The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1900-06-28


1t is not doctrine that takes converted
people into this church or that
church. 1t is association-predilec-
tion-our fathers were there or our
mothers or our special friends, and we
worshiped there or attended Sunday
school when children, and we feel
more at home there. The peculiar
doctrines of this church or that church
are not considered. Not one member
in ten can tell the difference between
Calvinism and Arminianism, and l
doubt whether dozen confessions of
faith can be found among the mem
bers of any Presbyterian church in
the state.
What the humble Christians Of any
Protestant church want is simple
Christian faith, untangled with alb
struse doctrines and long words of
learned length and laundering sound.
They put our heavenly Father away
off almost out of reach, though st.
Paul declares that he is very near to
every one of us. / recall some verses
that come home to me whenever l hear
preacher indulging in doctrines con-
corning election, predestinatlon and
free agency and shooting away over
the heads of the people.
parish priest Of Austerity
Climbed up a high church steeple
To be nearer God, and from there hand
down
His word unto His people.
When the sun was high,
When the sun was low,
He sat unheeding sublunary things,
And with the Lord was ever pleading.
Now and again when he heard the creal
OF the weather vane turning,
He closed his eyes and said: 81 know
From God now am learning.
His pious thoughts he daily wrote,
Thinking that they came from heaven;
He dropped them down on his peoples
heads
Twice every day in seven.
In his old age God called and said:
Come down and die"
And he cried from out the steeple,
"Where art thou, Lord'"
And the Lord replied
Down here among my people,"
That is beautiful hymn that Mrs.
Adams wrote-"Neare My God to
Thee" and it would grieve me to have
it left out of the new hymn book. She
was very pious and gifted woman,
though she was a Unitarian. Com
plant has been made that the hymn
ignores the trinity, but it was founded
on the story of Jacobs dream and
there is no trinity in that. Let it
stay there. DIR, How, Mrs. Prentiss
and Mr.. Charles Robertson have three
others close by on the same subject
that have the same meter and enough
of trinity to satisfy anybody Many
of the most beautiful hymns in our
collection were written by non Protest
ants and professors. Some OF
them are by Roman Catholic priests
and some by Tom Moore, who was
said to be the most licentious poet in
all England and did not belong to the
church. He wrote volume of hymns
and among them is Come Ye Discon-
solate." Who would rule that out?
These reflections on old Father
Jacob and his ladder provoke me to
say that it must have taken a doctrine
of election and some amazing grace to
have kept him in the favor of God, for
he was selfish man and kept an eye
out for his personal gain, He began
by defrauding his brother out of his
birthright, and later on tricked his
father -in-law out of his cattle, and af-
ter he awaked from that dream at
Bethel he tried to make bargain with
the Lord and said: "If God will be
with me and give me bread to eat and
raiment to put on, and l come to my
fathers house in peace, then shall the
Lord be my God" Almost any sim
ner would do that now, and even some
church members will vow to give a
hundred dollars to the church if they
make q thousand on certain specu-
lation.-BIIL ARP, in Atlanta Consti-
tuition.