The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1911-05-05
SATURDAY. MIGHT
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RNSAkUELK. PURvIS.D DID.
The GOD OF The FIRE.

the Prince or feaCe nreDrnRul
Queer teaching Fires the agent II
death, not life. The world gasps with
horror Mt san Franclsco's holocaus,
Mothers earliest admonition TO chi
dren Is not 10 play with matches. The
clang Of the iron throated Are bell in
the night arouses man In terror Nit
die ages put the devil In authority 90
lake OF fire; Dante describes those Ia
fcrnhl regions In bloodcurdling strHiu.
Dore sketches them with livid brush
II the devil IL ruler OF the region st
Gre, how strange to read that our God
liz God OF fire! Isn't that an anon
ally? No. Fire is the chosen sign ot
God from flaming sword at paradise 70
flaming tongues at Pcntecost. Every
new epoch inltinted with fire. Pillar ot
fire in wilderness; fire at dedication VI
tabernacle; Sheklnah fire burning cou
tinually in temple. The figure IL woven
into our daily speech. Ardent natures,
enthusiasm thnt kindles, passions thae
burn We complain OF coolness, icy re-
serve, cold manner.
No vegetation above timber line On
Pixies peak-tOo cold. The utter ali.
senCe OF heat and life in the arctic
makes our existence intolerable," oh
serves hansen. All animal and vege
table life depends on fire and heat for
creation and development. Flowers
bees, birds, mankind, thrive in the
sun. "Say, auntie," | call TO the old
black nanny working In her garden,
why don't you plant your garden On
this side the house? Then us white folks
could see il from the road" '1umph,"
she rrunts, some preachers got rs-
ligiou n not much else. Mawnln sun
straks this po'ch an in de aftanoon ~
nawth side. Groun's too cold Seeds
got TO have wa'mth 10 grow" The su0
shines. blossoms come, harvest fields
bow their heads with golden grain
orchard branches weighted with fruit
| know n church that needs warmth
Chill of worldliness Is there. Sermons
are beautiful. but it's the frigid beauty
of winter landscape. Affairs are there,
but fires are ont. Wish some Elijah
would challenge them to prove the
God that answereth by fire" A copk
stove In the church basement doesng
always mean spiritual warmth.
Fire Means Testing.
Know Americas greatest extrava.
gance apart from drink? Fire! LaI.
year more than half the value OF sH
the years building Millions go up in
smoke Loss covered by insurance
Never! Any more than lost sleep 1r
lost years can be recovered. But while
fire destroys II reveals much. When
the quake and fire were over in Frjs,b
what revelations! Vanity and d+
honesty in building lay bare. Pr4
tentious ornament and fiimsy constru.
ton everywhere. Say, Jim. see thai
man going there? That's Smith. the
builder. All bis buildings stood
There's eulogy! I'd rather be Smith
than commander Of a battleship feet
Chinatown had cleansing, first time
in fifty years. Stand at the kiln door
Of Trenton pottery. "Why do you need
such beatT "To bake the impurity
out Of the clay" peer in at the meg
moving like figures in Dante's Infer
no" at SteeIton. why such great
blast furnaces" NO steel without
removal OF baser metals and alloys"
Fire either changes or destroys.
Beacon Fires Of Triumph
II came 80 bring sword" says
Christ. Sometimes it's the fire %
battle. There's a time of war and
time OF peace" says Solomon. War
Is hell, indeed, but many mov4.
meDt for the betterment Of humanity
has gone forward on a powder carr.
Many fearful wrong has been stop.
ped only by fire and sword. The re-.
ord Of the sixties tells when surrender
OF Lee was announced throughout III.
north. and many portions Of the south
peace fires were lighted. Men AMI
women shed tears of JOY about them.
No more cannOns beIching forth fire,
no more rife barrels splitting tongues
Of fame. Now only campfres OF
peace. Two years later England wsr
burning beacon 6res Of jubilee in hon.
or Of her queen. From Malvern Hill
the signal was given; in eight minutes
II flashed from every hill all the way
to the lake country in Cumberland
II Christ came to bring FIRE and
sword He also came TO bring peace.
When Christ went home the fire OF
the Spirit was 6ung earthward. Kin
died in upper room at Jerusalem, IT,
soon spread through the city, then Ju-
dea and Samaria. Presently Asia Nj
nor WAS blazing through that other
fTebrand, Paul, the Christian. Soon
the sparks tiy across the archipelago
into Macedonia. then into Greece H.
self. BY and by Rome is visited by
the gospel fire, then from Europe
across the Atlantic 10 America. ev.
erywhere his ministers flame OF
nre" telling the story with words thai
glow and burn and kindle At the
last the world itself 10 be destroyed by
the fire Of his judgment. Any place OF
tafety? Out on the prairie. no rain
for many weeks. tall grass parched
and dry, careless herdsman drops
match: In instant the wind fans Il; ava
minutes later IL 10 a wall OF fire TWEEN
~ feet high, Frontiersman caught
Outrun il with swiftest horse; Never
Quickly at his feet he starts another
blaze. Flat on that burned grass ha
safely waits. over 800 years ago
~.