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The Pilgrim’s Banner.
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EDITORIALS.
A TOUR.
I left home on the 13th cf Jan
uary, to visit some of the churches
in the Lower and UppfcrCanoochet
Associations, embracing she coun
ties of Emmanuel, Bulloch, Bryan.
Tatnall and Liberty, in this state,
filled all my appointments save
one— at Bethlehem in Bulloch
county-— which was a very rainy
day, and leached home safely on
the 7th inst, finding all my chil
dren prostrated with measles, and
my dear, over-worked w’ife broken
down with fatigue in nursing her
sick chidren.
It had been a pleasant trip, in
deed, and I had been made to be
lieve many times that the dear
Lord had sent me among those
dear people to minister His
spiritual goods to them; but find
ing my loved ones in such sad
plight on my return, my soul has
withered within me and I am in
doubt. I am, and have always
been, in some respects, as change
able as the wind that blows. A
little conflict or trial can bring me
down from Pisgah’s highest peak,
and sink me down in the lowest
valley of despondency. Such was
my feeling on entering my hojne,
and finding my lovely darlings m
their different apartments with
burning fevers. And then that
tired look of my dear wife, who
had stood day and night by the
bedsides of her almost fatherless
children, almost crushed out of
my heart every vestage of spirit
ual joy and light I had gleaned
on the entire journey. But Ire
member that Joshua, the servant
of the Lord, said to the Israelites,
while on the wilderness side of the
River, “that the land whither thou
passeth over Jordan to go and
possess it, is a land of hills and
valleys.” This land—the land of
Canaan—l have always under- (
stood to be a true type of the
church; and this proposition be
ing true, these “hills and vallevs”
may fitly represent the joys and
sorrows experienced in the life
and journey of every true and
honest-hearted pilgrim.
And this thought inclines me to
the hope that the joys which filled
my poor heart and brought tears
of gratitude and praise to my eyes
while on my recent visit to the
dear saints, wa3 not an illusion.
Yes, for many times I was made
to quote, in my soul, the Prophet’s
language; “This is none other
than the house of God and the
gate of heaven.”
On my way, I stopped over one
day in Savannah, and in company
with brother and sister Cowart,
visited and formed the acquain
tance ot many precious brethren
and sisters with whom I had
ne’ver met before. That
night about all I had met
during the day, and many
others, met at brother Cowart’s
Pleasant home, and would have
me to “talk just a little.” Those
are lovely saints in Savannah.
They appear full of life, and their
conversation is sweet and heaven
ly. I was delighted, and somewhat
amused at hearing them telling
each other of the new acquain
tances they had made, of a cer
tain person,on a certain street and
number, “who has an experience
of grace, and they say they are
going to attend our next meeting.”
While some brother or sister is
relating their story of their new
made acquaintance of some Chris
tian, all the others would listen
with profound silence, and intense
interest; and when the speaker
has finished, many of them may
be seen taking out their books and
penciling down the name, street
and number,sf the new ? found Chris
tian, and make a voluntary prom
ise to visit them. How God’s
children love each other!
Next mornmg,! boarded the cars
for Stillmore,where I was met and
conveyed several days, by that,
dear and precious young brother
Dr, Fair R. Brinson. My first
appointment was at Canoochee
church Emmanuel county, Ga.
ttere I met only a small congre
gation—the day being wet and
cold. I dreaded, and yet I was
anxious to reach this appointment.
I always dread the first and last ap
appointment worse than others.
Does my reader desire to know
the reason? Well, I never know
when the Lord sends me, only as
He is pleased to give me liberty in
speaking. 1 can never know the
source of my own impressions; I
desire to go, but cannot tell
whether or not, it is from the
Lord. So if the Lord gives me
liberty in speaking at my first
effort, I accept it, as if He had
said: “It is all right. Go on.”
And when I have reached my last
appointment, I want Him to say,
“Well done, go home and rest.”
The meeting at Canoochee was
a pleasant one, and I gathered
strength from it. We had a de
lightful meeting next day, and the
day following, at Autioch. Three
were added to the church and at
their request I baptized them.
There are many others there who
gained my sympathy and
ships, who are trying, as did Ruth,
to glean after the reapers, not
knowing that they have a near
and rich kjpsman,who would sup
ply all their needs, if they would
only be obedient. The Baptists
in that section are lively F”’
spiritual, and some oftlicmtwili
follow a preacher a . week ht a
time, Several of them accompani
ed me on to Rose Mary churwi on
Monday. Among them wjts a
Missionary lady who gave abun
dant evidence that she had"i\en
with Jesus, and had taken lessons
of grace at his feet. By-the way,
■
the Missionaries have a treat
many of our people with them.
How lovely ’it would be II all
could see their way clearly,' and
come home to Zion. The meeting
at Rose Mary was a pleasant lrie.l
spoke in the open air out iu the
sunshine —the church there hav
ing torn away their old house and
were building a large, commodi
ous, and beautiful Building foi
worship—one that will do credit
to the denomination. I wajglad
to see it. I think our people, in
many instances, have painfully
neglected their houses of wc|ship,
and have not done as well a» they
might have done. It looks un
eaqual to see brethren come out
of nice, cosy homes, to gq and
meet the Lord in an old, tfirown
away house. When brethren are
unable to furnish comfortable
homes for their families, they can
not be expected to have fine
church buildings; but some, be it
said with sadness, who have been
blessed with plenty of this world’s
goods,are holding with such tenaci
ty to the customs of the fathers,
that they can hardly bear to see a
stoye in a Primitive Baptist meet
ing house.lf such brethren can ever
get to where they can how
foolish this is it would be j. good
thing indeed,
I met a good jat
Upper Lot|’s Creek I
did not enjoy my effort hvErying
to preach. There was sonwthing
strange about it. Alter the meet
ing was over I felt like I had fal
len short of what was expected by
the people, and I felt greatly
humbled and mortified. But on
my way to the home of Dr. D. N.
Nichols, the dear brother who was
conveying me said, “Now 1 know
the Lord sent you to this country.
When I asked him how he Knew,
he said“l have been greatly troub
led and perplexed about the mean
ing cf a certain scripture; I could
not understand it, and I had re
solved many times to ask you
what it meant, but did not. To
day the Lord gave it to you fqr a
text, and you have preached great
ly to my comfort; for if the text
means what you say it does, I
must be a Christian.” Had he not
shed tears freely while talking, I
should have doubted his sincerity;
for 1 was feeling like I knew I had
not preached. So, after all, I don’t
know whether a preacher, can tell
much about when he preaches
when he does not. Many times 1
have had poor liberty in speaking
and afterwards could hear many
words of commendation from the
brethren; at other times I haje
felt to have all the liberty I want
ed, and was so vain as to want to
hear something good said about it,
and no one seemed disposed to
gratify my vanity. But they dyl
right. Preachers, as a rule, can
not bear much praise, and when
you begin it, you are expected to
keep it up. They are like Tom
cats, —rub them on the back and
they will bow up to you—they
love it.
ifext day at Upper Mill Creek I
met only seven people. It was a
cold, rainy dav. But I tried to
preach, and did so with some liber
ty, as I thought. Next morning
I started, in company with that
precious brother, Dr. D.N. Nichols
and several young, sisters to
Bethlehem, but we had not gone
far when the rain began to fall in
torrents, and so we failed to reach
the church at all; but the sun
shined out in the alternoon, and
I made my way for Statesboro,
ami tried to preach that night
with poor liberty, as I thought.
A good congregation was out, and
seemed interested. Since then, a
church has been constituted at
Statesboro, and have called Elder
Stubbs to preach for them. From
w Jsaw, there
ture for the little church.
Next morning, in company with
Elder Stubbs, I made my my way
for Lane’s church, and though it
was 18 miles distant, I enjoyed
the ride; for Elder Stubbs is good
company, and a faithful man of
God. At Lane’s, I met for the
first time in life, that dear and
venerable old soldier of the cross,
Elder James S. Dameron, tie
preached first, and preached
enough, and I had but little to say
in conclusion.
Saturday was the regular meet
ing time at Fellowship. Here I
met Elder W. W. Riner and learn
ed to love him. Elders Riner and
Dameron preached on Saturday.
It was a good meeting. Two young
sisters who had belonged to the
Missionaries, united with the
church, and at their, request, I
baptized them. The church at
Fellowship is alive and in a heal
thy state, and a bright future is
before them. —S.
(Continued.)
AN APPEAL.
We, the church of Christ, as we
believe, at Antioch, Emauuel coun
ty, Ga., would hereby appeal to
the Primitive Baptist churches
generally, but especially of Geor
gia, for help to build a house of
worship for the little church late
ly constituted in Savannah ; and
from the fact they have no house,
and are but few in number, and
poor, as to this worlds goods.
But till we as the above church,
being in full sympathy, and for
the love we have for God’s cause
and kingdom on earth, have pledg
ed ourselves to this cause, and to
one another, to raise the sum of
twenty-five dollars —and more if
necessary—to be paid over to th*-
officers of that little church in Sa
vannah when called upon; do we
appeal to you, dear sister churches,
to come to the help of the same.
The c«»st of a building lot, and
expense of a creditable house will
be two heavy for the shoulders of
these few brethren. But if all
the churches in Georgia will thus
divide the expense, tne burden will
be light to all. Therefore, we be-
B eech, you dear sister churches, to
join us in helping the needy.
H. Temples, Moderator.
D. I. Durden, Clerk.
Remarks—We call attention to
the above appeal, in behalf of the
little Primitive Baptist church in
Savannah, by the church at Anti
och, Emanuel county, Ga.
We feel that this is a step iu the
right direction, and prompted by
that true spirit of Christian love,
and will,or should commend itself
to our brethren and churches and
lovers of truth generally.
One only has to visit the little
band in Savannah to rightly ap
preciate and understand their sit
uation. They are truly humble
and devoted Christians and every
way worthy of the sympathy and
prayers, as well as the material
help for which they are asking.
They are very few in number—
about 20 —having been constituted'
only a few months, and the greater'
part of them are very poor people,
dependent upon their daily labor
for support. Yet they are child
ren of God, and are as anxious for
a place of worship, where they may
meet and worship the Lord,as their
more fortunate brethren. Having
visited them and become acquain
ted with them as meek, humble
and devoted Christians, and also
of their poverty, lam more than
ever convinced, that it is the duty
of our peoole to help them, and a
labor of love that“ God will sancti
fy to our good if we will only do
what we can toward helping them.
Attempts have been made to
raise the necessary funds by send
ing out subscription lists, but this
has proven a failure because of
its impractibility. Many good
brethren have refased because* of
this *
But now, the dear brethren at
Antioch have struck the right line.
They promised the church in Sa
vannah $-5 and more if necessary,
which they agree to raise whenever
called upon. Let other churches
do the same and notify the church
in Savannah of their intention
of helping, and how much, and
they will soon know whether
they will be able to build or not.
To facilitate and help what we
can in this good work, we will
gladly publish the names and
amounts of each church when they
favor us with a notice of same.
By this means we may keep the
church in Savannah, as well as all
our readers posted as to the suc
cess of the move.
Now dear brethren, will you
help? Let each dear saint who
may read this notice examine his
or her own heart and see if the
Lord has not nut something there
for this purpose; if so, it will be
rebellion against the Lord to with
hold
We appeal particularly to pas
tors of churches to name the mat
ter to their flocks, and see what
can be done.
Remember you will not be called
on for anything if enough cannot
be raised to complete the building.
It is not now probable that the
money will be called for before
next fall or winter, and certainly
there are but few churches who
could not raise a few dollars with
so long a notice. Let us hear
from all.—S.
GOOD MEETINGS.
We had a good meeting at
Bethel, Brooks, county on the first
Saturday and Sunday in February.
I felt that the dear Lord blessed
me with some degree of liberty
both days, and the members
seemed to enjoy it, making one of
those sweet little times when
Christ is within and all the air
breathes love to God and one
another, and earthly cares, lor the
time, are forgotten.
On Sunday I tried to preach
from Pauls command to Timothy,
to“ Take heed unto thyself and the
doctrine;continue in them,for in do
ing this, thou shalt both save thy
self and them that hear thee.”
I felt that the Lord enabled me,
tho’ in a weak, simple way, to get
some good things out of it, and
after preaching, I came down to
sing a hymn and dismiss, and as
is always my custom, gave an op
portunity while singing for any 1
that felt so impressed to come J
and talk to the church. There
was one or two old persons present 1
that I thought might come, but
to my surprise, just as we were 1
singing the last part of the hymn,
there came a trembling and weep
ing child from about the middle of
' the congregation down the aisle,
and as she got opposite the second
seat from the front, where sat a
' young sister only 14 year old, who
had been baptized only two
months,and who was cousin to this
one coming, she halted, as if her
strength had failed, or, perhaps
she wanted company, but she did
not halt long, for with renewed en
ergy, it seemed, and with courage
gathered, she came on and gave
me her hand and was seated.
When the hymn was finished I
asked her to tell us her feelings in
her own language,and tho’ she did
not tell much, she gave the whole
church satisfaction and was re-
'’She is only
old and her name is Miss Claudie
Singleton ot Okapilco, Ga.
She said that the fiist time she
ever rejoiced in hearing (he gos
pel, was last October was one
i year ago, on the day that little sis
ter Ada Moran was baptized at
Bethany church. Our readers
will remember that sister Ada
was baptized at 11 years old.
Sister Claudie wanted to be
baptized at once; did not want to
, wait, and I baptized her that even
ing. May the Lord bless the child.
Bethel chuich is in a prosperous
> condition. Many of the Lord’s
I children have gone there within
. the last two years, and they are a
very dutiful church, not grumbling
i and finding fault with everything,
, not siriining at gnats andswallow
i ing camels, not troubled about
> motes in others eyes, and unable
! to feel the beam in their own eyes,
as many others are, but are
patient, loving, forbearing and
self-sacrificing, each one seeming
desirous of standing in his own
place. I often think of them and
many others, and feel to say
in my heart, “May the Lord bless
them.
Brother Singleton, sister
Claudie’s father, told me that she
enjoyed reading the Banner very
much, and that, together with
questions that she would some
times ask, had caused him to re
mark to his wife, that he thought,
some day she would go to the
church and date her experience
back to her childhood days, but he
had no thought of her coming
then.
There many children con
cerned about God and heavenly
things, that need to be encouraged
and instructed in righteousness,
and Christian parents should be
careful tc lay good examples be
fore them, and good matter for
them to read.
a I have been as greatly strength
ened and confirmed, in viewing
the triumphs of grace in the young,
as anything extant, and I have
a special caro and tender feeling
for them. To see a child tender
in years and inexperienced in this
world’s wisdom, who evidences by
their gravity and carefulness of
speech, and deportment, that they
lave tasted of that heavenly
fountain, and in the midst of the
bloom of youth, are longing for
better joys and thirsting for pure,
leavenly waters, and hoping for
(he appearing of the Lord Jesus,
is a sight to me, that, in a weak
way, might be illustrated by a
lull blown, pure, white rose, whose
petals are untouched by human
h ands, and undefiled by works of