A FEW weeks ago one of the ministers in this city spoke to his congregation on the Sabbath question. He made the usual arguments against Sabbath observance, such as the round-earth theory and the expediency of one rest day. The sermon was published in a daily paper, and some of our brethren felt that this was an opportune time to give the people something on the Sabbath question. A committee was appointed to determine what should be done.
TRACT WORKERS AT ENTRANCE OF TABERNACLE, BATTLE CREEK, MICH.
We finally decided upon a tract campaign, and plans were laid to get the four best tracts on this subject, place them in an envelope, and leave one such package at every home in the city. This work was turned over to the Missionary Volunteer Society, and about six thousand of each of the four tracts were ordered. These were more than paid for by a collection that was taken when the matter was presented to our church.
Each tract was stamped with the following note: “Should you desire other reading-matter on this or other religious topics, address Missionary Volunteers, Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich.” A call was made for volunteers to stamp and place the twenty-four thousand tracts in envelopes, and two evenings were pleasantly spent in this work. The young people worked earnestly and faithfully. After the task was finished, all united in asking the Lord’s blessing upon the literature, and in praying that many souls might be brought into the light through the perusal of the tracts.
The city was divided into districts, and a director selected to take charge of the work in each district. On the appointed day all who took part in this tract distribution gathered in the Tabernacle to talk over plans and ask God’s special blessing. In about three hours17all the leaflets were scattered, “like the leaves of autumn.”
Although we may not see the results of our work here, yet we rejoice in the fact that if we are faithful in the sowing, the Lord will take care of the harvest. We are trusting him to prosper our feeble efforts. D. O. BABCOCK.
The Florida Camp-Meeting
By C. S. Longacre
The annual conference and camp-meeting of the Florida Conference were held in a beautiful pine grove on the banks of a picturesque lake in Lakeland, from October 30 to November 9. The weather was ideal. The location could not have been better. It was the largest camp-meeting ever held in the State of Florida. All the tents were filled and about twenty rooms were engaged. An excellent spirit of harmony and good will prevailed in all the meetings. The people were aglow with the missionary spirit. Over $8,000 was contributed in cash and pledges for foreign missions and the local needs. This brought great encouragement and inspiration into the camp.
The president, Elder W. H. Heckman, gave a very inspiring report of the progress of the work in the conference during the past year. Over one hundred new members were added to the church during the year, and in addition to this, twenty-six were baptized the last Sunday of the camp-meeting. Quite a little over $6,000, including cash and pledges, was raised for foreign missions. Over $1,800 was pledged for the new improvements of the Florida Sanitarium at Orlando. We were glad to learn that the Florida Sanitarium made a net gain of a little over $2,000 the past year in operating expenses. Dr. R. S. Ingersoll and wife, of Richmond, Va., were elected to take charge of the sanitarium. There is no question but that the Florida Sanitarium has a great future before it. It is situated in the most popular center of the tourist section of Florida, and is bound to become a center of light, attraction, and influence.
There was an increase of over $1,200 in the tithes, and an increase of over $1,500 in offerings to missions, during the last fiscal year. Judging from the way that the people gave to missions, there is no doubt but that the Florida Conference will more than meet the twenty-cent-a-week per capita this year.
Elder W. H. Heckman was unanimously reelected president for the ensuing year. He is of excellent courage as he takes up the work for another year. Brother W. M. Lee was elected secretary and treasurer for the conference and tract society for another year, and he, too, is of good spirit in his new field. Brother Dillon was reelected to the great work of getting the publications before the people. Mrs. R. G. Stringer was reelected to the Sabbath-school and young people's work. Besides the regular conference workers, there were present Elders Geo. I. Butler, O. Montgomery, and C. B. Stephenson, Prof. C. L. Stone, and the writer. An excellent interest was awakened in the town of Lakeland, and the brethren planned to hold a special effort after the camp-meeting was over. The Lord came very near to his people, especially during both Sabbath services. Sinners were converted and backsliders reclaimed. Reconciliations were effected. Many confessions were made, and deeper and more heartfelt consecrations to the message for this time were made than ever before. It was truly a heavenly meeting, and eternity alone will reveal its far-reaching results. It was with much regret that we left the place that had been such a Bethel to our souls and a refreshment to our spirits.
C. S. LONGACRE.
The Takoma Park Church
By I. A. Ford
WHEN the headquarters of our denominational work was transferred from Battle Creek to Takoma Park, the first thing that forced itself upon the attention of our brethren was the necessity of erecting institutional buildings. This was necessary in order that the work might be carried forward as economically as possible. Hence buildings were erected for the General Conference offices, the Review and Herald Publishing Association, the Washington Training College, and the Washington Sanitarium. These institutions have exerted a world-wide influence upon our work.
As the work of erecting and equipping these institutions pressed so heavily upon our brethren, it did not seem possible for them at that time to undertake the erection of a church building, so the meetings were held in the village hall, which was rented for that purpose. It soon became necessary to provide for the education of the children of church-school age, and a church-school building was erected, the second story of which was arranged for the holding of the church services. As the membership increased, it was not long before the little room in the schoolhouse was taxed to its utmost, and later it was completely outgrown, so that it was impossible for all the members to attend services at one time, besides leaving no room for others in the place who might wish to meet with us.
The question of building a new church was agitated more or less during all this time, but it was not until 1911 that the matter took definite shape. The church then concluded to “rise up and build.” A building committee was appointed, and plans for the raising of funds began in earnest. At the outset it was decided that the church should be dedicated free from debt, and that work should not be begun until sufficient funds were in sight in cash and pledges to pay for the building when completed. As the church is so largely made up of transient members, — persons who are brought here to connect with our institutions for a time and then pass on to other fields, — the General Conference Committee and the Review and Herald Board felt that it would be consistent and right that the church be assisted in the matter of meeting the expense of building, and substantial assistance was given.
The plan of raising the funds was that each member of the church and each employee of our institutions here, receiving the benefits of the church privileges, should “set apart half his wages, or other income, for the thirteenth week of each quarter, until the necessary amount was raised.” We are glad to say that the plan was entered into heartily. This definite arrangement gave a substantial basis for the building committee to work upon. The pledges were collected for about a year and a half before work on the building was actually begun. We believe this plan is worthy of recommendation to other places where buildings are needed.
One of the most interesting things that occurred in connection with the building was the conversion of one of the contractors. The Christian deportment of the members of the church gave him a desire to know what made us a peculiar people, the result being his acceptance of the truth. A cut of the building is shown herewith.
The dedicatory service was held Sunday, October 26, Elder A. G. Daniels preaching the sermon and Elder J. H. Evans offering the dedicatory prayer. Invitations were given to the people of the place, and the house was well filled with an attentive audience. We feel very thankful to God, who has enabled us to build this house to the honor and glory of his name. I. A. FORD.
Field Notes
Elder J. L. Shuler reports the baptism of five new Sabbath-keepers in Florida.
At the close of a recent tent effort in Athens, Tenn., twelve persons began to keep the Sabbath.
Elder C. S. Wiest, who has been holding meetings at Quitman, Miss., writes of the conversion of twelve persons.
Sabbath, September 20, the recently purchased church building at Hamilton, Ontario, was dedicated to the worship of God.
Five new believers, all heads of families, were recently baptized at Nicholasville, Ky. Twenty persons in Louisville have promised to obey the commandments of God.
Three Conventions
By S. B. Horton
Lord's Day Alliance Convention
BALTIMORE, Md., was recently treated to three conventions of more than ordinary interest. The Lord's Day Alliance, of Maryland, held a convention from December 1 to 7, beginning with meetings conducted in fourteen churches the first night, which were designed to furnish a preparation for the consideration of plans looking to a better observance, by enforcement and otherwise, of the Sunday institution. A special feature of the meetings was a “Lord's day clinic,” conducted by Dr. T. T. Mutchler, of Philadelphia, Pa., well known as the leader in Lord's Day Alliance matters. Dr. W. H. Dunbar, who spoke on the subject of “The Lord's Day and the Home,” insisted that there is more hope in securing better Sunday observance through the religious influence of the home than is to be expected through civil legislation.
Dr. Earle Wilfley was assigned the subject of “Maryland and the District of Columbia One in Organized Effort for Lord's Day Observance.” In the beginning of his remarks he pleaded for a happy medium between the ultrapuritanical Sunday and what has been often referred to as the Continental Sunday of Europe. He took the position that if Sunday baseball and Sunday amusements were to be taken away from the laboring men, something must be put in the place of these; for, said he, we cannot enforce the puritanical sabbath, and we must prevent a Continental sabbath. He urged that Maryland and the District of Columbia should cooperate for the welfare of each other; that Maryland Lord's day matters should engage the attention and support of the District of Columbia friends, and, vice versa, the Maryland people should come to the aid of the District of Columbia when it is engaged in a campaign in behalf of more stringent observance.
Mr. Wm. Knowles Cooper, general secretary of the Washington Y. M. C. A., gave an address on “Lord's Day Conditions in the District of Columbia,” in which he said, among other things, that Sunday legislation through Congress seems impossible. He stated that among the opponents of Sunday laws for the District of Columbia are Seventh-day Adventists, and that from the work they are doing in the distribution of literature and communication with members of Congress one would judge that there must be about three millions of this sect in the United States. He assured his audience, however, that there were only about three hundred thousand in this country; and that they held the balance of power in many Congressional districts where the vote is close. This will certainly be news to the rank and file of the denomination.
Dr. Cooper visited a certain senator for the purpose of investigating the status of Sunday legislation before Congress, and was informed by the senator, who pointed to a mass of manuscript lying on his desk, that members of Congress receive more correspondence, literature, and petitions on the subject of Sunday laws than is received upon any other subject of public moment.
One of the speakers during the church rallies (Dr. Beall, at the Broadway M. P. Church) said that if the Jews do not desire to comply with our Sunday laws, they should go elsewhere.
Dr. Mutchler also was far from occupying the position of a generous Christian during the “clinics” which he was conducting. In one of his clinics he said: “I opposed the Johnston Sunday Bill (S. 237) because it carried a provision exempting religious sects who observe another day of the week as the Sabbath. That exemption made the proposed legislation religious. We must stand for Sunday, our American sabbath, and let the Jew leave this country if he is not satisfied with our institution.”
Council of Federated Churches
The Lord's Day Alliance convention had hardly started its work before the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America began a convention composed of delegates from different parts of the United States. The president of the council, Dr. Shailer Matthews, who presided at the meetings, in his speeches exhorted the organization to take advance steps in its program of humanitarianism. The council, among other things, planned for a series of great religious meetings, to be held during the Panama Exposition at San Francisco. It indorsed the action of its officials in petitioning for an increase of chaplains in the army and navy. It approved the holding of a world congress of churches to consider questions of social significance, and the meeting of clergymen of Germany, England, and the United States in the interests of international peace, to be held in London next summer.
A very significant action was taken with reference to public charities. Alleging that much loss and misunderstanding attend the present promiscuous way of administering charities, the council went on record as favoring the licensing of organizations having philanthropy as an objective endeavor of their work. Another important move made by the council, which is filled with significance, was the appointment of Dr. Henry King Carroll, the religious statistician of the United States Census, as the representative of the church federation in the city of Washington. His duties will include keeping in touch with Congress in matters affecting the program of the federation.
Columbia Religious Liberty Association
Preceding the above-mentioned meetings, and covering the time of the same, the Columbia Religious Liberty Association conducted a convention and institute in the Baltimore Seventh-day Adventist Church and at Lehmann's hall. The program at the church began November 28, and included the following subjects: “Lest We Forget,” “The Model Government,” “The Limits of Human Authority From the Biblical Standpoint,” “Are the Ten Commandments the Basis of Civil Government?” “The Declaration of Independence and ‘Glittering Generalities,’” and “A Lesson From Conditions in Mexico.” The speakers who were assigned these subjects were: C. S. Longacre, W. A. Colcord, A. J. S. Bourdeau, L. L. Caviness, and S. B. Horton, of Washington, D. C.; J. S. Washburn, of Philadelphia, Pa.; and R. T. Baer and F. W. Paap, of Baltimore, Md.
A missionary convention was held on Sunday, November 30, from 2:30 to 5 P. M., at which Brethren I. A. Ford and A. J. S. Bourdeau, of the Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D. C., gave timely and instructive counsel with reference to the importance of the campaign at that time in Baltimore, and the duty of distributing literature among the people.
Three meetings were held at Lehmann's hall on North Howard Street, as follows:—
Thursday, December 4, at 7:30 P. M., Prof. W. W. Prescott spoke on the subject “A Plea for the Conservation of American Freedom,” giving a clear and forceful presentation of the movements which are at work in this country antagonistic to the principles upon which this country was founded, principles which cost so much bloodshed and treasure on the part of a patriotic ancestry. He was preceded by Rabbi Rubenstein on “The Beilis Case,” an incident of Russian persecution at Kief. The Takoma Park orchestra favored this meeting with patriotic numbers.
Sunday, December 7, at 2:30 P. M., a symposium was conducted as follows: “The Kingdom of God Through the Gateway of Politics?” by S. B. Horton; “Origin and Essentials of Church and State,” by Prof. B. G. Wilkinson; “Civil Government and Religion From the Viewpoint of American Founders,” by C. S. Longacre. The closing meeting of the convention was held the same day at 7:30 P. M., at which two short addresses were delivered on the subject “The Declaration and Constitution: Shall They Be Repudiated?” by S. B. Horton and C. S. Longacre. Brethren Baer and Paap closed the meeting with appropriate remarks, inviting the audience to visit the church as time and opportunity might afford.
More than 30,000 pages of literature and several hundred Liberty and Protestant magazines were distributed during the convention. These, together with references and articles in the local press, will doubtless bring encouraging results.
Cardinal Gibbons on Religious Liberty
It seemed that the agitation carried on by the above-mentioned organizations led Cardinal Gibbons to preach on the subject of religious liberty, on Sunday morning, December 7, in the pulpit of the Baltimore cathedral. He said that all should rejoice in the victory which Constantine achieved over Maxentius on the banks of the Tiber before Rome, at which time the proclamation of liberty of worship was issued throughout the Roman Empire. The cardinal pointed to the victory of Constantine, to the signing of the Magna Charta 700 years ago, and to the settlement of Maryland about 300 years ago, as great triumphs for religious liberty which the Catholic Church should receive credit for bringing about.
“The Catholic Church,” he said, “has always been a devoted friend to civil and religious liberty, and whenever any one professing the Catholic faith has violated these rights they have acted against the church and against sacred authority. . . .
“The Catholic Church at all times has19respected the rights of other people to follow the dictates of their conscience, and she has been the defender of others against encroachments of temporal sovereigns.
“The church flourishes alone in the sacred atmosphere of liberty. I do not care to see the day when the church will be subsidized by the state in erecting her buildings and academies. I hope conditions that prevail now may continue.”
It is fortunate that there still remain in some libraries of the world a faithful record of what the Roman Catholic Church has done and has stood for in times past. If it were not for that fact, the utterances of the cardinal, as above given, might have a tendency to deceive. The cardinal's work “Faith of Our Fathers” is not in harmony with his most recent utterances. On page 264 of that work (43d edition, 1893) we are told: “A man enjoys religious liberty when he possesses the free right of worshiping God according to the dictates of a right conscience, and of practising a form of religion most in accordance with his duties to God.” The cardinal does not grant man's right to worship God “according to the dictates of his own conscience.” It must be according to the dictates of a “right” conscience, and a conscience is a “right” conscience only when it is in harmony with Catholic belief and teaching. Moreover, only the Roman Church can tell him when he is “practising a form of religion most in accordance with his duties to God.”
S. B. HORTON.
Religious Liberty Department
By C. S. Longacre
C. S. LONGACRE N. Am. Div. Secretary
Why Our Medical Missionary Work?
By L. A. H.
The reasons for the existence of such a line of work as is embraced in our Medical Department, and the relation of that work to our denominational activities, may bear reconsideration. One may ask, Why this system of sanitariums, nurses’ training-schools, treatment-rooms, health food factories, and restaurants, in connection with a work supposedly purely religious? Is all this an essential factor in the giving of the advent message?
We may put the question in another way, and ask if our medical missionary work is fulfilling the purpose for which it was established. Is it giving returns commensurate with the place and attention it holds in the denomination? Does it accomplish all that we have believed it would? Are we carrying it on in the way that will be most productive as a missionary movement? Are we coming nearer the realization of an ideal method, or are we drifting away from it?
Our health work has been coexistent with other branches of our denominational interests, almost from the beginning of our history. It came in as a component part of our belief and message. Its early development in principles and conduct was much the same as that of other phases of our cause, brought about by the interest and efforts of the leaders, and generally adopted and supported by the believers as a whole. Our health work did not come as an after-thought, or an appendage, to the message we hold. It did not originate with a certain class among us, nor at a particular center. It does not represent the peculiar notions or ideas of reform held by a few and finally worked into denominational acceptance. Nor is it to be regarded as a fad, accepted for a time and then given up as unimportant or impracticable, or superseded by a new idea. Let us repeat, it is a part of our message, with the same solid foundation as the rest of the truth, developed and promulgated as a denominational interest, and designed as an important part of the closing work of God in the earth.
The following paragraph presents the close relation of health reform with our cause, and shows that, in its object and purpose, it is distinctively a Seventh-day Adventist work, touching the two cardinal features of our faith, the coming of the Lord and obedience to God’s law:— ‘The health reform is one branch of the great work which is to fit a people for the coming of the Lord. It is as closely connected with the third angel’s message as the hand is with the body. The law of ten commandments has been lightly regarded by man; yet the Lord will not come to punish the transgressors of that law without first sending them a message of warning. Men and women cannot violate natural law by indulging depraved appetite and lustful passions, without violating the law of God. Therefore he has permitted the light of health reform to shine upon us, that we may realize the sinfulness of breaking the laws which he has established in our very beings. Our Heavenly Father sees the deplorable condition of men who, many of them ignorantly, are disregarding the principles of hygiene. And it is in love and pity to the race that he causes the light to shine upon health reform. He publishes his law and its penalties, in order that all may learn what is for their highest good. He proclaims his law so distinctly, and makes it so prominent, that it is like a city set on a hill. All intelligent beings can understand it if they will. None others are responsible. To make natural law plain, and to urge obedience to it, is a work that accompanies the third angel’s message.’—Mrs. E. G. White, in ‘Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene,’ page 9.
While our health work has developed largely into an institutional phase, its objects and purposes remain as before. The addition of sanitariums, training-schools, and other enterprises brings in many problems of finance and questions of administration and management; but with it all, the missionary feature of the work should be paramount and predominant. These additions to the work should be auxiliaries in the truest sense, helping to carry forward the principles of true health reform. The broader development of the medical work, its fuller organization, and the greater increase of its facilities should give greater results as a real missionary factor.
Are we succeeding in reaching more people with our saving truths through our sanitariums and allied enterprises? Are we more than ever making natural law plain, and urging obedience to it? Are we fitting people for the coming of the Lord? Do our training-schools turn out nurses who are burdened for souls? In the training of doctors and other medical workers, now such a prominent feature of our medical work, is the emphasis placed on getting a preparation that enables one to follow closely in the steps of Jesus? Many other questions might be asked; and on the manner in which we can truly answer them depends the value of our medical missionary work. Various phases of this work may be considered in subsequent articles, with the view of helping to find and keep our bearings in this department.
L. A. H.
Prohibition Agitation at the National Capital
By L. A. H.
IN the week beginning December 7 was witnessed the greatest antiliquor agitation ever known in Washington, D. C. On Sunday afternoon, mass-meetings were held in two prominent churches and in one of the large theaters. These meetings were presided over by officers of the National W. C. T. U., and on the program were prominent temperance workers and speakers. Full capacity audiences gave attention and enthusiastically applauded the sentiment calling for national prohibition at as early a date as possible. A unanimous vote accorded support to the resolution recently introduced in Congress by Richmond P. Hobson, calling for national prohibition. Plans were laid for a mass-meeting to be held under the dome of the Capitol on the next Wednesday.
Wednesday night a large meeting was held in Continental Hall, at which a number of prominent temperance speakers again gave addresses to an enthusiastic audience. This meeting was under the auspices of the Anti-Saloon League.
On the afternoon of December 10, Senator Sheppard, of Texas, introduced in the Senate a joint resolution calling for national prohibition. In a speech of some length, he presented forcible facts and strong arguments from various sources, calling attention to the terrible havoc caused by intemperance in various nations. Portions of his speech will appear in Liberty, Life and Health, and the Youth's Instructor. We give herewith a brief quotation:—
“Before the popular judgment of almost every country the dealers in this terrible drug must answer the following arraignment: Your traffic crushes every moment some home, some heart. The poison you distribute is an ever-spreading pestilence. It impedes the physical and mental growth of children, distorting the moral sense, promoting disobedience to parents and disregard for law. It curses the future generations of its victims—the crazed, the maimed, the palsied, and the blind—into whose blood the fatal taint is inevitably transmitted. It wrecks domestic happiness and betrays the most sacred vows. It contains no nourishment, it gives no strength. It impairs the vital processes, and injures the vital tissues of the human organism. It destroys moderation and self-control, releasing every low and savage impulse. Instead of satisfying1252thirst, it leaves a greater thirst, suggesting the agonies of hell. It is the cause of practically half the accidents in industrial occupations. It lowers the efficiency of labor and weakens the foundations of industrial progress. It increases the liability to disease, particularly to infectious maladies like tuberculosis. It diverts the earnings of mankind into channels of economic waste, causing a loss that far exceeds the revenue it provides for governmental use. It is an obstacle to human advancement that should be no longer tolerated.”
“As the facts become more vividly impressed on all mankind, the conviction rapidly grows that temporizing policies must be discontinued. The world is quickly coming to understand that humanity must destroy the liquor traffic or welcome moral degradation and economic ruin. The overwhelming issue is whether men shall conquer the liquor traffic or the liquor traffic conquer men.”
On Thursday afternoon, Mr. Hobson presented in the House of Representatives the memorial representing about one hundred national uplift organizations, religious, social, and civic, calling for a Constitutional amendment for national prohibition. He stated that over fifty-five per cent of the American people now live in prohibition territory, that between seventy-one and seventy-two per cent of the area of continental United States is now what is called “dry” (prohibition) territory, and that the memorial calling for national prohibition practically represents a petition on the part of a majority of the American people.
The argument against alcohol made by various speakers on the above-mentioned occasions was based largely on the scientific proof of its deteriorating, demoralizing, and destructive power. Convincing facts and figures were given that could but carry heavy weight. In view of the recent agitation, the outlook for prohibition seems more favorable than it has ever been before.
We hope to be able to provide our own people with suitable material, from time to time, bearing on the temperance question. Surely, we should take advantage of proper occasions to add our own strength to true temperance movements. We have considerable ammunition ourselves that could be put to good use in this battle against alcohol.
L. A. H.
Medical Missionary Department
W. A. RUBLE, M. D. General Secretary
L. A. HANSEN Assistant Secretary
H. W. MILLER, M. D. N. Am. Div. Secretary
The Canvassing Work in South America
By MAX TRUMMER
The book work in the South American Union Conference is making encouraging progress. Four of our eight fields have their missionary agents, and the institutes for the canvassers are held as regularly as in the States. Aside from our regular canvassers we plan on having from one to two agents on our periodicals, and these have done very encouraging work in taking subscriptions. Our trouble is in getting the papers through the mail. We are trying to overcome this difficulty by certifying the rolls to the postmasters.
Our main efforts during the last year have been on “Patriarchs and Prophets” and “Coming King,” and the Lord has blessed us in a marked degree. One brother sold and delivered $1,000 (gold) worth of these in eighty-eight days, and this notwithstanding the fact that most of the Spanish which he could speak was the canvass that he had committed to memory. One of our native canvassers in Peru took forty-eight orders for “Coming King” in seven hours recently.
Our brethren are courageous in their work. Two of them are making a trip in Bolivia, which will take them from five to six months, mostly on muleback. They have taken 3,000 bolivars’ ($1,200 gold) worth of literature with them on this trip. For the first six months of this year we had a gain in orders of $5,000 gold over the corresponding period of 1912, and we trust that the remainder of the year may show even better results.
The outlook for the future is a most encouraging one. This is due, in part, to the generosity of the brethren in North America in giving us new leaders for Uruguay, Ecuador, and Patagonia. During this vacation we expect to have about ten canvassers from the academy in Argentina, among whom are two professors.
Beginning with November, we shall begin regular work with “Daniel and the Revelation” in Spanish. Some good work has been done with this new book already, one worker selling and delivering sixty-eight copies in eight days. Though some of the people are opposed to religion and others are incredulous, still we find many who appreciate our books, and we continue to place them in the homes of men who are leaders in commercial enterprises, in the schools, and in the government. We ask you to remember us in your petitions to the throne of grace to the end that we may exalt the message of Jehovah in our work. To him be all the praise for his increasing blessings.
MAX TRUMMER.
Book Work in Cuba
By H. A. Robinson
THE Lord has continued to bless the book work in this island field, and has allowed our faithful colporteurs to have some experiences which have strengthened their faith in him.
A comparison of the work accomplished during the first ten months of this year with that of last, will show to what extent the Lord has blessed in the increase of sales of our truth-filled literature. With the same number of men in the field, our sales from January to October were as follows:—
1913 .......... $12,815.21 gold
1912 .......... 10,721.65 “
Gain over 1912 $ 2,093.56 gold21
During the whole year of 1912 we delivered 2,760 books. We delivered in the first ten months of—
1913 ............ 3,471 books
1912 ............ 2,346 “
Gain over 1912 .... 1,125 books
The value of deliveries for the first ten months was—
1913 ............ $8,398.04 gold
1912 ............ 6,488.70 “
Gain over 1912 ... $1,909.34 gold
To God alone be the glory and praise for this increased output of our books this year. Remembering that each of these books carries several sermons on the truth for this time, we see how the ground is being prepared for the living preacher. May God water the seed sown that it may bring forth fruit abundantly unto eternal life.
H. A. ROBINSON.
Progress in the Lake Union Conference
The following items, taken from private letters, show how the Lord is blessing in the circulation of literature in the Lake Union. Regarding the work in the Indiana Conference, Brother H. H. Rans, the tract society secretary, writes:—
“We are glad to report that business is coming our way with a rush. Not only our regular colporteur work is prospering, but our home workers are doing well. Last month their reports showed a total of more than $325 worth of books sold. We cannot remember a time when we have been so busy at this season of the year. We are very thankful for this prosperity.”
Brother J. W. Mace, manager of the Review and Herald Branch at South Bend, Ind., also writes:—
“We have had an unprecedented rush during the first part of December. The first four days of the month we packed and shipped over 4,000 subscription and home workers' books at an approximate value of $5,000. Our sales still continue. Yesterday we shipped over $800 worth of books. We have a great many small freight orders; one day the number reached twenty, as a great many of the home workers are ordering by freight. We expect to have a very heavy rush of the express business between now and the twentieth, and do not think we shall be disappointed from the way the orders have been taken.”
Our lay members throughout the whole country are taking hold of the home workers' books with enthusiasm, and the Lord is abundantly blessing them in their efforts.
Love to God and Neighbor
If thou neglectest thy love to thy neighbors, in vain thou professest thy love to God; for by thy love to God thy love to thy neighbor is gotten, and by thy love to thy neighbor thy love to God is nourished.—Quarles.
The Remedy for Temptation
‘Some temptations come to the industrious,’ said Spurgeon once, ‘but all temptations come to the idle.’ The old and good remedy against a besetting sin is to leave neither time nor room for it anywhere in life, and so crowd it out steadily and surely from its old place of power.
Truth Must Be Practiced
“DOCTRINES are of use only as they are practised. Men may go to perdition with their heads full of truth. To hold the truth and fight for it is one thing. To be sanctified through it is another.”
Publishing Department
N. Z. TOWN — — — General Secretary
W. W. EASTMAN — — — N. Am. Div. Secretary
A Good Word From England
We take the following encouraging items from a private letter from Elder S. G. Haughey, president of the South England Conference:—
“We have been having some good experiences in the South England Conference this year. I began an effort in Plymouth in October of last year, and for five and one-half months continued the meetings without a break. We have now added forty-nine to that church. Our late brother, Elder W. A. Shafer, held a similar effort in Bristol, and added between forty and fifty to the church there. Our Sabbath-school offerings were more last quarter than they have ever been for any quarter during the years of the past. All our offerings to missions amount to more for the three quarters of this year than for the entire year of 1912. Our tithe was one thousand dollars more for the first nine months of this year than it was for the corresponding period of last year. We feel grateful for the Lord’s continued blessing upon us.”
