Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1869-07-20
Church Internationally and Remedy
Masonry, Odd Follows and Good
Templars.

ing upon the late falling away every
where from the christian chuches.-
The subject is one of deep interest,
though as to anything very good
coming from the Chicago pulpit the
thing appears almost impossible, be-
cause sensation dtscourSes only can
draw hearers and paying supporters
in these city Babylons. And SenSa-
ton dlSc0nrSeS we feel quite sure are
antagonistic to Jesus and the chris
tian system. The Chicago churches
are great show rooms and the hear
ers only seem to attend church be-
cause the attractions to the eye, and
the thousand temptations to mammon
and the vicious nature are got up in
finer style at the church than at the
theatre or beer garden. The church
model practice is, to pander to FASH
ion and the educated intellect, and
to almost wholly neglect to provide
attractions for the masses less favor
ed as to Intelligence and what pays
the preacher. The result is, that
those called the foolish and ignoble,
the poor and beggarly, the fishermen
and toilers Of the sea, the masses, all
these the sort Of people whom Jesus
chose and called and discipled, are
hardly ever seen in The church be-
cause their poverty makes them pro-
titless and unwelcome. The chris
tianised portion of such people stay
at home Sundays and read their
bibles, Watts Hymns. Baxter's call
to the unconverted, Doddrige's Rise
and Progress of Religion in the Soul,
Bunyans Pilgrim and Grace Abound
ing and the like old books written
long before the pulpit took to prefer
ing the devil's set of people on ac>
count Of their riches and splendors.
And the poor whom Jesus came to
call and save, many of them spend
their Sundays in sinful ways because
| the churches make them unwelcome
guests.
But these poor people, being left
out in the cold by the clergy of 1869,
are to furnish the next generation of
mighty rich. In forty years Chicago
will be owned by the poor boys of
To-day who are then to be the aris>
tocracy, and the course of things will
be similar all over the land, in city,
village and country. And what must
then be the faith of the rich-educa-
ted as they are now being, by parents
who fail to see the feeblest light of
the true Christ anywhere abroad in
the fashionable churches
And the colleges are preparing a
now clergy as incapable of reform as
the old, because the college neglects
the poor, the hayward, the harlots,
publicans the lerars and paupers,
and the day toilers who spend all at
the doggery. Such were the special
characters sought out and called to
the feast Of Christ. And with few
exceptions indeed, the chosen disci-
pies and followers of Christ were
from the labOring ranks. jesus himo
self worked as carpenter till past
thirty; he was poor he had no
home. John the ForerCnner was q
poor laborer and rudely clad. Even
Paul was a working man. Many Of
the disciples were fishermen. All
these men were schooled, first in the
ways Of restitution, scored as labor
ers-in order that they might possess
human sympathy and common sense,
for without these properties at the
start IN life it appears, even at this
day as well as at the initiation of
christianity, almost impossible for
men to be saved. Plenty and idleness
so fasten vice upon the soul that SAL
walton can scarcely enter. At least,
the miracle of conversion which is
of God has the tewest examples in
such, while the spirit often strives
with and prepares mighty harvests
from among tho industrial classes.
So the trouble Of the times causing
so much alienation from the church
is that the chief administrators of
the gospel are men who were not
schooled in poverty, and never earned
their bread, and therefore can possess
no sympathy with Gods kind Of peo>
pie, no common sense, no souls in
state of unison with Christ. Such
! preachers therefore are seen wander
ing off INTO rationalism and liberalism
! OF one sort and Notwithstanding
that the yoke is easy-so easy that
but little is required, that good in
tentions insure a change of heart,
and other exceeding easy and cheap
terms, and thus making merchandise
Of the souls of man.
Said a gentleman of Lancaster late
ly, "why Cover, we have a big church
tho churches all have enough mem.
bers, but the members are chiefly
women. Very few Of the old and
what we call leading men are in the
church. These and many of the
young men are finding homes with
the Masons, Odd Fellows, and Good
Templars, and but for these orders
the churches would be filled with our
leading men,"
We answered, "Sir, Just sdch false
notions as these have been vended
to order by the machine gospellers
of the day. 1t is materializing and
rationalizing the soul and plan of
salvation. Itgives the Masonic lodge
| more influence than the Holy Spirit,
aud makes the soul a substance to
be attracted as other matter-here,
there, anywhere, and rejects the pow
er of God as the only means of draw
ing souls to Christ through con-
vlctlon and conversion, power set
down In the SCRIPTURES as irresistible.
And would you have the unconverted
in the church-men fitted only and
hardly for Masons, Odd and Good
REPRESENTATION having no re>
igious pretensions?
"Oh, yes" say the modern church.
men, we'd have EN- in-they'd help
the church to money and pay dear
pew rents. They'd sure be better in
the church than out. But men oan-
not serve two masters-cannot be
devoted Masons and :such, and also
devoted church members" And