Milford chronicle., 1901-09-20

seAlOus WHO was pdlQ 10 stay until Fne
service was over and lock up. There is
great deal Of cant about Christ and
him crucifed. It is not Christ and him
crucifed as an abstraction, but as an ON
nipOtent sympathy applied to all the
wants and woes Of our immortal nature
Christ who will help us in every domes-
tic, social, financial, political, national
struggle Christ for the parlor a Christ
for the nursery. a Christ for the kitchen,
a Christ for the barn, a Christ for the
street, a Christ for the store, Christ for
the banking house, a Christ for the fac
tory, a Christ for the congressional as
sembly, a Christ for the courtroom.
Christ for every trial and every emer
gency and every perturbation.
1t is often the case that the difficulty
begins clear back in the home circle
with misapprehensiOn as to which child
ought to be consecrated to the ministry.
John is a keen, bright boy. He is good
at Il bargain. When he trades at school,
he always gets the best Of it. Make him
a merchant He will soon gather for
tune and go right up to take his place
among the commercial princes. George
has great cerebral development. Phren-
Ologically, language is large. Make him
a lawyer. He viii argue his way to the
front, and he will take his place among
the Mansfelds and the Storys. Henry
has large girth at the chest and is mill
tary in his step and bearing. Send him
to West Point We shall see him yet a
brigader general. William is fond Of
sketching, especially of sketching ships,
and he knows as much about a vessel as
an old sailor. Make him a shipbuilder
The vessel that he builds will success
fully wrestle with the Caribbean whirl-
wind. Alecll is not very well. He has
never had very good digestion. Since
that last malarial attack his spleen is
enlarged He has a morbid way of look
ing at things. He will sit for hours look
/ ing at one figure in the carpet His man.
ners are so mild, so soft, so gentle, so
afrectionate, so heavenly, and he cries
easily Make him a minister Now, my
friends, that is a great mistake. If you
want to cOnsecrate one of your sons to
! the gospel ministry, take the one widest
awake, the brawniest, the most bril-
| liant, the most irresistible, the most po-
| tent. A tremendous work opens before
a profession whose one object is 70 lift
the nations toward God and tepare
them for heaven.
Meeting Public Needs.
All my friends, churches will be large
| ~ attended just in proportion as we min
listers can meet their wants, meet their
sufferings, meet their bereavements and
meet their sympathies. If there be a
church with small help, small audience;
medium help medium audience; large
help, large audience. If there be fam
inc in a city and three depots Of bread
and one depot has 100 loaves and an
other 500 loaves and another depot
10000 loaves, the depot that has 100
loaves will have applicants, the depot
that has 500 loaves will have far more
applicants, the depot that has 10000
loaves will have throngs, throngs,
throngs.
Oh, my brethren in the Christian min
istry, we must somehow get our shout
der under the burden of the people on
the Lords day and give them a good
stout lift, and we can do it. We have it
oil our own way. 1t is a great pity if,
with the floor clear and no interruption,
we cannot during the course Of an hour
get our hymn or our prayer or our SER
mon under such momentum we can, by
the help Of God, lift the people, body,
mind and soul. clear out Of their sins,
temptations and troubles.
tnlnk tnat MINISTERIAL ldIlueSS OLleu
empties the church of auditors. Hearers
who are intelligent through reading news
papers and by active association in bust
ness circles, will not on the Sabbath sill
and listen to platitudes. Hearers will
not come to sermons which have in them
no important facts, no information, nc
stirring power, no adaptation, no fire
The pew will not listen to the pulpit un
less the pulpit knows more than the pew
Ministerial laziness has cleared out many
churches. Such ministers saunter around
from parlor to parlor under the name Of
pastoral visitation and go gadding about
through the village or the city on err
rands of complete nothingness and wraI
their brains around a cigar and smok,
them up. and then ON Saturday Afternoon
put few crude thoughts together ant
on Sunday morning wonder that thu
theme of Christ and him crucifed does
not bring a large audience, and on Mon
day sit down and write jeremiads for thu
religious newspapers about the decadenc
of church attendance.
q ChurchEOing as a Duty.
] People will not go to church merely a
4 a matter of duty. There will not mex