Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1901-02-16

other nets IL Is sad sight TO see |
fishermen fighting about. sea room
a nd pulling in opposite directions. each
to get his net. both nets damaged by
the struggle and losing all the Ash.
Ia this land, where there. are more
shan 7o.0o0,00o people. there are at
least so,0oe,0o0 not in the Sunday /
schools and churches In such an At
lantic ocean of opportunity there Is
room for all the nets and all the boats
aud all the fishermen and for millions /
more. There should be no rivalry be- |
tween churches. Each one does
work peculiar 10 itself. But there are
cities in this country where there is
now going on an awful ripping and
rending and tearing OF fishing nets.
Indeed ali over Christendom at this
time there is gerat war going on
between fishermen. ministers against
ministers.
Now. l have noticed man cannot
FISH and fight at the same time. He
either neglects his net or his musket.
Ii is amazing how much time some OF
the fishermen have TO look after other
fishermen. II is more than | can do
to take care OF my own net You see
the wind is just right. and il is such
good time for fishing. and the fish are
coming in so rapidly that l have to
keep my eyes and hand busy. There
are about 200, 600 900 souls wanting to
get into the kingdom OF God. and il vii,
require all the nets and all the fisher
men OF ChristendOm to safely land
them. Oh. brethren of the ministry,
let MS spend our time in fishing in
stead OF fighting. But IL ! angrily jerk
| my net across your net. and YOU JERK
| your net angrily across mine, we Will
soon have two broken nets and no hsh-
| The French revolution nearly destroyed
| the French fisheries. and ecc,e siastical
war is the worst thing possible while
hauling souls into the kingdom. My
friends. notice in the text that James.
tho son of Zebedee. and John. his
brother. were busy at mending some
body eise's nets. and rather think that
we who are engaged In Christian work
In this opening century viii require
al our spare time to mend our own
nets. God help Us in the important
outyl
In this work % repair we need K
put into the nets more threads Of com
mon sense. When we can present reli
gon as a great practically we VII
catch a hundred souls where now w
catch one. Present religion as an in
tellectuality and We viii fail. Outin tn
| fisheries there are set across the va
| ters what are called gill nets. and tn
fish put their heads through the meshe
| and then cannot withdraw them be
cause they are caught by the gill'
But gill nets cannot be OF any service
2 religious work. Men are never caugh
for the truth by their heads; it IS b
2 the heart or not at all. No argumen
D ever saved a man and no keen anaiys
. ever brought man into the kingcol
q OF God. Heart work. not head worl
n Away with your gia nets Sympath
n helpfulness. consolation, love, are IL
names of come Of the threads that "
n need to weave in our gospel nets whe
' we are mending them
e When YOU are meuding your net 4
b. this wide. deep sea OF huma nifty. tai
p | cut that wire thread OF criticism al
~ ! that horsehair thread OF harshne
- and pat In a soft silken thread Of Chri
n tinn sympathy. Yea. when YOU a
a. mending your nets tear out those o
D. threads OF gruffness and weave in
s. few threads Of politeness and geniaii
/ In the house Of God let all Christi'
. faces beam with a look that mea
10 welcome. Say good morning" 10 Z
re- stranger IS he enters your pew and
n. the close shake hands with him a
an say: How did YOU like the music
WHY. YOU would be 20 that man pan
l,s
IL him a note OF the doxology that s.
lis apis sing when a new soul enters He
rs en-. have in other days enter
nd a pew In church. and the WON
he At the other end Of the pew looked
Is. me a. much as to say: How dare yo
so This is my pew, and pay the rent
N III" Well. / crOuched in the other c
In ner and made myself as small as =
Id sible and felt as though ] had b'
all | stealing something. So there are r
10 | pie who have a sharp edge 10 their
est | ligion. and they act as though 4
me thought most people had been cleo
lsv to be damned and they were glad OF
OF oh. let us brighten up our manner 1
IL appear in gentlemanliness or la
he hood.
is: Again, in mending our nets we n
-ou also to put in the threads OF faith
en-. tear out all the tangled meshes Of
INV | belief Our work is successful acc'
-ou ing 10 our faith. The man who
do lieves in only half Bible or the b
mt. IN spots, the man who thinks he {
age not persuade others, the man '
YOU halts, doubling about this and do
Ugh ing about that. will be a failure
itv Christian work Show me the man