Newspapers / North Carolina Christian Advocate … / Oct. 4, 1899, edition 1 / Page 1
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3 E-? S9 ESTABLISHED INfo55. RALEIGH CHRISM ADYOCATE. of the North Car -onference. I v.-v jsilKD WKKKLY AT RALEIGH, N. C. second-class matter in the post-office at Raleigh. vr.teri- !7v T. N- 1VEY' D- D- Editor. 1 nV M. WATSON, Business Manager. ' hi- - ' I- ' TEMRS OF SUBSCRIPTION.. me Year. - S1.50. 1 Six Months, - .75 i) v'" Cash in Advance. f U ir.::jisiers of the gospel and wives of deceased I . PO. li f'i tr.r,v!!i:i.i; preachers in the North Carolina r ,,.,r,,..,-c ris authorized agents, will receive the - ' Witcli t'nel.-.hel. It shows the date up to which f ,,.rsripiion has been paid. Change in label 'jervcf a a receipt. -: vhe:i a l li ens is ordered clianged, both old and I ,.1,! i:ut be given. I' t ::,.;:-ig money, be sure to state whether it is I t .it ,,r new subscription. :rv all letters and make all checks and money H .. - ;' le to the RALEIGH CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE. EDITORIAL. kf CHURCH IN THE FIRST PERSON SINGULAR. To!; ii Watson is furnishing for the jsJui Home Journal a series of articles hearing on modern church life. This turuv Scotch writer flavors his strong helical thought with with some very tiiju-iiit sarcasm. The article for Octo I ber is entitled " The Candy-Pull System the Church. The article is more dig- sided than its title would indicate. At c::e place, the writer refers to a fact, which, f: though well known by the public, is not I considered with that seriousness which the interests involved demand. We re I ter to the fact that the element of indi- vidualkm in church membership has be fore almost eliminated. The Church 1 in its very constitution has that corpo- :te character which cannot legitimately " le ignored. Church members must think act as a body, else some of the most j i:::p ctant ends for which the Church v.s instituted will be lost. ' While this is true, Church members ;:." think and act as individuals in or - : that the Church may best exercise corporate capacity, and vice versa. ' i : -as to live as a State, and not as indi vidual citizens, would not be more de tractive to the State than for us to live Church, and not as individual niem- -rs of the Church personal followers ;r: Jesus Christ. For us to live as fami , - -s and not as fathers, mothers, sons, s'-iughters, brothers, sisters, would not be subversive of the family institution, l::an for us to live as Methodists, Bap and Presbyterians, and not as indi-v:-aal Christians, would be subversive c: lae visible and invisible Church. V"e think that the fact that we are :-'iu too much as a Church and too lit t:es separate followers of the Lord Jesus Christ explains some of our ecclesiastical eonce went to a strange city and uund there an acquaintance who was vy sick. We found that he had been utterly neglected and ignored by the tfftrch, whose special care is to save the fortunate, but had received the kind, assiduous, brotherly attention of the lodge Jl which he was a member. How often hear r,f i. 1 c Secret ciety, visit the sick and suffering t'lat Sonr-ttr Knf A - ..,.iKcrc -f 4- Church visit- Hi ciol- an A ciiflVritlor 1 their church? The case is so com- on that v.-p .-."f iwv 1,. i, ,1 -ki-i r cached for being less Christian than ne Masons rr j 4..,i ile fallarv r.f 1, i. 4-1 J, , un Why do not members of the n Uch fec their hungry, clothe their ne: . ' dnu Visit their siVk cretierallv and ias faithful 1 c;P,le y,attenfl to their unfortunate ones ? mad erent yet true answers may be Uip,,. . j " . xne muiviuuiti cic- CUt IS not no strong and as highly aevei- ORGAN OF THE NORTH x 01 the church as in marriage of some friend or brother in the the case of the secret society. The fault ministry. It may be this or that, but it lies not 111 the nature or constitution of is something which is needed. Then, the church, but in those who compose it." too, the paper often gives to interested It is often the case that Brother Easy friends some important news concerning nears of a sick brother or some other oh-1 the preacher himself and his work. It ject of charity, and delivers himself thus: tells about his new church, his meeting, "Well, here is a duty for the church, and and publishes his special notice. It gives I suppose that the church will perform to the public the news of his sicknels or it." The old saw, packed with wisdom, other misfortune, and when "the silver is exemplified: "What is everybody's j cord is loosed," the paper figuratively business is nobody's business." j stands in tears over the cold clay and com- We are sure that a more .emphatic and mends the departed soul, and the wid strongly charged individual life in the I owed wife and fatherless children, to the church would make a holier church. The j God of pity. weak brother whose spiritual epidermis j (2) The church organ brings much to turns the flying arrows of truth as easily j the church within the bounds of the as a roof turn rains would no longer, with j preacher's work. There is not a subscri an unctuous smile, exclaim :" Didn't he j ber who is not a better Christian for the give it to the church today?" But lie! weekly visits of the paper. The man would, instead, fall upon his knees and ex-j who takes his church paper makes a bet- claim : " Lord, have mercy upon me a j sinner. Iet there be a general mdivid- j faithful steward, a stronger lover of his ualization of the church, and personal re- church. The larger the list of subscri spousibitity will be accentuated, spiritual I bers at a place, the larger will be the con-self-examination will be the rule, and a gregations on Sunday and at the prayer closer intimacy with Christ will be the meeting, the smaller the deficit at the result. end of the vear. and thf We do not incline our ear to the ! somewhat popular cry against chinch "machinery." WTe believe that the church, surcharged with the Holy Ghost, is able to run all the machinery from a Mission ary Society to an Kpworth League. Yet we are compelled to look upon some of the so-called machinery of the church as an "unfortunate necessity" in the sense that-taking medicine is an unfortunate necessity." But we must take the medi cine until there shall be no longer any use for it. So we must have the " church ma chinery " until there shall be no longer anv necessity for it. The truth Ave wish to j kingdom. Its office is to preach the gos impress, however, is this : The time which j pel in type. Whosoever receives the we have just mentioned will come when the church, while living as a church, will live also as individuals whose constantly j recurring question will be, " Am I living j as a true disciple of Jesus Christ? An in- j tensive cultivation of the spiritual vine yard is needed. The Ego in the church is the demand of the hour. a crojwnw wiTuniiT a ttyt We do not know of a preacher in the North Carolina Conference who is not willing, on every possioie occasion, 10 eive a good word and deed to the "Old Raleigh." Yet it would be strange, if in as larcre a bodv as the North Carolina Conference, we should not find a few who are inclined to repudiate the one- sided agreement that they are, as pastors, j thei hopes and can congratulate them toactas agents of the Church organ, j sdve Qn liaving an institution of which Such "repudiators" greet the business no-!tl - feel proucL tices to the preachers with that peculiar smile which foretokens the placing of a very mild but practical quietus on such presumptuous appeals and ukases from the business rooms of the "organ." The poor Business Manager is punished by j being made to look daily at listsas lean as Pharoah's kine, from the bailiwicks of the recalcitrant would-not-be agents. Now, while there may be no "repudi ators" among us, yet it may help us to de liver ourselves of some practical thoughts by assuming that there are such nega tively charged shepherds. Can a preacher afford to act as agent for his Church organ? In proving the affirmative of this question, the commer cial line of argument, we presume, will be more effective. Let us draw a debit and credit line and see. what the preacher re ceives from his Church organ. (I) He is the personal beneficiary of the oran. He may toss aside in disgust the dry-as-dust platitudes of the editor; he may cast contempt on the spring and autumn effusions of the correspondent who lisps in numbers; he may fail to ap preciate the epistolary diversions of the children. Yet there is something in every issue which brings value to the preacher. It may be important news of some, church enterprise, the death or CAROLINA CONFERENCE, M. RALEIGH, N. C, OCTOBER 4, 1899. ter Sunday school Superintendent, a more ! aerino- the report of the Dreacher at Con- ference. (3) The paper is worth so much to the Conference in which the preacher takes as much pride. It gives the Conference a chance to say that it is at least keeping up with liquor-sellers and other worldly or ganizations in having an "organ." It preserves the connectional character of Methodism, deepens the interest of every part of Methodism in every other part, and publishes the news of the Conference. A religious paper is the agent of Christ in the great work of the extension of His JL religious paper receives, Christ. In the light of the foregoing statements, and others just as true, can a preacher afford to act zealously as the agent of his church paper ? May we not in all seriousness more appropriately ask, Can he afford not to act as an agent? THE BAPTIST UNIVERSITY. j Last W ednesaay, September 2 7, marked Ian era in the educational history of the j Baptists of North Carolina. It was the openhlg day of the Baptist University. . For manv g the members of this de nomination had looked forward to the time when they should have a large cen tral, high-class institution of learning for the Baptist womanhood of the State. j They Cm nQW rejoice in the fruition of . The bun(illlirs are ia and elegant, favorably located, and well-equipped. President Blasingame enters upon his work with an enviable reputation for scholarship and administrative ability. His faculty is large and experienced. The number of boarders at present is so large thatv new buildings will be erected at once. There will probably be one hundred and fifty boarding pupils during the first term. We congratulate our Baptist friends on their success. They deserve it, and, as Methodists, .we feel that there has been a new and valuable accession to the ranks of those institutions whose sole ambition is to guide our men and women, boys and eirls into a noble Christian manhood and womanhood. PICKFORD SANITARIUM. The great scourge of Southern negroes is consumption. The ravages of this dread evil are so fearful that in some places the mortality is six times that of the white people. Some time ago L. A. Scruggs, A. M., M. D., a worthy colored man of Raleigh, moved with pity for his race, and animated by a noble purpose to give his life to the amelioration of the suffering of the consumptives of his race, E. CHURCH, SOUTH. projected an enterprise which material ized in what is known as The Pickford Sanitarium, at Southern Pines, N. C. The institution and Dr. Scruggs, General Manager are well endorsed by the best citizens of Raleigh and by the city and State boards of health. The central building is large and reasonably well equipped, but there are many things ne cessary for the most effective working of the Sanitarium. The institution deserves the help of all, especially the white race, and we trust that Dr. Scruggs will con tinue to receive the.heartiest aid from both North and South. Do It Now "How do you accomplish so much, and in so short a time?" asked a man of Sir Walter Raleigh. "WThen I have anything to do, I go and do it," was the reply. The man who always acts promptly, even if he makes occasional mistakes, will suc ceed when a procrastinator would fail, even if the latter have the better judg ment. When asked how he managed to ac complish so much work, and at the same time attend to his social duties, a French statesman replied, "I do it simply by never postponing till tomorrow what should be done to-day." It was said of an unsuccessful public man that he used to reverse this process, his favorite maxim being "never to do to-day what might be postponed till tomorrow." How many men have dawdled away their success, and allowed companions and relatives to steal it away five minutes at a time! Amos Lawrence's motto was, "Business before friends." "Tomorrow, didst ' thou say?" asked Cotton. "Go to, I will not hear of it. Tomorrow! 'tis a sharper who stakes his penury against thy plenty who takes thy ready cash and pays thee naught but wishes, hopes, and promises, the currency of idiots. Tomorrow! it is a period no where to be found in all the hoary regis ters of time, unless perchance in the fool's calendar. Wisdom disclaims the wrord, nor holds society with those that own it 'Tis fancy's child, and folly is it its fath er; wrought of such stuffs as dreams are, and baseless as the fantastic visions of the evening." O, how many a wreck on the road to success could say, "I have spent all my life in the pursuit of tomorrow, being assured that tomorrow has some vast bene fit or other in store for me!" The energy wasted in postponing until tomorrow a duty of today would often do the work. How much harder and more disagreeable, too, it is to do work which has been put off. What would have been done at the time with pleasure, or even enthusiasm, becomes drudgery after it has been delayed for days and weeks. Letters can usually be answered most easily when first received. Many large firms make it a rule never to allow a let ter to lie unanswered overnight. Prompt ness takes the drudgery o-ut of an occu pation. Putting off usually means leav ing off, and going to do becomes going undone. Piling a deed is like sowing a seed; if not done at just the right time, I it will be forever out of season. The summer of eternity will not be long enough to bring to maturity the fruit of a delayed action. If a star or planet were delayed one second, it might throw the whole universe out of harmony. Ccesar's delay to read a message cost him his life when he reached the Senate house. "Delays have dangerous ends." Colonel Rahl, the Hessian commander at Trenton, was playing cards when a mes senger brought a letter stating that Washington was crossing the Delaware. He put the letter in his pocket without reading it. until the game was finished, when he rallied his men only to die just before his troops wrere taken prisoners. It was only a few minutes' delay, but he lost honor, liberty, life! " A singular mischance has happened to some of our friends," said Hamilton. " At the instance when he ushered them into existence God gave them a w7ork to do, and he also gave them a competency of time ; so much that if they began at the right moment, aud wrought with suf ficient vigor, their time and their work would end together. But a good many years ago a strange misfortune befell them A fragment of their allotted time wTas lost. They cannot tell what became of it, but sure enough, it has dropped out of exist ence ; for just like two measuring lines laid alongside, the one an inch shorter than the other, their work and their time run parallel, but the work is always ten minutes in advance of the time. Ex. New Series. Vol. 1, No. 33. From Other Tripods. The True Sovereignty. There is hope for us all. Sovereignty will come into our lives the dav that we cease asking wdiat the world is going to do for us, and turn square on ourselves and ask what, for the honor of the free creative j spirit there is in us, do we propose to do today ior .the world. Greatness is 111 be ing more exercised about what sroes out of us than about what comes in. We have become great when hampered activ ities seem to us a more fatal thing than withheld favors. 6". ... Times. All in the Meaning. We hear not infrequently in these days of "the larger Christ." The expression has come to some minds an attractive sound. It seems to make more of Christ; it appears to promise more for Christi anity. But in the interests of clear thought the phrase should be challenged. What does it mean ? Is there a fact be hind it? If so, what is the fact? These are important questions, and it may be that some of those who glibly use the expression, "the larger Christ," would be puzzled distinctly to afford an answer to them. Ar. Y. Obserucr. Something Wrong in the Premise. Some lessons there are in life which the earnest man yearns to know, but which, once learned, the wish is that they were unlearned. A physcian in South Carolina was asked, not a generation ago, by a learned counsellor at law, to teach him how to cease the use of tobacco. His reemest was granted, and he ever after wards detested the taste of the weed. In a few months he requested that same physician to teach him how to use tobac co again. That was an unusual case, but the incident has an undercurrent of reality, reminding one of other lessons learned in life, of which men become dissatisfied. Southern Christian Advo cate. Must not Ignore the Children. A respected reader, an earnest Metho dist Churchwoman, writes us in great dis tress concerning the attendance of her children on public worship. She ex periences increasing difficulty in secur ing the cheerful attendance of-her boys. She believes the pastors could relieve this difficulty by spending a few minutes every Sunday in talking to the children. W7e remember Dr. Briggs, when pastor of Trinity in this city, was in the habit of talking five minutes to the children as a prelude to the regular service. This also, we believe, wTas the practice of Dr. Old ham in his pastorate in Delaware. Other ministers have tried it with satisfactory results. Western Christian Advocate. More of it Than False. I believe we have got the best land un der the sun. We have the best govern ment in the world, with as able-men in control as we have ever had. I believe that that man in the White House to-day-is as able as any ruler that we have ever had. He is an earnest Christian man and lives near to God. He needs our prayers and the prayers of all Christian people. I believe that our Congress is made up for the most part of noble men of God. There is no parliament in the world that contains so many godly men as our Senate and House of Representa tives. It is folly to wait till a man is dead fifty years before you recognize his worth. The men that have represented this district in Congress for the last fifty years have nearly all been upright and honorable men. Let us not spend our time in grumbling, but rather thank God for the good men whom he has raised up to govern this land." Southern Churcli man. Spongy Piety. The piety of many people amounts to an effort to see how much they can get from God, and how little they can do for God. But the principle of selfishness is incompatible with the principle of piety. Religion is a matter of duty, as well as of delight. In the ideal life there will be as much output as input. To every breath inhaled into the lungs, there coi responds a breath breathed out. So should it be in the Christian's experience. In proportion as he receives, he should give. Exchange, Pi 11 us ! ii 11 ill .i h f i! If 11 .1
North Carolina Christian Advocate (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Oct. 4, 1899, edition 1
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