The Newtown bee., 1905-10-20
TOWN TOPICS.

BER lSUO.
 put on thy strength.
 PRINTED BY REQUEST.
 AS we look round about the world to-day, there seems little compassion for the weak. It is the strong man who blows his way through life and gains the admira tion of the crowd. It is the brawny arm which deals the telling blow; 1t is the man with great force of brain and accumulated vigOr of muscle who yields the power that wins. The strong man is praised, the strong walls hold safe the beleaguered, and the strong church is great force in moving the Kingdom of God on in it's forward way. AS Americans we all worship at the shrine of success; strength and success are with us synonymous terms. Success is the fair goddess at whose altar we offer our richest gifts and before whose feet we throw our dearest sacrifices and our coStliest perfumes. As we stand to-day, dear friends, upon this height along the pathway of the years, and look time, which cuts out large slice of our life, may we not ask ourselves, per haps with tinge of pardOnable pride, what have been the qualities which, if any, have brought success in this ministry. Let us, though, also re- member that if we have achieved any thing at all, it has been through the grace of God that has filled our hearts: "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory"
 What are these characteristics? rThov cf md O11t o1oor1v ho foro ne for l have not tried to spread myself out over so wide a surface that no small part could be picked up anywhere; but my endeavor has been to compress ef- fort into some few lines that seemed, under the conditions that we find about us here, workable and practical. l Dhave tried from the first to emphasize the fact that religion was not up in the air, not merely thing of fancy and sentiment and emotion, but sOme- thing that came down into every day life and took hold of the affairs of the hum drum wash day and the stewing and the brewing and the baking and the blowing. Even Jesus Christ had His treasurer. When John the Bap- tiSt came preaching his great message, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, " his word to the soldiers was, Repent, and do things meet for repentance; give back to your fellows what is their due; be honest; be submissive to au- thority and live square life." The real touchstone of all Christian living is this:
 DOES THE POWER OF GOD ENABLE YOU
 TO LEAD SQUARE LIFE IN A ROUND
 WORLD.
 Even the fifteenth chapter of John. which is the Holy of holies of the Cos pei story, and which at times seems so sacred to us, that we fain would bare our heads and remove our shoes from our feet in the face of the Divine Presence it reveals, is not message for the dying, nor words to be used for the comfort of those in the twilight of life, but strong ringing call to stalwart young men, looking out to- ward life's prime, for manly, courag- eous service: "These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full" This is the joy of service; the joy of achievement, the sweetest, purest, most inspiring joy that can remember that when my pastOrate was first started the blackboard was brought into use, on which, by means of chalk pyramid it was shown in small spaces how much money was needed to run our church, and the question was asked of each one, 'What will be your part in carrying on this work?" You cannot make a spiritual success unless you get for it firm busi- ness basis.
 Giving is part of worship; and one who has learned to give from the depths of his heart takes part with Him, who, when there was nothing greater that he could give, gave His only Son. There are many kinds of giving. "There is that scattered and yet increaseth; there is that with hOldeth more than meet, but it tend eth to poverty" In rich drawing room, attired in dainty costume, lady of fashion said, as she held up her ing among you ladies, to ask you for a subscription for missions, and 1 wish each one of you to put down your name for fifty cents or one dollar; you know you wouldn't feel it," This is about the worst notice that one could possibly offer in making an appeal for the work of God. Unless one gives until 1t hurts, until the giving cuts in to the depths of the pocketbook, and strikes out in thrilling pulse beats, un- til it runs through the lobes of the
  tips, it is not giving worth the name. "Ye are not your own; ye are bought with price," If we do not even own ourselves, how can we be said to own anything with which we are surround ed? Our money, our time, our strength, is it not all Gods? Do we not only hold it in trust for Him? We ought to be ashamed to be willing to give to God less than our best: A father and a mother stood up in lit le'prayermeeting among these old New England hills, and said as they spoke of having given their only daughter as a gift of consecration through rthe American Board to God: 'Our home will be lonely now, the lengthening shadows will cast themselves across the doorway of our hearts, but we do not regret our sacrifice. We are glad that we had something to give so precious as that which robs us Of our dearest love-"
 THE VERY LAST THING WHICH YOU
 CAN GET MOST MEN TO GIVE IS THEM
 SELVES.
 Excited by emotional appeals they