The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-12-10
PRACTICAL WISDOM
DIR. TALMACE CALLS FOR MORE
OF 1T IN DOING GOOD.

ehitecture and Management-The Great
Need Of the World.
Copyright, by American Press Asso-
citation.
Dr.. TaImage in this discourse advO-
Gates more practical wisdom in efforts
at doing good and assails some Of the
absurdities in church architecture and
management. The text is Luke xvi. 8.
THE children Of this world are in
their generation wiser than the chill
dren of light"
That is nothe way Of saying that
Christians are not so skillful in the
MANIPULATION of spiritual affairs as
workings are skillful in the manage
ment Of temperatures. see all
around me people who are alert, earn
est, concentrated and skillful in none
tary matters, who in the affairs Of the
soul are laggards, inane, inert. Inc
great want of the world is more com
mon sense in matters of religion. IL
one-half of the skill and forcefulness
employed in inancia affairs was en-
p]oved in disseminating the truths of
Christ and trying to make the world
better within ten years the last jug
gernaunt would fall, the last throne OF
oppression upset, the last iniquitable
tumble. and the anthem that was
chanted over Bethlehem on Christmas
night would be echoed and re-echOed
from all nations and kindred and peO-
pie, GLORY to God in the highest and
earth peace. good will to men,"
Some years ago. OF a train going to-
ward the southwest, as the porter OF
the sleeping car was making up the
berths at the evening tide, l saw a man
kneel down to pray. Worldly people
looked on as much as to ay, What
does this mean?" I suppo the most
OF the people in the car thought that
the mar was einther insane or he was
a fanatic, but he disturbed no one when
he knelt, and he disturbed no one when
he arose. In after conversation with
him / found out that he was a mem
Der OF a church in a northern city, that
he was a seafaring man and that he
was on his way to New Orleans to take
command of a vessel. l thought then,
as 1 think now, that ten such men
men with such courage for God as that
man had-ten such men would bring
the whole city to Christ; 1000 such men
would bring this whole lane to God;
10, 900 such men, in a Short time, would
bring the whole earth into the king
dom of Jesus. That he was successful
in worldly affairs I found out. That he
was skillful in spiritual affairs yOu are
we'll persuaded. If men had the cour-
age, the pluck, the alertness, the acu-
men, the industry, the common sense
in matters of the soul that they have
in matters of the world, this would be
xro-r~ l;cc0-o-+ J1;oI .f co tb ~, yyIinh
to live.
Common Sense Lacking In Church
Matters.
In the first place, my friends, we
want more common sense in the build
ing and conducting of churches. The
idea of adaptiveneSS is always para
mount in any other kind of structure.
If bankers meet together, and they re-
solve upon putting up a bank, the bank
is especially adapted to banking pur-
poses; if q manufacturing company
puts up q building, it is to be adapted
TO manufacturing purposes, but adap-
tiveness is not always the question in
the rearing of churches. In many of
our churches we want more. light, more
room. more ventilation, more comfort.
Vast sums of money are expended on
ecclesiastical structures. and men sit
down IN them, and you ask a man how
he likes the church. He says, Il like
it very we'll, but 1 can't hear. AS
though q shawl factory were good for
everything but making shawls The
voice of the preacher dashes against
the pillars. Men sit down upder, the
shadows of the Gothic arches and shiv-
er and feel they must be getting reli-
gfon or something else, they feel so un-
comfortable.
Oh, my friends, we want more COM
mon sense in the rearing of churches.
There is no excuse for lack of light
when the heavens are full Of 1t, no ex-
cuse for fack of fresh air when the
world swims in it. 1t ought to be an
expression not only of u spiritual
happiness, but of our physical comfort
when we say: How amiable are thy
t~abernacles O Lord God of hosts! A
day In thy courts is better than a thou
sand"
Again. I remark we want more com
mon sense In the obtaining of relig-
iors hope. All men understand that
in order to succeed in worldly direc-
ttons they must concentrate. They
think on that one subject. until their
mind takes fire with the velocity
acumen. all their strategy. all their
wisdom, all their common e
they put in that one direction, AND
they succeed. But how seldom 1t Is
true in the matter Of seeking after Sod
While no man expects to accomplish
anything for this world without con,
centration inc enthusiasm, how many
there are expecting after awhile to ge1
into the kingdom of God without the
use of such means!
Wisdom In Soul Saving.
a miller in California many years
ago picket up a sparkle of gold from
the bed of a stream which turned his
mill. Fe held up that sparkle of gold
until it bewitched nations. Tens OF
thousands of people left their homes
They took their blankets, and their
picl2ayes, and their pistols and Went
to the wilds of California. Cities
sprang up suddenly on the Pacific
coast. Merchants put aside their ele-