Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-01-18

there was S3CneSS IN ner voice tudt
made an impression on the rest that
deepa4ed when they Thought it over
afterward. Il do not want any of you
t. ~.edit me with an act Of great gen
eroity or philanthropy l have come
to know lately that the money which 1
have called my own is not my own,
but God 5. If |. as a steward of his, see
some wise way to invest his money, 1t
is not an occasion of yalnglory or
thanks from any one simply because
have proved honest in my administra-
ton Of the funds he has asked me to
use for his glory. l have been thinking
Of this very plan for some time. The
fact IS dear friends, that in our COM
ing fight with the whisky power in
Raymond, and it has only just begun,
we shall need The News to champion
the Christian side You all know that
all the other papers are for the saloon.
As long as the saloon exists the work
of rescuing dying souls at the Rectangle
is carried on at terrible disadvantage,
What can Mr.. Gray do with his gospel
meetings when half his converts are
drinking people daily tempted and en-
ticed by the saloon ON every corners
The Christian daily we must have. 1t
would be giving up to the enemy to
have The News fail. I have great con-
fdence in Mr.. Norman's ability. have
not seen his plans but | have the con-
fidcn"a that he has in making the paper
succeed if it is carried forward ON a
large enough scale.
Il cannot believe that Christian in
telligence in journalism will be inferior
to un- Christian intelligence, even when
it comes to making the paper pay fnan
cially So that is my reason for putting
this money-God' s. not mine-into this
powerful agent for doing as Jesus
would If we can keep such a paper
going for one year, l shall be willing 20
see that amount of money used in the
experiment Do not thank me. Do not
consider my promise wonderful thing.
What have l done with Gods money
all these years but crafty my own
selfish, physical, personal desires? What
can | do with the rest of it but try to
make some reparation for what | have
stolen from God? That is the way |
look at it now. l believe it is what
Jesus would do. F"
Over the lecture room swept that I'M
seen yet distinctly felt wave of Divine
presence. No one spoke for awhile.
Henry Maxwell, standing there where
| the faces lifted their intense gaze into
| his, felt what he had already felt be-
fore, a strange setting back out Of the
nineteenth century into the first, when
| the disciples had all things in common,
and a spirit of fellowship must have
| flowed freely between them such as the
First church of Raymond had never
| known How much had his church
membership known of this fellowship
| in daily interests before this little com
| pany had begun to do as Jesus would
| do? 1t was with difficulty that he
! thought of his present age and its sur
| roundings. The same thought was pres
ent with all the rest also There was an
unspoken comradeship such as they had
never known. 1t was present with them
while Virginia was speaking and dur
ing the silence that followed. If it had
been defined by any one of them, it
would perhaps have taken some such
shape as this:
| s'If / shall in the course of my obedi-
ence to my promise meet with loss or
| trouble in the world, L can depend upon
the genuine practical sympathy and
| fellowship of any other Christian in this
room who has with me made the pledge
to do all things by the rule What
would Jesus do? :"
1 ~. ,,f arAiY oil
| power expressed. 1t had the effect that
a physical miracle may have had on
the early disciples in giving them a
feeling of confidence in their Lord that
| helped them to face loss and martyrdom
with courage and even joy.
| Before they went away this time
| there were several condolences like those
of Edward Norman. Some of the young
| men told of the loss of places owing to
their honest obedience to their promise.
Alexander Powers spoke briefly of the
| fact that the commission had promised
F! TO take action at the earliest date pos
sible.
He was already at his old work OF
telegraphy. 1t was significant fact
| that since his action in resigning his
| position neither his wife nor daughter
had appeared in public. No one but
| himself knew the bitterness of that fam
| lily estrangement and misunderstanding
| of the higher motive. Yet many of the
| disciples present in the meeting carried
J similar burdens There were things
| which they could not talk about. Henry
| Maxwell, from his knowledge OF his
church people, could almost certainly
| know that obedience to this pledge had
| produced in the hearts of families sep
aration of sympathy and even the intro
| duction Of enmity and hatred. Truly,
"a mans foes are they of his own
| household" when the rule of Jesus is
| obeyed by some and disobeyed by 9th
ers. Jesus is n great divider of life. One
| must walk either parallel with him or
| directly across his path
| But moro than any other feeling at
| this meeting rose the tide OF fellowship
for one another Henry Maxwell watch
ed it, trembling for its climax, which
he knew was not yet reached When 1t
was, where would it lead them2 He
did not know, but he was not unduly
| dldIIltu dDpuJ ~ OhlJ hO NfttNh'N Nt''i
! growing wonder the results of that
simple promise as it was being obeyed
in these various lives. Those results
were already being felt all over the
| city Who could measure their intiu-
ence at the end Of the Year,
| Ono practical form of this fellowship
| showed itself in the assurances which
| Edward Normpn received in support OF
| his paper. There was II general flocking
| toward him when the meeting closed,
| and tho response to his appeal for help
| from the Christian disciples in Ray
mond was fully understood by this little
company The value Of such n paper in
the homes and in behalf of good citizen
ship. especially mt the present crisis in
the city. could not be measured. 1t re-
mained 30 be seen what could be done
now that the paper was endowed 80 lib
orally But it still was true, as Edward
| Norman insisted, that mOnt-y alone
! could not make the paper power. 1t
must receive the support and sympathy
Of the Christians in Raymond before 1t
could be counted as one Of the great
Christian forces of the city.
| The week that followed this Sunday
meeting was one Of great excitement
in Raymond 1t was the week Of tho
| election Donald Marsh. true TO his
! promise, took up his cross and bore 1t
manfnlly, but with shuddering, with
! groans and even tears. for his deepest
| ls. -. q L.. t..r