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Many good and strong things were said in be
haUof
MISSIONS
During the Session of the
Southern Baptist Convention.
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The Baptist Church at Dead
wood, S. Dakota, just completed at
a cost of $12,000, has been burned.
Thought to be the work of an incen
diary.
It has been stated that Rev. Z. D’
Roby, Ala., had moved from Opeli
ka to Seale. It was a mistake. He has
not left Opelika, and it is not proba
ble that he will do so soon.
Dr. B. 11. Carroll has been releas
ed from his pastorate until January
1, that he may assist in paying off
the debt of Baylor University. He
is meeting with success in the work.
Prof. Henry P. Smith, of the Lane
Theological Seminary, is to be tried
for heresy by the Cincinnati Presby
tery in November. The vote stood
forty-two to sixteen in favor of
prosecution.
The Chinese Mission in Mott
Street, New York, is succeeding.
Jue Hank, a native preacher, has a
congregation of 250 of his own peo
ple. Tnis is the way to carry on
foreign mission work at home.
The missionaries in the Indian
Territory and Oklahoma nuk* en
couraging reports of their work for
the quarter ending September 30th.
There were, during this period, over
seventy persons baptized, and re
ceived into the different churches.
Rev. Joseph J. Cheeseman, a Bap
tist minister, has recently been elec
ted president of the Republic of
Liberia. - He was appointed superin
tendent of the Southern Baptist
Missions in Liberia in 1871. He is
a colored man of the most pronoun
ced type, and is a very effective ora
tor and preacher.
A single bee with all its industry
and innumerable journeys it has to
perform, will not collect more than
a teaspoonful of honey in a single
season, yet the total weight of honey
taken from one hive is often from
sixty to one hundred pounds. Is
not this a profitable lesson to man
of great results from united labor?—
Standard.
Almost all things have their capac
ity. The great railroad engines now
built so large that firemen and en
gineer are too far apart, for conver
sation have their limit of power-
The mighty ships that carry in
credille cargoes have their limit of
loading regulated by law. But who
can estimate the capacity, for good
Os a Godly man or woman ?
TheW. C. T. U. has just closed
its eleventh session held in the
Edgefield Baptist Church, Nashville,
Tenn. Mrs. Merriwether of Mem
phis’ Tenn., presided. Mrs. Snell of
Columbus, Miss., an experienced
platform speaker, delivered an able
address to a packed house on “The
Unjust Judge.,’ The Union is said
to number 250,000 enrolled mem
bers.
Rev. Thos. F. Lockett, pastor of
the Baptist Church, Laredo, Tex.,
tells of the wants of the Rio Grande
Valley, and makes a strong appeal to
the Home Board, and to Southern
Baptists for help. There are nine
towns, county seats, and their coun
ties, having a population of 100,000,
or more, and he is the only Baptist
preacher. Ten good men are need
ed there at once.
During the second quarter of the
current year, the Florida missiona
ries reported fifty-five baptisms.
For the quarter ending Septem-
£ljf Oristhin 51 n£icr.
ber 21st, the report ninety-eight per
sons baptized. Bro. Chaudoin Corres
ponding Secretary Florida State Mis
sion Board, says, “the work is mov
ing on nicely in that State.” What
has been accomplished by the State
Board as auxiliary to the Home
Board, is beyond conputation.
Dr. Arthur T. Pierson has at last
written a letter to the N. Y. Tribune
in which he declares that he is “a
Presbyterian, loyal to his church, and
in no sense a Baptist.”
He has an appointment “the
Alexander Dull Lecturer on Mis
sions” that will require his presence
in Scotland during February and
March, next, and has accepted the
invitation of the Metropolitan Tab
ernacle to preach for them while not
occupied with his lectures. His si
lence under- the many rumors that
have been afloat during several
months past, has given the color of
truth to them, and has placed him
self and the church in a very awk
ward and inconsistent attitude.
The following, from a well-consid
ered editorial in the New York
Observer on Young Men In Demand,
is worth repeating: “In conversa
tions with pastors during years past,
we have learned that one secret of
permanent usefulness in any pastoral
field is thorough preparation for the
pulpit. We have listened to labored
efforts from the pulpit that sugges
ted hours of weary toil that were
spent threshing old straw, as though
the Bible were not a w'beatfield per
petually in bloom. * * * Men
who speak as the oracles of God
ought to speak with depth and force,
or cease to believe themselves called
to the ministry. * * * The min
ister who desires to reach the dead
line by rapid transit takes his ticket
in his hand when he comes to the
conclusion that anything but the best
work is to be bestowed on his ser
mons. The first and foremost duty
of a preacher is to preach.”
In the “Blue Monday” department
of a religious magiaiue, we catch the
figure of “a young lay preacher” oc
cupying the pulpit of a country
church, “anxious to produce a pow
ful impression, exerting himself to
that end with great vehemence,” and
“in tho white heat of prayer,” ex
claiming, “O Lord, we beseech thee
to water us with the bread of life !”
The story “courts a grin,” of course,
but we hesitate to grant it : the mat
ter wears too striking a resemblance
to certain instances cf arrant injus
tice whiah have come to our knowl
edge. Young people are thrust for
ward across the barriers of their own
sense of the fitness of things ; they
are constrained by rule and rotation
to assume the leadership of devotion
al exercises where immaturity and
inexperience warn them that silence
may be a grace ; and they see an
undue measure of approval given to
that emotional element of worship
which most properly shows itself by
the effort to repress, if not to hide
itself. What wonder, then, if the
untrained mind should now and
again lapse into some confusion of
thought, and unchecked fervors of
feeling should cause tho tongue to
trip as has not been its wont in
speech ? No genuine soul would
find amusement in such blunderings
as these, the results of a forcing pro
cess of which the young are them
selves the victims. The real offend
ers are the older and wiser people,
who urge them to lines of action for
which neither their ago nor their
culture fits them, and who are there
fore responsible for the bizarre con
sequences. And we are not moved
to mirth, we are stirred rather to in
dignation, when these offenders are
the ones who tell the laughable
stories : they need to blush that they
should have so driven the young on
as to have made such things possi
ble. And many a time, wo doubt
not, when the lips ask to be “water
cd with the bread of life,” God gra
ciously answers the meaning of tho
heart, while the more correct and el
“oquent” petitions of those who
laugh are left unheard because the
heart is less in them.
Too many Christians have Christ
as a burden. They see only the re
straints that his Gospel puts upon
their otherwise wayward lives. They
live under the drudgery of rules.
All their life they are in bondage.
They take up their crosses daily, if
they take up any religious duty be-
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 3, 1892.
—
causo all of them aro crosses. They
go to church because it is their duty
to go. They usually do not go to
prayer-meetings although it is their
duty to go. They give to tho cause
of missions and the support of the
church, rather than bo called stingy.
How different the Christian whose
Christianity is his joy ! The morn
ing hour when he lays his heart and
life at Jesus’ feet, humbly consecra
ting himself to His service, that day
is the hour of joy and sweet com
munion. He there gains a con
sciousness of his Lord’s indwelling.
He learns what Paul meant when he
said, “For me to live is Christ” His
spiritual, his better eye, sees Jesus
tho fairest among ten thousand. His
soul bursts forth in a glad morning
song. The sun of immortal joys
rises in his soul and shines all over
his being. All day and all night there
is strength and warmth and wisdom
and wealth from that morning expe
rience. Duties are turned iuto priv
iles. Crosses become opportunities.
The worship of the Lord’s house and
the service of tho Lord’s cause are
alike solemn and pleasant. Great
joyous Christians are, the product of
prayer and obedience. Feeble, sor
rowing, faltering Christians are the
product of folly and neglect.
There is nothing comparable to
the thrill of a Savior’s love. He
alone is prepared to appreciate what
is meant who has been made con
scious of tho Savior’s presence. The
uuregenerate can never understand.
They read the inspired hallelujahs
of David and Isaiah w'ith a strange
indefinite interest, they hear the
rapturous shouts of the happy trust
ing child of God with varying emo
tions, but never will they be able to
understand the secret power that
moulds and builds tho Christian
character. Two may live together
in the same church and same house
hold, the one laboring through the
formalities of Christianity, the other
singing with melody and joy in his
heart. What makes the difference
The one has religion, the other has
Christ. The one sees Jesus Christ
with his natural eyes, the other sees
Him with his. spiritual eyes. If you
would have real joy iu believing,
believe, look at the crucified One
until being transfixed you are trans
formed. Gaze until your eye and
heart are filled with Him. Lie at
the cross until you see yourself in
the light of its shadow, theu go near
forgetting what has happened.
Never deny your own experience?
Translate it into deeds that are like
it. They in turn will throw a light
back upon your experience that will
give it the luster of a new one. Thus
your glad heart will grow happier
and stronger every day and you will
live a joyous useful life.
Written for the Christian Index,
FROM BONHAM TEXAS.
Closing my labors of nearly eight
years in Little Rock, Ark., tho last
of August, I entered upon my du
ties as pastor of the First Baptist
church of this place the first Sunday
in September and since that time
there have been seventeen accessions
to the church, and among them an
excellent brother from the Presby
terians, who was baptized last Wed
nesday night, and ho takes hold of
the work at once, as every earnest
Christian is disposed to do. Ilis wife
is one of the best of women, and her
influence, doubtless, had much to do
in leading him in .tho right way.
The outlook here seems to bo quite
hopeful, and all the members, I think,
are encouraged. Congregations very
good, and a growing interest is mani
fested. Bonham is a place of 5,000
inhabitants, the county scat of Fan
nin, one of the best counties in the
State, and one of the most thickly
settled, there being as lain informed)
avotiug population of 10,000 in the
county.
I have been accustomed to think
that the Blue Grass sections of Ken
lucky and portions of Middle Ten
nessee the garden spots of the world,
but it would not do to think such a
thing too loud out here in Texas,
particularly in this part of the state)
and I must say frankly that I have
never scon a better country than this.
If one cannot make a good living
here he need not try anywhere else-
Os this I am reasonably certain.
And the climate here seems as good
as at Little Rock, which is, I think
saying enough for it.
This town, has never been afflicted
by what is known as “a boom,” tho
growth having been gradual and
steady unti: it has reached its pres
ent size, and it is said to be one of
the most solid towns in the State.
In point of culture and refinement
the place would compare favorably
with the very best places of the same
size in any of the older States. It is
fully the equal of any other place I
have seen.
And we have an excellent church
here, ■well orgnaized, well developed)
particularly on the lino of Christian
beneficence. The pastor gets a rea
sonably good salary with a comfor
table residence free of rent, which
means a good deal, in the comfort of
a pastors position, as a I have sadly
learned by paying rent for so many
years. Every church should try to
have a home for the pastor. The en
tire membership could certainly bear
such a burden much easier than the
pastor, and I am truly glad to know
that so many of the churches are
coming to look at the matter in (this
way.
But, resuming the subject, I can
not but think that if all the good
people in the older States only knew
the advantages of this country tho
influx of population, already very
large, would speedily become much
larger. That great man, Rev. Dr.
Rufus Burleson, president of Baylor
University, who has been in Texas
nearly fifty years, and knows as much
about the Stato as any living man,
says : “Texas is not only ‘tho Lone
Star State,’ but the brightest star
that glitters in the gallaxy of States.”
It might not be prudent to say such
things as would unsettle people in
their homes or render them discon
tented w'ith their surroundings, but
seeing the advantagespf’this country
as I think I do, really it seems to me
that it is a duty and a praiseworthy
act to advise those who would like to
better their situation to try Texas.
Living is cheap here, everything and
of the very best quality, being plen.
tiful. The very best beef steak can
bo lu>d for 10 cents a»pound, and
other things after thK sample. It
has been said that the Indian Terri
tory is the very best country to be
found any where. Northern Texas
is the same, and a better country can
not be found. Now if any good
Baptist people back in good old
Georgia think of coming this way
let them come along. There is plen
ty of room, and a most hearty wel
come for all such people.
The unification of our Baptist
brotherhood in Texas seems to be
complete, and if there be divisions
and strifes I know not of them, nor
do I care to know. All the elements
seem to have harmonized, and broth
erly love prevails throughout the
State. “Behold, how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity.” I am much
pleased with the brethren in the
ministry, so far as I have met them,
and do not think a better body of
men can be found anywhere. Quite
a number of ministers have come
from Arkansas to Texas in the past
few months, among whom may be
mentioned the two Simms, Fawcett,
Bennett, Forbes, Kincaid, Fortune,
and last of all, myself. Dr. Carroll
is also from Arkansas, but I think
he became a minister in Texas, at
any rate, ho has been hero many
years’ and though in Texas, he be
longs to the whole country, a truly
great man, and very popular enjoy
ing a national reputation.
The University at Waco and tho
school at Belton are both very pros
perous, and Texas Baptists are justly
proud of them.
It was hard to leave Little Rock
where I had worked so long and
pleasantly, and where my labors were
successful, but I thought I was fol
lowing “the pillar of cloud” iu com
ing here, and I do not feel that any
mistake has been made. While the
Lord has work for me to do here,
the pillar of cloud will stay, and
while it stays I shall stay, but when
it moves I shall move also.
As faithful servants of tho Lord
wemust follow wheresoever he
leads, and our chief 'pleasure should
be found in meekly bowing to his
will. A. B. Miller.
Oct. 10, 1892.
Written for tho Crist.ian Index.
FROM MISSOURI.
Perhaps a few of your readers wil;
be interested in a lino or two from
those who have recently gone from
Georgia to find a homo in this re
mote region of our country; and to
hear from tho work which the Bap.
tists of Mossouri are doing for tho
Master.
Tho General Associaiioa of the
State has just closed at Lexington its
annuallsession. The delegation num
bered only 80S, of whom there were
many ladies. Ladies attend all
Baptist gatherings as messengers
from the churphes though they are
usually silent. Lexington is an im
portant and old town on the Mis
souri river about 40 miles from Kan
sas City. Here Dr. Burrows of
Augusta was once pastor in his ear
lier years, and many were the kind
words said of him by those who
knew him personally. The writer
spent a month with tho church in a
gracious revival during tho month
of February. There were 57 addi
over thirty of them beingiby baptism.
Their associations! missionary being
in charge of the meeting.
Dr. Yeaman has been their mod
erator for 15 consecutive years, and
fills the position admirably. One
who in attendance for tho first time
noticed the tenderness and considera
tion which every one manifests for
the feelings and opinions of every
other ono from moderator down.
There was nothfng in w ord or act
which camo anywhere near being un
kind or inconsiderate. A glance
over tho body would discover some
familiar faces. Brother T. C. Carl
ton was there as natural in appear
ance and manner as ever. One of his
lady members present reported him
as still holding his hold upon the
church and She said
every one loved him very much, and
he is succeeding well at Slater. The
new pastor at the 3rd Church in
St. Louis, brother R. L. Smith lately
from Nashville, spent his boyhood
and early manhood in Georgia, hav
ing been born and reared in Gordon
county. Dr. J. O. B. Lowry, of
Kansas City, pastor of the second
important church in the State, was
born in Jefferson County, Ga., near
Louisville, and removed to South
Carolina when three m<«il j old. A.;
brother Smith, from Gainesville,
Ga., was introduced to the Associa
tion, though I failed to get to speak
to him.
The reports showed gratifying pro
gress in all departments of denomi
national enterprise. William Jewel
College has 60 ministerial students
among a total of over 200. Thirty
three thousand dollars were added to
the endowment this year. The elec,
tion of Dr. Green to the presidency
has awakened great enthusiasm-
The Baptist of Missouri are support
ing a flourishing Orphans, Home and
Sanitarium in St. Louis. They have
a fund for aged ministers, an agent
in the field for ministerial education
at William Jewel College, and a great
many associations, have their own
missionary. Tho whole amount
given for benevolent objects, viz:
sanitarium, Wm. Jewel, Orphans,
Home, Ministerial Education, Aged
ministers, District, State, Home and
Foreign Missions, was $141,000.
Brother S. M. Brown, owing to the
growing demands of his church in
Kansas City, resigned as Secretary
of State Missions, and brother W.
T. Campbell is elected to take his
place. This is a wise selection
though no man in the State will fill
the place which S. M. Brown holds
in the heart of Missouri Baptists
He has made an enviable reputation
and justly so. He is eloquent, ear
nest and consecrated in a marked de
gree, and is a singer of no mean
gifts.
Quite an animated discussion was
precipitated by a resolution looking
to the unification of all the schools
under one board of managers. It
was referred to a committee of five
who aro to look into the matter, con
fer with the various Baptist educa
tors and report next year. They
have eleven schools of high grade in
tho State. Two negro brethren wore
introduced and in good speeches re
ceived help to tho amount of $l2O in
cash for their college which is nearly
paid for. There are 2500 colored
Baptists in the State and their Col
lege at Macon City is progressing.
Wo were delighted at meeting Dr.
Tichenor, W. 1). Powell, of Mexico;
Bagby, of Brazil; Eubank, of Africa;
and a young brother from India who
stirred tho Association on the sub
ject of Foreign Missions. The Bap
tist ladies of the Stato most interest
ed in missions have a meeting to
themselves which is held in June.
Its object is to enlist Baptist women
in mission work. Besides the ordin
ary work of State missions, four of
our best men have been kept in the
field as evangelists, and the policy of
the Board is to increase the number
if possible. Many inquiries have been
made as to brother Harvy Hatcher,
who has a host of warm friends all
over tho State. I passed through
Ketesville, the town where he was
first pastor in Missouri. But as he
was “Peter Paul Smith” up hero a
in Georgia, there is no corner of the
State where he is not well and favor
ably known. They say ho loved to
hunt, and he had a fine chance for
quail, prairie chicken etc.
Tho Baptists in Missouri number
about 125 or 30 thousand, and are in
the lead of all others. They have
difficulties not felt in other sections
but they are thoroughly united, and
all kinds of religions, belief and un
belief abound. Gpd has a great host
of faithful and consecrated people
who are set on taking “Missouri for
Jesus.
Our home is Kirksville, a growing
town of about 5,000 people, jn the
northeast part of the State. Our
field is an important one and we are
delighted with it so far. While we
shall love the State of our adoption
we shall love none tho less dear old
Georgia of precious memory. God
bless every reader of the Index and
her noble contributors.
W. S. Walker.
ASKED AND ANSWERED.
BY O. E. W. DOBBS.
I would like to ask (1) is the
Greek verb in 1 Cor. 14: 34 in the
imperative mood, or is it only per
missive. (2) Does the Greek verb
translated “speak” mean to “babble.”
N.
1. In the imperative.
2. Quite a number of Greek verbs
are translated “.'peak.” In this
place the word is loleo, which is also
found in Matt. 10 :10 ; 11: 46 fl 13 :
3; Mark 16: 19; Luke 2,. : 82;
Jefcfi 1.'!:
tude of other places. The noun
(lalia) is found in only four pas
ages: Matt. 26: 70; Mark 14: 70;
John 4 : 42; 8: 43. An en
tirely different word is that for
•‘babbler” in Acts 17 : 18. The sug
gestion referred to by our inquirer is
a weak attempt to evade Paul’s
plain teaching. Alas, alas, the apos
tle lived and taught too early in the
world’s progress!
Arc the Latin and Greek lan
guages still spoken by any nations?
i.. s. w.
Tho Latin and Greek have long
been known as the “dead languages,”
and yet they live. Scholars tell us
that the Greek spoken and read in
Athens to-day is really the old Greek
tongue, modified indeed by the cen
turies, yet substantially the Greek of
the ancients. It is said that tho
difference between modern and an
cient Greek is not so great as that
between the English of Chancer and
our speech of to-day. Several years
ago we saw a newspaper printed in
Athens, and found that we could
read it by the help of our ancient
Greek lexicon. As to the Latin we
usually refer to the Italian, Spanish,
Portugese and French as the “Ro
mance” languages—that is, tjyj. suc
cessors to the Latin of tho Romans.
Just as the above question came to
hand, our eye fell on the following
paragraph in a European letter
printed in Religious Herald:
“The Canton of the Grissons is
perhaps the most marked in Swit
zerland for climate, languages and
the variety and beauty and magnifi
cence of its scenery. Tho Protes
tant and tho Catholic divide about
equally the population. Tho Ro
manic language is much spoken and
has a respectable literature. It is
said to be the most lineal descendent
of tho old Latin, more so than the
Romance languages,—tho Italian,
French, Spanish, etc. German is
the language used in tho schools,
and will, therefore, in course of time
supersede the other. Switzerland,
having no language of its own, uses
German, French, Italian and Roman
ic and in tho Federal Parliament,
both German and French are spoken
and the laws aro published in both
tongues.”
Our readers able to read the
Greek may not know that the New
Testament in modern Greek can be
had for twenty-five cents. Send
to American Bible Society, Now
York.
1. What part of our income should
we give to tho causo of Missions.
Brother Minister,
Working Layman,
Zealous Sister,
We are striving to make
The Index
the best of its kind. Help us by securing a
pew subscriber.
VOL. 69—NO. 44
2. Should tho church retain in its
membership a brother who is in the
habit of visiting the saloon and tak
ing drams at its bar. l. m. s.
1. This is a difficult question to
decide. There cannot be laid down
any positive rule on the subject, un
less indeed, it be that of tho apostle.
Read 2 Cor. 9. True, the apostle is
not writing of modern missions, but
he does give the great principle
which should govern Christian giv
ing to the cause of Christ. See al
so 1 Cor. 9:14 and 16 :2. The lover
of the Lord does not need so much
prescriptive rule as the indwelling
principle of love. Wo should give
cheerfully and liberally because we
love the cause. It is too true that
our gifts are generally far below
our ability. We almost fear to urge
a caution against disproportionate
and unintelligent giving, lest a wrong
use bemade of our words. Still we
have seen instances where persons
have given to missions far more than
they gave propotionately to the sup
port of their own home church. In
all these matters, we must try to ex
ercise a sanctified common sense.
2. We can scarcely conceive of
one who is really a Christian doing
anything so bad as drinking at a
public bar! Surely L. M. S. does
not know of any reputable church
member who is guilty of conduct so .
unbecoming tho gospel. Certainly
the church should promptly discip
line such members, and if they per
sist in such practice they should
have the fellowship of tho church
withdrawn from them. To be a
habitual dram drinker is scarcely
compatible with Christian morality
but to visit and drink at a public
rum-shop is so contrary to all con
ception of right as to bo tolerated,
no, not for a moment.
How can you explain that petition
in the Lord’s prayer that asks tho
heavenly Father “not to lead us into
temptation?” Does God ever so
lead?
other readers a better service than
to quote Dr. Broadus: “The for
giveness of past sins is not enough
we need also preservation from sin
in future, All the early English
versions have ‘lead,’ doubtless in
fluenced by the Latin ‘inducas.’ The
Latin Fathers, Tertullian and Cy
prian, explain it to mean, ‘Do not
suffer us to be led,’ and Augustine
says that many so pray, and that it
so reads in many (Latin) copies, but
that in the Greek he has nover found
anything but: ‘Do not bring us.’
This is the uniform reading and un
questionable meaning of tho Greek,
and the difference is important. Men
‘lead’ each other into temptation by
offering inducements to do wrong,
but the thought here is of God’s so
ordering things in his providence as
to bring us into trying circumstances,
which would put our principles and
characters to the test. This prov
idential action does not compel us to
do wrong, for such conditions be
come to us the occasion of sin only
when our own evil desires are the
impelling desires. (James 1: 13—
15.) The same conditions properly
inet would but manifest and streng
then one’s piety, as when God ‘did
prove Abraham’ Gen. 22: 1, Rev.
Ver.) or allowed Satan to test the
fidelity and patience of Job, There
is thus no contradiction between
this petition and the precept in
James 1 : 2 (Rev. Ver.) —‘count i(
all joy when yc fall into manifold
temptations.’ One may bo tested
(one explanation of ‘tempt’ (either
with good or evil intent. In the
evil sense God tempteth no man.
The bumble believer, self-distrustful
because conscious of remaining ten
dencies to sin, and weakness in res
training them, prays that God will
not bring him into temptation. (Com
pare Matt. 26: 41; 1 Cor. 7: 5;
Gal. 5: 7). And yet, when God
sees fit, notwithstanding his prayer,
and effort, to bring him into tempta
tion, ho is then to rejoice (James 1:
2), because when met in the strength
of tho Lord, it will certainly be
overcome (1 Cor. 10: 13); because
it will develop his Christian charac
ter and thus prove a blessing,
(James 1: 3), and because it will
secure for him an eternal reward
(James 1: 11; Rom. 8: 18). In
like manner our Lord directed the
apostles to avoid persecution (Matt.
10: 23), though bo had told them to
rejoice when persecuted.”