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September 20, 1911 ] THE
111011 on Christian Conduct was in touch at every
point with those whom He came to save and guide
and cheer. Jesus had a great human heart that
could be touched with a feeling of our infirmities
and that was tempted in all points like as
we are.
The example set by the preacher enforces and
helps his words. They make them practical and
strong. They assure the hearer of sympathy,
help and love. No one ever leaned upon his
arm without finding how mighty it is. He is a
tower of strength, a very present help in time of
trouble, a refuge and strength, a mighty fortress,
a deliverer of them that trust in him. He that
can be and do all this may well be trusted and?
followed.
REV. JOHN CALVIN BARR, D. D.
FROM THE CHARLESTON MAIL.
The announcement of the death of Dr. J. C.
Barr, of Charleston, West Virginia, was heard
with profound regret. Especially was this regret
emphasized by the older inhabitants of this city
who had come into personal contact with a gentle
and lovable disposition, and into whose homes
that gentle and comforting presence had come
when sickness and death had spread its pall
over it and great sorrow had been felt. As a pastor
Dr. Barr looked carefully after the welfare
01 nis nocK ana ms visits were aiways visits ur
pleasure and delight. With a mind well trained
in book learning, a deep searcher of the
Scriptures and a profound theologian, Dr. Barr,
in his studies and in his works, omitted none of
those aimable traits of character that endeared
him, not only to his own flock, but to the people
generally who had known him.
The best evidence of his nature was exhibited
in those days that tried the souls and the
consciences of men as well as their physical en-the
days of the Civil W ar and of the
equally stern times that immediately followed.
Churches were divided and the First Presbyterian
church of this city had a membership that
had taken different sides on the great issues of
that great struggle. At the suggestion of Drliarr,
this mental division was minimized when
his suggestion was followed that the church here
nlU f with neither the Northern nor the
- >i Presbytery, but continue on its way in
its work for the Master?a work, which, in Dr.
.tsarr'8 mina, was superior 10 any ox me ininm
quarrels of man. And the church so continued
until, there developing that a majority of the
membership preferred to affiliate with the Southern
Presbytery, a separation was amicably made,
tht each one could follow his own inclination in
this respect.
But it was not alone as a preacher of the Gospel,
a minister unto the stricken home, a comforter
in time of trouble, a peacemaker where peace
meant greater good in the Master's service, but it
was also as teacher that Dr. Barr impressed the
force of his character and his tine mental
equipment upon the community. In this capacity
Dr. Barr worked with the same devotion to
high ideals, with the same conscientious endeavor
that marked his every act, having always before
him the great work of the Master as an inspiration
and a model. In his work, whether as pastor
or teacher, whether as friend and adviser, Dr.
Barr laid the foundations broad and deep and
imnriinfiorl nriftn all the thoroughness of his own
preparation and the depth and sincerity of his
convictions. He was a staunch supporter of the
essentials and believed firmly in going to the
root of things.
In reviewing the record of a long and useful
life spent in the Master's service of this disciple
of Him who gave His life for the world,
panegyric has no place. The Great Master if He
PRESBYTERIAN OP THE 8
had a faithful worker in Dr. Barr, had none mor?
modest. Hundreds of homes in this city and
this county know his worth. Hundreds of persons
now scattered abroad attest his labors and
his value to the community. He did the work he
had mapped out to the best of his ability and
with the fear and the love of God ever before him
He wrought well and faithfully. He leaves in
his church a memory that is an inspiration to
all. The great good that he has done lives after
him and will continue to bear good and abundant
fruit. All those who knew him, who loved
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, . jj^,
REV. J. C. BARR, D. D.
and admired him, with whom he sorrowed and
with whom he rejoiced, know that the Lord has
called unto Himself a good and faithful servant
who made the good fight unflinching, who kepi
the faith through good and through ill report
who trusted solely in that Lord and who has
entered into that reward which is reserved for
those faithful soldiers of the cross that endure to
the end. By his life and his works, Charleston
has been a gainer; in his death, the city mourns.
"AND SOME EVANGELISTS."
(Continued from page 3.)
in place of giving these hallowed hours over to
deeper impressions already made, magnifying
the value of the Scriptures, emphasizing prayer
and communion, they have been industrously
used in developing dollars, and many a poor
fellow has promised to give, or really in the excitement
has given more than he is really able.
Happily the scene described, though sorely susceptible
of criticisim, cannot rival for brutality
one closely observed years ago. The evangelist
(and ex-preacher) had little or no machinery,
nothing of the spectacular. lie had won
his way to many hearts, though he had discarded
the simple gospel, hence preached a
miYfnro of lour onrl r?r?o n n \rli inli tiroes
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The day for the Vthank-offering" arrived;
nothing had been done to heighten the interest.
The cynosure of all eyes had taken his place at
a single exit, not to greet his departing friends,
but to receive their gifts- It was a tender
hour. The crowds which had surged in and out
to hear, had now come to take leave of one
whom they might not see again. Every one
brought something?some more, some less.
Little notes of appreciation were enclosed with
the gift. The envelopes might have been received
by others and the Evangelist left free to
shake the hands of those who came, but this was
not the plan. The envelopes were ruthlessly
sundered in the presence of the giver; the casli
pocketed and the debris, with tender missives
0 U T H (899) ii
dropped to the floor unread. This example of
brutal cupidity is now, was then, to all intents
and purposes, a unitarian.
The brotherhood scheme, with its banquets
and social trend, in some quarters is engaged in
a powerless effort to resurrect a church buried
in worldliness, and is not only worthy of passing
mention, but it has very largely displaced
the false and the true evangelist, and the
spiritual life of the church in many quarters
is precarious indeed.
lifiliffinn ( f\ unrl onninlnmr K#\*Vi nmni.n + i..
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from man, are still held in many quarters a
panacea for the woes of the community where
the church fails to reach and save men, notwithstanding,
"it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe."
No church today without culinary concomitants,
is not up-to-date. A church today is a
"dead one" in the estimation of many, if she
is not more interested in sociology than in salvation.
Many make much ado about putting
people to work, though little on the need of
preparation for the work. They honor the
specialist who spends years acquiring technical
skill to heal the body and proceed without delay
to commission the unskilled novice in the
application of Gileads balm in the healing of
the soul. The man who talks of putting men to
work for God, without instruction in the things
of God, is a God-dishonoring blind leader of
the blind.
A noted revivalist had closed his meetings.
Thousands of raw converts were received into
the churches. The slogan of the uninstructed
leaders was "put them to work " In a. large
church dozens were made ushers. The old, the
tried, the true and faithful stepped aside without
an audible murmur. The aisles were soon lined
with new converts on dress parade. The pray'
er-meeting took on new conditions. The
> young converts had the right of way. Pastor
1 and people gave them a glad-handed welcome;
and a whispered "God bless you" fell on the
ears of many who testified. The church congratulated
itself on account of its accessions.
The pastor, with all his other obligations, to
improve his interest and improve his opportunity,
organized classes for the study of the
Bible, of no avail. The class closed. The testimony
in the prayer-meeting ceased; the old
ushers got back without friction, and things
went on as before, save the sad reflection of a
lost opportunity brought to the church.
It is fair to try to trace the cause of the
failure ? Was this product of the revival of the
Spirit? Were those who were on confession of
their faith, received into the church "twiceborn,"
or were they swayed by speaker, moved
by prayerful pleas, cheered by applause,
forced forward merely to take the hand of the
evangelist. Who can answer? Was it the
churches' opportunity which they failed to
improve in ministering to these babes n Christ,
with "the sincere milk of the word?" God only
knows just where the fault lies.
There is no place in the church of Jesus
Christ in the earth for the natural man.
mi _ _ i l a1? a?? _ - l
i no spiritual man?me iwice-Dorn man,
if instructed in any degree and welcome, will
find his place; it may be an odd job, but he will
try and fill his little or greater niche for Christ's
sake. lie will never be great down here, and
his name will not he conspicuous in the daily
press, but he has the assurance that he will
awake some sweet day in His likeness and be
like Ilim, for He shall see Him as He is. He
i will remember that his Lord had no place to lay
i His head, and if He were here today He could
r not and would not be allowed to fill the place
t of some of the types of Evangelists.
? Springfield, Illinois.