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flie Biblical. Recorder. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1893. ; ftiv. O. T. BAILEY,' EnrroH asH Pboprixtob. J. C. CADDELL, Agewt. awn Corrispojtdknt. It only requires' casual" notice for one to reach the conclusion that many, professed Christians about us are quite deficient in that reverence for God, for his worship, and his sanctuary, that ought always to distin guish the Christian .life and ; profession.' How of ten, even by professed Christians, is the name of God used lightly and flippantly in conversation; how often do younger Christians especially, enter God's house with the levity of those who enter the theatre; how often do older professors defile the floor of the sanctuary with offensive spittle; how often is the routine of worship gone through with as a schoolboy would his task, not because he loves it, but as dis agreeable necessity t This leads ns to re mark that Christianity true Christianity is a remarkably well balanced system.' One striking peculiarity about the religion incul cated by the New Testament, is its freedom spirituality. 5 Under the Old Dispensation, when men walked more by sight than by faith, there was of necessity a good deal of form and ceremony; but under the New, the ceremonial Is almost entirely set aside, and the spiritual has taken its place, , It is a well known fact , that Rome, and some who have mora or less imitated her, have sought to retain in worship and relig ious life soma of the defunct ceremonies and rites of the Old Dispensation, or else, those i 1 11 ! .-. ' TT It. Vi suggvsteu oj uivm. ueuce u wunuiji at altars or shrines; the kneeling before images of the Virgin, and other Siiats, tiresome pilgrimages to sacred spots eta , etc. This tendency, so well illustrated by Borne, shows one extreme to which modern Chris tian ideas may be, and are carried. When the Reformation burst upon Europe,' and after Protestantism was firmly established, and with it a much purer form of Christi anity, there were, here and there, seen ten dencies toward an "extreme that carries with some possible dangers. The rebound from Rome, and her -semi-idolatrous, worship, was then, and is jet, so hearty , and thorough, that we have need to examine the limits to which we go, remembering that it is Dossible to carrv the idea of religions lib- erty so far as that we are in danger of not properly recognizing divine authority, and thus reaching the border of qaestionable license and sometimes even that of irrever ence. This is certainly no plea for Rome; but it is a reminder that extremes are gen erally wrong,' and that true religion avoids them, and so should the followers of Christ.' The irreverence, then, that Is often to be teen in the modern pulpit and pew is to be deplored. God, in Lev. 19: 30, uses these words: "Ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my" sanctuary : I am the Lord." The same command is repeated in Lev. 26: 3. We should remember that if it was right under the Old Dispensation for people to reverence God, his Sabbath, and his sanc tuary, it is right now; and yet a good many who claim to worship and love God hare but little respect for his house, and, some times, for his holy day. If, then, we seek for the causes of irreverence among onr people, and especially among the rising gen eration, we would mention, among others, the following : , : . . ' " First, the failure of parents to teach their children at home reverence for God, for his worship, for his sanctuary, &c.' If children are suffered to grow np without a proper respect and reverence for God, if will be difficult or impossible ' for Sunday-school teachers or pastors to teach the same to them ; while they are under their influence. Especially should parents seek to Instil this spirit into their children, when they have reached-the age of accountability, and are converted unto Christ.' ,,K, ' - , Another evident reason for the want of reverence often noticeable among modern Christians, ? is the . constant ridicule of Christ's ministers, which is quite a pastime and a habit with some noted evangelists, and with some that are not such. This ridi cule is often in the form of clownish mim icry, low comedy, or unsparing abuse and misrepresentation. i Ridicule and laugh at V 3 nc ::cnserof the Great King and yon r-3ia danger of laughing at him and the -z$ he sends through those he calls to ' . We cannot afford to be mlsunder ' j. We are not claiming perfection " ' :i of the gospel, i They i have ' t rv ether men, and it is not " 3 to mention them; but all. .. i" ? without producing the V jers tt subjects to be ' r riJicule. Better, be i careful how you ridicule, the humblest and plainest' minister of Christ, if you are satis fied God has called him into the work in which he is engaged; for , has not the great apostle written, "Now then we are embas sadors "for Christ; as though God did be seech you by us; we pray you fn Christ's stead be ye reconciled onto God." . Go to, ye that visit communities full of abuse and ridicule for Christ's messengers there; and consider the harm, that you do by flooding the community. with a spirit of irreverence for God's house and a , want of respect for his messengers from which the people vgill not recover for months after you are gone, Another evident cause, so far as God's house , is concerned, is ' the using of our chnrohes for public lectures, church fairs, bazaars, &c ' We are not, we hope, at all an extremist on this thing. A church build ing may at times be used for other purposes than that of actual worship, but those who use it should al ways be taught to respect their surroundings, and the sensational preacher, the public lecturer, and the magic lantern man, should receive scant encour agement in their effort to Introduce the ap plause, the license, and the confusion of the theatre into the house of God. Ah, can no building on earth be found within the walls of which the weary may come to hold sweet communion with God in prayer without be ing interrupted' by tbr noise and the traffic of the godless world I - Let us properly guard the sanctity of our places of worship, and with it the spirit of respect and rever ence for God's house, and for him to whom we have dedicated it After Christ had purged the temple of old of those who were trafficing there under' one pretense or another, there was a startling revelation in his words when he added, " It is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer;' but ye have made it a den of thieves." Another cause that may be' assigned, is the indiscriminate rushing into modern pul pits self called ministers, and the hasty gathering into the churches of unconverted material. How can a minister have proper reverence for God, and respect for his sanc tuary and his worship, who presumes to call himself to the work ' by ' assuming some pompous sensational name, and by rushing into the pulpit almost before the odor of the gutter is off of him f And how can it be ex pected of i the many unconverted 'people, gathered into the churches that they- will reverence God and his sanctuary f It is not in them to do so. These may be great on church fairs, charity balls, alphabet socie ties, Ac,, but not much on religion, and less in reverent and owiel obedience to God. Again, in mentioning inese causes, we naturally suggest to our readers the reme dies that should be applied. We consider Mohammedanism a false system of faith, but it Is said that a devotee of that system will not tread upon a slip of paper if he has any reason to think that the name Allah is printed on it. We may smile at some others for removing the hat and bowing at the door of their churches, or the devout Cath olic for crossing himself as he enters the sanctuary ' where he worships; but a little more of the spirit of reverence would not hurt those who compose many of our Prot estant churches. . ' F0M OTJB TBAVELLDTG AGEHT. :" '; '; JJTATrmvrLLi." J ust a month ago I was here to see the brethren about their subscriptions to the Recobdeb, , The day was pleasantly spent,' the brethren promptly renewing their sub scriptions in that cordial and appreciative manner that does so much to make my work pleasant and agreeable. Bro. Oliver took his last opportunity, while in his pres ent charge, to render me substantial aid in my., work by furnishing me his horse and buggy; to visit those of nis members who live at a distance. .The brethren- seemed to realize that they were to get them anew pastor, and were canvassing the matter with a spirit and caution that will hardly fail to get them'a man who will take no step back ward in the work, and at the same time will hold the same choice place in the affections of the members which has so liberally been accorded Bro. Oliver and others who have served the) church in former years. ,- . , Fayetteville was once noted for being at the east end of the western plank road, and was the trading place for nearly the, whole of Western North Carolina, as well as many from: Tennessee. The oldest citizens here have seen more covered wagons than any men In, or . perhaps out, of the State J In fact, this old town, has a, history which if written would be full of interest There are some things-about the Fayetteville people that are specially noticeable. They live for the most part in the same style of houses as they did fifty years ago.. Men. like Drs. Hinsdalej j Duffy and ' Haigb; also Messrs. .Williams, Rose,. Kyle, end others of the rep resentative citizens, ride In the same style of vehicles as were made in the town long before the whistle" of the engine was ever heard 'in the town. , Neither war, recon struction, steam, electricity nor the fashion of the world, ;has. moved them to change their notions of what constitutes a thorough bred Southern ' gentleman aud true hospi tality. ,t - , .' A recent fire has made it necessary for Bra Frank Beasley to build some handsome brick stores on the corner near the market. Fayetteville has, however, become a de cided railroad center, - Here are three pas senger trains at the same time, so I take one for- - - . - . ... ;;V; MAXTON. ;':V ;:-;' r i r' - .. '.. The name sounds rather Sootchy to expect to find very many Baptists here. However, by reference to my list I found enough names to warrant me in stopping off, which was the first visit I had ever made to the town. One of the first brethren I met was Bro.0, S. Hays, who took me in charge, and it was only a little while before I had settle! with the old subscribers, and put a nice number of new ones on my list. The brethren here are making a hard pull to build a church. They have a very desirable lot, and already have a neat, well furnished chapel, which they are using for : the pres ent, and which will be for a Sunday-school room when the church is completed. Max ton is, indeed, a genteel little town. The i number 61 ' churcles7rlck"lfores an3" nice residences f presents a very different aspect from the "Shoe Heel" of twenty years ago, when it was the tramping ground of Henry Berry Lowry, and occupied prin cipally by grog-shops with all their atten dant evils. What has wrought this great change! The earnest toil and sacrifice of a few men have caused the gospel to be preached here. ' Just that and nothing more. And Satan with his allies have been forced to take up their line of march. My work over, Bro. Fulford very kindly carried me to Laurinburg, where we spent a pleas ant afternoon with Bro. Kesler. Bro. Kes ler treated me just as I expected him to do. He didn't say, " If I can do anything for you while you are in town I shall be very glad to do so," but picked up his hat and said, "Let's go see the brethren," and the conse quence was I renewed every subscriber in the town, besides getting some new names, which he appreciated fully as much as I did. The church here is a perfect model of neat ness and comfort, and is fully as expensive as most of our town churches ought to be. This was prayer,-meeting night, and though the weather was very inclement, yet we had a fairly good congregation. The pastor's talk wonld have answered well for a Sunday morning sermon. And here I will say that I have observed when a pastor prepares well for his prayer-meeting service he always has a good prayer meeting, and not enly that, but a live, working church. . I was de lighted to find Bro. Kesler so pleasantly and comfortably fixed at home. He didn't suc ceed, however, in concealing that he felt just a little remorse that he didn't get mar ried a few years sooner than he did. Following the trail of these Scotch Bap tists, for there are many more of them than I had supposed; I thought nearly all the Scotch were Presbyterians, at twelve o'clock Thursday I found myself in . LUMBERTON. It was not last Thursday, however, for after I had done what I went to do, I did what I didn't go to do; so I decided it was the best thing for me to remain oyer just three weeks longer. Don't get frightened. I am not going to afflict you with any account of bruised back and wrenched hips; The suf fering is in the past, at least some of it, and the kind attentions which I received from the brethren and sisters in Lnmberton, and the hope of soon being able to do my work, have done much to compensate for all the suffering I had. I have received a number of letters from brethren in different parts of the State, and the kind expressions which they contained will ever be a cause for grateful appreciation on my part, and I hope may help me to be more faithful in my work than I have heretofore been. . . . In this I am.in the closest harmony with a well known brother who wrote me that he was glad, since I had to be hurt, that I was thrown from a hack instead of being knock ed down by a calf, and that he hoped I would devote part of the time I was down to the making ef a new speech for the Re cobdeb. I can afford to refer to this," as it was the only mean letter I received, and it didn't come from the editor either, v; , . , I had an opportunity of learning much about our work, not only in Lnmberton, bnt all over Robeson county, for brethren Mar tin, Proctor, and other brethren in Lumber ton seem to know no difference in the in terest In their own town and in other por tions of the county - , -: The new school building in Lumberton is Just about completed. ; r The- object was not to erecVa handsome building. It, however, makes a good appearanceis substantial in every particular, and well adapted to school work. The first session will open in the fall, and I feel confident, thjt no school in the State-has ft' more promising future. 1 - As the educational center of the county, it will afford the boys and girls of Robeson county the best opportunity for an education at the lowest possible cost. And not only, this but Wake Forest and our Btptist female colleges will, after a few years, have their patronage increased by the establishment of this school. It is really refreshing to find so many of the brethren in this section who'are looking ahead with a view of increasing the amount and efficiency of our work. If these breth ren, who are trying not only to reach abet ter stage of progress themselves, but who are trying to inspire and help their brethren to do the same, can only escape the firing of the "light infantry" who see the desire of being " boss" or " bishop " in every man who exhibits any desire or capacity to do something, it will be fortunate for the cause, and in a few years Baptist principles and Baptist interest will take possession of a sec tion in which a few years ago they only had a name to live. J. C. C. PERSONALS A5D OTHER ITEMS. " Pnv IT. P r.llinittnn nf Araiann'fiflT'Q Tiels still preaching but his vbiie is not fully restored. :...Rev. C. W. Blanchard has moved to East Durham and is located in the midst of his work. ....Bro. John W. Purefoy has moved from Salida, Cola, to Pueblo, Colo., and re ports "all well." . . . .Rev. D. B. Gray, D. D , of Miss., has accepted the call to the First Biptist church Birmingham, Ala. ....Bro. E. K. Proctor, Jr., of Lumber ton, was in the city last Monday, and paid us a pleasant visit. Bro. W. G. Ferrebee of Belcross, N. C, was in the city last week and called to see us last Saturday. .... Our church work is moving on. We receive members nearly every service. Col lections good. John C. Hocutt. ....The meeting at the West End Mis sion, Raleigh, conducted by Bro. Stringfield, goes on this week with good interest Rev. T. C Buchanan of Vickery's Creek Ga., says: "I cannot do without the Recobdeb. It comes tome weekly as a letter from home." ....Bro. Oliver Summerlin of Ml Olive, N. C, says: "The Recorder is a welcome visitor in my home and we cannot afford to do without it" ....We learn from the Asheville Baptist that the West End church, recently organ ized in that city, has called Rev. W. P. Southern as its pastor. . . . .We desire you to aid us (the Conven tion In its mission work) with your prayers, with your influence, and with your money. --Thomas Meredith, 1830. Cards are out for the marriage of Miss Nellie Lee Home and Dr. Ei gene Herbert McCullers, March the 23d, 1893, at the Bap tist church in Clayton, N. C. .... Rev. Carter Helm Jones has accepted the call to the McFerran Memorial church, Lousiville, Ky., and is expected to take charge about the 1st of May. ..;.Tbe Chicago University has offered the chair of botany to President John M. Coulter, of Indiana University, at a salary of 7,0QQ. Journal and Messenger. '. , .... All missions are substantially the same, but the primary object of the Conven tion, at present, is to repair the waete places or our own tstate.- Thomas Mereaun, 1830. ..,..nev. iy xu. roieai or mew mven. Conn., writes: " I baptized a Congregational pastor last Sunday evening, (12 th inst,) as ramp Daptizea tne uunucn on a profes sion of his faith at the baptistery. H v " . ....Rev. J. W. Wildman and his Wades boro brethren have greatly improved their parsonage, paid off a large part of the debt on their church, and are now arranging to build a nice mission chapel near the town. .The Board of Missions (Western N. C. Convention) aj its last meeting appointed Rev. D. B. Nelson Sunday-school Mission ary, to hold Sunday-school Institutes in the bounds of the Convention.- Asheville Bap tist.' ' , , ' . , ....Rev. M. L. Green of Ahoskie, X. C, writes to us offering his thanks for our edi torial in the paper of the 22d of February. He also says the next Bertie Union Meeting will be at Pine Forest, Northampton county, N. 0. .v.... v ' ; j :;v;.-;.'i :-im' - ' ;V. .Bro. J. H. Tucker of Asheville, N. 0.1 called in to see us last Monday, He reports the First church as being in excellent con dition.1 Pastor J. L. .White has received members every Sunday for several weeks past.;,. . ....Pastor Broughton, and Rev. OVA: G. Thomas of Greensboro, have held a good meeting i at Broad Street, Winston. . Bro. Thomas did the preaching.: At last accounts they reported about one hundred professions of. religion. m;:m. mmM ' ....It is the liberal view of things;, the determined spirit of zealous and benevolent enterprise, the resolve tn nnt forth on hnm. e.bnt.will directed effort in behalf of the mwrest oi ine aenominauon in tne State, that have led to the organization of the Con vention. Thomas Meredith, 1830.' 1 . .; .Dr. J. W. M. WiUiams of Baltimore was to start on a visit to his daughter Mr Gore, wife of Prof. J.W, Gore of Chapel HUl 0.('on ,the 15th' inst ; and we suppose th Dr. is now at Chapel Hill for rest and r? cu Deration. - ., , , , , - : . .-. Rev. Rufus Ford and his church am making; substantial progress. They have Rev. J. W. Rose as their missionary -de voting his entire time to six or seven mission points in Craven county; and the church hai added $100 a year to Bro. Ford's aalary. , . . , .'; Bro. J. F. Cheek "of Mars Hill, N C ' says that, Rev., T, M. Honeycutt has been sick two months is suffering from rheuma. tism, and hardly able to move himself, fie further says the college work is going on. vigorously under the control of Prof. T m. Hufham. '. ....Dr. J. M. Frost resigned, as Corre sponding Secretary of the Sunday school Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and Dr. T. P. Bell of Richmond, haj been elected to fill the place. No better selection in our opinion, could have been made. ( Durham, , Vice-President 0 Sunday school Board for North Carolina. J . . . .The names of fifteen brethren have been received who wish to be appointed del egates to the Southern Baptist Convention. Are there not others who wish to got If so, send in your names, brethren. Notice will.be given in time for each delegate to send his. own name to. the committee on homes. C. Durham, Cor. Sec , ... .The American Baptist Year Book for 1193, with the compliments of the editor. Dr-Lanslng Burrows of Augusta, Ga. is be fore us. It cornea to us with n increased amonntof valuable statistical information. The book contains 278 pages. Any one de siring a copy can get it by applying to the American Baptist Publication Society, 1420 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Price twenty five cents. . . . .The righteous souls of many gooi brethren have been vexed, for a long tims, -with the custom of many of our churches of sampling pastors. But recently some of our popular preachers have turned out as ' samplers of churches. In one. way and another they manage to get themselves in vited to a number of churches, and if per chance they find one to suit them they will accept its pastorate. ... .The Western Recorder says: "It no more helps a preacher to parade his rejected calls than it helps a lady to parade her re jected offers of marriage. It makes the im pression that he has coquetted with the churches, and also that he cannot be moved from his present field. Often the announce ment that a preacher had declined one call has prevented his receiving another call he would have been glad to accept" Mr. Moody says: "Almost every preacher who can't preach goes to writing in religious papers, telling other preachers how they ought to preach." Of course. It is ever so. It is so much easier to- tell other people how to do things than to do them. People who do not edit papers always know best how papers should be edited. People who have no children always know best how children ought to be reared. Western Recorder, . . . .The commencement of Leonard, Med-. leal School will take place Wednesday night, March 29. ' It is expected that there will be ten medical students that will graduate. . Dr. Chase of Philadelphia will deliver the ad dress to the graduating class. On the fol-. lowing night, March 80, the graduating ex ercises of the Law Department will take place. Judge McRae Of the Supreme Court of North Carolina will deliver the address on -that occasion. ....Rev. C. A.G. Thomas of Greensboro, N. C, writesof the meeting in Winston thus: "It was a great pleasure to be with the brethren. I never spent a more delightful time in a meeting In my life. -The associa tion with such brethren as H. A. Brown, Broughton and others was one of the privi leges of my ; life. Bro. Brown Is looking after his new church p'ans. There is future for the Baptists of Winston." .Mrs. G. W. Marsh died at her hom in this city on Wednesday afternoon, March istn. a nu&band and seven cnuaren iw by the first marriage and five by the lastj are bereaved by this dispensation of Provi dence. She was a native of Sampson county, but has reslded'in Raleigh about four years. She was a member of the First Baptist church in this city," For many years she had been in feeble health. The funeral services took place from the family residence on Friday afternoon last, and was largely attended. 1 , ' , .-i v ' ' Y ' : ' !. , We learn from the Jteligiotts HerM ? that Rev. T. P. Bell has been invited to Nashville, Tenn., - by the . Sunday-school Board for consultation in regard to his j cepting the Secretaryship . of that Board. . We wish to add our hearty commendation to such an arrangement. He is the very man for the ; position. (Later). Wre learn from the Richmond Dispatch that Rev. 1 P. ! Bell has accepted the. Secretaryship the Sunday-school Board, s and -will t taw charge about the 1st of May. Our congrat ulations to the Boardf:f '-I'iV , ifffiVli is'quite'curiousfto 'l disposition of churches to call men.w?tf!! recommended to them, r A recommendauoi almost amounts to a disqualification. modern idea is for the committee appoints . to look out for a pastor to beimmensejj. secretive and superbly exclusive. J.'yV ).. everything and looms far out of sight 01 vice. V; It is the glory of a church, to the scalps of the rejected at its belt sna hang them up as the proofsof her popularity-; She also shows them to the brother-eiee -or nan ha AAni as . An rr lxdeof--howffottnnate-heftVlli5' chosen and how easy it would ne w b another man if he does not toe the war. W, S. Hatcher in Baltimore Baptist. ,
The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, N.C.)
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March 22, 1893, edition 1
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