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THE KING’S BUSINESS
ness meeting of the committee was begun and carried on with prayer, every rehearsal of the chorus was begun with prayer, and the last rehearsal had' resolved itself into a great consecration service in which, with the exception of only one or two persons, every member of the chorus pledged himself or herself anew to sing for the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of the leading musical lights of the city are full of praise for the splendid results achieved by the chorus under its widely beloved conductor. The last afternoon session marked the real climax of the convention, when in response to the carefully worded appeal of Dr. Lapsley A. MacAfee, of Berkeley, Cal., who conducted the Decision Service, over 180 young men and women left their seats and ascended the platform, publicly pledging themselves to service in home or foreign mission fields or other lines of definite Christian work. And following closely in interest, to the writer at least, was the last service of all, at which the delegations from the various countries and states, arose in response to the roll call and voiced their determination that with God’s help they would push the work more heartily than ever before. As one saw and listened to such expressions from citizens of almost every state in the United States, from Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiians, Mexicans, Canadians, etc., he got a. new vision of world-wide Christian Endeavor through which the blessing, so richly bestowed by the One; who “so loved the WORLD that He gave Hi^ only begotten Son whosoever believ- eth in Him should not perish but have everlasting \life,” should flow from Los Angeles to the world’s further nook and cranny. Space forbids even cursory mention of the unselfish skilful work of the Concluded on page 444.
ing Out of the Liquor Traffic.” The kernel of Dr. Landrith’s address was that the greatest problem confronting Christian citizenship is the Christian citizen himself. Dr. Macdonald gathered up his soul-inspiring address into Tennyson’s never - to - be - too - often- quoted lines: “Love took up the harp of life and smote on all the chords with might; smote the chord of self which, trembling, passed in music out of sight.” Dr. Landrith was declared by some to have surpassed William J. Bryan’s best efforts, and many asserted that Dr. Macdonald is the greatest orator on the American continent. Dr. Shaw’s quietly passionate appeal for Endeavorers to put soul- winning first, if it did not evoke such outbreaks of applause probably got closer to the individual heart and conscience; and “Billy” Sunday recalled John B. Gough at his very best. The afternoons were devoted to “rallies”—state and denominational, to discussions of the Christian Endeavor movement, and to various gatherings for business relevant to the convention. Perhaps no feature of the convention elicited such repeated expressions of appreciation and commendation from everybody as the convention chorus. Numbering over 900 persons drawn from all the evangelical churches of Los Angeles and Pasadena, it gave tone—spiritual tone—to all the sessions. It was a thrilling moment when President Clark called to the front Paul D. Brown, chairman of the music committee ; L- E. Peckham, conductor; James Garth, pianist, and presented each with a big bouquet, accompanied with a glowing expression of appreciation, and then Paul Brown seized the opportunity of his reply, to tell the 10,000 listening people that whatever blessing rested upon the work of the chorus was directly in answer to prayer, for every busi
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