The Christian index. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1892-current, November 03, 1892, Image 1

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Many good and strong things were said in be haUof MISSIONS During the Session of the Southern Baptist Convention. Subscribe to and read the Christian Index, if you would keep informed. ESTABLISHED 1821. ©lie ©hritian Published Every Thursday at 57 Vi S. Broad Street. Atlanta. Ga. J. C. McMICHAEL, Proprietor. Organ of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia. Subscription Price : One copy, one year S 2 00 One copy, six months 1.00 One copy, three months oO Obituaries.—One hundred words free of charge. For each extra word, one cent per word, cash with copy. , . To Correspondents.—Do not use abrevta t ions; be extracareful iu writing proper names; write with ink, on one side of paper; Do not write copy intended for the editor and busi ness items on same sheet. Leave off personal ities; condense. Business.—Write all names, and post ouices distinctly. In ordering a change give the old as well as the new address. The date of label indicates the time your subscription expires. If you do not wish it continued, order it stop ped a week before. We consider each sub scriber permanent. until he orders his paper Ir iscontinued. When you order it stopped pay up to date. . , , Remittances by check preferred; or regis tered letter, money order, postal note. 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.”