THE efforts of some religionists to secure legislation in behalf of Sunday observance have come in for considerable criticism, not only in the United States, but in religious circles outside of this country. Rev. E. A. T. Newman, a Church of England clergyman, writing in the London Daily Chronicle, calls this agitation “a mushroom in its growth and an evil fungus in its existence.” Of the right of all men to regard Sunday in the way of their own choosing, he says:—
If it were otherwise, I should still maintain the right of those who did not profess the Christian faith to play games; for I deny the right of a majority to refuse to a minority the freedom to obey their own consciences. As it is, I hold that the only obligation resting on a Christian is to attend the holy communion on Sunday morning. If he can derive profit from attending one or more extra services, it is well; if he can add to that a meditation on sacred things12in the afternoon, it is better; but that is the obligation. That performed, there is no theological reason which can be given why the Christian should not spend the day in the manner which he finds best for the body, the mind, and the spirit, and which helps him most to realize that it is good to be alive.
This minister recognizes the danger of enforced idleness, and that wholesome occupation is much better for the morals of the community than enforced observance of the first day of the week:—
Putting it on the lowest ground, that of expediency, it must be remembered that all men and boys do not spend the whole of Sunday either in church or in their homes. Many of them spend the day in killing time. Each one will admit that there is no more dangerous occupation to be found. It leads, as every resident in village and country town must know, to many evils. It would be infinitely better to occupy all who had nothing to do either in playing or in watching a football or cricket match in the afternoon.
Nor is this clergyman haunted by the fear of empty churches or of the competition of Sunday sports with regular church services. Of this he says:—
If a simple afternoon game will empty the churches in the evening, I can only say that the present system has obviously produced no genuine faith. The Christian church won its way in the face of all manner of counterattractions; it maintained its position for many centuries, in which all manner of games were played on Sundays. I believe it would still hold its own, and perhaps recover its ancient preeminence, if it once again took its old position on this matter.
In conclusion, Mr. Newman, according to the Literary Digest of June 6, 1914, from which we quote, raises the following pertinent questions, which are surely worthy of consideration:—
I would ask my good friends these simple questions:—
1. Do they seriously believe that to us English people alone has been revealed the whole truth in this matter, and that all other Christians in the world are hopelessly in error?
2. Do they think it credible that a Scotsman, fifteen centuries at least after Christ, should discover a commandment of which no other Christian teacher ever dreamed?
3. Are they quite prepared to say that their way is the only possible one, and thereby condemn all the saints and martyrs who built up the church and handed down to us the faith in which we stand?
Solusi Mission, South Africa
By R. P. ROBINSON
R. P. ROBINSON
It was our privilege to be numbered among the one hundred and fifty recruits sent out in 1913. We left Washington, D. C., December 1, expecting to work for the Zulus, at the Spion Kop Mission, in Natal. On account of a more urgent call for help at the Barotseland Mission, north of the Zambesi River, it was decided for us to connect with that mission as soon as the fever season was over in June. As we landed in Cape Town Jan. 15, 1914, we could not go as far north as Pemba for several months.
Ten days after our arrival I was suddenly taken with a violent attack of appendicitis at the Cape Sanitarium, where we were stopping. An operation was unavoidable, and this kept us at the Cape until March 17, when we continued our journey toward the interior. Having over two months more before we could enter Barotseland, the brethren thought best for us to go as far as Solusi Mission, where we could get acquainted with mission life, as well as put in some good time on language study, there being at that mission a good teacher from Barotseland.
During our visit with old friends at Emmanuel Mission, in Basutoland, word came concerning the serious physical condition of the worker at the Barotseland Mission. Help was needed immediately, so it was decided for us to go directly to the Solusi Mission, to take up Brother and Sister Wilson's work; relieving them to go on to the Barotseland Mission, to assist there till June, when it would be safe for us to go there.
We arrived at the Solusi Mission April 5, and took up the work as soon as Brother and Sister Wilson left. We have now been here two months and a half, and it was decided last week for us to remain. We had become so well acquainted with the work and liked it so much that we were glad to stay. I have never been connected with any work that I enjoyed as much as I do this mission work, and no work ever appealed to me as this does.
There are nearly seventy pupils in our school at present; and could the young people of the homeland look into their black faces, many of them would be stirred to consecrate their lives to God in this work. Before coming to a mission station, I did not begin to realize that there would be so much that I could do. The privileges and opportunities before me each day are unlimited. And how I improve these opportunities means much to my influence with the natives.
Week before last one of the boys came down with pneumonia and pleurisy. He13was very ill, and the doctor, who happened to be here at the time, said he did not think that the boy would live. I felt very much concerned, so I had four boys bring the poor fellow on a stretcher to a vacant room near our house. I cared for him night and day, besides keeping one or two of the boys with him all the time. His fever was running over 105°, and every evening I knelt by his bed in earnest prayer to God for him. God heard my prayers and blessed my efforts. After ten days his fever dropped, and he told me this morning that he wanted to go to school tomorrow.
When I came to the mission I told the school I was here to help them, and that I wanted them to come to me night or day if they needed help. One of the boys who speaks some English said to me the other day: “Now I know your words are true. When you said that, I said, ‘I am going to watch and see if he does it,’ so now I know you love the black man.” Nothing has given me more influence with the natives than my watchful care of their sick brother.
Sometimes my heart aches as I see the ignorance and degradation of this poor neglected people. The pleasure and joy of serving them far exceeds the few privations and inconveniences we have to meet in this land of heathenism. The more I become acquainted with this work, the happier I am, and the more certain I am that I am where God wants me, and where such as I can accomplish the most for him.
The Converted Jinrikisha Man
By H. E. SHARP
H. E. SHARP
THE CONVERTED JINRIKISHA MAN OUT WITH BROTHER AND SISTER SHARP FOR A ‘BUGGY RIDE’
ASSAY, a Chinese jinrikisha puller, was converted to our faith last year from heathenism. He is truly a happy old man, and is a real missionary. He does not keep the good things to himself, but wants others to enjoy the same blessings he has gained. He brings another ricksha puller to church and Sabbath school each Sabbath. He used to pull the mission ricksha.
The Telectrograph
RECENTLY a demonstration was given in London of the “telectrograph,” an electric invention which reproduces a photograph at a distance. Various portraits were transmitted over a distance of 600 miles, and the demonstrator expressed the opinion that in a short time pictures would be sent by wire from New York to London.
School Work Among the Santals of India
By W. A. BARLOW
W. A. BARLOW
I AM glad to report another baptismal service at Babumohal in connection with our Santali boarding school. Six boys who had studied with us for two or three years took their stand for Christ, and were baptized by the writer at the close of school. One girl who came out from Hinduism was also baptized. My wife for some years past had labored with her, telling her of God's love in sending Jesus to die for her on Calvary. This girl had to bear much persecution because she took her stand for Christ. Her mother and brothers used to beat her and tie her down for long periods to prevent her coming to see my wife. The last time her father came to take her home from the mission, in the presence of the police he promised that if the girl came to us again he would not trouble himself about her any more. A few days afterward the poor girl came again, and she has been with us ever since. I trust she may be the means of winning many of her caste to Christ. Her little sister longs to be with her and to leave heathenism.
Another heathen girl sent to our school for girls at Jajadishpur is doing well. Six of the boys from the school at Babumohal, three of whom I baptized last year, have gone to our school for boys at Karmatar.
I am sure the Lord is blessing our school work. It is slow, but sure; and out of our schools we shall get our best workers for India.
During the past two months, I have been much cheered by receiving letters from students and others in different schools and colleges in Bengal. These have been interested in our message by reading literature sold or lent them by fellow students.
Cilician Mission
By A. M. BUZUGHERIAN
A. M. BUZUGHERIAN
AFTER the conference in Ovadjik, Nicomedia, four workers and myself returned to this field. We had sent Sister G. Hadjadorian to Tarsus, the birthplace of Paul. There the Lord opened a door before her, and a fellah (an Arab peasant) accepted the truth. The fellahs are a peculiar sect. They believe in Ali, son-in-law of Mohammed, and in Christ, but not in the resurrection. They believe that if a good man dies, his soul goes to a good animal, like a sheep or a cow; but if a bad man dies, his soul goes to a dog, pig, or mouse. When their preachers speak about repentance and obedience, they add these words: “If you do not repent, when you die your soul will go to a dog.” A young woman also accepted the message. When I heard of these conversions, I went there to teach them further of this truth. May the Lord pour his rain on the seed sown, that many souls from this sect may accept the last warning message; for this message is to go to every nation.
Brother A. Veziriades is in Antioch. The Lord has blessed his work. Two sisters have accepted the truth. These two, also another sister, await baptism. Others are interested.
Brother Shadarifian has been working in Adana. The Lord has blessed his work also. During my last visit to Adana, I baptized six new believers. While I was there, an Armenian accepted the third angel’s message. At present, Brother Shadarifian is working in Ain-tab. He writes that he is having good meetings.
Brother K. Apovian has worked in Konieh and Akshehr. In Konieh the canvasser of the American Bible Society and the cook of the doctor of the American Hospital have accepted the message. Brethren E. E. Frauchiger and Z. G. Baharian and others have worked for these persons, and they have accepted the truth with great sacrifice. They both took into consideration that they might be dismissed from their positions, and decided to begin farming; but because of the faithfulness of our canvasser brother in his work, he was not dismissed. Although this brother had been baptized, still, after hearing the present truth and seeing the truer and deeper meaning of baptism, he expressed a desire for a second baptism. He said: “My brother, the one who is to be baptized must understand the real meaning of baptism. I did not know about baptism as I do since hearing it from the true source. Therefore I must be baptized again.” He and his friend and another brother were baptized.
The Lord has blessed my work in Akshehr. When I reached the city and began holding meetings, from forty to one hundred persons came to hear the message. No Protestants had been here. The people had never heard a sermon in their own language, so they ran to the Word of God spoken in their own tongue, as a thirsty person runs to pure cold water. The Lord has granted us some souls here. As I have to go to other parts of the field, we have appointed Brother Apovian to continue the work here. We hope that a rich blessing will be granted us in this city. I hope to go to the eastern part of this mission in the near future. Let us pray that the Lord may give greater success in these places where the apostles trod, that many may be ready to meet the Lord at his glorious coming.
Hadjin.
Malamulo Mission, Nyasaland, Africa
By C. ROBINSON
C. ROBINSON
As we usually enjoy writing or telling about the phase of the work which is the most encouraging and hopeful, I shall write a few lines about our Bible classes. It is by joining these classes that our boys and girls signify their desire to learn more of Jesus, so that they can be baptized. They would rather be baptized at once, but we require of them from two to three years’ preparation for that ordinance.
Our largest class is at Malamulo, where there are one hundred and twenty-seven on the roll at the present time. Quite a number of these are almost ready for baptism, having been constant members for over two years, while some have joined recently, taking the places of a few who love this world’s goods. It greatly encourages us, as we meet with them each Sabbath afternoon, to know that the fact that they are in that class is evidence that their hearts have been touched by the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that they wish to follow him. We feel the responsibility which such a large class places upon us, and we ask you to pray that we may have wisdom in pointing them to the Saviour.
In the village schools of the Malamulo section there are two hundred and fifty-eight on the rolls of the Bible classes. This gives an idea of what our teachers are doing; and as many of those who are in the class at the main station were drafted in from the village schools, we can easily see that those teachers are the greatest asset of the Nyasaland Mission. We thank God that they are doing such a good work.
Reputation and Character
“Some people pay so much attention to their reputation that they lose their character.”
Hide Your Woes Under Your Mercies
“HIDE your woes under your mercies, and right soon they will disappear.”
Everyday Talk to Our Mothers and Fathers
By MRS. K.
MRS. K.
We all love children. Love is the true spirit of every home. Without the happy voices of children, we should have a strange feeling, and the fireside would seem empty and cheerless.
Children who are naturally nervous require the greatest care. Their little minds are not so easily developed, and it is the duty of mothers to educate, to expand, to beautify, these precious lives. We are grieved to find today mothers who are thoughtless concerning their children. They do not feel the real burden of home education. It probably has not occurred to them that infant development has much to do with future development. We may clothe and feed our children sufficiently each day and feel that our duty is done; but if we look farther we can see much more that we should do to aid them in gaining a mental, physical, and spiritual development.
Every child needs careful training, but how much more essential for the little one who is nervously afflicted. He has a greater struggle for health and for physical endurance. The body may be wrecked for life if the mother does not fully understand her duty. We should study all means and ways of educating the mind for good, sound thinking. “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” We admire a well-developed child; and as he grows into youth and manhood, we like to see a definite aim and purpose in his life, a determination to make his youth a foundation for usefulness in later years.
How can we teach the mothers to save the children? Can they be taught better things of life? There would be better men and women, with better health, better morals, and higher ambitions in this rising generation, if the parents would do their duty faithfully toward their children.
In these overstrained times it is well to bear in mind our moral responsibility, especially in the touch of daily life. Our boys and young people are receiving their impressions, which must seriously affect the formation of their characters. They are of the generation of tomorrow, when they will be the chief factors in our great gospel work. By our treatment of them we are determining the kind of men and women who will be the masters of the future. Thus it is that every thought and consideration and every cheerful word become a potent factor in the development of clean character and the stimulation of right ambition. If we want to help young people along, if we want to increase the sunshine of our own lives and make them brighter and better, let us speak the cheerful word to our children, who are looking to us for all they need to fill their lives with happiness. Let us share their joys and sorrows and be their constant companions. With all their interests we should show appreciation.
We cannot be too careful in our actions, dear parents; for we are surrounded by the bright, watchful eyes of our children. We dare not stoop to deeds we know to be wrong in the sight of God; for besides weakening our own characters, we may injure some child’s standard of morality. Let us study a pleasing way to deal with our children, and help them gain the kingdom.
Home is the best school; mother, the best teacher. Children learn readily, though sometimes unconsciously, and they can be trained to think. The home study of an intelligent child who does the first four grades of school work, can be easily done in one-half hour’s daily mental effort, and the next four grades need not and should not take more than an hour a day. The child who studies less and harder has not only far better mental habits, but also better opportunity for physical development. The child should be carefully trained in the study of nature. Create an interest in a garden of his own, in poultry and pets, in light work, and the performing of household duties. There is a great deal boys and girls can do in learning to be useful, which helps to make the all-round child.
The garden work can be made very interesting to children; and as they learn to love the flowers and plant life, they will come in connection with animal life, too. The garden neighbors, the birds, will be constant companions; and no sweeter note can be learned from our Life-giver than from the beautiful birds. As you are out with them, tell them all about the new garden of Eden, and how we shall love to make gardens there. If other companions are chosen for your children, be sure the best playmates are selected. Much harm to our boys and girls can be wrought from evil contamination.
Books and papers with good, wholesome reading should be always within their reach; and in selecting literature for them we should look for character and quality. If we feed their minds on fiction and unprofitable literature, their minds will lose all taste for truth, beauty, and refinement. Mental indigestion will leave them stranded and miserable.
Nervous children are generally of a self-conscious, stubborn nature, disobeying willfully and unwillingly. Such children need careful training from the cradle in order to bring out the sweetness and naturalness of their natures. Girls trained at the mother’s side unconsciously copy her mannerisms, habits, and characteristics; but it is not so much so with boys. Give a boy as few directions as possible, but let them be to the point and never allow him to disregard them. Teach him that a gentleman always speaks the truth, and that his word is a bond of honor. Teach him also to invariably give others the first consideration and to assist them in every way.
When a boy reaches the school age, parents should bear in mind that certain fixed traditions exist among schoolboys, which, if overlooked, may cause him considerable suffering, both mental and physical. One of these is that a boy must have nothing finical or girlish about his clothing. Another forbids too much attention from his female relatives. This sounds unreasonable; but a wise mother and father who have been through it all, know it to be true. Let a boy wear ordinary clothes; give him permission to take part in school sports if directed in the right way; and teach him that—
“Honor and shame from no condition
rise;
Act well your part; there all the honor
lies,”
and he will not go wrong.
Parents, talk to your children. Tell and read to them stories with good morals, and you will create such an interest and awaken such a spirit as to cause them to remember the good instead15of the unpleasant features of life. Teach them that fame, wealth, and glory are worthless unless used to God’s glory.
In discipline use firmness, kindness, and gentleness, using great precaution never to excite the nervous system into crying or angry spells. A nervous child is very easily excited, and tears will come from the least cause.
Study your children; know the nature of each one, and deal accordingly. Impress upon the little minds love and obedience. Gain their confidence; express your love in an intelligent way; give them your support, your wisdom; and the victory is won. In response they will in simple, childlike expressions acknowledge their love for you, and any perplexity that comes up in their lives will be told frankly, and they will delight to counsel with you in every detail of life. If this response is not awakened, they allow the divine element of self-active, self-determined goodness to be thwarted by caprice. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Mother, Watch the Little Feet
Mother, watch the little feet
Climbing o’er the garden wall,
Bounding through the busy street,
Ranging cellar, shed, and hall.
Never count the moments lost,
Never mind the time it costs;
Little feet will go astray:
Guide them, mother, while you may.
Mother, watch the little hand
Picking berries by the way,
Making houses in the sand,
Tossing up the fragrant hay.
Never dare the question ask,
“Why to me this weary task?”
These same little hands may prove
Messengers of light and love.
Mother, watch the little heart
Beating soft and warm for you;
Wholesome lessons now impart;
Keep, O keep that young heart true,
Extricating every weed,
Sowing good and precious seed!
Harvest rich you then may see,
Ripening for eternity.
— Selected.
Conducted by Mrs. C. C. Lewis, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C
By Mrs. C. C. Lewis
Through the columns of this department, hints will be given on all matters pertaining to the home life. Short articles and letters are solicited from home makers, telling of their everyday experiences,—their joys and sorrows, their failures and successes.
Character Building in the Home
By HELEN C. CONARD
HELEN C. CONARD
Honesty
How shall we as parents establish the habits of honesty and sincerity in the lives of our children?—By being strictly honest and strictly sincere ourselves. I say strictly honest and strictly sincere, because nothing short of the Simon-pure article will pass muster before a wide-awake child. And of all judges before whom an erring mortal might be forced to stand, such a child is the most relentless, the most exacting. He may not pronounce sentence in measured words, but at the justice bar of his inmost soul, verdicts are being rendered which rob him of every vestige of childish confidence and make him a cold-eyed man before his time.
Sincerity
The men and women who are training children for eternity cannot afford to harbor a flaw in their individual lives. The eyes that look into the eyes of childhood must be unclouded eyes, undimmed by any film of guile, if the child is to be without hypocrisy and without dissimulation. There must be no little duplicities. The thousand little stratagems and falsities constantly being practiced by unwise, unthinking parents,—there is place for not one of them in our system of child training. What! Shall I in a moment of thoughtlessness drop a seed of distrust in the confiding mind of a child that needs but a little time to yield a hundredfold crop of deceit? And if it would but stop with one crop, but it goes on and on in an ever-increasing, ever-accumulating ratio of noxious, cankering venom. And O, the pitifulness of a child that cannot believe the spoken word of its own mother or father! Poor little, helpless, rudderless bark upon a treacherous ocean of uncertainty! In losing confidence in father and mother it has lost confidence in all humanity. And not only in humanity, but in divinity. God to the little child is only the ideal reflection of father and mother. But what may first come to it as a shock soon becomes an accepted condition, and subterfuge becomes a part of its life; and the very parent who, unwittingly it may be, gave it the first lesson in prevarication or evasion is ready to punish it for carrying the lesson to its logical conclusion. How shall we establish the habit of sincerity in the child?—Be sincere ourselves.
Impurity
“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” But to be pure in heart is to be pure in life also. It is true that through ignorance we may step aside from the path of rectitude, but if our desires and aims are for purity, the acts will soon conform to the rules of purity. A boy or girl may be disobedient or disrespectful or irreverent or dishonest or insincere and yet maintain a degree of physical vigor. All these things leave their impress on the face, but the health of the body may not be perceptibly impaired. But here the mental and moral touch the physical. Social impurity brings disease of body as well as of mind in its train to such an extent that good people everywhere are working to stamp out the evil. But many of these good people who have made themselves intelligent to combat this awful thing that is filling graves and insane asylums at an alarming rate, say that the greatest hindrance to their efforts is the parents themselves. It is so hard for parents to believe that their children are not innocent along certain lines. They know such things are in the world, and shudder at thought of them; but their children are different. If you will read in Volume II of the “Testimonies for the Church,” pages 360, 361, you will find these words addressed to a company of parents: “Some of you fathers have taken your children to the physician to see what was the matter with them. I could have told you in two minutes what was the trouble. Your children are corrupt. Satan has obtained control of them. He has come right in past you, while you, who are as God to them, to guard them, were at ease, stupefied, and asleep. God has commanded you to bring them up in the fear and nurture of the Lord. But Satan has passed right in before you, and has woven strong bands about them. . . . The minds of some of these children are so weakened that they have but one half or one third of the brilliancy of intellect that they might have had, had they been virtuous and pure.” I would not dare to attempt to make any application of these words to any company that I might address; but this we can all do: search to see that we are not of those who are in darkness and asleep regarding this moral pestilence of the world. Let every avenue be guarded that Satan may not slip past us to snatch from our fold any one of our precious flock. The time is long past when those
who have the care of children should lull themselves to ignorant dreams of safety because “our children are not like other children.” That very condition in the past is now yielding its sickening fruitage. The parent cannot afford to be ignorant in these things. An absolute knowledge of the child, a wide intelligence of the physical changes that come to it in the passing years,—these are essentials. If you live with your children instead of altogether for them, you will be in a position to guard them from this greatest of dangers.
Self-Control
“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” And if the man is going to rule his own spirit, the habit of self-control should be developed before he becomes a man. Do not be content with your ability to govern your child. Watch for the first indication of self-government. The time will come when he will outgrow your control; and if he has not learned to control himself he will be adrift on a dangerous sea, at the mercy of every wind that blows and of every shark that swims. The topic naturally suggests the subject of temperance,—true temperance, which takes account of the dining table, and the bathtub, and the dress, and everything that goes to make up the daily round of life. Believe me, not one of these things is unimportant when we are taking account of character building.
(To be concluded)
The Housewife’s Exchange
The following good suggestions about slipping and the care of plants, come from Good Housekeeping:—
“The most valuable garden discovery I have made concerns the selection and breaking off of slips. Never cut a slip, no matter from what plant it may come. Select a sturdy, fair-sized branch growing as near the lower part of the center stalk as possible. A branch having very few minor branches is best. While holding the main stalk with one hand, brace a finger of the other hand under the chosen branch, at the very point of its junction with the main stem, and, with the thumb, push the branch down until it breaks out, leaving a slight hole in the main stem. This does not harm the plant. This complete joint is what is necessary for the rooting, so do not trim any ragged ends; but bank it in moist soil and watch it grow.”
“Once, when called away from home suddenly, I soaked a heavy blanket in water, placed it in the laundry tub, and set my potted plants upon it. Upon my return ten days later they were drawing just the necessary amount of moisture from the soaked blanket.”
Character
CHARACTER is moral order seen through the medium of individual nature.—Emerson.
In the Language of Canaan
By Worthie Harris Holden
WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
Small room has criticism in God's realm!
The business of the King requires haste,
And all his faithful envoys swift employ
Their ardent voice to herald far and wide
His messages.
So urgent is the call
To snatch the dying from eternal doom,
And rouse the sleepers from their threatening woe,
No time remains to loiter on the way,
To spend the final hours in idle tales
Of shame or ill. No sin-polluted mouth
Should e'er befoul the melodies of heaven,
Nor tongue defiled with filthy mire of earth
Frame words to speak Jehovah's utterance.
Forth stand we from the throng, apart and lone,
And cry aloud, “Unclean!” Then comes a voice
From heaven itself, “I will ordain thy lips
And sanctify them, even with a coal
From mine own altar. Thou shalt bless mankind.
I, God, alone am Judge of all the world,
Speak thou a word in season in my name.”
Lord, may this hallowed influence abide,
As forth from holy lips an incense sweet
Ascends to heaven from all God's children here.
So shall they learn to speak in Canaan's tongue
Where'er their lives a solemn witness bear,
And soon their eager voices swell the song
Of Moses and the Lamb before the throne.
Portland, Oregon.
Telling About Armageddon in the Newspapers
By Walter L. Burgan
TAKING advantage of the opportunity offered them by the terrible war that is now being waged in Europe to announce to the world the nearness of the coming of the battle of Armageddon, a number of the ministers engaged in tent efforts and others holding special meetings have preached on this subject and have had extracts of their sermons published in the newspapers. The newspapers of America are giving liberal space to the details concerning this conflict and the effects it will produce; and no better opportunity than the present one could be offered to have published extracts of sermons telling of this momentous battle. Reports of sermons in which preachers are still crying peace, notwithstanding the horrible slaughter now going on across the water, are being printed; and this is the time when our workers should be awake to furnish strong articles on what the Bible says concerning the peace-and-safety cry in these last days.
Our worker in Brooklyn, N. Y., has not only had an extract of his sermon on Armageddon published in the leading paper in that great city, but he is also using some of the papers in Manhattan, or New York proper, to announce his meetings. He finds that the newspaper notices are helping to increase the attendance at his services. The fact that the newspapers in the city of New York are recognizing the importance of our movement ought to arouse our workers in other cities to use this agency more frequently.
In commenting on the meetings that are being conducted in Brooklyn and on the views held by this denomination concerning the second coming of Christ, the New York Globe, which has a daily circulation of 133,000, made this significant statement: “This is the time when the Seventh-day Adventists come into their own; for they have stoutly maintained that ‘wars and rumors of wars’ throughout the civilized world indicate the end of the world, which they declare is at hand.”
One worker in another place had two columns published on Armageddon, while a visiting minister to one of the large cities in Pennsylvania had an article of nearly the same length printed in one of the dailies there. This subject has been treated in the newspapers in other places. Wherever a newspaper is published let us tell the world the Biblical meaning of this terrible struggle.
One brother in the Southeastern Union Conference, who has been holding a tent effort since the early part of June, says he has had a sermon published nearly every day during that time. He further says:—
“It is remarkable how courteous the editor has been to me. Since the present European situation he has asked me many questions, and I notice that some of his editorials savor of the things I have said to him on the war question. The sermons we furnish, the editor regards of such interest that they are selected for the semiweekly, which goes out to the farmers. The circulation of the daily is five thousand and the semi-weekly two thousand. The Lord is doing great things for us here. I was the first worker in this field, and from the present prospect we shall have quite a large company of Sabbath keepers here.
“All my material I have given to the papers in typewritten form, and so far they have put through all I have given them. We shall never know how much good the presswork is doing until the final reward.”
Another worker in the Southeastern Union, in telling how the newspapers have helped in his tent effort, remarks:—
“Not only have our crowds been good throughout the entire series of meetings, but we have succeeded, far beyond our expectation, in getting the truth before the people by means of the daily press. The editor has been very kind, and has given us from one third to a full column write-up every day. We almost feared to send the synopsis on ‘Who Changed the Sabbath’ to the editor, as he is a Catholic; but to our surprise it came out on the front page of the paper, the only synopsis in the whole series to appear on the first page. We cannot tell you just what the outcome of this effort will be. A great many have become interested in the truth. Some have taken their stand, and we hope to gather a good harvest of souls as a result of the work that is being done at the present time.”
One brother in the Southwestern Union says: “The Lord has given us access to the newspapers in a very remarkable way, which we believe has contributed somewhat to the success of our work, as a means of advertising and directing people to our tent, as well as giving a synopsis of the sermons.
“Our meetings are well attended by a good class of people, a number of whom have already accepted the truth; and we are having additions to the church every week, by letter or otherwise. Five came forward recently, three for baptism and two on membership by letter.”
Workers in Canada are continuing to use the newspapers with good results. One brother in Ontario writes: “At present I am holding a tent effort. We have been running two weeks, and thus far every sermon has appeared in the daily paper, occupying on an average more than a half column. This certainly is a grand means of bringing the truth before the people, and also an inexpensive way of advertising our meetings.”
