The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-06-22
,-,.,, v,v,a,,a no. have his soal SCI on

From the beginning Of Cari<is minis
try 20 it, eloee his history Is the his,oss
- "a. sensation succeeding another.
And vet cs.urcheS buiIt in his name n
fhis t.av h..lis.ve that they are disEsr scea
II they hav. a sensation Of any sort IN
the pulpit or in the pews. They are coid
fud stiff aud numb and formal ihas =
tb.. hand If death The dead are sun
and dignifei In proportion as men Ole
th,.v grow still Speed, force. are pos
tu,ates Of life. Many Of our churches
ere magnificent ,naasoleuus In when
the dead move with silent tread. ST IN
solemn silence in solemn pews- Ihey
reed life. Tlsey need a sensation To DO
them good: To have any sort of senss-
ton for change. Some Of them never
get II except an accident happens.
/ saw the other day how that parson
! il certain town long ago had a habit
Of putting off till TOMORROW what ought
70 have been done to-day. Having some
thin. TO do with "a bottle of aqua FORTS.
/ which he should have used on Saturday,
! Int which he put off till Sunday, he
went into the pulpit with this bottle IN
/ bis pocket. In the midst of his sermon,
while his hands were uplifted and he
was about to close a fine sentence. he
/ leaned heavily against the pulpit, and
/ smash went the bottle. With hands up
! lifted. still with his unfinished sermon,
/ lie rushed down the pulpit stairs. through
/ the center aisle. out of the church, and
/ all the congregation followed him. Had
the good man gone crazy? On he rushed
| TIL he came to a pond Il short distance
from the church. into which he plunged,
while the congregation stood In amaze
ment, wondering if their pastor was
about to commit suicide. He explained
the action of the aqua forts and in a
short time secured some dry clothes and
returned TO the pulpit and finished his
sermon.
think myself little of the aqua forts
would be good for some of the brethren,
and it would be wholesome perhaps in
some of the pews. We need the old Negroes
prayer to be fulfilled here in New York.
He prayed for the northern brother who
came down to preach for him. He said:
Lord bless dis yer white man OATS
come down from de north to preach for
us. Fill him with de flame of de spirit.
annint him wild de kerosene lie of saliva
ton and set him afre."
FIGHT IN THE CHURCH.
Fifth-They show that they are dead
in the fact that they have no ear to hear,
no heart to pity. no arm to save the
struggling, suffering thousands that
surge about their doors. There is q
ceaseless cry about the city that goes to
the heart of one that knows its distress.
1t is like the low moaning of the wind
before the storm, and he whose ear is
tuned to its weird music can hear it in
the monday rush above the din and roar;
can hear it in the silence of the night
above the city's groan. for it never
sleeps. And yet there are hundreds of
churches that hear this cry and hear it
unmoved. They are complacent in their
ease. They have gotten in the old ira |
ditional jog trot and think it is all right |
They jog smoothly along and never hear
it thunder. and if anybody suggests that |
it Numbered they are shocked, because |
they have been disturbed. They are |
welded to the mechanics of a tradition |
al progress that is no progress at all
that is simply the refuse of small minds |
and weak personalities.
Many of these churches have been cor
rupted by the forces of our corrupt civ
ilization. Fashion and pride and wealth
have made their inroads and erected
their standards around the very altar of
the Most High God. A pastor was re-
Gently driven out of one of our great
churches because of an old fight in the
church. -Four years ago minority of
the members of the church attempted to
force him out, and on what grounds do
you suppose they brought their action?
FIRST, he was not an orator; second,
that he paid too much attention to the
poor. Amazing fact! And yet Jesus
said when Johns disciples came to ask
if he be the Messiah, Tell John the poor
have the gospel preached unto them"
The whole truth is that these churches
have pushed back the people and neg
iected them for their own clique and
their own coterie until the spirit of God
has in grief departed. They have lost
the capacity to convey the spirit to other
hearts
Sixth-Many of our churches are dead,
and we know it, because they have dead
preachers. We exclaim today, with the
sacred seer, Lord, they have killed thy
prophets! The power OF the pulpit is
the power unto life when properly ap-
piled. There is no power today in this ,
nation equal to the power of the Chris ,
tan pulpit when it IL used for all it is !
worth. Men may say that they despise |
it. that it is the parson who is prattling. 6
bnt when the pulpit is united upon a |
great theme its influence upon any COM G
munity in America is simply resistless. t
Men of the world know this. The edi- r
ors OF our great newspapers know It.
Ind know 1t to the bottom. And If there ;
failure in our cities to save peopIe +
We must take upon our own shoulders q Z
arge share of the weight of this fearful
responsibility. =
The present condition of the CITY can
lot be stated and waved aside by LAYING
upon other shoulders. We. the min.
olers OF Tod, are III some measure GER i
anly responsible for that fact. IF the -
'oWer committed to the ministry had !,
'een used in teaching the pews. sncb -
you'd not be today the fact. In an. -
lent times the prophets of God were =
ne leaders OF the race. Their authority i
vas the authority of truth, and it was q
upreme. The prophet spoke to kirus &
nd princes with his power. The proph- u
{ OF the modern day has the same right II
ie mas the same commission. HIS has l.
ne same duty. The prophets of TODAY ~
re men OF talent. They are magnif. "
entity endowed. They are the best Il
ralned ministry the world has ever =;
GEN. Why this pitiable weakness in e,
ur centers of life? Alas, they have ~
LIED the prophets! There is no donbt- -
ig tne tact Some of them have been w
noAed to death by orthodox collars. =,
sTRANGLED To DEATH. =,
frotestantlsm has failed in our great l.,
tles often because it had in it too m,,cb
omanism without the power1f Rome ! co
he hretiaran ha.-o L. -o. Sc