Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-08-21

got mighty tough hides and powerful
short recollections and you can't get
them to get along bit better, try as
you may"
PASSIVE CHURCH MEMBERS.
How many people have you got in
your church ?'' aueried Mr.. Jones. turn
ing suddenly to Rev. W. G.. Herbert, of
Waverly Methodist Episcopal church,
who was seated on the platform beside
him.
s'Three hundred" was the answer.
''Three hundred" repeated she evan
gelist "And of that number l reckon
you have about thirty whom you can
get any work out of, about twenty who
sort o. linger around the place where
the work is being done, and two hun
dred and fifty whom you can't stir to
save your soul.
Suppose you were a farmer with
three hundred mules and work for ev
cry one OF them. In year the grass
would have your crops, the buzzards
would have your mules and the sheriff
would have you. That's what comes
of everybody not doing their work.
NOT AFRAID OF THE BISHOP.
'There are Methodist preachers who
are afraid of saying things right out
like this for fear of being moved away
at the next conference. l used to be
that way myself, but when found that
my feet, my hands and my tongue were
tied, l just got out; and now don't
care whether the Bishop likes it or nots
or what the stewards of the church
have to say about it.
MANY of you have an idea that con-
ference appointments are made by God.
They are not, except the small ones.
The pr ointment charges are all selected
before conference meets, and then the
Lord the rest of them. All my appoint
ments in the old days were made with
the grace of God-that is to say, all of
them were small. The bishops never
gave me large church.
81 would like to see the Methodist
minister of any prominent church in
Baltimore who dares to get up in his
pulpit and boldly preach the doctrines
fluence of the devil in his congrega-
ton"
81 do it in my church," interrupted
Rev. Harry Mitchell, of Exeter Street
Methodist Episcopal church
You don't call yourself preacher
of prominence, do your" was Mr.. Jones's
rejoinder. Every one laughed good
naturally, both on the platform and in
the audience.
AN OLD MANS HUMILITY.
"There is just one thing that I want
you all to remember" said Mr.. Jones
in concluding. st doesn't matter to
me whether you forget everything else
have said if you'll only bear this point
in mind. Some time ago, while preach
ing in Trinity Church, Atlanta, I used
in my sermon the illustration of the
locomotive which l have used today,
and at it's close invited every one to
speak up and let me know what part
of the engine of Christianity he or she
would like to be. Some one said he
wanted to be the cylinder, another the
boiler, third the cow-catcher and
fourth the whistle.
"Then an old man got up and l knew
he was going to say something worth
hearing. He was one of the finest men
l ever knew. The only trouble with
him was that he was stingy; he was
worth 10000, and out of that he only
gave 81, 500 to the poor each year. Just
think of it Well, he rose up and said
to me:
"'Mr. Jones, I want to be the old
black coal that is thrown into the
flames to keep up the power that is
driving the locomotive of Christ
How many of us are there who
would like to be just the old black
coal? ?"