The Cause at Mackford, Wis.
By Rufus Baker
Thinking that it might be interesting to our sister churches to know how we as a church are prospering, I pen these lines for the Review. We are in sympathy with the way the Lord is leading his people, yet we have trials in common with our Advent brethren. Satan still lives, and while his power lasts we expect we shall have to battle every inch of ground. A few of our members have turned their backs to the cause and are uniting with the rebellious ones in Iowa to oppose those truths which we, as a people, hold dear. “They went out from us, but they were not of us.” 1 Jno. ii, 19. The chaff must be sifted from the wheat to purify the church, and though some may fall in the battle, we are not discouraged, but are trying to rise with the message and get into working order. We have moved out and held some meetings which we think have been blessed of the Lord. We have a few scattered members in the vicinity of Berlin, for whose benefit we appointed a meeting last fall, which was held in the Seventh-day Baptist church in that place. At that meeting we had a free time. The blessing of God rested down upon us, and we truly felt that our own souls were watered while trying to labor for the good of others. Our Seventh-day Baptist friends met with us and were interested. They cordially invited us to meet with them again, which invitation was accepted. Accordingly we appointed a two-days meeting, which was held Feb. 2, 3. We went to this appointment in company with members from the Marquette church, and held in all five meetings. At these meetings, as before, the good Spirit of the Lord was present and we had a free time in talking the truth. We presented the subjects of the personal, second advent of our Lord from Heaven and the signs of the times, and showed that Christ’s coming is a Bible doctrine, and that the Son of man is near, even at the door, and that before this generation will have passed he will be seen coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. We also spoke of the reward of the righteous in the kingdom, and the inheritance of the saints when this earth shall be brought back to its Eden beauty and redeemed from the curse. The people were interested and wish to hear more, therefore we intend to meet with them again, March 8th and 9th, and perhaps stay longer if the interest demands. We believe there are honest souls there who want the truth and may be saved if some of our brethren whose lives have not been blameless will remove the stumbling-blocks and get out of their way. May the Lord help them is my prayer. God’s people should be the light of the world. Oh! how necessary that we should so live that our light can shine. Brethren pray for us that God’s blessing may attend our feeble efforts to advance his cause, and that honest souls may be led into the truth. Mackford, Green Lake Co., Wis.