1900
Dr. Herrick Johnson, in writing of "Preaching and the Preacher," thus commends "grit." He says: "Grit keeps the preacher at the hard grind of incessant intellectual toil. That is grit brainward. Grit keeps him at men, for men, ready to spend and to be spent in their behalf, though the more abundantly he loves them the less he be loved. That is grit heartward. Grit keeps him steadfast in truth and bold to declare all God's counsel, fearless of man or devil. That is grit backboneward. Salted by grace, and so kept from obstinacy, it is a noble quality, and will do the preacher great stead in the coming battling years."
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 18.
Showing posts with label character. Show all posts
Showing posts with label character. Show all posts
Friday, May 9, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Benevolence Versus Extravagance
The greatest obstacle to charity in the Christian church today is the fact that men expend so much on their table and women so much on their dress, they have got nothing left for the work of God and the world's betterment. — TALMAGE.
Condensed Comments
He that bath a bountiful eye shall be blessed;
For he giveth of his bread to the poor. — SOLOMON.
We only begin to realize the value of our possessions when we commence to do good to others with them. No earthly investment pays so large an interest as charity. — JOSEPH COOK.
Condensed Comments
He that bath a bountiful eye shall be blessed;
For he giveth of his bread to the poor. — SOLOMON.
We only begin to realize the value of our possessions when we commence to do good to others with them. No earthly investment pays so large an interest as charity. — JOSEPH COOK.
Friday, April 18, 2008
All Things To All Men
The power of adaptation to high and low, learned and ignorant, sad and frivolous, is no mean gift. If, like Nelson, we can lay our vessel side by side with the enemy, and come to close quarters without delay, we shall do considerable execution. Commend me to the man who can avail himself of any conversation and any topic, to drive home saving truth upon the conscience and heart. He who can ride a well-trained horse, properly saddled, does well; but the fellow who can leap upon the wild horse of the prairie, and ride him bare-backed, is a genius indeed. "All things to all men," rightly interpreted, is a motto worthy of the great apostle of the Gentiles, and of all who, like him, would win souls for Jesus. — SPURGEON.
Small Courtesies
In all the affairs of life, social as well as political, courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest to the grateful and appreciating heart. — HENRY CLAY.
Small Courtesies
In all the affairs of life, social as well as political, courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest to the grateful and appreciating heart. — HENRY CLAY.
Affability at Home
Audubon, the great ornithologist, with gun and pencil, went through the forests of America to bring down and to sketch the beautiful birds, and after years of toil and exposure completed his manuscript, and put it in a trunk in Philadelphia for a few days of recreation and rest, and came back and found that the rats had utterly destroyed the manuscript; but without any discomposure and without any fret or bad temper, he again, picked up his gun and pencil, and visited again all the great forests of America, and reproduced his immortal work. And yet there are people with the ten-thousandth part of that loss who are utterly unreconcilable, who at the loss of a pencil or an article of raiment will blow as long and sharp as a northeast storm.
Now, that man who is affable in public and who is irritable in private is making a fraudulent over-issue of stock, and he is as bad as a bank that might have four or five hundred thousand dollars of bills in circulation with no specie in the vault. Let us learn to show piety at home. If we have it not there, we have it not anywhere. If we have not genuine grace in the family circle, all our outward and public plausibility merely springs from a fear of the world or from the slimy, putrid pool of our own selfishness. I tell you the home is a mighty test of character. What you are at home you are everywhere, whether you demonstrate it or not. — TALMAGE.
Now, that man who is affable in public and who is irritable in private is making a fraudulent over-issue of stock, and he is as bad as a bank that might have four or five hundred thousand dollars of bills in circulation with no specie in the vault. Let us learn to show piety at home. If we have it not there, we have it not anywhere. If we have not genuine grace in the family circle, all our outward and public plausibility merely springs from a fear of the world or from the slimy, putrid pool of our own selfishness. I tell you the home is a mighty test of character. What you are at home you are everywhere, whether you demonstrate it or not. — TALMAGE.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Sow Your Wild Oats, You'll Regret It
1900
Edward Bok said in the Sunday School Times, relative to a young man "sowing his wild oats:" "No man has ever passed through a period of indiscreet living during his early manhood without regretting the memory of it in after years. Nor has any man, by reason of 'sowing his wild oats,' known one iota more of 'life,' except that particular phase of it, which, if it had a glitter for him in youth, became a repellent remembrance to him in his more mature years. The reputation that comes of right living and good character is what the man of forty to seventy desires, and nothing but the well-spent years of early life can secure this."
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 17
Edward Bok said in the Sunday School Times, relative to a young man "sowing his wild oats:" "No man has ever passed through a period of indiscreet living during his early manhood without regretting the memory of it in after years. Nor has any man, by reason of 'sowing his wild oats,' known one iota more of 'life,' except that particular phase of it, which, if it had a glitter for him in youth, became a repellent remembrance to him in his more mature years. The reputation that comes of right living and good character is what the man of forty to seventy desires, and nothing but the well-spent years of early life can secure this."
—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 17
Saturday, February 23, 2008
You'll Not Be Sorry
1910
If You Follow the Following Suggestions
You'll never be sorry—
For living a straight life.
For doing your level best.
For being kind to the poor.
For looking before leaping.
For hearing before judging.
For thinking before speaking.
For harboring clean thoughts.
For standing by your principles.
For stopping your ears to gossip.
For being as courteous as a duke.
For asking pardon when in error.
For bridling a garrulous tongue.
For being square in business dealings.
For giving an unfortunate fellow a lift.
For promptness in keeping your promises.
For putting the best construction on the acts of others.
You will never never be sorry, for giving light to the blind, knowledge to the ignorant, strength to the weak help to the struggling and a Savior to the heathen. — New Orleans Times Democrat.
If You Follow the Following Suggestions
You'll never be sorry—
For living a straight life.
For doing your level best.
For being kind to the poor.
For looking before leaping.
For hearing before judging.
For thinking before speaking.
For harboring clean thoughts.
For standing by your principles.
For stopping your ears to gossip.
For being as courteous as a duke.
For asking pardon when in error.
For bridling a garrulous tongue.
For being square in business dealings.
For giving an unfortunate fellow a lift.
For promptness in keeping your promises.
For putting the best construction on the acts of others.
You will never never be sorry, for giving light to the blind, knowledge to the ignorant, strength to the weak help to the struggling and a Savior to the heathen. — New Orleans Times Democrat.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
God Alone Permanent
1905
How hard it is to keep our footing firm amid the ebb and flow of things! To-day is not yesterday. New things have come to claim attention; many cherished things have gone. An unseen hand is shaking this kaleidoscope of a world, and nothing can last that depends merely upon the present aspect of things. The great problem, therefore, is to seek God with a thirst which will persist through all changes.
Test of Truth of Doctrine
The truth makes free, brings joy, hope, encouragement. The truth of a doctrine may consist in this, does it cause the mind to rejoice? If a doctrine does this, it may be set down as true, as coming from God. If a doctrine casts a shadow over the soul, if it is destructive of calm delight, if it causes faith to halt, trust to doubt, hope to falter, it is surely not of God and His gospel; it is an error of human origin.
Character
Character is great and worthy in itself and not because of the greater or less fame of a deed through which it manifests itself. The sad sacrifice of Gordon at Khartoum, for the sake of England and of Egypt, is of the same heroic quality as the sacrifice of the missionary among the Arabs or the Chinese, of whose name and fame the world hears but little. It is not the kind of thing through which we show ourselves, but the kind of self we have to show, that counts with God.
How hard it is to keep our footing firm amid the ebb and flow of things! To-day is not yesterday. New things have come to claim attention; many cherished things have gone. An unseen hand is shaking this kaleidoscope of a world, and nothing can last that depends merely upon the present aspect of things. The great problem, therefore, is to seek God with a thirst which will persist through all changes.
Test of Truth of Doctrine
The truth makes free, brings joy, hope, encouragement. The truth of a doctrine may consist in this, does it cause the mind to rejoice? If a doctrine does this, it may be set down as true, as coming from God. If a doctrine casts a shadow over the soul, if it is destructive of calm delight, if it causes faith to halt, trust to doubt, hope to falter, it is surely not of God and His gospel; it is an error of human origin.
Character
Character is great and worthy in itself and not because of the greater or less fame of a deed through which it manifests itself. The sad sacrifice of Gordon at Khartoum, for the sake of England and of Egypt, is of the same heroic quality as the sacrifice of the missionary among the Arabs or the Chinese, of whose name and fame the world hears but little. It is not the kind of thing through which we show ourselves, but the kind of self we have to show, that counts with God.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Types of the Christian Life
1911
By Dr. Hugh T. Kerr, Chicago
TEXT — Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. — John 11:5.
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Jesus loved them all. Yet he loved each of them. Martha and Mary and Lazarus. Each of them has a place in his heart. Yet they are so different. Jesus does not ask for monotony, but variety in his kingdom. The kingdom of grace is like the kingdom of nature. No two varieties are alike. In my Father's house are many mansions. One family, but many members. One home, but many hearts.
That was the revelation of God's character in the Old Testament. He was the father of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob. How different they were. Abraham — the faithful, the consecrated, the pathfinder. Isaac — the lackadaisical, the indifferent, the father of an illustrious son, the son of an illustrious father. Jacob — the Jew — crafty and cunning, yet tender-hearted and visionary, and God was the father of each and yet loved them all.
The fault with us is we want religion to level human nature at a dead uniformity, and we think Christians should all be conformed to our type, forgetting that Christ is the universal type — so universal that we may all be unlike each other and yet all be like him. It is the fault that belongs to our education. We grind all our children through the same mill. Black and white, delicate and robust, brilliant and dunderhead, they must all submit to the same polishing process.
It is the fault of our church system, also. We want to level down the whole congregation to our own miserable level. We think Christ has conceived in us the true conception of the saint. There is the Sunday school type and the Christian Endeavor type and the prayer meeting type. There is the elder type and the trustee type. The W. C. T. U. type and the Y. M. C. A. type. The temperance type and the missionary type. There is the Presbyterian and the Methodist and the Baptist type. The Mary and the Martha and the Lazarus type. But the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind, and all may be included in his all embracing love.
Let us remember that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Mary the passive, Martha the active, and Lazarus the patient. Mary — satisfied to be. Martha — to do. Lazarus — to do without. Mary — the waiter. Martha — the worker. Lazarus — the watcher. Mary content to sit. Martha content to serve. Lazarus content to suffer. And Jesus loved each and he loved all.
Jesus loved Martha. That is what the record says. The active, busy serving Christian Martha. She is in the majority today and is greatly in demand. Sometimes she is apt to think she is the only one whom the Lord loves. She has much Scripture to quote in favor of her disposition and she has the authority of great men who favor the strenuous life. What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only."
Martha is everywhere respected and honored today because she does things. She is the Sunday school, the prayer meeting, the church services, the missionary society, the ladies' aid. She is cooking, praying, sewing, visiting, collecting for the kingdom of God, until when night comes she falls asleep too tired to say her prayers. And Jesus loved Martha. And we must love her too. A religion that finds its joy in service and in consecrated activity is apt to be a moral power. A religion that finds God nearer in moments of sentiment or musical ecstasy, instead of in moments of moral endeavor, is extremely dangerous. Jesus loved Martha.
Jesus loved Mary. Mary — the quiet, retiring sister who sat at his feet. Mary's claim to recognition came from being willing to wait upon his words. She is like the beautiful picture through which you look into the great far beyond. She is like whispering music singing comfort into troubled hearts.
In a world of sin and turmoil Mary sat in the confidence of a beautiful trust. She was like another beautiful girl upon whose tombstone her friends carved the words: "It was easier to be good when she was with us." That was Mary's tribute. "What interests the world in Mr. Gladstone," writes John Morley, "is even more what he was than what he did." What interests the world in Jesus is not so much his beautiful teaching as his more beautiful life.
It was a hard lesson for Elijah to learn. He was the child of the storm and the tempest. He lived in reformations and revolutions. "Behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and brake in pieces the rocks before Jehovah."
My dear friends, let us not take away from the boundless power the love of God. He loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. All with their differences. And they all loved him. Mary sits at his feet. Martha hurries to supply his wants. And Lazarus is content to glorify him with his radiant resurrection glory. With all our differences and misunderstandings and selfishness we love him and each in turn is loved by him.
By Dr. Hugh T. Kerr, Chicago
TEXT — Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. — John 11:5.
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Jesus loved them all. Yet he loved each of them. Martha and Mary and Lazarus. Each of them has a place in his heart. Yet they are so different. Jesus does not ask for monotony, but variety in his kingdom. The kingdom of grace is like the kingdom of nature. No two varieties are alike. In my Father's house are many mansions. One family, but many members. One home, but many hearts.
That was the revelation of God's character in the Old Testament. He was the father of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob. How different they were. Abraham — the faithful, the consecrated, the pathfinder. Isaac — the lackadaisical, the indifferent, the father of an illustrious son, the son of an illustrious father. Jacob — the Jew — crafty and cunning, yet tender-hearted and visionary, and God was the father of each and yet loved them all.
The fault with us is we want religion to level human nature at a dead uniformity, and we think Christians should all be conformed to our type, forgetting that Christ is the universal type — so universal that we may all be unlike each other and yet all be like him. It is the fault that belongs to our education. We grind all our children through the same mill. Black and white, delicate and robust, brilliant and dunderhead, they must all submit to the same polishing process.
It is the fault of our church system, also. We want to level down the whole congregation to our own miserable level. We think Christ has conceived in us the true conception of the saint. There is the Sunday school type and the Christian Endeavor type and the prayer meeting type. There is the elder type and the trustee type. The W. C. T. U. type and the Y. M. C. A. type. The temperance type and the missionary type. There is the Presbyterian and the Methodist and the Baptist type. The Mary and the Martha and the Lazarus type. But the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind, and all may be included in his all embracing love.
Let us remember that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Mary the passive, Martha the active, and Lazarus the patient. Mary — satisfied to be. Martha — to do. Lazarus — to do without. Mary — the waiter. Martha — the worker. Lazarus — the watcher. Mary content to sit. Martha content to serve. Lazarus content to suffer. And Jesus loved each and he loved all.
Jesus loved Martha. That is what the record says. The active, busy serving Christian Martha. She is in the majority today and is greatly in demand. Sometimes she is apt to think she is the only one whom the Lord loves. She has much Scripture to quote in favor of her disposition and she has the authority of great men who favor the strenuous life. What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only."
Martha is everywhere respected and honored today because she does things. She is the Sunday school, the prayer meeting, the church services, the missionary society, the ladies' aid. She is cooking, praying, sewing, visiting, collecting for the kingdom of God, until when night comes she falls asleep too tired to say her prayers. And Jesus loved Martha. And we must love her too. A religion that finds its joy in service and in consecrated activity is apt to be a moral power. A religion that finds God nearer in moments of sentiment or musical ecstasy, instead of in moments of moral endeavor, is extremely dangerous. Jesus loved Martha.
Jesus loved Mary. Mary — the quiet, retiring sister who sat at his feet. Mary's claim to recognition came from being willing to wait upon his words. She is like the beautiful picture through which you look into the great far beyond. She is like whispering music singing comfort into troubled hearts.
In a world of sin and turmoil Mary sat in the confidence of a beautiful trust. She was like another beautiful girl upon whose tombstone her friends carved the words: "It was easier to be good when she was with us." That was Mary's tribute. "What interests the world in Mr. Gladstone," writes John Morley, "is even more what he was than what he did." What interests the world in Jesus is not so much his beautiful teaching as his more beautiful life.
It was a hard lesson for Elijah to learn. He was the child of the storm and the tempest. He lived in reformations and revolutions. "Behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and brake in pieces the rocks before Jehovah."
My dear friends, let us not take away from the boundless power the love of God. He loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. All with their differences. And they all loved him. Mary sits at his feet. Martha hurries to supply his wants. And Lazarus is content to glorify him with his radiant resurrection glory. With all our differences and misunderstandings and selfishness we love him and each in turn is loved by him.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
The Need of Tenderness
1902
The grace of tenderness, for it is a grace, should be cultivated for its own sake as well as its invaluable aid in our service for the Master.
True tenderness modulates the voice, illuminates the face and presents the word of life in a spirit of gentleness, which wins a hearing for even unwelcome truths. The world is in need of just such tenderness as was manifested by our Lord, and we as His disciples can render no better service to Him than reflecting His tender sympathy as we pass along life's journey.
People long for tenderness. Harsh measures never won a soul to higher things. Sympathy is the magic key by which we may gain access to hungry, aching hearts. Tenderness may be developed by studying the character of our Master. He recognized the innermost longings of weary mankind, and met this yearning with infinite tenderness and pity. Surely we as His followers should imitate Him to the best of our ability along this line.
Let us determine by the help of the Holy Spirit never to be betrayed into harshness. The world is hard and cold enough without you and I adding to its burden. Rather let us seek by tenderness and sympathy to aid some soul to reach a firmer foundation, and bring joy and peace to some little corner of earth. — George D. Gelwicks.
The grace of tenderness, for it is a grace, should be cultivated for its own sake as well as its invaluable aid in our service for the Master.
True tenderness modulates the voice, illuminates the face and presents the word of life in a spirit of gentleness, which wins a hearing for even unwelcome truths. The world is in need of just such tenderness as was manifested by our Lord, and we as His disciples can render no better service to Him than reflecting His tender sympathy as we pass along life's journey.
People long for tenderness. Harsh measures never won a soul to higher things. Sympathy is the magic key by which we may gain access to hungry, aching hearts. Tenderness may be developed by studying the character of our Master. He recognized the innermost longings of weary mankind, and met this yearning with infinite tenderness and pity. Surely we as His followers should imitate Him to the best of our ability along this line.
Let us determine by the help of the Holy Spirit never to be betrayed into harshness. The world is hard and cold enough without you and I adding to its burden. Rather let us seek by tenderness and sympathy to aid some soul to reach a firmer foundation, and bring joy and peace to some little corner of earth. — George D. Gelwicks.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Is Prophet of The Highest
1908
Qualities That Are the Attribute of the Ideal Minister
As the touch of genius lifts the master above the mere musician, so this sense of the unseen lifts the ideal minister above the mere preacher of sermons. It is the investiture of a priesthood verified not by tradition, but by experience. It is immediacy of access to the eternal fountains of salvation. He lives among men as one of them, simple, unselfish, human, hopeful, yet they know that he walks with God.
"And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended."
He is a scholar, but criticism has never violated that shrine of the spirit where the pure in heart see God, says a writer in The Atlantic. The unfading newness of everlasting truth gives to his speech the freshness of springtime. The unsearchable mystery of infinite holiness gives to his thought and conduct gravity and reserve, as one who has beheld things which it is not possible for a man to utter. The demands of social service have not stamped him with the professionalism of a reformer. The ardor of churchmanship has not made him an ecclesiastic. He remains a prophet of the highest. When he speaks men feel that he is standing on holy ground. When he prays men perceive that he is prostrating himself before the risen Christ.
Thoughts
No man ever succeeded in walking one way when he was looking another.
Beware of the man whose own dog will not trust him.
Qualities That Are the Attribute of the Ideal Minister
As the touch of genius lifts the master above the mere musician, so this sense of the unseen lifts the ideal minister above the mere preacher of sermons. It is the investiture of a priesthood verified not by tradition, but by experience. It is immediacy of access to the eternal fountains of salvation. He lives among men as one of them, simple, unselfish, human, hopeful, yet they know that he walks with God.
"And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended."
He is a scholar, but criticism has never violated that shrine of the spirit where the pure in heart see God, says a writer in The Atlantic. The unfading newness of everlasting truth gives to his speech the freshness of springtime. The unsearchable mystery of infinite holiness gives to his thought and conduct gravity and reserve, as one who has beheld things which it is not possible for a man to utter. The demands of social service have not stamped him with the professionalism of a reformer. The ardor of churchmanship has not made him an ecclesiastic. He remains a prophet of the highest. When he speaks men feel that he is standing on holy ground. When he prays men perceive that he is prostrating himself before the risen Christ.
Thoughts
No man ever succeeded in walking one way when he was looking another.
Beware of the man whose own dog will not trust him.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The Lord Hates a Grouch
1911
Are you a grouch? Is the sun always behind a cloud when you look at it? Are you suspicious of every man who meets you with a smile, and does the prattle and laughter of children grate on your ears?
If this is the case there is something wrong with your insides. The trouble may be physical and it won't hurt to try a good dyspepsia cure. But the chances are that it is mental, and then you want to go out on the street and hire two or three big, husky fellows with heavy boots to kick you all over the townsite for a couple of hours. When you come to your vision will be a little clearer. A few doses like the doughnut instead of the hole.
The Lord and the community hate a grouch worse than they do a liar. There is no happy abiding place for them, either here or on the other side of Jordan's stormy banks.
The grouch walks down the street with his face the picture of a dose of quinine, and the neighbors look at each other and say, "How he hates himself." He goes to church and the only thing he notices is that the room is a little cold and the choir picked mighty poor hymns. He walks into a store and the clerks hide behind the counter to avoid him. His days are filled with stomach pains and his nights with bad dreams, while his cup runneth over with bitter gall. — Bert Walker.
—The Ellis Review-Headlight, Ellis, Kansas, 1911.
Are you a grouch? Is the sun always behind a cloud when you look at it? Are you suspicious of every man who meets you with a smile, and does the prattle and laughter of children grate on your ears?
If this is the case there is something wrong with your insides. The trouble may be physical and it won't hurt to try a good dyspepsia cure. But the chances are that it is mental, and then you want to go out on the street and hire two or three big, husky fellows with heavy boots to kick you all over the townsite for a couple of hours. When you come to your vision will be a little clearer. A few doses like the doughnut instead of the hole.
The Lord and the community hate a grouch worse than they do a liar. There is no happy abiding place for them, either here or on the other side of Jordan's stormy banks.
The grouch walks down the street with his face the picture of a dose of quinine, and the neighbors look at each other and say, "How he hates himself." He goes to church and the only thing he notices is that the room is a little cold and the choir picked mighty poor hymns. He walks into a store and the clerks hide behind the counter to avoid him. His days are filled with stomach pains and his nights with bad dreams, while his cup runneth over with bitter gall. — Bert Walker.
—The Ellis Review-Headlight, Ellis, Kansas, 1911.
Popularity of Thais
1910
"Every other young actress is calling herself Thais," said Henry E. Dixey at a dinner at Mauquin's. "Thais McGinnis, Thais Endicott, Thais Schmidt — the thing is universal.
"Universal and ridiculous; for they who have read Anatole France's story of 'Thais' know that she was a very naughty little girl, indeed. I am quite sure that no real reader of 'Thais' would ever, under any circumstances, consent to be called such a name.
"It makes me think of a man who, taking his infant daughter to be baptized, told the clergyman to call her Venus.
" 'But I refuse to call her Venus,' said the clergyman, indignantly. 'Venus is the name of a pagan goddess.'
" 'Well, how about your own girl, Diana?' said the man."
Clear Conscience
The man with a clear conscience and the desire and ability to live the right life may possess both fame and wealth to advantage to himself and those about him. — Rev. W. S. Bovard, Presbyterian, Indianapolis.
Cheerful Like Children
Cheerfulness should be the gift of the sunlight, the air should suffice for inspiration, and radiance of wisdom is the lonely waste of the pine woods, making us dance and run about happily like children. — Emerson.
"Every other young actress is calling herself Thais," said Henry E. Dixey at a dinner at Mauquin's. "Thais McGinnis, Thais Endicott, Thais Schmidt — the thing is universal.
"Universal and ridiculous; for they who have read Anatole France's story of 'Thais' know that she was a very naughty little girl, indeed. I am quite sure that no real reader of 'Thais' would ever, under any circumstances, consent to be called such a name.
"It makes me think of a man who, taking his infant daughter to be baptized, told the clergyman to call her Venus.
" 'But I refuse to call her Venus,' said the clergyman, indignantly. 'Venus is the name of a pagan goddess.'
" 'Well, how about your own girl, Diana?' said the man."
Clear Conscience
The man with a clear conscience and the desire and ability to live the right life may possess both fame and wealth to advantage to himself and those about him. — Rev. W. S. Bovard, Presbyterian, Indianapolis.
Cheerful Like Children
Cheerfulness should be the gift of the sunlight, the air should suffice for inspiration, and radiance of wisdom is the lonely waste of the pine woods, making us dance and run about happily like children. — Emerson.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Lectures on Chastity and Social Purity
Kansas, 1911
Men's Meeting Held
There was quite an interesting event last Sunday afternoon at the Opera House under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A.
The secretary, Britt Harris, had issued tickets to men only and boys over sixteen years of age to a lecture delivered by Dr. Wayne K. Stalnaker of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, who gave his lecture on the subject "Chastity and Social Purity."
The Doctor held his audience for nearly an hour. It was evident that the audience was with him from start to finish, and at the close, each man pledged himself to stand for the motherhood, wifehood, and daughterhood of the city of Ellis.
The song service was in charge of Prof. F. F. Gearhardt who is conducting the chorus at the Methodist Revival. It was a source of inspiration to hear 90 men singing the songs of Zion like camp-meeting folk. Mr. Harris seems to be adept at getting men together and in touch with each other.
—The Ellis Review-Headlight, Ellis, Kansas, 1911.
1910
Families Should Have Dogs
An Edinburgh clergyman says: "Every family should have a dog. It is like a perpetual baby; it betrays no secrets, never sulks, asks no troublesome questions, never gets into debt, never comes down late to breakfast, and is always ready for a bit of fun."
Men's Meeting Held
There was quite an interesting event last Sunday afternoon at the Opera House under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A.
The secretary, Britt Harris, had issued tickets to men only and boys over sixteen years of age to a lecture delivered by Dr. Wayne K. Stalnaker of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, who gave his lecture on the subject "Chastity and Social Purity."
The Doctor held his audience for nearly an hour. It was evident that the audience was with him from start to finish, and at the close, each man pledged himself to stand for the motherhood, wifehood, and daughterhood of the city of Ellis.
The song service was in charge of Prof. F. F. Gearhardt who is conducting the chorus at the Methodist Revival. It was a source of inspiration to hear 90 men singing the songs of Zion like camp-meeting folk. Mr. Harris seems to be adept at getting men together and in touch with each other.
—The Ellis Review-Headlight, Ellis, Kansas, 1911.
1910
Families Should Have Dogs
An Edinburgh clergyman says: "Every family should have a dog. It is like a perpetual baby; it betrays no secrets, never sulks, asks no troublesome questions, never gets into debt, never comes down late to breakfast, and is always ready for a bit of fun."
Monday, June 11, 2007
Influenced By His Mother
1915
John Bright's Explanation of His Supreme Mastery of the Art of Public Speaking
The famous English orator, John Bright, was asked how he came to be such a master of the art of public speaking. He answered that the only help he ever had in that direction he got by listening to his mother read the Bible.
She was accustomed to read the Bible aloud to the children, and he was so fascinated, he said, by her way of reading that he had tried ever since to imitate it.
John Bright became a great statesman, who carried out the teachings of the Bible in a noble and helpful life. Such was the power of his eloquence that he brought about great and beneficial changes in the laws of England.
His mother's Bible reading during the years of his impressible childhood influenced his whole life; the careful, unhurried, reverent and expressive way in which she read was the chief influence in producing one of England's greatest and noblest orators.
There are many ways in which a mother may influence legislation, even in communities where she may not yet cast a vote. — Youth's Companion.
John Bright's Explanation of His Supreme Mastery of the Art of Public Speaking
The famous English orator, John Bright, was asked how he came to be such a master of the art of public speaking. He answered that the only help he ever had in that direction he got by listening to his mother read the Bible.
She was accustomed to read the Bible aloud to the children, and he was so fascinated, he said, by her way of reading that he had tried ever since to imitate it.
John Bright became a great statesman, who carried out the teachings of the Bible in a noble and helpful life. Such was the power of his eloquence that he brought about great and beneficial changes in the laws of England.
His mother's Bible reading during the years of his impressible childhood influenced his whole life; the careful, unhurried, reverent and expressive way in which she read was the chief influence in producing one of England's greatest and noblest orators.
There are many ways in which a mother may influence legislation, even in communities where she may not yet cast a vote. — Youth's Companion.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
The Book of Proverbs
1909
Stored-Up Wisdom for the Wise
Proverbs are the small coins of truth's currency. They are in a form to be possessed and used by the common people. They are useful for the dally needs of life, and much comfort and strength and safety may be purchased by them. The authorship of a wise saying matters little; even as it is of no importance to know the names of the workmen who minted a coin. Because human nature is essentially the same throughout all the ages and in all lands the proverbs which embody a philosophy of conduct are everywhere and always valuable.
The stored-up wisdom of the wise is only useful to him who has the wisdom to make right use of it. It is easier to make a proverb than to cultivate a virtue. The Book of Proverbs is not a mystical, nor yet a distinctively spiritual production. It is rather a compendium of the crystallized experience of shrewd men who lived in a world of material realities. The proverbs treat of things as they are. They are worldly wisdom. Whitelaw Reid once called them the best guides to a successful career that any young man could study. A wise saying is a fingerboard on life's highroad — but of no use to the traveler who will not, or cannot, read it.
The hard-headedness of the Book of Proverbs is its most striking quality. It treats of the common themes. Life as alert men know it is mirrored in these pages. The people we all meet walk through the book. Here is the flatterer, the guileful, politic man of the world, with honeyed words meant only to facilitate his own ends; here are the sluggard and the fool; the usurer and the boaster; the scarlet woman and the drunkard; the courtier and the slanderer; the jealous person and the envious; the faithful friend who is closer than a brother, and the righteous man who is as bold as a lion. A veritable portrait gallery of human life is the Book of Proverbs, and whoso studies it well may find his own image and the labeled likeness of all classes of persons with whom he is likely to meet.
Life's greatest lessons have to be learned in the school of experience; but some books, of which Proverbs is one, afford useful preparatory studies and sharpen one's understanding.
Stored-Up Wisdom for the Wise
Proverbs are the small coins of truth's currency. They are in a form to be possessed and used by the common people. They are useful for the dally needs of life, and much comfort and strength and safety may be purchased by them. The authorship of a wise saying matters little; even as it is of no importance to know the names of the workmen who minted a coin. Because human nature is essentially the same throughout all the ages and in all lands the proverbs which embody a philosophy of conduct are everywhere and always valuable.
The stored-up wisdom of the wise is only useful to him who has the wisdom to make right use of it. It is easier to make a proverb than to cultivate a virtue. The Book of Proverbs is not a mystical, nor yet a distinctively spiritual production. It is rather a compendium of the crystallized experience of shrewd men who lived in a world of material realities. The proverbs treat of things as they are. They are worldly wisdom. Whitelaw Reid once called them the best guides to a successful career that any young man could study. A wise saying is a fingerboard on life's highroad — but of no use to the traveler who will not, or cannot, read it.
The hard-headedness of the Book of Proverbs is its most striking quality. It treats of the common themes. Life as alert men know it is mirrored in these pages. The people we all meet walk through the book. Here is the flatterer, the guileful, politic man of the world, with honeyed words meant only to facilitate his own ends; here are the sluggard and the fool; the usurer and the boaster; the scarlet woman and the drunkard; the courtier and the slanderer; the jealous person and the envious; the faithful friend who is closer than a brother, and the righteous man who is as bold as a lion. A veritable portrait gallery of human life is the Book of Proverbs, and whoso studies it well may find his own image and the labeled likeness of all classes of persons with whom he is likely to meet.
Life's greatest lessons have to be learned in the school of experience; but some books, of which Proverbs is one, afford useful preparatory studies and sharpen one's understanding.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Pastor Discovers Ideal for Bride
1914
Philadelphia, Jan. 5. — After compiling specifications for a wife, Rev. Henry Barnes, chaplain of the House of Saint Michael and All Angels, searched for a bride until he found one who measured up to the requirements. She is Miss Sara Elizabeth Robertson, 35 years old, supervisor of Visiting Nurses' society. The engagement of the pair is announced.
Barnes is a widower, his first wife having died a year and a half ago. He has three children.
The specifications which Mr. Barnes set for his wife follow:
First — Must be good and sweet to look upon and have an attractive personality.
Second — She must have plenty of snap and vivacity.
Third — Must have a capacity of grasping the vital things of life so she can keep pace with her husband and understand his viewpoint.
Fourth — Must have a broad understanding of humanity and love all men and women as her brothers and sisters.
Rev. Barnes says Miss Robertson is qualified to fill all these specifications.
Note: The article said her name was "Sare," which I changed. If it's wrong, sorry!
Philadelphia, Jan. 5. — After compiling specifications for a wife, Rev. Henry Barnes, chaplain of the House of Saint Michael and All Angels, searched for a bride until he found one who measured up to the requirements. She is Miss Sara Elizabeth Robertson, 35 years old, supervisor of Visiting Nurses' society. The engagement of the pair is announced.
Barnes is a widower, his first wife having died a year and a half ago. He has three children.
The specifications which Mr. Barnes set for his wife follow:
First — Must be good and sweet to look upon and have an attractive personality.
Second — She must have plenty of snap and vivacity.
Third — Must have a capacity of grasping the vital things of life so she can keep pace with her husband and understand his viewpoint.
Fourth — Must have a broad understanding of humanity and love all men and women as her brothers and sisters.
Rev. Barnes says Miss Robertson is qualified to fill all these specifications.
Note: The article said her name was "Sare," which I changed. If it's wrong, sorry!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Test of a Fine Character
1902
The test of a fine character is attention to the minutiae of conduct — to do the little commonplace service of love, the cheerful word, the cup of cold water, when rendered not grudgingly or of necessity. — Friend.
Vacant Churches
We have a distressing way of talking about "vacant" pulpits and "vacant" churches. It is an unfortunate part of our overemphasis of the place of a minister in our various systems of church polity, it is of a piece with the talk about "Dr. Blank's church." A church is not vacant until the Holy Spirit has left it. As long as through humble hearts there is evidence of the divine indwelling a church is great and rich. A log cabin with a simple hearted layman's prayer and exposition of the word of God may rise to the dignity and glory of a temple, while a gorgeous architectural pile with a superb organ and an intellectually gifted preacher may be "vacant" indeed. — Congregationalist.
The Main Battlefield
The main battlefield is the one which moves about with us, go where we will — ourselves. So dingy and inglorious oftentimes that we would like to flee it altogether and lose ourselves in some great campaign which should keep us from over being reminded of it again! Great things have sometimes been done by men who never won the battle of their own natures, but they are the standing incongruity and puzzle of the moral world. When the thing we want to do has outrun the thing we want to be, our thought about life has ceased to be real and moral and essential, and God and men will forgive us all the delay that is necessary in order for us to go back into that battlefield of our own souls. — Sunday School Times.
The test of a fine character is attention to the minutiae of conduct — to do the little commonplace service of love, the cheerful word, the cup of cold water, when rendered not grudgingly or of necessity. — Friend.
Vacant Churches
We have a distressing way of talking about "vacant" pulpits and "vacant" churches. It is an unfortunate part of our overemphasis of the place of a minister in our various systems of church polity, it is of a piece with the talk about "Dr. Blank's church." A church is not vacant until the Holy Spirit has left it. As long as through humble hearts there is evidence of the divine indwelling a church is great and rich. A log cabin with a simple hearted layman's prayer and exposition of the word of God may rise to the dignity and glory of a temple, while a gorgeous architectural pile with a superb organ and an intellectually gifted preacher may be "vacant" indeed. — Congregationalist.
The Main Battlefield
The main battlefield is the one which moves about with us, go where we will — ourselves. So dingy and inglorious oftentimes that we would like to flee it altogether and lose ourselves in some great campaign which should keep us from over being reminded of it again! Great things have sometimes been done by men who never won the battle of their own natures, but they are the standing incongruity and puzzle of the moral world. When the thing we want to do has outrun the thing we want to be, our thought about life has ceased to be real and moral and essential, and God and men will forgive us all the delay that is necessary in order for us to go back into that battlefield of our own souls. — Sunday School Times.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Religious Thought — Gems Gathered From Denominations
1909
Conscience
A guilty conscience makes cowards of us all, but a clean conscience makes heroes of men. — W. P. Hines, Baptist, Lexington, Ky.
Woman's Purity
Like a calla lily so is the purity radiating from the character and life of a good woman, changing the atmosphere about her and making the world better for her having lived in it — Rev. W. M. Vines, Baptist, Brooklyn.
Revealer of Man.
The house is the revealer and developer of man. Beasts have dens, birds have nests, and men have homes. A man shows what he is by the kind of house he builds around himself. — Rev. Dr. Radcliffe, Presbyterian, Washington.
Fault Mending Time
Now is the time to fill up the valleys of carelessness by mending numerous little faults; also it is the fitting time to level the mountains of pride and practice the virtue of humility at all times. — Archbishop Keane, Roman Catholic, Dubuque, Ia.
Spirit of Wisdom
By the term "spirit of wisdom" is meant not merely a wise-spirit, though so much is, of course, implied, but a spirit which is essentially wise even in its temper and action. — Rev. C. W. McCormick, Methodist Episcopal, Brooklyn.
Soul Perfection
Virtue can never be accumulated by self seeking. No soul can come far on its way toward perfection until it shall devote its enthusiasm to the unselfish service of humanity, until it shall learn that its task is to reach every man. — Rev. Ira J. Houston, Congregationalist, Cleveland, O.
Church Valor Theories
We all need to be told now and then to get the cobwebs out of our brains. There are cobweb theories of life, false and foolish philosophies of life, possible only to those who have prostrated themselves before an idol of the theater. There is nothing virtuous in suffering for its own sake. God does not envy you your happiness. Pains which must be borne should be borne heroically. Don't be afraid to be happy. — Rev. Charles F. Aked, Baptist, New York.
Conscience
A guilty conscience makes cowards of us all, but a clean conscience makes heroes of men. — W. P. Hines, Baptist, Lexington, Ky.
Woman's Purity
Like a calla lily so is the purity radiating from the character and life of a good woman, changing the atmosphere about her and making the world better for her having lived in it — Rev. W. M. Vines, Baptist, Brooklyn.
Revealer of Man.
The house is the revealer and developer of man. Beasts have dens, birds have nests, and men have homes. A man shows what he is by the kind of house he builds around himself. — Rev. Dr. Radcliffe, Presbyterian, Washington.
Fault Mending Time
Now is the time to fill up the valleys of carelessness by mending numerous little faults; also it is the fitting time to level the mountains of pride and practice the virtue of humility at all times. — Archbishop Keane, Roman Catholic, Dubuque, Ia.
Spirit of Wisdom
By the term "spirit of wisdom" is meant not merely a wise-spirit, though so much is, of course, implied, but a spirit which is essentially wise even in its temper and action. — Rev. C. W. McCormick, Methodist Episcopal, Brooklyn.
Soul Perfection
Virtue can never be accumulated by self seeking. No soul can come far on its way toward perfection until it shall devote its enthusiasm to the unselfish service of humanity, until it shall learn that its task is to reach every man. — Rev. Ira J. Houston, Congregationalist, Cleveland, O.
Church Valor Theories
We all need to be told now and then to get the cobwebs out of our brains. There are cobweb theories of life, false and foolish philosophies of life, possible only to those who have prostrated themselves before an idol of the theater. There is nothing virtuous in suffering for its own sake. God does not envy you your happiness. Pains which must be borne should be borne heroically. Don't be afraid to be happy. — Rev. Charles F. Aked, Baptist, New York.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
The Christian Courage of a Reverend Father
1877
Samuel Maxwell, of the Third Ward, died yesterday morning, at 8 o'clock, of small-pox.
Shortly before his death, we understand that he, being a Protestant, sent for a Protestant minister to give him some spiritual advice, but the minister refused to go.
He sent for Father Eppink, who acceded to the request, and after giving to the dying man spiritual consolation, baptized him into the Catholic Church.
The Rev. Father is entitled to much praise for the Christian courage he has shown in visiting small-pox cases. He has gone, not only with the word of God in his mouth, but the spade and mattock in his hand, and while with one he prepared the soul for eternity, he dug the grave for the body.
Such devotion to God and humanity as he is showing is rare in human character. — Zanesville (Ohio] Times, January 15.
Samuel Maxwell, of the Third Ward, died yesterday morning, at 8 o'clock, of small-pox.
Shortly before his death, we understand that he, being a Protestant, sent for a Protestant minister to give him some spiritual advice, but the minister refused to go.
He sent for Father Eppink, who acceded to the request, and after giving to the dying man spiritual consolation, baptized him into the Catholic Church.
The Rev. Father is entitled to much praise for the Christian courage he has shown in visiting small-pox cases. He has gone, not only with the word of God in his mouth, but the spade and mattock in his hand, and while with one he prepared the soul for eternity, he dug the grave for the body.
Such devotion to God and humanity as he is showing is rare in human character. — Zanesville (Ohio] Times, January 15.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Ram's Horns – Observations on The Christian Life
1895
The devil never makes any flank movements for which God is not prepared.
Put a pig in a parlor, and its first question will be, "Well, Where's your mud?"
There are a good many things the devil can't do without the help of a hypocrite.
Whoever gives as God prospers him, will never have to stop giving for lack of funds.
Until we are willing to do all in our power to answer our prayer, we do not pray.
The man who can learn from his own mistakes, can always be learning something.
Whenever God's chariot comes to a standstill, it is because there are obstacles in the way that human hands can remove.
Before we try to lead others, we ought to be sure that we are closely following Christ.
Many are willing to do what God wants them to do, who don't want to be what he wants them to be.
The man who puts the bottle to his neighbor's lips, first puts a nail through the hand of Christ.
The devil's work in this world has always been most hindered by those who were most like Christ.
No matter how large the gift, or how bright, it means nothing, unless behind it there is a heart that worships.
A revival is badly needed where the people who try the hardest to run the church never go to prayer meeting.
Christ never authorized anybody to make a prayer for the salvation of men, that could he measured by square miles.
No matter what a man says in church, you know what kind of religion he has when you know what kind of company he keeps. — Ram's Horn.
The devil never makes any flank movements for which God is not prepared.
Put a pig in a parlor, and its first question will be, "Well, Where's your mud?"
There are a good many things the devil can't do without the help of a hypocrite.
Whoever gives as God prospers him, will never have to stop giving for lack of funds.
Until we are willing to do all in our power to answer our prayer, we do not pray.
The man who can learn from his own mistakes, can always be learning something.
Whenever God's chariot comes to a standstill, it is because there are obstacles in the way that human hands can remove.
Before we try to lead others, we ought to be sure that we are closely following Christ.
Many are willing to do what God wants them to do, who don't want to be what he wants them to be.
The man who puts the bottle to his neighbor's lips, first puts a nail through the hand of Christ.
The devil's work in this world has always been most hindered by those who were most like Christ.
No matter how large the gift, or how bright, it means nothing, unless behind it there is a heart that worships.
A revival is badly needed where the people who try the hardest to run the church never go to prayer meeting.
Christ never authorized anybody to make a prayer for the salvation of men, that could he measured by square miles.
No matter what a man says in church, you know what kind of religion he has when you know what kind of company he keeps. — Ram's Horn.
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