Newspapers / The Christian Sun (Elon … / Feb. 27, 1896, edition 1 / Page 2
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Address all communications and letters to THE CHRISTIAN SUN, Raleigh, \. C. auuaaaaaaaattaaaaanaaaanaeaauanaaa' THURSDAY, FEB. 27, 1896 It is strange that man should trust man rather than God, when man is so weak and defe^itful and God powerful and ever true to his promises. The time to pay a debt is when you have the money : the time to prepare for Heaven is now,.for we have no assurance of a future in this world. Servants of individuals often fail to get pay for their work ; but a servant of God always ge's pay for his services, and interesi on the sum is also allowed. A good man can always find time to do good to his fellow men. He who never finds time in this world to serve good, will not be permitted to taste the good fruits in the world to come. A narrow-minded,iittle-souled man may be able to see faults in his fellow-man, but he can’t see narrow ideas; or if he does, he doesn’t know them when he sees them. He judges other men b} himself—and he thinks he is as near perfect as men get to be in this life. .Hence it is that he i. so hard to reach, convince, and convict. The broad-minded man sees the littleness of his fel lows, but is not blind to his own faults. Hence it is that he is open to instruction and correc tion—he is easy to reach with good influences. These are two classes found in every commu nity—the one a power for evil, the other a power ior good. Occasionally we find a man who says that two dollars a year is too high for a religious paper. And this assertion is frequently made by those who, if asked how much they suppose it costs to publish a paper, would dis play about as much ignorance ol our expenses as we would in try ing to estimate theirs. They tell us that it would pay us bet ter to publish it for one dollar than for two, losing sight of the fact that we are studying oui business all the time, trying t( hit upon the best plans for its sustenance; and it we thought a dollar paper would pay best, we would be the first to say have it. But we give all our time to stud ying the interests of the paper, and we know that a dollai church paper would be a miser able failure. It has been said that the young man or young woman .vho can honestly say, “I don’t care whai others think of me”, is not fai from ruin. And observation proves this to be true. Wt ought not to care so much foi the regard of men that we lose sight of the regard of God ; but the two should be complementa ry, and indeed must be ; for tht man who so conducts himself as to win the comrfiendation and admiration of his fellows does so only by leading an honest, up right, Christian life—and this is what wins the ‘ well done” from Him whose commendations are to be desired above any that man can give. It behooves ev er}’ one to live above the re proach of God and man ; and he who disregards either is of a truth “not far from ruin.” If we are guilty of indulgences and immoralities that good men con demn, far less guiltless do we stand in the sight of Him who Himself is without sin. WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THEM! la every church there is a class of members who will not contribute anything to the sup port of the pastor or the general enterprises of the church ; and at every quarterly meeting the question comes up: ‘‘What are we going to do. with them ?”— and, so far as we know, it is a question that has never yet been satisfactorily answered. Nor do we feel capable now of suggest ing a plan that we will “guaran tee” to work; but in going around from church to church we may have gathered fcere and there ideas that may be devel oped into something practical: hence, we give them for what thev are worth. Some would adopt the rigpr oas plan of “expelling even member who does not contributt anything to the church”. Other; insist on “trying them a-whil< longer”. The former measun we should be slow to adopt: and likewise the- latter—if we mean by it what the ‘trying a-while longer’ usually seems t< mean. From what we know of the condition of about all of our churches, to cut off every man who does not now contribute anything would be very unwise : because the proper effort to make him a paying member has not been made. And to ‘try them a while longer’, simply through general appeals, 01 through quarterly- personal ap proaches, will not amount to anything; because you can’t transform a life-habit or a life conviction by fits and starts. A man has to be educated up to the “giving-point” ; and all ed ucation is a slow, gradual pro cess of drawing out. We have to assume that every member who comes into the church comes with a pure motive, with a desire to do himself and others good, and with a willingness to do what is right, according to his idea of what that right is. 11 it is known that he comes in with any other intention, he ought to be immediately exclud ed. Or if the future develops the facts that he has come it. with any other intention, ht should then be excluded—not necessarily because he doesn’t contribute anything, but because he is not a fit man to be in any church. It is not, then, so much the act of giving that we have to deal with as it is the individu al’s idea of what is his duty in giving. If his ideal is too low we must go about raising it ii just as judicious and careful i, manner as though we were try ing to elevate his spiritual ideal Then, the inquiry comes, How are you going to raise this ideal? —how are you going to get a man to give who doesn’t give? In the first place, let churches adopt the assessment plan ; but let every member assess himself. Get every member’s name down on paper opposite some amount that he has agreed to give. This will be a self-imposed moral ob ligation, and nine out of ten will stand by it. And when we say ‘every member’ we mean every man, woman, and child, regard less of how many may be from the same family. Even if the parent has to give the child his money to pay, It will still be effective in making the child feel that he is expected to do something. Teach him this from the time that he first enters his name upon the church roll, and when he comes to be a man of a family^, he already knows how to give—and he will give nutjrauy. ine cnurcn mai doesn’t teach its boys and girls to help—however little it may be—in carrying forward the en terprises of the church need not be surprised if there are men and women in it who won’t give anything. We would do well to take a lesson from our expe riences, and help out the future church by teaching our boys and girls to do something now while it is easy for them to learn. If after this self-assessment has been made, it is found that it isj not sufficient to meet the demands for the year, let that fact be explained to the church, and it will be a comparatively easy matter to raise the deficit by an increased, assessment. The assessment list should of course, be headed by the most liberal contributors in the church, and this will serve as a stimulus to those who sign after wards. The list being* com plete, having every member’s name on it for some amount, from two to six collectors should, be appointed—the number de pending upon the membership of the church—who shall divide • '' v,-.:'.' . .* * ' the list among them, each one looking after his part all the year round. Every member should be expected to pay quar terly in advance; but if that is not done, then the collector shouljf) approach him at least once a month, and get whatever, amount he can out of hi.n. With these frequent reminders, almost any member will pay his, entire assessment at some time dur ing the year. In addition to the work of>the collectors, the pastor should preach at least one sermon a vear directly on each important interprise of the church ; and a knowledge of the work to be done will stimulate the workers ind contributors to do it. Spe cial days, with interesting and appropriate exercises will alsi help on the work. What w< teed above all things is to keej .he enterprises constantly befort the people, and let them know that they are expected to sup port them. Excuse no one— man, woman, or child—from an assessment of some amount even if it be no more than twen ty-five, fifteen, five cen.—or, in deed, one cent. Collect that his time, next time it will b< more; and so on until in a few vears it will reach the point of liberality. If after reasonable teaching md persuasion, any membei still refuses to help, then the church should have recourse t< the last resort—suspend, and it necessary, expel him ; for he i> absolutely worthless—unfit foi fellowship with the people ol God. This is a simple pi an,but we be lieve it will prove effective if properly carried out. It is bus inesslike, and that is what we need. We cannot afford to do God’s work any more carelessly or indifferently than we do our own. Adopt the plan, and ad here to it as rigidly .as you would in conducting your worldly affairs, without fear or favor; and we believe that you will know “what to do with them”. MUSIC IN OUR CHURCHES. In most of our churches we neglect the music feature of our worship. We preach and pray our thanksgiving and praise; but we don’t sing them enough, it is through good, soul-stirring songs that all the congregation may enter practically aqd visi blv'ioto the spirit of the ser vices ; and pastors ought to see hat this beautifCil means of ex pression should not be neglect ed. Let all the congregation enter into the spirit of a few good songs before preaching, and it will not be hard to hold their attention to the sermon Rev. W. J. Laine has adopted a good plan in his church ai Oakland. lie has organized a music class that meets every Friday evening, to which he gives free instruction, and the attendance is large and enthusi astic. It won’t be long before the Oakland congregation will see the results of this good work. It may be that every pastor is not blessed with Bro. Laine’s knowledge of music, but there is usually some one in each congregation who is ; and the pastor might easily influ ence him or her to take tRe lead in the work. Many sinners may be drawn to the church by good music, who would not go to hear a good sermon ; but when there to hear the wusic they may be reached by the sermon also. Let every church organize a good choir and keep up such constant prac tice as will insure good music ; ane great will be the increase in interest in all the services. January has come and gone, and February is well-nigh pass ed, and yet there are many who have neglected to s.nd in their new year’s renewals to the Sun. We trust that our friends will not forget the fact that we now have no traveling agent regularly in the field, and that you will help us by sending your renewals di rect to the office. It is very ex pensive and exacting on oi r time to try to see all our subscri bers in person ; and you can, by a little thoughtfulness and promptness, save us both. And at the same time can you not send us in at least one new sub scriber? If all our subscribers would do this it would put your church paper in a comparative ly easy condition—a condition in which it has never been be fore, but one in which it ought always to have been. This is an appeal to every one who feels any interest in his church, and we trnst that it may not be light ly disregarded. IsMing Notes, —Rev. M. L. Hurley passed through Raleigh last week on his way to Franklinton, N. C. He called at the Sun office. Come again, Bro. —We were glad to see in last week’s Sun Dr. Barrett’s en dorsement of the “Biblical Chair” for Elon College; and his generous willingness to be one qf the fifty to provide for it. Let others speak out on the question, whether they agree with us or not. —We acknowledge receipt of an invitation to the marriage 01 Miss Laura Oberton to Mr. W. H. Coker, Feb. 27, 1896. The ceremony will take place in the Waverly Christian church, Wa verly, Va. We wish this young couple a long and happy mar ried life. —Washington’s birthday was fittingly celebrated by the va rious institutions of learning and most of the cities of our country. The “Father of His Country,” though restinglfeeneath the sod, is still alive in the hearts of his countrymen. —We are in receipt of an in vitation from Miss Rhodes to the reception to be given at Kee Mar College, Feb, 28. We re gret that we cannot be present on that occasion, which will be one of a continual round ol pleasures, but we wish them all a merry time. —The editor was recently in the Holy Neck community, and with Rev. N. G. Newman, put in a few days’ work fer the Sun We have some strong and inter ested friends in that church, but the paper doesn’t go into half as many homes there as it ought to. They have a strong membership, numerically and financially : and we trust that it may not be long before they will awake to the importance of a wider ci cill.; tion ol their church paper among he members. Let us have some local workers there. —Less than a year ago a movement was started to erect a building at Chapel Hill, N. C., to supply the needs ot an abid ing place for a large and increas ing Y. M. C. A. The cost is to be twenty thousand dollars. The students, faculty, townspeople, friends and a few of the alumni have already pledged over nine thousand dollars. Over one-half of this 'amount has come from Students. From such a building the University as well as the As sociation will derive supreme benefit. As such this movement deserves and will receive tbe support of all alumni who hold alma mater dear. —The editor was pained to hear while in Eastern Virginia of the death of Bro. W. W. John son, of Wake Chapel church. He was truly a good man, md has left an undying influence in his community. He has re in d a large and interesting family— all of whom have met with suc cess in their various walks in life. Truly a gbod man is gone: and while he can no longer stand By his church here in his own person, he will still do so in the person of his devoted and liberal-hearted children. May He whom he loved to serve watch oyer, guide, and comfort the bereaved ones left behind. —On Mpnday, Feb. 17th, '96. we were present at the funeral services of Mrs. Margaret N< r fleet, widow of the late Bro. Jno. Norfleet, of the Holy Neck church. She was a woman rich in good works; and was greatly beloved by all who knew her, and will be sadly missed in her church and community. When we were at Holy Neck the third Sunday in last May, we listened to the sad announcement of the death of “Uncle” John Norfleet; and last third Sunday when we were there, the mourning was for “Aunt” Margaret,who passed over the river- to meet him in a better and brighter world. We extend our sympathies to the be reaved family and friends. Fran Our Correspondents. Elon College Notes. Elon was the scene of much excitement last Friday night, when the alarm of fire was giv en. People rushed to the spot, but were too late to save the building. Here we must stand ind watch the unconquerable lames, in one mighty sweep, iestroy a beautiful home—that tDrrI;lLw?;ir. many valuable things were lost. Fortunately both the house and furniture were insured; there fore the loss will not be so heavy. Dr. Long and family for the present will occupy the house vacated by his father. We are so*ry to note the fact that Miss Gaines, a member of the family, met with the misfor tune to have a limb dislocated. We hope she will soon be strong again. We observed the 32nd here as a legal holiday in commemora tion of the birth of Washington. All text books were laid aside, and we enjoyed a pleasant day of rest. The rules were sus pended from 10 o’clock a. m. till 5:30 p. m. The students, as usual, took advantage of the oc casion. All seemed to put in good time, and we think the day passed pleasantly fur all. At 7 130 we assembled in the chapel, expecting a rare treat, and most assuredly we can say were not disappointed when two of our best speakers stepped upon the stage with all grace and dig nity (tor they were Seniors) : Mr. J. E. Rawls, of the Clip so ciety, and Mr. John M. Cook of the Philologian society. They filled the hall with their brilliant oratory and eloquent speeches, and all were charmed with their efforts. We are sure that Elon will feel proud to send out such graduates, who no doubt will re flect honor upon their alma ma ter as well as their literary so cieties. The character and variety of music for the occasion was ex cellent, both Vocal and instru mental were .rendered in a charming manner. This was furnished by Mrs. Albright and Misses Julia Long, Edwards, Staley, Baird and Nurney, and the male quartette consisting of Messrs. Johnson, Hosier, Simp son and .Young. We are glad to have with us Mrs. York, mother of our phy sician, Dr. N. D. York. We hope that she will enjoy her visit. We had a very interesting prayer meeting Sunday night, conducted by Mr.- G. W. Tickle. Ora Aldridge, Blanche Baird. Feb. 34. Onr Norfolk Letter. Some time ago a pastor who has a reputation for plain preaching; received the following letter: Mr. Dear- Sir.:— We would be more than glad to hear you preach one sermon en tirely on the Bible, and give us a rest from drinking, frolicing, and neighborhood difficulties, as your sermons for the past year have been entirely on these sub jects. It seems as though it is impos sible for you to preach a sermon without bringing these points up. You may wonder why we should write you this. It is because the community is complaining about it. Respectfully yours, Three Anonymous Friends, “Tom, Dick, and Harry." Whom shall we pity, the min ister who received the letter, or the men who wrote it? The men who wrote the letter are in much need of pity. The burden of the letter is based on the complaint ot the community—they are talking about (he way this pastor is preaching against sin. If only known, the facts would mdst likely show “Tom, Dick and Harry” to be themselves the victims of their pastor’s shots at sin, and instead of falling upon their knees before the Lord and asking Him for help to give up the sins which the brave pastor had faithfully pointed out to them and the community, they put themselves on the war-path, and' do wh^t no sincere Chris tian, or straightforward man, ougnt to do, or will do, fight from ambush, behind a name which no one in the community will own. _ I fear these men are not only walking in sin, but that they loved the sins for which the pas tor rebuked them. If they were true Christian men, as is some times the case, when the preach er, declaring the truth of God, should hit them squarely in the face, they would have become very penitent and have sought forgiveness of their Heavenly Father, and thereafter have walked in the light of the Lord, but, in love with the sin rebuked, as they evidently were, they take offence at the truth and ;hen go oft and write n letter to the messenger of the Lord’s Wofd, which not only bore the marks of resentment, but showed an unkind and unChristiun spir it, ahd showed themselves cow ards, which they proved by signing names which no one in the community will own, an act which ought to mark their cheeks with the blush ot shame every time they think of it. Under three false names they declare the preacher is being criticised by the community be cause he is denouncing the sins of“drinking,frolidng and neigh borhood difficulties.” „ I suspect they did not tell it all, or place the burden in the right place, for I guess the main trouble lay in the fact that the people were not only talking about the preacher’s preaching, but about the way the preacher was laying rebukes upon “Tom, Dick and Harry”, for the sins of which they were known lobe guilty in the community, and “Tom, Dick and Harry” were doing the complaining. That is the way it looks any way. I am surprised that „any one who has a fair share of self-re spect should be willing to take upon himself,a name which not only ho one in the community will own, but of which the writer is evidently ashamed, or he would not wish it to be regarded as “anonymous.” In this way “Tom, Diaft and Harry” hoped to make a direct shot at the preacher and remain unknown and I suppose they will so re main ; but I am quite sure if their neighbors were assembled and should hear their letter read, they could readily point out these men who are afraid to let themselves be known. “Tom, Dick and Harry” will likely read what I am now writ ing of them, but they will not only not attack me tor it, but they will keep their mouths shut, because they are afraid to let themselves be known. Let the prayers of God’s people be of fered for them—that they may see themselves as they are, and speedily forsake their love of the sins which the faithful preacher rebuked, and forsaking all sin, cleave *nly to God and His truth. I fiave not written thus be cause the letter was to myself; for it was not; nor have I writ ten at the request or with the consent of the preacher to whom the letter was sent, for the letter came into my possession without his knowledge or contrivance ; and I have written purely for two purposes: i. To show “’Tom, Dick and Harry” their error and urge them ' to seek better things and to try by the grace of God to live better lives in the future, and so be ready for the summons of the Master when it shall come. 2. To warn others who may feel inclined to join “Tom, Dick and Harry” in their unholy opposition to the truth of God’s Word as delivhred faith fully by His messengers—the preachers of the blessed gospel of the Son of God. Dearly be loved, abstain from sin. J. Pressley Barrett. Feb. 22. Berkley Letter. Yesterday I exchanged pulpits with Rev. J. W. Harrell, and had the pleasure of again meet ing the dear brethren and friends of Burton’s Grove. The congre gation was large. We had a pleasant communion service. Bro. Harrell’s field at that point seenis to be in an encouraging condition. He is popular with his people, and indications show that he is doing good work. Last night I attended services a^; the Ivor Christian church and heard Dr. W. S. Long preach an excellent sermon from i Cor. 13: 13. He has accepted the Ivor church until conference, and has already made a fine im pression on the community. Dr. Staley dropped in to see us last week on his way to Great Bridge, where he lectured at night for the benefit of Berea church. A pleasant surprise it was to us. I drove down at night to hear the lecture, which to me was a rare treat. The Dr. had a good audience,.and while he suffered of hoarseness, yet held his audience in rapt atten tion for two hours and fourteen minutes. After the lecture the young ladies served hot oysters and favored the audience with good music. We spent the night i« the hospitable home «f Bro. J. Hall, whose, kind atten tion w«« greatly appreciated. Our Sunday school has recent ly lost a bright and beautiful lit tle girl by death. It was little Ida May Randolph, youngest chBd of Broi G. B. Randolph and wife. It was sick only a fe„w days, but it suffered of that ,n' most m Its sufferings -- and the isolation o„ „ dear parents in such an hour of darkness and distress was an affliction not common to all. The parents have the profound sym pathy of the community. The dear little Ida May is absent from the home and Sunday school; but she is present with the Lord. ‘‘We’ll never say good-bye in Heaven.” The dear children in Heaven 1 They leave us here for awhile, but still their gentle voices seem to fall upon our ears. I extend a pastor’s sympathy. My own home has had a similar cloud and my own heart a similar wound. The v Lord bless and strengthen. Sister Mary French has been ill recently,Suffering of pneumo nia, but is now improved; also also Sister E. J. Winborne has been confined to her bed of sick nes, recently, but is now better. Last week the State Conven tion of the Y. M. C. A. met at Monumental M. E. Church, Portsmouth, Va. There was a large * delegation present, and great interest and enthusiasm prevailed. Very truly, M. W. Butler. Feb. 20. From the Field. I have been sick and missed an appointment at Pleasant Ridge and Liberty. Preached yesterday at Christian Union. We are going to enlarge this house of worship. After spring opens I expect to give Staley a monthly ap pointment and it is my opinion that a self-sustaining church can be established there yet. Poor er probabilities have ripened in to success. I appointed Miss Alice Dun lap, Long Leaf, N. C., to act as agent for the Cristian Sun at Christian Union, and hope that more ot the brethren and sisters may be induced to take the pa per, for I find it to be a great helper in the work. I am going to appoint an agent in each of my fields. J. R. Comer. Bethlehem.—This is my sec ond year at this church, hence I am better acquainted with it and its workings than with some of my work. This church has many good people and good workers in it, as good as any where to be found, but many have moved away and lost inter est, and the church has been crippled by carrying such a load of dead-heads. We are trying to bring about a changed condi tion of affairs and get on a working basis. The church seems to be more united than it has been since my work with it began. Bro. Hurley was with us in January and preached to the delight of all who heard him. He expressed himself as delighted with his sale of books. Union.—My work with this church began with the confer ence year, and the work seems to be opening up with some promise. It has been expressed by some of the members that Union will go to conference with all her assessments in hand. We haye many noble hearted men and women, but this is an old church also and has in it too many who are not doing any thing for the L,ord’s cause. Why people should want to be mem bers ol the church and still neg lect every duty they owe it is a promblem that I have not been able to solve. We want every member of this church to come up nobly to the help of the Lord. Haw River.—This is not only a new field of work for me, but it is a new point. I found, the work here organized only in part. We have elected and ordained two good men as dea cons, and the best lay worker I know of as treasurer and col- . lector. Since the work began here five have been received in to the church, making thirty-one in all. This being a new church the members are united and working well. We have the work of building before us, afcd will soon start a subscrip tion list. While at Burlington recently. Mamie Barnwell, a five year old girl, gave me $1.00 saying she wanted to give the first dollar to build the new church at Haw River. (Her mother claims to have paid the first dollar for buildkig the Ral eigh Christian church.I will fladly acknowledge through the UN the receipt of dollars or other amounts, from little girls or boys, or anybody else, for building our church at Haw Ri.ver Let all who have a mind and heart to do so help us, and thus assist those doing their part to erect a creditable house
The Christian Sun (Elon College, N.C.)
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Feb. 27, 1896, edition 1
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