Newspapers / North Carolina Christian Advocate … / Jan. 18, 1882, edition 1 / Page 1
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5Y ft A - jy fitnuif Mf 'iff-'' VlM 4 VTnJ 1 Sl MM III WIN in VOL. XXVII. THE ORGAN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE OF THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH NO. O. WJI. S. J1-;1'! Editors. RALEIGH, N. C, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18, 1882. tl. X. If i;iSO, 1. O., Cor.Kditor Big Words. Big words are great favorites with people ot small ideas and weak conceptions. They are sometimes em ployed by men of mind, when they wish to use language that may the best conceal their thoughts. With few exceptions, however, illiterate and half educated persons use more "big words" than people of thorough education. It is a very common, but egregious mistake, to suppose that the long words are more genteel than the short ones just as the same sort of people imagine that high colors and flashy figures improve the style of dress. They are kind of folks who don't live but "reside.' They don't go to bed, but mysteriously "retire,' They don't eat and drink, but "par take "of " refreshments. " They are never sick, but "extremely indisposed;' and instead of dying, at last, they "de cease.' The strength of the English language is in the short words chiefly monosyllables of Saxon derivation;and people who are in earnest seldom use any other. Love, hate, anger, grief and joy express themselves in short words and direct sentences; while cunning, falsehood and affectation delight in words "a foot and a half" long. JZxchange. For the Advocate. Aii Appeal. Daring tie past year a Church build ing,to cost when finished about $1,000, was begun at Kittrells under the ad ministration of Bro. L. J. HoHen. At our last Conferencs the Chmrch was transferred to Tar River Circuit, in an incomplete condition, and is daily be ing damaged by exposure. The frame was raised last Summer, and weather boarded to the top of window frames, in which condition it has stood ever since. We hare some building ma terial on hand, and can finish the Church, after awhile, without help, other than that given by the Circuit, but one hundred dollars now would advance the work at least one year, and give our people there a place to worship. We ought to have a Church in Kittrells for many reasons, only two of which I shall give here : First, the glory of God, and the in terests of Methodism will be promoted by it. A Protestant Episcopal Church is the only one in the town. Its mem bership is largely composed of our people, who joined it because they could not get to one of their own, and are now without a preacher more than half of the time. Second, a considerable number of "Northern people winter it there every year, and have almost no Church pri villges afforded them during their stay. This can but impress them un favorably with Southern society. If inclined to help in this matter, send the amount to me at this office. I will acknowledge its receipt by mail, and see it properly expended. "Yours truly, i "W. H. Moorb. Frankiiatoii, K.C., Jan. 5th, 1882. A Worthy Eiattiple. A correspondent of The Watchman famishes the following, which we commend as deserving the imitation of our churches every where. It presents the wise and Christian course to be pursued: "Some years since, a chureh called to settle as pastor a man against whose settlement ten families were pposed; the church contained less than seventy-five members. Deacon P. was the leader of the opposition. Mrs. P. said she would endure him for one year, but she did not see how she could. Though the ten families felt that they had good reasons for opposing nis settlement, yet as the church was the church of Christ, not of Mr. L., or of the majority that pressed his settle ment,for its sake they would acquiesce; make no trouble. One year passed. He entered noon his second year. All were constant in their attendance at prayer meetings, as well as on the Sabbath, as though all were united in his settlem. nt. At the close of the third year he left the church with no division about him, free to usite on a successor. If all our deacons were as wise as Deacon P., and all our members felt that the church, the cause of Christ, was of more importance than their likes or dislikes, how many churches would eseape fearful disasters; the cause of Christ untold evils; ministers months of wearisome days and Dights. "Reader, are there any troubles, divisons in your church on account of the pastor or any other member, forsake it not, but pray for him night and day; God will bring relief in due season. Try it three years, as did Deacon P. and his good wife and some others. Disappoint the great enemy, the roaring lion, he gloats over divisions in churches, but trembles when he sees the faithful often upon their knees. Your pastor is not perfect, may have some marked peculiarities, so much the more does he need your forbearance, prayers, sympathy and assistance. If the whole church lent him all the assistance they were able, would he be too useful, do too much good? Nay, verily. Do not then himder, but help him in all possible ways. If the church is given to prayers, God will remove him in due time, and you should not ask for more." The Stone Balance. We never saw a man going to mill with a stone in one end of the bag to balance the cor a in the other. But we have seen many things as wise. If we should meet a man going to mill in such a fashion what would he likely say in vindication of his method? This: "Father clid this way." This question we raise concerning our sup posed mill-man : How much experi ence has he? Perhaps he is forty years old and has been going to mill with his stone balance for thirty years, but he has not, in any true sense, thirty years' experience. In fact he has no experience, seeing that he has learned nothing. He has the experience of the mau who invented the stone bal ance; he does what he did, nothing more Illustrations abound, but it is hardly worth while to parade them. But the instruction we should get out of the instance referred to is not confined to the business of carrying corn to mill. Applications af6 aS easy as illustrations are abundant. Wo were led to think of the old par able of bourbonish conservatism by some facts that have lately come un der our observation. For example: A certain community preferred as teach er a certain man who claimed "an ex perience of twenty years" to a young man who had been teaching only two or three years. Knowing something of both men we were of the opinion that the older man had less experience than the younger. The older is thor oughly "set in his ways;" his ruts are axle-deep; he does things just as he did the first year. The younger is trying hard to learn the best methods; he is not in the ruts of a long traveled way. The cider is satisfied with the way he first learned; he does not be lieve that there is any other; if it were shown to him he could not see it be ing blinded by what he calls his twenty years' experience. What he does he does easily, just as the horse in the bark-mill goes round and round. (Our friend of blessed memory; the late Rev. Dr. Green, of Tennessee, once told us of a mule that had served in a bark mill so long that when, in extreme old age, he was turned out upon the commons, he went round ad round one side of him being shorter than the other.) The lamented Bishop Marvin told us a good story in Atlanta, at the ses sion of the North Georgia Conference, that had, as an old friend of ours was wont to say, "pith, point, power and edge." And it connects with Dr. Green's mule story. The Bishop was passing through a circuit and wished to know how a certain pastor was get ting on. He found the steward with whom he stopped disposed to reticence about the pastor. Being pressed a little by the Bishop he said this only : "Well, Bishop, he is going round." Are not a good many preachers in this case? Have they any real experi ence beyond what they learned dur ing their first few years? In "ser monizing," in pastoral work, in all manner oi Church business, do they not walk so closely in the "old paths" as never to even see a new one? Some do not appear to know it, but it is true, nevertheless, that there are new paths. Providence opens them and for men to walk in. Happy is he who having an eye to see an opportunity is not so hampered by what he calls "ex perience" as to be afraid or unable to walk in it. Wesleyan Christian Ad vocate. How We Shall Study. Having said so much about books, a few thoughts may be added on methods of study. Shall we wait for moods, or"sit down doggedly,"as John son advised? Shall we delve among the books, or aim at originality by thinking more and reading less ? Thoreau and Burns, and many besides, are pointed out as owing little to books. Do not our sermoBs smell too much of the mildew of the library,and wrestle with questions as dead as the bones of Porphyry? The best answer to this sort of talk, of which there is consider, able now and again, is that the first geniuses have been the hardest students the most original minds have been the most consummate plod ders. When Milton resolved to write a poem that the world would not "let die," he studied a lifetime to get ready. Taeitus said that meditation and toil are the only passports to liter ary immortality. It is more than a half-truth when Buffon and Johason defined genius as the capacity for concentrated labor. A young divine asked Dr. Bellamy how he could im prove his sermons, and was answered, "Fill up the cask;" and to one who appealed to Dr, Emmons with a simi. lar query the answer was made, "The "worst fault of utterance is having nothing to utter." Great men have been great readers and great students. All trades and professions claim Shakespeare. In reading the life )f Macaulay, one is struck with hi? om nivorous hunger and capacity for books; and in the "Reminiscences." Carlyle tells us that vheu he first laid hands on Gibbon's "Rome," he went through the Volumes at the rate of one per day. Is it a slander on the average Metho dist preacher to say that he does not study one-and-a-half hours per day ? I do not mean, skim the papers, read novels or magazines, but genuine study, as when one reads in order t be examined on a book what Robert son meant when he said,"I read hard. "We can't find time," is the common response. But it is not a question of time. We have all the time there is. It i3 a question of method, of system and of imperious purpose. John Wes ley once wrote to a minister who could not find time for study: "Hence your talent in preaching does not in crease: it is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this-. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian." Probably the best way to read, for most of us at least, is with pen in hand and commonplace book open be fore us. Our memories are treacherous, and precious grain is lost. Edwards and Channing, and many of the most successful stud?nts and preachers, had the habit of the pen. Bentley, the famous Grecian, took care to buy his books with broad margins on which he made his memoranda. Coleridge wrote on the margins, and most of his books are completely scribbled over. Voltaire had the same habit. Let us not be afraid of soiling our books. They are our tools, and the book that does sot compel criticism, either for or against, is a failure. Lege, lege, aliquid hoerebit N. Y. Methodist. Distasteful Egotism. Many persons indulge in egotism, which is alike a violation of good breeding and good taste, and are continually introducing themselves to notice, as the subject ol conversation or discourse. They must relate what they have seen, or heard, or what they did, or propose to do, and if what relates to themselves were extracted from what they say, there would be very little left. This practice, which is such a flagrant violation of good taste, can not be too carefully avoided. In private intercourse between very intimate friends, it is sometimes admissible to indulge in personal reminiscences with a freedom which under other circumstances would be highly improper. But in general society, or in public discourse, the everlasting repetition of the" big I " the continual introduction of one's self to notice, can not fail to disgust persons of good taste, and instead of exalting, greatly lower an individual, who indulges in this reprehensible vanity, in their estimation. Most persons entertain a sufficiently exalted opinion of themselves, and this, perhaps, is the reason why they dislike to see any one else assuming aire of superiority. Whatever the cause may be, this species of vanity is always an offense against propriety, and betrays a weakness, which al though it may be possessed, it would be well for every one to labor to conceal. Ministers, especially, if they would not greatly lessen their influence, should carefully guard against this evil. Christ, and not His servant, should be held up prominently before the people. It is very unpleasant to have a minister always placing himself between you and Christ, and obstruct ing the way to the Cross, Tre once heard a minister, who in a discourse of less than twenty-live minutes, used the pronoun, I, ninety-four times, averaging about four times to the minute, while the pronouns, my and we,were used perhaps an equal number of times. This certainly was an extreme case of egotism and had the minister himself been the subject of discourse, no one perhaps would have accused him of wandering from the text. The instructions of a minister may be enforced far more successfully by presenting the plain teaching of God's word, or the clear induction of reason on a subject, than by the mere declra tion of his own opinions. Men are not called to preach themselves, but to present the truth as it is in Jesus. Self should be abased, and Christ exalted. Egotism is improper every where, but in no place is it so unbe coming as in the pulpitThe admonition of the "Wise Man on this snbject ie worthy of special attention: "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth, a stranger, and not thine own lips." Methodist Recorder. m i - Rev. Dr. SpiUman, of the Mississippi Con ference, has been elected editor of the Mtt siuippi Jlethodht. He expects to give his whole time to the paper. Taken For Granted. Many things are taken for granted that should be inquired into. In matters: of religion it is often taken for granteJ that such and such persons are infidels, or indifferent on the subject of their personal salvation, when, on inquiry, it would be found that a deep concern lies concealed in the heart, and they are secretly thinking, "No man cares for my soul!,, Ministers and Christians take far granted that Christaiu people with whom they associate are in a satisfied state of religious experience, when a brotherly inquiry would reveal skeptical doubts on the vital truths of the Gospel, or a standing doubt whether they have been truly born again, or whether they are in a state ot accep tance with Gcd'A little friendly inquw sition would reveal the hidden doubt or decay, and lead to a clear and satsi factory experience. It is taken for granted when persons present themselves at the altar of prayer as seekers, that they are now ready for ' that act of faith which brings justifi cation, and hence ther are exhorted at once to believe, and believe that all that is needed now is to believe, and the prayers offered in their behalf take for granted the same thing; when, perhaps, they have very vague convic tions of the real nature of sin. and less of their danger of the "wrath to come." They may simply be debating whether they ecd religion, whether they will really give up their sins, whether there is any thing supernatu ral in religion, whether they will obey Christ. These are preliminary to justifying faith necessary antecedents to believing.For the want of thorough ness on the part of those who lead inquiring souls, many superficial experiences are reported as genuine. There is much praying by-guess at revival altars. Things are taken for granted that ought to be carefully and kindly ascertained. It is taken fer granted that intelligent Christians understaad the way of holiness, and that they are eager to pursue it. But it will be found that there is much obscurity and perplexity in the minda of intelligent Christians in regard to it, and often times a prejudice, if not an antagonism, toward it This must be relieved by inquiry and instruction, and the hungry must be fed, the lag gard must be quickened. It is taken for granted by pastors that the members oi theChurch generally are regular in private and family prayer; but careful inquiry would reveal neglect and omissions where least ex pected. Private prayer, with many, means an ejaculatory prayer, or a secret desire without a resort to the closet and to the knees, except in trying times; and family prayer is omitted altogether, or performed occasionally, perhaps on Sunday morning only. It is wnpleasant for the pastor to make such inquiries, but how can a physician prescribe safely with out a diagnosis and a knowledge of symptoms and habits? In our Sunday-school it is taken for granted that the children aid youth know the "Commandments.,!Let those who think so try them. That knowing them they keep them, at least in the outward and overt act. Should there not be a more thorough drill on the evils prohibited, and the duties enjoin ed? 'T would be sad to find that profani ty and lewdness lurk under polite manners and punctuality in Sunday school attendants ! Reverence and honor toward parents may be taken for granted in behalf of the beautiful and intelligent yoth; but do not these precepts need to be enforced more plainly and earnestly ? Theft may need to be animadverted upon to for tify the children who are so loosely guarded by home influences in many eases, and so much exposed by asso ciation with vicious boys. Too much is taken for granted. Some faint expressions of hope, and some prayers of desire, and some sub mission to the inevitable may be taken as cidence-of a readiness for death and heaven, where clearer light and faithful dealing would discover essen tial unreadiness. "And holiness, with out which no man shall see the Lord." The sum of the matter is, that grea ter thoroughness in these several de partments of inquiry and of experience and habit would obviate serious evils, and develop a higher type of religious character, and "save souls from death, and hide a multitude of sins." Nev; York Christian Advocate. The Holston Conference minute S-are: printed as an almanac and called tmihs Holston Annual." Thanks for a copy.
North Carolina Christian Advocate (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Jan. 18, 1882, edition 1
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