„1.
The Central Messenger
ISSUED MONTHLY
W. K. UUU.OM Editor
C. E. BKEWEK , Bi’.siiiess Miumger
Price
25c. per Year.
Entered as Second-Claes Mail Matter in the
Posl-olliee at Wake Forest, IS. (J.
THE BAPTIST WORLD ALLIANCE.
It was our privilege to attend the
meeting of the liaptlst World Alliance
In Philadelphia .lune 19-24. This was
the second meeting of the Alliance,
the first having been held In London
in 1906. The Philadelphia meeting
was said by some to be the greatest
meeting ever held by Baptists and
one of the most important meetings
that have ever been held in the In
terest of the work of the Kingdom
of God. There must have been ten
thousand people present in attend
ance on this meeting, and they came
from all quarters of the earth. One
or two stated on the floor that they
had come more than 2,000 miles to
be in this assembly of God’s people.
Any description of the meeting that
we might undertake would be so en
tirely inadequate that we would not
think of attempting any such task. A
few notes gathered in the meeting are
sent out in this issue of the Messen
ger. In addition to these we shall
record here only a few observations,
and advise our people to buy and read
the bound volumn of the proceedings.
This volumn will contain all the ad
dresses and proceedings, together
with much valuable information on
Baptist affairs in general. The vol
umn can be had for $1.15 post paid,
from the American Baptist Publication
Society, Philadelphia, Pa.
With these general remarks we
proceed to append a few observations:
1. There is coming to be a world
consciousness among Baptists such as
has never been seen before. This is
well. Baptists of ail people stand for
the sovereignty of the individual soul,
and the independence of the local
churchy but this by no means shuts
us out from cooperation. This co
operation has too long been hindered
by lack of knowledge of what is going
on in other parts of the world. We may
read about it in the papers, but that
is not like seeing the men and women
from all parts of the earth who are
following the plain, simple commands
of Jesus in the New Testament in the
same spirit and with the same motive
and purpose that we are. This meet
ing has given us a sort of world con
sciousness that we have not had be
fore.
2. The world is in great need of
Baptist principles. Who could hear
the pleas from Italy, Austria, Bo
hemia, Poland, South America, &c.,
without feeling that Jesus Christ is
just a truly being persecuted today as
he was when he put the question, to
Saul of Tarsus, “Saul, Saul, why /f)er-
secutest thou me?” Paul coun^d it
a great joy that he was counted
worthy to suffer affliction for ^hrist,
and if the work of a spiritual kingdom
is carried out somebody must suffer
for him yet. Who will it be? Through
the centuries the Baptists have been
“the sect spoken against,” and the
people who have endured all manner
of suffering for the cause of Christ.
The Spirit of the world is the same
today that it has ever been. Who is
willing to suffer hardship as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ? Let us not
shrink, but rather give ourselves—
soul and body to Him who gave Him-
-self for us. The world still needs mar
tyr witnesses for God and His truth.
Baptists have stood the test in the
past. Let us be faithful to our heri
tage.
3. The world is opening to and get
ting ready to receive Baptist princi
ples in a way that is marvelous to
behold.
To be sure the organized powers
of darkness are not going to yield
without a struggle, but enlightenment,
the spirit of brotherhood and the con
scious sense of dignity of each indi
vidual soul are taking such deep and
strong hold of the common people in
all the earth that the powers of dark
ness, entrenched as they are behind
their organized systems of supersti
tion and error, are beginning to trem
ble. This was clearly manifest in
the Alliance by the testimonies of
men from both the Roman and the
Greek Catholic world, and also from
such pagan countries as .Japan, Africa,
and China. When the common people
begin to cast aside the authority of
the prie.^t and to think for themselves,
the day of Baptist opportunity has
come. In the great meeting of which
we are speaking nothing was more
manifest than that just this situation
is before us today. Will we go in and
possess the land-for God? or, will
we hesitate at the difficulties and sac
rifices as did God’s people of old when
only Joshua and Caleb said, “we can
take the land?”
Let us get close together and catch
step for a forv/ard march, and a march
all together in behalf of the truth
of gospel. Let us pray God to give
us a fresh baptism of his Holy Spirit
that we may be prepared as was His
church in the beginning for the tre
mendous task that stands out before
us.
SUNDAY SCHOOL CONVENTION-
CENTRAL ASSOCIATION.
Our annual Sunday School Conven
tion will be held with the church at
Bay Leaf, Jrly 29 and 30 All the
churches of the Association are urged
to send representatives to this meet
ing, and we hope these representa
tives will come in at the beginning and
remain to the close.
Following is the program for this
meeting:
Saturday, July 29.
10:00 o’clock—Song and prayer ser
vice.
10:30—Diagnosis of our Sunday
School Situation: (1) Address, by C.
H. Brewer; (2) Reports from the
Schools.
11:30—Sermon, by T. W. O’Kelly,
D. D.
1:.S0—The organized Class, paper,
by Mrs. C. H. Chamblee.
2:15—Taking the Measure of the
Sunday School, W. R. Cullom.
3:00—Teacher Training, G. P. Har
rell.
Sunday, July 30.
10:00—The Bible Lesson lor the
day, W. J. Ferrell.
11:00—The Home Department, E. P
Sullivan.
11:30—Is the S. S. Worth While?
B, W. Sikes.
1:30—The B. Y. P. U. in the Coun
try Church, paper by Miss Tilly Ranes.
2:15—The Work of the Superintend
ent, Johnnie Williams.
3:00—The Cradle Roll, paper by
Mrs. W. A. Smith.
The address or paper on each sub
ject is not expected to consume more
than twenty-five or thirty minutes,
leaving some time for general discus
sion. We hope those who come will
be thinking about the subjects and be
prepared to participate in the dis
cussion.
PROF. J. B. CARLYLE.
By Dr. J. H. Gorrell.
The daily press has for the past
few days abounded in recitals of the
work wrought by Prof. J. B. Carlyle
for the cause of education. We have
told of his inspiring teaching of Jjatin,
of his fruitful campaigns throughout
the State in behalf of the education
of the masses, of his wonderful abili
ties in winning endowment for his
Alma Mater. Not, all the praise be
stowed by a grateful people can fully
be equal to the merit of this great
and good man who has just passed
from us.
It is our purpose, however, in this
place to say nothing of these things
but to give an account, inadequate
though it may be, of Professor Carlyle
as a Christian.
In early youth he ga\e his heart to
the Lord and his life was devoted with
singular whole-heartedness to all
causes connected with religious work.
The two striking characteristics of
his religious life were faithfulness and
enthusiasm.
For over twenty years he was a
Deacon of the Wake Forest Church
and no member of the Board was more
regular in attendance, more alert in
planning and executing what he be
lieved to be for the best interests
of his Church. His wisdom in counsel
was acknowledged by all, for although
none of his fellow-deacons was more
zealous than he to maintain true dis
cipline among his brethren, yet there
was always observable in him a beau
tiful spirit of sympathy with ignorance
and weakness and an uplifting spirit
of Christian charity. The thoroughly
practical nature of his mind made him
also a most valuable advisor and his
name was always prominent on every
important committee.
As a teacher in the Sunday School
there was no one to compare with
him. For twenty-one years he taught
a class of students averaging a hun
dred men. Is there any one of his con
temporaries who ever approached
this splendid record? The character
of his teaching was purely his own.
There is no doubt that large numbers
were attracted by his eloquence, but
mere eloquence will soon wear out.
There was in his lectures something
so virile, so strengthening and inspir
ing, so full of simple goodness and
yet so abounding in lofty ideals that
the hearer was delighted by the spell
of his eloquence and unconsciously
stimulated to noble endeavor. The ef
fect of his teaching was far reaching.
It was a clarion-call to a high_ clean,
sincere, and useful life. Hundreds of
young men in this State are today
making their lives count lor high mo
rality and good citizenship, led into
this higher life under the influence
of Prof. Carlyle’s Sunday morning
talks.
He loved “his boys” with intense
devotion and every member of his
class knew that this brilliant teacher
was his best friend in time of trouble.
I have heard him say that at a time
of dangerous illness he felt more sat
isfaction in the work of his Sunday
School class than in anything else he
had ever done. To the very last he
stayed with his class. Even on the
last Sunday he spent here before his
trip in search of health, the faithful
teacher dragged himself wearily to his
accustomed desk and addressed a fare
well word to the boys. “Well done,
thou good and faithful servant; enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
As a leader among the Baptists of
this State Professor Carlyle occupied
an exalted place. His voice has been
heard in almost every Association and
wherever it was known that he was
to speak there was always an eager
and delighted audience. The denomi
nation honored him by electuig him
for two consecutive sessions as Pres
ident of the State Convention. Theie
is no doubt that ha could have held
this position indefinitely, but he evi
dently declined reelection. His well-
known mastery of assemblies made
him an ideal presiding officer and the
marked success of these two sessions
was due in great measure to his wis
dom and tactfulness.
I shall not speak of his work in be
half of Christian education. Every
one in North Carolina knows of it
and honors him for it. I shall simply
state that in his own private life, in
his intercourse with his fellow-men,
he showed the same spirit of true re
ligion that characterized his public
life. There was no hypocricy or re
ligiosity in him. He did not profess to
be better or worse than his fellows,
and yet by precept and example, by
faithfulness to all his religious duties,
by generous contributions to all good
causes, by a pure, candid, happy and
useful life he made himself a power
for good among his brethren and left
us a hallowed memory of good deeds
and far-reaching Influence. May we
follow him as he followed Christ.
A poor Arab was traveling in the
desert when he met with a stream
of clear, sparkling water. Accus
tomed as he was to brackish wells, to
his simple mind it appeared that such
water as this was worthy of a mon
arch, and filling his leathern bottle he
determined to present it to the Ca
liph. The poor man traveled a long
distance before he reached the pres
ence of the Caliph, and laid the offer
ing at his feet. The Caliph did not
despise the gift, but ordered some of
the water to be poured into a cup,
drank it, and thanking the Arab or
dered him to be rewarded. The cour
tiers pressed round eager to taste of
the wonderful water; but, to the sur
prise of all, the Caliph forbade them
to touch even a drop. Alter the poor
Arab had left with a joyful heart, the
Caliph said to his courtiers: During
the travels of the poor man the wa
ter in this bottle had become impure
and distasteful, but it was an offering
of love, and as such I received it. But
I knew if I suffered another to par
take of it he would not have con
cealed his disgust, and, therefore, I
forbade you to touch the water lest
the donor’s heart should have been
wounded,” All that sinners can pre
sent to their King is like, this water.
Imperfection mingles with our best
service, but He will not reject the
little offering of love and faith. Even
a cup of cold water, given in the name
of a disciple in nowise shall lose its
reward.
The Baptists have had a mission in
Korea, carried on in a little shop and
under conditions of severe simplicity.
Good has been done in the mission,
and as always, the news spread that
God was with the people, and others'
were led to go with them. One poor
woman, living outside the town, heard
the report of the mission, and walked
into the town to attend the services.
Not knowing where it was situated,
or by what name it was known, she
inquired for the place where they
cured the “broken heart,” and she was
directed to the Baptist mission. How
delighted it would be if every preach
ing place were entitled to this de
scription.
Come to the Sunday School Con
vention at Bay Leaf July 29-30.