Many thousands of those who are now most prominent in the ranks of the Army never knew what it was to pray before they attended its services;and large numbers of them had settled into a profound conviction that everything connected with religion was utterly false.It is out of such material that God has constructed what is admitted to be one of the most fervid bodies of believers ever seen on the face of the earth.
Many persons in looking at the progress of the Army have shown a strange want of discernment in talking and writing as though all this had been done in a most haphazard fashion,or as though an individual could by the mere effort of his will produce such changes in the lives of others as he chose.The slightest reflection will be sufficient we are sure to convince any impartial individual that the gigantic results attained by the Salvation Army could only be reached by steady unaltering processes adapted to this end.And what are the processes by which this great Army has been made?
1.The foundation of all the Army's success,looked at apart from its divine source of strength,is its continued direct attack upon those whom it seeks to bring under the influence of the Gospel.
The Salvation Army Officer,instead of standing upon some dignified pedestal,to describe the fallen condition of his fellow men,in the hope that though far from him,they may thus,by some mysterious process,come to a better life,goes down into the street,and from door to door,and from room to room,lays his hands on those who are spiritually sick,and leads them to the Almighty Healer.In its forms of speech and writing the Army constantly exhibits this same characteristic.
Instead of propounding religious theories or pretending to teach a system of theology,it speaks much after the fashion of the old Prophet or Apostle,to each individual,about his or her sin and duty,thus bringing to bear upon each heart and conscience the light and power from heaven,by which alone the world can be transformed.