Beverly banner. [volume] (Beverly, N.J.) 1877-1964, 1890-06-28
COMMUNICATION.
AN SPEAKER.

MI. EDITOR: We do not know
whether the people of Beverly are
aware of the fact that we have in our
midst one of the most eloquent and
fearless preachers that any community
has even been blessed with, but it is u
fact and the writer of this had the ex-
IRENE pleasure of listening to two of
his sermons on last Sunday morning
and evening. We allude to the Rev.
Mr.. Rogers, of the M. E. Church.
Armed with all the Christians panoply
of wal he deals such blows in the name
of his Divine Master that the strong
holds of sin are shaken to their very
foundation and weak saints are made
stronger by the evidence that he gives
by his words and manner that Heaven
is no myth, hat Christ did die to save
sinners and that a glorious resurrection
awaits those who die in the Lord. Mr..
Rogers spares neither friend nor foe,
but tells them bluntly what they are
and what they may expect if they do
not repent. He does not are whom
he hits and we, ourselves, WINGED sew
eral times under his plain portrayal of
some Of oar sins. Mr.. Rogers does not
believe in some of the church a~ssocia-
tions and thinks what they try to sub
ordinate the mother society, condemns
secret societies because men say off
we live up to the ritual of our order
we are not obliged to belong to
church." He is right. No man will
ever reach heaven that way. He also
said on Sunday morning, that the Re-
form Clubs of Beverly hurt the church,
that the members of the church be-
long to rival organizations, did not
and could not have the same brotherly
affection for each other that they other
wise would have. Mr.. Rogers was
right but perhaps he does not know that
some of the members of his church
would neUer have become such had
they not first joined the Reform Club.
We have in mind one notable case, of
a man who was almost a confirmed
drunkard and would have been so this
day had it not been for the Beverly
Red Ribbon Club. Strolling En- there
one day out of curiosity, he became
interested came again and again until
one Sunday afternoon he SIGNED the
pledge and soon after was brought into
the church. So we can score ONE fol
the club. But despite all this, If the
rivalry existing between the chabs
causes the members of the church to
hate one another the clubs should 90
doaUn.
We could not be content until we
had given to the public these thoughts
and tell them to go and hear Mr..
Rogers if they wish to hear good sound
robust and sincere gospel preaching.
We believe if the members of that
church had as much faith as he has,
and were as active as he is, the church
would be crowded to its doors every
Sunday, the membership would be
greatly increased, every penny of debt
wiped out. And now we will close for
the present. We do not intend that
this shall be the last article on this
subject or others in which the people
of this place should be interested. We
think it right and just that men who
stand in public places and do their
duty well and fearlessly should be
praised and should be encouraged, and
we intend to do it. We thank God
hat our feet were led III the direction
of the Methodist Church ON last Sun
day and we thank the preacher that
he gave us an intellectual and spiritual
feast. His faith is a living. breathing
and saving faith, and while the thun-
ders of Sinai roll and reverberate
through his sermons we can also hear
the sweet whisper peace be STILL"
BOHEMIAN.