A determined young man entered...
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A determined young man entered Cornell University in 1886, set upon a law or political career. But one evening John R. Mott went to hear a guest speaker, J. K. Studd, a famous cricketer from Cambridge University in England and brother of the even better known athlete, C. T. Studd. They were part of the so-
called "Cambridge Seven" -- a group of athletes who had committed their lives to Christ under the ministry of D. L. Moody while he was in England. Now these young men had come to America to speak to college students. Mott explained what happened that night: "No sooner had I taken a seat in the rear of the botanical lecture room, where the meeting was being held, than I heard the speaker give three short sentences which proved to be the turning point in my life. These were the three sentences 'Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.' " Mott forgot what the speaker said after that, but "on these few words hinged my life-investment decision." Later, he wrote home to his parents, saying he had changed his vocational plans. Now, he had decided to devote all his talents to the service of Jesus Christ. Mott, a Methodist layperson, went on to become a leader in the Y.M.C.A., in the Student Christian Movement, and eventually in the world missionary movement. He was elected by his peers to preside over the historic World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh in 1910. No one in the twentieth century took more seriously Jesus' call to seek first the kingdom of God than did John R. Mott, elder Christian statesman and world missionary. -- Hasler
called "Cambridge Seven" -- a group of athletes who had committed their lives to Christ under the ministry of D. L. Moody while he was in England. Now these young men had come to America to speak to college students. Mott explained what happened that night: "No sooner had I taken a seat in the rear of the botanical lecture room, where the meeting was being held, than I heard the speaker give three short sentences which proved to be the turning point in my life. These were the three sentences 'Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.' " Mott forgot what the speaker said after that, but "on these few words hinged my life-investment decision." Later, he wrote home to his parents, saying he had changed his vocational plans. Now, he had decided to devote all his talents to the service of Jesus Christ. Mott, a Methodist layperson, went on to become a leader in the Y.M.C.A., in the Student Christian Movement, and eventually in the world missionary movement. He was elected by his peers to preside over the historic World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh in 1910. No one in the twentieth century took more seriously Jesus' call to seek first the kingdom of God than did John R. Mott, elder Christian statesman and world missionary. -- Hasler
