Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-24

Ject, and he asked two or three representa-
tive men and women In his church to pre-
pare in a few words>their opinions, to set
before the meeting. Among those appoint
| ed to speak was a member of the board
| Of trustees, not q protesting Christian. but
| q man who was a careful and successful
| business man Some of those who were In
| terested In ''tithing." and hoped that others
would be brought to think of II seriously.
| were sorry this man had been appointed to
speak. They feared he would speak against
| 1t. They had sometimes heard other sue
| cessful business men declare that a tenth
was too much for many people TO give and
| too little for some. They expected about
such speech from the trustee But TO
| their amazement he announced at the open
| ing of his speech that he had made II
practice ever Fince he was young man
anil went into business for himself to al
Ways give tenth to the Lord. and that ne
| laid his prosperity in business to that little
| feet, Of which he had always made a prac-
tfce. no matter what his income. He SAID,
| moreover. that it relieved him of great
| anxiety, for otherwise he felt he would not
| Know how much he ought to give The
| Lord had promised to prosper IL one gave,
and II more money was needed In the
| Lords treasury He had but to increase
| the income of His servants. He felt that
| In giving tenth of all his income to the
| Lord he was leaving the matter of how
| much he should give entirely in the hands
| o. God. Such words from a man who did
| not profess to be earnest follower or
| Christ had great effect upon others, and
! to change his method of giving and begin
| to 1.-THE.
| 1t is rema rkable how many testimonials
| of prosperity right along this line can be
found if you search. Try 1t. Start out this
| week and ask your friends, What is your
method of giving?' Have you any? And
| how does 1t work? Do you find Gods prom
Use true that when you have given bounti-
fully you have received bountifully?' You
will be surprised to find how many are fol-
lowing that way of giving.
| But God does not hold this reward out as
an 1nducement to US, something where
with to tickle the bargain-hunting spirit
| that lies dormant in every one of us. but
merely as an assurance that we need not
| fear to let our generous hearts have the
! way and give beautifully, for we shall be
doing no wrong TO ourselves, and shall not
suffer thereby. A bountiful gift, however
| large, will never gain the reward If given
grudgingly. The Lord loves a loving giver,
a cheerful giver, giver who first gives
/ himself
DR.. Josiah Strong says: There is money
enough in the hands of church members to
SOW every acre of the earth with the seed
! of truth"
If this be so, why should our missionaries
/ have TO Scrimp along without the necessary
| funds to push their work into wider fields,
why should some schools in dark countries
! have to close their doors for lack of funds
| to carry them on? Why should it be neces-
| sary for a school in Turkey to have 10 give
! up the meat which they had upon their ia
| Bile but once week, in order to save money
! enough to take in one more eager scholar?
| II Christians realized this, could they be
| happy in buying their automobiles, and
| their elbow-length kid gloves, and their the
alter boxes, and their costly houses, while
| brothers and sisters going without the
knowledge of Christ?
Applied Truth.
A good man was once asked how he man
aged to give so much. His answer was:
God is all the time shovelng it on me, and
| I lNea yhol,, oyxya
1.-The moon is a great giver, and she owes
all her beauty to this habit of giving. Sup
pose the moon should swallow up and keep
to itself all the rays of light which the sun
gives it. and should refuse to give them to
us, what would the effect be? 1t would
stop shining. And the moment it stopped
shining 1t would lose all it's beauty. All the
beauty of the brillancy of the diamond is
owing to it's rejecting, or giving away, the
light which ii receives from the sun. And
| this Is the way with the moon. If 1t should
stop shining, or giving away the light it
gets from the sun, 1T would hang up in the
| sky a great. black. ugly-looking ball. All
Its brightness and beauty would be gone
| DR.. Newton.
According to legend when Emperor Jus
| tinian had built the Byzantine Church for
| his own glory, he looked in vain on the day
! of dedication for his name, which had been
| inscribed upon the memorial stone. Angel
| hands had obliterated 1t and written in its
|
| who had strewn little straw in front of
i the beasts that drew the heavily laden
| trucks of marble from the quarry. Justin
| tan'S motive was so gnoble that II was
| ignored. and the womans so pure and love
ly that she received credit for the whole.
| of native products in Tahiti one brought
some cocoanut oil to Pomare in a bad
| spirit saying, Here are five bamboos of
| oil; take them for your society" NO"
lIi6 ne inU will NOT Tn{v
| banboos with the missionary Oil; take
| them away" God loveth cheerful giver.
| How to Help the Leader-Think over
| your own gifts TO the Lord anaiyze the
| spirit in which they were given, how
| much good you got out of them for your
| self. and which brought the largest returns
| in the harvest then tell the meeting about
| It. If you do this carefully, prayerfully,
| you cannot fail to have something interest
| ing to tell which will help others.
| Parallel assages.-Malachi iii:S 10: Lee
! vitcus, xxvii:30; Exodus, xxxv:29; Luke,
Xvi:5; Haggai lis; Psalms. xxiv:1; Deu-
| teronomy, Wills.
| Hints to the Leader.-The EndeaVOr
| Hymnal-159 234, 272 279 312.
| After singing and announcing the topic
| and reading Scripture, ask members to re-
cite verses from memory concerning giving
and promises connected Herewith.
| After the chain Of verses have five or six
| members prepared to state briefly different
| needs for money in the service of the Lord
needs in India, another speak of money
needed for a new building in school in
China. some surgical appliance In a hos
pital in Persia, another tell of some mis-
sionary in our own country who needed
warm clothing. another speak of individual
cases of starving in Japan. another speak
of work in city missions, and among the
immigrants landing in our country and an
other state several distinct needs In your
own town. These must necessarily be ex-
trenely brief and to the point, startling in
their portrayal of need.
After this ask the meeting to bow In gil
lent prayer searching their own hearts be-
fore God and asking themselves If they are
giving all they should to Gods work and
if II is at all their fault that there are SO
many needy causes. Call upon some one TO
lead and others to follow in prayer for more
wise and thoughtful giving.
Then call for brief statements OF how
your members give, and how they have
been prospered, also ask them to speak or
the Joy of giving and it's part as a reward
for what they have ''sowed."
THE average gift of each church member
to foreign missions is about 40 cents a wear.
or one-ninth of n cent day. Is this the
price we place on the redemption of the
world?'-George s. Eddy.
Givel as the morning that flows out of heaven: