The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1898-06-09
NO. Is.


;nrn; and commercial men in all cities
hrow up their hands, crying out:
These that have turned the world up
side down are come hithcr."
The religion of Jesus Christ will pro-
1dce revolution in our churches. The
do-nothing policy of
The Church of God will give way to a
spirit of bravest conquest. Piety in
this day seems to me to be salted down
just SO as to keep 1t seems as if the
church were chiefly anxious to take
care of itself, and if we hear of want,
and squalor and heathenism outside,
we say: What a pity" and we prs
our hands in our pockets and we feel
around for two-cent piece, and with
a great flourish we put it upon tho
plate and are amazed that the world.is
not converted in six weeks. Suppose
there were great war, and there were
300. 900 soldiers, but of all those 100000
soldiers, excepting ten men, were in
their tents, or securing their muskets,
or cooking rations. You would say:
"Of course, defeat must come in that
case 1t is worse than that in the
soldiers of Jesus Christ are cooking
rations, or asleep in their tents. while
only one man here and there goes out
to do battle for the Lord.
But says some one, "we are estab-
fishing a great many missions, and
think they will save the Masses" No;
they will not. Five hundred thousand
of them will not do it. They arc doing
a magnificent work; but every mission
chapel is confession of the disease and
weakness of the church. 1t Is saying
to the rich and the well-conditloned:
IF you can pay yolr pew rent, come
to the main audience room" 1t is say
ing to the poor man: "Your coat is too
bad, and your shoes are not good
enough. If you want to get to Heaven,
you will have to go by way of the mis-
sion chapel" The mission chapel has
become the kitchen. where the church
does it's sloppy work. There are hun
dreds and thousands of churches in this
country--gorgeously built and sup
ported-that, even on bright and sun
shiny days, arc not half full OF wor-
shippers; and yet they are building mis-
sion chapels, because, by some ex-
pressed or implied y gulation, the great
masses of the people are kept out of the
main audience room.
Now. say that any place of wor-
ship which is appropriate for one class
is appropriate for all classes. Let the
rich and the poor meet together, the
Lord the maker of them all. Mind you
l c1, n
necessity. the way churches are now
conducted; but may God speed the time
when they shall cease to be necessity.
God will rise up and break down the
gates of the church that have kept
back the masses; and woe be to those
who stand in the way! They will be
trampled under foot by the vast popu-
lations making stampede for Heaven.
l saw in some paper an account OF
church in Boston in which, it is said,
there were a great many plain people.
The next week the trustees of that
church came out in the paper, and said
it was not so at all; they were elegant
people, and highly-conditioned people
that went there" Then l laughed
outright; and when l laugh, laugh
very loudly. "Those people, said,
"are afraid of the sickly sentimentali-
ty of the churches" Now, my ambi-
ton is not to preach to you SO much.
1t seems to me that you must be faring
sumptuously every day, and the marks
of comfort are all about you. You do
not need the Gospel half as much as do
some who never come here. Rather
than be priding myself on a church in
front of which there shall halt so
splendid equipages on the Sabbath day
would have a church by whose gates
, there should come long procession ol
the suffering, and the stricken, and the
dying, begging for admittance. Yor
do not need the Gospel SO much as
they. You have good things in this
$ life. Whatever may be your future
, destiny, you have had pleasant time
l here. But those dying populations o
/ | which l speak. by reason of their wan
, and suffering, whatever may be theil
/ future destiny, are in perdition now
+ and if there be any comfort in Christ
t Gospel, for Gods sake give it to them
u The sea is covered with wrecks, ant
S m attitudes are drowning. Wecome on
Il with the church lifcboat, and the peo
i pie begin to Chamber in, and we shout
l. stop! stop! You AUST think it cost
t nothing to keep lifeboat. Those seat
G at the prov are one dollar apiece, thes
j. seats in the middle so cents, and thos
d seats in the stern two shillings. Pleas
d to pay up or else founder on littl
longer till the mission boat, who's
e work is to save you penniless wretches
e shall come along anl pick YOU up. W
,e save only irst-class sinners in TIL
" boat"
o. Archias, the magistrate of Thebia.
Is was sitting with many mighty me
,r drinking wine. A messenger came i
,c bringing letter informing him of
k conspiracy to end his life ana warnln
of him to flee Archias TOOK the lette
d. but, instead OF opening it, put it in
H. his pocket, aad said to the messeny,
who broughtit: business tomorrow
,h The next day he died. Before he open'
Il. the letter the government was ca
x. tured. When he read the letter it W.