The sun., 1898-11-20

being the first time in the country that
the cOlored people had the privilege of
having their own place Of worship. as at
that time most Of them were slaves in
the country.
Like the Children Of Israel after they
got clear of bondage and crossed the Red
Sea and stopping TO rest they named the
place Eziongeber, 80 the poor colored
people, being clear Of the bondage of
man and sin, Tejoiced that they could
worship God with Joy and gladness and
sing and shout in real John Wesley
Methodist style.
have no fault to find with the col
ored people or anybody else singing and
shouting in their praising God, if they
feel like it, for mankind, when born OF
God and has been filed with His Holy
Spirit, has something worth shouting
and being happy for. Well, those col
ored people started Eziongeber in 1905,
and generations after them have passed
on to their reward, but their descendants
have still stuck closer to the glorious
old John Wesley faith than the white
people have about Wilmington.
After the coiored people left the "Old
Hive" LAS the Asbury Church is called
by some J, the color prejudice being re-
moved. what was called the better class
of people at Asbury Church thoGght they
might now Join in with the white Metho-
dists. So the church increased in mem
bership and became power for good, as
some people think numbers make power
which is not always the case. A church
full of rich people who think more Of
their earthly possessions and their caste
in life, pride, fashion, frolicklng Of any
kind, had better have few empty seats
than have them filled with ungodly
trustees, which, I fear, is the case in
many Of the Methodist churches in Will
mington to-day.
l base my observation on what l know
to be fact. An instance about 1874 when
the old Mother Church or Hive Asbury
Methodist Church and the rich, proud
and upper class members wished to leave
tie church and form more refined
society and have some politics in it,
John keneday was the preacher and at
large political meeting held on va
cant lot on the east side Of Market street
above Eighth Rev. John Keneday,
was one Of the prominent speakers, and
in bis remarks said he thought it likely
that he would have to leave the pulpit
and 70 on the stump al a political
speaker. There is no harm in minister
of the gospel having his views on politics,
but for the cause Of the Church of Christ
he had better keep clear Of dirty political
men and their meetings, and besides
congregation generally is composed OF
both sides of politics and preacher
only preaching what belongs to God
is on the safe side, but will generally
hurt both sides of politics.
Our ministers of the present time Won
der why people do not join their
churches. It is so plain to other people
why they do not join, and what people
if asked to come and join the church,
will say very quickly: "why, what's the
use; am more of a Bible Christian now
than many l am acquainted with that
are leading members in your churches"
And the Scriptures say judge not).
There is no use of judging any body's
religion, but any one that reads his New
Testament need not Judge any one, but
he can discern by their actions they are
not living like Holy Writ says. Any
one being a Christian, born of God, can
discern at once by the manner and
speech of any person whether they are
Christians or not. He has no wish to
Judge them, but can be sorry for them,
for If you see a person whom you know
to be proiessed Christian and Church
member do or say something Christ
like and YOU call their attention to it,
how soon will they turn on you and call
you crank or old fogy. Now, l have
been seeing just such things among pro-
fessed Christians for years, and the
breach gets wider every year. Still the
ministers of the Methodist people, and
perhaps of other denominations, will
say that the churches are in flourish
ing condition, when they know in their
heart vital Goodness in Wilmington is
greatly on this decline, and will be as
long as we have set Of cowardly min
listers to be led or driven by get of rich,
political, rum-vendiDg trustees.
Now the time OF sacrificing is past,
but we have Mountain Lake Park up
on the hilt in Maryland, or we have a
Pitman's Grove in New Jersey thorough
ly supplied with Penticostal saints, both
men and women who stand by their
Heavenly Father and his blessed Jesus
our Lord, and all ready and waiting to
assist to put on yhe wedding garments,
and full lamp trimmed and buring and
ready to go into the marriage supper OF
the Lamb, or preach the living gospel to
dying men and women.
May God help all our Methodist min
listers, or as Thomas Pain said
in his book Age OF Reason, published in
Philadelphia in colonial times when
the rivalry of Quakerism and Keithite-
ism was berating each other about their
religion Pain told them to write across
their church door, death. an Eternal
Sleep"
And when the lines of Death an Eter
nal Sleep are obliterated and the hand
writing on the wall Of the churches
weighed in the balance and found want
ing, is cleaned out, and pure holy re-
ligion is preached and acted out then
and not until then, will our dear little
State of Delaware shine as diamond as
she should, for being the birth place OF
vital Godliness introduced first by the
Lntherans in 1888, and later by the
Friends or Quakers, 1862, and still later by
the John Wesley, Methodists l76G.
AMOS G.. BRISToS.