The Oskaloosa herald., 1902-06-05

out devils, ana In thy name don't
many wonderful works."
When Jesus was choosing disciple!
to carry his gospel into all the worl1
He chose stout brawny men who were
used to labor and hardships. Men who
could tramp over mountains or sal
stormy seas. Men who could eat any
thing they came across and who never
had to be sent off to Battle Creek
Men who could sleep any where or al
any time and often when they should
not.
But now when they are going tc
manufacture a herald of the cross they
take a boy who has never worked
much and perhaps is too lazy tc
work. They shut him up in a cloisteI
gospel they preached was tolerably
for a few years to stir with a muck
rake a lot Of hum-drum theology. II
he gets through this ordeal with his
mind and a little strength they sci
him up in a parsonage with every
thing brought to his door. But in.
stead of a lion Of the tribe of Juda
that every preacher ought to be, whose
voice will shake the jungle for miles
around, they have only a second or
third rate house cat. Every time his
wife sweeps she must brush him out
of the way, and every time she sees
him it impresses the image of his
worthless self On ner unborn children,
IL these works should happen to fall
into the hands of any of the noble
preachers in this country who are do
ing such valiant work for the Master,
1 hope you will not feel hurt. We are
not berating men, but false ideas and
systems. And although the supported
ministry may be as dear to you as
polygamy was to the patriarchs, yet II
1t is contrary to the laws of the
Bible it will bring you to grief
though you were more perfect than
Abraham.
1t is not for the good of the church
alone but for the preacher that he
should spend at least half his life at
manual labor; it Is better both for
his health and intellect. A man is
made with a stout frame and brawny
muscles. He is intended to clear the
forest and irrigate the desert and
make the waste places to blossom as
the rose. He is made to build rail.
roads and great ships and to endure
the storms and hardships of land and
sea. Nature intended that every man
should have robust health. But God,
who never made any thing in vain and
never keeps any thing that is of no
use, mas arranged his laws to deprive
any man of strength who will not use
it. We can see this in all the profess
sions where men do not work and
| sweat.
Sturgeon died at the age of So
with the govt and heart failure caused
by high living and lack of exercise,
and Moody died at 81 of the same dis
ease. And Sankey the other day had
to be rescued from a third story
window where he was trying to live
on Battle Creek husks. Had he worked
half his time he might have enjoyed a
roast of the paschal amb every day
of his life. And if Spurgeon and
Moody had not been deluded with the
idea that a great preacher ought not
to fool any time away at work they
might have been living today doing
| valiant service for the Master.
The idea that labor will degrade a
mans mind and soul is also u~nreason-
able. Yet there are people who would
not have their preacher work for fear
it would deteriorate his sermons. In
Bible times God seldom if ever chose
a subject for inspiration who was not
a laboring man. God never revealed
any thing to a man who spent all his
time and energies in a cloister with a
lot of old books. The only one who
heard the angels sing peace on earth
and good will towards men" were men
at work at night. And the priest
E-AI-sI hAf@.4 ~ an.,I1 rAf Auan n
glimpse of his great vision had to get
out on the bank of the river Chebar.
The Bible is the greatest book of
nature and is continually referring to
| it here in the sublimest imagery. 1t is
| also a book of the people and uses
| their meanest and most lowly occu-
| pations in it's grandest metaphors. 1t
| is impossible for a man who does not
work and mingle in the affairs of men
| to understand the book much less to
teach it.
1t is no wonder then when the
sacred word is turned over to men
who do not work they generally run
| off into isms and scisms that has no
meaning to themselves or any body
else.
A preacher who lives by the sweat
of his face has no object before him
but to preach the truth let it strike
who it will. But n who depends on
others for his living has a great
temptation set before him to say
things to please the people. Although
there are some brave men who always
| stand by their colors, yet it is no
trouble in any good sized town to find
a man who will preach on any subject
from football to life insurance or the
war with Spain.
1t is only two or three generations
ago since the salaried ministry in the
protestant churches figured much in
the spread of the Gospel. The
preachers of a hundred years ago like
the apostles depended largely on their
own labor for support. Then the
gospel they preached was tolerably
free from priest craft. But now the
money question and tithing forms the
foundation of much of the preaching.
And in some places priest craft has
taken such a deep hold on the min.
istry that they are forming trusts to
protect their trade.
In one place in Ohio the ministers
met and resolved to preach no more
funeral ermon unless they were
paid a fair price for it. The quaker
pastor with a salary of a thousand
dollars a year Joined himself to the
monopoly.
1t took the early church four
hundred years to get priest craft
and ritualism strongly established,
and it took the Methodist church
one hundred years to get even a tine
ture of 1t. but at the rate the Quaker
church has started out IL will only