INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF METHODISM

By

The Reverend John Elmore DuBois

Edited by Elizabeth A. DuBois
(c) 1998  DuBois Publishing Co, Simsbury, Connecticut. All rights
reserved.

EIGHT
A Study in Contrasts [cont.]

Leroy Massengale once traveled a circuit in Perry county.  He was junior
under E.V. Levert.  It was a fortunate thing for any young preacher to
be under the protecting care of Bro. Levert; for while he was a great
preacher, he was a kind and considerate friend.

	Massengale was a poor boy and enjoyed meager advantages.  Mr. Hendrick
of Carthage, whose wife was a member of our Church, became interested in
him because of his earnest zeal and piety, and sent him to school for a
while.  He never distinguished himself as a scholar nor as a pulpit
orator, but as an efficient Soldier of the Cross, he bore himself with
the gallantry of the Christian hero, and won immortal honors.  He was
pure in heart.  Holiness was the watchword of his life.  And it was this
that gave him influence with men.  At the altar of prayer, he revealed
the genius of his power and the tower of his strength.  Many a soul at
the altar, passed from darkness, to light, while he earnestly and
eloquently plead for them at a throne of grace.

One of the chief elements of his success as a pastor, was his
punctuality.  No ordinary circumstance caused him to disappoint a
congregation.  Bad weather, bad roads, nor high water could drive him
From his track.  When he told a congregation that he would meet them at
a certain time, they knew what he meant.  He served a long time as
missionary to the blacks, and fell at his post while packing his
saddle-bags to meet an appointment, not thinking it was for the last
time; but "God took him," and he lay prostrate, with his armor on, all
covered with the dust and smoke of battle, as true a soldier as ever
fell in noble strife.

[To be continued.]

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