The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1901-01-25
SUBSCRIPTION: S1.OO Per Year

sinners, velvet coated sinners and sim
ners with gloss on. 1t is as if man
| had a farm of 5000 acres aud put all his
work on one acre. He might raise never
| so large ears of corn, never so big heads
| of wheat, still he would remain poor
| The church of God has bestowed its
chief care on one acre and has raised
splendid men and women in that small
| Enclosure. But the field is the world
That means Europe, Asia, Africa,
| North and South America and all the
| islands of the sea.
| 1 nave to remark that the Heavenly
shepherd will find many sheep amid
| the nonchurchgoers. There are con-
| gregations where they are all Chris
| tians, and they seem to be completely
finished, and they remind one of the
skeleton leaves which by chemical
preparation have had all the greenness
and verdure taken off them and are
| left cold and white and delicate, moth
| ing wanting but a glass case to put
| over them. The minister of Christ has
nothing to do with such Christians but
! to come once a week and with ostrich
| feather dust off the accumulation of
the last six days, leaving them bright
and crystalline as before. But the
other kind of church is an armory,
with perpetual sound of drum and fife.
gathering recruits for the Lord OF
| Hosts and saying to every applicant:
| do you want to be on Gods side, the
safe side and the happy side? If so,
come in the armory and get equipped
! Here is a bath in which to be cleansed
| Here are sandals to put on your feet.
Here is helmet for your brow. Here
is breastplate for your heart. Here
is a sword for your right arm, and
yonder is the battlefield. Quit your
selves like men,"
1 remark again the Heavenly Shep-
herd is going to find a great many of
| his sheep among those who are now re-
jecters of Christianity. Some of the
mightiest advocates of the Gospel were
once skeptics. Thomas Chalmers oLee
a skeptic. Robert Hall a skeptic.
| Christmas Evans a skeptic. Charles e..
Finney skeptic. Paul, the apostle,
once a skeptic. But when once with
| strong hand they laid hold of the Cos
| pei chariot they rolled it on with what
momentum! l do not know how you
came to reject Christianity. 1t may
| have been through the infidel talk of
| some young man in the store or shop or
factory. 1t may have been through the
| trickery of some professed Christian
man who disguised you with religion.
1t may be that 30 years ago you lost
! all faith by what happened in an oil
company which was formed amid the
| petroleum excitement. The COM
| owned land if thpU did
! there was no sign of oil produced. But
| the president of the company was
Presbyterian elder and the treasurer
an Episcopalian vetryman, and one
director was a Methodist class leader
and the other officers prominent mem
bers of Baptist and Congrega tional
! churches. Circulars were got out tell
ing what fabulous prospects opened
before this company. The circular had
all the hues of earth and sea and sky.
The letters famed with all the beauty
of gold and jasper and amethyst. In
necent men and women who had lit
tie money to invest and that little their
all, said: Il do not know anything
about this company, but so many good
| men are at the head of it that it must
be excellent and taking stock in it
must be almost as good as joining the
church" So they bought their stock
and perhaps received one dividend to
keep them still. But after awhile they
found that the company had reorgan-
lied and had a different president,
different treasurer and different d.
rectors. Other engagements or an
| overcoming modesty had caused the
former officers of the company, with
| many regrets, to resign, and all that
the subscribers for the stock had to
show for their investment was a beau
tifully ornamented certificate. Some
| times that man, looking over his old
papers comes across that certificate,
and it is so suggestive that he VOWS he
wants none of the religion that the
president and directors of that oil COM
pany professed.
Or you may have become skeptical
from the fact that you grew up in a
home where religion was overdone.
Sunday was the most awful day in the
week. You had religion driven into
you with trip hammer. You were
surfeited with prayer meetings. You
were stuffed and choked with cate
chisms. You were often told that you
were the worst boy your parents ever
knew because you liked to ride down
hill better than to read Bunyan's ''Pil
grim's Progress" Whenever your
father and mother talked religion they
drew down the corners of their mouths
and rolled up their eyes. If any one
thing will send q boy to ruin sooner
than another. that is it.
But 1 do not stop now to know how
you came into rejection of Christian
ity. You frankly tell me that you do
reject it, You do not believe that Christ
is Divine being. although you admit
that He was a very good man. You
do not believe that the Bible was in
spired of God, although you think there
are some very fine things in it. You
believe that the Scriptural description
of Eden was only an allegory. There
are so things that 1 believe that you
do not believe, and yet you are an &C
commodating man. Everybody that
knows you says that of you. If should
ask you to do a kindness for me or if
anyone else should ask of you kind
ness, you would do it. If, when you
are i'll, l should come to you with
vial of medicine and say: This kind
of medicine cured so people who were
just as badly off as you are; take it.
and you replied: IL do not want to
take it; / have no confidence in it," l
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