The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-08
LARGE CROWDS OF MEN ATTEND
 MEN AND RELIGION MEETINGS
tcoNTINUED FROM PAGE 5

The level of a persons life is indicated by the character of his temptations. Even the world around us does not seem planned for the nourishment of a sickly piety. A tornado does not suggest grandmother government. God pity the boy who is not conscious of hours of testing The cause is one of two things either contentment with low standard of living has produced lack of high endeavor, or there is not enough manly characters to be worth stealing by the devil.'
 With the boy our first effort should be to help him come off conqueror in the very first struggle, for it is easier to find those who have never done a certain thing than to find those who have done that specific thing only once. A slogan of the boy should be, My life shall be a challenge and not truce.
 Lastly, during the teens, altruism succeeds egoism. The boy before he Is 10 will have the sorriest hoard of old junk keepsakes imaginable. How many mothers have thrown the boys heart out with that same old junk, and re- buked him for setting such store by it. Encourage him in his hunger for ownership. But when that apparently same boy enters adolescence he is by no means really the same. His whole nature now cries out, 'Reproduce,' Give And it is for the best interest of the boy if we let him work out his own salvation, even though he do 1t with fear and trembling. Not being served but serving is the key note of the boys Christian life, and that is the thing we should teach him to do."
 Laflamme Talks
 
 a presentation of literature having to do with the Men and Religion Move ment. Then H. r. Laflamme talked for while on "The World Call of the Gospel" Mr. Lafiamme is the specialist in missions, and his talk had to do with both home and foreign missions.
 At today's convention w. E. Bieder- wolf, pr. Stelzle, Rev. Stockdale, A. M. Brunner, F. s. Goodman and R. A. Waite will address the meetings.
 In giving the boy question further discussion at the platform meeting at the First Methodist church last night the Rev. R. A. Waite said "The trou- ble with the ruling bodies of most churches is that they are concerned with the life of the carpet on the floor than they are with the souls of the boys in the Sunday school"
 At the institute last night MT. Waite presented complete plan for the or ganzation of boys work in the Sun day school from the ruling elders on down to the smallest boy. including the work of the pastor, superintendent of the Sunday school, the leaders and the boy groups. In last nights dis cussion he said:
 How can l go unto my Father and the lad be not with me? This anxious question of the olden day is even now being asked, and it is hoped that the Men and Religion Forward Movement will help answer it. And the answer bundled up into one sentence is, Heed the rights of the boy
 His first right is to be well born. Too many boys are damned into the world instead of being born. The boy also has right to the chumminess of his elders especially his father. Fath- CTS better have backache with their boys while they are growing than to have heartache when they are grown.
 Answer His Questions
 'It is the right of the boy to have his questions honestly and frankly an swered. And this includes inquiries re- garding the mysteries of life. The chiefest influence that is lowering the respect of the parents Is their failure to talk tactfully and timely with the son on the matter of sex. Better be
  than a day too late.
 The boy has the further right to possess his possessions. If he has n weekly allowance, the wise father will counsel rather than command how much he will save out of it. And why not give the boy his rightful place in the family council where the home pol icy is decided. Unless the boy has op- portunities to misuse. he will not as a man put things to their best use; the boy who is never allowed to go in the water cannot learn to swim.
 But above all things, the boy has a right to an intelligent religious train ing The best that can he done for a boy is what you get the boy to do for himself.
 In training the boy religiously too many parents and workers With boys follows the beautitude from the devils scripture, making themselves believe that it comes from God. It reads. Blessed is the boy that sows his wild oats: for he shall become a man. The excuse given when boys go wrong is that boys will be boys and that 'ev- cry boy must have his fling, But it is too bad. for the sake of the boy. that the man who used the phrase. sowing his wild oats did not die before the words passed his lips or ran off the point of his pen. Listen to the voice. less though living counsel, stationed by God at every entry into sin. just as He has placed disgust before the door of all evil places
 The second nights institute, at the First Presbyterian church. will also be well attended The classes are held in three different parts of the church and are open to any men who can possibly