Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1890-01-08
SOME MINISTER'S STORIES.
Grave and Gay Anecdotes Related
by Chicago CIersvmen.

"Nov and then" said . Methodist
preacher from the West Side, ga church
commun-cant Is not q living exponent
OF truth and charity. ] found that out
IN an amusing way some years ago while
preaching at q church on the North
Side Rev. Mr.. D., of the Illinois
conference, and / had arranged to ex-
change pulpits on a certain SUNDAY.
and the announcement was made at the
"Wednesday evening prayer meeting
previous 1t happened that something
came mp later IN the week which made
II necessary to postpone the exchange,
and so 1 appeared in my own pulpit as
usual Sunday morning. The attend
ance WAS about the same so far as 1
could see, but a young man, a friend of
mine, afterward related to me some
comments he heard while the audience
WAS filing out of the Church. One
woman remarked:
'Now, that's a splendid sermon And
what a large audience he had N.Y. if
We could only have him here every
Sunday Such a perfectly charming
discourse. You see, she had heard
that the exchange would be made and
came to church promptly, but she had
been absent SO long that she really
didn't know her own minister when she
saw him"
WEDDING BELLS.
These stories about weddings" said
Rev. J. p. Brushingham, -'have a seri-
ous side, notwithstanding the fact 1t is
usually overlooked One time / was
engaged to marry q young couple, and
when the evening came L found their
address had been mislaid. 1t could not
be found high or low. However, 1
knew within a block of where the place
was and resolved would start out and
try and find 1t. Ny wife said as L left
IN spirit af raillery at my carelessness.
you'll know the place by the Grape on
the door And as / went along that re-
mark set me thinking. Grape on the
doorp OF course q house of mirth to
the practical eye is as plainly marked
as house of mourning. The custom
Is to put on all the tokens of woe when
death is a visitor and all the signs of
Joy when two persons are married.
And yet in how many cases the Grape
had better be shown when weddings
occur, and to how many persons death
should Ire welcomed with flowers. You
know when Beecher died ne requested
that no gloom be thrown on the event
by sable trappings, but that flowers in
profusion should mark his translation
to better land"
''But did you find your waiting couple
that night, Mr.. Brushingham?"
''Oh, yes. Wedding parties never
get lost.
THE ARGUMENT INTERRUPTED
''This isn't funny story" said the
Baptist minister, ''but 1t is a true one.
Before 1 came to Chicago / was preach
ing at Lincoln That was years ago,
and the town was not so well supplied
with churches as 1t is now. A Presby-
terian minister was holding a revival
service in his church, and his audiences
were SO large, he could not accomodate
them He asked the permission of my
self aud my trustees to use our church,
which was much larger, and of course
it was granted. His meetings grew
larger and larger, and everybody was
delighted with the evident good he was
doing. One morning he came to me
and said he wanted to preach three
sermons on baptism, but felt embar-
rassed, as he was in the house of a de
nomination from which he radically
differed on that subject. L told him to
go ahead his own way just as if he were
at home. Give them immersion,
sprinkling or anything that would save
them So at il he went. Now, right
under the platform on which my pulpit
stood was a great pool of water in which
our own baptisms took place. No one
ever thought of the place being inse-
cure, but my Presbyterian friend got a
number of brethren on the stand with
him that night, and among them was
one very fat mana regular mountain
of flesh. The sermon went forward,
and the preacher became excited as /
never had seen him before. Baptism
was his strong point, and he land him
self out for a great effort. He had per
haps reached his loftiest flight in the
denunciation of immersion as the 'one
baptism and announced with great
yigor that he had never immersed Il
convert and he never would; that be
never had been immersed and nothing
could induce him to be, and that he
would sweep the foolish Journalism
from the face of the earthi
Just at this point the fat man, too
cramped in the common chair to enjoy
such welcome and powerful doctrine,
rose and started across behind the preach
er. twas too much for the platform floor.
At the very height of the minister's i'm
passioned period down went pulpit,
pastor and guard of honor with a crash
and a splash into the ample depths of
the pool.
Ibid it alter his views on baptism"
"No; but he said Presbyterian
preaching on Baptist platform was a
mighty insecure business, and he soon
went back to his own house of wor-
ship"
A Startling Confession.