Newspaper Page Text
2 (410) T H
Starkville should prove of interest to the rank
and tile of both churches. When 1 came to
iStarkville to begin my pastorate in Jan., 1911,
1 found in the town of 3,000 inhabitants, with
an additional 1,400 at the Agricultural and
Mechanical College, the Methodist and Bap
tist denominations and four branches of the
Presbyterian Church. These branches were
the Southern, Cumberland, U. S. A., and
United Presbyterian. The United Presbyterian
Church had for a long time been partly
supported as a mission church by the Synod of
Illinois of that denomination. This support
being withdrawn and self support being impossible
our session formally invited the
United Presbyterians to membership with us.
?.?c o?mc umc luviiuiiuns were extended
to the U. S. A. and Cumberland Presbyterians
.... the express design being to draw all the
Presbyterian bodies of the town into one
strong organization. It was proposed that the
officers of the several churches become the officers
of the united church. The further proposition
was made the United Presbyterians
that in public worship both Psalms and Hymns
be sung. The U. IS. A. Presbyterians accepted
our invitation to the extent that they petitioned
their Presbytery unanimously to be dis
missea 10 union with our church. Complications
arising on the question of union of individual
congregations elsewhere they afterwards
decided to worship with us and subscribe
to our local needs, but to continue for
a time at least their connection with the U. S.
A. Presbyterian Church at large- In response
to our invitation the United Presbyterian congregation
was dissolved and about thirty of
the membership, including two ciders and two
trustees or deacons, were dismissed to unite
with the Southern Presbyterian Church.
Through one of our new elders we ordered for
Psalm singing "The Psalter Ilymns," a new
compilation for Union services recently pub*
iisiied ny tlie United Presbyterian Printing Establishment
at Pittsburgh, Pa. These selections
are excellent. The only objection has
been that some of them are unfamiliar to the
United Presbyterians themselves. Let us hope
that in the new 'Psalms and llymns" published
after general union is accomplished we shall
find many of the sublime versions of the Psalms
now sung by our United Presbyterian brethren
In our union we have proved the truth of the
words "How good and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together in unity." These
TtPnnlp llPPP Q a olouurlmxa OHA ~c "
r ?*V4 v uo Vioc ?? uui V/J die lliu dell I U L UIU
earth and as a matter of course have been a
savor of righteousness in our midst.
Professor Swan in his before-mentioned article
suggests some excellent reasons for union,?the
adaptibility of Southern missionaries
because of climatic conditions for .work in
Egypt* India and the Soudan; the lessening
of expense in administration; the promotion
North and South of the feeling of Christian fellowship
and brotherly love. lie has neglected
to stress however, one important blessing that
would spring from union. This would be the
blessing of co-operation with our Northern
brethren of the same faith and blood in grappling
with the problem of the evangelization
and proper education of the negro which is today
not a problem of the South but of the nation.
Let the assemblies of the two churches
beware when they meet in Atlanta lest in bickering
over non-essentials they lose the opportunity
of marching as one brotherhood of
Christians to the performance of this Godappointed
task. The hope of the Church in
the Foreign field lies in raising up and properly
equipping a force of native Christian
workers. In a like manner true gospel preachers
of negro blood must be raised up in our
E PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOt
own land who will lead this people into paths
of righteousness. Here is the true solution oi'
the missionary nroblem at* Afri<>H Th? rwmv
mail at the gate of the South and North must
be healed aud elothed and seut forth to help
his benighted brother. For what other reason
did the Almighty plaee the negro in our midst
than for this! White missionaries cannot for
loug withstand the climate of equatorial Africa.
The physical characteristics of the negro
lit hiui for just these conditions, liow glorious
if we could after union send forth many like
Shepherd into this work. Then would Ethiopia
soon stretch forth her hands unto God, the
waste places be filled and the desert blossom as
+ 4 a 1-' -*11 n%
me rose. -i\i. AVUUAVlue, 1CUI1CSSCC, 0U<1 at .iNorfolk,
Virginia, the United Presbyterian Church
is already doing a great work for the negro?
a work similar to that being done at Stillinan
Institute, our own school for the negro, in
Tuscaloosa, Alp.
If space permitted 1 might stress at length
the necessity for organic union in order that
the problem of the education and evangelization
of the mountain white may be satisfactorily
solved. The United Presbyterian and
Southern Churches oeeupy the strategic positions
with regard to the solution of this prob1
mt A i t ...
luiu. j.ne .nppajacnian range, peopled largely
by these people o? Scotch Irish Presbyterian
ancestry, stretches from Pennsylvania? 1
the stronghold of United Presbyteriauism?
through Kentucky and Tennessee into the
heart of the territory of the Southern Presbyterian
Church. Both churches are already doing
good work in the mountains. What an impetus
would union give to this work!
There are no unsurmountable difficulties in ;
the way of union. Let us pray earnestly that 1
it may be consummated at Atlanta in the spirit
of the Master when he Draved "That thev
all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, i
and 1 in thee, that they also may be one in us; 1
that the world may believe that thou hast 1
sent me." i
The Manse, Starkville, Miss. 1
<
SOME QUESTIONS FROM THE SCRIPTURES.
)
One way of teaching is by asking questions. ,
This method was pursued by Socrai.es, and is ]
therefore called the "Socratie Method." But
it was used long before the days of Socrates,
I
and by one far greater and wiser than he. It j
is a striking and effective method. It is per- 1
sonal, and brings a matter straight home to the ,
individual. It compels him to think by setting 1
him to searching for an answer. As the Lord ,
excels in all else, so does He excel in asking
questions. Christ's foes undertook to embar- ,
rass and discredit him by questions. After ^
answering all of their questions, lie turned the
tables on them by asking them one. This one (
UfOO " "'l'^ A' 1 1 1
nao ouniV/iCiit IU Sllt'IIUU IIIUIII y ADQ HO IDftH J
was able to answer Him a word, neither durst <
7 ft
any man from that day forth ask Ilim any j
more questions." If you would see something ,
of the Lord's skill and ability in asking questions,
read the thirty-eighth chapter of the ^
book of Job. j
A few Scriptural questions are selected and j
here set down for the consideration of those ?
who read them. May those who read them t
be like the Jews of Bcrea, who "received the j
word with all readiness of mind, and searched 1
the Scriptures daily, whether those things were r
f f O 1? ' *
bu. ourciy no one fan study them in such \
a Spirit without being persuaded to turn to j
the Lord, and seek Him while lie may be found \
and call upon ITim while Tie is near. ?
"If a man die, shnll lie live again!" Job 3
14:14. "Wherefore do ye spend money "for
J T H fMtrj 7, 1913
that which is nut bread T and your labor for
that which aatisheth not? lsa. 55:2.
" WIlV will vrt flio }" 99.11
? ? "J ** J v uiv KJKJ A JL?
"A son honoreth his father, and a servant
his master; if then 1 be a father, where is mine
honor? and if 1 be a master, where is my fear?
saith the Lord of hosts." Mai. 1:6.
And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not
the things which I say?" Luke 6:46.
"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his
soul?" Mark 8:36, 37.
"And thinkest thou this, 0 man, that Judg
esi mem wmctt do sucli tluugs, and doest the
same, that thou shalt escape the Judgment of
God? Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness
and forbearance and lougsuffering; not
knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee
to repentance?" Rom. 2:3, 4.
"For who maketh thee to differ from another?
and what hast thou that thou didst not
receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why
dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received
it?" 1 Cor. 4:7.
"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great
-alvation: which at the first began to be spoken
by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by
them that heard Him; God also bearing them
witness, both with signs and wonders, and with
divers miracles, and gifts of the Iloly Ghost,
according to Ilis own will?" Heb. 2:3, 4.
REALIZED PERIL.
It is evident that, in recent years there has
been a rapidly growing loss of regard for the
npril in \vhir<h lincnvnd nnno OH.!*. !? ?
^,, 14UW1* ? vvi vuvo oiuuu* x aio 13 a
part of the moral looseness of the times. With
the general loss of personal fear of God, there
is also a lost sense of the imminent and eternal
danger to which every unconverted person
is exposed. There is an awful trifling with
the subject of personal salvation. And a good
deal of this is owing to the li bora list ic teachings
by those who profess to be Christians, but
are not such. They are telling sinners that
God is their loving and forbearing Father, and
will not let them forever perish. In many
nnrts r?f nilr lnn<l Hmfo ni*fl nno4/\?. ?
?w v* vui iunvi biiviv aio j/aaiuis \JL t'Villlgelical
churches who never warn their unsaved
hearers of their peril, and the apparent
reason is, they themselves do not believe that
anyone is in peril. It is the preacher who has
a painful sense of the immediate peril of every
lost soul that cries out in warning tones to
these hearers, beseeching them to flee from th*
wrath to come. Such a preacher has a realiza
tion of the feeling which Christ had when,
with a most passionate zeal, he sought to
awaken sinners to the terrible peril that they
were in. In every possible way he endeavored
to have sinners see that they were in the greatest
of all dangers. Behold how he lamented
aver the folly of the lost ones in Jerusalem I
lie saw their peril as no one else could see it.v
3o intense was his feeling in their behalf that
ie wept over them. If he could have had his
way with them, not one of them would have
^eiishcd in his sins. lie wac an intensely se
ious saviour. And Christ's apostles had
nuch of the same spirit and conviction. Much
s said in these days of the need of personal
'vision.". It is needed. It is needed to enible
every true Christian to see the fearful
>eril that all sinners are in. The apostles had
;his vision. In a marked degree Paul had it.
rhis is why he entreated every unsaved one
A VlA onAnrl lltr menwnilA/1 A? ? ?
ituuncucu iu vjuu. i>y every
nenns he sought to bring the sinner into spirjtlal
contact with his Saviour. There is a wideiprcad
need of such preachers to-day. Are
rou one of Ihemf
C. IL "Wetherba.
>