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September 20, 1!)11 ] THE
mon 011 Christian Conduct was in touch at every
point with those whom lie 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
of his flock and his visits were always visits of
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 tioek, but to the people
generally who had known him.
The best evidence of his nature was cxhibit.<t
in i in rlavM tluit ti'ipd tlx' senilis: ?n<l t.lie
consciences of men as well 'as tiieir physical en?the
days of the Civil War and of the
equally stern times that immediately followed.
Churches were divided and the First Presbyterian
church ol this city had a membership that
had taken different sides on the great issues of
that great struggle. At the suggestion of Dr
Burr, this mental division was minimized when
his suggestion was followed that the church here
f with neither the Northern nor the
Presbytery, but continue on its way in
its work for the Master?a work, which, in Dr.
Ban 's mind, was superior to any of the minor
quarrels of man. And the church so continued
? am -i i j 1 ?:?. i.i?i. ? /xi? f
unui, mere ueveiupiug mm u, uiujuxh^ ux mo
membership preferred to affiliate with the Southern
Presbytery, a separation was amicably made,
tht each one could follow his own inclination in
this respect.
i 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 line mental
equipment upon the community. In this capa
city Dr. Darr worked with tne 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
impressed upon 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 lias no place. The Great Master if He
I
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
had a faithful worker in Dr. Karr, had none more
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, lie did the work lie
had mapped out to the best of his ability and
with the fear and the love of (Jod ever before him
lie wrought well and faithfully. lie leaves in
his church a memory that is an inspiration to
all. The great good that lie has done lives after
him and will continue to bear good and abundant
fruit. All those who knew him, who loved
REV. J. C. BARR, D. I).
and admired him, with whom he sorrowed and
with whom he rejoiced, know that the Lord has
called unto Himself a good and faithful servaut
who made the good light unflinching, who kept
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 U.)
in place of giving these hallowed hours over to
deeper impressions alreadv made, matrnifviner
the value of the Scriptures, emphasizing prayer
and communion, they have been iudustrously
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 dis
caraea tnc simple gospel, hence preached a
mixture of law and grace which was neither.
The day for the ' thank-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.
Tattle notes of appreciation were enclosed with
me gin. i ne envelopes mignr. nave neen 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 presenee of the giver; the cash
pocketed and the dehris, with tender missives
UTH (899) 11
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.
Religion ( ?) and sociology both emanating
from man, are still held iu 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."
Xo 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
pt ople 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 iu the
application of Gileads balm in the healing of
the soul. The man who talks of putting men to
work tor Uocl, witliout 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 prayer-meeting
took on new conditions. The
young converts had the right of way. Pastor
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 onlv
knows just where the fault lies.
There is no place in tlie church of Jesus
Christ in the earth for the natural man.
The spiritual man?the twiee-born man,
if instructed in any degree and welcome, will
find his place; it may he an odd .job, but he will
try and fill his little or greater niche for Christ's
sake, lie will never he great down hero, 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 Tlim, for He shall see Him as Tie is. He
will remember that his Lord had no place to lay
His head, and if ITe were here today Tie could
not and would not be allowed to fill the place
of some of the types of Evangelists.
Springfield, Illinois.