Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-08-01

30, NY brother, III you ana Il are 10
become one purpoSed Christians. IL we
want TO live 10 save men. we must
surrender ourselves. body. mind and
soul, to the service of the Lord Jesus
Christ. we must leave our worldly
nets down by the shores OF Lake Cal
lice and follow him. Jesus demands
that we make his service II LIES con-
secration, not Sabbath's recreation.
He demands unceasiug toll. pot sum-
mer's sport.
The True Gospel Fisherman.
The true gospel fisherman is brave
man. We have been taught To regard
the soldier rs among the braveSt of
men. True, ii needs brave heart 10
stand unbianciicd amid a storm of shot
and shell and 10 walk up 10 the can
mons mouth when The bullets are fall
ing around like hail pattering upon
the pavemcnts. But the soldier never
has 10 face great dangers continuously
like those the fisherman has to meet
suppose that among all the different
classes of men there is not Que among
which the destruction OF life proper
tionatcly is so great rs among the men
who make the harvest of the sea their
ayocati0n or life work
During recent journey across the
Atlantic and after we had been out a
couple of days from New York har
cloud ahead. I heard one OF them
say: 1--WE are going tn have n bad
night. That is the Newfoundland fog
bank" Soon The thick miStS began to
settle around US. All that night the
gloomy fog horn blew. | said 10 The
commander of the Cunardcr: Captain,
why do you blow that terrific fog hornY
Surely the danger OF collision with
passing steamer is comparatively
small" "Ah." answered the captain.
"wc arc blowing the fog horn chiefly
TO warn the fishermen. All about these
waters arc hundreds OF little fishing
smackS. The fishermen come here and
anchor. They stay month i'm aud
month ont until they catch their cargo.
and scores and scores Of these poor fel.
lows are run down every year. We
want 10 warn them. If possible. that
we are coming along" Go 10 any of
coasts of old Scotland. There YOU will
find women who have lost fathers and
brothers and husbands and sons in the
awful dangers OF n fiShcrman's life.
Every seaman will tell you that the
pcrils of sailors life are cornpara-
lively nothing If there are only sixty
fathoms of water under the ship's keel
But the fisherman rarely puts out 10
the deep sen. lie must fish coinpara
lively near the shore. Then the storms
come up and threaten 10 drive the frail
craft upon the rocks. Then the fogs
settle so thickly that the stccrsman
can hardly see the prov of the boat
from the stern. Yes. the true fisher.
mans life, whether il is found on Lake
Gaiilee or Off the coasts OF Scotland or
in the Ncwfoundlan nd fogs, is u life OF
overwhelming danger Brave must be
the man who would follow so pcrilous
Gn avocatiou.
So the gospel fishermen. too. must be
brave menl They must be as coura.
scous as were Peter AMI Andrew, who.
20 become gospel fishermen. laid down
their lives for Christ. They must bc
as brave as the heroic Father Damien.
who In order TO minister TO the sick
and the dying went 60 MolokaI, the
Leper island Of the Pacific. and him
self became Ieper and died. They
must DC as brave as that Salvation
Army girl who stands and sings and
prays upon the street corner amid the
SCOTS and the ridicule OF the passers.
by and who penctrates the dark alleys,
humanity unprotected. to seek out souls
Tor Christ. They have TO lie as brave
as that young Christian clerk who goes
from saloon 10 saloon giving out Cos
pei tracts and leading In prayer where
tue proprietor will allow him TO pray.
To show the kind of heroic stun out
or which the gospel fishermen are
made would point you TO the tragic
history OF the greatest missionary of
the Fiji islands as he personally told
1t TO me. Many years ago the canni-
balls OF those islands killed and ate the
first missionary who had been sent
there by the London Missionary So
ciety. Immediately after that event
this missionary, then Il young man, APP
Piled for appointment TO the post OF
danger. He went forth with his young
bride TO what most OF their friends
thought was certain death When the
ship dropped anchor in the harbor of
Suva, the native chief sent out word,
Give us another missionary, aud we
Will make Il meal out OF linn" In the
lace OF that threat and of all these
dangers the young missionary AMI his
bride diSembarked For ten long Years
they never SAW the face OF white
man. except Wien the missionary sup.
ply boat made its biennial visit. The
young missiOnary's children were born
there. IN the woods. Two OF his chill.
dren died because he lad no proper
medicine. lie lived there alone with
his heroic wife until he transformed
the whole Island. Such is the career of
one heroic gospel fisherman. Are YOU
and | ready to lie as brave for Christ
as were that noble missionary and his
devoted wifeI Are we ready to be in
Splred with that holy rearlessness and
disregard of ourselves that we may
save souls for Christ wherever we can
ind them. which all Christ's fishers OF
men should show in his service?
The true gospel fisherman must be
spiritually q strong man. Peter and
Andrew, TO whom Christ spoke. were
net fishermen. think they rarely, IL
ever, iished with line or a pole They
were in all probability the kind OF
fishermen You perhaps have seen off
the Massachusetts coast There the
fishermen fasten their net To stakes
that have been driven into le ground
and the tops of which can he seen
above the surface OF the sea. They were
physically strong men. else they could
not have handled and set fhe nets or
they may have beeu fishermen who
watched the surface OF the sea, Just
as the fishermen used To do along the
Long Island coast. Then. as soon as
the sea would be rufiled by The schools
OF swarming fish, the signal flag would
be lifted. the fishermen would gather
upon the beach, and the longboat.
filled with the piled up net. would he
launched Then the fiSha.nnOn on chora