The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1898-07-28
is IT GOOD OR EVIL2
Character of Amusements Discussed
by Rev. DR.. Talmage.
Not All Popular Methods of Recreation
arc Harmful. But There Arc
Many Dangerous Ones
to DO Avoided.

Rev T. Dewitt Talmage in the fol-
lowing sermon, discusses popular
amusements and applies tests by which
their influence for good or evil may be
determined The text is:
And it came to pass. when their hearts were |
merry that they said. Cali for Samson, that |
he may make sport And they called for |
Samson out of the prison house; and ne made /
them sport. judges xvi, %
There were 1000 persons assembled
in the Temple of Dagon. They had |
come to make sport of eyeless Samson. !
They were all ready for the entertain
! ment. They began to clap and pound
impatient for the amusement to begin,
and they cried: Fetch him out. Fetch
him OUT Ionder l see the blind old
giant coming, led bv the hand of a
child into the very midst Of the temple.
At his first appearance there goes up
shout of laughter and derision. The
blind old giant pretends he is tired and
wants to res! himself against the pillars
| of the house SO he says to the lad who
| leads him: Bring me where the main
pillars are" The lad does SO. Then the
! strong man puts his hands on one of
the pillars, and, with the mightiest
| push that mortal ever made, throws
himself forward until the whole
| house comes down in thunderous crash,
| grinding the audience like grapes in a
| wincprcss. And SO it came to pass,
| when their hearts were merry. that
they said: Call for Sampson, that he
may make sport And they called for
Samson out of the prison house: and
he made them sport. In other words.
| there are am easements that are destruc-
tive and bring down disaster and death
upon the heads of those who practice
them. While they laugh and cheer
they die. The 5000 who pcrishcd that
day in GAIA arc nothing compared
with the tens of thousands who have
been destroyed, body. mind and soul,
by bad ainusements and by good amuse-
ments carried to excess.
In my sermons you must have no.
ticed that | have no sympathy with
ecclesiastical straight jackets, or with
that wholesale dcnuuciation of amuse-
ments to which many are pledged. l
believe the church of God has made a
tremendous mistake in trying to sup.
press the sportfulness Of youth and
drive out from men their love of amuse.
: ments. If God ever implanted anything
in us, lie implanted this d, sire. But
instead of providing for this demand Of
our nature, the church of God has for
the main part ignored it. AS in riot
the mayor plants a battery at the
:. end of the street and has it fired
2 Off SO that everything is cut down
that happens to stand in the range, the
t good as well as the bad, so there are
g men in the church who plant their
! batteries of condemnation and fire
: away indiscriminatelv. Everything is
| condemned. They talk us if they would
: like to have our youth dress in blue
| uniform, like the children of an orphan
s asylum and march down the path OF
life to the tune of the Dead March in
= Saul. They hate a blue sash, or rose.
. bud in the hair, or a tasscled gaiter
), ana think a man almost ready for the
i lunatic asylum who utters conun.
:, drum.
- Young Mems Christian assocla tions
;, of the country are doing gloriou.
work. They have fine readiug rooms
and all the influences are of the best
" kind. and are now adding gymnasiums
4 and bowling alleys, where, without an!
evil surroundings, our young men may
e get physical as well as spiritual i'm
l. provemcnt. We are dwindling away
to a narrow-chcsted. weak EARNED, fee
c ble-voiccd race when God calls to ;
r work in which He wants physical a
1t well as spiritual athletes. l would t.
God that the time might soon CONF
when in all our colleges and theo
logical seminaries, us at Prince
10 ton, a gymnasium shall be estab
m lishcd. We spend seven years of hare
r, study in preparation for the ministry
IS and come out with bronchitis ant
,e dyspepsia and liver complaint, ant
il then crawl up into the pulpit, and TIL
d people say: Don't he look heavenly!
a because he looks sickly. Let tn
ID church of God direct, rather than at
,e tempt to suppress, the desire fo
IS amusement The best men that tn
~ world ever knew have had their sport:
50 William Wilberforce trundled hoo]
~ with his children. Martin Luthe
n Hclpeu UECSS Gllc SIlilSti1dSS CtCC MIL
Mt listers have pitched quoits, philanthre
C. pists have gone a-skating, prime min
NJ listers have played ball.
~ Our communities are filed with me
r. Ind women who have in their souls III
>, measured resources for sportfulnes
er and frolic. Show me man who neve
,a lights up with sportfulness and has Il
& Sympathy with the recreatlons of otl
crs, and will show you man who
stumbling block to the kingdom
God. Such men arc caricatures of r
igion. They lead young people
= think that man is good in propo
80 ton as he groans and frowns and lool
sallow. and that the height of a mau
-, Christian stature is in proportion to Il
"a length oi his face. l would trade Q
500 such men for one bright-faced, rad
ant Christian on whose face are II
n. words: Rejoice evermore!' Evel
i. morning by his cheerful face
breaches so sermons. will 60 furth