IV

AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF A LIVE CHURCH

S

OON after Mr. Sunday's conversion he became a member of the Jefferson Park Presbyterian Church, of Chicago, located on the West Side, and was soon known as an energetic young man who was very much in earnest in his religious life.

That he should have become a most earnest Christian worker soon after his conversion is not surprising, for with his nature he could not long remain inactive in anything in which he took an interest. He must be up and doing in a way that will bring something to pass wherever he is. Even to this day when he goes home to rest, he gets into a suit of old clothes almost as soon as he takes off his hat, and out he goes to sprinkle the lawn, trim the shrubbery, dig in the ground or push the lawnmower. If he had to sit down and remain inactive for a day he would almost die of fatigue.

When Sunday came into the kingdom he had great love for the things of God, and especially so for the house of God and the people of God. The new nature, implanted when he was born from above, made the pleasures of the old life distasteful. Newer and more wholesome attractions supplanted them, and drew him away from the old entanglements.

From the very start he loved the Bible, and found in it a rich mine of golden treasure, in the seeking of which he spent many hours in fascinating interest. Then what

more natural than that he should often be drawn to the place where the Book was honored, loved, obeyed and expounded? His first Bible was one he bought at a second-hand bookstore in St. Louis for thirty-five cents, and some of the most wonderful hours of his life were spent in poring over its pages.

When he became a Christian the highest mark of discipleship was not wanting in him, for he loved the brethren, and it became as natural for him to go to church as it is for birds to sing or flowers to bloom. Having fellowship with the people who knew the Lord, and never tired of telling of his goodness, gave him strength and courage, and joy of a higher order than he had ever before known.

He became a regular attendant upon all the church services whenever he was in the city, and it was not long before he began to take some part in them. He loved to pray, and has never gotten over this life-giving habit. Prayer was to him the natural expression of the worship that welled up in his soul, and it is not surprising that he was soon praying in public. He prayed because his heart was full of praise that could not be suppressed. It had to find vent in glad expression, just as all nature must burst into bud when spring comes. And so, whenever there was an opportunity to pray in the devotional meetings, others might hold back, but the young convert could not; and when he prayed all who heard knew that it was real prayer that he offered. He not only thanked God for what had been given, but put out his hands for more, in a way that left no doubt that he expected them to be filled.

There was this beautiful thing too about his prayers; they were natural. There was nothing strained or worked up in them. They poured out with no more

evidence of artificiality than water bubbling out of a spring. They were not modeled after the conventional pattern, and never have been, any more than the prattle of a child conforms to the rules of rhetoric.

Sunday could not be put in a more uncomfortable strait-jacket than to have to pray in a dignified and perfectly proper manner. Whatever he does he must do in his own natural way, and that explains why he is Billy Sunday. He is natural. He does his best in a way that is as much according to his nature as the color of his eyes; and this practice, this scorn of pretense, is one of the reasons why he is to-day a mighty man for God. He is as certain that God hears him when he prays as he is that he lives. Without prayer he believes that he would be as quickly shorn of his strength as Samson was. He therefore takes no step and makes no decision without first laying the matter before the Lord. His prayers are not long, but he puts them close together, and so keeps close to God in his every-day life, for it is his habit to pray about the little things as well as the great ones. His praying, like everything else he does, is quite unconventional.

In

When Sunday prays he talks to the Lord, as to his most intimate friend, and seldom uses the words "thee" and "thou." More frequently he begins by saying, “ And now, Jesus," and then comes at once to the matter of the moment, without preamble or circumlocution. this way he not only prays for guidance as to the sermon he shall preach, and that it may be delivered with power, and other matters pertaining to the success of the meeting, but prays for good order and good weather as well.

In every place where he holds a meeting he chooses some secluded spot, where he can spend a few minutes in

prayer before he enters the tabernacle, and this spot becomes a bethel to him.

He also believes that power will come, and all difficulties, however great, will be swept away when a great stream of united prayer is kept going up to heaven, and so in every neighborhood of six or eight blocks, cottage prayer meetings are held every day, at the same hour, and changed from home to home each morning.

But to go back to the beginning of his church life. In that early day he was as ready to testify to what had been done for him and in him as was the blind man in the ninth chapter of John. The moment the meeting was open for testimony the young convert was on his feet, and the spiritual temperature was always somewhat higher when he closed than when he began, for he always had something to say that was fresh and crisp, and worth the telling. This was largely because he had become such a diligent reader of the Bible. And whenever he spoke it was with an enthusiasm that was contagious, and this had a retroactive effect upon his own heart that greatly helped his spiritual development and growth.

And how richly God rewarded the young convert for his unwavering and determined stand from the very beginning of his religious life. The promises of the first psalm were fulfilled to him and in him, for like a tree planted by the rivers of water, everything he said and did was made to prosper in a rich fruitage of Christian character. In the prayer meetings he met those of kindred spirit, and with them had a fellowship like to that above. In his church life he shirked no duty that was laid upon him, and for a time was a faithful superintendent of the Sabbath school.

He joined the Central Y. M. C. A. Bible Training

Class, and learned to study the Scriptures systematically. This was of lasting benefit to him, and no doubt has had much to do with causing him to make systematic Bible study a prominent feature of his great meetings.

Being in attendance upon the services in a church in Allegheny, Pa., one Sunday, he was asked to serve as teacher to a class of young men, in the Sunday school, and with his usual promptness cheerfully responded. The young fellows in the class were much pleased with this arrangement, and began at once to ply him with all sorts of baseball questions. Sunday at once stopped and said:

"Fellows, if you'll come around to the hotel where I am stopping, to-morrow, I will be glad to tell you all I can about baseball, but I can't do it to-day. This is God's day, and I am here to do his work the best I know how, and so let us see what we can get out of this lesson."

There was no further interruption, and every young man in the class listened attentively to all that was said. Some time ago a gray-haired usher in one of Sunday's great meetings recalled the scene to his recollection, and told how deeply he had been impressed by the tactful way in which the young teacher had handled the matter.

Sunday continued to play ball as a professional for about five years after his conversion, but while doing so was unconsciously making a splendid preparation for preaching, by giving religious talks as he had opportunity in cities to which he traveled with his club. In those days he had not the slightest thought of ever becoming a preacher. The first doors that opened to him were those of Young Men's Christian Associations, but it was not long before churches also began to give him urgent calls to speak in their pulpits.