The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1893-06-22

pie never nave SenSauOnS OF any SORT.
The dying object TO sensations. In pro
portion as people are dead they ere free
from seneations. Christianity is a SEN
sation. Christ was a sensationaljst. He
spoke on sensational themes. lie spoke
in a sensational way. The great prob
lens of religion are in themselves soul
stirring. No man CO.. believe them in
vital ways and not have his soul set on
fire.
From the beginning Of Christ's minis
try to its close his history is the history
of one sensation succeeding another.
And yet churches built in his name in
this day believe that they are disgraced
if they have q sensation Of any sort in
the pulpit or in the pews. They are cold
and stiff and numb and formal. This is
the hand of DEATH The dead are stiff
and dignifed. In proportion as men die
they grow stiff. Speed, force, are pos
tulates of life. Many Of our churches
are magnificent mausoleums in which
the dead move with silent tread, sit in
solemn silence in solemn pews They
need life. They need sensation to do
them good; to have any sort of sensa-
ton for change Some Of them never
get it except an accident happens.
saw the other day how that parson
in n certain town long ago had a habit
of putting off till tomorrow what ought
to have been done today. Having some
thing to do with a bottle of aqua fortis,
which he should have used on Saturday,
| but which he put off till Sunday, he
went into the pulpit with this bottle in
his pocket. In the midst of his sermon,
while his hands were uplifted and he
was about to close q fine sentence, he
leaned heavily against the pulpit, and
smash went the bottle. With hands up
lifted, still with his unfinished sermon,
he rushed down the pulpit stairs, through
the center aisle, out of the church, and
all the congregation followed him. Had
the good man gone crazy2 On he rushed
| till he came to pond u 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. Weneed the old negro's
prayer to be fulfilled here in New York.
He prayed for the northern brother who
came down to preach for him. He said:
| II ii Il 80 rt.hft 1nt
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 afire."
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 tc
the heart of one that knows its distress
1t is like the low moaning of the vino
before the storm, and he whose ear il
tuned to its weird music can hear it il
the MONDAY rush above the din and roar
can hear it in the silence of the night
above the city's groan, for it nevel
sleeps. And yet there are hundreds O.
churches that hear this cry and hear i
unmoved. They are complacent in theil
ease. They have gotten in the old ira
ditional jog trot and think it is all right
They jog smoothly alonS and never hea,
it thunder, and if anybody suggests tina
it thundered they are shocked, becaus
they have been disturbed. They ar
welded to the mechanics of tradition
al progress that is no progress at all
that is simply tine refuse Of small mind
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 erecte,
their standards around the very altar o
the Most High God. A pastor was re
Gently driven out of one of our grea
churches because of an old fight in tn
church. -Four years ago a minority G
the members OF the church attempted &
force him ont, ard on what grounds d
you suppose they brought their action
First, he was not an orator; second
, that he paid too much attention to tn
poor. Amazing fact! And yet Jesu
said when Johns disciples came to AS
if he be the Messiah, Tell John the poo
have the gospel preached unto them.
The whole truth is that these churche
have pushed back the people and neg
lected them for their own clique an
their own coterie until the spirit of Go
has in grief departed They have los
the capacity toconvey the spirit to othe
hearts.
Sixth-Many Of our churches are dead
and we know it, because they have dea
preachers. We eXclaim today, with tn
sacred seer, "Lord, they have killed tn
prophetsT' The power of the pulpit
the power unto life when properly al
J piled. There is no power today in thi
} nation equal to the power of the Chris
tian pulpit when it is used for all it j
worth. Men may say that they despis
it, that it is the parson who is prattling
but when the pulpit is united upon
great theme its influence upon any com
munity in America is simply resistless
Men of the world know this. The edi
tors or our great newspapers know II
and know it to the bottom. And if ther
Ia failure in our cities to save peopl
we must take upon our own shoulders
large share of the weight of this fearfu
responsibility.
The present condition of the city can
not be stated and waved aside by layinl
1t upon other shoulders, We, the min
listers Of God, are IN some measure Ger
tainly responsible for that fact. If tn
power committed TO the ministry hat