CHAPMAN-ALEXANDER MISSION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1718, 8 April 1913, Page 6

CHAPMAN-ALEXANDER MISSION.

"A WAT OF ESCAPE." Yesterday's bitterly cold weather affected. the attendance at the ChapmanAlexander mission, and the crowd at the Town Hall was not as large as usuallast night. The choir, however, was there in full force,, and under the leadership of Mr. Alexander the hymn singing proceeded in the usual style. One of the hymns chosen was "My Mother's Prayer," and between two of tlio verses Br. Chapman related to the congregation the story of the origin of t.ho words. . A special appeal was made' to those present lo give liberally when the plate was being handed round. 'Colonel Fisher, of tlio Salvation Army, led'tho meeting in prayer. It had been announced that Dr. Chapman would 1 speak on "Tho Christian's Relation to Doubtful Amusements," but it was deemed- advisable to defer this discourse until a later date, as it was felt that a great many people, w'ho would have liked to liear Dr. Chapman on the subject, wcro prevented from being'present on account of tho weather. The discourse last night was based upon the text, Hebrews 11, U, "How shall w© cscapo if wo neglect so great salvation." Tho speaker impressed upon • those' present tlio folly of neglect in matters of religion, and urged upon tlienv the advisability of giving moro heed to tho things they had heard lest tfiey should drift from them. There were somo who resisted and put oft until they drifted far from God. Fortunately for Jesua Christ was able to save to tlio utmost, if they would only put their trust in Him. From tho day when He died on Calvary until this day, the way of salvation had been open. But they must move forward with Him and confess Him,' and not steel their hearts, against the Word of God. The sin that had made, nights sleepless and that would have, broken a mother's heart had she known it—He would forgive if they would only confess and forsake it. It was a way of escape. Would they tako it? AVliile tlio hymn "Win Someone" was being sung at tho'conclusion of the meeting,' Dr. Chapman aske'il fh& personal. Workers to speak to tliose next to them in order to try and bring them .to confess Christ. HEAD "AND. HEART. (By Spectator.) A preacher who can attract an audience o.f between two and three thousand night after night must have some gifts and qualities above tho commonplace—that is. Quito evident; and it also shows that tho heart of man, even in these materialistic modern days, is still capable of responding when the right chord is struck. Tho ways of Dr. Chapman and Mr. Alexander may not appear with tho same force to every man, but that their methods do lheet the spiritual needs of a very large number ot people, must 'bo admitted, by fair-minded men. Dr. Cliap- • man's matter and manner; cannot'truly be described as sensational, though they certainly are in a measure emotional, for his appeal lies- to the heart rather than ' the head. He. is not a great orator; he frmkly admits that lie is "old-fashioned" in his beliefs; and, judging by tho reports of his 'addresses, lie does not deal directly with the intellectual problems connected with religion in general and Christianity in particular, which have bwji raised by recent developments of philosophic and scientific thought. He leaves this work to others, • for even in the sphero of theology there .must bo of, labour, and Dr. Chapman bases his appeal 011 tho firm, belief that tho great truths of the Gospel arc capablo of meeting tho fundamental needs of, tho human heart. Somo people may regard his methods as mere emotionalism; but after all the emotions play quite as necessary a part in human life as tho intellect, and it is just as legitimate to appeal to the higher emotions as to tho purely mental faculties. In fact, religion should make its appeal to the whole >man, and there is really a good deal of shallowness in the tendency of. some superior people to -scoff at the emotions as if it were below the dignity of a human being to possess such things. On- the other hand, the tendency of . an . influential school of modern philosophy to unduly exalt the instincts, emotions, and intuitions at the^ expense of tho intellect is not without its dangers. The ideal should bo'to preserve the balance between the heart and tho head, recognising that each should have its proper place in the completely developed human personality. A QUESTION FOB DR. CHAPMAN. '(To tho Editor.) Sir,—l should like through your valuable paper to Dr. Chapman, of tho "Chapman-Alexander" mission, a question. If ho is really such a successful ' missionary iii winning sinners from their evil ways, how can ho justify himself for leaving h'is own land, with its teeming cities and unspeakable slums, ils terrible ' syndicates, drawing liugo revenues from . traffic in human shame, for tho comparative peace and spiritual calm of one of i the most moral and cleanly countries on -earth, remembering, also, that we already ; have a church and minister for every few hundred people?—l am, etc., : SINCERITY. t April 7.