1902
Purpose is what gives life a meaning.
Circumstances may change, but God never does.
The breadth of Christianity depends on its depth.
God puts consolation only where He has first put pain.
Early athletics will not suffice for the heavenly race.
In this life there is but one sure happiness— to live for others.
Expect God to help you when you have prayed for His assistance.
True greatness is ability to serve coupled with a meek and quiet spirit.
When the Lord is in our hearts His hand will be seen in our works.
Never take your eye off the cross, as all the lines of salvation center there.
Poverty of possessions need not be discreditable; poverty of life always is.
A thousand times better are the men who do than the weaklings who only know.
The loving judgments of friends are harder to bear than the harsh ones of foes.
All God's providences are but His touches of the strings of the great instrument of the world.
When you step up on one promise you will always find a higher and a better one before you.
The self-centered life comes to naught; the Christ-centered life ever continues in enlargement.
There are some lessons which can only be learned in the garden, and beneath the shadow of the cross. — The Ram's Horn.
Friday, March 14, 2008
More Words of Wisdom
1902
Sincerity is the secret of success.
It takes more than money to make a living.
Self-surrender is the secret of soul-satisfaction.
The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life.
To break our mirrors will not make us beautiful.
The heart is only clean when it is wholly clean.
You cannot make an enemy without losing a friend.
Sympathy for others is a salve for our own sorrows.
It is a vain hope that the chains of habit will rust off.
The supreme art of living may be summed up in giving.
When a father is too tender his sons usually balance things.
Life is a man's opportunity for the realization of his ideals.
To be at our best to-morrow we must be at our best to-day.
When ambition is the child of envy it will be the mother of sorrows.
The lights of the world are not illumined by the fires of controversy.
He who has friends only to use them will have them only to lose them. — Ram's Horn.
Sincerity is the secret of success.
It takes more than money to make a living.
Self-surrender is the secret of soul-satisfaction.
The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life.
To break our mirrors will not make us beautiful.
The heart is only clean when it is wholly clean.
You cannot make an enemy without losing a friend.
Sympathy for others is a salve for our own sorrows.
It is a vain hope that the chains of habit will rust off.
The supreme art of living may be summed up in giving.
When a father is too tender his sons usually balance things.
Life is a man's opportunity for the realization of his ideals.
To be at our best to-morrow we must be at our best to-day.
When ambition is the child of envy it will be the mother of sorrows.
The lights of the world are not illumined by the fires of controversy.
He who has friends only to use them will have them only to lose them. — Ram's Horn.
Words of Wisdom
Words of Wisdom
1902
In the noonday of life only short shadows are cast.
In order to find out how strong a stick is you must break it.
A good fisherman always provides himself with plenty of bait.
The man who borrows and seldom pays is one who seldom lends.
When you confess a fault to a friend, confess one that you know he also has.
The man who is above imitating the methods of others need never be afraid of being imitated.
Sometimes the loftiest monument towers above the grave of the poet who starved to death.
Women were formed to temper mankind and soothe them into tenderness and compassion. — Addison.
Those who go slowly through life have an opportunity of reading the guideboards along the way. The riches of the world and the
gratifications they afford are too apt when their evil tendency is not opposed by a principle of religion to beget that friendship for the world which is enmity to God.
Prayer is so mighty an instrument that no one ever thoroughly mastered all its keys. They sweep along the infinite scale of man's wants and God's goodness. — Hugh Miller.
Teach self-denial and make its practice pleasurable, and you create for the world a destiny more sublime than ever issued from the brains of the wildest dreamer. — Sir Walter Scott.
Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable. — La Fontaine.
Prudence yields to circumstance, folly quarrels with it, pride defies it, wisdom uses it and genius controls it. — J. S. Blackie.
1902
In the noonday of life only short shadows are cast.
In order to find out how strong a stick is you must break it.
A good fisherman always provides himself with plenty of bait.
The man who borrows and seldom pays is one who seldom lends.
When you confess a fault to a friend, confess one that you know he also has.
The man who is above imitating the methods of others need never be afraid of being imitated.
Sometimes the loftiest monument towers above the grave of the poet who starved to death.
Women were formed to temper mankind and soothe them into tenderness and compassion. — Addison.
Those who go slowly through life have an opportunity of reading the guideboards along the way. The riches of the world and the
gratifications they afford are too apt when their evil tendency is not opposed by a principle of religion to beget that friendship for the world which is enmity to God.
Prayer is so mighty an instrument that no one ever thoroughly mastered all its keys. They sweep along the infinite scale of man's wants and God's goodness. — Hugh Miller.
Teach self-denial and make its practice pleasurable, and you create for the world a destiny more sublime than ever issued from the brains of the wildest dreamer. — Sir Walter Scott.
Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable. — La Fontaine.
Prudence yields to circumstance, folly quarrels with it, pride defies it, wisdom uses it and genius controls it. — J. S. Blackie.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
She Prayed For Bread, But Not For Butter
1901
Olivia was visiting her grandmother. Olivia's grandmother had money to burn. So have Olivia's father and mother. Although the father and mother had come to the wicked city of New York to burn some of their money, leaving Olivia with grandmamma in the west, they are nevertheless very good people. Olivia is well acquainted with the Lord's Prayer. One morning she climbed into bed with her grandmother and began to make conversation.
"At home," she said, "we often pray God to bring us bread."
"Do you?" said grandmamma. "And butter, too, I suppose?"
"Oh, no!" said Olivia airily. "The butter man brings the butter." — New York Sun.
Olivia was visiting her grandmother. Olivia's grandmother had money to burn. So have Olivia's father and mother. Although the father and mother had come to the wicked city of New York to burn some of their money, leaving Olivia with grandmamma in the west, they are nevertheless very good people. Olivia is well acquainted with the Lord's Prayer. One morning she climbed into bed with her grandmother and began to make conversation.
"At home," she said, "we often pray God to bring us bread."
"Do you?" said grandmamma. "And butter, too, I suppose?"
"Oh, no!" said Olivia airily. "The butter man brings the butter." — New York Sun.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Address Against Weltmerism
1901
"Weltmerism Destroyed and Zion Ever Triumphant." This is the subject of an address to be delivered by Rev. James R. Adams, B. D., tomorrow afternoon, at 3 o'clock, in Zion tabernacle, No. 608 Commercial street. S. A. Weltmer and his secretary, J. H. Kelly, have pleaded guilty and thrown themselves upon the mercy of the federal court, which recently tried them for fraud in Kansas City. Thus perish, one by one, the satanic counterfeits of God's work of free grace in Zion. Those who have been deceived and robbed by the so-culled "magnetic healing" are especially welcome at this service, All seats free to everybody. Free-will offerings. "Christ is all and in all." — J. R. A.
—Waterloo Daily Reporter, Waterloo, IA, April 27, 1901, p. 4.
Excerpt from The Mystery Revealed or the Hand-Book of Weltmerism, By Prof. S.A. Weltmer, 1901:
WELTMERISM
Weltmerism is the term applied to the teachings of the author by a magazine writer who paid him a visit in May, 1899. It was used by him to distinguish the teachings of the author from those of other exponents of Mental Healing and its allied branches.
The peculiar feature of my teaching is this: I believe that every person is born with equal rights; that the spiritual part of each person is born in the image and likeness of the Creator; that the same power which produced man produced everything; and that all things, animate and inanimate, have their continual being in accordance with the laws of this Creator.
I believe the power that created man is omnipotent, possesses all the power there is; hence, the power is all in the Creator. This Creator in action is Law, and this Creator is known by the names Law, Law of Nature, Law of Being, God, and designated by Jesus Christ as "My Father which is in Heaven."
Man's power does not consist in any inherent, inborn, latent ability that he may possess; his power consists solely in his ability to grasp the meaning of the Law that governs him and to comply with it. His knowledge of this Law and how to comply with it constitutes his power. I recognize in the language contained in Matt. 18:19, a statement biblical in its origin and both theological and scientific in its meaning; and take the position that a thorough understanding of the language couched in that verse of scripture forms the basis of compromise and unity between science and religion. I believe the religion Christ taught and the works He did were based upon scientific truths, and when applied according to His instruction are capable of demonstration. I believe Christ's entire teachings are as true to-day as they were the day He gave them utterance. I do not believe Christ would teach us to do a work we cannot do.
A strictly undeviating course, based upon the principle involved in His aforesaid statement, constitutes the fundamental doctrine of Weltmerism. Based upon this principle, I claim that any person in the world can do what I do if he knows what I know. The purpose of my life is to teach others what I know. I have no creed except the following: "I do not claim for myself any power or virtue that I do not freely concede to all other men; I do claim for myself all power and virtue conceded to any other man."
"Weltmerism Destroyed and Zion Ever Triumphant." This is the subject of an address to be delivered by Rev. James R. Adams, B. D., tomorrow afternoon, at 3 o'clock, in Zion tabernacle, No. 608 Commercial street. S. A. Weltmer and his secretary, J. H. Kelly, have pleaded guilty and thrown themselves upon the mercy of the federal court, which recently tried them for fraud in Kansas City. Thus perish, one by one, the satanic counterfeits of God's work of free grace in Zion. Those who have been deceived and robbed by the so-culled "magnetic healing" are especially welcome at this service, All seats free to everybody. Free-will offerings. "Christ is all and in all." — J. R. A.
—Waterloo Daily Reporter, Waterloo, IA, April 27, 1901, p. 4.
Excerpt from The Mystery Revealed or the Hand-Book of Weltmerism, By Prof. S.A. Weltmer, 1901:
WELTMERISM
Weltmerism is the term applied to the teachings of the author by a magazine writer who paid him a visit in May, 1899. It was used by him to distinguish the teachings of the author from those of other exponents of Mental Healing and its allied branches.
The peculiar feature of my teaching is this: I believe that every person is born with equal rights; that the spiritual part of each person is born in the image and likeness of the Creator; that the same power which produced man produced everything; and that all things, animate and inanimate, have their continual being in accordance with the laws of this Creator.
I believe the power that created man is omnipotent, possesses all the power there is; hence, the power is all in the Creator. This Creator in action is Law, and this Creator is known by the names Law, Law of Nature, Law of Being, God, and designated by Jesus Christ as "My Father which is in Heaven."
Man's power does not consist in any inherent, inborn, latent ability that he may possess; his power consists solely in his ability to grasp the meaning of the Law that governs him and to comply with it. His knowledge of this Law and how to comply with it constitutes his power. I recognize in the language contained in Matt. 18:19, a statement biblical in its origin and both theological and scientific in its meaning; and take the position that a thorough understanding of the language couched in that verse of scripture forms the basis of compromise and unity between science and religion. I believe the religion Christ taught and the works He did were based upon scientific truths, and when applied according to His instruction are capable of demonstration. I believe Christ's entire teachings are as true to-day as they were the day He gave them utterance. I do not believe Christ would teach us to do a work we cannot do.
A strictly undeviating course, based upon the principle involved in His aforesaid statement, constitutes the fundamental doctrine of Weltmerism. Based upon this principle, I claim that any person in the world can do what I do if he knows what I know. The purpose of my life is to teach others what I know. I have no creed except the following: "I do not claim for myself any power or virtue that I do not freely concede to all other men; I do claim for myself all power and virtue conceded to any other man."
A Sporting Parson
1902
Miss Mary Louise Boyle, who counted Dickens, Lever, Browning, Lowell and Tennyson among her friends, records in her "Book" a story about a sporting parson she knew, the Rev. Loraine Smith, who hunted in purple instead of pink because the former was the correct episcopal color:
"His reverence was always well mounted and was a keen sportsman. He had a pretty living and a good church in the neighborhood, but he surprised his parishioners very much by altering the whole disposition of the tombstones. He thought they looked awkward and untidy in their actual position, so he had them all taken up and rearranged according to his fancy in lines, crosses, squares, etc. One Sunday morning, a very cold winter's day, he had performed the service to a scanty congregation, and on going up into his pulpit, instead of opening his sermon book, he pronounced the following address: 'My dear friends, you require it I will preach you the sermon which I have brought with me, but if you are as cold and hungry as I am I think you will prefer going with me to the rectory, where you will find some cold beef and some good ale.'"
Miss Mary Louise Boyle, who counted Dickens, Lever, Browning, Lowell and Tennyson among her friends, records in her "Book" a story about a sporting parson she knew, the Rev. Loraine Smith, who hunted in purple instead of pink because the former was the correct episcopal color:
"His reverence was always well mounted and was a keen sportsman. He had a pretty living and a good church in the neighborhood, but he surprised his parishioners very much by altering the whole disposition of the tombstones. He thought they looked awkward and untidy in their actual position, so he had them all taken up and rearranged according to his fancy in lines, crosses, squares, etc. One Sunday morning, a very cold winter's day, he had performed the service to a scanty congregation, and on going up into his pulpit, instead of opening his sermon book, he pronounced the following address: 'My dear friends, you require it I will preach you the sermon which I have brought with me, but if you are as cold and hungry as I am I think you will prefer going with me to the rectory, where you will find some cold beef and some good ale.'"
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Two Pictures
1902
It is related that two painters each painted a picture to illustrate his conception of rest. The first chose for his scene a still, lone lake among the far-off mountains. The second threw on his canvas a thundering waterfall, with a fragile birch tree bending over the foam. At the fork of the branch almost wet with the cataract's spray, a robin sat on its nest.
Henry Drummond, referring to the two paintings, so unlike in their make-up, said:
"The first was only 'stagnation;' the last was 'rest.' Christ's life was outwardly one of the most troubled lives that was ever lived; tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the waves breaking over it all the time, till the worn body was laid in the grave.
"But the inner life was a sea of glass. The great calm was always there. At any moment you might have gone to Him and found rest. And even when His enemies were dogging Him in the streets of Jerusalem He turned to His disciples and offered them, as a last legacy, 'My peace.'"
It is related that two painters each painted a picture to illustrate his conception of rest. The first chose for his scene a still, lone lake among the far-off mountains. The second threw on his canvas a thundering waterfall, with a fragile birch tree bending over the foam. At the fork of the branch almost wet with the cataract's spray, a robin sat on its nest.
Henry Drummond, referring to the two paintings, so unlike in their make-up, said:
"The first was only 'stagnation;' the last was 'rest.' Christ's life was outwardly one of the most troubled lives that was ever lived; tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the waves breaking over it all the time, till the worn body was laid in the grave.
"But the inner life was a sea of glass. The great calm was always there. At any moment you might have gone to Him and found rest. And even when His enemies were dogging Him in the streets of Jerusalem He turned to His disciples and offered them, as a last legacy, 'My peace.'"
How a Business Man Was Saved
1902
An incident is related which occurred during Mr. Finney's meetings in New York City and which well illustrates the value of a little tact in the great struggle for souls. The big cutlery firm of Sheffield, England, had a branch house in New York. The manager was a partner of the firm, and very worldly. One of his clerks, who had been converted in the meetings, invited his employer to attend. One evening he was there, and sat just across the aisle from Mr. Arthur Tappan. He appeared affected during the sermon, and Mr. Tappan kept his eye on him. After the dismissal, Mr. Tappan stepped quickly across the aisle, introduced himself, and invited him to stay to the after-service. The gentleman tried to excuse himself and get away, but Mr. Tappan caught hold of the button on his coat and said, "Now, do stay; I know you will enjoy it;" and he was so kind and gentlemanly that the cutlery man could not well refuse. He stayed, and was converted. Afterwards he said, "An ounce of weight upon my coat-button saved my soul."
Man's Influence
1902
The only responsibility that a man cannot not evade in this life is the one he thinks of least — his personal influence. Man's conscious influence, when he is on dress parade, when he is posing to impress those around him — is woefully small. But his unconscious influence, the silent, subtle radiation of his personality, the effect of his words and acts, the trifles he never considers — is tremendous. Every moment of life he is changing to a degree the life of the whole world. Every man has an atmosphere which is affecting every other. So silently and unconsciously is this influence working that man may forget that it exists. — W. G. Jordan.
The only responsibility that a man cannot not evade in this life is the one he thinks of least — his personal influence. Man's conscious influence, when he is on dress parade, when he is posing to impress those around him — is woefully small. But his unconscious influence, the silent, subtle radiation of his personality, the effect of his words and acts, the trifles he never considers — is tremendous. Every moment of life he is changing to a degree the life of the whole world. Every man has an atmosphere which is affecting every other. So silently and unconsciously is this influence working that man may forget that it exists. — W. G. Jordan.
Work, Our Highest Privilege
1902
Whoever attempts to escape work avoids his best friend. We read the story of man's fall in the light of subsequent revelation, only to find that work is not a curse, but our highest privilege. The fact that the seasons end urges us on to do our best. An endless probation is simply none at all. There is no more pathetic lamentation in all literature than this. The summer is ended and we are not saved. Probation is over. The Judge enters the field and counts the sheaves. The summer ever reproduces itself. They come in their annual succession, but each holds its own place. This summer will be this but once. Another will come, but it won't be this. Nothing is ever repeated. The second resembles the first, but is not to be identified with it. The sun never greets the earth twice the same. Probation is written everywhere. — Presbyterian Journal.
Whoever attempts to escape work avoids his best friend. We read the story of man's fall in the light of subsequent revelation, only to find that work is not a curse, but our highest privilege. The fact that the seasons end urges us on to do our best. An endless probation is simply none at all. There is no more pathetic lamentation in all literature than this. The summer is ended and we are not saved. Probation is over. The Judge enters the field and counts the sheaves. The summer ever reproduces itself. They come in their annual succession, but each holds its own place. This summer will be this but once. Another will come, but it won't be this. Nothing is ever repeated. The second resembles the first, but is not to be identified with it. The sun never greets the earth twice the same. Probation is written everywhere. — Presbyterian Journal.
The Book of Jude
1902
Jude's is one of the briefest of all the letters in the New Testament, containing only twenty-five verses. It is, perhaps, the last of the epistles. Though the date is not infinitely settled, it was probably written after the destruction of Jerusalem, when most of the apostles had finished their work. There is a most delightful spirit of humility in the letter. The writer called himself a servant, and the bondsman of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, and that is a beautiful modesty, for, in fact, it is generally believed that he was the Lord's own brother and the son of Joseph and Mary.
To no particular church or people was the letter written, but the accounts make it especially applicable to us. It is very practical. The heart of Jude was stirred because certain men were denying God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, because of this, "I exhort you that you should contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." That expression in the Greek, however, reads for the faith delivered "once and for all" to the saints. So the doctrine is the same today. — J. Wilbur Chapman.
Jude's is one of the briefest of all the letters in the New Testament, containing only twenty-five verses. It is, perhaps, the last of the epistles. Though the date is not infinitely settled, it was probably written after the destruction of Jerusalem, when most of the apostles had finished their work. There is a most delightful spirit of humility in the letter. The writer called himself a servant, and the bondsman of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, and that is a beautiful modesty, for, in fact, it is generally believed that he was the Lord's own brother and the son of Joseph and Mary.
To no particular church or people was the letter written, but the accounts make it especially applicable to us. It is very practical. The heart of Jude was stirred because certain men were denying God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, because of this, "I exhort you that you should contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." That expression in the Greek, however, reads for the faith delivered "once and for all" to the saints. So the doctrine is the same today. — J. Wilbur Chapman.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The Revelation of St. John the Divine
This link is to a new blog I started, including clips and thoughts from the Book of Revelation. I'm posting the link because for some unknown reason Google is not indexing it.
Words of Wisdom
1902
Pride spells peril.
Deeds are indelible.
Every effort educates.
The call of duty never contradicts itself.
Paint cannot make a picture by its own power.
Charity seldom crawls out of a crowded purse.
It takes much misery to make some men seek mercy.
Obscurity furnishes a good pedestal for lasting fame.
Poverty makes a goodly frame for the picture of purity.
The waiting work furnishes us sufficient warrant to do it.
It doesn't take much gold-leaf to cover the pupil of the eye.
He cannot consecrate his gift who fears to have it consumed.
It is possible to smother the fire of zeal by too much fuel of effort.
Effort does not always produce the best effect in spiritual things.
No amount of culture could make a cabbage grow out of an oak.
If you use a mirror to find your own faults you will forget to use a microscope for those of others. — Ram's Horn.
Comment: I think this one is pretty profound: "Effort does not always produce the best effect in spiritual things." That's today's moment of Zen.
Pride spells peril.
Deeds are indelible.
Every effort educates.
The call of duty never contradicts itself.
Paint cannot make a picture by its own power.
Charity seldom crawls out of a crowded purse.
It takes much misery to make some men seek mercy.
Obscurity furnishes a good pedestal for lasting fame.
Poverty makes a goodly frame for the picture of purity.
The waiting work furnishes us sufficient warrant to do it.
It doesn't take much gold-leaf to cover the pupil of the eye.
He cannot consecrate his gift who fears to have it consumed.
It is possible to smother the fire of zeal by too much fuel of effort.
Effort does not always produce the best effect in spiritual things.
No amount of culture could make a cabbage grow out of an oak.
If you use a mirror to find your own faults you will forget to use a microscope for those of others. — Ram's Horn.
Comment: I think this one is pretty profound: "Effort does not always produce the best effect in spiritual things." That's today's moment of Zen.
God's Opportunity
1903
Someone has said that "each human life is another opportunity for God to display His grace and power." So it is and the thought will grow upon you as you meditate upon it. Just think, "I am God's opportunity!" Isn't it wonderful! Isn't it glorious! When we look at others whom God has richly blessed and honored in service we can see how it is, but do we ever think of ourselves as God's opportunity?
Every one that responds to God's call, "Come!" gives God a large place in the world. Every one who obeys God's command, "Go!" assists God in gaining a larger place in the hearts of men. Every regenerated heart and life is a new garden in which God plants His seeds of love and grace; a fountain out of which flow constant streams of healing power. Take it home and say to yourself, "I am God's opportunity." Be that, and your life will become unutterably grand, and your experience unspeakably sweet. — Presbyterian Journal.
Someone has said that "each human life is another opportunity for God to display His grace and power." So it is and the thought will grow upon you as you meditate upon it. Just think, "I am God's opportunity!" Isn't it wonderful! Isn't it glorious! When we look at others whom God has richly blessed and honored in service we can see how it is, but do we ever think of ourselves as God's opportunity?
Every one that responds to God's call, "Come!" gives God a large place in the world. Every one who obeys God's command, "Go!" assists God in gaining a larger place in the hearts of men. Every regenerated heart and life is a new garden in which God plants His seeds of love and grace; a fountain out of which flow constant streams of healing power. Take it home and say to yourself, "I am God's opportunity." Be that, and your life will become unutterably grand, and your experience unspeakably sweet. — Presbyterian Journal.
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