1913
WE ARE BEGOTTEN AGAIN
BY THE REV JOHN WEIDLEY,
Lutheran.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the connecting link between this world and the eternal world. Easter is the fitting occasion for our recognition of this. There is no need or additional argument to prove the life beyond. If He is there, then it is a real world, and men can live in it more fully than they can live here. If He rose from the dead then there is an unseen spirit mightier than the strongest material power, a God who is thinking to bring us all out of evil into an eternally happy condition. By the resurrection of Jesus from the dead we are begotten again unto a living hope, for He is able to guide all men into a condition like His own.
JOB'S QUERY ANSWERED
BY THE REV. DONALD C. MACLEOD,
Presbyterian.
The Easter message has three great notes, the act of the resurrection, the pledge of the resurrection, and the obligation of the resurrection. The age-long question of the human heart finds its expression in the words of Job, "If a man dies shall he live again?" God answered this question in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The empty tomb on the day of Pentecost, the increasing sway of the Christian propaganda, and the Christian Sabbath unite in an eloquence that overpowers every form of wickedness and proclaims that Christ has risen, and has triumphed over death.
BASIS OF FAITH AND HOPE
BY THE REV. SAMUEL H. WOODROW,
Congregational.
Easter, the day we rejoice in, stands as the culmination of the life of Christ, and is the foundation of the Christian's faith for the present and hope in the future. Jesus our Lord announced that the proof of the worth of His ministry was shown when He had been crucified and had risen again. Paul said, "If Christ be not risen from the dead, our faith is vain, our preaching is vain, and those who have died are perished." The fact of the resurrection established, our faith and our preaching is not in vain, and those who have died have not perished, and are present in spirit with the Lord.
AN EASTER PRAYER
Jesus, who at this very hour, at God's Right Hand, in Pomp and Power, our nature still doth wear; Oh let Thy wounds still intercede, and by their simple silence plead Thy countless merits there. Oh Christ, the Risen Son, send Peace on Earth to every one. Amen.
–Washington Post, March 23, 1913, p. 10.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Comforting
1905
A lady was awakened one morning by a strange noise of pecking at the window, when she saw a butterfly flying backwards and forwards inside the window, in a great fright, because outside there was a sparrow pecking at the glass, wanting to reach the butterfly. The butterfly did not see the glass, but it saw the sparrow, and evidently expected every moment to be caught. Neither did the sparrow see the glass, though it saw the butterfly, and made sure of catching it. But all the while the butterfly, because of that thin, invisible sheet of glass, was actually as safe as if it had been miles away from the sparrow. It is when we forget our Protector that our hearts fail us.
Elisha's servant was in great fear when he awoke in the morning and saw the city of Dothan encompassed with horses and chariots and a great host: but when his eyes were opened at the prayer of the prophet, his fears vanished, for he beheld the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire.
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusted in Thee." "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore." — Selected.
No one who has not tried it would believe how many difficulties are cleared out of a man's road by the simple act of trying to follow Christ. — ALEXANDER MACLAREN.
—The Young Churchman, Milwaukee, May 7, 1905, p. 2.
A lady was awakened one morning by a strange noise of pecking at the window, when she saw a butterfly flying backwards and forwards inside the window, in a great fright, because outside there was a sparrow pecking at the glass, wanting to reach the butterfly. The butterfly did not see the glass, but it saw the sparrow, and evidently expected every moment to be caught. Neither did the sparrow see the glass, though it saw the butterfly, and made sure of catching it. But all the while the butterfly, because of that thin, invisible sheet of glass, was actually as safe as if it had been miles away from the sparrow. It is when we forget our Protector that our hearts fail us.
Elisha's servant was in great fear when he awoke in the morning and saw the city of Dothan encompassed with horses and chariots and a great host: but when his eyes were opened at the prayer of the prophet, his fears vanished, for he beheld the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire.
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusted in Thee." "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore." — Selected.
No one who has not tried it would believe how many difficulties are cleared out of a man's road by the simple act of trying to follow Christ. — ALEXANDER MACLAREN.
—The Young Churchman, Milwaukee, May 7, 1905, p. 2.
Thoughtlessness
1876
There are a great many thoughtless boys (and girls, too, alas!) who are not, however, what might be called wicked and depraved. They have bad habits that arise simply from thoughtlessness, and such as often times would be easily broken up, if a little extra care and patience would be used in speaking to them of their faults. In all kindness, we wish to mention some of the thoughtless habits of otherwise good boys, and if you, dear reader, are one of that kind please think about it for a few moments.
You mark nicely painted fences with coal, chalk or pencil; you cut notches in fence pickets and tree boxes; you break branches from shade trees; pull flowers from overhanging bushes; throw dirt on the door-steps; take gates from their hinges; annoy boys smaller than yourself; play about the church before service; mark the Prayer-books; whisper to your neighbor when you should kneel in prayer; and numberless other sins you commit, all of which you would feel very sorry for, could you see the annoyance and distress that they cause. Every night before you retire, enumerate to yourself all the sins of this nature you have committed, and then earnestly repent, and resolve by GOD'S help, that you will do so no more. A real conscientious, honest boy, will endeavor to correct a wrong he has done. Suppose one should go and wash from the fence the marks he had thoughtlessly made on it the day before, do you suppose he would ever be so thoughtless as to deface it again?
We pray that our young Churchmen will be the first to correct all such disagreeable and sinful practices as we have enumerated.
—The Young Churchman, Milwaukee, WI, June 1, 1876, p. 3.
There are a great many thoughtless boys (and girls, too, alas!) who are not, however, what might be called wicked and depraved. They have bad habits that arise simply from thoughtlessness, and such as often times would be easily broken up, if a little extra care and patience would be used in speaking to them of their faults. In all kindness, we wish to mention some of the thoughtless habits of otherwise good boys, and if you, dear reader, are one of that kind please think about it for a few moments.
You mark nicely painted fences with coal, chalk or pencil; you cut notches in fence pickets and tree boxes; you break branches from shade trees; pull flowers from overhanging bushes; throw dirt on the door-steps; take gates from their hinges; annoy boys smaller than yourself; play about the church before service; mark the Prayer-books; whisper to your neighbor when you should kneel in prayer; and numberless other sins you commit, all of which you would feel very sorry for, could you see the annoyance and distress that they cause. Every night before you retire, enumerate to yourself all the sins of this nature you have committed, and then earnestly repent, and resolve by GOD'S help, that you will do so no more. A real conscientious, honest boy, will endeavor to correct a wrong he has done. Suppose one should go and wash from the fence the marks he had thoughtlessly made on it the day before, do you suppose he would ever be so thoughtless as to deface it again?
We pray that our young Churchmen will be the first to correct all such disagreeable and sinful practices as we have enumerated.
—The Young Churchman, Milwaukee, WI, June 1, 1876, p. 3.
The Real Sheikhs — They Trace Their Descent From Heaven
1926
CATTLE MEN REAL SHEIKS
MEMBERS OF YAZIDIES TRIBE CLAIM THEY CAN TRACE THEIR DESCENT FROM HEAVEN
Aleppo, Syria.—Taous Malak, the "fallen angel" whom God expelled from heaven, is the patron saint of the sheikhs — not those whose handsome profiles thrown against the American screen have made flappers' hearts flutter.
The tribe of the Yazidies, worshippers of Satan, from which the original sheikhs sprang, are nomads living from cattle raising. They number about 12,000 and their habitat is north of Aleppo near the Djebel Soumann. Another branch is to be found at Khaltar, a small town in the vicinity of Diarkebir.
Trace Ancestry From Heaven
Sheikhs claim they can trace their ancestry from heaven, being direct descendents of Sheik Charaf-Eddin or "the moon." Another early sheikh was Amadin, which means "pillar supporting heaven," while a third one was directly related to the sun.
Some of the present day sheikhs claim to have the power of miracle in rendering inoffensive the bites of snakes and scorpions.
Why Devil Is Worshiped
"Why do you worship the devil," asked an American who had been bitten by a poisonous insect, and desirous of ascertaining the miraculous power of the sheikhs, had sent for one.
"Satan is the source of all evil and if we ignore him we cannot avoid his wrath. God on the contrary is the essence of kindness and therefore we have nothing to fear from him," was the way the reply was translated.
No Divorce Among Sheikhs
There is no divorce among the real sheikhs, in which they differ somewhat from the American species.
Sheikhs marry only the daughters of other sheikhs. The marriage ceremony is very simple. It is a question of mutual consent between the bride and the bridegroom, expressed before one of the older sheikhs. Both newlyweds are then branded with red ink on the shoulders and forehead.
The sheikh performing the ceremony then takes a branch of a tree and breaking it in two, says: "Remain united until death parts you as force has broken this branch."
—Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, Aug. 12, 1926, p. 4.
CATTLE MEN REAL SHEIKS
MEMBERS OF YAZIDIES TRIBE CLAIM THEY CAN TRACE THEIR DESCENT FROM HEAVEN
Aleppo, Syria.—Taous Malak, the "fallen angel" whom God expelled from heaven, is the patron saint of the sheikhs — not those whose handsome profiles thrown against the American screen have made flappers' hearts flutter.
The tribe of the Yazidies, worshippers of Satan, from which the original sheikhs sprang, are nomads living from cattle raising. They number about 12,000 and their habitat is north of Aleppo near the Djebel Soumann. Another branch is to be found at Khaltar, a small town in the vicinity of Diarkebir.
Trace Ancestry From Heaven
Sheikhs claim they can trace their ancestry from heaven, being direct descendents of Sheik Charaf-Eddin or "the moon." Another early sheikh was Amadin, which means "pillar supporting heaven," while a third one was directly related to the sun.
Some of the present day sheikhs claim to have the power of miracle in rendering inoffensive the bites of snakes and scorpions.
Why Devil Is Worshiped
"Why do you worship the devil," asked an American who had been bitten by a poisonous insect, and desirous of ascertaining the miraculous power of the sheikhs, had sent for one.
"Satan is the source of all evil and if we ignore him we cannot avoid his wrath. God on the contrary is the essence of kindness and therefore we have nothing to fear from him," was the way the reply was translated.
No Divorce Among Sheikhs
There is no divorce among the real sheikhs, in which they differ somewhat from the American species.
Sheikhs marry only the daughters of other sheikhs. The marriage ceremony is very simple. It is a question of mutual consent between the bride and the bridegroom, expressed before one of the older sheikhs. Both newlyweds are then branded with red ink on the shoulders and forehead.
The sheikh performing the ceremony then takes a branch of a tree and breaking it in two, says: "Remain united until death parts you as force has broken this branch."
—Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, Aug. 12, 1926, p. 4.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Negro Church Prayers So Loud Neighbor Can't Sleep
1917
THEY PRAY SO LOUD HE CAN'T SLUMBER
Freeport, L. I.—Too much praying right out loud gives Ambrose Dunleavy no chance to sleep. Dunleavy lives next door to the negro church here, and since the church has started impassioned revivalist meetings he has written to Police Chief Hanes asking that prayers be suppressed. "Neither myself nor children are able to sleep," he complained.
—New Oxford Item, New Oxford, PA, Aug. 9, 1917.
THEY PRAY SO LOUD HE CAN'T SLUMBER
Freeport, L. I.—Too much praying right out loud gives Ambrose Dunleavy no chance to sleep. Dunleavy lives next door to the negro church here, and since the church has started impassioned revivalist meetings he has written to Police Chief Hanes asking that prayers be suppressed. "Neither myself nor children are able to sleep," he complained.
—New Oxford Item, New Oxford, PA, Aug. 9, 1917.
Man Crazed By 'Abraham Sacrifices Isaac' Story, Kills Daughter
Kansas City, MO, 1917MAN IS CRAZED BY BIBLE STORY
Kills His Six-Year-Old Daughter as a Sacrifice to God.
"IT WAS GOD'S WILL"
Mumbles to Mission Worker That Heaven Ordained He Should Offer Up Child on Altar of Religion.
Kansas City, Mo.—Jacob Bentz, thirty-five years old, crazed by religious fervor, applied the story of Biblical sacrifices to his own home, and dragged Helena, his oldest child, aged six years, into a room and beat her to death with the heavy arm of a sewing machine. Two hours later Bentz was found with his Bible opened at the chapter in Genesis, telling the story of Abraham's offering of Isaac as a sacrifice. He was kneeling beside his dead child, his hands clasped in prayer.
"It Was God's Will."
Bentz did not resist arrest and said: "It was God's will that I kill my child," as he was being taken to jail. In another room Mrs. Bentz was found clutching her three remaining children. The man was known to be deeply religious and read his Bible at every opportunity. The sacrifice of his daughter was premeditated, as he had informed fellow workmen at a packing house that he was contemplating a three days' journey such as Abraham took before offering Isaac to the Lord.
Beat Daughter to Death.
On the evening of the tragedy Bentz had been reading his Bible. Suddenly he closed the book and, taking Helena by the hand, forced her to leave her mother and enter another room with him. The mother attempted to follow, but Bentz pushed her back and locked the door. Half an hour later, Rev. A. S. Sixta, who conducts a mission in the city, called to visit the Bentz family. The crazed man opened the door slightly and peered out. He saw the minister.
"You are a servant of God and welcome," Bentz said. Then the minister inquired who was home and the madman replied: "I am praying beside the child I have sacrificed to God." Sixta, fearing to excite the maniac further, remained with Bentz until late in the evening when he managed to escape and called a policeman.
—New Oxford Item, New Oxford, PA, Aug. 9, 1917.
Simple But Impressive Sermons for Good Friday
Pittsburgh, 1889
FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY.
Simple But Impressive Ceremonies at St. Andrew's Church.
Good Friday was observed in a very impressive manner yesterday afternoon in St. Andrew's Church, on Ninth street. The observance brought a large number of clergymen together to urge Christian unity. Rev. Dr. White opened the service by prayer.
Six short sermons were preached upon words spoken by Jesus from the cross. Rev. Dr. Cowan's text was, "Father, Forgive Them, They Know Not What they Do," Rev. Dr. McMillan spoke on the words "Verily I Say Unto Thee, To-day Shalt Thou be With Me in Paradise," Rev. Dr. Sproull's text was "Woman, Behold Thy Son," Rev. Dr. Felton preached from the words, "My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?" Rev. Howard B. Grose explained the words, "I Thirst," Rev. Mr. Meech's subject was, "It is Finished," and Rev. Mr. McKay's was, "Father, Into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit."
—The Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh, PA, April 20, 1889, page 2.
FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY.
Simple But Impressive Ceremonies at St. Andrew's Church.
Good Friday was observed in a very impressive manner yesterday afternoon in St. Andrew's Church, on Ninth street. The observance brought a large number of clergymen together to urge Christian unity. Rev. Dr. White opened the service by prayer.
Six short sermons were preached upon words spoken by Jesus from the cross. Rev. Dr. Cowan's text was, "Father, Forgive Them, They Know Not What they Do," Rev. Dr. McMillan spoke on the words "Verily I Say Unto Thee, To-day Shalt Thou be With Me in Paradise," Rev. Dr. Sproull's text was "Woman, Behold Thy Son," Rev. Dr. Felton preached from the words, "My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?" Rev. Howard B. Grose explained the words, "I Thirst," Rev. Mr. Meech's subject was, "It is Finished," and Rev. Mr. McKay's was, "Father, Into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit."
—The Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh, PA, April 20, 1889, page 2.
Easter — Greater Profusion of Flowers This Year Than Usual
Pittsburgh, 1889
Easter Eggs and Flowers
Greater Profusion of the Latter Than Usual
Many Churches Will be Tastefully Decorated To-Morrow — Florists Have Their Hands Full With Order for Bouquets.
Easter, the goddess of spring, has been extremely kind to her children this year. She has chased away Jack Frost with his lingering touches of icy coldness that blast the early flowers. Old Sol's beams have searched out the sleeping bulbs and roots and awakened them from their slumbers. At the voice of Easter they have burst forth in abundance with all the beauties of a new birth, an emblem of the resurrection of Christ.
It is to the Germans that we owe the beautiful custom of giving flowers at Easter-tide, and their first general application as an emblem of the resurrection. To-morrow the two cities and their suburbs will observe the custom as has been rarely done before. The day will be a feast of flowers as well as eggs.
Owing to the mild winter the market is full of flowers, and the florists have been busy for months back preparing to fill their orders. Flowers are more reasonable in price than for some years at Easter-tide, and owing to this fact, many will invest in floral offerings this year that have not done so heretofore. Many of the churches will be prettily decorated to-morrow, and judging from the numerous orders for bouquets, many a fair damsel will wear beautiful emblems of Easter morn.
Easter flowers include all flowers that bloom at this particular season, but queen among them all the Easter lily retains its place. Following in its train come the other lilies of various species, the lily of the valley and the common wood lily. The latter will be a specialty in the Easter market.
The narcissus and the hyacinth will each have its place among the flowers of Easter. Among the specialties forced by some of the florists are the cypripedium spectabile and cypripedium barbatum, two species of orchids. Several other novelties are on the market for fastidious buyers. The florists' stores will doubtless present a busy scene to-day.
—The Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh, PA, April 20, 1889, page 2.
Easter Eggs and Flowers
Greater Profusion of the Latter Than Usual
Many Churches Will be Tastefully Decorated To-Morrow — Florists Have Their Hands Full With Order for Bouquets.
Easter, the goddess of spring, has been extremely kind to her children this year. She has chased away Jack Frost with his lingering touches of icy coldness that blast the early flowers. Old Sol's beams have searched out the sleeping bulbs and roots and awakened them from their slumbers. At the voice of Easter they have burst forth in abundance with all the beauties of a new birth, an emblem of the resurrection of Christ.
It is to the Germans that we owe the beautiful custom of giving flowers at Easter-tide, and their first general application as an emblem of the resurrection. To-morrow the two cities and their suburbs will observe the custom as has been rarely done before. The day will be a feast of flowers as well as eggs.
Owing to the mild winter the market is full of flowers, and the florists have been busy for months back preparing to fill their orders. Flowers are more reasonable in price than for some years at Easter-tide, and owing to this fact, many will invest in floral offerings this year that have not done so heretofore. Many of the churches will be prettily decorated to-morrow, and judging from the numerous orders for bouquets, many a fair damsel will wear beautiful emblems of Easter morn.
Easter flowers include all flowers that bloom at this particular season, but queen among them all the Easter lily retains its place. Following in its train come the other lilies of various species, the lily of the valley and the common wood lily. The latter will be a specialty in the Easter market.
The narcissus and the hyacinth will each have its place among the flowers of Easter. Among the specialties forced by some of the florists are the cypripedium spectabile and cypripedium barbatum, two species of orchids. Several other novelties are on the market for fastidious buyers. The florists' stores will doubtless present a busy scene to-day.
—The Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh, PA, April 20, 1889, page 2.
Short Sermons – A Sentence or So
1899
"Our Father" tells of the brotherhood of man. Truth has nothing to fear from error, nature cannot disagree with its God. — Rev. W. H. Tubb, Congregationalist, San Francisco, Cal.
Capital is that part of wealth put into operation to increase the ability of a nation or community. Capital is the laborer's friend. — Rev. R. S. J. Burke, R. C., Holyoke, Mass.
When God sends a prayer into the heart he has already prepared the answer. We are taught the importance of faith, prayer and patience. — Rev. Robert Graham, Presbyterian, Philadelphia, Pa.
What society wants to-day is not charity, but justice — justice between man and man. Give man justice and there will be practically nobody to take care of. — Rev. George C. Lorimer, Baptist, Boston, Mass.
Oh, the injustice of that sentence of Dreyfus! I pity the man or the nation that allows prejudice to enter the heart against God's chosen people. — Dwight L. Moody, Evangelist, Northfield, Mass.
The verdict was not against the man but against a race. It was a triumph of race prejudice. The judges made up their minds beforehand that the prisoner was guilty. Rabbi Falk Vidavar, Hebrew, New York.
The Dreyfus trial is persecution instead of prosecution. A noted Frenchman has said: "Better that an innocent man go to prison and death than that the nation suffer." — Rev. Cortland Myers, Baptist, Brooklyn, N. Y.
I never held nor taught that physical death was the end of a wicked soul. Death is simply changing the conditions under which man's life is lived. It is not a flood of regeneration. — Rev. Dr. E. H. Ward, Episcopalian, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Prayer with study, prayer with investigation is the rule of the growth of the missionary spirit. Prayer to be of value must be intelligent, must be offered for an intelligent object known to be worthy. — Rev. J. L. Barton, Congregationalist, Bangor, Me.
A travesty on justice and an outrage on humanity was perpetrated at Rennes. But God is just; vengeance is His. He will repay, and some day between the millstones of his wrath He will grind France to pieces. — Rev. Madison C. Peters, Independent, New York.
—Daily Iowa State Press, Iowa City, IA, Nov. 1, 1899, p. 2.
"Our Father" tells of the brotherhood of man. Truth has nothing to fear from error, nature cannot disagree with its God. — Rev. W. H. Tubb, Congregationalist, San Francisco, Cal.
Capital is that part of wealth put into operation to increase the ability of a nation or community. Capital is the laborer's friend. — Rev. R. S. J. Burke, R. C., Holyoke, Mass.
When God sends a prayer into the heart he has already prepared the answer. We are taught the importance of faith, prayer and patience. — Rev. Robert Graham, Presbyterian, Philadelphia, Pa.
What society wants to-day is not charity, but justice — justice between man and man. Give man justice and there will be practically nobody to take care of. — Rev. George C. Lorimer, Baptist, Boston, Mass.
Oh, the injustice of that sentence of Dreyfus! I pity the man or the nation that allows prejudice to enter the heart against God's chosen people. — Dwight L. Moody, Evangelist, Northfield, Mass.
The verdict was not against the man but against a race. It was a triumph of race prejudice. The judges made up their minds beforehand that the prisoner was guilty. Rabbi Falk Vidavar, Hebrew, New York.
The Dreyfus trial is persecution instead of prosecution. A noted Frenchman has said: "Better that an innocent man go to prison and death than that the nation suffer." — Rev. Cortland Myers, Baptist, Brooklyn, N. Y.
I never held nor taught that physical death was the end of a wicked soul. Death is simply changing the conditions under which man's life is lived. It is not a flood of regeneration. — Rev. Dr. E. H. Ward, Episcopalian, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Prayer with study, prayer with investigation is the rule of the growth of the missionary spirit. Prayer to be of value must be intelligent, must be offered for an intelligent object known to be worthy. — Rev. J. L. Barton, Congregationalist, Bangor, Me.
A travesty on justice and an outrage on humanity was perpetrated at Rennes. But God is just; vengeance is His. He will repay, and some day between the millstones of his wrath He will grind France to pieces. — Rev. Madison C. Peters, Independent, New York.
—Daily Iowa State Press, Iowa City, IA, Nov. 1, 1899, p. 2.
Once Rigid Rules for Sabbath-Keeping at Harvard
1916
OLD TIME SUNDAY LAWS.
Rigid Rules For Harvard Students Two Centuries Ago.
In "The Story of Harvard" Mr. Arthur Stanwood Pier gives an account of the strict regulations formerly set down for the guidance of the Harvard undergraduates by the president and the fellows of the corporation. The old laws, intended to enforce upon the undergraduates a more religious and studious life, would be considered repressive and tyrannical today.
"All the scholars shall at sunset in the evening preceding the Lord's day retire to their chambers and not unnecessarily leave them, and all disorder on said evening shall be punished as violations of the Sabbath are. * * * And whosoever shall profane said day — the Sabbath — by unnecessary business or visiting, walking in the commons or in the streets or fields, in the town of Cambridge, or by any sort of diversion before sunset, or that in the evening of the Lord's day shall behave himself disorderly or in any way unbecoming the season, shall be fined not exceeding 10 shillings.
"That students may furnish themselves with useful learning, they shall keep in their respective chambers and diligently follow their studies, except half an hour at breakfast, at dinner for from 12 to 2 and after evening prayers till after 9 of the clock. To that end the tutors shall frequently visit their chambers after 9 o'clock in the evening and at other studying times, to quicken them to their business."
It does not seem that under such a system of vigilance and visitation the students could fall into very dissolute ways. But a few years later George Whitefield, the famous evangelist who so stirred up New England, visited Harvard college and expressed his displeasure at the dissipated habits of the young men. He declared conditions at Oxford were no worse, a charge so damaging that it greatly disturbed and incensed the college authorities.
OLD TIME SUNDAY LAWS.
Rigid Rules For Harvard Students Two Centuries Ago.
In "The Story of Harvard" Mr. Arthur Stanwood Pier gives an account of the strict regulations formerly set down for the guidance of the Harvard undergraduates by the president and the fellows of the corporation. The old laws, intended to enforce upon the undergraduates a more religious and studious life, would be considered repressive and tyrannical today.
"All the scholars shall at sunset in the evening preceding the Lord's day retire to their chambers and not unnecessarily leave them, and all disorder on said evening shall be punished as violations of the Sabbath are. * * * And whosoever shall profane said day — the Sabbath — by unnecessary business or visiting, walking in the commons or in the streets or fields, in the town of Cambridge, or by any sort of diversion before sunset, or that in the evening of the Lord's day shall behave himself disorderly or in any way unbecoming the season, shall be fined not exceeding 10 shillings.
"That students may furnish themselves with useful learning, they shall keep in their respective chambers and diligently follow their studies, except half an hour at breakfast, at dinner for from 12 to 2 and after evening prayers till after 9 of the clock. To that end the tutors shall frequently visit their chambers after 9 o'clock in the evening and at other studying times, to quicken them to their business."
It does not seem that under such a system of vigilance and visitation the students could fall into very dissolute ways. But a few years later George Whitefield, the famous evangelist who so stirred up New England, visited Harvard college and expressed his displeasure at the dissipated habits of the young men. He declared conditions at Oxford were no worse, a charge so damaging that it greatly disturbed and incensed the college authorities.
Churchmen Refute 'Man Descended From Horse' Theory
1936
CHURCH CHIEFS RISE TO REFUTE 'HORSE' THEORY
Man was created in the image of God — not of a horse.
Such, at any rate, was the answer yesterday of Chicago fundamentalists to the assertion made before the American Museum of Natural History, that man is a "quadruped turned up on end" and descended from the same family tree as the horse.
Said his holiness the metropolitan, Theophilus, head of the Russian-Greek Orthodox Church of North America, here for bishops' conference:
"Despite scientific theories, I, for one, prefer to cling to the Biblical account of the creation, and believe that God made man, a higher being, after His own image."
"Unfortunately I was not an eyewitness either at the creation of man or of the horse," said Dr. J. Oliver Buswell, president of Wheaton college, "but the suggestion of horse and man being in any way related strikes me as ridiculous."
James Watt, company servant of Jehovah's Witnesses, added:
"Everybody who ever read the Bible knows that Adam was the first man and that Jehovah created him. To say that man is even a distant relation to a horse is to deny the holy writ."
—The Hammond Times, Hammond, IN, Nov. 18, 1936, p. 7.
CHURCH CHIEFS RISE TO REFUTE 'HORSE' THEORY
Man was created in the image of God — not of a horse.
Such, at any rate, was the answer yesterday of Chicago fundamentalists to the assertion made before the American Museum of Natural History, that man is a "quadruped turned up on end" and descended from the same family tree as the horse.
Said his holiness the metropolitan, Theophilus, head of the Russian-Greek Orthodox Church of North America, here for bishops' conference:
"Despite scientific theories, I, for one, prefer to cling to the Biblical account of the creation, and believe that God made man, a higher being, after His own image."
"Unfortunately I was not an eyewitness either at the creation of man or of the horse," said Dr. J. Oliver Buswell, president of Wheaton college, "but the suggestion of horse and man being in any way related strikes me as ridiculous."
James Watt, company servant of Jehovah's Witnesses, added:
"Everybody who ever read the Bible knows that Adam was the first man and that Jehovah created him. To say that man is even a distant relation to a horse is to deny the holy writ."
—The Hammond Times, Hammond, IN, Nov. 18, 1936, p. 7.
The Bible Still Sufficient
1909
The Biblical World contains a very learned article, said to be the product of certain professors in the divinity school of the University of Chicago, in which the stand is taken that the Bible is not a complete moral guide for the present age. These professors ore not taking an attitude that will bring them much else than ridicule. If the Bible was ever a proper and sufficient moral guide, it still is proper and sufficient. Human nature has not changed a great deal since the world began. Real right and real wrong have not exchanged places in the slightest degree. Fundamentals have not changed. The Bible always was a book of fundamental principles; it is so today, and so it will always be. These fundamentals are as complete a guide to the settlement of any question of modern origin as they were to the settlement of any question of ancient origin. The Chicago university professors should desist lest public opinion consign them to the donkey class.
—Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, Oct. 9, 1909, p. 4.
The Biblical World contains a very learned article, said to be the product of certain professors in the divinity school of the University of Chicago, in which the stand is taken that the Bible is not a complete moral guide for the present age. These professors ore not taking an attitude that will bring them much else than ridicule. If the Bible was ever a proper and sufficient moral guide, it still is proper and sufficient. Human nature has not changed a great deal since the world began. Real right and real wrong have not exchanged places in the slightest degree. Fundamentals have not changed. The Bible always was a book of fundamental principles; it is so today, and so it will always be. These fundamentals are as complete a guide to the settlement of any question of modern origin as they were to the settlement of any question of ancient origin. The Chicago university professors should desist lest public opinion consign them to the donkey class.
—Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, Oct. 9, 1909, p. 4.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Novena Honoring St. Therese of Lisieux Opens at St. Peter's
Lowell, MA, 1934
Novena Opens at St. Peter's
A novena in honor of the Little Flower opened last night at St. Peter's church with a large congregation. The services, which will continue each night until Oct. 3, consisted of the rosary, a sermon by Very Rev. Daniel J. Keleher, Ph. D., V. F., pastor, novena prayers, the litany of the Little Flower and benediction. After the services, the congregation venerated the relic of the Little Flower individually.
Dr. Keleher's sermon was an inspiring and encouraging talk on the happiness of heaven and the efficacy of the intercession of the Little Flower. Briefly describing her life, the preacher said that the Little Flower was born in 1873 and died in 1897, and that, during her short life, particularly in the years spent with the Carmelite Sisters, her outstanding virtue was implicit obedience to the will of God; the distinguishing trait of her character being to beg the privilege of using her heaven to obtain favors for God's people on earth. Dr. Keleher struck an encouraging note when he reminded his congregation of the mercy of God and the constant hope for heavenly beatitude in spite of human failings. The pastor closed his sermon with an appeal for continued devotion, expressing the belief that the Little Flower is pleased with homage and will continue to intercede for her people.
Dr. Keleher and his assistants are anticipating continued interest through the remainder of the novena. Services are held nightly at 7:30 o'clock, except on Sunday when they are held at 6:30 o'clock.
—The Lowell Sun, Lowell, MA, Sept. 26, 1934, page 7, probably second section.
Tone of Book on Saint Denounced
LISIEUX, Normandy (UP) — Father J. I. Lane, of Liverpool, has voiced his protest of the "smirking statues" of Saint Therese; the excessive use of endearing terms, such as "Little Flower," applied to the Saint; and of illuminated mottoes on cheap colored glass.
Father Lane expresses his objections in a handbook for pilgrims to Lisieux. He pleads for a dignified attitude toward the little girl "who understood that love meant sacrifice and not passing emotion." He does not mince his words and he singles out for particular condemnation an American biography of Saint Therese in which, he says, she is called "Little Flower" as many as 460 times. Thus the "whole tone of the book is cloying," he says.
—San Mateo Times, San Mateo, CA, Dec. 18, 1934, page 2-A.
Novena Opens at St. Peter's
A novena in honor of the Little Flower opened last night at St. Peter's church with a large congregation. The services, which will continue each night until Oct. 3, consisted of the rosary, a sermon by Very Rev. Daniel J. Keleher, Ph. D., V. F., pastor, novena prayers, the litany of the Little Flower and benediction. After the services, the congregation venerated the relic of the Little Flower individually.
Dr. Keleher's sermon was an inspiring and encouraging talk on the happiness of heaven and the efficacy of the intercession of the Little Flower. Briefly describing her life, the preacher said that the Little Flower was born in 1873 and died in 1897, and that, during her short life, particularly in the years spent with the Carmelite Sisters, her outstanding virtue was implicit obedience to the will of God; the distinguishing trait of her character being to beg the privilege of using her heaven to obtain favors for God's people on earth. Dr. Keleher struck an encouraging note when he reminded his congregation of the mercy of God and the constant hope for heavenly beatitude in spite of human failings. The pastor closed his sermon with an appeal for continued devotion, expressing the belief that the Little Flower is pleased with homage and will continue to intercede for her people.
Dr. Keleher and his assistants are anticipating continued interest through the remainder of the novena. Services are held nightly at 7:30 o'clock, except on Sunday when they are held at 6:30 o'clock.
—The Lowell Sun, Lowell, MA, Sept. 26, 1934, page 7, probably second section.
Tone of Book on Saint Denounced
LISIEUX, Normandy (UP) — Father J. I. Lane, of Liverpool, has voiced his protest of the "smirking statues" of Saint Therese; the excessive use of endearing terms, such as "Little Flower," applied to the Saint; and of illuminated mottoes on cheap colored glass.
Father Lane expresses his objections in a handbook for pilgrims to Lisieux. He pleads for a dignified attitude toward the little girl "who understood that love meant sacrifice and not passing emotion." He does not mince his words and he singles out for particular condemnation an American biography of Saint Therese in which, he says, she is called "Little Flower" as many as 460 times. Thus the "whole tone of the book is cloying," he says.
—San Mateo Times, San Mateo, CA, Dec. 18, 1934, page 2-A.
Pastor Offers Sermon Series on "Historic Johns in Church and State"
Oakland, CA, 1907
Rev. Homer J. Vosburgh of First Baptist to Give Series of Evening Sermons.
Rev. Homer J. Vosburgh, of the First Baptist church, will preach a series of Sunday evening sermons on "Historic Johns In Church and State: a Study of Men Who Have Brought Things to Pass," with subjects and dates as follows: January 6—John Wycliffe; the Morning-Star of the Reformation (1324-1384). January 13, John Calvin; the Aristotle of Protestantism (1509-1564). January 20, John Knox; The Light of Scotland (1505-1572). January 27, John Milton; the Poet-Prophet of the New Era (1608-1674). February 3, John Bunyan; the Immortal Dreamer (1628-1683). February 10, John Wesley; the Brightest Name of the Eighteenth Century (1703-1791).
The work of rebuilding the auditorium of this church, which was so badly injured by the earthquake, is proceeding rapidly. The work is being done in the most substantial manner. As soon as the walls are rebuilt the auditorium will be completed.
—Oakland Tribune, Oakland, CA, Jan. 6, 1907, page 20.
Rev. Homer J. Vosburgh of First Baptist to Give Series of Evening Sermons.
Rev. Homer J. Vosburgh, of the First Baptist church, will preach a series of Sunday evening sermons on "Historic Johns In Church and State: a Study of Men Who Have Brought Things to Pass," with subjects and dates as follows: January 6—John Wycliffe; the Morning-Star of the Reformation (1324-1384). January 13, John Calvin; the Aristotle of Protestantism (1509-1564). January 20, John Knox; The Light of Scotland (1505-1572). January 27, John Milton; the Poet-Prophet of the New Era (1608-1674). February 3, John Bunyan; the Immortal Dreamer (1628-1683). February 10, John Wesley; the Brightest Name of the Eighteenth Century (1703-1791).
The work of rebuilding the auditorium of this church, which was so badly injured by the earthquake, is proceeding rapidly. The work is being done in the most substantial manner. As soon as the walls are rebuilt the auditorium will be completed.
—Oakland Tribune, Oakland, CA, Jan. 6, 1907, page 20.
Pastor Defends Proposition of Existence of Real Angels
Lincoln, NE, 1909
BELIEVES IN REAL ANGELS
Dr. Herbert Yeuell Defends Proposition of Their Existence.
The sermon of the evening at the First Christian church last night by Dr. Herbert Yeuell was upon the theme, "Why the Angels Rejoice." The Bible reading was from the fifteenth chapter of Luke, containing the greatest of all parables, the "Prodigal Son." The usual spirited song service was conducted by Prof. A. F. Buss.
A touching solo was sung by Mr. Sturgiss, entitled "Jesus is the One."
The text of the sermon was from the tenth verse of the fifteenth chapter of Luke, "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."
Dr. Yeuell unequivocally and firmly defended the proposition of the real existence of real angels. The fact that we have never seen an angel is no proof that none exist. Neither have we seen gravity or ether or air. We take many things upon faith in the affairs of life. It is only fair to take spiritual things upon faith as well. The whirring of angels' wings are heard throughout all of the history of God's universe, and the development of His people.
The evangelist scored the doctrine of spiritualism and deplored the confusion that its advocates have spread. The angels of God are not dark winged shakers of tables, giving weird knocks and signs. The angels of God are creatures of real dignity and power. They are real instrumentalities of God, in working out his purposes in sacred and profane history.
Their song, "Glory to God, Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men," has reverberated throughout the whole Christian era.
Dr. Yeuell maintained that figuratively the humble followers and doers of God's will upon earth are in a sense his angels, but this does not disprove the existence of the supernal, heavenly messengers.
The philosophy of heaven is plain that the ninety and nine are not large enough an average for the heavenly fold. God wants that last hundredth sinner to return to the fold.
Jesus Christ lived in close touch with the angels of God. They buoyed Him up. They often surrounded Him in loving ministration.
They surrounded Jesus in His times of crisis. They rejoiced and exulted in His demonstration of power in so many instances.
The angels of God are real, effective and potent influences in the universe. We cannot afford to discredit their existence or their ministrations.
At the close of the sermon the ordinance of baptism was administered. This service is always especially beautiful as administered in this new church building, owing to the very effective illumination.
The sermon for tonight will be upon the theme, "Nebuchadnezzar's Furnaces." Meeting will begin sharp at 7:30. All are invited.
—The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, NE, Dec. 8, 1909, page 7.
BELIEVES IN REAL ANGELS
Dr. Herbert Yeuell Defends Proposition of Their Existence.
The sermon of the evening at the First Christian church last night by Dr. Herbert Yeuell was upon the theme, "Why the Angels Rejoice." The Bible reading was from the fifteenth chapter of Luke, containing the greatest of all parables, the "Prodigal Son." The usual spirited song service was conducted by Prof. A. F. Buss.
A touching solo was sung by Mr. Sturgiss, entitled "Jesus is the One."
The text of the sermon was from the tenth verse of the fifteenth chapter of Luke, "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."
Dr. Yeuell unequivocally and firmly defended the proposition of the real existence of real angels. The fact that we have never seen an angel is no proof that none exist. Neither have we seen gravity or ether or air. We take many things upon faith in the affairs of life. It is only fair to take spiritual things upon faith as well. The whirring of angels' wings are heard throughout all of the history of God's universe, and the development of His people.
The evangelist scored the doctrine of spiritualism and deplored the confusion that its advocates have spread. The angels of God are not dark winged shakers of tables, giving weird knocks and signs. The angels of God are creatures of real dignity and power. They are real instrumentalities of God, in working out his purposes in sacred and profane history.
Their song, "Glory to God, Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men," has reverberated throughout the whole Christian era.
Dr. Yeuell maintained that figuratively the humble followers and doers of God's will upon earth are in a sense his angels, but this does not disprove the existence of the supernal, heavenly messengers.
The philosophy of heaven is plain that the ninety and nine are not large enough an average for the heavenly fold. God wants that last hundredth sinner to return to the fold.
Jesus Christ lived in close touch with the angels of God. They buoyed Him up. They often surrounded Him in loving ministration.
They surrounded Jesus in His times of crisis. They rejoiced and exulted in His demonstration of power in so many instances.
The angels of God are real, effective and potent influences in the universe. We cannot afford to discredit their existence or their ministrations.
At the close of the sermon the ordinance of baptism was administered. This service is always especially beautiful as administered in this new church building, owing to the very effective illumination.
The sermon for tonight will be upon the theme, "Nebuchadnezzar's Furnaces." Meeting will begin sharp at 7:30. All are invited.
—The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, NE, Dec. 8, 1909, page 7.
Evangelist Dug Up Facts On Congregants, Revival Closes Early
Illinois, 1909
EVANGELIST DUG UP ANCIENT FACTS
Havana, Dec. 4 — The series of revival meetings which has been going on in the Methodist church during the past three weeks closed last night. The end was rather unexpected since it was announced that they would be continued until at least Dec. 19 at the time they were begun. It seems that the Rev. E. B. Adams, the evangelist in charge, has lost a few influential friends among the members of the church by his manner of digging up incidents that have occurred in years long gone by and hurling them into the teeth of his congregation, and the unsupported rumor is going about the streets to the effect that his course was not pleasing to the people of the church generally and that this state of affairs is responsible for the sudden closing of the revival series.
—The Daily Review, Decatur, IL, Dec. 14, 1909, page 2.
EVANGELIST DUG UP ANCIENT FACTS
Havana, Dec. 4 — The series of revival meetings which has been going on in the Methodist church during the past three weeks closed last night. The end was rather unexpected since it was announced that they would be continued until at least Dec. 19 at the time they were begun. It seems that the Rev. E. B. Adams, the evangelist in charge, has lost a few influential friends among the members of the church by his manner of digging up incidents that have occurred in years long gone by and hurling them into the teeth of his congregation, and the unsupported rumor is going about the streets to the effect that his course was not pleasing to the people of the church generally and that this state of affairs is responsible for the sudden closing of the revival series.
—The Daily Review, Decatur, IL, Dec. 14, 1909, page 2.
The World Is Nearing An End (1899)
Ohio, 1899
THE WORLD
Is Nearing an End the Rev. Mr. Boardman Says.
Annual Meeting of Seventh Day Adventists Near Akron — R. R. Kennedy, of Wheelersburg, Is President.
The Seventh Day Adventists of Ohio are in session at Randolph park, near Akron. The service will continue for ten days. About one thousand members are present. A telegram from there states that Rev. R. A. Boardman, of Mt. Vernon, who several years ago held forth here in a tent at Chillicothe and Eighth streets, in a sermon said the end of the world was near at hand.
"We believe in the near coming of Christ," he said. "The signs indicate that the destruction of the world will come soon. I'll not set a date, but the signs are very strong that the end is near, very near. Noah was many years in building the ark. He was scoffed at when he preached about the destruction of the world by a flood. We are sometimes scoffed at, yet we are faithful in our belief, and have just as good assurance that Christ will come soon as did Noah that the earth would be destroyed by a flood.
"The twenty-fourth chapter of St. Matthew contains in it a reference to many of the signs indicative that the world is near the end. The twenty-ninth verse of that chapter reads: 'Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.' Now, really that on the 13th day of November, 1833, it was dark throughput the entire world, no moon shone the night following, and the stars fell in showers.
The twelfth verse of the sixth chapter of Revelations also refers in prophecy to the dark day, reading: 'And I beheld when he opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.' I might cite many other instances which give us good reason for believing that the world is near the end."
R. R. Kennedy, of Wheelersburg, who is president and state organizer of the Adventists, is present at the annual session mentioned above.
—The Portsmouth Daily Times, Portsmouth, OH, Aug. 2, 1899, page 6.
THE WORLD
Is Nearing an End the Rev. Mr. Boardman Says.
Annual Meeting of Seventh Day Adventists Near Akron — R. R. Kennedy, of Wheelersburg, Is President.
The Seventh Day Adventists of Ohio are in session at Randolph park, near Akron. The service will continue for ten days. About one thousand members are present. A telegram from there states that Rev. R. A. Boardman, of Mt. Vernon, who several years ago held forth here in a tent at Chillicothe and Eighth streets, in a sermon said the end of the world was near at hand.
"We believe in the near coming of Christ," he said. "The signs indicate that the destruction of the world will come soon. I'll not set a date, but the signs are very strong that the end is near, very near. Noah was many years in building the ark. He was scoffed at when he preached about the destruction of the world by a flood. We are sometimes scoffed at, yet we are faithful in our belief, and have just as good assurance that Christ will come soon as did Noah that the earth would be destroyed by a flood.
"The twenty-fourth chapter of St. Matthew contains in it a reference to many of the signs indicative that the world is near the end. The twenty-ninth verse of that chapter reads: 'Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.' Now, really that on the 13th day of November, 1833, it was dark throughput the entire world, no moon shone the night following, and the stars fell in showers.
The twelfth verse of the sixth chapter of Revelations also refers in prophecy to the dark day, reading: 'And I beheld when he opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.' I might cite many other instances which give us good reason for believing that the world is near the end."
R. R. Kennedy, of Wheelersburg, who is president and state organizer of the Adventists, is present at the annual session mentioned above.
—The Portsmouth Daily Times, Portsmouth, OH, Aug. 2, 1899, page 6.
16-Year-Old Welsh Girl Ending Series of Revivals
New Castle, PA, 1910
MAGGIE BEVAN AT EMMANUEL CHURCH
Maggie Bevan, the 16-year-old Welsh girl who is conducting a series of revivals in the Emmanuel Baptist church, preached her last sermon in the city last night.
Miss Bevan has been attracting large crowds by her truly remarkable sermons.
Her personality is an interesting one. At one time she aspired to be an actress and had determined to go on the stage and be a second Ellen Terry. She is an elocutionist of ability, and is also a singer. One night, she sang at a church meeting in Wales, and was converted. She gave up aspiring to the stage, and took up church work. That was the beginning of her religious labors, that have made her famous. She is a sturdy, athletic, rosy-cheeked, typical Welsh girl. She wears her hair hanging on her shoulders, and wears a sailor suit. When she preaches, she looks straight at her hearers. She says she is not a long-faced Christian, but has as much fun as any other girl.
—New Castle News, New Castle, PA, Dec. 15, 1910, page 8.
MAGGIE BEVAN AT EMMANUEL CHURCH
Maggie Bevan, the 16-year-old Welsh girl who is conducting a series of revivals in the Emmanuel Baptist church, preached her last sermon in the city last night.
Miss Bevan has been attracting large crowds by her truly remarkable sermons.
Her personality is an interesting one. At one time she aspired to be an actress and had determined to go on the stage and be a second Ellen Terry. She is an elocutionist of ability, and is also a singer. One night, she sang at a church meeting in Wales, and was converted. She gave up aspiring to the stage, and took up church work. That was the beginning of her religious labors, that have made her famous. She is a sturdy, athletic, rosy-cheeked, typical Welsh girl. She wears her hair hanging on her shoulders, and wears a sailor suit. When she preaches, she looks straight at her hearers. She says she is not a long-faced Christian, but has as much fun as any other girl.
—New Castle News, New Castle, PA, Dec. 15, 1910, page 8.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Spiritualism Classified Ads
Reno, 1929
SPIRITUALISM
RIGHT REV. MARY M. BURROWS, Church of America (Spiritualist-Theosophical) — Public Services Sundays and Thursday, 8 p. m. Readings daily 2-4, 7-9. 1810 B. Street, Sparks, Nev.
QUEEN MAY, ordained spiritual medium. Phone 6079, 118 West Avenue.
SPECIAL this month in Readings. Rev. Nellie Van, Psychic WONDER. Seances every Tuesday, 8 o'clock. Room 20, Home Hotel. Phone 6204.
MADAM ROSETTA — Ordained medium; readings daily; seances Fri., 8 p. m. Phone R-6215. 734 Scott.
MADAM Estelle, ordained minister of the Gospel of Spiritualism. New York's well known psychic. Positively reliable. 237 W. Fourth street.
—Nevada State Journal, Reno, NV, Aug. 22, 1929, page 6.
SPIRITUALISM
RIGHT REV. MARY M. BURROWS, Church of America (Spiritualist-Theosophical) — Public Services Sundays and Thursday, 8 p. m. Readings daily 2-4, 7-9. 1810 B. Street, Sparks, Nev.
QUEEN MAY, ordained spiritual medium. Phone 6079, 118 West Avenue.
SPECIAL this month in Readings. Rev. Nellie Van, Psychic WONDER. Seances every Tuesday, 8 o'clock. Room 20, Home Hotel. Phone 6204.
MADAM ROSETTA — Ordained medium; readings daily; seances Fri., 8 p. m. Phone R-6215. 734 Scott.
MADAM Estelle, ordained minister of the Gospel of Spiritualism. New York's well known psychic. Positively reliable. 237 W. Fourth street.
—Nevada State Journal, Reno, NV, Aug. 22, 1929, page 6.
Unbelieving Father Asks Prayer For Dying Son
Chicago, 1907
PLEASE PRAY FOR BOY WHO IS DYING.
A year ago in the city of Chicago, says Dr. Chapman, there came a gentleman into the hotel where I was stopping to tell me that his wife had formerly been a member of my church. When I asked about himself he said he was an infidel. Then he began to speak so blasphemously of God that I insisted on his either ceasing or leaving my presence. Then he told me that his boy was ill, and that he was then on his way to pawn his overcoat to secure the price of the prescription. He refused financial aid and went away.
On Good Friday, when I was preaching to the men in the Young Men's Christian Association, I saw him put a note in the hand of the usher, and when I read the note it said: "Please pray for a boy who is dying. This request is sent by a believing mother, and carried by an unbelieving father." It was laid upon me to pray for the boy. I learned that he had pleuro-pneumonia, that the doctors had given him up, and that the mother had been informed that there was no hope. He was far beyond the danger point, and they were waiting for him to die.
At 12:30 o'clock I called upon Major James H. Cole to pray. It seemed to me as if I had never heard praying before. He prayed that God might save the boy for the sake of his father. And now will you hear the result? At 25 minutes of 1 o'clock, when the doctor had said the boy would be dead, he began to recover. He rose from his bed, he moved about the house a little later; he was soon about the city; and in an incredibly short space of time was at his work once more. God had heard and answered the prayer.
I heard that father stand upon his feet and say: "My friends, God has answered the prayer for my boy, and I want to know him," and I heard him later make as true a confession of Christ as I have ever heard. He is one of my devoted friends today, and I know that God answers prayer and says "Yes," when we speak to him.
PLEASE PRAY FOR BOY WHO IS DYING.
A year ago in the city of Chicago, says Dr. Chapman, there came a gentleman into the hotel where I was stopping to tell me that his wife had formerly been a member of my church. When I asked about himself he said he was an infidel. Then he began to speak so blasphemously of God that I insisted on his either ceasing or leaving my presence. Then he told me that his boy was ill, and that he was then on his way to pawn his overcoat to secure the price of the prescription. He refused financial aid and went away.
On Good Friday, when I was preaching to the men in the Young Men's Christian Association, I saw him put a note in the hand of the usher, and when I read the note it said: "Please pray for a boy who is dying. This request is sent by a believing mother, and carried by an unbelieving father." It was laid upon me to pray for the boy. I learned that he had pleuro-pneumonia, that the doctors had given him up, and that the mother had been informed that there was no hope. He was far beyond the danger point, and they were waiting for him to die.
At 12:30 o'clock I called upon Major James H. Cole to pray. It seemed to me as if I had never heard praying before. He prayed that God might save the boy for the sake of his father. And now will you hear the result? At 25 minutes of 1 o'clock, when the doctor had said the boy would be dead, he began to recover. He rose from his bed, he moved about the house a little later; he was soon about the city; and in an incredibly short space of time was at his work once more. God had heard and answered the prayer.
I heard that father stand upon his feet and say: "My friends, God has answered the prayer for my boy, and I want to know him," and I heard him later make as true a confession of Christ as I have ever heard. He is one of my devoted friends today, and I know that God answers prayer and says "Yes," when we speak to him.
Sunday In The Churches – "Christ Our Light and Peace"
Fort Wayne, IN, 1908
SUNDAY IN THE CHURCHES.
"Christ Our Light and Peace" will be Rev. William H. Schrock's sermon topic at the morning service at Christ's Lutheran church. The Luther society will meet at 6:45 p. m., and at the regular evening service the pastor will speak on "The Value of an Ideal."
At the morning service at the Third Presbyterian church the sermon to be delivered by Rev. Frank M. Fox, D. D., will be entitled, "Forget Not All His Benefits." In his evening's discourse the pastor will point out that "Sin Is Suicide."
Rev. George F. Byrer will preach on "The Thanksgiving Prayer of Christ" at the Sunday morning service at Calvary United Brethren church. The Y. P. C. U. will meet on Sunday evening at 6:30 o'clock, which Perry Ruffing and Miss May Dennis will lead. The subject of the evening's sermon will be "Glorious and More Glorious."
The morning sermon to be delivered by H. H. Spiher at the Church of God will treat of "Love's Logic." The pastor will preach at the evening service on "Seeking the Lost."
The subject at the Sunday morning service at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, will be "Ancient and Modern Necromancy, or Mesmerism and Hypnotism," and the Golden text: "Order my steps in thy word: and let not iniquity have dominion over me — Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Psalm 119:133,165.
At Wayne street Methodist Episcopal church the Sunday morning sermon will be delivered by Col. W. T. Scott, of Detroit, commander of the Salvation Army forces in Michigan and Indiana. In the evening Rev. Dr. Frank Lenig will preach on "The First Book of Kings — a Study." The Orpheus male quartet will participate in the morning and evening services...
—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Nov. 28, 1908, page 5.
SUNDAY IN THE CHURCHES.
"Christ Our Light and Peace" will be Rev. William H. Schrock's sermon topic at the morning service at Christ's Lutheran church. The Luther society will meet at 6:45 p. m., and at the regular evening service the pastor will speak on "The Value of an Ideal."
At the morning service at the Third Presbyterian church the sermon to be delivered by Rev. Frank M. Fox, D. D., will be entitled, "Forget Not All His Benefits." In his evening's discourse the pastor will point out that "Sin Is Suicide."
Rev. George F. Byrer will preach on "The Thanksgiving Prayer of Christ" at the Sunday morning service at Calvary United Brethren church. The Y. P. C. U. will meet on Sunday evening at 6:30 o'clock, which Perry Ruffing and Miss May Dennis will lead. The subject of the evening's sermon will be "Glorious and More Glorious."
The morning sermon to be delivered by H. H. Spiher at the Church of God will treat of "Love's Logic." The pastor will preach at the evening service on "Seeking the Lost."
The subject at the Sunday morning service at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, will be "Ancient and Modern Necromancy, or Mesmerism and Hypnotism," and the Golden text: "Order my steps in thy word: and let not iniquity have dominion over me — Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Psalm 119:133,165.
At Wayne street Methodist Episcopal church the Sunday morning sermon will be delivered by Col. W. T. Scott, of Detroit, commander of the Salvation Army forces in Michigan and Indiana. In the evening Rev. Dr. Frank Lenig will preach on "The First Book of Kings — a Study." The Orpheus male quartet will participate in the morning and evening services...
—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, Nov. 28, 1908, page 5.
The Story the Starbeam Told
December 1915One cold winter night the snow was gently falling on the pine trees of the forest. These tall, stately trees stood very straight and still on this cold night. By and by the tallest and the oldest of them said:
"How happy I shall be when at last I am strong enough and tall enough to be cut down by the wood cutters. I hope when they do cut me down that I may be good enough that they will want me for some great ship, and then I shall have a chance to sail the seas."
"What do you know about ships and the seas?" asked a little pine tree who stood at the foot of the tall one.
The stately tree bent his branches a very little and looked down at the small tree, at his feet.
"I have heard many stories of the seas, and the ships that sail on them, for the birds sit in my branches and sing to me all the time of the beauties and wonders of the world. Then, too, the starbeams, who are much older than the birds, have some truly wonderful tales to tell of things that they have seen in their trips around the world. There is the Starbeam of the Brightest Star, just peeping over the hilltop. He can tell some truly wonderful tales."
The little pine tree trembled for very joy. This was his first winter in the forest, and these things were all new to him, just as was the snow that was covering his roots, and making them all warm with its white blanket. "Won't you please ask the Starbeam to tell us a story?" asked the little pine.
"Let us ask him to tell us again the Christmas story," said another of the older pines, "the one he told us last year."
So, when the Starbeam came over and rested gently on the tallest pine, he asked it to tell again the Story of the First Christmas.
"I love to tell this story best of all stories that I know," said the little Starbeam.
"Once upon a time a long time ago, long before even the oldest pine trees here began to grow, a beautiful woman, named Mary, and her husband, Joseph, went on a journey to a little city called Bethlehem. All the people in that country went to this same city, to pay their taxes, and when Mary and Joseph got there, they found so many people, that there was no room left for them at the inn. The only place where they could find shelter was in a stable, and here they went. That night a little babe was born, and its mother, Mary, laid him in a manger on some nice clean straw.
"Away off in the East, the Brightest Star appeared. He had never been seen before, and some wise men who knew that this was the time for the babe to be born, saw the Brightest Star as they started out to find the babe. All their long journey the Brightest Star kept just in front of them to show them the way to go, and when they rested at night, the Brightest Star would rest too, and wait for them. At last they reached the city of Bethlehem, and found the little babe in the manger with his mother by his side.
"These wise men had brought some very costly gifts to this babe, and it is the birthday of this babe that is celebrated every Christmas, and it is in his memory that gifts are given to the poor.
"That is all of the story, and it is time for me to be going," and the Starbeam went gayly on, dancing over the tops of the trees.
Prelude — "Liquid Air As I Saw It Demonstrated"
Delphos, OH, 1901
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Divine service at 11 a. m , subject of discourse, "Knowledge is Power." 8 p. m., prelude, "Liquid Air as I Saw it Demonstrated." Subject of sermon, "Men and Times." The evening service will not exceed one hour of time. Sabbath school at 9:45 a. m. Y.P.S.C.E. 7 p. m. The public is cordially invited to worship with us. A. O. Raber, pastor.
M. E. CHURCH.
Sunday services at the M. E. church. Sunday school 9:30 a. m. Class meeting 10:30. Preaching 11 a. m. Subject of morning discourse, "The Seventh Sense." Epworth League 7 p. m. Preaching 8 p. m. Subject of evening, "The Choosing of the Twelve." At the morning services the probationers will be received into full membership. All are cordially invited. E. A. Strother, pastor.
—The Daily Herald, Delphos, Ohio, July 6, 1901, page 4.
1901
Dr. Edward Everett Hale tells how a curious error crept into the translation of the Lord's Prayer into the Delaware Indian tongue. The English translator had as an assistant an Indian who knew English. "What is 'hallow' in Delaware?" asked the translator. The Indian thought he said "halloo," and gave him the equivalent. Therefore the Delaware version of the Lord's Prayer reads to this day: "Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hollooed be thy name!"
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Divine service at 11 a. m , subject of discourse, "Knowledge is Power." 8 p. m., prelude, "Liquid Air as I Saw it Demonstrated." Subject of sermon, "Men and Times." The evening service will not exceed one hour of time. Sabbath school at 9:45 a. m. Y.P.S.C.E. 7 p. m. The public is cordially invited to worship with us. A. O. Raber, pastor.
M. E. CHURCH.
Sunday services at the M. E. church. Sunday school 9:30 a. m. Class meeting 10:30. Preaching 11 a. m. Subject of morning discourse, "The Seventh Sense." Epworth League 7 p. m. Preaching 8 p. m. Subject of evening, "The Choosing of the Twelve." At the morning services the probationers will be received into full membership. All are cordially invited. E. A. Strother, pastor.
—The Daily Herald, Delphos, Ohio, July 6, 1901, page 4.
1901
Dr. Edward Everett Hale tells how a curious error crept into the translation of the Lord's Prayer into the Delaware Indian tongue. The English translator had as an assistant an Indian who knew English. "What is 'hallow' in Delaware?" asked the translator. The Indian thought he said "halloo," and gave him the equivalent. Therefore the Delaware version of the Lord's Prayer reads to this day: "Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hollooed be thy name!"
Treasurer Kept Church Funds in Barrel, Now Missing
Ohio, 1901
Church Money Lost
Wooster, O., Jan. 30.—Hugh Howey, a farmer in Congress township, treasurer of his church, kept the church funds and some of his own in a pocketbook concealed in an ash barrel for safekeeping. Tuesday an installment of the minister's salary was due and Howey went to get the funds. Of the pocketbook only a metal clasp was left and of $122 only small amount of coin. Some one had put ashes in the barrel without pouring water on them.
—Newark Daily Advocate, Newark, Ohio, January 30, 1901, page 1.
Church Money Lost
Wooster, O., Jan. 30.—Hugh Howey, a farmer in Congress township, treasurer of his church, kept the church funds and some of his own in a pocketbook concealed in an ash barrel for safekeeping. Tuesday an installment of the minister's salary was due and Howey went to get the funds. Of the pocketbook only a metal clasp was left and of $122 only small amount of coin. Some one had put ashes in the barrel without pouring water on them.
—Newark Daily Advocate, Newark, Ohio, January 30, 1901, page 1.
Eccentric Farmer Deeds Property to Lord, Wouldn't Die
Ohio, 1901
ECCENTRIC
Farmer Didn't Have His Hair Cut for 35 Years—Deeded Property To The Lord.
Clyde, 0., Jan. 30.—David Wyant, an eccentric farmer who was buried at Five Points a few days ago, deeded his property to the Lord, but his children will get it. The deed was made several years ago, but Wyant's brother paid the taxes on the place until Wyant's son was old enough to take care of it. It has been decided that the deed to the Lord is not valid.
Excepting his peculiar religious notions Wyant was like other men. He was a successful farmer and had considerable money. For 35 years he let his hair grow. He believed that he had power over death and would not pass away like other people but would go straight up to heaven in the flesh. He was 73 years of age.
—Newark Daily Advocate, Newark, Ohio, January 30, 1901, page 1.
ECCENTRIC
Farmer Didn't Have His Hair Cut for 35 Years—Deeded Property To The Lord.
Clyde, 0., Jan. 30.—David Wyant, an eccentric farmer who was buried at Five Points a few days ago, deeded his property to the Lord, but his children will get it. The deed was made several years ago, but Wyant's brother paid the taxes on the place until Wyant's son was old enough to take care of it. It has been decided that the deed to the Lord is not valid.
Excepting his peculiar religious notions Wyant was like other men. He was a successful farmer and had considerable money. For 35 years he let his hair grow. He believed that he had power over death and would not pass away like other people but would go straight up to heaven in the flesh. He was 73 years of age.
—Newark Daily Advocate, Newark, Ohio, January 30, 1901, page 1.
"Jesus: Life's Resistless Force"
California, 1934
'Self-Dedication' Subject of Pastor
The Rev. F. C. Schmidt, pastor of Shattuck Avenue M. E. Church, will preach a communion sermon tomorrow morning on the subject, "Self Dedication."
"Jesus: Life's Resistless Force" will be the sermon theme for the evening hour.
—Oakland Tribune, Oakland, CA, May 19, 1934, page 5.
Note: The "C" in Rev. Schmidt's name was Carl.
'Self-Dedication' Subject of Pastor
The Rev. F. C. Schmidt, pastor of Shattuck Avenue M. E. Church, will preach a communion sermon tomorrow morning on the subject, "Self Dedication."
"Jesus: Life's Resistless Force" will be the sermon theme for the evening hour.
—Oakland Tribune, Oakland, CA, May 19, 1934, page 5.
Note: The "C" in Rev. Schmidt's name was Carl.
Church Note - First Spiritualist
Pennsylvania, 1933
First Spiritualist
Diaz Temple, Washington Avenue. Lyceum, 9:45 a. m. Evening service, 7:45 p. m. Lecture, healing and spirit greetings. Wednesday 7:30 p. m., regular mid-week service. Healing Center, Friday 7:30, followed by message, Development and Materialization Class. C. P. Diaz, Pastor.
—The Charleroi Mail, Charleroi, PA, June 3, 1933, page 4.
Comment: I like the sound of that, "Materialization Class." It's getting down to real practical stuff that the believer can do and see what happens. And it's kind of interesting that the name of the temple and the name of the pastor are the same.
First Spiritualist
Diaz Temple, Washington Avenue. Lyceum, 9:45 a. m. Evening service, 7:45 p. m. Lecture, healing and spirit greetings. Wednesday 7:30 p. m., regular mid-week service. Healing Center, Friday 7:30, followed by message, Development and Materialization Class. C. P. Diaz, Pastor.
—The Charleroi Mail, Charleroi, PA, June 3, 1933, page 4.
Comment: I like the sound of that, "Materialization Class." It's getting down to real practical stuff that the believer can do and see what happens. And it's kind of interesting that the name of the temple and the name of the pastor are the same.
The Fire of God – The God Who Answers By Fire
Pennsylvania, 1928
THE FIRE OF GOD
By Rev. Oscar W. Carlson
(There lives in our community a remarkable old lady. She has the most accurate and comprehensive memory. Her memoirs, if they were executed in writing, would become literature of the highest rank. An invalid, she retains the liveliest interest in modern affairs. Her favorite readings are "The Christian Herald" and the sermons and other writings of Dr. J. H. Jowett, one of the finest preachers America and England ever listened to.
It has been my privilege to know this truly great soul. The idea for this article I gleaned from one of Dr. Jowett's books which she gave me some months ago. To her and to all other and old men and women in whom the fire of God flows radiantly I pray tribute.)
We can build our altars of stone; but we need God to set our hearts on fire with love and holiness. When Elijah disputed with the prophets of Baal as to who should be God, both parties agreed on this test: "The God that answers by fire, let Him be God." We build our churches, write our prayer books and organize our societies. Good enough. Too often we forget the most essential. We need the Lord's "radiant gift" to convert our efforts into a religion of power.
Any man can build a house; we need the Lord for the creation of a home. "A house is an agglomeration of bricks and stones, with an assorted collection of manufactured goods; a home is the abiding place of ardent affection of fervent hope, and genial trust." The bitterest loneliness is sometimes found in the costliest mansion, and the sweetest love in the poorest cottage. We need the fire of God to make a home.
It is easy to proclaim moral ideals. We need the fire of God to practice them. We can tell one another what we ought to do. The worst scoundrel may be able to draw up a very noble code of ethics. We may hang the sublimest mottoes on our walls and yet they may no more influence of lives than the wall paper which covers the walls." TO live as nobly as we know how requires fire. "The Lord that answers by fire, let Him be God."
We need in our day the Holy Fire of the Lord. Without it humanity is cold and dull. Incantations, pow-wows, bellows and frantic efforts will not set the dying embers of the moral and ritual life aglow.
We need the God Who answers by fire!
—The Monessen Daily Independent, Monessen, PA, Oct. 27, 1928, page 5.
Note: Rev. Oscar Carlson was pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, eighth street near Donner avenue. On Sunday, Oct. 28, he was to begin a series of sermons on the parables of Jesus, the first being "The Wise and Foolish Virgins." At the vesper service, 7 o'clock, the sermon was to be on the Old Testament theme, "The Call of Moses."
THE FIRE OF GOD
By Rev. Oscar W. Carlson
(There lives in our community a remarkable old lady. She has the most accurate and comprehensive memory. Her memoirs, if they were executed in writing, would become literature of the highest rank. An invalid, she retains the liveliest interest in modern affairs. Her favorite readings are "The Christian Herald" and the sermons and other writings of Dr. J. H. Jowett, one of the finest preachers America and England ever listened to.
It has been my privilege to know this truly great soul. The idea for this article I gleaned from one of Dr. Jowett's books which she gave me some months ago. To her and to all other and old men and women in whom the fire of God flows radiantly I pray tribute.)
We can build our altars of stone; but we need God to set our hearts on fire with love and holiness. When Elijah disputed with the prophets of Baal as to who should be God, both parties agreed on this test: "The God that answers by fire, let Him be God." We build our churches, write our prayer books and organize our societies. Good enough. Too often we forget the most essential. We need the Lord's "radiant gift" to convert our efforts into a religion of power.
Any man can build a house; we need the Lord for the creation of a home. "A house is an agglomeration of bricks and stones, with an assorted collection of manufactured goods; a home is the abiding place of ardent affection of fervent hope, and genial trust." The bitterest loneliness is sometimes found in the costliest mansion, and the sweetest love in the poorest cottage. We need the fire of God to make a home.
It is easy to proclaim moral ideals. We need the fire of God to practice them. We can tell one another what we ought to do. The worst scoundrel may be able to draw up a very noble code of ethics. We may hang the sublimest mottoes on our walls and yet they may no more influence of lives than the wall paper which covers the walls." TO live as nobly as we know how requires fire. "The Lord that answers by fire, let Him be God."
We need in our day the Holy Fire of the Lord. Without it humanity is cold and dull. Incantations, pow-wows, bellows and frantic efforts will not set the dying embers of the moral and ritual life aglow.
We need the God Who answers by fire!
—The Monessen Daily Independent, Monessen, PA, Oct. 27, 1928, page 5.
Note: Rev. Oscar Carlson was pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, eighth street near Donner avenue. On Sunday, Oct. 28, he was to begin a series of sermons on the parables of Jesus, the first being "The Wise and Foolish Virgins." At the vesper service, 7 o'clock, the sermon was to be on the Old Testament theme, "The Call of Moses."
Thursday, April 26, 2007
On Quaint Bible Words and Phrases
1924
The Cheerful Philosopher
XVII.
QUAINT BIBLE WORDS AND PHRASES
We learn so many new words every year that it is not surprising a few of the old ones drop out of use, but when the diction of the Bible becomes archaic we have lost something not easily regained.
The Authorized Version is a classic. It stands today as the finest example of literary style — terse, virile, picturesque, eloquent, a model for all time. The work of scholars in giving us a "Bible in Modern Speech," though of great value in many ways, is no excuse for ignorance on the part of those who are supposed to be educated. No one has yet attempted to re-write Shakespeare; we feel that he is worth knowing in the original, and the same is true of the Bible. The beauty of its wording is beyond comparison.
Our mother tongue was at its best when the James translators did their work. The English of that era seems specially adapted to convey the noble thought and the heroic drama of the book. These writers caught the spirit of prophet, poet and historian. At times, indeed, they went too far in their enthusiasm, for they did delight in using strong words. They reveled in turning such a sentence as "Hell is never full" (Prov. 23:14), not knowing or not caring to know that "Sheol" is more exactly given as "the grave," but for sheer power of expression they are unequaled, and the R.V., "Sheol is never satisfied," has nothing in it to impress the mind. The spirit of the verse is lost in literal accuracy.
* * *
An exhaustive search of several hundred pages of Concordance showed me that only a few Bible words have actually passed from use. Much of the archaic effect comes from the old verb-endings "-eth" and "-est," with irregular forms such as "holpen" ("helped"), "strake" ("did strike"), "wist," "wit" and "wot" (from "witan," to know); from the use of the pronouns "thou," "thine" and "thee," and from certain unfamiliar prefixes in compounds, as "afore," "aforetime." Two or three words have so changed their meaning as to have become obsolete. We no longer use "let" in the sense of "hinder," or "prevent" in the sense of "go before to help." Other words have slightly changed their form — I have known folks puzzled by "shew"; — and among these is "knop," a quaint old spelling of "knob." (A "knop" was the bud of a flower, and so a piece of wood carved to represent a bud. Our modern door-knobs seldom have such beauty.)
One of the queer lost words is "mincing" ("walking with very short strides, affectedly elegant"). Perhaps our modern girls no longer mince as did the daughters of Judah reproved by Isaiah, who also charges them with wearing "round tires like moons" (not on their automobiles, though in the same passage the prophet complains of their chains, hoods, bonnets and mufflers).
The Society of Friends did well to preserve the use of "thee" and "thou" — still to be heard also in many parts of England. We have lost something by making "you" do double duty, and we might at least follow the French in keeping the singular form for intimate speech, Nathan's accusation of David, "THOU are the man!" has the right ring to it. (I have heard a preacher compare that "thou" to the roar of a 110-ton gun.) There is something, too, to be said, for "yea" and "nay." If we are too lazy to sound the final consonant of "yes" we might 'let our yea be yea" — and not "yep"!
* * *
It is not so much old words as old turns of speech that we have lost. What short, strong words they used in these! "Take heed," "not a jot," "give place," "every whit," "howbeit," "took to wife," "we cannot gainsay it." Note the use of "or ever" in "The lions brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den." And what could be more emphatic than this: "He hath set to his seal that God is true"? We have lost that lively little saying, "Go to!" — the briefest, tersest phrase, I suppose, in the English tongue. Men who have served in the trenches know the force of "Stand to!" It means, "Stand in your place, alert, prepared, ready for action," and "Go to" is just as good in its way. A country preacher once was sadly puzzled by those two little words. He read them twice — "Go to—, go to—," and then, rubbing his glasses, he remarked, "The Bible does not say where he was to go to. We must fill in the place for ourselves."
"Let us look one another in the face," said the king of Judah to the king of Israel, meaning, "Let us meet in battle." "Quit you like men!" was the war-cry of the Philistines. Men quit today in quite another sense.
* * *
A word we do not often meet with now is "lovingkindness" — a beautiful compound, and one not likely to be altogether lost. "Charity," alas, has suffered a worse fate than disuse in being misused and degraded. The word has lost its fragrance, and although the spirit of charity finds expression almost everywhere, the place in our vocabulary has not been filled. I know no better substitute than "lovingkindness."
* * *
Who was it who said that beer was never mentioned in the Bible? The word appears often, but always with a capital and usually in combination to form the names of places. We read, "From thence they went to Beer." "Beer" in the Bible signifies "a well of water." Adam's ale, of course! And I learnt, too, in making this study, that the word "Beulah" means "married," from which I gather that many folks who love to sing of Beulah Land are living there now and don't know it! "Woe worth the day!" (Ezekiel, 30:2).
—Manitoba Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, September 19, 1924, page 13.
The Cheerful Philosopher
XVII.
QUAINT BIBLE WORDS AND PHRASES
We learn so many new words every year that it is not surprising a few of the old ones drop out of use, but when the diction of the Bible becomes archaic we have lost something not easily regained.
The Authorized Version is a classic. It stands today as the finest example of literary style — terse, virile, picturesque, eloquent, a model for all time. The work of scholars in giving us a "Bible in Modern Speech," though of great value in many ways, is no excuse for ignorance on the part of those who are supposed to be educated. No one has yet attempted to re-write Shakespeare; we feel that he is worth knowing in the original, and the same is true of the Bible. The beauty of its wording is beyond comparison.
Our mother tongue was at its best when the James translators did their work. The English of that era seems specially adapted to convey the noble thought and the heroic drama of the book. These writers caught the spirit of prophet, poet and historian. At times, indeed, they went too far in their enthusiasm, for they did delight in using strong words. They reveled in turning such a sentence as "Hell is never full" (Prov. 23:14), not knowing or not caring to know that "Sheol" is more exactly given as "the grave," but for sheer power of expression they are unequaled, and the R.V., "Sheol is never satisfied," has nothing in it to impress the mind. The spirit of the verse is lost in literal accuracy.
* * *
An exhaustive search of several hundred pages of Concordance showed me that only a few Bible words have actually passed from use. Much of the archaic effect comes from the old verb-endings "-eth" and "-est," with irregular forms such as "holpen" ("helped"), "strake" ("did strike"), "wist," "wit" and "wot" (from "witan," to know); from the use of the pronouns "thou," "thine" and "thee," and from certain unfamiliar prefixes in compounds, as "afore," "aforetime." Two or three words have so changed their meaning as to have become obsolete. We no longer use "let" in the sense of "hinder," or "prevent" in the sense of "go before to help." Other words have slightly changed their form — I have known folks puzzled by "shew"; — and among these is "knop," a quaint old spelling of "knob." (A "knop" was the bud of a flower, and so a piece of wood carved to represent a bud. Our modern door-knobs seldom have such beauty.)
One of the queer lost words is "mincing" ("walking with very short strides, affectedly elegant"). Perhaps our modern girls no longer mince as did the daughters of Judah reproved by Isaiah, who also charges them with wearing "round tires like moons" (not on their automobiles, though in the same passage the prophet complains of their chains, hoods, bonnets and mufflers).
The Society of Friends did well to preserve the use of "thee" and "thou" — still to be heard also in many parts of England. We have lost something by making "you" do double duty, and we might at least follow the French in keeping the singular form for intimate speech, Nathan's accusation of David, "THOU are the man!" has the right ring to it. (I have heard a preacher compare that "thou" to the roar of a 110-ton gun.) There is something, too, to be said, for "yea" and "nay." If we are too lazy to sound the final consonant of "yes" we might 'let our yea be yea" — and not "yep"!
* * *
It is not so much old words as old turns of speech that we have lost. What short, strong words they used in these! "Take heed," "not a jot," "give place," "every whit," "howbeit," "took to wife," "we cannot gainsay it." Note the use of "or ever" in "The lions brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den." And what could be more emphatic than this: "He hath set to his seal that God is true"? We have lost that lively little saying, "Go to!" — the briefest, tersest phrase, I suppose, in the English tongue. Men who have served in the trenches know the force of "Stand to!" It means, "Stand in your place, alert, prepared, ready for action," and "Go to" is just as good in its way. A country preacher once was sadly puzzled by those two little words. He read them twice — "Go to—, go to—," and then, rubbing his glasses, he remarked, "The Bible does not say where he was to go to. We must fill in the place for ourselves."
"Let us look one another in the face," said the king of Judah to the king of Israel, meaning, "Let us meet in battle." "Quit you like men!" was the war-cry of the Philistines. Men quit today in quite another sense.
* * *
A word we do not often meet with now is "lovingkindness" — a beautiful compound, and one not likely to be altogether lost. "Charity," alas, has suffered a worse fate than disuse in being misused and degraded. The word has lost its fragrance, and although the spirit of charity finds expression almost everywhere, the place in our vocabulary has not been filled. I know no better substitute than "lovingkindness."
* * *
Who was it who said that beer was never mentioned in the Bible? The word appears often, but always with a capital and usually in combination to form the names of places. We read, "From thence they went to Beer." "Beer" in the Bible signifies "a well of water." Adam's ale, of course! And I learnt, too, in making this study, that the word "Beulah" means "married," from which I gather that many folks who love to sing of Beulah Land are living there now and don't know it! "Woe worth the day!" (Ezekiel, 30:2).
—Manitoba Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, September 19, 1924, page 13.
Outbursts of Everett True - Verily, Verily...
1920
Click cartoon for larger version
Outbursts of Everett True
The cartoon called "Outbursts of Everett True" is actually a pretty funny one. Maybe outrage never goes out of style. But he's able to act on his outrage with a daily outburst, which is pretty outrageous itself!
The ones I've seen feature him taking someone to task for basically hypocrisy, conventional blather, social stupidity, or just not thinking clearly. Everett is obviously someone who thinks very seriously about the issues of life, then feels there's only one way to respond to violations and that's by decking the other guy.
The authorities never seem to come and take him off the street, though, so next time you're out in public and spit your gum on the ground, or spout some conventional judgment against someone else while failing to judge yourself, look out, because Everett might be there to kick you to the curb.
In this panel, he's ticked off that the guy misuses the Bible all the time in his prattling on about some issue. So, really, what else can he do? He needs to make an example of the guy by breaking the umbrella over his head.
This one was printed in the Iowa City Press-Citizen on August 18, 1920, page 9.
Pastor Gored By Bull, Tragic Details Announced
Iowa, August 1920
PASTOR IS GORED BY BULL
Head of Orphan Home in Iowa Killed in the Presence of Children.
Muscatine, Ia. — While trying to adjust a halter on a young bull Rev. Julius Doden, acting superintendent of the German Lutheran Orphans' home, south of this city, was fatally gored.
He died 15 minutes after the accident, which was witnessed by a score of children and employees, who were powerless to give aid.
Rev. Mr. Doden was for 27 years pastor of the Lutheran church at Wilton, prior to which he was teacher in the Muscatine parochial school.
REV. J. DODEN KILLED BY BULL
Details of Tragic Fate of Clergyman Announced in Daily Press of Last Evening
Details of the tragic death of Rev. Julius Doden, of Vinton, announced in the Daily Press last night, have been received from Muscatine where he was gored to death by a bull, Tuesday.
The sad story, under date line of yesterday, runs as follows.
Attacked without warning by a vicious bull, gored into unconsciousness, and hurled repeatedly against the sharp concrete foundations of a stable, Rev. Julius Doden, acting superintendent of the German Lutheran Orphans' Home, south of this city, and one of the best known parochial educators in Eastern Iowa, received injuries from which he died fifteen minutes later, before medical aid arrived.
The accident occurred at 5:30 this morning and was witnessed by a score or more of boy inmates, who assist in the milking, and by Ben Brewer and his wife, employees, who occupy a cottage opposite the home.
Attacked Without Warning.
Mr. Doden, who had little experience with stock, went into the stable yard early to adjust a muzzle, which had become loosened during the night, on a two-year old Holstein bull. He was standing close to the concrete base of the stable, when the bull with a sudden movement of the head knocked him down.
He arose and backed away. The bull followed, intercepted him and tossed him several feet in the air. Mr. Doden fell heavily on his head, and it is supposed he was unconscious from that time until rescued.
Hurled Against Concrete.
The animal now thoroughly aroused, forced his victim against the concrete base of the building and gored and butted him until he lay motionless. In the meantime the alarm had been given and dozens rushed to the unfortunate man's assistance.
Miss Emma Schlundt, matron at the home, was first to arrive, closely followed by Ben Brewer, who had witnessed the entire tragedy from his cottage across the road. Together they lifted the superintendent into a wheel chair and he was taken to his room in the main building. D. J. L. Klein was immediately notified by telephone.
Regains Consciousness.
Rev. Doden regained partial consciousness after being placed on the bed and seemed to suffer intense pain. He recognized those about him and appeared to realize what had happened but in a few moments again relapsed into unconsciousness and remained so until his death, fifteen minutes later.
A brief examination, after the arrival of Dr. Klein, showed but one skin abrasion — a small wound on the back, supposed to have been made by the stub of the animal's horn, when he turned his victim over toward the concrete wall. Internal injuries were apparent and it is believed one or more arteries were ruptured and that internal hemorrhage resulted.
In County Many Years.
Dr. Doden had been acting superintendent of the orphans' home since June, when he came here from Wilton to take temporary charge until a successor to Rev. C. L. Ramme, former head of the institution, could be named. For twenty-five years he was pastor of the Lutheran church at Wilton.
He was a man of high character and integrity and had been repeatedly urged to take the position permanently, but felt that after so many years devoted to pastoral work he would not be satisfied to labor in other fields. He was 59 years old.
Helped Found Home.
Prior to taking up church work in Wilton, Rev. Doden was a teacher in the Lutheran school, Muscatine, and in that capacity was for several years associated with the late Rev. Henry Reinemund, founder of the Lutheran orphans' home. Mr. Doden also helped in many ways to start the institution along the broad and liberal lines which have been characteristic of it since it opened its doors to homeless children twenty-five years ago. Mr. Doden was known personally to hundreds of Lutheran parishioners in Muscatine and adjoining counties, both as a forceful and eloquent preacher and a man of profound religious convictions.
Relatives Notified.
He is survived by four children, two daughters and two sons — Gretchen and Marie, residing with an aunt in Wilton; Herbert of Rock Island, and Julian, employed in a drug store at Moline. His wife died last spring, shortly before he took up his temporary duties in Muscatine.
Relatives were notified immediately following the accident. The funeral arrangements will be announced later, but the services and interment probably will be at Wilton.
The vicious bull was running at large today in the home pasture, but it is announced that, having developed killing tendencies, it will be either sold or killed. It is a pedigreed Holstein of considerable value and here before it has been quite gentle. As a menace to the children, however, the authorities will dispose of it at once.
—Iowa City Press-Citizen, Iowa City, Iowa, August 18, 1920, page 3. That's the reference for the long article only. The other is just a general press report, actually from the middle of September of 1920, without any reference to when the accident occurred.
PASTOR IS GORED BY BULL
Head of Orphan Home in Iowa Killed in the Presence of Children.
Muscatine, Ia. — While trying to adjust a halter on a young bull Rev. Julius Doden, acting superintendent of the German Lutheran Orphans' home, south of this city, was fatally gored.
He died 15 minutes after the accident, which was witnessed by a score of children and employees, who were powerless to give aid.
Rev. Mr. Doden was for 27 years pastor of the Lutheran church at Wilton, prior to which he was teacher in the Muscatine parochial school.
REV. J. DODEN KILLED BY BULL
Details of Tragic Fate of Clergyman Announced in Daily Press of Last Evening
Details of the tragic death of Rev. Julius Doden, of Vinton, announced in the Daily Press last night, have been received from Muscatine where he was gored to death by a bull, Tuesday.
The sad story, under date line of yesterday, runs as follows.
Attacked without warning by a vicious bull, gored into unconsciousness, and hurled repeatedly against the sharp concrete foundations of a stable, Rev. Julius Doden, acting superintendent of the German Lutheran Orphans' Home, south of this city, and one of the best known parochial educators in Eastern Iowa, received injuries from which he died fifteen minutes later, before medical aid arrived.
The accident occurred at 5:30 this morning and was witnessed by a score or more of boy inmates, who assist in the milking, and by Ben Brewer and his wife, employees, who occupy a cottage opposite the home.
Attacked Without Warning.
Mr. Doden, who had little experience with stock, went into the stable yard early to adjust a muzzle, which had become loosened during the night, on a two-year old Holstein bull. He was standing close to the concrete base of the stable, when the bull with a sudden movement of the head knocked him down.
He arose and backed away. The bull followed, intercepted him and tossed him several feet in the air. Mr. Doden fell heavily on his head, and it is supposed he was unconscious from that time until rescued.
Hurled Against Concrete.
The animal now thoroughly aroused, forced his victim against the concrete base of the building and gored and butted him until he lay motionless. In the meantime the alarm had been given and dozens rushed to the unfortunate man's assistance.
Miss Emma Schlundt, matron at the home, was first to arrive, closely followed by Ben Brewer, who had witnessed the entire tragedy from his cottage across the road. Together they lifted the superintendent into a wheel chair and he was taken to his room in the main building. D. J. L. Klein was immediately notified by telephone.
Regains Consciousness.
Rev. Doden regained partial consciousness after being placed on the bed and seemed to suffer intense pain. He recognized those about him and appeared to realize what had happened but in a few moments again relapsed into unconsciousness and remained so until his death, fifteen minutes later.
A brief examination, after the arrival of Dr. Klein, showed but one skin abrasion — a small wound on the back, supposed to have been made by the stub of the animal's horn, when he turned his victim over toward the concrete wall. Internal injuries were apparent and it is believed one or more arteries were ruptured and that internal hemorrhage resulted.
In County Many Years.
Dr. Doden had been acting superintendent of the orphans' home since June, when he came here from Wilton to take temporary charge until a successor to Rev. C. L. Ramme, former head of the institution, could be named. For twenty-five years he was pastor of the Lutheran church at Wilton.
He was a man of high character and integrity and had been repeatedly urged to take the position permanently, but felt that after so many years devoted to pastoral work he would not be satisfied to labor in other fields. He was 59 years old.
Helped Found Home.
Prior to taking up church work in Wilton, Rev. Doden was a teacher in the Lutheran school, Muscatine, and in that capacity was for several years associated with the late Rev. Henry Reinemund, founder of the Lutheran orphans' home. Mr. Doden also helped in many ways to start the institution along the broad and liberal lines which have been characteristic of it since it opened its doors to homeless children twenty-five years ago. Mr. Doden was known personally to hundreds of Lutheran parishioners in Muscatine and adjoining counties, both as a forceful and eloquent preacher and a man of profound religious convictions.
Relatives Notified.
He is survived by four children, two daughters and two sons — Gretchen and Marie, residing with an aunt in Wilton; Herbert of Rock Island, and Julian, employed in a drug store at Moline. His wife died last spring, shortly before he took up his temporary duties in Muscatine.
Relatives were notified immediately following the accident. The funeral arrangements will be announced later, but the services and interment probably will be at Wilton.
The vicious bull was running at large today in the home pasture, but it is announced that, having developed killing tendencies, it will be either sold or killed. It is a pedigreed Holstein of considerable value and here before it has been quite gentle. As a menace to the children, however, the authorities will dispose of it at once.
—Iowa City Press-Citizen, Iowa City, Iowa, August 18, 1920, page 3. That's the reference for the long article only. The other is just a general press report, actually from the middle of September of 1920, without any reference to when the accident occurred.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Of Heresy, Tobacco Chewing, Life Insurance, and $10 A Week
Ohio, 1907
With the East Ohio conference of the Methodist church in session at Cleveland, investigating charges of immorality against one minister, lying, defamation of character and tobacco chewing against another and heresy against a third it is mighty difficult to discover any adequate reports in the Cleveland newspapers as to what the other Methodist conference, the North Ohio, also in session in Cleveland, is doing.
* * *
Zion City, founded by Dowie as the home of the religious cult he established, is to have a race-track and the once holy city is to resound with the names of turf favorites.
* * *
But if, as he declares, the Rev. Dr. King of Uhrichsville, accused of chewing tobacco, has only been chewing licorice, why should he spit out the juice? Our recollection of licorice eating or chewing is that the juice was what was wanted. Else, how would one know he was chewing licorice?
* * *
The Rev. E. N. Middleton has resigned the pastorate of the Tioga (Pa.) Reformed church, where he has been getting $10 a week. "My course is one of absolute necessity," he says. "In an effort to stay here, where sentiment and the spirit of association have so strong a claim upon me, I have even gone to the extent of allowing my life insurance to lapse, thus exposing my wife and baby to dangers which no one could measure. These things I have done in spite of God's teaching that he who fails to protect his family is worse than an infidel. But all my efforts served only to postpone the step I have now taken. Sentiment should always be carefully cherished, but it does not put food on the table."
* * *
Now there is something in that worthy of consideration. The mass of people are very prone to attribute mercenary motives to the minister who accepts a call involving a higher salary. At best the salary of a minister is not high, considering the manner in which he is expected to live, and if one can better himself he has a right to do so and should do so. The cost of living has no sentiment. A minister cannot keep a family properly and educate his children on poor pay. He is entitled to his hire according to his abilities. If one congregation will not pay for what he is worth he should go to another which will. When we see this idea clearly there will be less adverse criticism of the preacher who betters himself by a good call.
* * *
But isn't there something wrong with the minister, who has a family, and preaches for $10 a week, when common day labor brings better compensation? He must have more religion than industry and possibly the minister content with such salary draws more than he is worth.
* * *
—The Mansfield News, Mansfield, Ohio, September 13, 1907, page 4.
With the East Ohio conference of the Methodist church in session at Cleveland, investigating charges of immorality against one minister, lying, defamation of character and tobacco chewing against another and heresy against a third it is mighty difficult to discover any adequate reports in the Cleveland newspapers as to what the other Methodist conference, the North Ohio, also in session in Cleveland, is doing.
* * *
Zion City, founded by Dowie as the home of the religious cult he established, is to have a race-track and the once holy city is to resound with the names of turf favorites.
* * *
But if, as he declares, the Rev. Dr. King of Uhrichsville, accused of chewing tobacco, has only been chewing licorice, why should he spit out the juice? Our recollection of licorice eating or chewing is that the juice was what was wanted. Else, how would one know he was chewing licorice?
* * *
The Rev. E. N. Middleton has resigned the pastorate of the Tioga (Pa.) Reformed church, where he has been getting $10 a week. "My course is one of absolute necessity," he says. "In an effort to stay here, where sentiment and the spirit of association have so strong a claim upon me, I have even gone to the extent of allowing my life insurance to lapse, thus exposing my wife and baby to dangers which no one could measure. These things I have done in spite of God's teaching that he who fails to protect his family is worse than an infidel. But all my efforts served only to postpone the step I have now taken. Sentiment should always be carefully cherished, but it does not put food on the table."
* * *
Now there is something in that worthy of consideration. The mass of people are very prone to attribute mercenary motives to the minister who accepts a call involving a higher salary. At best the salary of a minister is not high, considering the manner in which he is expected to live, and if one can better himself he has a right to do so and should do so. The cost of living has no sentiment. A minister cannot keep a family properly and educate his children on poor pay. He is entitled to his hire according to his abilities. If one congregation will not pay for what he is worth he should go to another which will. When we see this idea clearly there will be less adverse criticism of the preacher who betters himself by a good call.
* * *
But isn't there something wrong with the minister, who has a family, and preaches for $10 a week, when common day labor brings better compensation? He must have more religion than industry and possibly the minister content with such salary draws more than he is worth.
* * *
—The Mansfield News, Mansfield, Ohio, September 13, 1907, page 4.
Driven to Suicide By His Daughters
1908
St. Joseph, Mo., May 22. — With two daughters on the stage, which weighed heavily on his mind, and on account of other domestic troubles, Rev. Rufus R. Fletcher, forty-five years old, a Methodist preacher, committed suicide with carbolic acid. After taking the poison in a shed, he entered his house, took his Bible and, opening the book, began reading. He died a few minutes later.
St. Joseph, Mo., May 22. — With two daughters on the stage, which weighed heavily on his mind, and on account of other domestic troubles, Rev. Rufus R. Fletcher, forty-five years old, a Methodist preacher, committed suicide with carbolic acid. After taking the poison in a shed, he entered his house, took his Bible and, opening the book, began reading. He died a few minutes later.
Timely Sermon on Civilization at Baptist Church
Ogden City, Utah, 1940
First Baptist Church — Twenty-fifth and Jefferson; Rev. W. P. Whittemore, pastor.
Sunday, August 18, nine forty-five a. m., Bible school, G. L. Vance, general superintendent.
Eleven a. m., morning worship; sermon by the pastor, "God's Division of Men."
Six-thirty p. m., B. Y. P. U. Seven-thirty p. m., evening worship; sermon, "Daniel's Image — What Is Destroying Civilization? Are the Nations Ripe for God's Wrath? Is Rome Organizing? Will Unemployment Increase?"
Wednesday, August 21, seven-thirty p. m., prayer meeting.
Thursday, August 22, seven-thirty p. m., choir practice.
Church of Christ — Sunday school will be held in the home of Mrs. John DeGroot, superintendent, 446 River Drive at eleven a. m. Sunday.
We extend a friendly invitation to adults and children of every nationality and belief to attend our Sunday school. Parents, do not allow your children to wander on the streets but let them come to our Sunday school so that they may be taught to live a good Christian life so that they may become a good citizen of God as well as of our country. Our teachings are strictly from the Bible. Everyone attending will feel a warm welcome and find it a pleasant place to meet. We do not pass the collection box. Every Sunday the children in the primary class make candy ornaments besides the lessons they have. We give the children candy.
At seven-thirty p. m. preaching. The Church of Christ is a remnant the church of 1830, bearing the same name, teaching the same doctrine, believing the same truth and holding the same revelations, and we enjoy the same spirit.
All are welcome to attend.
—The Ogden Standard-Examiner, Ogden City, Utah, August 17, 1940, page 3.
First Baptist Church — Twenty-fifth and Jefferson; Rev. W. P. Whittemore, pastor.
Sunday, August 18, nine forty-five a. m., Bible school, G. L. Vance, general superintendent.
Eleven a. m., morning worship; sermon by the pastor, "God's Division of Men."
Six-thirty p. m., B. Y. P. U. Seven-thirty p. m., evening worship; sermon, "Daniel's Image — What Is Destroying Civilization? Are the Nations Ripe for God's Wrath? Is Rome Organizing? Will Unemployment Increase?"
Wednesday, August 21, seven-thirty p. m., prayer meeting.
Thursday, August 22, seven-thirty p. m., choir practice.
Church of Christ — Sunday school will be held in the home of Mrs. John DeGroot, superintendent, 446 River Drive at eleven a. m. Sunday.
We extend a friendly invitation to adults and children of every nationality and belief to attend our Sunday school. Parents, do not allow your children to wander on the streets but let them come to our Sunday school so that they may be taught to live a good Christian life so that they may become a good citizen of God as well as of our country. Our teachings are strictly from the Bible. Everyone attending will feel a warm welcome and find it a pleasant place to meet. We do not pass the collection box. Every Sunday the children in the primary class make candy ornaments besides the lessons they have. We give the children candy.
At seven-thirty p. m. preaching. The Church of Christ is a remnant the church of 1830, bearing the same name, teaching the same doctrine, believing the same truth and holding the same revelations, and we enjoy the same spirit.
All are welcome to attend.
—The Ogden Standard-Examiner, Ogden City, Utah, August 17, 1940, page 3.
German Synod Bans Nazism As Idolatrous and Foolish
1935
Great Protestant Body Issues Rebuke Calling New Religion a "Deadly Danger"
Berlin, March 15.—The Confessional Synod's Brotherhood Council, representing hundreds of thousands of the Protestant clergy and laity throughout Germany, has issued the most outspoken challenge to the National Socialist creed that has been heard in Germany since Chancellor Adolf Hitler came into power and the swastika doctrine became the German state's and people's official philosophy.
In short, the leaders of the Protestant church opposition to Reich Bishop Ludwig Mueller declare national socialism has become or is becoming a form of idolatry and a religious creed that threatens to sacrifice Christianity in Germany to the doctrine of totalitarianism, blood and soil.
The manifesto has been circulated over a wide area and was read from hundreds of Protestant pulpits Sunday, the communication of the declaration of their congregations being mandatory upon the pastors associated with the synod.
"We see for our people," declare the Protestant leaders, "a deadly danger. This danger consists of the new religion.
"The first commandment states: 'Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.' The new religion is disobedient to this first commandment.
"First, through this religion a racial and nationalist view of life has become a creed. Through it blood and race, people, honor and liberty have been raised to the level of divinity.
"Second, faith in an eternal Germany which the new religion requires, has been put in the place of faith in an eternal reich of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
"Third, this fool's faith induces man to make God in his own image. According to its creed man himself honors, saves and redeems himself.
"Such superstition has nothing to do with positive Christianity. This is the creed of an anti-Christ.
"The state's power and sovereignty are solely a gift from God Who alone founded and preserves human authority.
"Whoever places blood, race and nationality in place of God, the Creator, destroys the state's foundations.
"Earthly sovereignty mistakes the purpose of its heavenly Judge and Protector and the state itself loses its right to demand obedience when it clothes itself with the character of an eternal Reich and makes its authority the final instance in all fields of human life and activity.
"Therefore, the church dares not bow blindly to the totalitarian demands of the state which the new religion has created. Bound to God's word, it is her duty to witness the omnipotence of Jesus Christ, Who alone is empowered to bind and relieve human conscience. To Him alone is given all power in heaven and earth."
This is the first time any organized German group has had the courage to oppose itself publicly to the totalitarian principle upon which the Nazi state and system of society are founded and by which Chancellor Adolf Hitler claims the right to control dictatorially spiritual, intellectual, political and economic life in Germany.
Church Voices Opposition.
"The church must serve God in all that it does," the declaration continues. "Therefore, she must oppose herself to attempts to transform her customs into worldly matters, to the destruction of Sunday's religious character and an attempt to remove Christian elements from her high festivals.
"Fast-rooted in God's word, the church calls for willing obedience and readiness to sacrifice for the state and the people. She warns, however, against superstition and idolatry that can bring on us God's wrath and judgment."
The manifesto's specific purpose, formulated first by the Prussian Confessional Church's Brotherhood Council, then adopted by the Reich Brotherhood Council, is to obtain from the state a final definition on Point 24 in the National Socialist party programme, which asserts the party's plans for "positive Christianity."
Protestant leaders feel the rapid spread of the half-atheistic half-Nordic pagan doctrines of Alfred Rosenberg, reich cultural director, in the ranks of organized National Socialist youth brought the crisis that the state must either meet with a definite about-face or confess it is anti-Christian and determined to destroy Christian confessions unless they bow to the Fuehrer's will.
—Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, March 16, 1935, page 10.
Great Protestant Body Issues Rebuke Calling New Religion a "Deadly Danger"
Berlin, March 15.—The Confessional Synod's Brotherhood Council, representing hundreds of thousands of the Protestant clergy and laity throughout Germany, has issued the most outspoken challenge to the National Socialist creed that has been heard in Germany since Chancellor Adolf Hitler came into power and the swastika doctrine became the German state's and people's official philosophy.
In short, the leaders of the Protestant church opposition to Reich Bishop Ludwig Mueller declare national socialism has become or is becoming a form of idolatry and a religious creed that threatens to sacrifice Christianity in Germany to the doctrine of totalitarianism, blood and soil.
The manifesto has been circulated over a wide area and was read from hundreds of Protestant pulpits Sunday, the communication of the declaration of their congregations being mandatory upon the pastors associated with the synod.
"We see for our people," declare the Protestant leaders, "a deadly danger. This danger consists of the new religion.
"The first commandment states: 'Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.' The new religion is disobedient to this first commandment.
"First, through this religion a racial and nationalist view of life has become a creed. Through it blood and race, people, honor and liberty have been raised to the level of divinity.
"Second, faith in an eternal Germany which the new religion requires, has been put in the place of faith in an eternal reich of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
"Third, this fool's faith induces man to make God in his own image. According to its creed man himself honors, saves and redeems himself.
"Such superstition has nothing to do with positive Christianity. This is the creed of an anti-Christ.
"The state's power and sovereignty are solely a gift from God Who alone founded and preserves human authority.
"Whoever places blood, race and nationality in place of God, the Creator, destroys the state's foundations.
"Earthly sovereignty mistakes the purpose of its heavenly Judge and Protector and the state itself loses its right to demand obedience when it clothes itself with the character of an eternal Reich and makes its authority the final instance in all fields of human life and activity.
"Therefore, the church dares not bow blindly to the totalitarian demands of the state which the new religion has created. Bound to God's word, it is her duty to witness the omnipotence of Jesus Christ, Who alone is empowered to bind and relieve human conscience. To Him alone is given all power in heaven and earth."
This is the first time any organized German group has had the courage to oppose itself publicly to the totalitarian principle upon which the Nazi state and system of society are founded and by which Chancellor Adolf Hitler claims the right to control dictatorially spiritual, intellectual, political and economic life in Germany.
Church Voices Opposition.
"The church must serve God in all that it does," the declaration continues. "Therefore, she must oppose herself to attempts to transform her customs into worldly matters, to the destruction of Sunday's religious character and an attempt to remove Christian elements from her high festivals.
"Fast-rooted in God's word, the church calls for willing obedience and readiness to sacrifice for the state and the people. She warns, however, against superstition and idolatry that can bring on us God's wrath and judgment."
The manifesto's specific purpose, formulated first by the Prussian Confessional Church's Brotherhood Council, then adopted by the Reich Brotherhood Council, is to obtain from the state a final definition on Point 24 in the National Socialist party programme, which asserts the party's plans for "positive Christianity."
Protestant leaders feel the rapid spread of the half-atheistic half-Nordic pagan doctrines of Alfred Rosenberg, reich cultural director, in the ranks of organized National Socialist youth brought the crisis that the state must either meet with a definite about-face or confess it is anti-Christian and determined to destroy Christian confessions unless they bow to the Fuehrer's will.
—Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, March 16, 1935, page 10.
Question Box Service at Presbyterian Church
Illinois, 1911
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
REV. JAS. T. FORD. PASTOR
The pastor had a difficult task Sunday evening at the Question Box Service to decide which question from the Sunday School scholars was the most suggestive and helpful, but it turned out that the two questions that he did it on were written by Jean and Lura Taylor. Jean's question was, "What is it to be a true Christian?" and Lura's referring to the 3 years famine in Israel "Why did the Innocent suffer in this Famine?" The other questions were exceedingly good.
Sunday the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper will be administered in connection with the morning service. Will not every church member make a special effort to be present?
Mr. Harry Munroe in response to a request from the pastor promises to come up to Arlington Heights soon and give an address on: "Twenty years Gospel Work in the Slums of Chicago." This address will be free to all, but a silver collection will be taken for Mr. Munroe's benefit. We are confident Harry will meet a crowded house.
To develop a familiarity with the books of the Bible the pastor will have an exercise some Sunday soon in finding Bible references. Some ten references will be given out and any boy or girl in the intermediate department of the Sunday School who finds the most references first will be given a prize, there will be a second prize also. These will be medals. The pastor anticipates having a series of such exercises from time to time. As a clue to success learn the books of the Bible in their order.
Hurrah for the "Whirlwind Campaign!" Let prayer be at the bottom of it and animate it. It is a campaign for the honor of our Lord Jesus that he may have a suitable temple for his worship and that beholders seeing it may honor him.
Meeting of the Session at the parsonage at 8 o'clock Saturday evening. Those wishing to unite with the church please be present.
—Daily Herald, Chicago, March 31, 1911.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
REV. JAS. T. FORD. PASTOR
The pastor had a difficult task Sunday evening at the Question Box Service to decide which question from the Sunday School scholars was the most suggestive and helpful, but it turned out that the two questions that he did it on were written by Jean and Lura Taylor. Jean's question was, "What is it to be a true Christian?" and Lura's referring to the 3 years famine in Israel "Why did the Innocent suffer in this Famine?" The other questions were exceedingly good.
Sunday the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper will be administered in connection with the morning service. Will not every church member make a special effort to be present?
Mr. Harry Munroe in response to a request from the pastor promises to come up to Arlington Heights soon and give an address on: "Twenty years Gospel Work in the Slums of Chicago." This address will be free to all, but a silver collection will be taken for Mr. Munroe's benefit. We are confident Harry will meet a crowded house.
To develop a familiarity with the books of the Bible the pastor will have an exercise some Sunday soon in finding Bible references. Some ten references will be given out and any boy or girl in the intermediate department of the Sunday School who finds the most references first will be given a prize, there will be a second prize also. These will be medals. The pastor anticipates having a series of such exercises from time to time. As a clue to success learn the books of the Bible in their order.
Hurrah for the "Whirlwind Campaign!" Let prayer be at the bottom of it and animate it. It is a campaign for the honor of our Lord Jesus that he may have a suitable temple for his worship and that beholders seeing it may honor him.
Meeting of the Session at the parsonage at 8 o'clock Saturday evening. Those wishing to unite with the church please be present.
—Daily Herald, Chicago, March 31, 1911.
Sentence Sermons — The Crown of Life
1911
SENTENCE SERMONS
A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others. — Marcus Aurelius
If God writes "opportunity" on one side of the open doors he writes "responsibility" on the other side — Dr. Gracey
And he who waits to have his task marked out
Shall die and leave his errand unfulfilled. — Lowell
Perfection of character can be achieved only through struggle, through discipline. It is for him that overcometh that the crown of life is reserved. — John Fiske
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or find it not. — Emerson
SENTENCE SERMONS
A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others. — Marcus Aurelius
If God writes "opportunity" on one side of the open doors he writes "responsibility" on the other side — Dr. Gracey
And he who waits to have his task marked out
Shall die and leave his errand unfulfilled. — Lowell
Perfection of character can be achieved only through struggle, through discipline. It is for him that overcometh that the crown of life is reserved. — John Fiske
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or find it not. — Emerson
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
1930 Revival Draws Large Crowds
Danville, Virginia, 1930
Rev. Roy T. Jarrett, of the Trinity M. E. church, Lynchburg, continued his revival services when he delivered a powerful message to a large congregation last night at the Third Avenue Christian church. Rev. Jarrett took as his subject "Witnessing for Christ," his text being from John 1:41-42: "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, and he brought him to Jesus."
Mr. Jarrett pictured vividly the characteristics of Andrew, brother of Simon Peter as a witness and soul winner for his Lord, and showed plainly the necessary qualifications for witnesses and soul winners.
The subject for tonight will be "The personality of the Devil," and on Thursday night "Hell."
The song service rendered each evening is proving very popular and are under the direction of J. W. Dixon, choir leader of the church. These services will continue through Sunday, May 18.
—The Bee, Danville, Virginia, May 7, 1930, page 10.
Rev. Roy T. Jarrett, of the Trinity M. E. church, Lynchburg, continued his revival services when he delivered a powerful message to a large congregation last night at the Third Avenue Christian church. Rev. Jarrett took as his subject "Witnessing for Christ," his text being from John 1:41-42: "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, and he brought him to Jesus."
Mr. Jarrett pictured vividly the characteristics of Andrew, brother of Simon Peter as a witness and soul winner for his Lord, and showed plainly the necessary qualifications for witnesses and soul winners.
The subject for tonight will be "The personality of the Devil," and on Thursday night "Hell."
The song service rendered each evening is proving very popular and are under the direction of J. W. Dixon, choir leader of the church. These services will continue through Sunday, May 18.
—The Bee, Danville, Virginia, May 7, 1930, page 10.
Gems of Thought — On The Bible
This collection of books has taken such a hold on the world as no other. The literature of Greece, which goes up like incense from that land of temples and heroic deeds, has not half the influence of this book from a nation alike despised in ancient and modern times ... The sun never sets on its gleaming page ... It is woven into the literature of the scholar, and colors the talk of the street ... It lifts man above himself; our best of unuttered prayers are in its storied speech. Men rest on this their dearest hopes. It tells them of God, and of his blessed Son; of earthly duties and of heavenly rest. — Theodore Parker.
What If Jesus Should Visit You?
Danville, Virginia, 1929
Rev. Oscar Guinn Delivers Sermon Burton Memorial
"If Jesus should visit you would you be ready to receive Him?" asked Rev. Oscar Guinn, who delivered an inspiring and forceful sermon yesterday morning at Burton Memorial Presbyterian Church on "Being Prepared."
"Sometime ago I read a story about a woman who dreamed that the Master Christ would visit her home the following day," said Rev. Mr. Guinn, "and she began planning immediately for his reception. She devoted herself most assiduously to cleaning and beautifying her home. While thus engaged an old woman came to her door to tell her of her troubles and cares, but she had no time for she was looking for a great and noble guest. And then there came another to her door, a cripple, thin, pale and gray, asked her to let him rest and stay awhile, as he was hungry, faint and weak, but she said she was grieved and sorry that she could not help him today. And then another came — a baby, cold and barefooted and in need of care, but she was so busy housecleaning that she could not help it then. That evening while sitting in a rocker, the woman fell asleep and again dreamed of seeing the Saviour, and when she asked Him why He had not called, he said, 'Three times did I call upon you and craved your pity and care — three times you sent me onward unhelped and uncomforted. The blessing you might have had is lost and your chance to serve is fled.'
"How many times has Jesus called upon you, my friends and you turned Him not away?" asked Rev. Guinn. "How about that poor fellow who was down and out? Oh, how cold and indifferent some of us are to sufferers and unfortunates! "Let us not be so engrossed with the affairs of this world that we have not the time to serve Him."
—The Bee, Danville, Virginia, February 4, 1929, page 2.
Note: The essentials of this sermon illustration are the same as Grandpa Jones' "The Christmas Guest" song. And looking around on the internet, the theme of it goes back at least to Tolstoy.
Rev. Oscar Guinn Delivers Sermon Burton Memorial
"If Jesus should visit you would you be ready to receive Him?" asked Rev. Oscar Guinn, who delivered an inspiring and forceful sermon yesterday morning at Burton Memorial Presbyterian Church on "Being Prepared."
"Sometime ago I read a story about a woman who dreamed that the Master Christ would visit her home the following day," said Rev. Mr. Guinn, "and she began planning immediately for his reception. She devoted herself most assiduously to cleaning and beautifying her home. While thus engaged an old woman came to her door to tell her of her troubles and cares, but she had no time for she was looking for a great and noble guest. And then there came another to her door, a cripple, thin, pale and gray, asked her to let him rest and stay awhile, as he was hungry, faint and weak, but she said she was grieved and sorry that she could not help him today. And then another came — a baby, cold and barefooted and in need of care, but she was so busy housecleaning that she could not help it then. That evening while sitting in a rocker, the woman fell asleep and again dreamed of seeing the Saviour, and when she asked Him why He had not called, he said, 'Three times did I call upon you and craved your pity and care — three times you sent me onward unhelped and uncomforted. The blessing you might have had is lost and your chance to serve is fled.'
"How many times has Jesus called upon you, my friends and you turned Him not away?" asked Rev. Guinn. "How about that poor fellow who was down and out? Oh, how cold and indifferent some of us are to sufferers and unfortunates! "Let us not be so engrossed with the affairs of this world that we have not the time to serve Him."
—The Bee, Danville, Virginia, February 4, 1929, page 2.
Note: The essentials of this sermon illustration are the same as Grandpa Jones' "The Christmas Guest" song. And looking around on the internet, the theme of it goes back at least to Tolstoy.
Evangelist Nipper Uses Devil's Words Against Him
Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1916
ASKS MEN'S LEAGUE TO SHOW ITS COLORS
Evangelist Nipper Urges United Support of Tent Revival.
Revival meetings in progress at the corner of Ewing and Main streets, conducted by the Jones-Nipper evangelistic party, continue of a spiritual nature and last night a large audience heard Rev. Nipper deliver a forceful sermon. The musical program was featured by a duet by Loren Jones, of the Nipper-Jones party, and Guy R. Sutton, well known member of the Lyon evangelistic party, which conducted services in Fort Wayne last year. Mr. Sutton is a visitor in the city. His singing was a feature of revival services during the Lyon campaign.
The meeting on Friday night will be attended by members of the Men's Christian league of the city, who will assemble at the First Baptist church at 7:15 o'clock and march to Calhoun street, to Main street and west to the tent meeting. "The members of the Men's league have a chance to show their colors and to do something in a constructive way," declared Rev. Nipper in his announcement. "We must do something besides drive out the saloons; we must have an even broader vision.
"It takes money to run this campaign and we would like to have the necessary funds to defray all expenses contributed by next Sunday night," continued the pastor. "We now have something over $200 given, but more money is needed." Rev. Nipper announced a donation of $100 by a Fort Wayne resident, whose interest in the revival did not wane despite the fact that he will be out of the city a greater part of the time it is in progress.
Visiting clergymen were given seats on the stage and among those present last night was Rev. T. M. Guild, of Huntington, brother of Rev. D. H. Guild, pastor of the First M. E. church of Fort Wayne.
Rev. C. E. Boyer, pastor of the Crescent avenue Evangelical church, gave the opening prayer. Rev. J. B. Blair gave the offertory prayer. Rev. Nipper made announcements in the absence of Rev. O. E. Tomes, pastor of the West Jefferson street Church of Christ, who was out of the city. Rev. Tomes is chairman of the executive committee of the evangelistic campaign.
The choral work, under direction of Mr. and Mrs. Loren Jones, is still an inspiring spring feature of the revival. Mr. Jones directed the large chorus last night in several selections, which brought out some of the best singing of the protracted meetings.
Rev. Nipper's Sermon.
"Let Us Alone," taken from Mark 1:24, was the subject of Rev. Nipper's sermon, which was in part as follows:
We sometimes take a text of scripture and tell who the author is. You will readily see that these are not the words of Peter, James or John, but that they are the words of Satan. They were spoken when Jesus approached a man who was possessed with the devil.
This cry has rung down through all the ages. It was the cry of Israel, even when they had been delivered from bondage and while in the wilderness. They cried, let us alone and let us go back and serve old Pharaoh. It was the cry of the south when the north took arms and went down there to free the colored people. They cried, let us alone. It is the cry of the liquor traffic when there is a protest against them for unlawful acts. If I had my way I'd have every drop of booze in hell before tomorrow morning. Say, if the average saloonkeeper didn't display any more enthusiasm than the average churchman he'd close up and you could call this a dry town. It is also the cry of the individual. I always feel sorry for the man who is always saying let me alone in my sin. I haven't any patience with the man or woman who will fly up and get sore when you ask him or her to accept the best thing on earth.
Show me a man that is swamped by sin and I'll show you a man that is saying "Let me alone." Show me a city that is wide open and when a law is passed to close it up I will show you a city that is crying, "Let us alone." But here is coming a time when there will be a lot of people left alone, and then half will wish they had a little company of Christian people. Listen when Jesus comes, and his bride is caught up with him, and all the Christian people are caught up with him and nothing left on earth but people that have refused to accept Christ. I say to you I don't want to have any part in that, for it is then that those who have been crying "Let us alone" will be left alone in their sin and can have the time of their lives in it.
Not Found in a Saloon.
I want you to notice that this man was not found in a saloon; he was not found indulging in any game of vice; he was not criticizing the Bible, but he was in the synagogue or in the church. If the devil could be cast out of a lot of people that fill the church pews, it would not take long to close up this dispensation. But someone says, "I don't believe in the devil." Then I wonder who this voice was referring to when it said "us." I am sure that "us" doesn't mean me, and I am sure that it does not mean one person, and if it means two persons, then there must have been someone else there except this man. I am sure the devil was the spokesman for this man and every other man. I tell you when a man gets to the place where he will speak for himself he will always decide for Christ, but as long as he lets the devil decide for him he will never be a Christian, because the devil doesn't want anybody to be a Christian. The devil has given a testimony for Christ. He said: "I know thee who thou art; thou art Jesus, the Son of God." If you are serving the devil you should believe him and if you will believe the devil's testimony you will go out of this place a saved person tonight.
Revival for Parents Needed.
I honor the father and mother who are living their lives before their children, and let me say right here that what we need in Fort Wayne is a revival among the parents of children. Listen to me just a minute. Are you a father of a boy? If so, what kind of a man will he be if he follows in your footsteps? Are you a mother of a girl? If so, what kind of a young lady will she be if she follows in your footsteps? Oh you say, he's a great big-hearted fellow. Well, that may be, but he may be black-hearted as well; it may be a big heart, but not a true heart. Remember, fathers and mothers are going to have to give an account to God for the way they bring up their children. If you are here tonight away from God don't go away from this place saying "Let me alone," but come right now and settle this matter and go away with peace of mind.
SOME NIPPERISMS IN TABLOID FORM.
If the average saloonkeeper didn't display any more enthusiasm to get business than the average layman does to get members, he'd have to close and you could call this a dry town.
I haven't any patience with the person who flies up and gets mad when you offer him the best thing on earth.
A lot of people think just because they don't believe a thing it isn't true.
A lot of folks want to just take a few things out of the Bible and throw the rest away.
Some people have the Bible in their home for a bluff.
If you will believe the devil's testimony you will go out from this place a saved man.
The person who is saying no to the invitation to accept Christ is letting the devil make the decision for him.
—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, June 21, 1916, page 4.
Note: Nipper's name, or at least initials, was Rev. J. A. Nipper. The meetings took place in a tent that was pitched for the purpose. The meetings were given under the auspices of the Men's Christian league, the Fort Wayne Ministerial association and the Associated Christian Workers.
ASKS MEN'S LEAGUE TO SHOW ITS COLORS
Evangelist Nipper Urges United Support of Tent Revival.
Revival meetings in progress at the corner of Ewing and Main streets, conducted by the Jones-Nipper evangelistic party, continue of a spiritual nature and last night a large audience heard Rev. Nipper deliver a forceful sermon. The musical program was featured by a duet by Loren Jones, of the Nipper-Jones party, and Guy R. Sutton, well known member of the Lyon evangelistic party, which conducted services in Fort Wayne last year. Mr. Sutton is a visitor in the city. His singing was a feature of revival services during the Lyon campaign.
The meeting on Friday night will be attended by members of the Men's Christian league of the city, who will assemble at the First Baptist church at 7:15 o'clock and march to Calhoun street, to Main street and west to the tent meeting. "The members of the Men's league have a chance to show their colors and to do something in a constructive way," declared Rev. Nipper in his announcement. "We must do something besides drive out the saloons; we must have an even broader vision.
"It takes money to run this campaign and we would like to have the necessary funds to defray all expenses contributed by next Sunday night," continued the pastor. "We now have something over $200 given, but more money is needed." Rev. Nipper announced a donation of $100 by a Fort Wayne resident, whose interest in the revival did not wane despite the fact that he will be out of the city a greater part of the time it is in progress.
Visiting clergymen were given seats on the stage and among those present last night was Rev. T. M. Guild, of Huntington, brother of Rev. D. H. Guild, pastor of the First M. E. church of Fort Wayne.
Rev. C. E. Boyer, pastor of the Crescent avenue Evangelical church, gave the opening prayer. Rev. J. B. Blair gave the offertory prayer. Rev. Nipper made announcements in the absence of Rev. O. E. Tomes, pastor of the West Jefferson street Church of Christ, who was out of the city. Rev. Tomes is chairman of the executive committee of the evangelistic campaign.
The choral work, under direction of Mr. and Mrs. Loren Jones, is still an inspiring spring feature of the revival. Mr. Jones directed the large chorus last night in several selections, which brought out some of the best singing of the protracted meetings.
Rev. Nipper's Sermon.
"Let Us Alone," taken from Mark 1:24, was the subject of Rev. Nipper's sermon, which was in part as follows:
We sometimes take a text of scripture and tell who the author is. You will readily see that these are not the words of Peter, James or John, but that they are the words of Satan. They were spoken when Jesus approached a man who was possessed with the devil.
This cry has rung down through all the ages. It was the cry of Israel, even when they had been delivered from bondage and while in the wilderness. They cried, let us alone and let us go back and serve old Pharaoh. It was the cry of the south when the north took arms and went down there to free the colored people. They cried, let us alone. It is the cry of the liquor traffic when there is a protest against them for unlawful acts. If I had my way I'd have every drop of booze in hell before tomorrow morning. Say, if the average saloonkeeper didn't display any more enthusiasm than the average churchman he'd close up and you could call this a dry town. It is also the cry of the individual. I always feel sorry for the man who is always saying let me alone in my sin. I haven't any patience with the man or woman who will fly up and get sore when you ask him or her to accept the best thing on earth.
Show me a man that is swamped by sin and I'll show you a man that is saying "Let me alone." Show me a city that is wide open and when a law is passed to close it up I will show you a city that is crying, "Let us alone." But here is coming a time when there will be a lot of people left alone, and then half will wish they had a little company of Christian people. Listen when Jesus comes, and his bride is caught up with him, and all the Christian people are caught up with him and nothing left on earth but people that have refused to accept Christ. I say to you I don't want to have any part in that, for it is then that those who have been crying "Let us alone" will be left alone in their sin and can have the time of their lives in it.
Not Found in a Saloon.
I want you to notice that this man was not found in a saloon; he was not found indulging in any game of vice; he was not criticizing the Bible, but he was in the synagogue or in the church. If the devil could be cast out of a lot of people that fill the church pews, it would not take long to close up this dispensation. But someone says, "I don't believe in the devil." Then I wonder who this voice was referring to when it said "us." I am sure that "us" doesn't mean me, and I am sure that it does not mean one person, and if it means two persons, then there must have been someone else there except this man. I am sure the devil was the spokesman for this man and every other man. I tell you when a man gets to the place where he will speak for himself he will always decide for Christ, but as long as he lets the devil decide for him he will never be a Christian, because the devil doesn't want anybody to be a Christian. The devil has given a testimony for Christ. He said: "I know thee who thou art; thou art Jesus, the Son of God." If you are serving the devil you should believe him and if you will believe the devil's testimony you will go out of this place a saved person tonight.
Revival for Parents Needed.
I honor the father and mother who are living their lives before their children, and let me say right here that what we need in Fort Wayne is a revival among the parents of children. Listen to me just a minute. Are you a father of a boy? If so, what kind of a man will he be if he follows in your footsteps? Are you a mother of a girl? If so, what kind of a young lady will she be if she follows in your footsteps? Oh you say, he's a great big-hearted fellow. Well, that may be, but he may be black-hearted as well; it may be a big heart, but not a true heart. Remember, fathers and mothers are going to have to give an account to God for the way they bring up their children. If you are here tonight away from God don't go away from this place saying "Let me alone," but come right now and settle this matter and go away with peace of mind.
SOME NIPPERISMS IN TABLOID FORM.
If the average saloonkeeper didn't display any more enthusiasm to get business than the average layman does to get members, he'd have to close and you could call this a dry town.
I haven't any patience with the person who flies up and gets mad when you offer him the best thing on earth.
A lot of people think just because they don't believe a thing it isn't true.
A lot of folks want to just take a few things out of the Bible and throw the rest away.
Some people have the Bible in their home for a bluff.
If you will believe the devil's testimony you will go out from this place a saved man.
The person who is saying no to the invitation to accept Christ is letting the devil make the decision for him.
—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, June 21, 1916, page 4.
Note: Nipper's name, or at least initials, was Rev. J. A. Nipper. The meetings took place in a tent that was pitched for the purpose. The meetings were given under the auspices of the Men's Christian league, the Fort Wayne Ministerial association and the Associated Christian Workers.
'Scrap Iron' Bible Class is Organized
1924
MERIDIAN, Miss., Nov. 4 — A Sunday school class to be known as "The Scrap Iron" class was organized here recently by Dr. L. B. Christie, pastor of the First Baptist church, the meetings of which will be held at the James F. Webb Funeral Home, directly in front of the church. At the initial meeting there were present 32 persons, including two Jews, six Catholics, several Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Christians and one negro, Ellis Washington, Webb's porter. The membership of the class will be limited to those who do not attend Sunday school or church services elsewhere.
In his inaugural talk, Dr. Christie, the teacher, emphasized the fact that there be no church creed taught, nor would the men hear anything at the meetings at which they could take offense. The Sunday school orchestra furnished the music for the meeting and will do so each Sunday.
—Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas, November 4, 1924, page 6.
Comment: Isn't that awful, singling out Ellis like that? But at least they won't hear anything at the meetings "at which they could take offense."
MERIDIAN, Miss., Nov. 4 — A Sunday school class to be known as "The Scrap Iron" class was organized here recently by Dr. L. B. Christie, pastor of the First Baptist church, the meetings of which will be held at the James F. Webb Funeral Home, directly in front of the church. At the initial meeting there were present 32 persons, including two Jews, six Catholics, several Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Christians and one negro, Ellis Washington, Webb's porter. The membership of the class will be limited to those who do not attend Sunday school or church services elsewhere.
In his inaugural talk, Dr. Christie, the teacher, emphasized the fact that there be no church creed taught, nor would the men hear anything at the meetings at which they could take offense. The Sunday school orchestra furnished the music for the meeting and will do so each Sunday.
—Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas, November 4, 1924, page 6.
Comment: Isn't that awful, singling out Ellis like that? But at least they won't hear anything at the meetings "at which they could take offense."
Revivalist Preaches Against Card Playing, For Soul Winning
Port Arthur, Texas, 1924
CARDS SCORED BY REVIVALIST
'Religious Gamblers' Are Packard's Target
Scoring cards as an evil not to be tolerated by the church and vehemently declaring that church members who play cards are nothing more than "religious gamblers," Dr. Paul H. Packard in his sermon on "Soul Winning" last night at the First Christian church urged the church members to come out from the world and help in cleaning up Port Arthur for Christ.
"God can't clean up Port Arthur unless he has clean instrumentalists to do it with," Dr. Packard said. "The Saviour is beseeching you to help in saving Port Arthur for God. No one is adapted to Christ's work who plays cards. The slogan of all our campaigns is 'Come clean or don't come at all.' The church has all the religious gamblers it can have for the next 50 years. You can play cards if you want to, but you can't play cards if your life is in touch with God!
Revival in Home Needed.
"Give me a membership and a church board who is willing to face all odds for Jesus Christ and we'll clean out sin and hell from Port Arthur! God expects you to do it! Why don't you? If we could feel a concern about those people without God and the less unfortunate, Port Arthur could be saved in three weeks, and could be made into a kingdom of righteousness in this section of the great commonwealth.
"The world wants that type of Christianity that shows we believe in the gospel teachers of Jesus Christ. Would that we would manifest as much concern over spiritual distress as we do over physical distress. While I commend the great American spirit for its willingness to go down into its wealth and distribute it among stricken countries and cities, I wish it were more deeply concerned with the moral welfare of the people.
"As I said last night there must be a revival in the home before we can win the world to Christ. How many young men and women there are in Port Arthur tonight who on that great last day will point the finger of condemnation at their mother and father and say, 'You never cared for my soul.' I pray that all the parents may be on the job during this revival to win their girls and boys to Jesus.
All Can Save.
"Somebody is responsible for every young man and woman who walks from Procter street tonight without the thought of God, or the salvation of their souls. We can't turn over the unsaved young people to the Salvation Army. May God help you to feel your responsibility. One always knows where to find a man when you want to sell him a ticket to make money for the church, but none knows where to find him when you want to talk to him about his soul. That's why the world is saying, 'No man cares for my soul,' and what Port Arthur needs tonight is the personal touch of the individual which means more than anything else.
"I have failed to find one yet, who if his life is in tune with God, cannot win one to Christ. God will help you, even in your own broken way. You say you can't save souls because you have not the gift of speech, or the education. I haven't seen where God says anything about that in His Book. Some of the greatest soul winners America has ever had were men of little education and little gift of speech. Jesus said, 'Follow me and I'll make you fishers of men.' The command, 'Follow me,' is universal. You can win men to Christ if you want to."
Dr. Packard will speak on "The Betrayal of Jesus" at tonight's service at 7:30 o'clock.
—The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas, November 4, 1924, page 2.
CARDS SCORED BY REVIVALIST
'Religious Gamblers' Are Packard's Target
Scoring cards as an evil not to be tolerated by the church and vehemently declaring that church members who play cards are nothing more than "religious gamblers," Dr. Paul H. Packard in his sermon on "Soul Winning" last night at the First Christian church urged the church members to come out from the world and help in cleaning up Port Arthur for Christ.
"God can't clean up Port Arthur unless he has clean instrumentalists to do it with," Dr. Packard said. "The Saviour is beseeching you to help in saving Port Arthur for God. No one is adapted to Christ's work who plays cards. The slogan of all our campaigns is 'Come clean or don't come at all.' The church has all the religious gamblers it can have for the next 50 years. You can play cards if you want to, but you can't play cards if your life is in touch with God!
Revival in Home Needed.
"Give me a membership and a church board who is willing to face all odds for Jesus Christ and we'll clean out sin and hell from Port Arthur! God expects you to do it! Why don't you? If we could feel a concern about those people without God and the less unfortunate, Port Arthur could be saved in three weeks, and could be made into a kingdom of righteousness in this section of the great commonwealth.
"The world wants that type of Christianity that shows we believe in the gospel teachers of Jesus Christ. Would that we would manifest as much concern over spiritual distress as we do over physical distress. While I commend the great American spirit for its willingness to go down into its wealth and distribute it among stricken countries and cities, I wish it were more deeply concerned with the moral welfare of the people.
"As I said last night there must be a revival in the home before we can win the world to Christ. How many young men and women there are in Port Arthur tonight who on that great last day will point the finger of condemnation at their mother and father and say, 'You never cared for my soul.' I pray that all the parents may be on the job during this revival to win their girls and boys to Jesus.
All Can Save.
"Somebody is responsible for every young man and woman who walks from Procter street tonight without the thought of God, or the salvation of their souls. We can't turn over the unsaved young people to the Salvation Army. May God help you to feel your responsibility. One always knows where to find a man when you want to sell him a ticket to make money for the church, but none knows where to find him when you want to talk to him about his soul. That's why the world is saying, 'No man cares for my soul,' and what Port Arthur needs tonight is the personal touch of the individual which means more than anything else.
"I have failed to find one yet, who if his life is in tune with God, cannot win one to Christ. God will help you, even in your own broken way. You say you can't save souls because you have not the gift of speech, or the education. I haven't seen where God says anything about that in His Book. Some of the greatest soul winners America has ever had were men of little education and little gift of speech. Jesus said, 'Follow me and I'll make you fishers of men.' The command, 'Follow me,' is universal. You can win men to Christ if you want to."
Dr. Packard will speak on "The Betrayal of Jesus" at tonight's service at 7:30 o'clock.
—The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, Texas, November 4, 1924, page 2.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Winnipeg Sermons: "Should We Say Grace Before Meat?"
Winnipeg, January 10, 1915
Broadway Baptist — Rev. A. T. Sowerby, M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., pastor. Morning, "The Most Welcome Visitor." Evening, "Walking Into a Trap."
Christians Gathered in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ — Morning, "To Remember the Lord." Evening, a gospel meeting. Nassau Street Baptist — Rev. William Hay, preaching. Morning, "The Supreme Need of the Hour." Evening, "All For a Scrap of Paper." Children's talk will be on the Union Jack. Men's meeting discussion on "Are the Social Principles of Christ's Teaching Practicable in Modern Life?"
St. Stephen's (Presbyterian) — Rev. Charles W. Gordon, D.D., LL.D., minister. Associate, Rev. Charles G. Paterson, D.D. The evening service will be conducted by Dr. Paterson, the subject, "God Our Father." An afternoon meeting of Brotherhood will feature an address on Kipling's "If" by Rev. Dr. Elliott of Wesley College.
First Baptist — Pastor, Rev. A. N. Marshall, B.A. Morning, "Should We Say Grace Before Meat?" Evening, "As a Young Man, What Do You Stand For and Stand Against?"
Clifton Presbyterian — Rev. J. B. Clyde, B.A. Morning, "New Light on the Doctrine of Immortality." Evening, "Jehovah or Jesus, Which?"
Knox Church (Presbyterian) — Rev. F. B. DuVal, D.D., pastor. Morning, "The Heart of Things." Rev. Donald M. Solandt, M.A., B.D., assistant in the evening, "The War That Will End War."
St. Giles' Presbyterian — Rev. W. A. Maclean, minister. Rev. Dr. A. J. Myers, of Toronto, will preach in the morning. The minister will preach in the evening on "Religious Life Under Changed Conditions."
King Memorial — Rev. D. N. McLachlan, minister. He will preach at both services. Only the evening subject is given, "Great Britain and Germany in the Light of Christianity."
First English Lutheran — Rev. P. E. Baisler, B.A., B.D., pastor. Morning, "The Christian's Relation to the Non-Christian World." Evening, "The Millennium."
Olivet Baptist — Rev. E. B. Chesnut preaching. Morning, "The Age-long Struggle Between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent." Evening, "Twelve Things Which Are An Abomination in the Sight of God." Westminster Church (Presbyterian) — Rev. David Christie, D.D., minister. Morning, "The Question Mark Men Carry About With Them." Evening, "The Reality of Unseen Help."
—Manitoba Morning Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, January 9, 1915, page 16.
Broadway Baptist — Rev. A. T. Sowerby, M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., pastor. Morning, "The Most Welcome Visitor." Evening, "Walking Into a Trap."
Christians Gathered in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ — Morning, "To Remember the Lord." Evening, a gospel meeting. Nassau Street Baptist — Rev. William Hay, preaching. Morning, "The Supreme Need of the Hour." Evening, "All For a Scrap of Paper." Children's talk will be on the Union Jack. Men's meeting discussion on "Are the Social Principles of Christ's Teaching Practicable in Modern Life?"
St. Stephen's (Presbyterian) — Rev. Charles W. Gordon, D.D., LL.D., minister. Associate, Rev. Charles G. Paterson, D.D. The evening service will be conducted by Dr. Paterson, the subject, "God Our Father." An afternoon meeting of Brotherhood will feature an address on Kipling's "If" by Rev. Dr. Elliott of Wesley College.
First Baptist — Pastor, Rev. A. N. Marshall, B.A. Morning, "Should We Say Grace Before Meat?" Evening, "As a Young Man, What Do You Stand For and Stand Against?"
Clifton Presbyterian — Rev. J. B. Clyde, B.A. Morning, "New Light on the Doctrine of Immortality." Evening, "Jehovah or Jesus, Which?"
Knox Church (Presbyterian) — Rev. F. B. DuVal, D.D., pastor. Morning, "The Heart of Things." Rev. Donald M. Solandt, M.A., B.D., assistant in the evening, "The War That Will End War."
St. Giles' Presbyterian — Rev. W. A. Maclean, minister. Rev. Dr. A. J. Myers, of Toronto, will preach in the morning. The minister will preach in the evening on "Religious Life Under Changed Conditions."
King Memorial — Rev. D. N. McLachlan, minister. He will preach at both services. Only the evening subject is given, "Great Britain and Germany in the Light of Christianity."
First English Lutheran — Rev. P. E. Baisler, B.A., B.D., pastor. Morning, "The Christian's Relation to the Non-Christian World." Evening, "The Millennium."
Olivet Baptist — Rev. E. B. Chesnut preaching. Morning, "The Age-long Struggle Between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent." Evening, "Twelve Things Which Are An Abomination in the Sight of God." Westminster Church (Presbyterian) — Rev. David Christie, D.D., minister. Morning, "The Question Mark Men Carry About With Them." Evening, "The Reality of Unseen Help."
—Manitoba Morning Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, January 9, 1915, page 16.
Winnipeg Churches: "Changing Years, Changeless Christ"
Winnipeg, January 9, 1915
Charles G. Hounshell, traveling secretary of the student volunteer movement, will preach the university sermon to the students of the Winnipeg colleges at the Vaughan street Y.M.C.A. Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. Mr. Hounshell is a returned missionary from Korea, and his subject will be "Christ Adequate to Meet the Needs of the World."
Rev. A. E. Ribourg, assistant rector of Holy Trinity church, will take for his subject Sunday evening "The Universal and the Everlasting Empire of Christ; Thy Kingdom Is an Everlasting Kingdom and Thy Kingdom Endureth Throughout All Generations."
Rev. J. C. Madill, late of Vancouver, will preach in St. John's Presbyterian church on Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. His subject will be "My Church, Peter and the Keys."
Mr. Whiting's subjects at Young church on Sunday will be those which would have been preached at the services a week ago but for his sudden illness. In the morning there will be a talk to children on "What the Old Clock Said," and the sermon subject "The Changing Years and the Changeless Christ," is a challenge in the midst of the flux of perpetual change for men to seek the highest and the abiding. In the evening the subject, "Five Great Things in National Life," in which we are to look for a little time at the large things that enter into our heritage, is to be surrounded by a most attractive musical service. Mr. Habbeshaw will sing a solo, and a double male quartette will give a selection. The anthem, "Hark, Hark, My Soul," by Houseley, will be most effective. Mr. Jordan will precede the evening service by a half-hour organ recital, commencing at 6:30. The doors are open at 6. During the week evenings it is proposed to hold special services in the upper school room, beginning with the Epworth league on Monday night and continuing throughout the week each evening at 8 o clock.
"Thinking Red," or "The Man Behind the Guns," will be the subject of Rev. J. E. Hughson's sermon at Grace church Sunday evening. Mr. Hughson will show that the teachers of "German culture" have made a nation of "blood and iron," and are largely responsible for the present war. Out of these facts will come the question. "Should we control the teaching of our colleges? Does it matter what we think?"
In St. Paul's Presbyterian church, Rev. P. Bruce Thornton will speak upon the following subject next Sunday evening: "Three men I have met during the past week — an unpopular man, a man with a secret care, and an overcoming man." The morning subject is: "The Projection of the West into the East." Dr. A. J. W. Myers, of Toronto, will address the Christian Endeavor society at 8:30. His subject will be, "What the Young People Can Do for the Church."
At Zion Methodist church, Pacific avenue, just off Princess, Rev J. L. Batty, pastor, will preach at both services on Sunday. Rev. J. S. Hatfield is assistant pastor.
—Manitoba Morning Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, January 9, 1915, page 16.
Charles G. Hounshell, traveling secretary of the student volunteer movement, will preach the university sermon to the students of the Winnipeg colleges at the Vaughan street Y.M.C.A. Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. Mr. Hounshell is a returned missionary from Korea, and his subject will be "Christ Adequate to Meet the Needs of the World."
Rev. A. E. Ribourg, assistant rector of Holy Trinity church, will take for his subject Sunday evening "The Universal and the Everlasting Empire of Christ; Thy Kingdom Is an Everlasting Kingdom and Thy Kingdom Endureth Throughout All Generations."
Rev. J. C. Madill, late of Vancouver, will preach in St. John's Presbyterian church on Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. His subject will be "My Church, Peter and the Keys."
Mr. Whiting's subjects at Young church on Sunday will be those which would have been preached at the services a week ago but for his sudden illness. In the morning there will be a talk to children on "What the Old Clock Said," and the sermon subject "The Changing Years and the Changeless Christ," is a challenge in the midst of the flux of perpetual change for men to seek the highest and the abiding. In the evening the subject, "Five Great Things in National Life," in which we are to look for a little time at the large things that enter into our heritage, is to be surrounded by a most attractive musical service. Mr. Habbeshaw will sing a solo, and a double male quartette will give a selection. The anthem, "Hark, Hark, My Soul," by Houseley, will be most effective. Mr. Jordan will precede the evening service by a half-hour organ recital, commencing at 6:30. The doors are open at 6. During the week evenings it is proposed to hold special services in the upper school room, beginning with the Epworth league on Monday night and continuing throughout the week each evening at 8 o clock.
"Thinking Red," or "The Man Behind the Guns," will be the subject of Rev. J. E. Hughson's sermon at Grace church Sunday evening. Mr. Hughson will show that the teachers of "German culture" have made a nation of "blood and iron," and are largely responsible for the present war. Out of these facts will come the question. "Should we control the teaching of our colleges? Does it matter what we think?"
In St. Paul's Presbyterian church, Rev. P. Bruce Thornton will speak upon the following subject next Sunday evening: "Three men I have met during the past week — an unpopular man, a man with a secret care, and an overcoming man." The morning subject is: "The Projection of the West into the East." Dr. A. J. W. Myers, of Toronto, will address the Christian Endeavor society at 8:30. His subject will be, "What the Young People Can Do for the Church."
At Zion Methodist church, Pacific avenue, just off Princess, Rev J. L. Batty, pastor, will preach at both services on Sunday. Rev. J. S. Hatfield is assistant pastor.
—Manitoba Morning Free Press, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, January 9, 1915, page 16.
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