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8 THE PRESBYTERL
ing into Oklahoma. They arc coming from the I^orth
and from the South, from the East and, yes, from the
great West beyond; the young man and the old man,
the farmer and the banker, the merchant and the trader.
Towns grow up in a day. Money is pouring in, but it's
not for the Church. Everything is new and requires
money, new fields, new fences, new houses, new banks,
new railroads?three new banks organized in Durant
in the last three months, making five altogether. What
does it all mean? It means that the country is taking
shape, her destinies arc being worked out. It means
that the Church must rouse herself. Already there are
large towns in the State without a church, thousands
of people waiting for the Gospel. Oh, my brother, we
need money and we need men?we need brave, fearless
men, men with the missionary spirit, men with the
love of God in their hearts. Our dear Dr. Morris has
caught the fever of the West, and with his quick vision,
sure judgment, and careful business has done a work in
Oklahoma that shall bless the Church in many years
yet to come. Give him of your gold, and give him your
men, then there shall some day come from the West
piles of gold, and multitudes of men to take vour nlaces
in the long-drawn-out struggles against sin and iniquity.
Durant, Okla.
HOME MISSIONS IN TEXAS.
(Extracts from an address delivered by Rev. Arthur
G. Jones, D. D., at the Presbyterian Encampment at
Kcrrvillc, Texas, July 14, 190S.)
The primary purpose of the Church in the mind of
God is missions. By its very charter, by its very right
to do business in the world the Church is a missionary
concern. If the eye does not see, of what use is it?
If the ear does not hear, of what use is it? They all
fail in the verv function for wi-nVti
^ - ? - ** .nvii VV V.1 v. LI CdLCU.
And so if any Church is not active and effective as a
missionary organ, it fails in the very function for which
God organized it. No disciple can say he has the mind
of Christ until he sees clearly this fundamental character
of missions and consecrates to this great work of Christ
his heart and life. It is the plain will of God that
every soul which receives his Gospel must devote itself
to passing that Gospel on, whether it be across the yard
fence or across the sea, whether it be around the corner
or in the end of the world. The geography of missions
is a mere incident. It is only a question of convenience
and administration. The solemn responsibility of dis
cipleship is to give the Gospel to every creature.
We are to consider in some special way the subject
of Home Missions in Texas. Any presentation of this
work will not avail much unless we see clearly that it
is a divine work to which we are divinely called.
Great Texas.
Great is Texas and destined to be greater. Texas is
great in territorial extent. Compared with the territory
of our Church which lies past of th^ MJacicc.'r^J
...v
Texas is as large as the combined States of Kentucky,
Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. The time has been
when this magnificent expanse of mountain and valley
AN OF THE SOUTH. January 6, 1909.
and plain did not signify so much to the Kingdom of
God because it was without people. But it is not so
today. Swelling tides of immigration from other States
and countries have been flowing in and spreading out
here and there and everywhere in this great territory.
Fertile farms are being developed and villages are
springing up where yesterday the range cattle roamed
undisturbed. The towns arc becoming little cities; the
larger centers arc beginning to exhibit metropolitan conditions.
Marvelous are the transformations that are
taking place in the southwest today. The past decade
has been greater than the previous century. The coming
decade will surpass the last. Great and still greater
are the armies which are upon the march to dwell within
her borders.
Texas is greater because of her incomparable natural
and virgin resources and their sure prophecy of
coming wealth and power. In her fallow fields there
is bread for the feeding of a nation, there is clothing
for the inhabitants of a continent, there is latent abundance
for the peace and prosperity and happiness of an
empire. There is waiting opportunity for every type
of industry, the raw material for a many-sided civilization.
These are not the extravagant words of inflated
notri/\tic -?-? A.; - a.1-? ' r '
(mu.ui.on., nicy aic me Avaras 01 trutn and soberness.
Texas is today the Land of Promise, it is the coining
Empire of Tomorrow.
Texas is greatest for the spirit of her people. They
will compare with any people in their pluck, en- x
ergy and confidence in themselves and in their country.
For the building of her empire, she has gathered to
herself the stalwart sons of every land, and with restless
but persistent determination they are creating that
larger future which is sure to come.
What Shall Texas Be?
As we seek to forecast that future there are serious
questions which must arise in the mind of everv oatriot
and every Christian. What shall be the moral complexion
of greater Texas? What shall be the type of
her citizenship when she copies to her maturity? What
are to be the ideals of that civilization which is in the
process of formation? Will Texas be the home of that
happy people whose God is the Lord, a people inspired
by worthy and spiritual ideals, a people who have
achieved beauty of soul and wealth of character, a people
illustrating the eternal truth that righteousness ex?
14.?11. - ?? ? ^ ? ... ?
anew a nation r ^>r snail it De a sordid State, an empire
of Mammon, an example of the eternal fact that
sin is a reproach to any people? In the evolution of
her natural resources and the manufacture of her raw
materials, shall the Southwest also develop the best and
finest type of Christian manhood and womanhood?
How is this vital nnestirm to ^tArmlno/U
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against every nfew farm which is opened, side by side
with every industrial plant which is established, step by
step with the progress of her splendid cities, in the very
foundation of this developing greatness and power,
there must be laid broad and deep the basis of the
Kingdom of God. The future citizen of Texas, of
whatever type he may be, will not be the creation of
a day, coming into being as Minerva sprang full grown
from the brain of Jupiter. The character of the future