The Baptist Worker. LOYALTY TO CHRIST IN ALL THINOS. VOL. II, NO. 10. GASTONIA, N. C., DECEMBER, 1900. 25 Cents a Year. Some Points of Progress. The South Fork Association now includes Gaston, Lincoln and Cataw ba counties in its territory. It is about fifty miles in length and about 25 in breadth. It numbers now about 3,700 members. It has grown in twenty years from a membership of 800 to this large number. Its ter ritory has almost doubled. Twenty years ago we gave about $65 to mis sions; now we give about $800. We will notice some points where our work is increasing rapidly:— Bethel we found flourishing, hav ing several baptisms and growing in every way under Pastor Hoyle. Five years ago we were locked out in the woods at this point; now we have a church'and community which could handsomely entertain our large body. At Gastonia we find Eld. Watson and people erecting a new house with as good Sunday School as is in the State, baptisms all during the year and the work in general is in excel lent condition. Then comes Hickory with an ex cellent new house under way, a mis sion chapel just completed and bap tisms frequently, with all depart ments of the work moving on well, which shows Pastor Gwaltney and his people to be wide awake. Maiden comes forward with 27 bap tisms; increase in liberality, and go ing to have preaching two Sundays in the month next year. The work at Mc.Vdenville under B. I.. Hoke as leader, is moving for ward, They are building a new house: baptizing frequently. Breth ren Watson and Vipperman helped in the good work in a meeting at this point. The work here is in very good condition. In the front rank stands Mt. Holly under the wise leadership of Pastor Murchison, with 15 baptized; the work in good conditions: a good in terest at Tuckaseege as a mission point, and having advances from confusion to preaching twice a month, and doing good work all around. Vhpperman and Watson add ed to the interest here bj' their aid in meetings. Lincolnton is moving along. Eld. B. L. Hoge of Concord, did e.xcellent work in a meeting of ten days. Four have been baptized and the church is just about beginning a new par sonage. At Leonard’s Fork Eld. B. L. Hoke, aided in a meeting in which great good was done and 8 were baptized. In connection with this church, is Crouse, where they are struggling to build a house. At Newton the work is continually growing in interest. A good Sunday School is doing excellent work. River View is making great strides forward. Brethren Bridges and Put nam aided the pastor in meetings in which were many conver.sions. Twenty-six have been baptized and the work is growing under Pastor Ila\naer. At Salem Bro. Watson aided in a a meeting where 12 were baptized. There are other points where there has been large growth. Indeed, there has been a healthy growth throughout the entire Association. It is remarkable how the whole country is coming to our views of Bible truth, and if we, as Baptists, will onlv do our duty, it will not be long until every community in our territority will have a live Baptist Church. —From Minnies of South Fork Association. From Miss Bostick. Dear Brethren .\nd Sisters : Brother ^loore writes me that you hope to be in your new house of wor ship by the first Sunday in this month, which is to-morrow. I know it will be a day of rejoicing for you all, and I shall rejoice with you and my prayer for you is that the Holy Spirit may continue to manifest his presence with you and may you all grow daily " In the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” It' would afford me great pleasure to be ^yith you on the day our church is dedicated, but as the great, wide Pacific stretches between us and for bids that, I can only be with vou in prayer. \Vhat a blessed privilege is prayer! The greatest distance on earth can not forbid us all coming to gether around our Heavenl3'Father’s throne. M>’ Sunday begins when j'our Sat urday night begins and so at the close of my next Sundaj' I shall think of you all as gathering together in your new church to worship. I am still studying on the language all the time I have left from my household duties, and as is the case with most beginners in this language I am making mistakes at m>' own expense. This week I handed the washer-III an my clothes, to go to the laundry and I thought I was telling him there were seven pieces, but he grinned at me in an unusual manner and Mrs. League told me I had told him to ”eat the clothes.” and so the family laughed heartily at' my mis take. This is a strange language and a strange people. It is astonishing how sonie of them continue to get some thing to eat. Ever>'day there are sev eral beggars at our door trying to work on your sympathy as strongly as possible. To-day a j-oung man look ing to be about twentj'-one years old, came by carrying an old white haired lady on his back begging in the the most pitiful tone he could com mand. Now, of course if he could carry his mother through the streets that way, he could work, but he is like some people j'ou may know, he doesn’t care to work. Besides there are so nianj', nianj- people here it is difficult to get employment, even though men do here, what the horse and mule do at home—that is pull carts and ”jinrikishas.” We are waiting here with many other missionaries hoping and praj-- ing that matters will soon be settled so that we may go to our stations and tell to these perishing souls "the old, old story of Jesus and his love.” We can not tell when this will be, but we hope it will be no later than next spring. I notice the tendency of some of our Christians in the home land is to say of China: "Ephraim is joined to his idols, come awav and let him alone.” This is indeed a critical time for poor old China, but when it C asses I believe there will dawn a righter daj’ for her and she will be blessed as never before, because the power of God will be manifest upon her. God’s promises are bright, shall we not make them ours for China? Praj’ for China that there maj’ be " Showers of blessings” upon her, and nray for me that God iiiaj- use me to His glor\'. With Christian love, I am j’our ser\-ant in the Lord. Attie T. Bo.stick. C. 833, Woosung Road, Shanghai, China, Nov. 3, 1900. The Church Not a Place of Rest. The Church is not a Pullman sleeper in which one may embark on earth and in due time awake in heaven. It is a place for work which is to result in blessing to the the individual and salvation for others. The most useful and suc cessful churches are those in which suitable work is found for each per son, and where each is found at his work. Mr. Moody somewhat recent ly said; "There is a great mistake that a good many people are making at the present time. They have an idea that the Church is a place of rest. Instead of going there to work for God, they go there to rest. ‘There remaineth a rest for the peo ple of God.’ We will rest when we go home. We will have all eternity to rest in. We do not want to talk about rest here. I hope the time will come, and I believe it will come when they will ask this question of all who are candidates for member ship in the Church. "What work do you expect to do ?” and if they are going into the Church to rest they will be told that we have enough of such members now; and if we could only get them out, and get some others in who will go to work in earnest, it would be a good thing for all. We should understand that we come into the Church to work. All that seems to constitute a Chris tian these days is to unite with the Church and then, after they have joined it everyone in the Church must wail on them—the ministers, the laymen all the members must go and call on them; and if they do not do this they go to some other Church—and the quicker they do it the better. ‘There remaineth a rest for the people of God.' The idea of our talking about rest here, where Christ has been cast out,.where they have taken the life of God’s own Son. Why should we want to stay in the enemy’s country at rest and peace ? As long as it is the enemy’s countiy let us not dream of rest. We will rest by and by when Jesus comes. Let us not talk about rest now.”—Selected. Love’s Cost. We hear much of the sweetness of love, of the joy of loving, but it has another side also and that is why it is forever the antithesis of selfish ness—love’s cost. "Everj' love that enters the heart opens the door to sorrow.” No pain can touch the one dear to us anci we do not suffer, also; no danger can threaten and our heart not keep anxious watch. Every' cloud that darkeps that other sky throws its shadow across our sun light. Every sin that stains that be loved soul, hurts and aches in ours as if it were our own—aye worse! for our own sins we may cast aside and seek pardon for, but who can repent for his brother? Love’s pain lies in its powerless- ness. To long to living relief and to be unable to suffer with, because we cannot sufler for, to watch from without the battle we cannot help to fight, and to share every heartache, disappoiiitiiient and los.s—this is the cost of loving. But only so does our human life grow deep, and take on worth and dignity. Only so can we ever be akin to Him who bore "our griefs, and carried our sorrows,” who. "having loved his own which were in the world, loved them”—through all their blundering, their blindness, their sins—"unto the end.” Ministers* Children. The salaries of the clergy of the United States do not average $500 a year, and yet as a class they are the best educated, most active, refined, and elevated of the nation. With less culture, with less character, with less mental power, there are men all over this land who earn from $1,600 to $5,0(W a year. But look at the results. Taking them as they come, the bio graphies of a hundred clergymen who have families show that of their sons 110 became ministers; and of the re mainder of their sons by far the larger part rose to eminence as pro fessional men, merchants, and schol ars. As to their daughters, their names are merged into others; but there is a significant fact, which we do not remember to have seen noticed in that connection, that not only here, but in England, where titles are so highly prized, andthe posses ion of gentle blood is a passport to high places, it is very often referred to as a matter of note, as indicating softy and respectability', " his mother was the daughter of a clergyman.” We will venture the opinion that three-fourths of the great men of this nation are not over two degrees removed from clergy man’s families, or from families strictly religious. When it can be said of a man or woman that Ijis father or grandfather was a clergy man, there is a feeling within us of a certain elevation of character—a kind c>f guaranty of resi»ectability of blood, of purity, and integrity.—Dr. Haven. His Eyes Opening. The long list of distinguished Pe- dobaptist scholars who bear witness to the truth of the Baptist position on baptism is continually lengthen ing. The latest addition is Rev. John Watson, better known to the great public as "Ian IMaclaren.” In the Expositor, the well-known Lon don religious paper, of recent date, he has this significant sentence: "Without doubt the perfect idea of baptism is realized when one vVho has come to the years of discretion makes himself his own profession of faith in the Lord, knowing what he has done and hav'ing counted the cost, and then is immersed in the waters of baptism.” That about di.sposes of the whole question, it seems to us; for why' any one should deliberately choose an "imperfect” idea of baptism, when its "perfect idea” is so easily realized, it is difficult to understand. Nor is Dr. Watson content to stop here. With this as a promise, he goes a step further. He declares that the two ordinances of baptism and the supper are binding "upon all Christ’s disciples;” "so that, if one desires to enter into the church visi ble, it must be througli the laver of b,apti.sm.” These positions include the idea of a regenerate church membership, baptism for believers only and at the entrance of the Christian’s life, and tlie supper fol lowing baptism and church member ship. "Ian Maclaren” probably does not know it, but, if he will stand by these y'iews and their logical impli cations, he will be a full fledged Baptist.—Kelifcions Herald. When a man lives with God his y'oice shall be as sweet as the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the corn.— Emerson.

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