OF NATHANS TODAY, who fear God and nought else, no, not even a scandal.

DANIEL was another hero. Of course he was! Was he not the man greatly beloved of God who sent an angel to tell him so?

I love to watch him as he walks, with firm step and radiant face, to the lions’ den, stopping but once–like his Master en route to Calvary–to comfort his weeping and agonized emperor. God shut the mouths of the lions against Daniel, but opened them wide against those who had opened their mouths against His servant.

A man is known by his works, and the works of Daniel were his three friends, who, rather than bow down to men or gold, braved the fiery furnace.

Again we see him going to the banquet hall, and hear his conductor whisper in his ear, “Draw it mild, Daniel, be statesmanlike. Place and power again for you if you are tactful and wise–especially tactful!” And Daniel’s simple reply, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” There he stands before the king, braving torture or instant death–but it’s the king who quails, not Daniel–who tells him to his face the whole hot truth of God, diminishing not a jot.

JOHN THE BAPTIST–a man taught and made and sent of God–good old John! Who doesn’t love and admire him? Why, even Herod did. A genuine deficiency of oil and treacle in his composition. He always told the bang flat truth, with emphasis. As he loved, so he warned. He knew not how to fawn. HE WOOED WITH THE SWORD, AND “MEN” LOVED HIM THE BETTER FOR IT. They always do.

The leaders of religion sent to John to ask him the dearly loved question of every Pharisee, “By what authority doest thou these (good) things?” They asked that of Christ Himself, and crucified Him for the doing of them. John’s answer was plain and pungent, “I will tell you what you ask, and more. (John was always liberal!) I? I am nobody, but ye and your masters are a generation of vipers.” A good hot curry, that! John never served his curries with butter sauce, but he was always very liberal with chutney–a man of God–NO SUGAR PLUM NOR CHOCOLATE SOLDIER HE!

Thus also he faced Herod after six months in an underground dungeon, and he a man of “God’s Open-air Mission”. Brought straight in before the king; surrounded with all the might and majesty of camp and court; blinking at the unaccustomed sight of light, but by no means putting blinkers on the truth, he blurted out his hot and thunderous rebuke, “Thou shalt not have that woman to be thy wife.” A whole sermon in one sentence, as easy to remember as impossible to forget. John had preached like that before; like Hugh Latimer, he was not above repeating a good sermon to a king, word for word, when the king had not given sufficient heed to it.

John received the unique distinction of a first-class character from both God and the agent of the devil. Hark to the Savior indulging in an outburst of exquisite sarcasm, “What think ye of John? A reed shaken by the wind? A man clothed in soft raiment?” A Chocolate Christian? (How delicious! The Chocolates were right in front of Jesus at the time–Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, scribes, lawyers, and other hypocrites. How the crowd must have enjoyed it!) “A prophet? Nay, much more than a prophet! Of men born of women there is none greater than John.” And what did the devil’s agent say when, after John’s death, he heard of Jesus? “This,” I tell you, “is John risen from the dead.” What a character! Fancy Jesus being mistaken for anyone! He could have been mistaken only for John. Nobody envies him the well-deserved honour, great though it was, for John was a man–pure granite right through, with not a grain of chocolate in him.

Had John but heard Jesus say, “Ye shall be My witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth,” I very much doubt if Herod’s dungeon, or his soldiers, could have detained him. He surely would have found some means of escape, and run off to preach Christ’s Gospel, if not in the very heart of Africa, then in some more difficult and dangerous place. Yet Christ said, referring to His subsequent gift of the Holy Ghost to every believer, “He that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he,” intimating that even greater powers than those of John are at the disposal of every Christian, and that what John was, each one of us can be–good, straight, bold, unconquerable, heroic.

But here are other foot-tracks–outrageous ones: they can belong only to one man–THAT GRANDEST OF CHRISTIAN PARADOXES–THE LITTLE GIANT PAUL–whose head was as big as his body, and his heart greater than both. Once he thought and treated every Christian as a combination of knave and fool. Then he became one himself. He was called “fool” because his acts were so far beyond the dictates of human reason, and “mad” because of his irresponsible fiery zeal for Christ and men. A first-class scholar, but one who knew how to use scholarship properly; for he put it on the shelf, declaring the wisdom of men to be but folly, and determined to know nothing else save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The result–he made the world turn somersault. His life was a perpetual gamble for God. Daily he faced death for Christ. Again and again he stood fearless before crowds thirsting for his blood. He stood before kings and governors and “turned not a hair”. He didn’t so much as flinch before Nero, that vice-president of hell. His sufferings were appalling; read them. He trod in his Master’s footsteps, and so received–God is always just in His favors–the same splendid compliment that Jesus did. “All forsook him.” So there were some Chocolate Christians in those days too. Anyone who forsook Paul must have been made of Chocolate. Doubtless the “CHOCOLATES” excused themselves as they do today. “Who could abide such a fanatical, fiery fool? such an uncompromising character? Nobody could work with him, or he with them!” (What a lie! Jesus did, and they got on well together.) A tactless enthusiast, who considered it his business to tell every man the unvarnished truth regardless of consequences. He won his degree hands down, and without a touch of the spur. A first-class one, too–that of the headman’s axe–next best to that of the cross.

And so the tale goes on. Go where you will through the Scriptures or history, you find that men who really knew God, and didn’t merely say they did, were invariably Paragons of Pluck; Dare-Devil Desperadoes for Jesus; Gamblers for God. “Fools and Madmen,” shout the world and the Chocolates. “Yes, for Christ’s sake,” add the Angels!

Nobly they fought to win the prize,
Climbing the steep ascents of heaven,
Thro’ peril, toil, and pain.
O God, to us let grace be given,
To follow in their train.

The Chocolate Christians of today can at least boast of having ancient pedigrees. There are CHOCOLATES A LA REUBEN, who have great searchings of heart, and make great resolves of heart too. But somehow they still sit among the sheepfolds, listening to the pipings of their much-loved organs and church choirs. It’s good to have a great heartsearching. It’s better to make a great heart-resolve. But, if instead of obeying, we squat among the sheep, leaving our few hard-pressed brethren to tackle the wolves by themselves, verily we are but Chocolate Christians. You made a great resolve to go to Africa for Christ a year or two ago. Where are you now? In England? Yes! Yes! Lollipop! (Judges 5:16.)

There are CHOCOLATES MEROZ, who earned the curse of the angel of the Lord. War was declared; the battle about to begin; the odds were outrageous, and Meroz remained in England attending conventions until the battle was over, then he went, in comfort and security, as a Cook’s tourist! Doubtless they said, “They couldn’t fight till they had been properly ordained, and, besides, there was so very much to be done in fat, overfed Meroz, and surely to feed a flock of fat sheep in a safe place has always been considered the ideal training of war”; as though the best training for the soldier was to become a nurse-maid!!! (Judges 5:23.)

CHOCOLATES DU BALAAM begin first-class, and earn the name of prophets. Then they develop a squint, melt, and finally run out of the frying-pan into the fire, thus Balaam.

One day he couldn’t get his left eye to look at God. It would look at earth and mammon and that chit of a girl, Miss Popularity. He ought to have done as God told him, and plucked it out. But he said that was too much to ask of any man, and besides he wanted the best of both worlds. He had a hearty desire to die the death of the righteous, but he wasn’t willing to pay the price of a righteous life. He hadn’t the pluck to curse God’s people, so he made plans for others to make them sin. But one day, while his dupes were putting his chestnuts into the fire, they fell in themselves, and Balaam with them (Numbers 22-24).

“I counsel thee to buy of me eyesalve, that thou mayest once again have a single eye, and be enabled to see the folly of flirting with the world.”

CHOCOLATE DEMAS, who left old fiery hard-hitting Paul for an easier path. He said he thought Paul should wink at, or slobber over sin, instead of rebuking it. “He was so very fond of the knife, you know; and he never would use sticking-plaster, because he said it never healed the sore but made it burrow underneath and become bigger, worse, and dangerous” (2 Timothy 4:10).

MARK joined the Chocolate Brigade once. He left Paul and Barnabas in the lurch, and went back to Jerusalem for a rest cure–a religious retreat. Thank God he got sick of it ere long, resigned his commission, and re-enlisting in God’s army became a useful soldier (Acts 13:13).

MANY FINE YOUNGSTERS ARE TURNED INTO CHOCOLATES BY OLD PROPHETS. Old prophets who have lost their fire, or fire off words instead of deeds, usually become Great Chocolate Manufacturers. That poor young prophet. He did so well when he obeyed God only, but it was all over with him when he listened to another voice, even though that of an old prophet. Didn’t the old prophet say he was a prophet? and say he’d got the message straight from God? What a damnable lie! The floor of Christendom and elsewhere is littered with wrecks made by old prophets. God won’t stand nonsense from any man. Every man has to choose between Christ and Barabbas, and every Christian between God and some old prophet. Better be a silly donkey in the estimation of an old prophet than listen to his soft talk and flattery, and afterwards become a wreck. “This is My beloved Son, hear HIM.” No! not even Moses, nor Elijah, nor both. “HEAR HIM.” “You have an anointing from God, and you have no need that any man teach you.” You say you believe the Bible! do your deeds give the lie to your words? (1 Kings 13).

THE TEN SPIES WERE CHOCOLATES. They melted and ran over the whole congregation of Israel, turning them into CHOCOLATE CREAMS–”softies”, afraid to face the fire and water before them. God put them all into the saucepan again and boiled them for forty years in the desert, and left them there. He has no use for Chocolates. It’s not small things He despises, but “Chocolates”; for He said, “Your little ones shall inherit the promised land which you have forfeited through listening to men and despising Me” (Numbers 13).

JONAH became a Chocolate Soldier once. Told to go to Africa, he went to Liverpool and took ship for America. Luckily he met a storm and a whale which, after three days’ instruction, taught him how to pray and obey, and set him once again on the right track (Jonah 1).

There’s nothing that shows up CHOCOLATES so much as a bit of a breeze among God’s people. Paul and Barnabas had one once. Judging from experience, I guess there were some Chocolates about then who got into a fog right away! Before that, they had vowed they would go to the heathen; but this breeze between P. and B. put them off. If they hadn’t been MADE OF CHOCOLATE they would have said, “This affair between Paul and Barnabas only makes it more necessary for me to keep close to God, and do what He told me to do more exactly and punctually; so I shall go a bit sooner to Africa–that’s all!”

Difficulties, dangers, disease, death, or divisions don’t deter any but Chocolates from executing God’s Will. When someone says there’s a lion in the way, the real Christian promptly replies, “That’s hardly enough inducement for me; I want a bear or two besides to make it worth my while to go.”

CHOCOLATES are very fond of talking loud and long against some whom they call fanatics, as though there were any danger of Christians being fanatics nowadays! Why, fanatics among Christians are as rare as the “dodo”. Now, if they declaimed against “tepidity”, they would talk sense. God’s real people have always been called fanatics. Jesus was called mad; so was Paul; so was Whitfield, Wesley, Moody, Spurgeon. No one has graduated far in God’s School who has not been paid the compliment of being called a fanatic. We Christians of today are indeed a tepid crew. Had we but half the fire and enthusiasm of the Suffragettes in the past, we would have the world evangelized and Christ back among us in no time. Had we the pluck and heroism of the Flyers, or the men who volunteered for the North or South Polar Expeditions, or for the Great War, or for any ordinary dare-devil enterprise, we could have every soul on earth knowing the name and salvation of Jesus Christ in less than ten years.

Alas! What stirs ordinary men’s blood and turns them into heroes, makes most Christians run like a flock of frightened sheep. The Militants daily risked their lives in furtherance of their cause, and subscribed of their means in a way that cried “Shame” on us Christians, who generally brand the braving of risks and fighting against odds as a “tempting of God”.

CHOCOLATE CARAMELS–”stick-jaw”, boys call them–jawing, “I go, sir,” and sticking fast in Christendom. No conquest is made in assured safety, and conquest for Christ certainly cannot so be made.

We Christians too often SUBSTITUTE PRAYER FOR PLAYING THE GAME. Prayer is good: but when used as a substitute for obedience, it is naught but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable Pharisaism. We need as many meetings for action as for prayer–perhaps more. Every orthodox prayer-meeting is opened by God saying to His people, “Go work today; pray that laborers be sent into My vineyard.” It is continued by the Christian’s response, “I go, Lord, whithersoever Thou sendest me, that Thy Name may be hallowed everywhere, that Thy Kingdom may come speedily, that Thy Will may be done on earth as in heaven.” But if it ends in nobody going anywhere, it had better never have been held at all. Like faith, prayer without works is dead. That is why many PRAYER-MEETINGS might well be styled “much cry, yet little wool”. Zerubbabel didn’t only hold prayer-meetings; he went and cut down trees, and started to build. Hence God said, “From this day will I bless thee.”

Report says that someone has re-discovered the secret of the old masters. Cannot we Christians re-discover, and put into practice, that of our Great Master and His former pupils, Heroism? He and they saved not themselves; they loved not their lives to the death, and so kept on saving them by losing them for Christ’s sake.

WE ARE FRITTERING AWAY TIME AND MONEY IN A MULTIPLICITY OF CONVENTIONS, conferences, and retreats, when the real need is to go straight and full steam into battle, with the signal for “close action” flying.

The “Vox Humana” plays too important a part in our Christian organs and organizations today. The music, whoever plays, is bound to be thin when the tops of “Instant Obedience” and “Fiery Valor” are missing or unused, and without them to play the “Lost Chord” of Heroism is an impossibility.

“Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it,” said the Blessed Virgin. Do what? Not put treacle and spice into the soft holy vessels inside the house, but pour the Water of Life into those empty stone ones outside. Cana’s marriage feast would have ended in shame had the wine run short. Christ’s marriage feast begins only when the wine is sufficient–a blend from every tongue and kindred and tribe and nation. The supply is assured, as soon as the water is poured out as Christ directed, into “the uttermost parts of the earth”. The mischief today is the reluctance of the servants to do the outside work. They all want to serve indoors, wear smart clothes, listen to the conversation, and make a terrible lot of themselves in the butler’s pantry.

DO LET US MAKE A REAL START NOW–AT ONCE. For years, like Mr. Winkle, we’ve declared we were just about to begin, and then never began at all.

We must divorce Chocolate and Disobedience, and marry Faith and Heroism.

“Who shall begin the battle?” asked the king. “Thou,” replied the prophet, and when the king and the young princes led the way, though the odds against them were terrific, they won with ridiculous ease. So, too, THE APOSTLES LED IN THE WAR OF GOD to the uttermost parts of the earth. Likewise in the Crusades, the kings and princes of State and Church led; then why not today in THE CRUSADE OF CHRIST TO EVANGELIZE THE WORLD?

GOD’S SUMMONS TODAY IS TO THE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN OF GREAT BRITAIN AND AMERICA AND CHRISTENDOM, WHO CALL THEMSELVES BY THE NAME OF CHRIST. “New wine,” said Christ, “must be placed in New bottles.” Those superfluously labelled and patched-up old-fashioned ones are as hopeless as the New Theology. They can’t be moved lest they burst with pride and spill the wine in the wrong place.

Listen: “And it shall be in the last days, I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions (of faith), your old men shall dream dreams (of valorous obedience); yea, and on My bondmen and on my bondmaidens in those days will I pour forth of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy; and I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs in the earth beneath; and it shall be that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” But how can they call on Him of whom they have not even heard? Must you stay, young man? Can’t you go, young woman, and tell them? Verily we are in the last–the Laodicean stage–that of the Lukewarm Church.

Wilt thou be to Christ the partner of His throne or an emetic (Revelation 3:21); a Militant or a Chocolate Christian? Wilt thou fear or wilt thou fight? Shall your brethren go to war and shall ye sit here? When He comes, shall He find faith on the earth?

A thousand times you have admitted Christ’s

Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands your life, your soul, your all.

Wilt thou be a miser and withhold what honour demands of thee? Wilt thou give like Ananias and Sapphira, who, pretending to give all, gave only part?

Possessing and enjoying the vineyard, wilt thou, like the husbandman, refuse the agreed rent? Wilt thou fear death, or devil, or men? AND WILT THOU NOT FEAR SHAME?

Some shall rise to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Shall we refuse to emulate the heroes of old, or shall we accomplish the double fulfillment of those glorious words?–

All these being men of war came with a perfect heart to make Jesus King over all the world. They were all mighty men of valor for the war! He that was least was equal to a hundred, and the greatest to a thousand! They were not of double heart! Their faces were like the faces of lions! They were as swift as the roes upon the mountains (to do their Lord’s commands)! Ye sought in time past, for Jesus to be King over you. NOW, THEN, DO IT. (Compare 1 Chron. 12:8, 33 and 38, and 2 Samuel 3:17 and 18.)

Shall we not reply: Thine are we, Jesus, and on Thy side. God do so to me, and more also, if as God has sworn unto Him, I do not even so to Jesus–to translate the kingdom from the house of Satan, and set up the throne of Jesus Christ over all the world. (Compare 1 Chron. 12:18 and 2 Sam. 3:10.)

Come, then, let us restore the “Lost Chord” of Christianity–HEROISM–to the world, and the crown of the world to Christ. Christ Himself asks thee, “Wilt thou be a Malingerer or a Militant?”

To your knees, man! and to your Bible! Decide at once! Don’t hedge! Time flies! Cease your insults to God, quit consulting flesh and blood. Stop your lame, lying, and cowardly excuses.

Enlist! Here are your papers and oath of allegiance. Scratch out one side and sign the other in the presence of God and the recording angel. Mark God’s endorsements underneath:

HENCEFORTH:

For me To live is Christ.
To die is gain.
I’ll be a militant.
A man of God.
A gambler for Christ.
A hero.

Sign here:
…………………………………..

OR

For me Chocolate my name.
Tepidity my temperature.
A malingerer I.
A child of Men.
A self-excuser.
A humbug.

Sign here:
…………………………………..

God’s promises are sure in either case:

“Lo, I am with you alway.”

OR

“I will spew thee out of My mouth.”

Good Lord!

Baptize us with the Holy Ghost, and with fire;

Cure us of all this dread plague of Sleeping Sickness, this crazy talking in our sleep, that even as we unceasingly pray,

Thy Name may be hallowed everywhere;

Thy Kingdom come speedily;

Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Amen and Amen!

C.T. Studd (1860—1931)

Before embarking on hi famous career as a missionary, as a young man, Charles Studd played international Cricket for England. He gave up the sport in pursuit of the call of God, and was one of the “The Cambridge Seven”, a group of 7 young students from Cambridge University who went to as missionaries to China. Later founded the Heart of Africa Mission which became the Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade (now WEC International).

His life story and writings have inspired an untold number to go as missionaries over the year.

A collection of assorted postings and pages I picked up while aimlessly wandering around the net this past week.

3 things have dominated the past week, and 1 more thing SHOULD have.

• Superstorm Sandy. The devastation has been terrible. We live 50 miles from New York City, and spent 24 hours hunkered down listening to the wind howl outside, but we are very grateful that we didn’t even lose power. (50% of our city did.) Some of the most stunning photographs are from National Geographic: Hurricane Sandy Pictures: Storm Turns Iconic Sites Ghostly.
• The Presidential Election Race. Just a few days to go, and won’t we all be glad when it’s over! It’s vitally important, however, so let’s grin and bear it — thoughtfully and prayerfully. Nathan Busenitz gave some great help for Christians regardless of our political leaning and the outcome of any particular election. Prayer & Politics.
• Reformation Day. October 31st. Justin Taylor wrote a great piece: What Was Luther Doing When He Nailed His 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Door? (And I wrote from a different angle on Reformation Day Plus One)
• Benghazi. Here’s the story that SHOULD have been leading everywhere, but which the mainstream media is largely ignoring. Today the Wall Street Journal finally has a story summarizing what we know (that is bad enough that we wish we didn’t) and what we don’t know (which is important enough that we really need to). Read: The Fog of Benghazi.

I have another classic eBook for you today. Download it absolutely free (see link below).

“The Revival We Need”, by Oswald J. Smith, was first published in 1925. The author was Founding Pastor of The People’s Church in Toronto, Canada, and a missionary statesman who raised millions of dollars for the work of world evangelization. Over the course of 80 years he preached more than 12,000 sermons in more than 80 countries.

“Mr. Smith’s book, ‘The Revival We Need,’ for its size is the most powerful plea for revival I have ever read. He has truly been led by the Spirit of God in preparing it.”

(From the Foreword by Jonathan Goforth)

Download it now, (just CLICK HERE) and distribute it freely and widely. You can email it to a friend, or just send a link for people to get it right here on the blog. It will remain available on our download page.

For many Americans, yesterday was just Halloween. “Candy Day.” For Eastcoasters cleaning up after the devastation of “Superstorm Sandy”, it wasn’t even that. Lots of kids will have to wait until the streets are safe and their parents can think about something other than where to get water and gasoline.

For the Church, however, October 31st holds a different significance. It commemorates a time in the history of the world that eclipses a frivolous holiday; a historical shift that makes the altering power of a natural disaster look tame by comparison. This time next year “Sandy” will be a fading bad memory; an interesting yardstick by which to measure the next storm. But what took place 495 years ago changed everything. Thoughtful Christians remember it. Every Christian stands in the light of it.

The Reformation.

On October 31st, the eve of All Saints Day, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his “Disputation … on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” to the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg and started a firestorm. It has come to be known as “the 95 theses”; a long list of objections the then catholic monk had against the practices of the Roman Church.

That brave act was actually just one of a series of things which brought about the Reformation. The translation of the Scriptures into the common languages of the people of Europe arguably did more to spread the fire than anything else. The writings and preaching of the leading Reformers also had an invaluable impact. But Luther’s nailing of his 95 theses is the moment selected to commemorate each year as Reformation Day.

October 31st was yesterday. Today is Reformation Day “plus one”, and I think it’s a great day to pause and reflect on the fact that we must not see the Reformation only as an event in the distant past. Those brave Reformers would not have wanted us to think like that. We must be committed to “perpetual reformation”.

Perpetual Reformation

What happened in Germany in the early 16th Century, and quickly spread across Europe and ultimately the world, was a seismic shift. It righted the course that the Church was on, and the ramifications are eternal and universal. But this was not nearly the first or the final movement of the Holy Spirit. He is the Great Reformer of the Church, the Author of every bit of her sanctification unto God from the Day of Pentecost to the present time. His work will continue indomitably until the day we stand perfected in glory.

The Church is always in need of reformation; seasons of spiritual revival and renewal which arrest decay and heresy, and propel us forward anew in God-glorifying worship and mission.

Getting stuck in the 16th or 17th Century, imagining that God has nothing more to say or restore, will not do. I’m reminded of the time when a professor of religion told an LA Times reporter that Billy Graham’s evangelism would set the church back 200 years. When the reporter then asked Graham to respond to the professor’s words, he said, “I’m sorry to hear that! I am trying to set the church back 2,000 years!”

That’s exactly what happened at the time of the Reformation: the 1st Century faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude v3) was restored. Not everything was restored in 10 or 50 years; it was an unfolding work. Today we desperately need that restoration power at work again. And we will tomorrow.

And not only “perpetual” reformation, but also:

Personal Reformation

The work didn’t begin that October day in 1517. The seed of the whole great tree was already planted and growing in the heart of that seemingly insignificant German monk. The movement that changed the theological and ecclesiological situation, and ultimately revolutionized the social and political fabric of Europe, began with a spiritual work that was intensely personal to that man Martin Luther.

And not him only, but before him Wycliffe, Huss and Savonarola, and after him Calvin, Knox and a host of others. Men whom God met and changed from the inside out.

It’s true that “reformation” and “revival” are different things; distinct ideas. But they are surely inextricably linked.

So, today — Reformation Day Plus One, 2012 — my call is that we be committed to seeking the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. To perpetual reformation, that begins in us personally.

As Peter Garner reminds us in “The Promise of the Spirit: A Reformed View”, citing the words of Robinson the Pilgrim Father,

“I am verily persuaded, the Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of His holy Word. For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the Reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion and will go at present no farther than the instrument of their reformation. The Lutheran can’t be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw… and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they were left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things… I beseech you, remember ‘tis an article of your Church Covenant, that you be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made known to you from the written Word of God… It is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick antichristian darkness, and that perfection of knowledge should break forth at once.”

Yesterday I wrote about the value of Bible memorization, with a few tips on how to do it. Continuing with the theme of the Bible, the following piece is taken from a newspaper cutting from around 1948. The cutting was tucked away in an old book that I picked up in a used book store in Latrobe, Tasmania, some years ago. I was leafing through the book the other day, and it fluttered out. I enjoyed reading it, and thought you might too.

The Bible’s Permanence

By Pastor S. Bath, Latrobe, Tasmania (Circa 1948)

The Bible – the miraculous Bible – the Book of Books, has made and unmade nations. It has uprooted kingdoms and empires. It has diverted the mighty tides of history. It has crumpled ancient faiths and superstitions.

Only ignorance scoffs at the Bible. The greatest rulers, the greatest statesmen, scholars, writers, scientists, soldiers and the untold millions of the common people, all have thrilled to its divine wisdom.

Its lyrics of unfathomable tenderness, its emotional depths and intellectual heights make it the one and only Book of Books vouchsafed for the guidance of mankind through the ages.

The Bible is composed of 66 books. It was originally written in several different languages, in different countries, over a period of about 1600 years, by about 40 different authors. These men varied in their circumstances and positions of life. David and Solomon were kings; Daniel and Nehemiah were statesmen; Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Zachariah were prophets; Ezra was a priest; Amos was a herdsman; Moses was learned in the wisdom of Egypt and was mighty in words and deeds; Paul, a converted Pharisee, was well grounded in Jewish law; James, Peter and John were “unlearned” and ignorant fishermen; Matthew was a tax collector, Luke a physician.

Many of these men never saw each other, and as they wrote they did not know what the other had written. They represented different ages, different conditions, different classes, and different complications of society; and moved by the Holy Ghost, they wrote the books of the Bible. Later generations gathered these books together, and we have them bound in one book, the Bible.

The Bible tells us that it is living and “powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword,” that it is a revealer or “discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” It is the “sword of the Spirit,” it is a “lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” It is true from the beginning, it is settled in heaven; it will stand forever.

Jesus declared: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”

Peter wrote: “All flesh is as grass and all the glory of men as the flowers of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever.” Those statements were written nearly 2000 years ago. It has been no idle boast. Empires have risen and fallen and are forgotten. Dynasties have succeeded dynasties. Kings have been crowned and uncrowned. Civilization has changed, rechanged and perished. But the word of God still stands.

Emperors have decreed the Bible’s extermination. Atheists have railed at it. Agnostics have smiled cynically at it. Higher critics have carped at its claims of inspiration. Materialists have ignored its spiritual claims. Scoffers have scorned its promises. Free thinkers have derided it. Devotees of folly have denounced it. Infidels have predicted its abandonment.

Dr. R.G. Lee has well said: “All its enemies have not torn one hole in its vesture, nor stolen one flower from its wonderful garden, nor made dim one ray of its perpetual light, nor stayed its triumphant progress by so much as one brief hour.”

Men may spurn the Bible, they may burn it, they may abuse or misuse it; they may seek to disprove it by their lexicons, their mathematics, their philosophies, their theories, their chemical formulas, by their spades and prehistoric bones, but when they have said their final word they will lie down in death like those who have gone on before them, and some preacher of the simple Gospel of Christ will be called to stand over their casket and read from its sacred pages, and the Bible will continue on its heaven-gladdening, life-purifying, sin-smiting and soul-saving way.

All that Homer had to say has been told in 20 modern languages; all that Shakespeare wrote has been translated into 40 languages; all that Tolstoy declared to the world has found expression in 60 languages; Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” talks today in 118 different languages. But the Bible, in whole or in part, is today translated into more than 1000* different languages and dialects.

When childhood needs a standard of truth; when youth calls for a beacon of light; when sorrow cried for consolation; when weakness needs sustaining grace; when age needs a staff, the weary seek refuge and rest, the hungry heart calls for living bread; when the drifting soul needs an anchor and the sinful need salvation, then  the Bible is the book to which they may all turn and find their supply.

(By arrangement with the North-Western Ministers’ Association)

*As of 2012, the number is over 4000 (Source: Wycliffe Bible Translators)

Anyone can memorize Scripture. It’s simply a myth that remembering passages of the Bible is a special ability bestowed on a chosen few.

The question is not “Can I memorize Scripture?” but “Do WANT to?” If our desire is strong enough, we can all do it.

Why Should We Memorize Scripture?

There are a number of good reasons. Here are just a few:

1. It is a primary key to holy living. The Psalmist said, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11) When Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He overcame him with memorized Scripture (Luke 4). The enemy always flees when he is resisted using the “sword of the Spirit”, the truth of God’s Word.
2. It’s our means of guidance. “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Being able to recall from memory key selections of the Word of God will be invaluable when faced with momentary decisions day by day. You may need to make an important choice without the luxury of time to do an in depth Bible study.
3. It prepares us to share the gospel with others. Debating and reasoning have their place, but can be quite ineffective in reaching the conscience of a person. But the Word of God is “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) The Holy Spirit works with and confirms the Word spoken (Mark 16:20).
4. It’s a wonderful source of comfort (Romans 15:4). When facing one of the storms of life, what a blessing to have the promises of God that you’ve stored away in memory streaming to your heart and bringing strength and hope.
5. It is a sacred deposit for time and eternity. Consider this: your knowledge of the Bible will go with you to heaven. Many other topics of learning are valuable for life on earth, but will become quite useless in the next life. What use will medical understanding be in a place where there is no sickness? Or an economics degree in a place where the old systems of this world are replaced by a completely new order? But “the Word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 1:25)

HOW to Memorize Scripture

What’s the best method to use? First, let’s be clear on one point. There are some helpful tips, but you can’t replace hard work and repetition. It does require diligent effort, but the pay-off will be well worth all the time you invest.

Studies have shown that we remember 10% of what we hear, 50% of what we see, 70% of what we say, and 90% of what we do. So, with that in mind here are some tips involving all of these things:

1. Write out the Scripture several times on a piece of paper. Engaging the brain in the act of eye-hand co-ordination that’s required whenever you write something down greatly assists in memorization.
2. Write out the Scripture on a 3 x 5 card. Once you’ve written it repeatedly, make a final copy on a card that you can carry with you to look at and read over regularly.
3. Say the words out loud as you read from the card. This gets the message through both the eye-gate and the ear-gate.
4. Every time you read or say the Scripture, read or say the reference as well. This will help you avoid the frustration of “I know what the Bible says, I just can’t remember where!”
5. Don’t rush to try and memorize too many portions at once. You will probably confuse the words of the Scriptures. Why not commit to learning one new Scripture every week. Work on it daily, and at the end of the year you will have 52 portions committed firmly to memory.

What Scriptures Should You Memorize?

All Scripture is profitable (2 Timothy 3:16), so you can’t really go wrong memorizing ANY part of it. There may be some key passages, however, that it would be good to prioritize. Here’s a suggested list to get you started:

• Psalm 14:1
• Psalm 119:105
• Proverbs 3:5-6
• Proverbs 9:10
• Isaiah 53:5
• Isaiah 55:7-9
• Matthew 6:33
• Matthew 28:18-20
• Luke 6:38
• Luke 11:9-10
• John 3:16
• John 10:10
• John 13:34-35
• Acts 1:8
• Romans 1:16
• Romans 3:23
• Romans 5:6-8
• Romans 8:28
• Romans 8:38-39
• Romans 10:9
• 1 Corinthians 1:26-29
• 1 Corinthians 2:14
• 1 Corinthians 10:13
• 2 Corinthians 5:17
• Galatians 2:20
• Galatians 5:22-23
• Ephesians 2:8-10
• Ephesians 5:18-21
• Ephesians 6:12
• Philippians 4:6-8
• Philippians 4:13
• 2 Timothy 1:7
• 2 Timothy 3:16
• Hebrews 4:12
• Hebrews 10:25
• Hebrews 11:6
• James 1:5-8
• James 1:22
• James 4:6-7
• 1 Peter 4:6-7
• 1 John 1:9
• Revelation 12:11

Up for a Few Longer Passages?

• Exodus 20:1-17 (The Ten Commandments)
• Psalm 23 (The Shepherd’s Psalm)
• Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (A Time for Everything)
• Matthew 5:3-12 (The Beatitudes)
• Matthew 6:9-13 (The Disciples’ Prayer)
• Philippians 2:5-11 (Jesus, the Humble Servant)

Each Sunday I post classic pieces from the history of the Church. Today we’re hearing from “The Apostle of Balance”, Pentecostal pioneer and statesman, Donald Gee (1891-1966).

A brief sketch of his life follows at the bottom of this post.

If Repentance is Lacking

by Donald Gee

What I believe to be the deepest need of every revival is repentance. If there is not repentance in a revival, it does not go deep enough. It is shallow.

“Then began He [Jesus] to upbraid the cities where most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not.” (Matt. 11:20)

There must be repentance before there can be a real revival. Too often we are missing God’s first word to sinners, and His first word to them is not “believe,” but “repent.” When John the Baptist came to preach, his first word was “Repent”; when the Lord Jesus began His ministry, His first word was “Repent.”

When Jesus gave the picture of the prodigal son, it became blacker and blacker until at last the young man came to himself and said, “I will arise and go to my father.” His father never moved to meet him until the son took the first step. Repentance came first.

On the Day of Pentecost, under the fresh fire of the Spirit of God, Peter’s first word to their inquiry as to what they should do, was “Repent and be baptized.” Repentance is a change of the mind and the heart toward sin.

A beautiful thing about people who have repented is that they love the Word of God. The more the Word of God searches, the more they love it. Often we find people getting offended by the Word and then they run off to some other church. If you do that you have not repented as you should.

How Can We Have A Revival Of Repentance?

Oh, to see tears of repentance! I believe three things are necessary for a revival of repentance. First, we need more solid preaching of judgment to come. Our Lord Jesus wept over cities because they did not repent. He had a vision of the judgment seat. There is not only a judgment for sinners, but also a judgment seat of Christ for believers. There is a place where our work will be tested. The wood and the stubble will be burned, but the gold and silver will remain. Oh, for more preaching along this line! But our preachers will never preach it until they tremble before the judgment seat themselves.

Secondly, we are helpless until the Holy Spirit gives repentance. It is the Spirit of God who moves men to repentance. Unless the Spirit moves, men will not repent. The Spirit of God is ever ready to move men to repentance. Our great need then is for the blessed Holy Spirit’s moving.

If the ground is to be broken up, we must have more than a light shower; we must have rain from heaven. Oh, God, send us the rain! God says, “Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain” (Zech. 10:1). Preaching alone will not give the desired result. We need the rains of heavenly grace.

And thirdly, there is an anointed ministry that produces repentance. There is anointed ministry when preachers have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts, and they have realized in His spotless, shining presence, what sin is. When a man comes out from that presence, he comes out with something resting upon him that brings the grace of the Lord upon the people.

Let us pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the preacher and upon everyone of us, until the ground is softened by the “latter rain” and until we get a deep revival. We need a revival that produces repentance, and after it has produced that, will keep us broken, melted and softened before the Lord.

[Source: The Australian Evangel]

Donald Gee (1891—1966)

Donald Gee was converted in his teenage years, in 1905, through the preaching of the famous Welsh revivalist Seth Joshua who was holding evangelistic meetings in London. He initially joined a Baptist church, until receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit in 1913.

He entered pastoral ministry with the Assemblies of God immediately after the First World War, and later was engaged in an extensive conference ministry that took him to five continents. He became a prolific writer of articles and books that greatly helped to establish the fledgling Pentecostal movement around the world. He spent the last 13 years before his retirement pouring his life into the training of students as Principal of Kenley Bible College.

In the later years of Gee’s life, my father had the opportunity of preaching alongside him in conventions held in England. Perhaps I’ll be able to convince Dad to write some of his recollections of those occasions for us in the near future.

In 1966, at age 75, Donald Gee suffered a fatal heart attack while riding in a taxi. At his funeral his dear friend of 40 years, John Carter, said: “A gifted writer has laid down his pen. An eminent Bible expositor will teach no more. A distinguished editor has vacated his chair. A renowned author has concluded his last volume. A veteran leader has left our ranks. A great warrior has fought his last battle. Our friend Donald Gee has fallen asleep.”