Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1908-06-11

ANYTHING like that here, but ne can
beat that In our church. FOR hers
many stranger gets hearty hand
grasp ana goes away with his nickel
in his pocket.,s
| tell you that men are welcome in
accident of fine clothing. mon No..
ever dressed and however wickaT-
they are all welcome in nine-ten4s,s,
OF the churches; and what is more
tney know quite well they viii MT
Only De welcome, but that we are
praying that they may come. Let ux
siance now at some of the real rea-
SONS why men do not come To orr
churches and into our Churches nc
their sisters do.
Men are driven SO hard by the worsr
OF the week that when Sunday con,ee
many OF them are in state of col
lapse mentally, and SO they spend the
time IN bed, OF else they betake them
selves to the parks or to the country
Tor recuperation.
Know many men who are commit
ting slow suicide by the work which
they are attempting to do, and I know
that Wnen Sunday comes they snatch
little rest as their only safety.
1eel tnat In some way they must get
out from under the burden which
tney are bearing, some by choice and
more ny necessity or else while taking
care OF this life they will by sheer
neglect lose the life which is to come
NOW women, on the other hand, have
the1r work tor the most part in the
mouse, and they welcome the Sabbath
day and the church services as a kind
OF mild entertainment and pleasant.
diversion. There they see their
friends and have pleasant word but
the, men have been seeing their
friends all the week. and now they
want simply rest
Men have many things In their
lives which furnish them with social
life, and with little balm for their
sore cODsciences. Tens of thousands
or men belong to clubs and societies:
and -IodEaS.--#-Here they-spend f9,fair-
leisure time and spare money, and.
many of them will single out the
charitable features of these organixa-
tions, and will say that their lodge is
their church, inculcating all that is
good and beautiful. When any man'
allows any human society to take the.
place OF the church of God in his life,
that society has become to him posi-
tive evil, and he ought at once to rec
ognlze 1t as snare of the devil
These societies do good in their way,
but in comparison with the church Of
God they are as a rush light to a star
OF the first magnitude, as a firefy to
the sun in all his glory and sp1endor
blame these societies for keeping
many men out OF the reach of the
Gospel, for they try to teach men that.
morals are as acceptable as religion.
and many men are giving a blind al
Ieglance to these human Institutions
ana at the same time believing that
they are serving Almighty God. Men,
also have politics to interest them,
and during political contest it seems
utterly out of the question to interest:
the ordinary man in anything else
than a political discussion. Women
have few societies, and, thank
Heaven, they have no part in politics
Men are more enamored of certain
forms of overt sin than women, aud
the devil, through these forms Of sln,
Is winning many men away from all
the influences of the church of Christ
Gambling and drunkenness are the
sins of men, and while some women
also fall into these two classes of sin,
1ASJ O. 2 IAO OACGpt1Ou IdLuCI lHdN
the rule. In many of our American
cities we have one legalizeG place for
the sale of liquor to every fifty of our
men, and we cannot tell, nor do the
authorities seem to care, how many
gambling places there are in our fair
city. But all of these places live
largely upon the patronage of men,
Now, is it strange that we have SO
few men comparatively in our
churches? Men are far more in the
clutches of overt sin than Women>
and that fact must be reckoned with
churches. God pity the great host OF
men in our city who have sold them
selves body and soul to the devil, and
who have no care about righteousness
here nor felicity hereafter
Society places a/premium upon the
righteousness, If not upon the posi-
tive unrightousness. Of men by per-
mitting the double standard of NOR
ais. Men do with impunity what a.
woman could not do at all II she de-
sired to remain respectable in the es-
timation of her family and friends
Now, so long as society, composed in
part of Christian people, permits men
to be libertines and drunkards, and
does not make them smart for their
sins, these same men will have but
little regard for religion. How can
we expect the lfbertine to have any
respect for religion when he is made
the welcome guest in the house
where, if the people lived up to their
religion, he would be loathed?