Sam Jones Boo — E.A. Johnston

A Prince Fallen in Israel and the Death of Sam Jones

CHAPTER I. A PRINCE FALLEN IN ISRAEL, AND THE KING SAID UNTO HIS SERVANTS, KNOW YE NOT THAT THERE IS A PRINCE AND A GREAT MAN FALLEN THIS DAY IN ISRAEL? 2 SAMUEL 3 38. AMERICA MOURNS AT THE DEATH OF SAM JONES.

RAILROAD ENGINEERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TAP THEIR TRAIN WHISTLES INTERMITTENTLY TO MIMIC THE SOUND OF WEEPING SOULS. IT'S THOUSANDS VIEWING THE LIFELESS BODY NOW LYING IN STATE UNDER THE GREAT DOME OF THE GEORGIA STATE CAPITOL IN ATLANTA.

NO LESS THAN THIRTY THOUSAND MOURNERS ARE WITH BOWED HEADS AND MUFFLED SOBS PASS THROUGH THE CAPITOL PAYING FINAL RESPECTS TO A MAN USED BY GOD TO TRANSFORM THEIR LIVES FOR TIME AND ETERNITY. SUCH WAS THE SCENE IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA ON OCTOBER 16, 1906.

Sam Jones's National Evangelistic Impact

THERE WAS NO GREATER SPOKESPERSON FOR RIGHT AND AGAINST WRONG THAN SAM JONES, THE SOUTHERN EVANGELIST. HE SAID MORE QUOTABLE THINGS THAN ANY MAN OF HIS GENERATION. HE PREACHED TO MORE THAN A MILLION PEOPLE EACH YEAR FOR 25 YEARS.

HE SAW MORE THAN 500 ,000 SOULS PROFESS CHRIST UNDER AN ITINERANT MINISTRY THAT CRISS-CROSSED THE NATION. THOUSANDS OF SALOONS WERE PUT OUT OF BUSINESS BECAUSE PATRONS WERE SAVED THROUGH THIS MINISTRY AND THEY RENOUNCED THEIR FORMER WAYS.

NEWSPAPERS IN ALL THE GREAT CITIES OF AMERICA PRINTED HIS SERMONS, DISTRIBUTING MORE THAN ONE MILLION COPIES OF HIS SERMONS THROUGHOUT THE REPUBLIC. HIS IMAGE HUNG FRAMED IN DRAWING ROOMS IN EVERY MAJOR CITY.

Bold Preaching and Moral Transformation

CANDY BARS AND BABIES WERE NAMED AFTER HIM. ENTIRE CITIES LIKE NASHVILLE AND CHICAGO WERE SHAKEN BY SPIRITUAL REVIVAL AS A CONSEQUENCE OF HIS PREACHING. THE MORAL LIFE OF COMMUNITIES WAS TRANSFORMED. HE FEARLESSLY PREACHED SIN BLACK AND HELL HOT AND HE SOUNDED THE ALARM THAT YOU MUST REPENT OR YOU WILL LIKEWISE PERISH.

HE WAS A MAN WHO WITH GREAT COMMAND OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND UNUSUAL CONTROL OF TENS OF THOUSANDS WHO PACKED HIS MEETINGS TO HEAR HIS FAMOUS SAYINGS LIKE BEING A CHRISTIAN MEANS QUITTING YOUR MEANNESS.

Theodore Roosevelt's Recognition of Sam Jones

WHEN PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT SPOKE IN ATLANTA, HE ADDRESSED A CROWD OF 50 ,000 PEOPLE AT PIDEMONT PARK. UPON LEARNING THAT SAM JONES WAS IN THE AUDIENCE, HE HAD HIM RISE AND JOIN HIM AT THE PODIUM.

THE PRESIDENT THEN PLACED HIS ARM AROUND HIM AND COMMANDED HIM TO THE LARGE CROWD. MR. JONES, IN YOUR WAY OR DOING MORE FOR THIS COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE WHAT I'M TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH IN MINE, I HEARTILY ENDORSE YOUR GOOD WORK AND HOPE THAT SUCCESS WILL CONTINUE TO CROWN YOUR EFFORTS.

THE NEXT TIME YOU VISIT WASHINGTON, I WANT YOU TO TELEGRAPH ME IN ADVANCE. I WANT YOU TO BE MY GUEST DURING YOUR STAY IN THE CAPITOL CITY. DURING HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY, SAM JONES PREACHED IN AMERICA'S LARGEST AUDITORIUMS AND FILLED THEM TO CAPACITY FOR WEEKS AT A TIME.

The Evangelist's Power to Captivate Crowds

WHEN HE VISITED A TOWN, IT SEEMED LIKE PEOPLE DROPPED EVERYTHING TO GO HEAR HIM. RELIGION BECAME THE MAIN TOPIC IN EVERY PLACE OF SECULAR BUSINESS AND THE OFT-ASKED QUESTION WAS, HAVE YOU HEARD SAM JONES?

SAM JONES WAS AN EXPERT ON HUMAN NATURE. HE KNEW HOW TO GRIP THE ATTENTION OF AN AUDIENCE AND HOLD IT AS IF IT WERE IN THE PALM OF HIS HAND. HE COULD MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH OR CRY OR STAND TO THEIR FEET IN UNISON TO ADMIT THEIR DUTY TO LIVE BETTER AND TO MAKE THEIR COMMUNITY A BETTER PLACE UNDER GOD.

A STORY HE OFTEN USED TO DESCRIBE HIS SUCCESS AS A PREACHER BEST DISTINGUISHES HIM. HE SAID, WHEN HE WAS A CIRCUIT RIDER IN THE MOUNDS OF GEORGIA, AN OLD PREACHER CAME TO HIM ONE DAY AND SAID, SAM, YOU KNOW I CAN OUT PREACH YOU ANY DAY AND YET THE PEOPLE OF MY CIRCUIT ARE LEAVING ME EVERY SUNDAY AND COMING OVER TO HEAR YOU PREACH.

I WANT YOU TO TELL ME WHY IT IS AND IF YOU CAN, TELL ME HOW TO PREVENT IT FOR IT HAS COME TO PASS THAT I NEVER HAVE MORE THAN A BAKER'S DOZEN TO HEAR ME. SAM SAID, MY BROTHER, IF YOU DO WHAT I TELL YOU, IT WILL NOT BE SO.

YOU WILL HAVE NO TROUBLE IN KEEPING YOUR CROWD. WELL, SAID THE OLD PREACHER, I WILL TRY. NO, SAID SAM, YOU MUST PROMISE TO DO EXACTLY AS I TELL YOU. ALRIGHT, SAID HE, ANYTHING TO GET A CROWD. ALRIGHT, SAID SAM, NEXT SUNDAY, WHEN YOU GO TO CHURCH, BEGIN PROMPTLY AT 11 O 'CLOCK, ANNOUNCE YOUR HYMN, READ YOUR TEXT, AND THEN STOP.

YOU WILL PROBABLY SEE SOME OF THE OLD BENCH WARMERS SITTING ON THE FRONT PEWS, ABOUT HALF ASLEEP. DOUBLE UP YOUR FIST, STRIKE THE PALM OF YOUR HAND, AND SAY, BOO! SAY IT AS LOUD AS YOU CAN. IF NOBODY MOVES, DO SO AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND STILL, IF NOBODY MOVES, JUMP OFF THE PLATFORM, AND GRAB THE FIRST ONE THAT YOU COME BY, BY THE BACK OF THE NECK, AND PITCH HIM OUTDOORS, HEELS OVERHEAD.

GET BACK ON THE PLATFORM, LOOK OUT OVER THE HOUSE, AND YOU WILL SEE THE LAST MAN GOING OUT, AND HE WILL DO WHAT THE LAST MAN ALWAYS DOES, LOOK BACK TO SEE WHAT HAS TAKEN PLACE. JUST AS HE LOOKS BACK, DOUBLE UP YOUR FIST, STRIKE THE PALM OF YOUR HAND AGAIN, AND SAY, BOO!

AS LOUD AS YOU CAN. HE WILL JUMP UP TWENTY FEET, AND LIGHT ON THE GROUND. THEN, YOU MAKE FOR YOUR OLD GRAY MAYOR, SAY AS YOU GO THROUGH THE YARD, BRETHREN, I WILL PREACH HERE AGAIN NEXT SUNDAY MORNING, AT ELEVEN O 'CLOCK.

IF ANYONE STARTS TO YOU, JUST SAY, BOO! GO HOME, AND LOCK YOURSELF IN YOUR ROOM. IN A FEW HOURS' TIME, THE REPORTERS FROM ATLANTA WILL BE UP. THEY NEVER HEARD OF YOU BEFORE, BUT THEY WILL BE THERE TO INTERVIEW YOU, AND TO SEE WHAT HAS COME OVER YOU.

DO NOT LET THEM INTO YOUR ROOM, WHATEVER YOU DO. FINALLY, THEY WILL BEGIN TO BEG, AND WHEN THEY DO, YOU PUT YOUR MOUTH TO THE KEYHOLE, AND WHISPER, BOO! TELL THEM ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS, YOU WILL PREACH AGAIN NEXT SUNDAY MORNING, AT ELEVEN O 'CLOCK, AT THE SAME OLD STAND.

THOSE REPORTERS WILL AT ONCE LEAVE, AND NEXT MORNING, IN THE ATLANTA PAPERS, THERE WILL BE GREAT HEADLINES, BOO, BOO, BOO, ETC. THINK OF IT. TWO COLUMNS ON THE FRONT PAGE, IN THE ATLANTA PAPERS, ALL ABOUT YOU.

THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF YOU BEFORE. NEXT SUNDAY MORNING, GO TO CHURCH, AND WHEN YOU GET THERE, YOU 'LL FIND FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE. THEY 'LL BE FROM ALL SECTIONS, ROUND ABOUT, AND AT LEAST HALF A DOZEN NEWSPAPER REPORTERS WILL BE IN THE CROWD.

Doing Something for the Glory of God

OH, SHAW, BROTHER JONES, SAID THE OLD PREACHER, HUSH YOUR FOOLISHNESS. WHAT ON EARTH WOULD THEY BE THERE FOR? YES, SAID SAM, THAT'S JUST EXACTLY WHAT I EXPECTED YOU TO ASK. THAT IS JUST WHAT I WANTED YOU TO ASK.

THEY WILL BE THERE TO SEE AND HEAR A MAN WHO HAS DONE SOMETHING. THAT'S WHAT THEY WILL BE THERE FOR. THE TROUBLE WITH YOU, BROTHER, IS YOU HAVE SAID ENOUGH, BUT YOU HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING. AND THAT'S WHAT THE WORLD WANTS, IS MEN THAT DO THINGS.

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SAM JONES DID. HE WAS A MAN WHO DID THINGS AND TOUCHED THE HEARTBEAT OF A NATION FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. THIS HAS BEEN AN EXCERPT FROM A NEW BIOGRAPHY ON SAM JONES ENTITLED SAM JONES, A NEW BIOGRAPHY.

YOU CAN GET YOUR COPY ON AMAZON DOT COM.