The American Methodist (Stroud, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 37, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 4, 1906 Page: 1 of 8
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tt.T O t' ber lQih.innS a' p -t ffi -o at Str< iu’, Ok'a . under act of Congress of Marrli. 1S7<).
Vol. i. ST KOI I), OK!jA., April -4. ISMMi.
No.
»»—
•> i
l'u' ilished Week I v by
1C M1SS.ON PRES PUBLISHING (’C.
''Lrouii, Oklahoma.
REV J, H. HUBBARD, Editor.
For Subscription rates. Etc , see inu/ii S
yjaaifa-s. jt\>. ^ujrm. ve u
The true hero is one who has the
courage to do light.
—3>-
Live for Christ, and you will soon know
that he has died for you.
Whoever steps with his whole soul to-
ward God, puts the devil behind him.
——-
If the preacher is never convicted by his
own preaching, he has not learned how
to preach the gospel.
You can find ten men who will fight for
their politics to where you can find one
who will go out in the rain for his religion
No one has to measure so much between
the ears to get to heaven. “With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness,”
not with the head.
There will be commotion in the pit
when the church members begin to give
more for the spread of the gospel than
they do for cigars and tobacco.
Give the Children Books.
A hundred dollars worth of books w ill
usually contain ten times the information
and instruction that a man can obtain
at the expense of a hundred dollars in
school. It may not be the same infor-
mation, but it may be of equal value.
Many children are unable to afford the
expense of special studies in institutions
of learning. They have not the means
to pay the expense of school or college,
but there are few who are too poor to
purchase some books. And while the
school mav require a large amount to be
paid out at the start, books can be ob-
tained one at a time, and so children can
master them as they come. History, bi-
ography, travel, discussions of art, sci-
ence etc., are easily obtainable, and go
far toward furnishing that measure of
knowledge which is essential to every well-
informed and well-educated man; and
there are, books, the through mastery of
which is nearly equivalent to a liberal
ed ucation.
For Lack of Krsowlege.
fine of the most ominous signs of the
times is tire great lack of scriptual know-
lege in our land. We are convinced that
there is, comparatively, a greater lack of
Bibical knowledge in our own, than in
any other Christian country. In the land
of Luther the Bible is known far better
than it is here; in England even the com-
mon people have an extensive acquaint-
ance with the Holy book; while in Scot-
land the peasant is fully as familiar with
the Bible as the preacher is, though he
may not understand it so thoroughly.
But here in America, the great masses
of people are fully unacquainted with the
sacred scriptures, and as far as we can
see, the evil is growing worse everv day.
No one who has had large opportunities
for observation will for a moment think
of denying this statement.
The minister has no greater difficulty
than preaching to a congregation igno-
rant of scripture. We mean b v a minister,
a man of God, divinely commissioned to
preach the eternal Word, not a mere offi-
cial, who will preach upon anything and
who would as lief handle one subject as an
other. To a minister of Christ it is a
great heartsore that the Bible has now-a-
days fallen into such reckless desuetude.
He has given the best years of his life to
the mastery of the Book, so that he mav
profitably expound it to the hearers; but
the W ord being foreign to them, his hear-
er.-. do not appreciate nor profit by his
ex positions.
The latter may employ the most felici-
tous Biblical imagery’ he may quote texts
with marvelouspertincy and appositeness;
his thought, by long and careful study,
he may express iu rich, Biblical diction
that savors of sanctity, and above all,
aided by the Holy Spirit, he may
dispense the true, inner, spiritual mean-
ing of God’s word, yet it will fall upon
unthinking and utterly unappreciative
ears.
To this lack of spiritual knowledge is
due much of the instability of Christians.
Christians, did we say? pardon is begged;
whifilers is the word. One doctrine yester-
day, a contrary one to-day. Doctrines are
taken up and laid down according to the
theological fashions, and all because these
doctrinal perpetual-motionists don’t know
their Bibles. Preachers, so far from be-
ing judged by a bibical standard, are at
a great discount if too scriptural, and
they need not quote much scripture to be
accounted so, in these days. How are a
ministers hearers to judge of his know-
ledge of the Word of God and his ability
to expound it, when every man of them
is profoundly ignorant of it?
Riches may be obtained by breaking
God’s commandments, but thev cannot
be enjoyed without his favor.
helpful listeners.
Christian people should cultivate the
habit of giving a candid and sympathetic
hearing to what is said in the pulpit.
You will make your preacher a better
preacher thereby. He will take greater
pains in preparation than ever, that he
may deserve your attention. All can help
in this way. The poorest can render
more assistance than they think.
A poor widow was lamenting to Lyman
Beecher that she could do nothing. He
said: “You can do something. You
always help me when 1 preach.” She
listened as if an angel spoke. She drank
in his words as the thirsty ox drinks in
water. The tearful eyes and quivering
lip told of her appreciation and enjoy-
ment.
Lvery preacher has in his heart thanked
God a thousand times for such hearers.
They help from the start. The speaker
feels the current of their sympathy call-
ing all his faculties into play, as the burst-
ing buds fee! the sweet influence of the
spring.—Christian Standard.
No man of bad life can come to anv
deep and lofty conception of the great
truths of religion. A bad inan may indeed
assent to the statement that God is holv,
but he can come to no lofty conception
of what the holiness of God may mean. A
man who is determined to persist in sin
may assent to the doctrine that there is
retribution for sin; but he can have no
large view of the meaning of the infinite
and eternal difference between sin and
goodness.—Prof. W. N. Rice.
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Hubbard, J. H. The American Methodist (Stroud, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 37, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 4, 1906, newspaper, April 4, 1906; Stroud, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc925259/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.