Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1910-01-13
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON ANO
YOUNG PEOPLES MEETINGS
News Of Interest to Church Goers By a
Writer Who is An Authority on Religious
Subjects. The International Lesson for
Next Sunday.

in the taeming city by the Greater
than John-"Repent We; for the King
dom of Heaven is at hand Doubt
less the Baptist was depressed in, his
dungeon; but his message was going
on. God never fails to supply a mes
senger for everyone who is taken
away.
The unity of all religious effort is
beautifully set forth in this incident.
Men come and men go, but the work
goes on. There is no man indispen-
sable to Gods truth They who row
| serve in apparent success, are but the
heirs of others who may have served
before them in apparent failure Some
foolish evangelists and pastors are
accustomed to write to the church pa
pers about the success of their fields,
with the implication, 81 did it, What
absurdity. In things spiritual it can
not be measured where one workers
influence ends and the others begins.
Who dare say how much of Jotln the
Baptist's preaching persisted in the
cry, Repent vel" which Jesus sound
ed throughout Galilee?
The Call to a Career
What makes life dreary is the
want of motive" said George Eliot.
Macaulay repeated the same thought
when he declared, "What society
wants is new motive" Consider
the fishermen on Galilee whose high
est motive was fish. Then contem.
plate the two pairs of brothers, An
drew and Peter, and James and John,
who heard the call of the Teacher,
whom they had first followed down by
the Jordan.
1t was while they We're about their
daily work that the fishermen were
summoned by Jesus: Gods calls come
only to those who are at dutys post.
They had had poor luck at the word
of Jesus they let down their nets
for phenomenal catch Then he
summoned them to leave their new
found plenty, and to become fishers
of men, Their former association
with Jesus had not involved the sur
render of their accustomed calling
and life: now he definitely bids them
to give up all else and to share his
career. What choice, Little did
they dream of what was involved in
1t; little docs any person even dream
of what is involved in the choice of
Christ.
The most important act in any
PERSONS life Is the decision to follow
Jesus. Often it means a complete
transformation of ones station and
character and calling. recall con
versation with a Japanese in Toxic.
who told me that as soon as he be-
I came a Christian he wanted to do
of h ino h,e -,l,a
suit was the invention of a process
OF making wood shavings, which are
widely used for artistic and utilitarian
purposes. In that case the decision
for Christ meant new industry 20
nation.
Recently there died in easel, Ill,
woman who had been bed-ridden for
twenty years. Yet she spent her time
in making book marks and the pro-
ceeds of the labor of Lizzie L. John
son, amounting to more than $4,000,
We're devoted to the mission work Of
the Northern Methodist church.
Twenty native Bible women, and four
college students were being supported
by her when she died The great mo-
tive which Christ puts into the hearts
OF his disciples, even as he did of
iold, redeems life from pettiness and
provincialism and spirit-poverty.
A Church and Its Hypocrites.
The need for disciples and helpers
was soon apparent in the case of
Jesus, He was entering upon his year
Of popularity. All his time and pow
ers We're taxed by the demands made
upon him. One pair of hands could
not accomplish all these clamorous
tasks. If he was to do his work ef-
fectively, he must have assistants,
and some form Of organization So,
having summoned to his service lit.
tie band of disciples, he began to itin-
crate. There were more than two
hundred towns and cities in populou5