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10 (1162) THE P
herents of the mure impure faiths. Hero,
above all other places, has been and continues
to be one of the most fruitful fields for
Christian effort, and one where gentleness and
wisdom will be most productive of the happiest
results.
LITTLE THINGS MADE GREAT.
T h P Hihln hirlu 110 4^-4- ?**'-L " ?
uo icai u uuiu tuai W 111 oil lb
about us. It points out the force and value
of little things. "There be four things which
are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding
wise. The ants are a people not strong,
yet they prepare their meat in the summer.
The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make
they their houses in the rocks. The locusts
have no king, yet go they forth all of them by
bands. The spider taketh hold with her hands,
and is in kings' palaces." The little cake of
the widow of Zarephath was the precursor of
the unfailing barrel of meal and cruse of oil.
A little girl directed the incidents of Moses'
rescue from the ark of bulrushes and his rearing
in a palace. The little rod in Moses' hand
was the instrument of God's power. A lad, a
stripling, armed with but a sling and stones,
put Goliath to death and led to the triumph
of Israel over the Philistines. A little captive
maid sent Naaman the Syrian to Elisha to be
healed. A little boy's five barley loaves and
two small fishes fed a multitude. One youth
saved Paul from the dire conspiracy of more
than forty men.
Despise not the day of small things! Those
little things are the genesis of greater. They
compose the most of life. Take them out of
life, and not much would be left. It is in them
that character shows. It is in them that opportunities
offer. It is out of them that the
sweetness or bitterness of life flows. It is they
which determine the event when the great
r , thing is to be done, the great crisis to be met.
"Thou hast bean faithfnl in a ?*? ?**
?XA C* xon tilings ; 1
v; will make thee ruler over many cities." After
j all, it is not the size of a thing bnt that which
r7.is in it that makes value. The diamond is the
.satpe material as the charcoal, but it is worth
, million times more because it holds that ma .
terial in richer form. God determines values.
He may make a little incident more important
in your life and more telling upon the world
. than a great coup d'etat. The little offering of
q . Mary at Simon's house, when she did all she
i.. could, and she thought it little, gave her more
reputation than Carnegie's millions and libraries
will give him. The widow's two mites
have stimulated more generosity and con
scientious giving to God than Moses Monte*
flori's or Baron Hirsch's legacies.
The simple preaching of the Word exercises
. the mightiest energy of the world. It converted
Nineveh. It has been breaking down
the walls of opposition and unbelief. It has
been carrying blessings to the nations of earth.
It is made mighty through God to the pnlling
down of the strongholds of Satan. The power
of little things is also great to do evil. A little
crack in the bell destroys its tone. A lit3,
tie flaw in the character takes away its true
^ribg' A little yielding to the tempter opens
F?y for his fullest entrance into the soul.
So the wisdom of man as well as that of God
yr^i^gafl ..that we take care of the beginning of
^things, that we set ourselves resolutely against
the first appearance of evil. Little neglects,
little omissions, little impure thoughts, little
overt acts of sin, have oftentimes insured the
loss of the soul. Then, "take us the foxes, the
little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines
have tender grapes." There's equal power in
little deeds of kindness, in little words of love, i
A tear baa sometimes touched a nigged heart
and melted it and made it yield to Christ. A i
RESBYTERIAN OF THE lOl
tender thought has sometimes kindled the eye
and by an unoonsoious sympathy aroused a
dormant life to love and power.
NO TIMS LEFT FOE THE ACTUAL WORK.
A faithful deacon came to us the other day
and asked our advice as to attending a per.
tain series of meetings then about to begin,
one of the "inspirational and educational"
kind now so frequent in the larger cities. He
is a most faithful man, earnestly desiring to do
the very best in everything he undertakes, an
indefatigable church worker, Sunday School
superintendent, deacon and trustee. He is a
constant learner, too, always striving to improve
himself and his methods of work and the
methods of those whom he has to direct. Said
he, "1 am called to go to so many things and
to spend so much of my time in hearing how to
do things, that I have no time left to do them!"
Like very many others of our Christian workers
he has only so much time that he can devote
to his church activities. Like many others
he makes this a very large proportion,
sometimes all of his spare time. He wants to
profit by everything going, but he is over
whelmed. *
Surely it is time to call a halt ou the setting
up of machinery. A large part of the time
of busy people in the church is urgently called
for to be devoted to learning how, to hearing
how others are doing it, to catching "new inspiration,"
to attending institutes and conferences
and conventions and campaigns and
movements and banquets, and the part left
for applying the new information is reduced
almost to nothing. There is more machinery
given and set up than there is opportunity to
set in motion. The plaint of the devoted deacon
was natural. He wants to do what is right
as to all these instructions and advices and
devices and plans and organizations, and the
like, but if he give himself to them he will
hw vp no timo loft av- tt- >
, _ _w u? bV fT VI IV Lli C HI XT6 IS D6wildered.
He is beginning to feel over-advised.
The calls to come and learn how are becoming
too multiplied to handle. He is not alone in
this conviction.
The land used to be fall of men going
about singly, or at most in pairs, the best of
them advising pastors how to do things, the
worst and the most of them disparaging the
regular work; but now we hear of these advisers,
all of them at so much "per," as it is
sometimes put, going about in groups, teams,
squads, working "cyclone" campaigns, calling
for the names of all the members or of
the men in the churches where they operate,
setting up organizations for the pastors and
sessions and churches, and giving general advice
as to "how to do it." And in supporting
mem ana Keeping them going, the chnrch,
which they often depreciate, is called npon to
raise great sums of money to cover the expenses
and to pay the salaries of the peripatetics.
We venture to assert that the cost to
the chnrch of one of these "whirlwind" or
"cyclone" campaigns which is worked all
over the country, and that without any marked
results except in securing excited pledges
which many do not redeem, would sustain a
hundred missionaries for two years in the
foreign field or three hundred in the home field.
This is very plain writing, but the inquiry
of the deacon has suggested it. Many have
been thinking it, bnt their fear that they might 1
inpede some good work or injure some good 1
cause has made them hesitate to speak ont. '
And the worst of it all is yet to be told. This 1
Is that the method, even when worked by the *
most consecrated and earnest men, most care- i
hil of the pastors' good name and influence, is <
gradually producing the impression that the 1
CT X B (.Dtoecnbvr (5, 1?11
pastors are not faithful or consecrated or doing
their work, and is slowly undermining them
and lessening the confidence of their supporters.
And worse still, it is sapping the foundations
of the church, the one organization
which God has invested with the authority
and to which he has promised the grace to
do is work.
The great cry of the church today should be,
\r?i. . J "
i-?ut mure meinoas or more iuacninery, but
more Power!
CONSECRATED WEALTH.
If more of the uncounted wealth of this favored
land could be turned to the account of
promoting distinctly Christian enterprises what
immense schemes of Christian service might be
projected and, under the blessings of God, carried
to glorious consummation.
It has been noticed that usually the gifts
of millionaires are not bestowed in the spread
und promotion of the Gospel, but upon purely
philanthropic or humanitarian enterprises. For
instance, Mr. Carnegie has just made a bequest
of $25,000.00 to the Carnegie Corporation
of New Yfirl- JVio -J ... 1-: - L 11 1
..w? .v.buu j^uijiuac ui which, us siaieu
in the charter, is to receive and maintain a
fund or funds, and apply the income thereof to
the promotion and diffusion of knowledge
among the people of the United States by adding
technical schools, institutions of higher
Uarning, libraries, scientific research, hero
funds, useful publications and by such.other
agencies and means as from time to time be
found appropriate thereto." It is stated that
Mr. Carnegie has given more than $200,000,000
to public causes and that his generosity has extended
beyond the confines of the United
States to England, New Zealand, Denmark,
Germany and the West Indies.
In educational endowments Mr. Carnegie
distinctly specifies that funds given by him shall
not be appropriated to denominational schools.
It is likewise true of Mr. Rockfeller's liberal
gifts that a very minor part of them have been
devoted to distinctly Christian purposes. Aiding
humanity with a view to its temporal wellbeing
seems to be the almost exclusive aim of
these and other men and women upon whom
God in his providence has bestowed immense
wealth.
Very different is the cftse nf ATi* .Tr?V>?? T
w w? u uu 11 fj . li.CU'
uedy of New York, a devout Presbyterian of
the old school. The Northern Presbyterian
church is receiving immense sums from his
bequests as indicated by the following estimate
that has been made of their value:
"The total of his bequests to the Boards of
Foreign Missions, Home Missions and Church
Erection amounts to $8,790,000 or $2,930,000
for each. This is almost three-quarters of a
million more than the original estimate when
the will was probated. All three of these boards
have already received more than two and onehalf
millions, and may now expect nearly $350,000
apiece additional. The College Board also
will receive an increase, raising its original
etsLjuiaie irom $750,000 to $975,000. The share
of the Church Extension Committee of the
Presbytery of New York is only a few thousands
short of $2,000,000. The American Bible
Society gets $975,000 and the Presbyterian
Hospital a million and a half."
He that has the truth has eternity to grow
in, and the entire universe is his home. He
nay range from the throne of God to the verge
5f the bottomless pit, and nothincr ahull hv
o "~V
means harm him or confound him. There is
in understanding between him and God. There
s in him that which all" finite ministries are
ommanded to foster?namely, life.?George
taws*.